Tag: DreamWorks Animation

Thoughts on Netflix’s Dragons, the Not so ‘Tween Movie Years

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

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The title card for Netflix‘s upcoming continuation of the How to Train Your Dragon world was announced and the third season will be titled Dragons: Race to the Edge. The images released today confirms it. Most of the information about this series was announced during WonderCon in Anaheim yesterday, and the good news is that the first 13 of 26 episodes will premiere in June. This frequency of releases, by a weekly schedule or not, will be better than what Netflix has previously done with only five episodes per block.

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Oh’s Not ‘Home’ Alone, A Movie Review

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest) and James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)

Home_(2015_film)_posterE: Home is truly where the heart is, and in my case, that’s with living in the Pacific Northwest. In DreamWork‘s case, that message gets gently delivered when Oh (Jim Parsons) just does not know how to belong.

He’s an outcast in his own community. When the Boov aliens are always on the run from a menacing alien Gorg race (Brian Stepanek), there’s never any time for them to settle in and be neighbourly. These simpletons are led by Captain Smek (Steve Martin) who is even worse. And when they decide to claim Earth as their own and relocate the entire human population elsewhere, I’m left wondering if the billions of people can even live on one single continent? Well, tossing logic aside, I can accept a few questionable moments in this film’s story direction. Overall, it’s an enjoyable family film which delivers strong messages.

J: The story of Home is a double-edged sword. On one side it delivers a positive message about friendship. No matter what you look like or what background you’re from home is where your friends and family are.
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Netflix’s Adventures of Puss in Boots, A Review

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

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DreamWorks Animation and Netflix‘s marriage produced an adorable Puss in Boots with a perchance for courting danger. He’s also a rogue, a scoundrel and a dim-wit. Though he tries his best to be a hero, sometimes the actions he makes are not without consequences. For example, in the first episode of The Adventures of Puss in Boots, “Hidden,” his skullduggery destroys an enchantment that shielded the rich town of San Lorenzo from thieves.

Eric Bauza is the new voice of the title character, and he does a respectable job of instilling the same panache into the cat that Antonio Banderas put into the theatrical version. Jayma Mays, in comparison, is almost like a spitting image of her Glee character, Emma Pillsbury, but only rendered in feline form. As Dulcinea, she’s oblivious to the dangers of what the bigger world entails. After what Puss did, she better be ready and she shows it by the fifth episode, “Adventure.”

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All Hail King Julien! A Review

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

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The high production values in Netflix’s All Hail King Julien certainly makes this cartoon worth paying attention to. Its CGI quality puts the animated television show Penguins of Madagascar to shame. Story wise, this show has a lot to like about how Julien inherits the throne. The series is not always about slapstick because the next ring-tailed lemur in the family has to learn how to be a proper king.

The irresponsible one viewers have come to know from the films and television series is Julien XIII (Danny Jacobs). In the past, he never learned responsibility and to be suddenly crowned by King Julien XII (Henry Winkler) is a bit of a shock to him. Even as a kid, he was a self-absorbed social misfit and party animal. He never understood about what courtly duties meant until now, and to make a series based on him learning important lessons puts this program right up there as a socially responsible show.

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The Penguins of Madagascar Unleashes 4 minutes of Hijinks!

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

penguinsofmadagascar1Debuting today is what looks like the first four minutes of Penguins of Madagascar available for fans to watch. This clip shows off the humblest and looniest of origins for the trio. Waitaminute, trio? Well, they have not recruited Private yet, and the main three — Skipper, Kowalski and Rico — are maturing chicks with a high strung desire to embark on adventures.

The threesome protects the adorably cute Private (who still has to hatch from his shell) from some ravenous seals. In what this trailer shows is how the trio are not quite the well oiled team. Just how they become a unit will no doubt be revealed in the film, but to see what they can do now is amusing in a slapstick kind of way.

The best thing about this trailer is that famed producer/director Werner Herzog narrates. People unfamiliar with this documentarian really has to simply google his name up to discover that he’s handled many a renowned documentary that explores the human condition. Other people may remember him best for the 1979 film Nosferatu the Vampyre.

The reason why Herzog was chosen to open Penguins of Madagascar is that his products are known to feature heroes with the hopes of achieving impossible dreams. When considering what the young Skipper, Kowalski and Rico aspire to, this nod is definitely made to give theatre-goers in the know a worthy chuckle.

If there are any other cameos to be found, audiences will have to wait until November 26.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkILifGifzE&w=560&h=315%5D

The Penguins of Madagascar gets an Adorably Cute Second Trailer

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

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More cute details are being unveiled in this new second trailer for DreamWork’s Penguins of Madagascar. Not only do fans get to see Skipper, Rico, Kowalski, and Private as adorable little chicks in a segment revealing their humble beginnings, but also this tease may no doubt be a set up for more squeals of delight to come. Perhaps new merchandise will arise for children who want an adorable stuffed doll of their favourite penguin. If Happy Feet did not succeed in getting children to seek out those dancing toy novelties, this film will certainly do a better job at creating a marketing bonanza with its vast cast of Arctic and aquatic oddities.

Although approximately half of the trailer shows new material, the rest is recycled to help round out what the movie is about. Dave, a mad octopus, is on the rampage and he is intent on destroying the Penguins’ reputation. The trailer suggests that what they will do is going to cement them as legends in the spy world.

Two more trailers may get released when Thanksgiving Day in the States nears. Perhaps its best that the only thing served during this holiday weekend is Dave’s thirst for revenge.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krF4Iq8hGT4%5D