Back in 2006, CGI animated films about cutesy talking animals were all the rage, with movies like The Wild, Over the Hedge, Open Season and Happy Feet rampaging theatres.
Two years later, CGI animation is heading en masse towards outer space. Twentieth Century Fox has Space Chimps coming in July and Disney/Pixar is putting the final touches on Andrew Stanton's robot comedy WALL-E. A dark horse entrant in the "animation in outer space" sweepstakes is Ilion Animation/Handmade Films' production of Planet 51.
Animation blog MarketSaw recently snagged a Spanish-language Planet 51 featurette (Ilion is based in Madrid), and it looks really good. Certainly the storyline wins major points for originality (a rare commodity in Hollywood's follow-the-leader mentality), and Ilion appears to know how to put together an animated sequence. If this film lives up to its promise, then it should be a good time at the movies.
Justin Long, Dwayne Johnson Star in Planet 51
Here's the film's synopsis, taken from Ilion's site.
"On Planet 51, the locals have two antenna, eight fingers and tons of fear about alien invaders. They live in a world like our suburban 1950’s, with sci-fi flicks, gory comic books and paranoid army generals barking about monsters from outer space.
"A young inhabitant of Planet One, Lem (Justin Long), thinks that space can be wonderful, but he lacks the courage to even move out of his parents’ basement. Then one day, out of the sky, an alien ship appears with something funny written on it: NASA. It is piloted by astronaut and ladies man, Captain Russ Baker (Dwayne Johnson). Russ had expected to plant the American Flag on a barren planet, only to land at someone’s backyard barbecue.
"Now Captain Russ Baker’s new friend, Lem, must keep him safe from the fearful authorities and help him recover his confiscated ship to get back home."
Jessica Biel is voicing the role of Neera, a possible love interest for Lem (ya think?) and Seann William Scott plays Lem's goofy sidekick Skiff.
Will New Line's Death Stop Planet 51?
There are some questions about whether or not Planet 51 will actually end up in theatres. New Line Cinema was originally going to distribute the flick, but the company collapsed in a flaming heap following several Lord of the Rings lawsuits and the $180 million debacle that was The Golden Compass. On February 25th, New Line was absorbed into Warner Bros. and NLC heads Michael Lynne and Bob Shaye submitted their resignations.
Bob Shaye was championing Planet 51, and putting New Line's promotional muscle behind the flick. On the other hand, Shaye was directly responsible for Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson's legal issues.
Shaye and New Line tossed Jackson off The Hobbit after the director filed suite against the company, claiming he hadn't been paid for his work on the Oscar winning trilogy. However, a major outcry caused New Line to rethink their position, settle with the director and bring him back for the Lord of the Rings prequel.
The major question now becomes: does Warner Bros. care about Planet 51 as much as New Line did? If so, there are no problems. If WB executives decide to dislike the flick, then watch Planet 51 get buried in a dump month, become a direct-to-DVD release, or not get any North American distribution at all.
Planet 51 is currently scheduled for a July 24, 2009 release.
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