Animation World Magazine, Issue 2.8, November 1997


Animation World News:Films

The long-awaited Fox Animation feature, Anastasia.
©Twentieth Century Fox.

Anastasia Has Arrived! Fox Family Films' debut animated feature film effort, and Don Bluth's first film since Thumbelina (Filmation), has been completed and will be released in theaters in New York on November 14, with a nationwide (U.S.) release set for November 21. Animation World Magazine got a sneak-preview of the film, and we can certainly say it was well worth the wait! Nearly three years in the making, Anastasia was produced and directed by duo Don Bluth and Gary Goldman (The Secret of NIMH, An American Tail), and created by a team of roughly 300 people at Fox Animation Studios in Phoenix, Arizona. In addition, ten sub-contractor studios were used, including Character Builders and Bardel Animation. Based on the fabled story of the lost Russian Grand Duchess Anastasia, the film is an entertaining combination of action, drama and comedy. The lead characters are quite realistic, with the signature rotoscoped look of Don Bluth's previous films. Characterizations of the supporting characters are the most humorous, especially that of a sidekick bat named Bartok, who would be well-suited to TV series or home video spin-offs in the future (not that we are waiting, or anything!). Anastasia, or as she is nicknamed, Anya, is a refreshingly feisty and outspoken female lead (at least for the first half of the film), voiced by Meg Ryan. Additional voices include John Cusack, Angela Lansbury, Christopher Lloyd, Hank Azaria, Bernadette Peters and Frasier star Kelsey Grammer (who does his own singing!). The songs are catchy and well-suited to the story, not, as is so often the case, overly-dramatic. The seven main tracks feature clever lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and music by Stephen Flaherty, a duo who also worked together on the musical theater production, Ragtime..

Technically, the film demonstrates a nearly seamless, sophisticated use of 2-D animation, combined with 3-D computer generated imagery, culminated best in an adventurous runaway train scene midway through the film. Though the production was entirely digital (using Softimage Toonz software and Silicon Graphics machines), Fox will be offering limited-edition animation art for the holiday season, through Animation USA. Although the film has not yet been released, Fox's marketing and advertising push is making an impression on the public. Apparently, some uninformed consumers have been asking for "Anastasia" merchandise at Disney Stores. . . But they won't find it there! The Anastasia master toy line from Galoob, as well as merchandise from more than 40 other licensees, will be available in stores in November.

Don't miss Harvey Deneroff's full review of Anastasia, including background on the story, in this issue of Animation World Magazine. Also, in the December issue, we will take a look at the new book, The Art of Anastasia, published by Harper Collins.

Starship Troopers. © 1997 TriStar Pictures.

Starship Troopers. Here's another film to be excited about, CG fans! The long-awaited new feature film from director Paul Verhoeven (Robocop, Total Recall) just may be the most masterful effects movie of the year, and the scariest too. Starship Troopers is a campy, futuristic depiction of universal war, in which the human race is pitted against giant CG arachnid, beetle, and dragonfly monsters-- in a sensational outer space battle. The film was developed as a short pilot by Paul Verhoeven and Phil Tippett in 1994, then picked up by TriStar, once the duo convinced studio executives that it could actually be done. The completed, 124-minute feature includes more than 500 visual effects shots. For a comparison, The Lost World contains about 170 visual effects shots. Tippett Studios created 250 shots of insect character animation. Sony Pictures Imageworks did most of the space battle sequences (125 shots), with the help of Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) on key opening shots. Additionally, Mass Illusion, Banned From the Ranch and the recently closed effects studio, Boss Films were subcontracted on some of the effects work. Originally planned for a summer release, the film had so many effects shots that production was delayed when ILM was called in to help complete the spacecraft animation. Describing the role of the visual effects supervisor today, Phil Tippett said, "What we are doing now is much more akin to creating an animated feature, than it is to providing the insert effects shots for a live-action picture." Without a pixel out of place, Starship Troopers will be released on November 7 across the U.S.

Knitwits. Candy Kugel and Vincent Cafarelli have completed their latest animated film, Knitwits, a 12-minute comedy short. Featuring the voice of Joan Rivers, among others, the film depicts a group of chatty women talking it up in a yarn shop. It was animated by hand in 2-D, then painted on the computer and output to film. Knitwits premiered in September at the New York Film Festival, and is being distributed by Kugel and Cafarelli's New York -based production company, Buzzzco Associates, who would like to develop the project as an animated television series.

Shedding Light On A Mexican CGI Co-Production. Liquid Light Studios, a small 3-D design and animation company in Los Angeles, is wrapping up production on a short film called Pronto Saldremos del Problema (Our Troubles Will Soon Be Over). Funded by the Mexican Film Institute (MFI) the film is being directed remotely by the Mexico City-based director, Jorge Ramirez-Suavez. Character and background designs are being created by Ramirez-Suavez and artists in Mexico, and sent over the Internet to the production facility in Los Angeles. The film is created entirely in 3-D computer animation with 3D StudioMax software, using several character animation plug-ins. The two-minute film is expected to be released in January 1998, and will premiere by invitation at the Cannes Film Festival in 1998. Our January 1998 issue of Animation World Magazine will feature a complete story on this project. Stay tuned!

PDI Effects-Maker Turns Peacemaker. Pacific Data Images (PDI) created the majority of the visual effects for The Peacemaker, the first feature film from DreamWorks, which was premiered to U.S. audiences last month. The action-adventure film features over 50 visual effects shots created by PDI, primarily explosions. The work was supervised by PDI's visual effects producer Les Hunter and visual effects supervisor Paul Wang.

Animation World News is compiled daily for publication in the AWN Daily Flash, the weekly Animation Flash email newsletter, and monthly issues of Animation World Magazine.

Send your newsworthy items, press releases, and reels to:
Email: wendyj@awn.com
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