Hayao Miyazaki, considered by some to be the Japanese Walt Disney, is rumoured to be working on a sequel to his 1992 film Porco Rosso, about an Italian World War I flying ace who gets magically turned into a pig.

For anyone familiar with Miyazaki, you’ll know that his work is always startlingly original and a pleasure to watch.  In fact, it’s practically the only “anime” I still keep up with these days because he’s such an impressive filmmaker.

Geek Tyrant had the story:

The sequel to the film will be called Porco Rosso: The Last Sortie, and it will be set during the Spanish Civil War. He goes on to say it should be a very interesting film, and also had this to say in the interview,

“I’m not thinking about a movie of a girl.”

“I think that I must think about only a movie of a boy.”

“I do not need to make a movie if it is not a tragic story of a boy.”

“So I want to escape to Porco Rosso: The Last Sortie. I have all its materials.”

“If next two films succeed and [studio president Toshio] Suzuki-san lets me make it (Porco) while saying, ‘It cannot be helped because it’s a hobby of the old man’, I’m happy. It’s my hobby.”

For those not familiar with Miyazaki, I say shame on you.  All of his films are on Netflix and are widely available everywhere.  His are also some of the few Anime films that get wide American theatrical releases, so let’s hope this happens and we can see it on the big screen.

Here’s a trailer to Porco Rosso:

What did you guys think?

This show really does get better and better every season.

Everyone knows that classic films have always inspired the Star Wars saga.  The most often mentioned is Akira Kurosawa’s Hidden Fortress having a direct impact on A New Hope (particularly the two peasants who seemed to translate directly into Artoo and Threepio.)  And it’s been no secret that The Clone Wars has followed very much that same pattern.

One of my favorite things to do when I watch each episode is decode what movies they may be homaging.  Since the movies they homage are some of my favorites, it deepens my love for the show.  In the first two seasons we’ve seen episodes based on Hitchcock films like Notorious (Senate Spy) and Kurosawa’s Stray Dog and Seven Samurai (Lightsaber Lost and The Bounty Hunters) and even Godzilla and King Kong (The Zillo Beast episodes).

It might be one of my favorite things on the show, since Dave Filoni and crew have such a love for not only Star Wars, but the classic films that we should all cherish and hold dear.  (In fact, when I interviewed Filoni at Celebration V (video soon!) the entire interview was almost derailed when we started geeking out aboutThe Third Man).

During the final press conference, I was able to ask Filoni what sorts of movies could we be looking at for hints into season three and his answers did not dissapoint.  There will be video from this press conference forthcoming, but this answer was too tantalizing for me to wait on.

The short, incomplete list of movies he gave as inspirations for Clone Wars Season 3:

Battle of the Bulge — Filoni said that this one came directly from George Lucas and was obviously an influence on Star Wars.  At one point a character blatantly stops and says “I have a bad feeling about this.”

Saving Private Ryan — My guess is we’ll see a lot of WWII-like combat in Season 3, if this is any indication.

Alcatraz — That’s what Filoni said, I can only guess he meant Escape From Alcatraz, which is a great escape film and has all kinds of possibilities in the Clone Wars universe.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom — This one presents a lot of interesting speculation as of to how the influence could be utilized.  Will the Jedi be dealing with the Witches of Dathomir revealed in the trailer like the Thugee?  Will there be an episode with a Shankara-Stone like quest for the Jedi? Will it be a comedy, like our second favorite Indy film?  The possibilities are endless.

And the last one on his list:

Predator — This is another incredibly interesting film for him to reference and us to speculate on.  During the Republic Commandoes clip that was shown, it was insinuated that there was a beast somewhere killing clones and Jedi.  Could this be Savage Oppress?  Could he be like the predator?  He certainly looks the part.  On the other hand, we could be in store for another all-clones episode where they’re off in the forest and we could be seeing a direct homage to this film with some random monster on some outer-rim world.

In any of these cases, we won’t know until we see the episodes, but I hope this has provided some tantalizing food for thought about Season 3.  Also, I hyperlinked all of the films to their Amazon pages.  These are all films you need to have seen, so go ahead and buy them.

Season 3 begins on September 17th with a two part episode about an attack on Kamino.

Today was the first day of Star Wars Celebration V and while I attended a variety of panels and the exhibition hall floor, two panels in particular forced me to write up my coverage quickly because of all the news pouring out of them.

They were both Clone Wars panels, first was Joel Aron’s lighting and visual FX panel, and then later was the “Evolution of Clone Wars” panel with Aron and Clone Wars supervising director Dave Filoni.

