There was a pile of news relating to animation over the last week, so I thought I'd clump it all together. First off, they've released the first trailer to the Paul Feig produced Peanuts movie, which I didn't know was happening. There is no reason why this movie couldn't have been conventionally hand animated, other than hand animation is apparently akin to cinematic leprosy, but I do enjoy the style they've went with. It has an Aardman/clay animation feel to it, and it appears the models are 2.5D, maintaining the classic Peanuts comic look and feel. The trailer feels like the Peanuts too, and that's important. Here's hoping that the full movie is able to maintain that without going off the rails. Luckily, the Peanuts have been adapted to long form stories before with moderate success, so the task can be done.
Next, Warners is moving forward with the Lego Movie sequel, which like everything, is awesome. Unfortunately, because of prior commitments, Lord and Miller won't be the geniuses behind the camera this time. Last time they left a project, the results were Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2, and that was crap. Wonderfully, Lord and Miller are still on the Lego follow-up as producers and probably will have story input as well. And their replacement isn't that much of a replacement: it's Chris McKay, who managed the stop-frame cinematography on the first Lego Movie, based on his experience directing Robot Chicken. So, he's both a natural and perfect choice. It promises that the next film will at least look as fantastic as it's predecessor.
Hit the jump for the latest Boxtrolls trailer, which actually reveals some plot information and introduces some of the characters, rather than just looking gorgeous.
Yep, still my most anticipated movie of the year.
Via The Mary Sue.