Friday, February 18, 2011

Ferdinand the Feature

Disney's Oscar winner is going to be another studio's full-length animated movie.

Fox Animation Studios has acquired The Story of Ferdinand — the classic 1936 children’s book ... [T]he deal with Fox represents the first feature-film adaptation, [but] Disney released it as an animated short in 1938, winning an Oscar in that category. ... [T]he Burbank studio oddly failed to get a contract with Mssrs. Leaf and Lawson that went beyond its onetime use as a short film ...

Blue Sky might do interesting things with this property. (It will be fun to see how they expand it.) Why Walt's shop never acquired longtime feature rights, and DreamWorks Animation never picked it up, is a mystery known only to the big movie mogul in the sky.

As a five-year-old, I used to pore over the Disney picture book of Ferdinand endlessly.

9 comments:

Michael Sporn said...

Blue Sky has been doing the most interesting work of the three big studios. Other than their ICE AGE franchise, they've produced creative and intelligent stories (that don't always work but sure don't lack for trying.)

Nancy said...

The story will obviously need some expansion. I hope that they don't lose the focus on 'peace'--the book is a plea for nonviolence, written at an exceptionally violent time.

Anonymous said...

Blue Skyi s doing the most run of the mill work off the major animation studios--never taking chances, or creating original stories. Buying literary properties and turning them into milquetoast cartoons is their specialty. At least the films LOOK better than DW, but not better than Pixar or Tangled.

But if you want to see complete garbage---just wait 'til you see Rango. It's truly awful--and almost impossible to sit through.

Anonymous said...

The bitter anonymous trolls here can be a little much. The loser above should get a life.

I've seen Rio, and it's fantastic. Pixar, DreamWorks, Blue Sky - all have different animation styles, and when someone claims one is superior to another they only reveal their ignorance.

Steve Hulett said...

Do as I do. Pay the gripers and naysayers minimal attention.

(And yeah. Sometimes I break my rule and respond.)

Anonymous said...

I've seen Rio. It's JUST not that good. Sorry--but just being honest.

Anonymous said...

You think Blue Sky's work-any of it-looks better than HTTYD or Panda? LOL kay.

Steven Hartley said...

How they gonna make a 8-minute short into a feature - besides I thought the ending of the "Ferndinand" short sucked - and for an animated-kids film they'd probably expect a better ending.

Although, that's just my taste about this idea. Others may disagree with me.

Anonymous said...

The animation and look of Rio is a match for anything done by any other studio. Period. Tastes vary, and there will be plenty of haters (especially among the anonymous trolls here), but it'll be a big hit and for all the right reasons.

Rio is a very different film from Panda, HTTYD, or Wall-E (just as all those films are completely different from each other). It has some of the most entertainingly cartoony animation ever done in CG. See it with an open mind and prepare to enjoy yourself. Or hold on to the hate. No skin off my nose either way.

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