Thursday, June 5, 2008

3-D Animation Movies




Look at the pic on the right!....No, I've not seen this movie yet. That doesn't mean I'm not excited about this movie. I've been a long time fan of 3D animation movies. Just to recall what I've seen before....Antz, Toy Story & Toy Story 2, A Bug's Life , Monsters, Inc, Finding Nemo , The Incredibles , Cars, Ratatouille , The Shrek Trilogy , The Ice Age Collection (Ice Age/ Ice Age: The Meltdown) , Over the Hedge , Madagascar, and Shark Tale . Except Shark Tale, Antz and Shrek 3, I own the 'official' DVD of all of them.
Basically, out of them all, I do have my favorites over others. However, I can say that I enjoy most of them. Also, the reason why I bought all of them is that I know that my son will enjoy them very much. As I think that these movies deserves repetitive watching, so I don't have any problem watching them again and again with my son when he is a bit older in few years. Cos, I think that other than the entertainment value, the artistic achievement in this movies. They do have good stories and positive messages that will be educational value to my son. For example, even I've not seen 'Kung Fu Panda' yet, I can guess that this movie is trying to convey a message that... "regardless what you are born as, as long as your work hard, you still can succeed." Well, let's see if I'm right about that when I see the movie. Anyway, come to think of it, my wife is quite astonished when I told her my purpose of collecting those movies. Cos, I started doing that even before we married, let alone have kid!
Thanks to Pixar, the 3-D animation movies were getting popular and common. Firstly, it is because they have been doing very well in box office. Secondly, the cost of producing one is getting cheaper with improving technology and outsourcing to other countries like Philippines, South Korea, etc. Actually, the original cost to produce this kind of movie is about US$60-70MM, an amount that I heard few years back. While comparing with those US$100+MM blockbusters, some of which may bomb, like the latest 'Speed Racer'. They are good bets by many studios. Certainly, Disney-Pixar is the best, but DreamWorks is not far behind, thanks to Shreks. However, their records, unlike Pixar's, are kinda relatively more spotty with some ups (like Shreks) and downs (like Shark Tale, Antz) as well. As there are getting more and more 3-D animation movies coming out, I've started missing some of them in the last few years. Like the 'Bee Movie', and few others before. I'm not sure if I will catch them up down the road anyway.
In the summer of 2008, there will be few 3-D animations coming out. The top choice will be 'Kung Fu Panda' for me. Though, I've been a big fan of Pixar's movies. So, I wouldn't miss 'Wall.E', but I have kinda lower expectation to that one: at somewhat the same level as 'Cars'. Cos, the premise of Wall.E is kinda less appealing to me. So, Kung Fu Panda is my top choice, especially after reviewing its trailers. I think the voice of Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, and Dustin Hoffman are very fit to the characters. Also, the story sounds attractive, considering in today's movies, many kung fu movies are added with CG animation, so it is a natural fit the other way around. Just can't wait to see it in the theatre!

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