Monsters vs. Aliens 3-D Super Bowl Ad
DreamWorks Animation Film Stars Reese Witherspoon, Hugh Laurie
Jan 5, 2009 Dominic von Riedemann
DreamWorks Animation is going to the Super Bowl.
No, the Glendale-based studio is not putting together a football team, but Jeffrey Katzenberg and the gang is premiering a groovy-ghoulie commercial for their upcoming animated film, Monsters vs. Aliens.
According to the Associated Press, the 90-second spot will premiere during halftime at Super Bowl XLIII.
Monsters vs. Aliens Preview at Super Bowl XLIII
Using football to promote family-friendly animated films is nothing new. Disney/Pixar used last year's Super Bowl to premiere a spot for their film WALL-E, which featured Toy Story's Woody (Tom Hanks) and Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) discussing the titular robot.
The 90 second preview for the film will be shown in "Tru 3-D," the new technique that DreamWorks is hoping to ride to uncounted riches and glory. DreamWorks will be giving away over 150 million free 3-D glasses at Pepsi/SoBe Life Water displays at about 28,000 locations including grocery, drug and electronics stores and big-box retailers.
DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg called the spot, "perhaps the biggest media-advertising event in history." He wouldn't tell anyone how much it would cost, but admitted it "involves tens of millions of dollars."
Katzenberg promised the 3-D images in the spot will be superior to previous efforts, but the spot won't be nearly as eye-popping as what will be seen when Monsters vs. Aliens comes out in 3-D theatres.
He said the free glasses will use "Intel InTru 3D" and "ColorCode 3-D," which replaces the old red-blue Anaglyph system. Unlike that system, viewers without the glasses will still be able to see a clear image on their television screens.
To offset the cost of making and distributing the glasses, NBC will also air a special 3-D episode of Chuck the night after the Super Bowl broadcast.
What's Monsters vs. Aliens About?
The film follows Susan Murphy (Reese Witherspoon), a shy girl from Southern California who gets hit by a meteorite on her wedding day, causing her to grow to 49' and 11" tall. She's promptly captured by Gen. W.R. Monger (Kiefer Sutherland) and placed in a top secret facility with other monsters: fish/ape hybrid Missing Link (Will Arnett), B.O.B. the blob (Seth Rogen), Dr. Cockroach (Hugh Laurie) and the gigantic Insectosaurus.
However, when an alien overlord named Gallaxhar (The Office's Rainn Wilson) invades the Earth, only this team of random freaks can save humanity.
Rob Letterman (Shark Tale) and Conrad Vernon (Shrek 2) are sharing the director's chair for this flick.
Super Bowl XLIII airs on February 1st. Monsters vs. Aliens comes out March 27th.
Fun Fact: Could you imagine DreamWorks animators playing at the Super Bowl? One can hear their battle cry now: "Not the fingers! Not the fingers!"
Monsters vs. Aliens character sheet for Ginormica
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