Now that the award season is underway, Disney/Pixar is priming the pump for their next CGI animated feature flick, Up.
The good folks at Yahoo scored a look at the latest poster for the film, which is written and directed by Pete Docter and Bob Peterson.
It shows our hero, Carl Fredericksen (Ed Asner) looking terrified as he flies through the air with the greatest of ease. Just above him is thrilled Wilderness Explorer Russell (Jordan Nagai) while an as-yet unnamed dog hangs onto the water hose. A blue bird peeks out from behind Fredericksen's house which has been hoisted in the air by a whole mess of balloons.
It's not the most inspired poster out there, but it conveys the characters in a fun way. The perspective is more than a little messed-up; that bird must be absolutely massive considering it's sitting on a house.
Will Up Be Any Good?
A better question to ask might be: how can Up go wrong? Pete Docter and Bob Peterson aren't in the first rank of Pixar directors, but they've put together a couple of decent animated films. A Bug's Life was a solid follow-up to Toy Story, and Monsters Inc. is one of the more underrated (if that's all possible) films in the Pixar catalogue. Actually, Pixar hasn't released a stinker yet, with the possible exception of Cars (and even that flick wasn't too bad).
Docter is credited with helping put together the idea for WALL-E, while Peterson assisted with the script for Finding Nemo, Pixar's most successful film to date.
Early reviews for Up are overwhelmingly positive, with some commentators saying that it might even match or surpass Pixar's recent output.
The only major competition is either DreamWorks Animation's Monsters vs. Aliens or Fox/Blue Sky's Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. Monsters vs. Aliens is coming out on March 27th, while Ice Age 3 happens July 1st.
It's likely that Monsters vs. Aliens will make its cash and get out before Up hits theatres, so there's really very little competition there. The bigger issue is how Up will fare against Ice Age 3. The latter film is from a durable franchise, but there are signs that the Ice Age series is beginning to run out of gas.
Another issue is whether there will be enough 3-D theatres to support all those movies, all of which are getting 3-D releases. Again, Monsters vs. Aliens has little to worry about, but Up and Ice Age 3 are going up against James Cameron's Avatar, which promises to be another monster film in the vein of Terminator 2: Judgment Day or Titanic. Should that flick be the blockbuster it's expected to be, then there simply won't be enough 3-D theatres available.
Sorry, Jeffrey Katzenberg, the 3-D revolution may not happen as scheduled.
 |
