Three Six Five

Here's an interesting idea: A project by The Brothers McLeod that puts together one second of video for each day of the year, the year being the current one, 2013. At the time of writing January through June are up and I suspect July and August are coming soon. Sort of Bill Plympton meets Yellow Submarine meets Adventure Time. Here's January:

Frozen Standee

Lion King Roll?

Susi Menu #2, a photo by christianz1969 on Flickr.

In a strange animation/food mashup I ate lunch earlier today at a Japanese place that offered a "Lion King Roll," but I can't tell from the description why they would call it that.

The Legend of Smurfy Hollow

The World’s Most Beloved Little Blue Creatures Will Embark on a New Spooky Adventure this Fall…

THE SMURFS: THE LEGEND OF SMURFY HOLLOW ^™

An All-New, Never Before Seen Mini-Movie Featuring the Voice Talent of

Alan Cumming, Fred Armisen, Anton Yelchin, Hank Azaria & more

On DVD September 10th

Culver City, Calif. (August 6, 2013) – The beloved Smurfs are back for some Halloween fun in THE SMURFS: THE LEGEND OF SMURFY HOLLOW™, an all-new animated mini-movie from Sony Pictures Animation and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment makes its debut nationwide on DVD on September 10th. This ‘Smurf-tacular’ adventure features the original voice talent from THE SMURFS 2™, which grossed a smurftastic $80.3 million in theaters worldwide last week, including Alan Cumming (TV’s “The Good Wife”), Fred Armisen (TV’s “Saturday Night Live”), Anton Yelchin (TV’s “Star Trek”) as well as Hank Azaria as the voice of Gargamel (TV’s “The Simpsons”).

THE SMURFS: THE LEGEND OF SMURFY HOLLOW™, which combines cutting-edge computer generated imagery and traditionally hand drawn animation, was directed by animation veteran Stephan Franck (whose credits include The Iron Giant and Despicable Me) and produced by Mary Ellen Bauder (who also worked on Sony Pictures Animation’s hit features Cloudy with a Chance Of Meatballs and Hotel Transylvania). The mini-movie has already received critical and audience acclaim since being selected in official competition at the prestigious Annecy International Animated Film Festival last month, the world’s largest animation festival.

“The Smurfs are very dear to us at Sony Pictures Animation and we are excited by this unique, smurfy take on ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’,” says Bob Osher, President of Sony Pictures Digital Productions. “Director Stephan Franck and his crew delivered a great, new fun adventure that is sure to entertain families around the world for many Halloweens and Autumn celebrations to come.”

Inspired by the classic tale “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” in this all-new, animated special, THE SMURFS: THE LEGEND OF SMURFY HOLLOW™, the Smurfs learn the value of friendship and family. When Brainy Smurf is favored to win the annual Smurfberry Hunt for the ninth year in a row, Gutsy Smurf sets out to discover how Brainy wins every year. Gutsy’s investigation takes him into spooky Smurfy Hollow – and right into Gargamel’s trap! Can Brainy and Gutsy, with the help of Smurfette, put aside their rivalry before Gargamel captures them, or worse, will they come face-to-face with the legendary ghost, the Headless Horseman?

SMURFY HOLLOW features the voice talents of Hank Azaria (Gargamel), Alan Cumming (Gutsy), Fred Armisen (Brainy) and Anton Yelchin (Clumsy), all of whom reprise their roles from the film, THE SMURFS. SMURFY HOLLOW has a running time of 22 minutes and is rated G.

THE SMURFS™: A CHRISTMAS CAROL, a fun and heartwarming holiday-themed mini-movie also featuring the original voice talent from SMURFS™, will also be available as a stand-alone DVD September 10th. Set against a special Christmas-themed holiday backdrop of snow-covered mushroom houses full of holiday cheer, this mini-movie brings Christmas time to Smurf Village and joy to all the Smurfs...except one: Grouchy Smurf. When Grouchy Smurf says “Bah‑Humbug” to the Christmas spirit, it's up to Papa Smurf’s magic potion and three enchanted Smurfs to set things right. Can the Smurfs of Christmas Past, Present and Future teach Grouchy the real meaning of Christmas before Smurf Village falls into the hands of the evil Gargamel? Fun and heart‑warming, this is A Christmas Carol like you've never seen! It has a running time of 22 minutes and is G rated.

