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Posts tagged as “FOX”

From the inside

Let’s begin with the announcement of a new drama.
Shawn Ryan has, in addition to FX’s upcoming Terriers, another series in preparation for the FOX network (with Lie to Me): Ridealong, about cops in Chicago.
“It should be less serialized than Grey’s Anatomy but more than CSI.”
Ryan says that an event in the pilot will set off the series’ overarching mythology (and ramifications). I’m thinking something akin to Terry Crowley’s death in the Shield‘s pilot episode.
There’s also going to be a unique take on the cop drama genre, according to Ryan, that will allow Ridealong to differenciate itself from The Shield, Hill Street Blues, and other Southland.
The new show should also shoot on location, meaning in Chicago.

Amy Chozick at the Wall Street Journal has a great article on ‘the women behind Mad Men‘.


In case you didn’t know (like me before I read the above article), seven of the nine writing team members are women.
There are other great tidbits about the show and how close certain storylines are from actual real-life situations the various writers have faced.

And finally, looks like Battlestar Galactica‘s Edward James Olmos is joining Michel Gondry’s team on the Green Hornet.
Olmos facing Seth Rogen and Nicolas Cage?
I want to see that now.

Don Bluth: The Man who would not scream "Eek-A-Mouse"

Don Bluth: The Man who would not scream "Eek-A-Mouse"
Hey again, Lordofnoyze here with an unusual look at one overlooked master of animation. Now, for this blog, I will talk about a time way before DreamWorks Animation and Pixar, way before 3-D (well, as we know it or we are about to know it…I see you, James). Ever since the launch of Walt Disney Studios, in the 1930s, the Mouse firm maintained a strong domination in terms of animation feature films. (Warner Bros. and Universal only competed in short films).
That is, until the 1980s, when a renegade director born in El Paso, Texas (*insert Clint Eastwood music here*) took the challenge to direct animation feature films and fight Dinsey on their own turf.

The first Don Bluth-directed movie was for MGM, a little movie called “Brisby and The Secret of Nimh“. It was adapted from a Robert O’Brien book, that may have its second coming on screen thanks to Paramount and Neil Burger (but this time, it would be live-action…with a little CGI enhancement, of course).

It was followed by two videogames: “Dragon’s Lair“, and “Space Ace“. But Don Bluth hit the jackpot when he associated with Steven Spielberg and Universal. The results were two of the better-remembered 80’s kids flicks: “An American Tail” in 1986, and “The Land Before Time” in 1988. It spawned two franchises built around the heroes, Fievel the Mouse from the West, and Littlefoot. Fievel had one theatrical sequel, and two direct-to-video sequels. Littlefoot returned in a staggering 12 video sequels (!!!), the most recent dating way back to 2007. Both also had animated shows, and proved worth a lot of money for Universal.

This is where I pause. You know the first time when I cried while watching a movie? Nope, it sure wasn’t “Bambi”. It was the earthquake scene of “The Land Before Time”, when Littlefoot loses his mother. It was disturbing as hell to me, and it was the first time where I realised my own mortality, as well as the ones around me. Needless to say, putting four orphan dinosaurs put into situations of danger, all while grieving, took a lot of balls. It made for a highly emotional movie, that disputed any of the Disney classics.

Shortly after that, Bluth reunited with MGM for his most daring movie yet, “All Dogs Go To Heaven“. And if you thought that “The Land Before Time” had dark subject matter, I present to you the IMDB pitch.

A dog returns from the dead looking for revenge on his killer using an orphan
girl who can talk to animals.

Yes, we’re talking about a G-rated movie.

And a kind soul put the ending on YouTube, so to all of you that are not afraid of spoilers (right…like you cared about this movie until now), enjoy the imagery.

I mean…

Come on.
The movie was the first one produced under his new Sullivan Bluth Studios in Ireland. Right after the average box office scores, trouble began. Right after finding trouble in investments, and having a hard time distributing “Rock-A-Doodle“, his final movie for the Lion Firm, Bluth signed a deal with Warner Animation Studios, a newly founded wing destined to produce animation movies…and also compete with Disney. He produced two movies under the Warner banner: an adaptation of “Thumbelina“, one of Hans Christian Andersen’s tales, and “The Pebble and The Penguin“. The first one did good, the second one was a flop, critically and commercially.

Bluth had to wait until 1997 until luck found him again. 20th Century Fox appointed him and Gary Goldman to be chairmen of Fox Animation Studios, also a new division destined to compete with Disney and soon-to-be-open DreamWorks Animation. The success of “Anastasia“, with voices from Meg Ryan, John Cusack and Kelsey Grammer, led to a DTV sequel around Bartok the rat (again). But the phenomenal flop of “Titan A.E.” in 2000, scripted by three screenwriters well-known of us geeks, John August, Ben Edlund and Joss Whedon, led to an early retirement.

Now he’s opened his own website, donbluth.com, and his Don Bluth Films based in Phoenix, AZ, produces content for Web and IPhones alike.

OK, so…what’s my point?

Well, Bluth is a forgotten “artisan” that always stayed true to 2-D animation, and if you can see anything in his movies, it’s uncompromising (and yes, often dark) subject matter. But even if seeing it with very young kids is not a very good idea, it stays great to rediscover an alternative to rosy-colored, two-dimensional characters. I mean, for crissakes, the dogs in “Charlie” gamble, and it’s set in 1930s New Orleans, Vice City before Miami claimed that crown!!! But think about it: if there weren’t any Bluth movies, would Disney execs have accepted a pitch where an old man goes on a quest for adventure when his wife dies of illness?

(Well…they probably would have, since it’s Pixar. But you get my point.)

So, here’s my 2 cents to respect the artist. And I’ll leave you with a few in-depth links:
– Interview to IGN back when Titan A.E. was released

Oh, and a lot of his movies may be available on the YouTubes.

I said “may”.

Picture this

Being too lazy for any real news tonight, I came across a few pictures that were, let’s just say, interesting.

First, there’s this mashup of how game dialogue has evolved throughout the years:

There’s also the new Surrogates movie posters that seem to bear a striking resemblance to The Sarah Chronicles‘.

Same font, same background, same pose (sorta)…

Oh, and there’s this pic of Stephen Colbert in the 80s:

Almost laugh-out-loud funny.

Speaking of laugh-out-loud funny, I almost forgot about this vid I came across.
It looks like some old ’80s film…for the new Red Hour company from Ben Stiller, which very recently left DreamWorks to take up residence at 20th Century Fox.
I’ll be sure to update this post with the video once I find the embedding thingy…

UPDATE: Well, you can check out the video over here.