Rio (2011)

The Common Room Other Animation
#61

Thanks for the tip! I updated the around-the-world list. Much better to hear a story about Pixar making room for Rio than Darwinistic competition-cutting. Even so, it’s realistic to imagine that one day all CG features might be put out by Pixar, DreamWorks, or Blue Sky, with all others fallen by the wayside.

Anyway, looking forward to Rio and hoping it does well for Blue Sky. Anne Hathaway and Leslie Mann have lovely voices–it will be great to hear them amidst all the colour. And it wouldn’t be a total surprise if newt came back one day when the endangered-species-procreation dust settles.

Cheers! Steve

#62

Haha, thanks for your interest! But no, I don’t have any virtual copy of it, and it was horribly written. But I did do a lot of research by watching cartoons from the 40s! Best project ever.

#63

Eng Wah, a local theatre chain in Singapore, is running a freebies-promotion for Gulliver’s Travels whereby they give out Rio-themed hongbaos (red packets for Chinese New Year)! I’d really love to get my hands on those, though my chances are virtually nil since nobody I know is interested in watching Jack Black sit on a crowd of miniature people.

Eng Wah Organisation (Click the ‘Promotions’ tab)

I love the images of Blu doing an ‘Indy’ (I guess he’s good at skateboarding, as revealed in the opening of Trailer 2) and Jewel wearing the hibiscus again. I’m surprised how E.W. got their hands on these unreleased promotional images so far ahead of time.

The official site has also updated with the new trailer, but it still has the boring poster still.

I’m getting a little tired of hearing Mas Que Nada.

#64

My wish has been granted! Character posters with clever taglines! :smiley:

I especially love Blu and Jewel’s. ‘Love at First Fight’. Brilliant. <3

#65

Yes! I love punny taglines! My favorite is “Party Fowl”

#66

Whose time? NEWS TIME!

Fox Will Market Rio With New Angry Birds Game

I’ve never played this Angry Birds game everyone talks about. Frankly I only have the vaguest idea of what it involves.

I am interested in seeing this movie. I hope it ends up being more than just marginally entertaining.

I could’ve sworn reading way back when that NPH was the lead of this film. But it’s Jesse Eisenberg? What happened to NPH? He really deserves to be the lead in some future animated movie.

Edit: THIS JUST IN! BREAKING NEWS!

Fox released the first two minutes of the film

Thoughts?

#67

After watching that clip, my hopes for this movie have grown significantly. It looks like the musical elements that were mentioned when Rio was first announced are still very much intact. At least we now know the film will get off to a great start.

#68

I saw the clip this morning. I don’t love musical numbers, but the animation seems great.

#69

I stumbled upon the first 2 minutes of this feature on the Twitter of Catherine Hicks (a Pixar animator). I just watched it and I am already in love with this movie! I’ve always loved the Brazilian ‘carnival’ vibe, especially when a traditional percussion group from Brazil collaborated with our orchestra for a performance… That was one of the greatest moments in my life when it comes to music. The happiness, the catchy drumlines, the sensuality, the great costumes and parade cars… I just love them. And they seem to have succesfully put that vibe into a world of exotic birds. The wide range of bright colors, the dancing… everything just works!

I can’t WAIT so see this in theaters, I’ll likely have several viewings of this baby! :smiley:

Here’s a link: bit.ly/e7bQ3o

#70

I find this creepy just like I found the Yogi Bear movie poster with their faces blown up on the poster with the big spooky eye’s and teeth, the Tangled poster with all the hair and the poster advertising the launch of the Hub channel with the cats with the big spooky eyes. I hope this movie is good. I got my hopes up with that owl movie, and ended up having an expensive nap. I hate to sound like a Pixar fanboy, but I’m skeptical going into any animated movie that’s not a Pixar or Disney (since John took over) animated film.

#71

I just showed the trailers and the first 2 minutes to my girlfriend and she is hooked, possibly even more than I am! :stuck_out_tongue: “LOL that trailer is awesome, and I absolutely adore the music. I’m a fan already! XD”, just quotin…

I don’t give a flying **** about how the critics will receive this movie. I’m going to see it and I’m going to love it!

That’s also one of my resolutions for 2011… be less of a wise-ass critic and trust my feelings when it comes to judging a movie. Not going check the list of standard ingredients that supposedly make a good movie (plot, character development, etc,.) and I’m just going to try to understand and describe what a movie feels like. :slight_smile:

Anyway you guys, I’m very enthusiastic about this feature and I hope you guys are too. From what I’ve seen so far, this movie deserves positive attention! :smiley:

#72

Oh my goodness… [img:29btgzsa]http://a.deviantart.net/avatars/a/w/awesomenessplz.png[/img:29btgzsa] I’m in bird heaven.

That sequence is one of the best openings I’ve seen for any film in recent memory. It’s spectacularly [i:29btgzsa]glorious[/i:29btgzsa]. Or gloriously spectacular.

