Animation News: Ghost in the Shell Movie vs Anime

Along with Francisco Gonzalez's excellent weekly news recaps--This Week in Superhero News and This Week in Movie Trailers--we're happy to provide you with This Week in Animation News to get you caught up on all things animated you might have missed over the past seven days. We're talking movies, TV shows, digital shorts, and everything in between.

First up is this excellent fan-made trailer for Rupert Sanders' upcoming adaptation of Ghost in the Shell. The Paramount Pictures film stars Scarlett Johansson in the lead role of The Major, a cybernetically enhanced crime fighter tasked with taking down bad guys in a far-flung future. While Sanders and Johansson look up to the task of tackling this fan-favorite anime, a recent comparison trailer that matches live-action sequences with the same scenes from the animated franchise makes me even more excited for the film. The creative team behind the adaptation have clearly been paying attention.

Also starring Pilou Asbæk as Batou, with Beat Takeshi (a.k.a. Takeshi Kitano) as Public Security Section 9 founder and chief Daisuke Aramaki, plus Juliette Binoche, Kaori Momoi, and Rila Fukushima, and other Section 9 task force members played by Chin Han, Danusia Samal, Lasarus Ratuere, Yutaka Izumihara, and Tuwanda Manyimo, Ghost in the Shell arrives in theaters on March 31, 2017.

You can check out the comparison trailer below followed by more animation news you might have missed this past week:

For more of our coverage on Ghost in the Shell, be sure to take a look at some of our recent write-ups below:

Interview with the Late Leonard Cohen Gets the Animated Treatment

After the sad news that legendary singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen had passed away, EW happened upon this animated treatment of one of his interviews, courtesy of PBS Digital Studios' "Blank on Blank." Titled “Leonard Cohen on Moonlight,” this rare conversation with the “Hallelujah” singer hails from Dec. 4, 1974 on WBAI FM. He read his poem “Two Slept Together” at the interviewer’s request and told the story of how he wrote the song “Sisters of Mercy.” You can also hear Cohen read an excerpt from an unpublished novel he was working on. The full transcript of the piece can be found here.

'Happy Wheels' Videogame Gets a Web Series

The super popular online video game Happy Wheels launched its web series earlier this week. Jim Bonacci‘s creation is now a Machinima series that features the game's iconic dark humor, blood and gore. Fan-favorite characters such as Wheelchair Guy, Irresponsible Dad and Lawnmower Man are featured in the title town dubbed as “the most dangerous community on Earth” where “people are mangled everyday by traps, spikes, mines, cars, unsafe roads and hazards. But no one seems to notice. To reduce some of the carnage in town, five concerned citizens form a safety awareness committee but often fail with hilarious results.”

Happy Wheels features the voice work of Jordan Maron (CaptainSparklez), Lance Stewart (Lance210), Anna Brisbin (Brizzy Voices), Ryan McNulty (xRPMx13), Shanna Malcolm (HeyYoShanna), Tyler Pappas (LogDotZip), Jerome Aceti (JeromeASF), Ricky Hayberg (RickyFTW), Eliot Dewberry, and Tay Zonday.

Check out the launch trailer here. Happy Wheels is also available on SkyQ (U.K.), AMC Iberia (Spain and Portugal) and Sohu (China).

Hayao Miyazaki's Return

Earlier this week, it was reported that Miyazaki would not only be coming out of his retirement to direct a new film, but it would be his first (and likely last) computer generated-animation effort. The legendary Oscar-winning director was busy working on a computer-generated animated short film named Boro the Caterpillar, but decided that the idea needed a feature-length treatment. This could very well be the longtime animation director's final film, unless he finds the medium to his liking and comes back for another go-round.

In the meantime, another of Miyazaki's masterpieces will be returning to the big screen. Spirited Away is getting a theatrical re-release for two days only. The film’s 15th anniversary will also be celebrated with an exclusive Ghibli short film. The U.S. theatrical release will be on Sunday, December 4th at 12:00p.m. (dubbed in English) and Monday, December 5th at 7:00p.m. (English language subtitles) local time both dates. Click the link above for more details.

