Jackson Confirms Third ‘Hobbit’ Feature

It’s official: Peter Jackson has confirmed that he will be expanding his two-part adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit into a trilogy. Warner Bros. is probably thrilled to hear the news and fans are rejoicing as the Oscar-winning director will be pulling from material from the appendices and Tolkien’s notes to beef up the narrative. After all, as any high school English student will tell you, the original book is less than 300 pages long. The third chapter will probably be released in the summer of 2013. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is due out December 14th, while The Hobbit: There and Back Again is slated for December 13, 2013.

“It is only at the end of a shoot that you finally get the chance to sit down and have a look at the film you have made. Recently Fran, Phil and I did just this when we watched for the first time an early cut of the first movie – and a large chunk of the second. We were really pleased with the way the story was coming together, in particular, the strength of the characters and the cast who have brought them to life.  All of which gave rise to a simple question: do we take this chance to tell more of the tale? And the answer from our perspective as the filmmakers, and as fans, was an unreserved ‘yes.’”

“We know how much of the story of Bilbo Baggins, the Wizard Gandalf, the Dwarves of Erebor, the rise of the Necromancer, and the Battle of Dol Guldur will remain untold if we do not take this chance. The richness of the story of The Hobbit, as well as some of the related material in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings, allows us to tell the full story of the adventures of Bilbo Baggins and the part he played in the sometimes dangerous, but at all times exciting, history of Middle-earth.”

“So, without further ado and on behalf of New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Wingnut Films, and the entire cast and crew of The Hobbit films, I’d like to announce that two films will become three.”

It has been an unexpected journey indeed, and in the words of Professor Tolkien himself, ‘a tale that grew in the telling.’”

The Minions Get Own Spinoff Movie!

Those popular, little yellow guys from Universal/Illumination’s Despicable Me franchise will be starring in their own feature. Deadline.com reports that the Minions will be the star of Illumination’s fifth feature with Universal. Gru’s little helpers will be interacting with humans in the new project, which will be written by Brian Lynch (Hop, Puss in Boots) and directed by Pierre Coffin (Despicable Me) and Kyle Balda (The Lorax). Both Coffin and Balda provide the voices for The Minions.The original Despicable Me cost $69 million and grossed over $540 million worldwide, before being turned into the Orlando theme park ride Despicable Me Minion Mayhem. Pre-production on the untitled Minions film will begin at the same time as the production of Despicable Me 2. The sequel, which features the voices of Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig and Al Pacino will be released July 3, 2013, while the Minions family is planned for 2014. Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy are producing, Renaud is exec producer and the Paris-based Illumination Mac Guff in handling the CG animation.

Malaysian Toon ‘Origanimals’ Earns SPP Nod

The Malaysian animation industry is celebrating its latest success with the announcement that 3D animated series Origanimals has nabbed the Best Planning Award at the Seoul Promotion Plan 2012 Project Competition, which is held in conjunction with the Seoul Int’l Cartoon and Animation Festival. The project stood out from 109 entries from 19 countries and was one of 20 features, series and shorts selected as finalists for the final pitch sessions.Origanimals is being developed by Giggle Garage Sdn Bhd, an MSC Malaysia Status Company. The 52 x 11 3D HD series aimed at kids 4-8 follows four Origanimal (origami + animal) friends known as the Awesome Four as they go on adventures and help other Origanimals in trouble. The show is currently in pre-production with the first 26-episode season scheduled to be ready for broadcast in December 2013. An interactive version for the web is in planning.The winner announcement was made by head judge Linda Simensky (VP of Children’s Programming, PBS Kids, USA). The other finalist pitching judges at SPP 2012 were Orion Ross (VP – Original Series, Disney Channels EMEA, UK), Nils Stokke (Head of NRK Children’s, NRK Super, Norway), Min Park (Exec Producer, EBS Korea) and Dong-woo Lee (CEO, ROI VISUAL, Korea).

 Giggle Garage Sdn Bhd website : http://gigglegarage.com/

 The Giggle Garage team with Linda Simensky

More Details Leaked About Miyazaki’s New Pic

Hayao Miyazaki

A couple of tweets by Japanese animators Osamu Kobayashi (Paradise Kiss) and Takashi Hashimoto (Samurai Horror Tales) have revealed some information about Hayao Miyazaki’s next film. In previous interviews, the Oscar-winning director of classics such as Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro had said that his next movie will be biographical and “not the sort of work that everyone in the audience can relax and watch.”Now according to the tweets by Kobayashi and Hashimoto, the master helmer will be based on the life of Jiro Horikoshi, the man who designed the Zero fighter plane that was used in the attack on Pearl Harbor during the Second World War. Horikoshi was an aeronautical engineer who developed a number of military aircrafts, with Zero being his most famous invention.Studio Ghibli reportedly did a large-scale search for animators with extensive experience in drawing airplanes to work on Miyazaki upcoming film, which is expected to be released in late 2013.

