Teasers For Wolverine And Iron Man Anime From Madhouse
July 30, 2009 by tcgames · 3 Comments
About a year ago, we reported that Marvel had tapped the famous animation studio Madhouse to create four anime series for release in 2010, the first two of which would be based on Wolverine and Iron Man. The anime projects will be written by renowned writer Warren Ellis, who most recently wrote the kick-ass G.I. Joe: Resolute web shorts. Now that we’re getting so close to the release dates we can finally catch a glimpse of these projects in action, and they certainly look interesting.
Twitch has dug up the teasers on Youtube, which you can find embedded after the break.
First up is the Wolverine trailer, which unfortunately looks a tad generic. The only way you could tell this was a teaser for Wolverine is from the Marvel bumper at the beginning, and the fact that the main character has three claws coming out of each hand. The main character doesn’t look like any version of Logan I’ve ever seen, and honestly he just looks like any typical big-haired anime character in a generic samurai anime. As an admitted Wolverine fanboy, this teaser disappoints.
The Iron Man teaser looks more intriguing, especially since the action lends itself so well to anime like Macross. We see Stark blowing things up good in Paris, and a villain character who is apparently also a Navy captain that has a suit of his own. Anime logic, indeed.
Comic-Con: Miyazaki’s First Appearance, Previews Ponyo
During Disney’s Friday Comic-Con presentation of upcoming animation projects, chief creative officer John Lasseter screened footage from the upcoming animated film Ponyo and interviewed its director, Hayao Miyazaki. Bringing the acclaimed Japanese animation guru to Comic-Con stages for the first time, Lasseter and an appreciative crowd lavished praise on Myazaki’s body of work before showing a clip that exemplified the new film’s wondrous, beautiful imagery.
Ponyo was originally conceived and produced through Miyazaki’s native company, Studio Ghibli, but even removed of its cultural specificity, the film stood out sharply from its Western counterparts; indeed, after presentations for the re-release of Toy Story 1 and 2 and even new projects like The Princess and the Frog, its dreamlike quality and lyrical storytelling truly seemed to be part of an entirely different set of artistic rules. Lasseter, who is Miyazaki’s friend as well as his colleague, was effusive with his praise for both the filmmaker and his film, which he said "America deserves" as he brought the director to the stage.
As he took the stage, Lasseter asked him about his storyboarding process. Via a translator, Miyazaki explained, "My process is thinking, thinking and thinking—thinking about my stories for a long time. If you have a better way, please let me know."
Lasseter said he had the chance to watch Miyazaki at work creating storyboards himself that "are so beautiful," to which the director replied, "I think working on the storyboard alone is a custom we have in Japan in terms of animation. It’s not just I that works that way, but since I’m slow it seems like I’m working on the storyboards all of the time."
‘Kurokami’ to Be Bandai’s First Blu-ray Release
July 21, 2009 by tcgames · Leave a Comment
At Otakon Bandai Entertainment made several announcements including the fact that Kurokami-the Animation will be released on both standard DVD and in the high definition Blu-ray format. Kurokami, which is based on a popular manga series published here as Black God by Yen Press (see “Kurokami Gets Simultaneous Release”), will be Bandai’s first TV anime Blu-ray release.
Along with Fathom Events, Bandai is also sponsoring a theatrical showing of the Eureka Seven movie, Eureka Seven good night, sleep tight, young lovers, in 432 theaters for one night only on September 24th. Tickets will go on sale starting on August 21st at the Fathom Events Website.
Bandai also clarified some details concerning its release of Kannagi (see “Bandai Tries New Anime Business Model”). The Kannagi (Crazy Shrine Maidens) DVD will be subtitled only. Bandai is not releasing a dubbed version of the anime. Also when Bandai does make the title available at mass market retailers, it will have a higher, not a lower suggested retail price.
Will A Voltron Movie Continue In ‘Transformers’ Footsteps?
July 21, 2009 by tcgames · 3 Comments
I’m a child of the ’80s and damn proud of it. I used to rush home from school for my daily "Transformers"/"G.I. Joe" fix. "Sesame Street" and "Mr. Rogers" were totally my nursery school bag. I had spiked hair for crying out loud! Proud ’80s child or not though, I don’t really remember "Voltron" too well.
