The first trailer for DreamWorks Animation’s The Croods has been released.  Written and directed by Kirk De Micco (Space Chimps) and Chris Sanders (How to Train Your Dragon), the film takes us back to “a previously undiscovered era in the history of our planet” and centers on the culture clash between a family of cavemen and a more evolved young man named Guy (Ryan Reynolds).  We don’t see much of the plot in this trailer, but the visuals look absolutely gorgeous.  We learn that the family The Croods live by the rule of “never try anything new,” so naturally the film will focus on their journey of leaving the cave for the first time.  It’s interesting to see DreamWorks playing up the more dramatic and awe-inspiring aspects of this and Rise of the Guardians compared the comedy-heavy trailers for their previous films.  I’m sure The Croods will still have plenty of jokes, but I’m encouraged by what we see in this teaser.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The film also features the voices of Emma Stone, Nicolas Cage, Catherine Keener, Cloris Leachman and Clark Duke.  The Croods opens in 3D on March 22nd, 2013.

The first poster for DreamWorks Animation’s upcoming caveman pic The Croods has been released.  Written and directed by Kirk De Micco (Space Chimps) and Chris Sanders (How to Train Your Dragon), the film takes us back to “a previously undiscovered era in the history of our planet” and centers on the culture clash between a family of cavemen and a more evolved young man named Guy (Ryan Reynolds).  The poster teases the film’s colorful visuals and some interesting-looking species, so at the very least The Croods should be great to look at.  DreamWorks is pretty hit or miss, but I’m really looking forward to this November’s Rise of the Guardians so hopefully The Croods will be an entertaining follow-up.

Hit the jump to check out the poster.  A trailer should be going online any day now.  The film also features the voices of Emma Stone, Nicolas Cage, Catherine Keener, Cloris Leachman and Clark Duke.  The Croods opens on March 22nd, 2013.

DreamWorks Animation is known for being prolific, but the studio has just announced a massive 12-picture slate that runs through 2016.  Here’s a brief look:

• The Croods – March 22nd, 2013
• Turbo – July 19th, 2013
• Mr. Peabody & Sherman – November 1st, 2013
• Me and My Shadow – March 14th, 2014
• How to Train Your Dragon 2 – June 20th, 2014
• Happy Smekday! – November 26th, 2014
• The Penguins of Madagascar – March 27th, 2015
• Trolls (working title) – June 5th, 2015
• B.O.O: Bureau of Otherworldy Operations – November 6th, 2015
• Mumbai Musical (working title) – December 19th, 2015
• Kung Fu Panda 3 – March 16th, 2016
• How to Train Your Dragon 3 – June 18th, 2016

Hit the jump for more details on this ambitious line-up of animated films.

We haven’t heard much about Gus Van Sant‘s Promised Land since it went into production this past April.  Matt Damon was originally set to make his directorial debut on the flick, before his busy schedule prompted the actor to hand the reigns over to his Good Will Hunting director.  Damon co-wrote the screenplay with John Krasinski, and the plot is described as “Capra-esque.”  The story focuses on a duo of corporate salesmen (Damon and Frances McDormand) who try to prey on an economic town in decline only to have their mission complicated by the citizens they encounter.  According to Deadline, Focus Features will release the film in an exclusive engagement in New York and Los Angeles on December 28th in order to qualify for awards consideration.  The movie, which also stars Krasinski, Rosemarie DeWitt, Hal Holbrook, Scoot McNairy, and Titus Welliver, will then expand in January.

Hit the jump for release dates for upcoming DreamWorks Animation films.

Some shakeups in the animation industry are taking place.  We recently learned that Paramount Pictures was ramping up its own animation division with a SpongeBob SquarePants sequel, an animated J.J. Abrams film, and adaptations of Nickelodeon shows like Dora the Explorer and The Legend of Korra.  Since 2006, Paramount has handled the distribution of DreamWorks Animation’s output, but their deal is nearing a close at the end of this year.

DWA made it known that they would be seeking a deal with a different studio after Paramount requested a higher fee for bot theatrical and home video releases, and now it looks like the Shrek studio has found a new home in 20th Century Fox.  Hit the jump for more.

The feature animation world is about to get a bit bigger as Paramount Pictures is looking to expand its original animation output.  The studio surprised last year with the excellent Rango, a film which many (myself included) stood head an shoulders above what Pixar and DreamWorks Animation had to offer in 2011.  The studio has since put into development a number of properties, but thus far the only one we’ve known much about was The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie 2.

A new report just hit that clues us in on much more of what Paramount has in store, including an animated project from J.J. Abrams and feature film adaptations of a number of Nickelodeon shows like The Legend of Korra and Dora the Explorer.  Hit the jump for more.

DreamWorks Animation has made a major acquisition by acquiring Classic Media and its stable of properties.  Classic Media owns such titles as Casper the Friendly Ghost, Where’s Waldo?, Lassie, The Lone Ranger, George of the Jungle, Voltron, and Rocky & Bullwinkle.  While The Lone Ranger is already in development at Disney, and this acquisition clearly doesn’t supersede previous deals regarding other properties set up other studios, it still gives DreamWorks Animation a large number of titles to draw from.  DreamWorks Animation could now expand to making movies based on Rocky & Bullwinkle, George of the Jungle, Casper, etc.  The studio is already working on an adaptation of Mr. Peabody & Sherman, which is due out next Christmas.

Hit the jump for the press release.

