Happy New Year 2013

Happy New Year to all our readers from the Black Dragon Studio , We hope you all have a great 2013.

‘The Hobbit’ Passes the $500 Million Benchmark

Warner Bros. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has surpassed the $500 million benchmark at the worldwide box office in less than two weeks at the box office. To date, the blockbuster has earned an estimated $189.73 million domestically. In addition, on the heels of its record-breaking release in Australia — the biggest Boxing Day opening of all time — The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has grossed an estimated $373 million internationally, for a staggering global total of $562.8 million, and still steadily climbing.

“We are extremely gratified by the response of moviegoers who love the film and, in many cases, are taking this terrifically entertaining ‘Journey’ to Middle-earth more than once,” said Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures. “We anticipate that positive word of mouth and repeat viewings will continue to result in strong returns well into the New Year.”

The Hobbit follows the journey of Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor, which was long ago conquered by the dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakensheild.

Starring Martin Freeman, Benedict Cumberbatch and Ian McKellen, the first installment in Oscar-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson’s epic The Hobbit Trilogy, based on the timeless novel by J.R.R. Tolkien, opened wide in the U.S. on December 14.

Big Bad Wolf Book Sale 2012

On 15 December 2012, I had the opportunity to visit the largest book fair in the world of the Big Bad Wolf 2012 held at the Mines International Exhibition & Convention Centre. The exhibition runs from 7 to 23 December 2012. There was 3 million books will be sold with a discount of 75% - 95%. This is my few catch from this year.

Mondo Celebrates ‘Hobbit’ with Olly Moss Prints

Mondo, the collectible art division of the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, TX, is celebrating the impending release of Peter Jackson’s latest Tolkien adaptation The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey with the unveiling of gorgeous new “The Lord of the Rings” poster art prints from famed artist Olly Moss.The perfect collectible gift for the biggest Hobbit fan in your life (even if that’s you!), the Olly Moss print will be available in two versions (both measuring 15” x 36”) of limited runs: a Regular Edition of 580 priced at $50, and a Variant Edition of 285 for $90. The prints go on sale today, visit www.mondotees.com to purchase.Based on the classic fantasy work The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, An Unexpected Journey kicks off Jackson’s planned Hobbit trilogy with its release this Friday, December 14. The film is set in the fictional world of Middle-Earth and follows young hobbit Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), who is tasked by the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) with accompanying Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) on a dangerous quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from the terrible dragon Smaug (voice of Benedict Cumberbatch). The cast also includes James Nesbitt, Hugo Weaving, Stephen Fry, Billy Connolly, Christopher Lee, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly and more.Olly Moss is a British artist famed for his poster design work, recently creating unique graphic posters for Marvel’s Captain America and Thor and the cover of Insomniac Games Resistance 3. Learn more about his work at www.ollymoss.com or on Twitter @ollymoss.

Olly Moss Star Wars Series Poster

Olly Moss (born January 20, 1987) is an English artist, graphic designer and illustrator. He is best known for his re-imagining of movie posters. His work is regularly featured in the Empire magazine.Moss was commissioned by Marvel Entertainment executives Craig Kyle and Kevin Feige to create a poster for the cast of Thor.Other notable works include the cover artwork for the Resistance 3 video game,which prompted a trailer to be created in with artwork style.He graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2008 having studied literature. Moss is a regular guest on the IGN UK podcast as well as the A Life Well wasted podcast.

Pixar’s Lamp Recreated Using Arduino Technology

The Lamp named Pinokio has been developed by students at Victoria University of Wellington, and has been built using six servos, an Arduino processor, a web camera and OpenCV. Check the results out in the video after the jump.It’s not the first time that developers have tried to recreate the famous Pixar Lamp which can be seen at the beginning of Pixar’s movies, in real life using Arduino technology,As you can see in the video below Pinokio just doesn’t like being turned off. The student development team behind recreating the iconic Pixar Lamp explain:“Pinokio is an exploration into the expressive and behavioral potentials of robotic computing. Customized computer code and electronic circuit design imbues Lamp with the ability to be aware of its environment, especially people, and to expresses a dynamic range of behavior,” its creators explain. “As it negotiates its world, we the human audience can see that Lamp shares many traits possessed by animals, generating a range of emotional sympathies. In the end we may ask: Is Pinokio only a lamp? – a useful machine? Perhaps we should put the book aside and meet a new friend.”

Pinokio from Pinokio on Vimeo.

Book of This Month

The first new book this month is 3D Artist : Create Striking Characters issues 47.Publish by Imagine Publishing Ltd. Can obtain in the market price of RM 39.90 per copy. CD also comes with free content.