At first, I thought these panels were going to be retreads of things I’d seen at Comic-Con, but I was treated with things very new.  Instead of a rundown of the panels, since they were basically just them talking, I’ll cover all the major news points below.

Firstly, the two part season premiere on September 17th, takes us to Kamino to see the clones being trained in their training facility.  A lot of the scenes there were cut (including a scene in a Kamino infirmiry), but I would expect to see them on a DVD release of the season.  There is a “Battle of Kamino” in the second episode of the premiere.  Extended shots from the trailer were also shown, highlighting tentacled robots climbing up a Kaminoan city.  It was also mentioned more than once that in order to expand Kamino for the show, Filoni went back to the original concept drawings for Attack of the Clones and intimated that a lot of what the entire show is based on are concepts developed for the films that didn’t make it in.

As far as production of the show, Season 3 is already more than two-thirds complete.  Season 4 is in production; Season 5 is being talked about.  The word is that the show really will go on as long as we continue watching it.

The next thing to remember is that every story on this show originates from George Lucas.  Though writers flesh out the story lines and Dave helps add in the finer details, these are really George’s stories that they execute in animated form.  A question was asked about the possibility of Lucas Animation doing something like DC’s Animated Features (like last month’s Under the Red Hood release) and Filoni seemed very doubtful.  “Everything comes from George and, as much as I’m a fan of the EU, I think he’d want to just show you something new.”

When asked about the possibility of a new feature film version of the cartoon, Filoni said, “I can’t picture finding the time to do it.  It’s better to make you guys a mini-movie every week instead.”

There was much talk of Boba Fett, Pre Vizsla and the Mando warriors we saw in a couple of different story arcs in Season 2.  Filoni described Mandalore in the Clone Wars era much like Post World War I Germany and hinted strongly that Satine’s government was very precarious and that Pre Vizsla (the character voiced by Iron Man director Jon Favreau) might very well be poised to be the Mandalorian Hitler of the Star Wars universe.  He confronted the EU controversy over Mandalore head on and knocked his answer out of the park.  When asked if the Slave I was okay (since it was last seen crashed over Hondo Ohnaka’s hideout in season 2), Filoni remarked, “Slave I is fine.  Maybe Hondo has Slave I since he’s sort of a junk dealer?  Boba’s in jail, it’s not like he has a use for it.  But maybe he gets out, but I don’t know anything about that, because I can’t tell you.”

Another fan asked him point blank if Boba gets his armour and Filoni blanched at the question and danced around it rather well.  “Well, he gets it at some point, doesn’t he?”

Perhaps the biggest news of the panel was the reveal of the Republic Commando’s Delta squad from the video game.  They appeared in a scene showed three times during the course of the “Evolution” panel.  A shuttle came down in the rain (a very convincing and incredibly well-animated rain) and landed in front of Adi Gallia, Saesse Tinn, Plo Koon, and Obi-Wan Kenobi.  The cargo hold opens revealing the Republic Commandos, who pull down a floating coffin down the entry ramp and explain to the Jedi that “there were no survivors”.  Adi Gallia is alarmed, since not even the Jedi survived.  And Plo Koon and Obi-Wan debate what this phantom menace killing Jedi could be.  All in all, the scene revealed little, but the animation has taken such a quantum leap forward in quality, it was worth watching repeatedly.

And while that may have been the biggest news, perhaps my favorite was hearing that Ahmed Best was back as the voice of Jar Jar Binks.  I know a lot of you probably wouldn’t care so much about that, but as annoying as Jar Jar might be, it’s doubly annoying to have someone else do the voice.  It might sound weird, but it’s true.

As far as what else we can expect out of Season 3, Filoni recited a piece of the opening crawl from Revenge of the Sith: “There are heroes on both sides.  Evil is everywhere.”  If there’s a theme to this season, he said “it’s revealing things.  And one of the biggest things is that we’re going to explore is the Separatists and we’ll see some of the heroes on their side and why they’re doing what they’re doing.”

(More Pictures and coverage to come soon!)

Lucasfilm and Cartoon Network announced this morning that the third season of Clone Wars will begin on September 17, 2010.  The season will have 22 episodes.

This excites me to no end.

More news about The Clone Wars is expected from Star Wars Celebration V.  More on that as it becomes available.

From the press release:

New Clone Wars Adventures™ Online Virtual World to Debut with Season PremiereSecrets Are Revealed In All-New Season of Star Wars™: The Clone Wars™Premiering on Cartoon Network, Friday, September 17, 9 p.m. (ET/PT)

Building on the huge ratings win from last spring’s second season finale of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Cartoon Network announced today it will premiere 22 all-new episodes for season three of the critically acclaimed CG-animated series from creator George Lucas and Lucasfilm Animation. The special, one-hour season three premiere event of Star Wars: The Clone Wars airs Friday, September 17, at 9 p.m. (et/pt).

