The new teaser trailer for Frozen 2 is exciting for the majesty invoked, and in what it’s telling, Elsa (Idina Menzel) magical powers may have come from other supernatural sources. Or, as the Northern setting suggests, could she be of the faerie folk? I’m only guessing here, but this new offering released today gives fans a lot of reasons to be excited about this film when it plays in theatres in November.
She’s backed by her sister, Anna (Kristen Bell), Kristoff (Jonathan Groff), Olaf the snowman (Josh Gad) and Sven the reindeer in a quest to save the kingdom. This time, it’s not from human invaders, but rather supernatural ones. Together, they have to go north perhaps to discover her true nature and find out what granted her these powers. Or was she born with it?
Watching a retread of a favourite anime as live action can be hit or miss. The earliest I have seen is Lone Wolf and Cub (1972) which introduced me to the genre. This series of films were awesome. The Guyver (1991) was cheesy and Space Battleship Yamato (2010) was one that barely worked. That piece was difficult to compress an epic story arc into one movie. Netflix’s version of Death Note (2017) can not compare to the Japanese productions decades prior. It did not have enough meat. When considering the Japanese production of Fullmetal Alchemist isnow on Netflix, to see this adaptation is a must.
I have read the first few books, and the tightened narrative and visual design had me captivated. With thanks to current CGI rendering technologies, Al simply looks fantastic. Not every bit of the digital action is top-notch. In later parts, when audiences are staring at armies of the undead, the realism takes a dive and I could swear I’m watching The Mummy Returns all over again.
Plenty of computer animated films have graced 2014 around the world. From Asterix: The Land of the Gods to Postman Pat and evenTinkerbell & The Legend of the Never Beast, not everything will make the grade of being wildly successful. Some of these titles were direct-to-video releases and others saw a limited distribution. But when fans of this new cartoon animation medium are going to be picky, they will find certain animations will properly tug at the heart-strings and others will appeal to an all-ages crowd. There’s even a few that some will miss because it never made a North American Release until now. From an international perspective, presented are the top five films that are notable in no particular order:
Belgian production house Studio 100 are certainly busy bees these days. Not only have they licensed Maya the Bee Movie to Shout! Factory to fly into North America next year, but also they have the simply titled Heidi getting ready to bring her charm to the world in an all new animated television program that will be aimed for young girls when the series finally launches in 2015. Products from toy manufacturer Famosa will also be made available in most European markets.
The novels Heidi’s Years of Learning and Travel and Heidi Makes Use of What She has Learned are amongst the best known works of Swiss literature written by novelist Johanna Spyri. Over 50 million books were sold and translated into other languages. These stories have been adapted into other forms of media over the years and this CGI update will only further interest. Hopefully Shout! Factory and Studio 100 will continue their relationship and work together to bring this title to North America.
Amongst anime fans, she is known as the Girl of the Alps, Heidi (アルプスの少女ハイジ), which saw release back in 1974. This series is notable because of the work put into it by many notable anime pioneers, including Studio Ghibli founders Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki. The updated version by Studio 100 pays homage to this fond favourite and it really shows in the trailer. The series has not started broadcasting yet, but it will most likely see release in Europe first, premiering on Austrian public broadcasting channel ORF, before showing up on other speciality channels.
Our goal is to follow the pop culture scene of the Pacific Northwest (Victoria, B.C. especially). This can range from the arts to books to cinema to television. With Hollywood North nearby, we try to keep up. Our content also includes peaks into what's trending in Asia, but more importantly, in what we love to fill our shelves with!
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By Ed Sum 
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