Rango

Henry Selick, the genius behind THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH and the Oscar® and BAFTA nominated CORALINE, is moving forward with Academy Award nominated producer Josh Penn (BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD) and K5 International on his latest feature THE SHADOW KING. THE SHADOW KING is a deliciously magical tale about nine-year-old New York orphan Hap who hides his fantastically weird hands with long fingers from a cruel world. But when a living shadow girl teaches him to make amazing hand shadows that come to life, his hands become incredible weapons in a shadow war against a ravenous monster bent on killing Hap’s brother Richard and ultimately destroying New York. THE SHADOW KING is written and directed by Selick. His team includes an impressive array of renowned artists such as Director of Photographer Peter Sorg, (Frankenweenie, Coraline), Eric Leighton, Animation Director on Legend Of The Guardians: The Owls Of Ga’hoole, Production Designer Lou Romano (The Incredibles), Editor Wyatt Jones (Immortals, Rango, TRON: Legacy, Zodiac), and composer Bruno Coulais (Coraline). THE SHADOW KING, until recently in hiatus after Disney exited the project, is already a good way into production. K5 International is bringing Henry Selick to the European Film Market at Berlin to conduct special presentations to selected buyers with exclusive clips from the film screened behind closed doors as part of the presentation. “K5 is the perfect presenter for THE SHADOW KING – they appreciate the film’s ... Read More »

The 40th Annual Annie Awards are being given out tonight at UCLA’s Royce Hall with a who’s who of the animation world in attendance. Besides being a celebration of the best in one of Hollywood’s most successful genres, the Annies can be a good Oscar indicator if last year is anything to go by. Paramount’s Rango won the 2012 Annie’s Best Animated Feature and went on to take the Oscar for Animated Feature Film. This year sees Disney Animation Studio’s Wreck-It Ralph, Pixar’s Brave, LAIKA/Focus Features’ ParaNorman, the Walt Disney Studio’s Tim Burton directed Frankenweenie and The Pirates! Band Of Misfits from Aardman Animation and Sony Pictures Animation as both the Annie’s Best Animated Feature and the Oscar’s Best Animated Feature Film nominees. DreamWorks Animation’s Rise Of The Guardians, Sony’s Hotel Transylvania and GKIDS’ The Rabbi’s Cat are nominated tonight for the top Annie Feature Award but did not get Oscar noms. Related: Annie Awards Nominations Unveiled This is the second year in a row that Disney is strongly represented after the company decided to sit out the Annie Awards for a couple of years starting in 2010. Disney got its pencils in a twist, disagreeing with the LA branch of the International Animated Film Association’s membership policy and with DreamWorks Animation handing out ... Read More »