Hyperbole aside, I really did enjoy it- and I’m somewhat surprised by the sarcastic comments on the /Film page (but knowing the folks who frequent /Film, that’s to be expected). :-\

If there’s one thing Blue Sky excels at, it’s doing musical numbers and great ‘Chuck Jones/Tex Avery’ style animation. I love pausing at points throughout the trailers (and the 2 minute clip) and tapping forward and backward frame-by-frame to admire the stretch-and-pull at work, which is not as overt in Pixar, Animal Logic, or even Dreamworks fare (except for maybe the Madagascar series).

I was a bit concerned when I read this contradictory statement by Saldhana:

[quote:29btgzsa]It’s not a musical, but music is a great part of the story, because you cannot think about Brazil without thinking about music. So we’re going to make sure that music is part of it. It’s not even going to be Brazilian music. It’s going to have a little more fun with music as part of the story, as part of the character’s arc.[/quote:29btgzsa]

This scene has at least quelled my fears somewhat. The beautiful environments, the sheer amount of species on display… if the rest film can keep up the inspired energy and fun of this sequence, Saldhana and Co. will have a winner on their hands. If they start using pop music numbers by Bieber or some timely ‘flavour-of-the-month’ song, I’m gonna be seriously annoyed.

I also love how they introduced Blu this early in the film, and revealed his aspirations from the outset (that is, to [i:29btgzsa]fly[/i:29btgzsa]… <3 ). My heart went out to him in the last ten seconds of the movie… hopefully he doesn’t become a ‘punching-bag’ like Scrat was throughout the Ice Age series.

[quote:29btgzsa]Yes! I love punny taglines! My favorite is "Party Fowl"[/quote:29btgzsa]
Although I love the "Love at First Fight" tagline the best, "Party Fowl" is my favourite poster!

[quote:29btgzsa]I could’ve sworn reading way back when that NPH was the lead of this film. But it’s Jesse Eisenberg? What happened to NPH? He really deserves to be the lead in some future animated movie.[/quote:29btgzsa]
Yeah, I was kinda confused last year too (In my trailer dub, I played Blu as ‘Neil’ before I realised too late that they have changed to Eisenberg). I haven’t played Angry Birds, but I’ve observed a few play it (It’s like Worms meets Tower Defense). The question I’m pondering is: Who will play the pigs?

[quote:29btgzsa]It looks like the musical elements that were mentioned when Rio was first announced are still very much intact.[/quote:29btgzsa]
Yeah, I totally agree. They’ve got the massively talented Powell and Mendes on board… and the questionable Will.I.Am, but he’s not a bad chap. As I’ve mentioned earlier, I’m praying they don’t blow this and go all ‘Shrek’ on the soundtrack.

[quote:29btgzsa]I don’t love musical numbers, but the animation seems great.[/quote:29btgzsa]
Try watching the trailers in slow-mo (or as I did, ‘still-frame-tapping’). It’s really incredible.

[quote:29btgzsa]I got my hopes up with that owl movie, and ended up having an expensive nap. I hate to sound like a Pixar fanboy, but I’m skeptical going into any animated movie that’s not a Pixar or Disney (since John took over) animated film.[/quote:29btgzsa]
That’s understandable- I’ve read frequent criticisms that LOTG was not friendly to those who are not familiar with the original book series. But LOTG and Rio are made by two totally different studios with different philosophies; the former seems to place an emphasis on visual effects at the expense of story, while the latter has more simple narratives with entertaining character animation. At the rate of Pixar and Disney producing sequels or movies based on fairy tales, I feel that Blue Sky and other lesser studios may end up producing more creative and innovative stories.

I do agree that the poster could do with less close-ups. I don’t really like the ‘Drool Meets Cool’ and ‘If Looks Could Kill’ poster, but at least they are a marked improvement from the typical Dreamworks ‘smirk’ poses. But yes, it’s an interesting trend. One only has to look at Toy Story 3’s character posters and KFP2’s poster and see the similarities in framing. Perhaps animated studios are trying to market their properties in a similar ‘larger-than-life’ manner like live-action actors.

[quote:29btgzsa]I don’t give a flying **** about how the critics will receive this movie. I’m going to see it and I’m going to love it!

That’s also one of my resolutions for 2011… be less of a wiae-ass critic and trust my feelings when it comes to judging a movie.[/quote:29btgzsa]
I’ve kinda had an ‘about-change’ too after watching HTTYD. Some people are overly cynical and skeptical whenever there is something light-hearted or positive, and would rather appreciate ‘darker’ and more serious fare. While I do enjoy a mix of both (I like The Dark Knight as much as G-Force), the ones that make me feel better at the end of the day are the life-affirming and inspirational stories. I have yet to see any ‘pop-culture’ or toilet-humour moments- save for the "I pee in the birdbath" line, and I have seen huge story potential for Blu. He has to find his owner, but first he has to learn to fly with Jewel. He also has to reproduce to save his species, but to do that he has to learn to love. And he has to survive the dangerous world of Rio, but to do that, he has to learn to appreciate his homeland. These are very primal concerns, which make them all the more appealing to me.