Fox to Develop Pic Based on Ball’s ‘Ruin’

Fox is in negotiations to develop the animated sci-fi short Ruin by Wes Ball into a live-action feature, says The Hollywood Reporter. The project is being developed at McG’s Wonderland Sound and Vision under the supervision of Steve Tzirlin (Star Wars: The Clone Wars).Ball’s Ruin is set in a post-apolcalyptic, overgrown great future world and features an exciting motorcycle chase, which is reminiscent of the Terminator movies. Ball, a graphics designer and vfx artist who has worked on HBO and DVD/Blu-ray featurettes, is attached to direct and will co-write the script with T.S. Nowlin. A graduate of Florida State University, Tallahassee, Ball’s 2003 short film A Work in Progress won the Bronze Metal at the Student Academy Awards.

Wacom Launches Cintiq 22HD, 24HD Touch

 Hardware giant Wacom is bringing two shiny new toys for digital artists into their impressive interactive pen display lineup!The Cintiq 24HD touch is set to provide the most intuitive workflow experience to date by allowing users to work with both hands on the screen, by combining multi-touch controls and pen input to fully emulate a traditional media workflow—allowing artists and animators to manipulate their digital “canvas”. You can see the 24HD touch in action here (or below) with videos of Corel Painter 12.2 being used and technology previews from Autodesk demonstrating Mudbox and SketchBook Pro.The widescreen Cintiq 22HD offers illustrators, designers and others ways to interact with their artwork on a more personal level. The 1920 x 1080 display proves best-in-class pen performance and ergonomic features for a comfortable workflow. The 22HD replaces the Cintiq 21UX in the current pen display lineup.

CINTIQ 22HD

CINTIQ 24HD TOUCH

Additions to ‘Wreck-It Ralph’ Cast Are Announced

Disney’s much-anticipated holiday feature Wreck-It Ralph has added several new cast members to its roster of voice talent. The pic, which stars John C. Reilly has an 8-bit video game villain trying to prove to be a hero in other arcade games, also stars comedian Sarah Silverman as Vanellope von Schweetz, Jack McBrayer (30 Rock) and Jane Lynch (Glee) as the no-nonsense Sergeant Calhoun. Directed by Simpsons and Futurama veteran Rich Moore, the film will also feature Alan Tudyk (Firefly) as King Candy, the leader of the land of candy.New additions to the cast are Dennis Haysbert (24) as General Hologram, Adam Carolla and Horatio Sanz as a pair of bumbling security guards, Mindy Kaling (The Office) as Taffyta Muttonfudge, Edie McClurg (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) and Rachael Harris (New Girl) as two Nicelanders (background citizens in the Fix-It Felix game), Ed O’Neill (Modern Family) as the human owner of the movie’s family fun center and arcade, Stefanie Scott (A.N.T. Farm) as Moppet Girl. Roger Craig Smith will be reprising the voice of Sonic the Hedgehog, Gerald C. Rivers will be the voice of the Street Fighter villain M. Bison and Reuben Langdon will play Ken Masters.

Andrew Stanton to Direct ‘Finding Nemo’ Sequel

After the brutal experience of directing the live-action flop John Carter, Andrew Stanton will return to the more reliable world of animation by directing a sequel to Pixar’s Finding Nemo. Victoria Strouse (October Road) is working on the screenplay and Lindsey Collins (John Carter, WALL.E) is producing. Stanton won two Oscars for his work on WALL.E and the original 2003 feature Finding Nemo, which has the distinction of being Pixar’s second-highest grossing release and Disney’s third-biggest animated release of all-time.Earlier this year, Disney was forced to take a $200 million write-down on the pricey John Carter movie, which failed to generate a wide appeal. With Finding Nemo 2, Stanton will be able to bounce back in top form. A sequel to Monsters, Inc. is also in the works for 2013. Disney will release a 3-D version of Finding Nemo in theaters on September 14, which will push the movie higher up on the highest-grossers of all time chart.

New ‘Oz’ Pics from Disney

Having unveiled the trailer for the upcoming Sam Raimi-directed take on L. Frank Baum’s fantastical world at Comic-Con, Disney has also leaked some gorgeous preview images for 2013’s Oz: The Great and Powerful.The film, which will hit U.S. theaters March 8 of next year, combines story elements from several Oz books and stars James Franco, Mila Kunis, Zach Braff, Michelle Williams and Rachel Weisz. Danny Elfman composed the dramatic score.

Book of This Month

Third new book this month that Digital Artist : Master of Fantasy Art issues to 33. Can obtain in the market price of RM 49.00 per copy. CD also comes with free content.

Pixar Icon Pizza Planet Truck

The Pizza Planet truck makes deliveries for Pizza Planet in Toy Story. It has made cameos in every Pixar film except The Incredibles.

 

The Incredibles Game