Computer Graphics World

December 2008 38 ■ ■ ■ ■ VFX/Animation Waltz with Bashir Release date: Dec. 25 Production companies: Bridget Fol- man Film Gang, Les Films D'Ici, Razor Film Produktion GmbH, Arte France, Hot Telecommunication, ITVS, Israel Film Fund, Medienboard Berlin-Bran- denburg, New Israeli Foundation for Cinema and Television, Noga Commu- niation–Channel 8 Just like Persepolis stood out last year as an unusual entry, Waltz with Bashir will be this year's interesting film, predicts Beck. "It's a powerful film that happens to use animation to tell its story. ere's no flashy animation or techniques. It's 180 degrees away from Kung Fu Panda, which is my favorite film of the year." Bolt Release date: Nov. 21 Production companies: Walt Disney An- imation Studios, Walt Disney Pictures A lot of attention has been paid to this animated feature—to be released in stereo 3D—and the first at Walt Disney Anima- tion to be executive-produced by Pixar's John Lasseter. Since Lasseter took over, John Travolta and Miley Cyrus joined the project. However, Beck, for one, is cautious about the results. "I hope they pull it off," he says. "I'm sure it's a perfectly fine family film, but I don't expect it to be more than that." Disney's Hahn counters: "is is a strong film and reflects the great influence of the collaboration between Disney and Pixar. It's a very painterly movie. It won't have a slick plastic look just because it's CG. It looks more like an illustration with a hand-done quality to the backgrounds, which makes it visually delicious. More important, the story is great." Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa Release date: Nov. 7 Production companies: DreamWorks Animation, PDI "It has a lot of heart and a lot of laughs," says Beck, who calls this sequel better than the original. "It's solid entertainment. If you like those characters, they're all back, and they're all funny." Horton Hears a Who! Release date: March 14 (wide release) Production companies: Blue Sky Stu- dios, 20 th Century Fox Animation, 20 th Century Fox Film Corporation Sony Pictures Imageworks' Andrews calls director Chris Wedge "brilliant." "He really has a stamp on animation," Andrews comments. "He goes back into the vault of animation techniques and pulls out cool things that have never been done before in CG and pulls it off beau- tifully. He smartly uses techniques every- one has forgotten about. It's not quaint, it's contemporary." The Tale of Despereaux Release date: Dec. 19 Production companies: Larger than Life Productions, Relativity Media, Universal Animation Studios, Universal Pictures To be released by Universal Pictures this month, e Tale of Despereaux tells a tale of three unlikely heroes. "is could be a surprise that captures my fancy," says Beck. Sony Pictures Imageworks' Andrews also looks forward to the movie. "It looks in- teresting," he says. "It's a genre-bender. It's a cute animal story, but not with a poor, downtrodden mouse, but rather the mouse that roars and the Cinderella who isn't tak- ing any [crap] from the stepsisters. I want to see it because it's a different take." ere are a number of films in both the VFX and Animation categories that have compelling visuals but, for some reason or another, did not generate comment from those interviewed for this article. at does not mean, however, that such a movie is not Oscar worthy. As everyone knows, each year there is that one film which surprises every- one and ends up with a nomination and, in some instances, the grand prize itself, the Oscar. For now, though, we will just have to wait and see which make the short list, and which receive the coveted gold statue. ■ Debra Kaufman is a freelance writer for numerous entertainment industry publications. She also covers video and other entertainment content for the mobile platform at www.MobilizedTV.com. She can be reached at dkla99@verizon.net. Bolt may have a classic painterly look, but to achieve that, Disney invented new CG technology. Blue Sky retains Horton's Seussian style.

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