The second new book this month is Fantasy Art : Fantasy Lighting issues 38.Publish by Imagine Publishing Ltd. Can obtain in the market price of RM 49.00 per copy. CD also comes with free content.

New Trailer for Fox/Blue Sky’s ‘Epic’ Delivers the Goods

Just in time for Thanksgiving, animation fans have a new sneak peek at Fox/Blue Sky’s 2013 feature Epic. Directed by Chris Wedge, the film is based on William Joyce’s hugely popular book The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs.The storyline follows a teenage girl named Mary Katherine (voiced by Amanda Seyfried who is transported into a magical forest when she must team up with an eclectic group of characters to save their world from forces of evil. The voice cast that includes Beyonce Knowles, Colin Farrell, Josh Hutcherson, Johnny Knoxvile, Aziz Ansari, Pitbull, Jason Sudeikis, Steven Tyler, Blake Anderson and Judah Friedlander. The pic’s sweeping music is composed by Danny Elfman. The 3-D movie Epic opens in theaters on May 24.

Book of This Month

The new book this month is The Art of Marvel's Avengers. Can obtain in the market price of US$ 28.25 per copy. Written by Jason Surrell Book Design By Jeff Powell Introduction By Ryan Meinerding & Charkie Wen, Cover Art By Ryan Meinerding and published by Marvel Worldwide Inc. New York. This is the first book i bought using Amazon. Can buy using Debit Card or Credit Card.Parcel will be post using iPARCEL. The charge for postal cost is US$ 19.98 per Book. Here the Amazon link : http://www.amazon.com/

New Robocop

The year is 2028 and multinational conglomerate OmniCorp is at the center of robot technology. Their drones are winning wars around the globe and now they want to bring this technology to the home front. Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman) is a loving husband, father and good cop doing his best to stem the tide of crime and corruption in Detroit. After he is critically injured in the line of duty, OmniCorp utilizes their remarkable science of robotics to save Murphy’s life. He returns to the streets of his beloved city with amazing new abilities, but with issues a regular man has never had to face before.

Junkyard

A man is being robbed and stabbed by a junkie and in the last second before he dies, a youth friendship flashes beforehis eyes. He and his bosomfriend grew apart, when the latter was being drawn more and more into a misty world ofdrugs and criminality under influence of a lowlife dealer who lives with his father on the junkyard in their neighbourhood. Here the website link : HiskoHulsing

Book of This Month

The first new book this month is 3D Artist : Master the Art of Robot Creation  issues 46.Publish by Imagine Publishing Ltd. Can obtain in the market price of RM 39.90 per copy. CD also comes with free content.

The Second new book this month is Divergent. Publish by Katherine Tegen Books & Author of this book is Veronica Roth. Can obtain in the market price of RM 29.90 per copy. This novel will be published in the form of film in 2014. Director : Neil Burger, Screenplay : Evan Daugherty, Stars : Aaron Shang

Storyline :

Set in a futuristic dystopia where society is divided into five factions that each represent a different virtue, sixteen-year-olds have to decide if they want to stay in their faction or switch to another - for the rest of their lives. Beatrice Prior makes a choice that surprises everyone. Then Tris and her fellow faction-members have to live through a highly competitive initiation process to live out the choice they have made. They must undergo extreme physical and intense psychological tests, that transform them all. But Tris has a secret she's kept hidden, because if anyone knew, it would mean a certain death. As she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, this secret might help her save the people she loves... or it might destroy her.  

Abbey Home Media & McLaren to Distribute ‘Tooned’

Indie U.K. distributor Abbey Home Media and the McLaren Group will distribute the CG-animated series Tooned, which is currently airing on Sky Sports F1.

“Everyone at Abbey is delighted to have signed the agreement for the brilliant Tooned,” says Dan Harriss, general manager of Abbey Home Media. “It is a fantastic series with hilarious scripts and state of the art animation, which children of many ages and Vodafone McLaren Mercedes fans will love. We are very much looking forward to working with McLaren to make Tooned the major success it deserves to be.”

Tooned is a CG animated show featuring McLaren’s two World Champions, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, who voiced their own characters, as well as the acclaimed British actor and comedian Alexander Armstrong. The planned release date for the first Tooned DVD is 10th December 2012 and will be available at www.mclarenstore.com as well as reputable online and high street retailers.McLaren Animation, which is a joint venture launched in partnership with the Oscar winning visual effects and animation studio Framestore, is structured under the corporate canopy of the McLaren Group, alongside McLaren Marketing.

WAR OF THE WORLDS GOLIATH

Film Synopsis :

In 1899, the Earth was attacked by ruthless invaders from the planet Mars. The Martian's 80 ft tall, heat-ray spewing, Tripod battle machines laid waste to the planet, but the invaders ultimately fell prey to Earth's tiny bacteria.

