The release of Pixar's Up has really put me in an animated mood. Ha! Get it? So I gathered up some of the upcoming animated movies (a few as far out as 2012) from Pixar, Disney, DreamWorks — and Tim Burton. There are some exciting movies on their way to the silver screen so get ready to mark your calendars!
In the B-movie world, movie titles and posters often come before the scripts. Similarly, with Bee Movie, creator Jerry Seinfeld first came up with the "bee movie" pun came and then wrote a film to fit the title. Those humble beginnings had me a bit worried before going into this movie; as a huge Seinfeld fan, I really wanted to see the comedian succeed.
Bee Movie gets off to a rather pedestrian start, with humor dominated by lazy puns that, admittedly, are more kid-friendly than what follows. The story follows Barry B. Benson (Seinfeld) upon graduating from college in a New York hive. Unlike his buttoned-down buddy Adam (Matthew Broderick), Barry is distraught at the prospect of doing the same job every day for the rest of his existence. After sullenly lounging around his family's pool — in a scene that heavily references The Graduate — Barry decides to join the "pollen jocks" on their next trip out of the hive. From there, the movie starts to gain laughs and momentum, so read more
I'm a bit frightened to see Ben Stiller's name associated with a superhero parody ever since Mystery Men, which — despite a promising cast that included Janeane Garofalo and Greg Kinnear — was pretty much unwatchable.
But Stiller seems to have recovered from the trauma: His Red Hour Films is producing a "superhero sendup" called Master Mind, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Stiller is working on the kid-friendly feature for DreamWorks Animation, on the heels of his starring roles in Night at the Museum and DreamWorks' Madagascar. Here's more from the HR story:
DreamWorks Animation veterans Cameron Hood and Kyle Jefferson are attached to make their feature film directorial debut with "Master Mind," a satirical take on the superhero genre centering on a supervillain who loses his joie de vivre after accidentally killing his archrival, Uberman, in the opening scene of the movie.
Is it just me, or does the premise sound like it has a bit of Zoolander thrown in, too? Bad Mystery Men flashbacks aside, I can see Stiller's comedy working really well in a kids' movie context. As for when the movie will see the light of day, Stiller joked to the Hollywood Reporter, "They have put the film on the fast track, which in animation terms means it will be coming out in the next 15-20 years."