I had a die-cast toy model of course. And I did watch the cartoon to some degree. I remember that there are five flying lion robots/spaceships that come together to form the mighty Voltron. That’s about all though. Still, it’ll be enough to draw me into the theater when "The Dark Knight" producer Charles Roven, along with pals Richard Suckle and Steve Alexander, put out their silver screen adaptation of the import cartoon series.
The Hollywood Reporter’s Risky Biz Blog brings word that the producers — who together form Atlas Entertainment — have picked up the rights to the long-dormant property. The trio will be joined by "Wanted" producer Jason Netter and World Events’ Ted Koplar.
The general script follows the five defenders of the planet Arus, each of whom pilots a flying lion/robot/thing. When the machinations of the evil King Zarkon become too much to handle — as they so often do — the five lion-ship-things lock together in the form of the giant, Zarkon-defusing robot Voltron. Why they don’t always tromp around as the Big V is beyond me.
"Voltron" ran in the U.S. for two years, from 1984 to 1985. The series got a reboot in the ’90s and then saw a comic book adaptation from Devil’s Due "a few years ago," but it hasn’t really managed to catch on in a big way since the initial ’80s excitement. Perhaps Atlas’s coming live-action update will change things. Bring on the low-to-mid nine figures production budget and Michael Bay-scale visual effects!!
Do you remember "Voltron"? Did/do you like "Voltron"?
Hayao Miyazaki Scheduled To Appear At Comic-Con
The Los Angeles Times newspaper reports that Oscar-winning director Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind) will appear for the first time at San Diego’s Comic-Con International (CCI) next month. According to the paper, the Studio Ghibli co-founder will show clips from his latest film, Ponyo, at the convention.
On July 25 — the Saturday that falls in the middle of CCI — Miyazaki will travel to the University of California, Berkeley in northern California to accept the second annual Berkeley Japan Prize and participate in a moderated discussion. The Tuesday after CCI, Miyazaki will travel to Beverly Hills to appear at the headquarters of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS of Oscar fame) for a tribute with Pixar director John Lasseter.
Ponyo will open in the United States on August 14, after its English-language premiere on Sunday at the Los Angeles Film Festival.
Hayao Miyazaki’s ‘Ponyo’ Trailer Has Been Released
June 24, 2009 by tcgames · Leave a Comment
Walt Disney Pictures has released the movie trailer for the American redub of Legendary Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki’s latest movie Ponyo. The film will be released on over 800 screens, the largest American release yet for Miyazaki. And the trailer features some fantastic visuals which will hopefully appeal to the masses.
You can see this trailer in theaters this weekend attached to My Sister’s Keeper or watch it now after the jump. As always, leave your thoughts in the comments below.
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Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale The Little Mermaid, the film tells the story of a baby goldfish named Ponyo (voiced by Noah Cyrus) who desires to be a human, and gets her wish. She runs away from her home in the sea and befriends a five-year-old human boy named Sosuke (Frankie Jonas). Other cast members include Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Tina Fey, Cloris Leachman, Liam Neeson, Lily Tomlin and Betty White.
Watch the trailer in High Definition on Apple. Ponyo will hit theaters on August 14th 2009.  You can also watch it below…
U.S. Stars To Voice Miyazaki’s ‘Ponyo’ For Its American Release
June 18, 2009 by tcgames · 2 Comments
An A-list cast—including Liam Neeson, Matt Damon and Tina Fey—will voice the masterful, otherwordly animation of Japanese virtuoso Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea for its North American release, with a bit of help from E.T. writer Melissa Matheson, producer Frank Marshall told reporters this week.
Marshall and his producing partner Kathleen Kennedy are deeply involved in bringing the movie to mainstream western audiences this summer. "Kathy and I came on to produce the North American, English-speaking version of Ponyo," Marshall said on Tuesday. "It’s been a fantastic experience."
Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale "The Little Mermaid," Ponyo tells the story of a goldfish and her quest to become human.
Warner Brothers’ Live-Action Akira Remake Is Dead?
The live-action adaptation of the classic anime Akira is dead, according to a report from Bloody Disgusting. The film has been in the hands of Warner Brothers and Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company Appian Way for some time, and Gary Whitta (The Book of Eli) has been working to crack the script. The plan, reportedly, was to craft two films in order to preserve the scope of the massive manga by Katsuhiro Otomo (who co-wrote and directed the anime, as well) with Ruairi Robinson directing. But Robinson is now said to be off the project, which is also ‘dead as a doornail’.
