In the last few years, Hollywood has seen its favourite hits recycled, reheated and regurgitated. In 2011 will deliver a whole set of brand ‘new’ animated features – with some of the biggest names fronting the cast and sitting in the director’s seat. Of course, a quick glance through the list will show you that there’s very little in there that’s actually new – a fat panda gets cuter in ‘Kung Fu Panda: The Kaboom of Doom’, the last dregs of the Shrek enterprise are fully savoured in ‘Puss In Boots,’ and ‘Cars 2’ brings you more of Lightning McQueen; then there’s another bout of nausea inducing squeaking from the casts of Alvin and the Chipmunks and much toe tapping in a sequel to Happy Feet.
But its’ not all gloom and doom – we’ve had a chance to forget some of the older cartoons. The Smurfs franchise gets dusted off, Winnie the Pooh reappears with honey, and Tintin will have a chance to look less like a cartoon sketch and more like a real boy. In 2011, the exodus of live-action directors to animation continues with Gore Verbinski and Steven Spielberg both directing their own films. That being said, a few of the animated films out this summer are the genuine article. Here are three films worth checking out:
Rango
Directed By: Gore Verbinski
Starring: Johnny Depp as the chameleon Rango, Isla Fisher as a desert iguana named Beans and Bill Nighy as Rattlesnake Jake
Synopsis: A household pet goes on an adventure to discover its true self.
Rated: PG
In Theaters: March 4, 2011
The first full length animated feature to be produced by George Lucas’ special effects company Industrial Light & Magic has been a winner at the box office. Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski’s animation debut, ‘Rango’ follows a pampered pet chameleon as he’s forced to take charge of a small town called Dirt and help protect its quirky residents from bandits.
Johnny Depp as a chameleon has more than a passing similarity to Johnny Depp as Raoul in Fear and Loathing, but that comparison aside, be warned that ‘Rango’ is not entirely kid friendly. Critics have praised it for being a “smart, giddily creative burst of beautifully animated entertainment.”
Rio: The Movie
Directed by: Carlos Saldanha
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg as a Spix’s Macaw named Blu, Anne Hathaway as Jewel and George Lopez as Rafael, a Toco Toucan.
Synopsis: A macaw named Blu decides to set off in hot pursuit of the only other bird of his species in the world – and finds himself having an adven ture in Rio de Janeiro.
Rated: G
Release Date: 15 April 2011
“1 out of every 8 Americans is afraid of flying. Most of them don’t have feathers,” runs the tagline for Rio: The Movie. Opening this week at Liberty Cinema, Rio is the story of a rare Spix’s macaw who decides to travels to Rio de Janeiro after learning that another of his kind – a possible soulmate! - resides there.
The movie marks Social Network star Jesse Eisenberg’s first appearance in an animated feature, (Hathaway has lent her voice to 2002’s The Cat Returns and 2005’s Hoodwinked!), while director Carlos Saldanha is stepping out from the Ice Age series for the first time since 2005’s underwhelming Robots.
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