The season two finale of Star Wars: The Clone Wars was the highest-rated telecast of the season among all key kid demos—2-11, 6-11, 9-14. The one-hour special also took the #1 spot as the most-watched telecast of the day (May 2) among boys 6-14, and #1 for its timeslot with kids 6-14 versus all television. Star Wars: The Clone Wars is a thrilling, weekly 30- minute “mini-movie” created by the talented artists at Lucasfilm Animation.

Mystery, intrigue and adventure await our heroes with all-new action-packed episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. As war continues to rage throughout the galaxy, the dark side grows even stronger and the Jedi Knights are pushed to the breaking point. The lines between good and evil become blurred as secrets are revealed, truths are questioned and alliances are betrayed. Loyalties are tested as new enemies emerge and heroes rise – and fall.

In this transformative new season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, surprises wait at every turn, the fate of the galaxy hangs in the balance and the destiny of the “Chosen One” will at long last be uncovered. Thrilling, unpredictable and often humorous, the exciting new adventures of the Star Wars Saga will captivate fans of all ages.

Fans of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated television series on Cartoon Network can also look forward to the scheduled online release of LucasArts, a division of Lucasfilm Entertainment Company Ltd.’s and Sony Online Entertainment LLC’s (SOE) Star Wars®: Clone Wars Adventures™ video game on September 15. The ultimate virtual destination for a new generation of Star Wars fans, Clone Wars Adventures is an action-packed virtual world where players can go online to experience fun minigames, daily activities, events, rewards, lively social environments and competition. Clone Wars Adventures lets players duel iconic adversaries with their own custom lightsaber, speed through the galaxy in a custom starfighter, defeat enemies and take down starships.

Clone Wars Adventures is a free-to-play to game, but players who want to take the galactic action to the next level can purchase a monthly Membership subscription for $5.99, while a variety of epic items can also be purchased through Station Cash® micro-transactions. The Clone Wars Adventures Galactic Passport is scheduled to be available at thousands of retail locations in North America later this fall and will include a 90 day membership, 500 Station Cash, the ability to unlock the Togruta playable character, a Yoda monitor topper, and more.

I forgot that I don’t have cable and need to get it for Clone Wars.

DC has been knocking their animated films out of the park lately, and one of the best things on the discs are the DC Animated Shorts that precede the feature films. They allow us to see highly stylized animated versions of characters that probably aren’t popular enough to rate their own release but are incredibly cool nonetheless.

In addition to The Spectre and Jonah Hex (which have been released), we’ll also get the forthcoming Green Arrow short as well as an original Superman/Shazam short called “The Return of Black Adam”.  This disc comes out November 9th.

They’ve provided some stills and more detailed information in their press release:

Warner Premiere, DC Entertainment, Warner Bros. Animation and Warner Home Video have expanded the realm of superhero storytelling beyond the popular DC Universe Animated Original PG-13 Movies with the introduction of the DC Showcase, a series of animated shorts featuring characters from the celebrated DC Comics vault. On November 9, 2010, Warner Home Video will distribute the DC Showcase Original Shorts Collection, the first quartet of animated adventures featuring the never-before-seen Superman/Shazam! The Return of Black Adam, as a Special Edition Blu-Ray™ for $29.99 (SRP) and single disc DVD for $19.98 (SRP).

DC Showcase animated shorts initially appeared as special bonus content on the 2010 slate of DC Universe Animated Original Movies. The 10- to 12-minute films include The Spectre, Jonah Hex and Green Arrow. All three titles will be presented in extended formats along with the first-ever release of Superman/Shazam! The Return of Black Adam.

In Superman/Shazam! The Return of Black Adam, Clark Kent’s latest interview subject is street kid Billy Batson. What Clark doesn’t know is that Billy is more than a feisty kid with a lot of heart – he has been chosen by an ancient wizard to represent the good of man as the World’s Mightiest Mortal just by invoking the name of the wizard, “Shazam!” Billy’s powers come none-too-soon, as he also discovers
he’s being pursued by a centuries’ old, murderous villain, Black Adam – a foe so powerful, even Superman can’t stop him alone. The all-star cast of Superman/Shazam! The Return of Black Adam is led by Jerry O’Connell (Crossing Jordan) as Captain Marvel, George Newbern reprising his Justice League role as Superman, Arnold Vosloo (The Mummy) as Black Adam and two-time Emmy Award® winner James Garner (8 Simple Rules) as The Wizard.