Film Trailers :

Behine The Scenes :

Despicable Me 2 Trailer

‘Brave’ Blu-Ray Features New Pixar Short

Remember Mor’du, the scary bear monster from Disney/Pixar’s animated feature Brave? Well, we’re going to learn a lot more about this troubled character when the new Blu-ray release of Brave hits stores later this month. The new short, which is called The Legend of Mor’du, will dig deeper into the backstory of the bear, who experimented with a spell that allowed him to win the control of his kingdom, but turned him into a fierce beast.The short’s director is Brian Larson, a storyboard artist on Ratatouille and story supervisor on Brave. He told ew.com, “It’s a cautionary tale. If you are selfish and not working in the right direction for the greater good you can destroy a huge part of your family—and yourself.”The tale is narrated by Brave’s cheery old witch (Julie Walters), and the story of the prince is depicted in a hand-painted, paper cut-out style. Larson says the animation has a stony edge to it and the animators wanted to deliver a graphic style, with lots of silhouettes—a 2D look that still had volume and geometry.“It’s got a stony edge to it,” Larsen says. “We wanted it to be very graphic in that way, with a lot of silhouettes. We wanted a 2-D look that still had volume and geometry to it.”Larsen said that he and his team were inspired by the work of acclaimed Disney artist Mary Blair. He said, “Going back to Mary Blair, we don’t get to flex those muscles all the time because we usually work in a 3-D animated world, so it just felt extra special that we could be in that painterly style. It gives it a texture — what you’re seeing is somebody’s imagination of this event, almost like a dream in some ways. It’s not real. It’s romanticized.” The Blu-ray combo pack of Brave will be released on Nov 13.

 

Wreck It Ralph Trailer

Ambience Ups the Ante for ‘Adventures of Figaro Pho’

Sydney-based production company Ambience Entertainment is celebrating the release of its short-format toon star’s new 13 x half-hour series The Adventures of Figaro Pho, which premieres on Australia’s ABC3 today.Conceived and directed by award-winning illustrator Luke Jurevicius, the excessively paranoid Figaro Pho first hit the toon scene in 2008 in a series of 1-minute shorts that aired on ABC—earning two AFI Awards and three top Kidscreen Awards honors. These accolades encouraged development of the longer format series, which was a collaboration with Ambience, Chocolate Liberation Front and Jurevicius.The series, aimed at kids 6-14, takes advantage of the longer format with Figaro Pho taking his audience on a surreal, comic ride through an endless list of phobias in his goth-inspired world. The CG animation was produced by a team of 50 artists and technicians, lead by producer and animation director David Webster, at Ambience off of boards and concepts developed by Jurevicius’ Vishus Productions in Adelaide. Ambience and CLF managed a script and story team based at CLF’s Melbourne studio. Jurevicius’ long-term collaborator Deane Taylor (The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ren & Stimpy) serves as art director.

Disney Buys Lucasfilm, Plans 2015 ‘Star Wars 7'

Big business news today as The Walt Disney Company announces it has agreed to acquire Lucasfilm Ltd.—including the popular Star Wars franchise—in a stock and cash transaction from 100% owner, chairman and founder George Lucas. Under the terms of the agreement and based on the closing price of Disney stock  on Oct. 26, the transaction value amounts to $4.05 billion with Disney paying half in cash and issuing approximately 40 million shares at closing.

“Lucasfilm reflects the extraordinary passion, vision, and storytelling of its founder, George Lucas,” said Robert A. Iger, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company. “This transaction combines a world-class portfolio of content including Star Wars, one of the greatest family entertainment franchises of all time, with Disney’s unique and unparalleled creativity across multiple platforms, businesses, and markets to generate sustained growth and drive significant long-term value.”

“For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next,” said Lucas. “It’s now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers. I’ve always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime. I’m confident that with Lucasfilm under the leadership of Kathleen Kennedy, and having a new home within the Disney organization, Star Wars will certainly live on and flourish for many generations to come. Disney’s reach and experience give Lucasfilm the opportunity to blaze new trails in film, television, interactive media, theme parks, live entertainment, and consumer products.”

Under the deal Disney will acquire the studio including the Star Wars franchise and its operating businesses in live-action film production, consumer products, animation, visual effects and audio post production; plus the substantial technology portfolios of Lucasfilm, LucasArts, ILM and Skywalker Sound.  Current co-chairman of Lucasfilm Kathleen Kennedy will become President of Lucasfilm, reporting to Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn. Kennedy will also serve as brand manager for Star Wars and exec produce new Star Wars films, with Lucas serving as creative consultant. Star Wars Episode VII is targeted for a 2015 release, with the franchise expected to grow.