Quite a few changes would have been made to the material; notably, the live-action film would have been set in ‘New Manhattan’, rather than the Neo-Tokyo of the original manga and anime. No cast was ever publicly revealed to be attached. The involvement of Appian Way led many to suspect that DiCaprio would star as the teen biker Kaneda, despite being demonstrably too old for the part, but the actor publicly denied any involvement beyond producing duties. Joseph Gordon-Levitt was rumored to be in mind for Tetsuo, the friend of Kaneda whose psychic powers are awakened, setting of a cataclysmic chain of destructive events in Neo-Tokyo. He also denied any attachment.
Frankly, it’s difficult to see why Warner Brothers would move forward with the film(s) after Watchmen failed to become a breakout hit. Akira is similar in that it is highly conceptual with a complex character structure, a great deal of plot and backstory to communicate and, if done in properly detailed fashion, would be wildly expensive. Doing the film on anything less than a grand scale would be to miss the point. With an intricately detailed anime already in existence (and one which struggles to tell the story, even with the scope reduced from that of the manga, which had not completed publication when the film was made) why make a new feature that was forced to scale down?
In the wake of the WGA strike that ended in February ‘08, plans were once announced to fast-track the first film for release this summer. That obviously didn’t happen, in part because the script didn’t come together in time. Yet I’d held out an almost perverse hope that Appian Way could bring the project to fruition. I’m no great fan of the anime (despite its great visual splendor) but would have liked to see something as epic as a two-film Akira adaptation hit screens, in part because of how financially and artistically risky it would be.
‘Hello Kitty’ Theme Park Proposed in China for 2013
June 15, 2009 by tcgames · Leave a Comment
The Zhejiang Daily newspapers and other Chinese media sources are reporting that a Hello Kitty theme park has been proposed for construction in Huzhou, a city on the east coast of China. The Zhejiang Investment & Trade Symposium hosted a June 9 ceremony to mark an investment agreement with Sanrio, the Japanese branding company behind Hello Kitty and other characters. The Hello Kitty park would entail an investment of US$215 million (about 21.1 billion yen).
The proposed park would take up 133 hectares (328 acres) on a site about two hours away from Shanghai by car. By contrast, the entire Disneyland Resort complex in California — including the original Disneyland, Disney’s California Adventures, Downtown Disney, and the three company hotels — takes up about 200 hectares (500 acres). The Hello Kitty park’s planners are aiming for a June 2013 opening date. The park will feature 3D animation and other high-tech attractions, as well as retail areas for official Hello Kitty items.
Japan already built a Sanrio Puroland theme park on the western outskirts of Tokyo. However, at 45,900 square meters (11 acres), the indoor facility is much smaller than either Disneyland or the proposed Chinese Hello Kitty park . Hello Kitty enjoys broad popularity throughout Asia; the Japanese government “appointed” Hello Kitty as its tourism ambassador to China and Hong Kong last year. Hello Kitty’s Dream Light Fantasy stage musical opened in Beijing last year. The Hello Kitty Online massively multi-player online role-playing game is available in many countries except for Japan itself. Similarly, there is a new 3D animation series called The Adventures of Hello Kitty & Friends that has been running in several countries around the world since last year, but not in Japan and North America.
Anime Network Taken Off Comcast, Put on DirecTV
May 30, 2009 by tcgames · 4 Comments
A.D. Vision’s Anime Network television service has announced on its web forum on Friday that it will no longer be available on the Comcast cable service provider in the United States. At the same time, The Anime Network announced it is available on the VOD service from the DirecTV satellite television provider. The network is also offering the first five episodes of the Kiba, Mezzo, and Azumanga Daioh anime series on the Ovi Phone Service for select Nokia phones.
Thank you to Prede for the news tip.
Update: The American anime distributor Funimation put its Funimation Anime video-on-demand content on Comcast earlier this month. This move coincided with the removal of Comcast’s own Anime Selects package from the same cable provider.
The Anime Network was available as one of DirecTV’s Pay per View Channels in 2006. It later became part of DirecTV’s Video On Demand offerings.