Bruce Timm (Superman Doomsday) is executive producer and Joaquim Dos Santos (Justice League, Avatar: The Last Airbender) is director of the first series of DC Showcase titles. Michael Jelenic (Wonder Woman) wrote the 22-minute script.

I’m sure there is a decent amount of people out there who have seen, or have heard about the movie and what is and is not in it. Taking six books and cramming them into a movie is hard so of course some stuff just doesnt make it in. Well Adult Swim got together with Bryan Lee O’Malley and Edgar Wright to take the high school flashback from book 2 and turn it into an animated short. Slashfilm has all the details and 2 clips, here’s a little bit from them and click here to check out the full story.

We were approached by Universal to do something cool around the release of Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World. Being huge fans of the comic, and very excited about the film, we asked if we could produce an animated short in the style of the comic. The filmmakers and Bryan Lee O’Malley were into the idea, so we actually made it! Edgar Wright was kind enough to secure some of the talent from the film for us, so we have Michael Cera as Scott, Allison Pill as Kim, Mae Whitman as Lisa and Jason Schwartzman as Simon Lee doing voices in the short.

UPDATE: Scott Pilgrim vs the Animation airs Thursday August 12th in two parts between 12 and 12:30 am, inside commercial breaks on [adult swim]. It will also be available in full on adultswim.com, and on the [adult swim] and Scott Pilgrim FaceBook pages the day after it airs.

Dwayne McDuffie, the screenwriter of the next DC Animated Feature has announced via his blog that All Star Superman will be the next film in the series.  It will be coming out in Spring.

This is pretty good news for people.  This is one of the better arcs of Superman and is pretty popular.  Personally, if they had to pick one Superman story, I’d just as soon see them do Worlds at War, but this should be really good.

We’ll report more information as it becomes available.

Synopsis: Batman faces his ultimate challenge as the mysterious Red Hood takes Gotham City by firestorm. One part viglante, one part criminal kingpin, Red Hood begins cleaning up Gotahm with the effciency of Batman, but without following the same ethical code. Killing is an option. And when the Joke falls in the balance between the two, hard truths are revealed and old wounds are reopened.

Featuring the voices of Bruce Greenwood as Batman, John DiMaggio as The Joker, Jensen Ackles as Red Hood, Jason Isaccs as Ra’s Al Ghul, and Neil Patrick Harris as Nightwing.

Swank-mo-tron: My perspective on “Under the Red Hood” I’m sure varies greatly from Arse-bots. I’m a giant Batman nerd, almost as big as I am a Star Wars nerd, and when I read the comics this story was based on I was less than pleased. It’s no secret that Jason Todd, the Robin that Batman lost at the hands of the Joker, is the Red Hood, but my reaction was always, “Why?” It seemed pointless and counter productive to bring back Jason Todd from death, since his death was probably the single most defining event in Bruce Wayne’s life after his choice to put on the cape and cowl. The whole enterprise was lame and left a bad taste in my mouth, especially the issue where they actually bring him back to life and it’s basically the “Crisis” that regenerated his corpse in his coffin because he wasn’t supposed to die. Yawn.

When I heard they were making a movie of this storyline, I was pretty skeptical. After I did an interview with Scott Snyder about American Vampire (and who will soon be taking over the reigns of Detective Comics), we spent about 40 minutes afterwards geeking out about Batman and he recommended that I go back and re-read the Red Hood story since it was the best story Winick could have made under the constraints of having to bring Todd back. I re-read it under that lens, and I agreed with Snyder. But there was just too much continuity in the comics thrown out for me to really love it.

Then it comes to this release on Blu-ray and I’m wanting to hate it. But I can’t. Because it’s in its own little isolated animated universe, they’re able to throw out all of those continuity problems that made me hate the story in the first place and stripped it down to its purest form. This was actually a great movie.

Without all of the baggage I attached to it from the comics this was probably one of the most enjoyable and well-written Batman animated movies since the Return of the Joker, and Mask of the Phantasm before that. This is one you’re going to want to watch a lot. And I would like to point out Neil Patrick Harris’ standout performance as Dick Grayson. It was pitch perfect for the character.

And I’m usually not a fan of people other than Kevin Conroy stepping in to Batman’s shoes, but Bruce Greenwood did a really great job. I still want Conroy, but Greenwood would be an appropriate succesor.

And pay particularly close attention to the fight with Amazo and pretty much everything with The Black Mask. It was some of the most fun I’ve had in one of these movies in a long time.

