This is the second trailer showing gameplay from the up and coming Astro Boy videogame. It’s funny how sometimes that the more you see of something, the more it just unsells you: And in his case the lack of quality of the game is not only unselling me from the game but from the film itself. Frankly everything associated with this film is starting to feel second rate to me. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Aug 27, 2009 in Animation
This is the third trailer for AstroBoy, yeah there’s a quick shot of Tezuka (at the 1:18 mark) if you don’t blink or get distracted by the bad voice acting. But what pains me is the poor animation I’m seeing here. The danger of doing 3D animation is that you put yourself up against Pixar unless you are doing something very different, and for something that’s very different (it is suppose to anime, no?) this looks like a 2nd rate Ice Age straight-to-video project. Of course the real problem from what little I’m seeing here looks like the script, if you can’t get that all the money you throw at the screen won’t improve anything. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 25, 2009 in Animation
This is a trailer for an potential upcoming anime series called Cat Shit One by studio anima. First off what makes this look so different is that it’s interesting to see a Japanese studio do their take on what CGI should look like — we’ve seen Pixar set the pace for years, but this series clearly has its own sensibilities. Which brings me to the next point: The subject matter of this show is war with the twist of featuring cute woodland creatures. The last time anyone has tried anything like this was the animated film Watership Down which while being an amazing film was never a huge commercial success. Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Nov 21, 2008 in Animation
Why did the makers of the new CGI Astro Boy decide to “improve” upon Tezuka’s original design and outfit our hero in a preppie styled sweater and pants? The other thing that makes me sad about this first preview is that the rest of the characters make this look like every other CGI movie that’s ever been made. This won’t win over the old fanboys who might take the kids, it won’t win over the kids because it looks like everything else, and I can only guess how the Japanese will feel about this wardrobe upgrade. Read more…