But yes, I agree with you, that we should not try to be too overanalytical, and just (pardon the pun) wing it. I still find myself thinking of criticisms, especially when I’m pondering about something which I’ve read or watched, but I try to be more forgiving nowadays.

Sorry for the [b:29btgzsa]massive post[/b:29btgzsa]. One last thing. I love the ‘placeholder image’ in the videos (the one of Blu hanging onto the paraglider with his two friends at his side). It’s really symbolic in a way. I wonder whether Blue Sky will consider making this into a poster?

#73

Light defines the dark and vice-versa in my book. The perfect film for me can blend both but there’s nothing wrong with a movie choosing to go in either direction, they both have their good points after all and can sometimes be the best choice.

In any case, I’m rather looking forward to this especially with that opening number baby!Blue is so adorable, but with all the trailers I’m a bit confused at the dog so far for reasons I can’t explain, is he a protaganist? An antagonist? Or will he become one to eventually be the other? I see parts where he seems to be helping and all but other bits seem a bit misleading. Perhaps they’re trying to surprise us.

#74

@TDIT… About the bird heaven, that’s pretty much what I felt like, but I didn’t want to sound too overly excited. But strangely enough, I am. I can’t really pinpoint why I am so enthusiastic about it. I’ve never been so into a movie before I’ve even seen it, or at least not in the last few years…

Seriously, when I just think about it in my head, I really can’t tell what’s so great about it. Which scares me, because I normally have a very particular opinion on a movie but now… It’s just epic and I’m at a loss for words. I’m super excited for this to come out.

Someone help me please? Maybe someone here is a therapist? … Anyone?

#75

This movie comes out on my birthday! I know what I’m doing that night!

I’m so excited!!!

Seriously, I’m stoked. I love Rio de Janeiro, and I love parrots, and I love samba. This is the 2011 animated feature I’m most excited for!

#76

DITTO, except for the birthday part! :smiley:

#77

Hmm… yeah, I suppose. I mean, like I said, I do enjoy light-hearted and really intensely deep fare, as well as those that are a mix (Wall-E is always the first to spring to mind). But ultimately, I’m kind of an optimist and tend to rewatch those which leave me feeling good about the world and humanity. Stuff like Donie Darko (Ugh, I hated that movie) and horror movies like the Saw or Final Destination series are not my cup of tea, although if I’m really bored, I wouldn’t mind a rewatch if I see it on a late-night rerun.

Again, I appreciate all kinds of genres and ‘moods’. And movies which have bittersweet endings (like Pocahontas, HTTYD, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame) surprisingly turn out to be my favourite ones, as long as there’s some ‘triumph’ in the human spirit at the end.

I know, the tune’s so catchy, right? The song they sing has been my earbug since yesterday, even though I couldn’t discern a single line of the lyric besides the word “Rio”.

And not a day goes by when I don’t find myself thinking of it, whereas Rango, Cars 2 and Kung Fu Panda 2 have faded into the background (but probably because they’re not releasing enough new footage to remain fresh in my mind). The plot also seems to be more clearly defined for me compared to the other films, so I kind of have an expectation and anticipation for where the story is going to lead… Blu has to find his owner, get the girl, and rediscover his birthland- there are personal stakes to care about, while I have little to no idea about what is there to look forward to for the characters’ arc in the other films (besides some nice action sequences and the exotic locales?).

I think Blue Sky has huge story potential and truly charming characters here, but I’m really praying they don’t muck it up with ‘peeing in the birdbath’ jokes and ‘saliva-drooling dog’ gags.

The one continent I’ve never been to in my life is South America. Oh, and Antarctica. Going to Rio and attending Carnival is definitely on my bucket list.

And yes, at the moment, it’s my most anticipated animated film too. :slight_smile:

#78

I’m not even afraid they’ll do that. In the right context, potty humor can definitely be funny… And dogs do drool. I can show you this video of my uncle’s dog that suddenly starts drooling like his life depends on it. :laughing:

In each case, depending on the context, it can be funny. To me, it sounds like the world of movie enthusiasts thrives to make itself seem as mature as possible, anything that besmirches that view is a taboo (= not directed at anyone here, just something I noticed in general).

Well, I’m a child at heart, always will be… Doesn’t mean my humor is underdeveloped, but I can at least sincerely appreciate humor other people might be ashamed of liking. :slight_smile:

#79

That two minute preview put a HUGE smile on my face! It turned a lousy day into a good one. :smiley: I didn’t know John Powell was helping with the score until today. That alone maybe get me into the theater opening day to see this movie. I wish Will i am wasn’t involved with the music. That may keep me from buying it.

#80

It’s always a treat to see evidence of a real labor of love, and there’s every reason to think Rio qualifies. That intro clip is really firing on all the animated/cinematic cylinders, with lots of love for the medium shining through. Can’t wait!