Move over Batman v Superman. Get lost Godzilla vs. Kong. Here comes 22 vs. Earth, a prequel to Pixar’s Soul. This short film from Pixar Animation Studios shows us 22, the soul voiced by Tina Fey, before she met Soul character Joe Gardner. Fey returns to voice 22 yet again, and Pixar veteran Kevin Nolting directs. The short is headed to Disney+ this month, and we now have some first-look images you can see below.
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(Welcome to The Quarantine Stream, a new series where the /Film team shares what they’ve been watching while social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.)
The Movie: Save Ralph
Where You Can Stream It: YouTube
The Pitch: Spencer Susser (Hesher) directed this stop-motion short film faux-documentary about a rabbit named Ralph (the voice of Taika Waititi) who is used by humans for cosmetics testing, and the horrors that creatures like him endure because some companies refuse to update their archaic testing practices. It’s disturbing and heartbreaking and manipulative and powerful, all at the same time.
Why It’s Essential Viewing: Because it’s the type of galvanizing video that might actually inspire change. Read More »
Here’s a double dose of good news for the Hotel Transylvania fans out there. Monster Pets: A Hotel Transylvania Short, which is currently playing in Cinemark theaters, has made its way online in advance of this weekend’s Pets Day on April 11. (No, you’re not the only one who had no idea that Pets Day was a thing.)
The other piece of good news is two-pronged and a bit more bittersweet. The fourth installment of the film franchise has received a new official title: Hotel Transylvania: Transformania, and its release date has moved up on the calendar, so fans won’t have to wait as long to see it. It will now debut on July 23, 2021 instead of August 6. For fans, the bittersweet part is that Sony Pictures Animation has confirmed this will indeed be the final entry in this franchise. Check out the new Hotel Transylvania short film below. Read More »
On top of missing the theatrical movie-going experience altogether over the past year, it’s been a bummer to miss out on Disney’s tradition of including animated short films before their big screen releases. Thankfully, the short film attached to the theatrical release of Raya and the Last Dragon is coming home with the movie’s digital release today.
Us Again is written and directed by Zach Parrish, who served as head of animation on Big Hero 6 and will be at the helm of an animated Short Circuit movie at Disney. The film follows an elderly couple as they joyously rekindle their youth through the magic of dancing, and a little Us Again clip gives us a taste of the fancy footwork that will take us through the city. Read More »
The virtual SXSW is over, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get in on some of the movie action. The folks at Oscilloscope Laboratories and Mailchimp have once again put together a program to #SupportTheShorts, allowing viewers to watch a bunch of SXSW 2021 short films online for free. The shorts include titles like Chuj Boys of Summer (directed by Max Walker-Silverman) and Malignant (directed by Morgan Bond), just to name a few. There are local films from Texas, creepy Midnight titles, documentary shorts, and more.
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A different kind of plague has emerged with renewed force in the last year alongside COVID-19: the rise of hate crimes against Asians and Asian-Americans in the U.S. The spike in anti-Asian violence began around a year ago when the coronavirus pandemic first reached American shores, and was exacerbated by former President Donald Trump and other federal officials repeatedly calling COVID-19 the “China virus” or the “Kung flu.” But recent months have begun to rack up a body count — notably, an elderly Thai man who was killed in San Francisco in January — and the growing public advocacy of Asian-American celebrities, who have called for change.
Last week, Disney+ released a statement offering its support to the AAPI organizations amid the rising hate crimes, and now Pixar has gone a step further: releasing two Pixar SparkShorts created by Asian filmmakers in solidarity with the Asian and Asian-American communities.
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It’s been five years since Walt Disney Animation last released an animated short to be paired with one of its feature films (that excruciatingly long Frozen short that wouldn’t end was from Pixar, not WDA). And it’s been even longer since Disney earned acclaim for one of its original shorts, like the exquisite Oscar-winning 2012 short Paperman, which screened in front of Wreck-It-Ralph.
And while not many people will likely be heading to theaters to catch Raya and the Last Dragon on the big screen due to the ongoing pandemic, Disney is bringing back the experience of seeing a lovingly animated short in front of a film with Us Again, an ode to dance and aging, which will screen in front of Raya and the Last Dragon in theaters this March and come to Disney+ a few months after that. See the Us Again first look below.
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Wong Kar-wai has been relatively quiet since his last feature film, The Grandmaster, was released in 2013. But the renowned Hong Kong director has been ramping things up recently, preparing a new TV series, producing the Thai Sundance film One for the Road, and shooting a Lunar New Year commercial for Mercedes Benz. Or “curating” a commercial, as the text claims onscreen, though the short film has all the hallmarks of a Wong film. Watch short below.
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Lulu Wang reunited with her team from the Golden Globe-nominated The Farewell to shoot a film on Apple’s fancy new iPhone in honor of Lunar New Year. In the short, Nian, Wang puts a new twist on an old Chinese folktale in an 11-minute short that manages to capture a feeling of Studio Ghibli-style magic. Watch the entire short film below.
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Four new DC Comics characters are getting the spotlight in new DC Showcase animated shorts to be released between 2021 to 2022. The animated shorts will be included on upcoming releases of the animated DC Universe Movies, as bonus features.
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