Arse-bot: Unlike Swank, going into this movie I had next to no exposure to this story line in the Batman universe. I knew the overall plot, but nothing about the details. I have seen every DC Animated film released and have yet to be disappointed – the quality, stories, and for the most part the voice acting, are all always top notch. So, going into this I had some pretty high expectations.

Needless to say, they were met, and then some.

The story is compelling as hell, with the film starting off with the infamous death of Jason Todd – the second kid to don the Robin domino mask – at the hand of the Joker you know you are in for a great, emotional, action-packed ride. Right from the start the emotion is there, which says a lot since this is an animated film. Jason’s death has profoundly affected Bruce and this is portrayed in a great way with his interactions with Dick Grayson who is now NightWing. Batman wants to work alone, and despite NightWing’s kick-ass efforts to help him out even with a “simple” heist, Batman keeps his distance and goes it alone. Bruce and Dick’s interactions serve as what you may normally have conveyed to you via thought bubbles in the pages of a comic book. It was a very creative and effective way to give you insight to Bruce’s head.

As the story goes on and Red Hood comes on the scene, things obviously get complicated. Bruce slowly starts to put together who’s under that mask. While I was disappointed at NightWing’s departure just before the middle of the film, it was replaced by Bruce’s interactions with the resurrected Jason Todd. Obviously, this being an animated feature geared towards older teens and up, there is plenty of action to keep the pace moving, including a great showdown between Red Hood and Batman versus five assassins. The action sequences are brutal, and surprisingly bloody, but work with the overall tone of this DC Animated outing.

Everything really came to a head for me in Batman: Under the Red Hood in the finale. Jason Todd has finally gotten a crack at The Joker, and Batman is frantically coming after him to try to “save” his former protege. After a knock-down drag-out fight, Bruce and Jason have a few words. Standing in a seemingly empty room, Jason tells Bruce that he forgives him for not being able to save him, but then kicks open a closet and out falls the Joker tied to a chair. And in an emotionally charged and great piece of voice-acting it screams at Bruce demanding to know why after the Joker killed him why he was still alive. It’s a powerful scene that I rewound and watch a few times.

I’m with Swank in that Bruce Greenwood makes a great Batman, falling just short of effectiveness of that of the great Kevin Conroy. If Conroy were to ever retire as the voice of Batman, and Greenwood stepped up to start voicing him semi-regularly I would be very pleased. Jensen Ackles does a fantastic job as Red Hood as well and he and Greenwood play off each other very well in the emotionally climactic scenes. DiMaggio does a solid Joker – kind of seemed like it was DiMaggio doing an impression of Mark Hamill doing the voice of the Joker, and while I would have liked to see him do a completely original version of his Joker, this worked well in making the character very familiar with enough new takes to keep the personality fresh. And, again, Swank is right, NPH is just perfect as Dick Grayson.

This animated film is exciting, gripping, and full of action – all riding on the heels of a great story. If you aren’t new to these DC Animated films, then I don’t think you will need much convincing to check out Batman: Under the Red Hood. If you have never taken the time to check one out, this is just a great one to check out and I highly recommend it.

You can pick up a copy of Batman: Under the Red Hood next Tuesday, July 27, as always, from Amazon.com

Barely establishing themselves just two weeks ago, Blonde Grizzly (15 East 400 South) has become the newest place to find both local and national geek. Prints, t-shirts, collectibles and of course high-grade artwork in its own deranged way, are all on display and for sale. (We’re loving the Batman painting most of all!) Think of them as the new Hot Topic, without all the vampire bondage makeup accessories, high prices, and smell of Oxy in the air. City Weekly‘s blogger Gavin Sheehan interviewed the two for Gallery Stroll this past Friday. We strongly urge you to get your geek on with material made by artists who love what you love.

Gavin’s Underground interview with Blonde Grizzly

Gavin: Where did the idea to start up Blonde Grizzly come from?

Caleb: I just wanted to do something on my own. I worked at the same retail job in the same position that I started in for the last three years and was tired of it. The only way that I saw getting out of it, besides getting another corporate retail job, was to start something on my own. We started with a kiosk in the Layton Hills Mall for three months. It was a good starting point, but wasn’t really what I wanted long term.

Gavin: For those curious, what kind of stuff can people find in the store?

Caleb: We sell artist t-shirts from Zerofriends. Their artists include: Alex Pardee, Greg “Craola” Simkins, Skinner & Camilla d’Errico. We will have Vic Back’s t-shirt line. We have limited edition prints from Alex Pardee, Dave Correia and Skinner. We have Mode Clutches by Amber Dunford. We will be adding more stuff all the time from local and national artists.