Monkey Business: 'Spark' Trailer Finally Debuts

Completed over a year ago, and set to hit theaters in a matter of weeks... Spark finally got itself a trailer.

Oh, excuse me. Spark: A Space Tail... Yep, they're sticking with that. Okay, so the trailer itself...


Honestly?

It doesn't look too bad!

One thing is for certain, though. The writing is pretty much aiming at a younger crowd here, but I do like everything else. I'm fond of these particular kinds of stories where they build these weird worlds and planets. Nothing new, but it's something I've always liked. I got some serious Jak & Daxter and Ratchet & Clank vibes from this, two video game franchises that started in the early 2000s and were just this. It's no surprise that the movie is reminding some of the Ratchet & Clank movie from last year.

On the whole, it looks inoffensive and just okay. No cringeworthy lines or jokes sans the "kick some asteroid" line (you stole that from Ratchet & Clank!), got a chuckle or two out of it. It'll probably just come and go, though I am curious. It has the potential to be a surprisingly fun, lightweight adventure. What I really want, soon, is a picture like this. A sorta set in another world colorful adventure, but one written like a Disney Animation or Pixar film. Disney Animation did it before with Treasure Planet, it'd be nice if they could do it again. They almost did with the cancelled Cosmic 3000/untitled space race movie.

To those outside of the animation sphere, this probably looks like a kid-lite Star Wars/Guardians of the Galaxy. The trailer's text and editing probably doesn't help much, nor does the fact that Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 opens weeks after it. I know a great, all-ages movie can be made out of this sort of thing, and be a great animated alien/fantasy tale. One that doesn't look like "Star Wars/GOTG for kids"... In the meantime, I'm curious about this one.

What say you?

Filling Up: Open Road Picks Up 'Arctic Justice'

Do any of you guys remember Arctic Justice: Thunder Squad?

The project is from a Canadian production company called AMBI Group. It's set to be directed by former DreamWorks animator Dimos Vrysellas, and the scribes are Bob Barlen and Cal Brunker (The Nut Job 2, Escape from Planet Earth). It even has a full cast, and was floating around for a long while. The picture looks to be very cartoony and madcap, but I'm not quite sure about it. The writers' resume isn't the best, though like I said a while back, we can't assume that film's downfall was due to just the writers. Like most of these sillier animated titles, it could go either way.

The animation community first heard about it back in mid-2015, though I was not one of those folks! I first heard of it in April of last year, when a boatload of images and concept art pieces were unearthed. For a while, it didn't have a distributor. The reports said that the crew were looking to release the film in early 2018. Now, Open Road Films has fattened up their animation slate. They will be distributing the film, plus everything ToonBox/Red Rover has in the works. The recently-delayed Blazing Samurai will also be released by them. The more the merrier...

No concrete date has been inked. It and Blazing Samurai are TBD 2018 releases, though I'm sure they'll get dates once things fall into place.

The plot seems to have stayed the same too, but one of Open Road's heads decided to emphasize how topical the film is going to be, since it's about arctic critters taking on an evil walrus who wants to melt the polar ice caps and take over the world.

Now that could either work, or it could be unsubtle and forced. There's nothing wrong with a little environmental message or two, but the execution really matters. You could be subtle about it and weave it into your story in a meaningful way (WALL-E, I'll argue, tries not to hammer it), or you could be insincere about it (looking at you, Lorax!) and treat the audience like they're dumb. Some movies do that, unfortunately. Plus, your movie in question should be entertainment with something to say, not a boring, on-the-nose seminar.

All of that aside, this is one of those "who knows" kinda movies for me. The premise seems cool, and I dug a lot of the concept art, but how the writing will add up remains to be seen and heard.

What say you?

Nut That Bad: 'Nut Job 2' Teaser Sorta Surfaces

Forgive the pun, but yes... The Nut Job 2... That animated sequel not too many folk want. The teaser is here.

You're probably wondering... Where? It's not online, that's for sure... But I saw it. Some other folk saw it, too. Where? If you're new here, fun fact: I've been working at my local movie theater since August of 2015, and when I'm an usher, I get the time to check on the movies and see trailers.

So when popping into a screening of Monster Trucks, I saw the very beginning of The Nut Job 2's trailer. Then I thought, "The trailer for this thing isn't out yet. At least not online..." So I stayed in the empty theater and gave it a watch, figuring that it may not pop up online for a while because of the recent release date change (Originally set for May, it's now set to open in mid-August) and the general quietness surrounding this movie. We also have the poster at the theater, which we got before the delay.

