Digital Media FX News Archives

Friday - August 10, 2001
- Osmosis Jones Opens to Mixed Reviews
- Christopher Walken Joins Stuart Little 2 Voice Cast
- Shrek Coming to Video and DVD on November 2, 2001
- News Link of the Day - Pixar Has Happy Quarterly Ending

Osmosis Jones Opens to Mixed Reviews
(by digitalmediafx.com) Osmosis Jones opened nationally today to widely mixed, but mostly negative, reviews. The live action and animation movie is a gamble for Warner Bros. which has repositioned the movie several times and has edited it to change the rating (from PG-13 to PG). The movie is playing in 2,305 theaters across the U.S. with most analysts predicing a lackluster take of $10 million for the entire weekend.

Here's what several mainstream critics have to say about Osmosis Jones:

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone - "The way I see it, Osmosis Jones will have to duke it out with A.I. as the most schizoid flick of summer 2001. What we've got here is a mix of live action (directed by those kingpins of uncouth comedy, Peter and Bobby Farrelly) and animation (directed by Tom Sito and Piet Kroon, who work on stuff like The Little Mermaid and The Iron Giant) that wants to reach the family audience and gross them out as well. Can your heart be warmed while your guts are being wrenched?"

Claudia Puig of USA Today - "The animation sequences — the movie's best moments — hurtle by at breakneck speed, while the live-action portions are a bit sluggish...Adults might remain immune to the process of Osmosis, but younger viewers probably will be receptive to its nervy fun."

Desson Howe of The Washington Post - "...it doesn't help matters that the animation by Piet Kroon, who also animated The Quest for Camelot and The Iron Giant, is more functional than memorable. If Frank should have listened to his body, telling him to eat better, maybe it's time for the prolific Farrelly Brothers to listen to their body of work. It seems to be telling them to slow down a little and give their conceptual juices more time."

Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter - "...The culprit appears to be Marc Hyman's script. A laziness invades his writing whereby the mere recasting of a cliche --say, placing a tired gangster scene in the "Brain Stem" instead of Louie's Bar -- is believed to be wildly original. The best thing in the movie is the set design in the cartoon world: There are too many gags here for one viewing. All the animation is terrific -- a neat blend of CGI with traditional animation."

Paul Clinton of CNN - "...Osmosis Jones is sort of a multimillion-dollar health science film on acid. In a very basic way -- and using plenty of creative license -- it does explain in broad terms how the body fights disease. Still, if you're really sick, you might want more than Rock and Drix on your side. It might also be wise to practice better personal hygiene than Murray's character Frank. But they all make a fine comedy."

Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly - "Osmosis Jones oscillates between streaky black comedy and sanitary instruction (as well as between crude live action and elegant animation) like a patient with a fever, and viewer tolerance may similarly run hot and cold."

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Christopher Walken Joins Stuart Little 2 Voice Cast
(by digitalmediafx.com) Academy Award winner Christopher Walken will lend his voice to Columbia Pictures' Stuart Little 2. Walken voices the character of Falcon, a sharp-beaked villain who puts Stuart and a new friend in peril.

Stuart Little 2 will once again incorporate a strong array of visual effects technology by the artists and innovators at Sony Pictures Imageworks, who received a 2000 Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects for their work on Stuart Little.

Stuart Little 2 will be released in theaters on July 19, 2002.

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Shrek Coming to Video and DVD on November 2, 2001
(by digitalmediafx.com) Shrek is coming to video and DVD on November 2, 2001, complete with an extended ending containing never before seen footage of more than 150 Shrek characters showing us what goes on after the fairy tale ending. The 2-disc DVD contains more than 11 hours of entertainment and features, including 15 minutes of all-new animated material like the interactive menus created by the movie's directors.

One of the biggest features of the DVD is a program called ReVoice Studio, which enables viewers to voice the lines of their favorite characters. The program enables viewers to select from 12 of the film's scenes and record the lines of the characters. It then syncs up their voice with the character's mouth. The viewer can also view the scene and see how their performance as the voice of Shrek, Donkey, Fiona or Farquaad plays.

Here's a detailed list of the material that will appear on the DVD:

Disc One:

-- Menus featuring brand new animation created by Shrek's directors and
animators
-- Exclusive never-before seen extended ending
-- Amazing Behind-The-Scenes Featurette that shows you how the characters
and movie were brought to life -- from the early stages of creating the
skeletal system of the characters to the complex layers of muscles,
skin and hair to the development of fluids and fire that makes this
movie unprecedented in the world of filmmaking
-- Exclusive never-before-used technology that enables viewers to voice
their favorite character
-- DWK - This Way To Play
-- Games and activities just for kids including:
-- Bugs & Slugs (tic tac toe)
-- Ask The Magic Mirror
-- Hangman
-- Color A Scene
-- Dragon Heart
-- Fairy Tale Bowling
-- Learn To Draw Shrek
-- Coloring Pages
-- Ogre Masks
-- Soup Slam
-- Shrek Pinball
-- Trivia Game
-- Pin The Tail On Donkey
-- Fire Donkey (Cross The Bridge)
-- Rescue The Princess
-- Decorate The Gingerbread Man
-- Character Morph (Allows kids to mix and match the character's
body parts)
-- Shrek's Music Room including The Baha Men music video; the making of
The Baha Men music video; Smash Mouth's "I'm A Believer" music video
-- Character interviews with Shrek, Fiona, Lord Farquaad and Donkey
-- Favorite Scenes Selection (Go directly to the funniest and coolest
scenes)
-- Hidden Fun Facts that give you secrets about the creation of the film
-- Sneak Peek Trailer of DreamWorks' upcoming animated release
"Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron"
-- Production Notes
-- English 5.1, French 2.0 and Spanish 2.0 Dolby Digital
-- English Subtitles
-- Cast and Crew Bios
-- Pan and Scan version of Shrek

Disc Two:

-- A Filmmaker's Commentary that provides insider information on the
making of this groundbreaking animation hit.
-- Exclusive never-before seen extended ending
-- Menus featuring brand new animation created by "Shrek's" directors and
animators
-- The Tech of Shrek: A fascinating look into the production of Shrek
-- Exclusive Shrek X-box game playing hints
-- Storyboard pitch of deleted scenes engagingly acted out in a real-life
meeting by the animators and filmmakers
-- Technical Goofs: hilarious outtakes of animation in progress
-- International Dubbing Featurette: Learn how Shrek was dubbed into
languages around the world
-- A selection of still shots showing viewers the progression of several
characters' looks throughout the design process -- from original
concepts to their final animation
-- Original Theatrical Trailer
-- Production Notes
-- Cast and Crew Bios
-- English 5.1, French 2.0 and Spanish 2.0 Dolby Digital
-- English Subtitles
-- DTS
-- Widescreen version of Shrek

The suggested retail price for the Shrek video is $15.95 while the DVD will retail for only $19.95.

Click here to preorder the DVD.

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News Link of the Day - Pixar Has Happy Quarterly Ending

According to The Industry Standard:

"Digital animation studio Pixar offered a short-but-sweet earnings announcement Thursday that provided a welcome fillip of good news during a harried results season that has been characterized by dour outlooks. The Emeryville, Calif.-based company, which scored its first big hit with Toy Story in 1995, posted earnings of $8.75 million (18 cents a share), handily topping First Call consensus estimates of 13 cents a share..."

Click here for the full story.

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