 

Visit Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on the Web at www.SonyPictures.com.

SONY PICTURES ANIMATION

Sony Pictures Animation produces a variety of animated entertainment for audiences around the world. The studio is following its worldwide comedy hits – the 2012 monster hit comedy Hotel Transylvania, the 2011 hybrid live action/animated blockbuster The Smurfs, and the 2009 mouth-watering Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs – with The Smurfs 2 in July 2013, and Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2 in September 2013. Sony Pictures Animation, in conjunction with Aardman Animations, has produced two critically acclaimed feature films: the CG-animated family comedy Arthur Christmas; and the Academy Award® nominated stop-frame animated high-seas adventure, The Pirates! Band of Misfits. In 2007, Surf's Up also received an Academy Award® nomination for Best Animated Feature Film. The division, whose first feature film Open Season led to a very successful movie franchise, turned 10 in 2012. Sony Pictures Animation is an operating unit of Sony Pictures Digital Productions.

SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is a Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) company. Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production and distribution; television production and distribution; home entertainment acquisition and distribution; a global channel network; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; development of new entertainment products, services and technologies; and distribution of entertainment in more than 159 countries. For additional information, go to http://www.sonypictures.com/

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Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2 Movie Standee

Looney Tunes at Yogurtland

In another food/animation crossover Yogurtland is offering new flavors based on Looney Tunes characters throughout the summer (July 8 thru September 15).

The press release at OCFoodies.com gives these details:

• Yogurtland’s new Carrot Cake frozen yogurt blends real carrots, hand-selected spices and cream cheese frosting for a taste that will have fans saying, “What’s Up, Doc!” In honor of Bugs Bunny’s favorite snack, Yogurtland will be serving shredded carrots – the company’s first vegetable topping.
• Inspired by Daffy Duck, Decadent Dark Chocolate Orange frozen yogurt blends premium cocoa with a light natural orange finish for a flavor that’s so decadent it’s “deth-picable!” Top it off with dark chocolate, orange-covered cranberries.
• The best thing since the Illudium Q-36 Space Modulator according to Marvin the Martian, Kosmic Fruit Kaboom Sorbet is out-of-this-world delicious with pineapple, lime, banana and a secret ingredient – spinach. Need more Kaboom? Top if off with Pop Rocks for an added explosion of flavor. (59-cents per individual packet)
• On the delicate side, Lemon Cream Cookie frozen yogurt is a tasty “tweat” even Tweety Bird would “twy.” Made with real cookies and lemon, this flavor will make “puddy tats” jealous.
• Inspired by Road Runner, Cactus Berry Tart combines real cactus pear with Northwest Marion blackberries, blueberries, and red raspberries for a light tart taste guaranteed to cool down even the hottest day in the desert. “Beep! Beep!”
• Taz would chew his way through anything to get to Yogurtland’s Devil’s Food Cake frozen yogurt. Top off this untamed chocolate deliciousness with shaved curls of dark chocolate that will leave taste buds swirling.

I've already had Kosmic Fruit Kaboom Sorbet and am looking forward to trying Cactus Berry Tart when it becomes available.

Live Action Jungle Book

This is almost the opposite of animation news but word at Variety (trademark bullies though they be) is that Disney will be producing a live action version of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book.

[The] move to adapt "Jungle Book" comes as Disney is looking to expand its presence in India, considered by the company, along with China, to be one of the more active areas where it can best grow its family brand. Disney already owns a controlling stake in UTV Software Communications, one of Bollywood’s largest entertainment groups.

It also comes as Disney is looking to adapt more of its animated films into live action installments, with "Alice in Wonderland" and "Cinderella" also getting the bigscreen treatment.

If they wanted to get really artsy with this they'd have Siouxsie and the Banshees perform "Trust In Me:"

And Big Bad Voodoo Daddy perform "I Wanna Be Like You:"