Honestly, the teaser wasn't all that bad. The Nut Job is currently viewed as one of those smaller and not-so-good animated flicks that tend to come out in January or so. I've actually never seen the film, I've seen the short that it's based on, but the movie? No. The trailers for it give me little incentive to check it out, and so did the pretty sour critical reception. How does The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature look?

Well... Tolerable.

Not funny or exciting or anything, just tolerable. Definitely slapstick-heavy, too. It looks very run-of-the-mill, and the plot is the tired "greedy human wants to develop on an area that the animals inhabit" slop. I guess no one learned from Norm of the North. All's okay until the final second, where the pug character farts for no reason.

That's basically it. You're not really missing much, but I figured I'd share my thoughts on it anyways. Not sure if or when it'll go online, but it's rolling before Monster Trucks, if you - for some reason - check that thing out.

UPDATE: A day later, it's online.

Road Trip Detours: Open Road Shuffles Animation Slate

Sometimes, even the smaller folk do some shifting in animation-land...

Open Road Films is the distributor of ToonBox Entertainment's films, scoring a modest success with The Nut Job some two years ago around this time. The Nut Job 2 was originally set to open in January of last year, but it ended up being pushed to this coming May... Well, it has been pushed again, even though a trailer for this thing is ready.

The new date is August 18, 2017.

The distributor is also handling the feature Blazing Samurai, a family-friendly cats-and-dogs in feudal Japan story inspired by Blazing Saddles (Mel Brooks is involved, too!), and that was originally set for August 4th of this year. The same day as Sony Animation's *gag* Emoji Movie. That is now without a concrete release date, but fear not! It isn't in the "to be determined" black hole. Now, it's expected to hit some time in 2018.

ToonBox's other upcoming, completed film Spark is currently set to open on April 14th... Just about a full year after its screening at a festival in Toronto. It has not moved, though I think it should take advantage of the space The Nut Job 2 left vacant. Not like it's going to be a big blockbuster to begin with, might as well move it away from The Boss Baby (opening 3/31) and Smurfs: The Lost Village (opening 4/7), give it a little breathing room. Not saying animated films cannibalize each other, but I think for best possible results, it should get a new date.

Anyways, I hope all works out for Blazing Samurai. One of the companies behind it - Arc Productions  - went bankrupt, but said company got bought by Jam Filled Toronto, so it's still a go as far as I'm concerned.

What say you?

Oncoming Nerds and Apes: 'Nerdland' and 'Spark' Get Release Dates

Two features have locked release dates...

Titmouse, the house behind Adult Swim favorites like Metalocalypse and China, IL, completed Nerdland a while back and it screened at festivals earlier in the year. Now, it has a concrete release date. Previously, we learned that The Samuel Goldwyn Company was distributing the picture sometime next month. The official date is now December 6th.

But the catch? A very limited Fathom Events theatrical release, it's actually going to be a VOD release. Kind of a shame, because it looks like it cost nothing to make, and could probably make a small profit as an indie theatrical release. Little Prince route it is.

Perhaps it finally getting something of a release is all due to Sausage Party's success, which is good, hopefully that film succeeding makes the industry more confident in adults-only fare. Like I've said, if it's going to take a string of raunchy immature comedies to get to the good stuff, I'm all in. A new trailer has also been released...

Getting a wide release on the other hand is ToonBox's Spark. Like Nerdland, Spark was finished a while ago and even screened at a festival towards the beginning of the year. It was always meant to open between The Nut Job and its sequel. Open Road Films, distributor of the Nut Jobs, has finally picked it up. They will release the film on April 14, 2017. That's one week after Sony's Smurfs: The Lost Village, and that pic opens a week after DreamWorks' The Boss Baby. C'mon guys, space 'em out!

Spark is lower budget, so they don't have to worry. Smurfs: The Lost Village should cost around the amount of Sony Animation's more recent films, it'll mostly get its help from the worldwide box office given the fact that the Smurfs themselves originate from Europe. It's The Boss Baby I'm worried about, being a $120 million DreamWorks flick... but then again, Fox is probably willingly dumping this and Captain Underpants. I just hope, even though DreamWorks is now part of Comcast, that the animators don't get hit for these films flopping, should the films do so.

Spark is also one of three animated movies that Open Road is unleashing next year, alongside ToonBox's own The Nut Job 2 (5/19/2017) and Mass' Blazing Samurai (8/4/2017). No proper trailer is out, yet. I've only seen a clip months and months ago that unfortunately got pulled, wasn't too bad.

Anyways, it's good to see films locking dates. As far as 2017 animated movies go, we're still waiting on Blue Dream's Animal Crackers and Parallax's Musical to get distributors/dates. There's probably a couple others at the moment that could be squeezed in as well, but 2017 is almost rounded out.

What say you?