The DreamWorks Animation panel at Comic-Con 2012 featured chief creative officer Bill Damashke, James Baxter (supervising animator on The Croods), Tom McGrath (director of the Madagascar series), and Patrick Hanenberger (production designer on Rise of the Guardians).  The panel started with a clip reel  of highlights from the DreamWorks filmography, from Shrek to Kung Fu Panda to How to Train Your Dragon.  Given the panel members, the reel and the discussion shifted mainly to Madagascar 3 (currently in theaters), Rise of the Guardians (in theaters November 21), and The Croods (coming March 2013).  The Rise of the Guardians section was nothing you haven’t already seen in this trailer, but the Croods footage was brand new, and it looks very interesting.  Hit the jump for more.

A few new character posters for the upcoming DreamWorks Animation film Rise of the Guardians.  The adventure story centers on a group of heroes who must join forces to protect “the hopes, beliefs and imagination of the children all over the world.” The twist is that the heroes are Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Sandman, the Tooth Fairy and Jack Frost.  I was a big fan of the film’s first trailer, and I’m eager to see what the full story involves.  Though knee-jerk reaction to the premise would be to expect an action-comedy featuring all these “zany” characters ribbing each other in between fights, author, co-writer and co-director William Joyce looks to have brought a great deal of heart, wonder and whimsy to the pic.

Hit the jump to check out the character posters.  The film features the voices of Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin, Hugh Jackman, Isla Fisher and Jude Law. Rise of the Guardians opens on November 21st.

DreamWorks Animation has been working on a 3D animated iteration of the classic “dog and his pet boy” cartoon Mr. Peabody and Sherman for a few years now, but the first image from the feature film has now surfaced.  The original cartoon first appeared as part of the Rocky and Bullwinkle show, and DreamWorks Animation’s version boasts the voice talent of Ty Burrell (Modern Family) as the dog and Max Charles (The Amazing Spider-Man) as the boy.  The story finds Peabody’s “pet boy”using the genius dog’s time machine without permission, thus sending events in history spiraling out of control.

Hit the jump to check out the first image of DreamWorks-rendered Mr. Peabody and Sherman.  The film opens in 3D on March 14^th, 2014.

Paramount has released some new images from their upcoming releases as part of their 2012 preview.  As such, we’ve got new looks at The Dictator, the animated holiday film Rise of the Guardians, and G.I. Joe: Retaliation.  We’ve seen one of the G.I. Joe images before, but this version is in super duper high resolution.  Out of these three films, I’m actually the most excited for Rise of the Guardians.  The adventure story centers on a group of heroes who must join forces to protect “the hopes, beliefs and imagination of the children all over the world.” The twist is that the heroes are Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Sandman, the Tooth Fairy and Jack Frost.  I loved the first trailer, and the character details we recent received were incredibly enticing.

Hit the jump to check out images from each film.  You can read Steve’s recap from Paramount’s CinemaCon presentation right here.  The Dictator opens on May 16th, G.I. Joe: Retaliation hits theaters on June 29th, and Rise of the Guardians will be released on November 21st.

Yesterday, the first trailer for DreamWorks Animation’s Rise of the Guardians plopped down out of nowhere. I was nearly floored by how much I loved the clip, and the film looks to tell a fantastical story with the same tone and sense of wonderment that came from the magnificent How to Train Your Dragon. The adventure story centers on a group of heroes who must join forces to protect “the hopes, beliefs and imagination of the children all over the world.” The twist is that the heroes are Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Sandman, the Tooth Fairy and Jack Frost.

The film is actually based off an upcoming series of children’s books by author William Joyce (who also co-wrote and co-directed the film), and recently Joyce took some time to talk about what to expect from the film’s characters. Additionally, some new images of the titular heroes have been released. Hit the jump to see what Joyce had to say and to check out the images.

The first trailer for DreamWorks Animation’s Rise of the Guardians has gone online, and I’m kind of in love with it. Executive produced by Guillermo del Toro, the adventure story centers on a group of heroes who must join forces to protect “the hopes, beliefs and imagination of the children all over the world.” The twist is that the heroes are Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Sandman, etc. This trailer is kind of incredible, as it has the same sweeping tone and sense of wonderment that was prevalent in How to Train Your Dragon. The animation is gorgeous and DreamWorks thankfully eschews hokey jokes and gags in favor of awe and tone. The story comes from author William Joyce, who also created the very touching Oscar-winning short The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, and if the final film is anything like this trailer I’ll be over the moon.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer. Directed by Joyce and Peter Ramsey, the film features the voices of Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin, Hugh Jackman, Isla Fisher and Jude Law. Rise of the Guardians opens on November 21st.

After years of playing little sister to Pixar, Dreamworks Animation has finally come out on top, securing Oscar nominations for both Puss and Boots and Kung Fu Panda 2 in 2011. Riding high on the financial and critical success of these films, the studio invited press to the Director’s Guild of America the other day for a preview of their 2012 slate.

During the presentation, we saw about 25 minutes of the anthropomorphized crime caper, Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted and the premiere of the first footage from Rise of the Guardians, an epic new William Joyce (Meet the Robinsons) adaptation that focuses on the battle between holiday figureheads and the boogieman.  Hit the jump for a breakdown of the footage and some thoughts.

Bill Hader, Kate Hudson, and Josh Gad will lend their voices to the upcoming DreamWorks Animation film Me & My Shadow.  Per THR, the fantasy film stars as a bored shadow (Hader) who is tethered to a timid human (Gad), but gets the excitement he yearns for when a crime in the shadow community propels them into adventure to stop a shadowy villain from taking over the human world.  Hudson will voice Grubb’s love interest in the real-world.

When we reported on the film back in December 2010, Mark Dindal (The Emperor’s New Groove) was set to direct, but he’s been replaced by How to Train Your Dragon‘s head of story, Alessandro Carloni, who will make his directing debut on Shadow.  The film will blend CGI animation (the human world) with hand-drawn animation (the shadow world), and I’m excited to see the result.  Me & My Shadow is due out November 13, 2013.