Wizart Releases New Pics, Trailer for ‘Snow Queen’

We have covered the progress of Russian studio Wizart’s epic new CG-animated feature The Snow Queen in the magazine before. The new take on the 19th century fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a brave young girl who sets out the cold-hearted villainess is written and directed by Maxim Sveshnikov and Vlad Barbe. The producers will be bringing the 80-minute, stereoscopic feature to the American Film Market in Santa Monica in November.

‘Laland’ Seeks Co-Pros at Cinekid 2012

The kid-targeted HD CG-animated series Laland (52 x 7), produced by Kotoc and represented by Nottingham Forest, has been selected to participate in Amsterdam’s Cinekid media festival and professional event, which wraps this week.Currently in development, Laland is an animated series incorporating Second Screen App technology increasing audience participation. Laland is a fantastical world inhabited by the Sulfis, good-natured creatures who live and breathe music!Nottingham Forest will present the series at the Junior Co-Production Market during Cinekid for Professionals to seek financing and co-production partners. Laland joins nine other projects in the Cross-Media category, focused on children’s media projects that combine a film or TV program with online, gaming, social networking, virtual world, mobile or licensing/merchandising components.

Book of This Month

The new book this month is The Art of Tangled. Can obtain in the market price of RM 152.00 per copy. Author by Jeff Kurtti, Preface by John Lasseter, Foreword by Nathan Greno & Byron Howard and published by Chronicle Books San Fransisco. This is the third book i bought using Kinokuniya Bookweb. Can buy using Debit Card or Credit Card.Parcel will be post using GD Express(Gdex) Sdn Bhd. The charge for postal cost is RM 8.00 per Book. Here the link http://www.kinokuniya.com/my/

Iron Man 3

Iron Man 3 is an upcoming American superhero film featuring the Marvel Comics character Iron Man, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures.It will be the sequel to Iron Man and Iron Man 2 and will be the seventh installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, being the first major release in that franchise since the crossover film The Avengers. Shane Black is set to direct a screenplay by himself and Drew Pearce, which will be based on the "Extremis" story arc by Warren Ellis. Jon Favreau, who directed the first two films, serves as executive producer, along with Kevin Feige.Robert Downey, Jr. reprises his role as Tony Stark, with Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle and Favreau reprising their roles as Pepper Potts, James Rhodes and Happy Hogan, respectively. Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Stephanie Szostak, James Badge Dale and Ben Kingsley round out the film's principal cast.After the release of Iron Man 2, The Walt Disney Company, Marvel Entertainment's new corporate parent, agreed to pay Paramount Pictures, the distributor of the first two Iron Man films, $115 million for the worldwide distribution rights to both Iron Man 3 and The Avengers. Favreau decided not to return as director, and in February 2011 Black was hired as the film's director. Throughout April and May 2012, the film's supporting cast was filled out, with Kingsley, Pearce, and Hall brought in to portray key roles. Filming began on May 23, 2012 and it was shot primarily in North Carolina, with additional filming scheduled to take place in Florida and China. Iron Man 3 is scheduled to be released on May 3, 2013, and the film will be converted to 3D in post-production.

Atlantyca Flies with Aeroplane’s ‘The Fixies’

Italian children’s entertainment producer and distributor Atlantyca recently signed a deal with Russian animation studio Aeroplane Productions to bring Russia’s top-rated animated series The Fixies in Europe, Malaysia, Singapore and Korea. The announcement was made jointly by Claudia Mazzucco, CEO of Atlantyca, and Michael Mennies, director of intl. productions for Aeroplane Productions.Targeting children (four- to nine-years-old), The Fixies (104 x 6 minutes) was created by Aeroplane Productions and is produced by Aeroplane, The Riki Group and Petersburg Animation Studio. The colorful toon follows the misadventures of Tom Thomas and his friendship with Simka and Nolik, the children of the tiny family that secretly lives in his apartment fixing the multitude of machines and gadgets all around them. Luckily the Fixies have the knowledge, skills, and tools to figure out a problem and solve it in this funny and educational series about how things work.

“We are very happy to have Atlantyca distributing The Fixies for us. Their expertise in international distribution, publishing, and licensing combined with their genuine enthusiasm for our show is just what we were looking for in a distributor as we launch our brand internationally,” said Mennies.

“The Fixies is the perfect property for Atlantyca, not only is it a thoroughly amazing creative animated series, it is a property that has huge multi-platform potential which is the core of Atlantyca’s brand building,” said Pedro Citaristi, Atlantyca’s sales manager who secured the deal.

The Fixies Concept Art

The Fixies Scene