Annie Award Nominations - A Real Race For Once

Michael C here to see if the Annie Award nominations shed any light on this year’s rare neck and neck Oscar race for Best Animated film.

Frankenweenie captured critics and Annie noms. But not audiences. Will Oscar take to the (un)dead dog?

Animated Feature

• "Brave" – Pixar Animation Studios
• "Frankenweenie" – Walt Disney Studio
• "Hotel Transylvania" – Sony Pictures Animation
• "ParaNorman" – Focus Features
• "Rise of the Guardians" – DreamWorks Animation
• "The Pirates! Band of Misfits" – Aardman Animations
• "The Rabbi’s Cat "– GKIDS
• "Wreck-It Ralph" – Walt Disney Animation Studios

Without a slam-dunk frontrunner draining the suspense out of the category for once it's worth sifting through the tea leaves looking for omens. Unfortunately the Annie's nominated everything so it doesn't clarify much. At least they had the good taste to leave out The Lorax, Madagascar 3 and Ice Age 25, which I believe takes place in the early 1970’s.

Lots more after the jump including predictions and celebrity voice acting.

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From Russia With Link

i09 the best of the new Disney/Star Wars mashup art
Vulture "Matthew McConaughey's awards campaign for Magic Mike begins now"...it's about f***in' time!
NPR on an Asian remake of Dangerous Liaisons 
MovieLine Daniel Day-Lewis doing an Eastwood in London 
/Film Tom Hanks as Walt Disney in Saving Mr Banks

Stale Popcorn Glenn, our favorite fellow fan of Burlesque, has words about the proposed Diane Warren jukebox musical. So many Oscar nominated power ballads from that one!
In Contention on the new Les Miz trailer. Why haven't I written it up, you ask? I can only write about Les Miz so often people and the movie isn't even out yet. Plus I already did a Yes No Maybe So once and my policy is not to repeat that with a single movie... I mean, some movies release five trailers, people!

Natasha VC "Ja!" 
Pajiba wonders why all the best Bond girls have the worst names. (If by worst they mean best... because those campy names are essential! They're so missed in Skyfall!)
The Mary Sue Willow and Oz reunited!!!... but on How I Met Your Mother. zzzz...
PopWatch Jennifer Lawrence on complaints that she's too well-fed for The Hunger Games

In Hollywood I'm obese.  I’m Val Kilmer in that one picture on the beach."

Ha! This make me love her so much more. 

TODAY'S MUST WATCH

I thought about writing a review of the revival of Annie on Broadway but Adam Feldman's Time Out Review is so incredibly spookily spot on on ever single point I might have made (seriously go and read it)  that it's not worth writing my own -- hate it when that happens! So Annie is in my brain currently and "Tomorrow" is the only song that's battling "I Dreamed a Dream" for earworm revival of 2012. I nabbed the video above from my friend Tom's Broadway Blog. He's always worth a read and he finds the most incredible videos. This one is the musical comedienne Christina Bianco doing various über famous divas doing Annie. They may as well cast Bianco right now in an American remake of Little Voice (1998) she's so good at impersonating other vocalists!

Princess Leia "I'm Going to Disneyland!"

she'll fit right in.

The news travelled 'cross the web faster than hyper speed earlier tonight. Princess Leia has found a new home at Disney, the Mouse House having purchased all things Lucasfilm for a wee $4 billion and stock.

One day Disney will own the entire world but it's okay because corporations are people. And you'd totally be okay if one person owned the entire world, right??? Pray that your future corporate overlord will be a benevolent dictator... who giggles a lot and wears mouse ears.

Star Wars Episode VII: The Quest For More Billions, or whatever they'll eventually name it, is aiming for a 2015 release. That's quick. I hope they have a screenwriter already typing away. And I hope that screenwriter's name is not George Lucas.

The best part of this news is the Star Wars ride possibilities at amusement parks are endless. The worst part of this news is that the Star Wars franchise is already so over-exposed and now it'll be even worse! What Disney's done to Tinkerbell depresses me virtually every day and what horrible ubiquitous personality-changing fate might lie in store for Leia or the Ewoks or Jabba the Hut or (gasp) Jar Jar Binks.

If the new film is not set too far into the future following Return of the Jedi, will Princess Leia resurface and if so who on earth could play her? Let's do an impromptu Cast This! Ideally though, they'd go with all new characters and let Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford do cameos as their classic trio many years on.

Box Office Quickie

There's not much to report with this weekend's box office. It's more of the same as every studio, shaking from fear of the Bat, avoiding getting anywhere near opening weekend of The Dark Knight Rises.  Ice Age #8 (No, seriously I have no idea how many there have been now. No wait, I do: Too Many.) had the weekend to itself but for Spider-Man holdover and Ted's word of mouth.

Top five chart adapted from Box Office Mojo...

Of this week's top five Ted and Magic Mike are the most profitable on account of their lower than average budgets. But once you count in merchandising I suppose Brave, despite a budget nearly the size of its domestic gross (thus far), will be the winner... eventually. Disney Princesses = Profits Happily Ever After. 

What did you see this weekend? I stayed in and watched Jeff, Who Lives At Home as you commanded. More on that one soon.

Twins: Disney Villains x 2

Celebrating twins daily at 2:22 PM while we're in Gemini

Not all twins share the same parents. Though I suppose one could argue that Walt Disney's children are legion.

Case #1

Ursula & Medusa

If Ursula had legs and Medusa could join her crocs in the water, they could practically become a synchronized swim team.

• One wave memorable up-dos offset by dangly earrings
• Drag queen ready make-up
• Explicitly bra-less bouncing boobage and slovenly bodies
• Adores lounging about on seashell like thrones
• Terrible at feigning niceness to young girls
• ...but great at manipulating them into dangerous situations.
• Two reptilian henchmen (Flotsam & Jetsam / Brutus & Nero)

Case #2

Lady Tremaine & Maleficent

• High cheekbones, arched eyebrows, altogether angular gorgon beauty
• Fond of the purple collar
• Really really fussy about Royal Events and who is and is not invited to such things
• Identical Twin voices courtesy of the same actress Eleanor Audley (pictured above)

Case #3... ??? Make it in the comments.