DreamWorks Animation Cancels 'The Croods' Sequel

Fans of DreamWorks Animation's The Croods were disappointed recently when the studio announced they had canceled plans to go ahead with a sequel. Despite bringing brothers Kevin and Dan Hageman onboard as screenwriters this past August and having a previously scheduled December 22, 2017 release date, the move from 20th Century Fox to Universal Pictures may have sealed the sequel's fate. However, reports also cited that The Croods 2 was a troubled project that had been having difficulty finding the right story in spite of the fact that it had been seen as a lucrative franchise like the studio's Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon series

DreamWorks Animation's acquisition by NBCUniversal in April of this year has raised questions as to how Jeffrey Katzenberg’s animation studio would fare given that the Universal-owned Illumination Entertainment is proving itself on equal footing with its output. The Croods 2 is the first casualty of the acquisition but it might not be the last as the focus shifts to a "quality over quantity" approach. Sorry, The Croods fans!

SNL Trio to Lend Their Voices to Nickelodeon's Holiday TV Movie 'Albert'

albert-nickelodeon-maisie-gene-cactus-pete

Nickelodeon is in the holiday spirit! Albert, an original animated TV movie about a tiny Douglas fir tree who goes on a journey to become the city’s most famous Christmas tree ever, will premiere Friday, Dec. 9, at 7:00 p.m. (ET/PT). The one-hour, CG-animated holiday tale stars the comedic voice talent of Bobby Moynihan (Saturday Night Live) in the title role alongside Sasheer Zamata (Saturday Night Live), Judah Friedlander (30 Rock) and Rob Riggle (21 Jump Street).

Albert is the story of a tiny Douglas fir tree who has big dreams of becoming Empire City’s most famous Christmas tree. When the search for this year’s tree is announced, Albert believes he has found his calling and hits the road with his two best friends, Maisie (Zamata), the persistently positive palm tree, and Gene (Friedlander) the abrasive and blisteringly honest weed, to fulfill his destiny. With a few prickly situations along the way, and Cactus Pete (Riggle) out to stop him, Albert learns the true meaning of Christmas. The hour-long TV movie will also feature two original songs, “The Best Thing That Can Happen to Christmas” and “Christmasiest Christmas,” performed by the voice cast.”

Additional cast members include the voices of: Cheri Oteri (Saturday Night Live) as a TV news correspondent; Brenna Yde (School of Rock) as Molly, Earth Mama’s granddaughter; John DiMaggio (Adventure Time) as Donny, Molly’s father; and Mary Pat Gleason (Mom) as Earth Mama, the owner and caretaker of the nursery. Albert is directed by Oscar®-nominated Max Lang (The Gruffalo), executive produced by Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi (The Adventures of Pete & Pete), and written by Will and Aaron Eisenberg (The Massively Mixed-Up Middle School Mystery) and Joe Stillman (Shrek). The Eisenbergs are also co-executive producers, and Viscardi serves as Nickelodeon’s SVP, Content Development, Nickelodeon Franchise Properties.

Watch the first trailer for Albert below:

New 'Smurfs: The Lost Village' Trailer Coming Next Week

Directed by Kelly Asbury (Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Shrek 2, Gnomeo and Juliet), the newest Smurfs movie Smurfs: The Lost Village will be the first time the title characters appear in an all-computer-generated world without human co-stars. As you can see in the teaser below, next week will bring a closer look at the film.

Starring Demi Lovato as Smurfette. Mandy Patinkin as Papa Smurf, Rainn Wilson as Gargamel, Joe Manganiello as Hefty, Danny Pudi as Brainy Smurf and Jack McBrayer as Clumsy Smurf, Smurfs: The Lost Village opens in theaters April 7, 2017.

[EMBED_TWITTER]https://twitter.com/SmurfsMovie/status/798163608764956674[/EMBED_TWITTER]

'Moana' Review:

Our own Perri Nemiroff had a chance to check out Disney's Moana during AFI Fest 2016 and shared her thoughts on the film in her review. In short, she said Moana is "yet another magical, exciting and moving adventure packed with catchy songs, lovable characters and truly touching moments." Be sure to check out her full review at the link above to find out why "Moana is the celebration of uniqueness, culture, family and pure joy that we need right now," and see what Perri scored it.

