Happy New Year!

By: Brian Thomas
Date: Monday, January 01, 2007

Yes, Happy New Year – and holy smoke! And I thought there were few DVD releases last week! Well, the short list this week gives us a chance to go over what’s on the way in 2007 in the field of animation.

Barnyard is a spin-off TV series from the hit movie coming to Nickelodeon. Also on Nick will be an anthology known as Random! Cartoons. Other notable TV series in the works are Iron Man, something built around those penguins from Madagascar, Rick & Steve the Happiest Gay Couple in All the World (based on the film fest favorite), Mel Brooks’ Spaceballs, a still untitled new Star Wars series, and Comedy Central’s Lil’ Bush: Resident of the United States and Secret League of Legionnaires.

2006 was crowded with theatrical and DVD animated features, and 2007 promises to be even busier. Feature films on the way include:

Aqua Teen Hunger Force: The Movie – Origin story prequel.
Arthur and the Invisibles (Weinstein/MGM) Luc Besson’s fantasy makes its delayed debut in theaters this month.
Bee Movie – CGanime insect comedy adventure with an all-star voice cast led by Jerry Seinfeld, Renee Zellweger and Chris Rock.
Bonesaw – Creatures from a best-selling horror novelist’s books come to life.
Christmas Is Here Again - Alll-star voice cast holiday movie with Andy Griffith and Shirley Jones as Mr. & Mrs. Claus.
Doctor Strange (Lionsgate) Another Marvel Comics direct-to-DVD movie.
Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight (Paramount) Based on the popular fantasy novel series.
Eddie Dickens and the Awful End (Warner Bros.) Adaptation of the Philip Ardagh novel.
Enchanted (Buena Vista) An evil queen banishes a cartoon princess to New York City.
Fairly Oddparents: The Amazing Wish (Paramount)
Fist of the North Star – New version of the post-apoc martial arts favorite.
Flatland – Based on Edwin Abbott’s book about geometric 2-D characters.
Fly Me to the Moon – Belgian feature about a trio of houseflies who stow away aboard a rocket.
Foodfight! (Lionsgate) Grocery store comedy with the Duff sisters and Charlie Sheen voicing leads.
Futurama: Bender’s Big Score (Fox) While The Simpsons head to the big screen, their cousin series goes straight to DVD. Not that I’m complaining!
Gorillaz – Feature musical starring the cartoon band.
Hamlet A.D.D. – Comic sequel to Shakespeare shot with live actors in a cartoon setting drifts into horror and sci-fi as the Danish Prince travels into the future.
Happily N’Ever After (Lionsgate) Fairytale CGanime comedy.
The Haunted World of El Superbeasto (Anchor Bay) Cartoon adaptation of Rob Zombie’s comic-book.
Hellboy: Blood and Iron (Anchor Bay) Second TV feature.
The Hero of Color City (Magnolia) CGanime in a box of crayons.
Highlander: Vengeance – Continuation of the franchise animated in Japan.
Igor (Weinstein) Mad scientist John Cleese’s hunchback sidekick Christian Slater makes a monster named Eva (Molly Shannon) to enter in a Mad Scientist contest.
The Invincible Iron Man (Lionsgate) Another Marvel Comics direct-to-DVD movie.
Last Days of Coney Island – A hard-boiled film noir tale from Ralph Bakshi (Wizards).
The Legend of Secret Pass – Cganime fantasy loosely based on Native American folklore.
Meet the Robinsons (Buena Vista) CGanime sci-fi comedy about a boy genius who travels to the future where he helps a family survive.
Mighty Mouse (Paramount) New version of the famed operatic rodent superhero.
Neanderthals (Sony) Caveman comedy directed by Jon Favreau.
9 – A post-apoc sci-fi action flick from Focus Features.
$9.99 – Australian stop-motion comedy drama.
The Nutty Professor (Weinstein/Genius) Third telling of the Jerry Lewis Jekyll & Hyde comedy is actually a sequel in which Prof. Kelp’s grandson gets hold of his secret potion.
Persepolis (Sony) French-animated drama about an Iranian girl growing up amid the Islamic Revolution.
Plumiferos – Argentinean CGanime about city birds.
Ratatouille (Buena Vista) Brad Bird (The Incredibles) returns with a comedy about a rat who wants to become a gourmet chef.
Rockfish – Vin Diesel is out to catch a big fish on an alien world.
Route 66 (DreamWorks) Comedian Harland Williams’ brainchild is the story of romance between giant roadside attractions.
Shrek the Third (DreamWorks) Shrek is entrusted with running the kingdom, with some help from his friends, in the latest entry in the blockbuster franchise. There’s also a holiday TV special coming.
The Simpsons Movie (Fox) Feature version of the obscure, short-lived Fox TV series.
Surf’s Up (Sony) Yet another CGanime penguin movie.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Warner Bros.) My old buddies head to the big screen again in a damn cool looking CGanime feature.
Tinker Bell (Buena Vista) Brittany Murphy stars as Peter Pan’s sidelick spun off in her own direct-to-DVD feature.
Tortoise and Hippo – Fantasy drama about a baby hippo and an aged tortoise who join forces after a tsunami disaster, directed by f/x legend John Dykstra.
Tortoise vs. Hare – Aardman Animation takes a mockumentary look at Aesop’s fabled race.
2004: A Light Knight’s Odyssey – An all-star voice cast sci-fi adventure.
Villain – Claymation comedy about a reformed supervillain.
The Wind – Jackie Chan fights aging once again by becoming a cartoon character, this time supervising and choreographing the motion-captured fight scenes himself.
Year of the Fish – Rotoscoped Cinderella story set in New York’s Chinatown.

SPOTLIGHT OF THE WEEK

Now in theaters:

(O) HAPPY FEET (Warner Bros.) Still hanging on to the bottom of the top ten list. From the creator of Mad Max.

NEW DVD RELEASES

Here’s a rundown of the constant stream of anime comin’ at ya on DVD from around the world:

(O) BAKI THE GRAPPLER Round 11: Buren’s Experiment (Funimation) Baki's father pays a daunting visit as the next round of the tournament begins. Baki will have to fully utilize his hidden talent if he is to have a chance against his opponent, a master of the sacred kung fu discipline.
(O) GET BACKERS Season 2 (ADV) The Get Backers get their TV series back for another season.
(O) GUYVER Volume 2: Procreation of the Wicked (ADV) New series continues. Also available in collector box.
(O) HELLO KITTY STUMP VILLAGE Volume 2 (Geneon) Mindless cutesy fun for kiddies.
(O) JINKI: EXTEND Volume 3 (ADV) More soap opera schmaltz and giant robot action.
(O) TRIGUN Remix Volume 6 (Geneon) Vash faces the ultimate showdown.

And be sure to check back next week—and every week—for Mania’s Anime Avalanche! And check in every Tuesday for the latest DVD Shopping List!

Questions? Comments? Let us know what you think at Anime Avalanche.

Happy New Year!

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