'Justice League Dark' Gets an R Rating

It was a big week for DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation's upcoming feature Justice League Dark. Not only did we get a new trailer for the highly anticipated animated feature, we also learned that it would follow in the footsteps of Batman: The Killing Joke in that it would feature an R rating. Then, we got even more details for the Warner Bros. Home Entertainment release.

Justice League Dark will be released first as a digital download on January 24, 2017 (for $19.99 in HD and $14.99 in SD) before dropping on Blu-ray ($24.98) and DVD ($19.98). There will also be a Blu-ray Deluxe Giftset edition available for $39.99 that features a Constantine figurine. The Blu-ray features will include sneak peeks at Teen Titans: The Judas Contract, Justice League: Gods and Monsters, and Justice League: Doom; featurettes on Swamp Thing, the New York Comic-Con panel, Constantine and Deadman; and two episodes from the DC Vault, “Dawn of the Dead Man!” and “Trials of the Demon!” from Batman: The Brave and the Bold.

Here’s the synopsis for Justice League Dark:

When innocent civilians begin committing unthinkable crimes across Metropolis, Gotham City and beyond, Batman must call upon mystical counterparts to eradicate this demonic threat to the planet. Enter Justice League Dark, reluctantly led by the Hellblazer himself, John Constantine. Like Batman, Constantine is a cunning, often cynical loner who is the best at his chosen profession – but quickly realizes the sinister forces plaguing the planet will require help from other supernatural alliances. Forming a new “league” with sorceress Zatanna, otherworldly Deadman, and Jason Blood and his powerful alter ego Etrigan the Demon, this team of Dark Arts specialists must unravel the mystery of Earth’s supernatural plague and contend with the rising, powerful villainous forces behind the siege – before it’s too late for all of mankind.

Netflix Original Animated Series 'Pacific Heat' Debuts in First Trailer

We were happy to bring you the exclusive launch trailer for the new Netflix Original Animated Series, Pacific Heat. If you've been waiting for an animated comedy about Australian cops taking on crooks on the Gold Coast, then this show is most definitely for you. The first trailer looked promising and it'll only be a couple short weeks until the action/comedy series debuts on Netflix.

Here's the series' official synopsis:

Pacific Heat is an animated comedy series, based on the exploits of a dynamic unit of undercover police investigators working on the glitzy “Gold Coast” of Australia. This glamorous, sophisticated, and sun-drenched paradise masks a hot-bed of crime; everyone from drug smugglers and biker gangs to eco-terrorists and the person who invented frozen yogurt. In order to tackle this seedy underbelly police authorities established “Pacific Heat.” This covert squad of highly trained operatives technically does not exist (although they do have their own Facebook page), but when criminals strike, “Pacific Heat” will be there; unconventional, uncompromising and unafraid to operate outside the law – provided at least one of them is wearing a fluorescent safety vest. Pacific Heat was created by the award-winning Working Dog team of Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner and Rob Sitch.

Keep an eye out for Pacific Heat on Netflix in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. / Ireland starting December 2nd!

'The Dam Keeper' Short to Get Feature Film Treatment at Fox

Variety reports that The Dam Keeper, the 2014 animated short film sans dialogue that earned an Oscar nomination for "Best Short Film, Animated", will be getting the computer-generated feature film treatment at 20th Century Fox Animation. The studio will team up with Tonko House, which produced the short film written and directed by co-founders Robert Kondo and Daisuke 'Dice' Tsutsumi, to tell the story of an anthropomorphic pig tasked with keeping a windmill spinning in order to prevent poisonous gas from descending upon a town. Screenwriter John Henry Hinkel is also onboard the project; this version will have dialogue, which should pose a different sort of challenge than the original short. There's also a 10-episode animated series in the works, one bound for Hulu in Japan, as reported by Cartoon Brew.

Check out the trailer for the short film below: