‘Ballad of Nessie’ New Stills, Concept Art
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Walt Disney Studios and Walt Disney Animation Studios have provided us with a new still and a few concept art images for The Ballad of Nessie, the short that will be attached to Winnie the Pooh when it opens on July 15, 2011. We’ve added them to the beginning of our existing gallery of stills from the short, shown below.
Narrated by Scottish comedian Billy Connolly and directed by the Emmy® Award-winning team of Stevie Wermers-Skelton and Kevin Deters (‘Prep & Landing,’ ‘Operation Secret Santa’ and the 2007 Goofy short, How to Hook Up Your Home Theater), The Ballad of Nessie is animated in classic Disney hand-drawn style. Written by Wermers-Skelton, Deters, and Regina Conroy, the film is produced by Dorothy McKim and Tamara Boutcher, and features a musical score by Oscar®-winning composer Michael Giacchino (Ratatouille, Up). Animation on ‘Nessie’ was supervised by five of Disney’s top talents: Andreas Deja, Mark Henn, Randy Haycock, Dale Baer and Ruben A. Aquino.
Set in the ‘bonny blue highlands’ of Scotland, The Ballad of Nessie is a whimsical and colorful tall tale about the friendly Loch Ness monster, Nessie, and how she (and her best friend, the rubber duck MacQuack) came to live in the moor they now call home. Setting the adventure into motion is a greedy land developer named MacFroogle, who decides to build a mini-golf empire on top of Nessie’s home.
The short will make its world premiere tomorrow evening at the Anima Film Festival in Belgium. A book adaptation (written by Kieran Lachlan and illustrated by Andy Harkness) will be released on May 3, 2011 and is currently available for pre-order on Amazon.com
Categories: Movies Tags: The Ballad of Nessie, Walt Disney Animation Studios, WDAS, Winnie-the-Pooh, WTP
‘Winnie the Pooh’ Full Soundtrack Streaming Online for Limited Time
In anticipation of the film and soundtrack’s release later this month, Walt Disney Studios France is streaming the entire original motion picture soundtrack for Winnie the Pooh.
This is your first opportunity to hear the new take on the classic opening theme by Zooey Deschanel, which — as we mentioned yesterday — includes an awkward introduction of Tigger, albeit not nearly as awkward as omitting him completely as the original 1977 film, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh had done. Yesterday we brought you the film’s opening animated sequence courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Germany.
The soundtrack features vocal performances by Jim Cummings (Pooh, Tigger), Kristen Anderson-Lopez (Kanga), Craig Ferguson (Owl) and Zooey Deschanel.
Deschanel’s new songs, plus the Sherman Brothers classic and a host of original songs by Robert Lopez and wife Kristen Anderson-Lopez (“The Wonder Pets”), as well as original score from composer Henry Jackman (The Da Vinci Code, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest), will be included on the Winnie the Pooh soundtrack available in the U.S. on July 12, 2011 from Walt Disney Records. The film opens nationwide on July 15.
To listen to the soundtrack, which is available for streaming through April 11, visit the album’s page here. If you reach a page that asks you to choose either Disney.fr or Disney International, click the Disney.fr button, close the page and launch the link again to make it work.
Thanks to a tip from a Stitch Kingdom reader
Categories: Movies Tags: Soundtrack, Walt Disney Animation Studios, WDAS, Winnie-the-Pooh, WTP
‘Winie the Pooh’ New Clip and a New Intro Too
Walt Disney Studios Germany has released two new videos in support of Winnie the Pooh, Walt Disney Animation Studio’s return to the Hundred Acre Wood in more than three decades.
The first clip is a re-do of the original opening sequence from the film from The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Following a live-action sequence taking place in the bedroom of Christoper Robin, this is the animated segment that introduces us to all of the characters, except it turns out that Tigger was missing from the original 1977 film, so the animators made sure to include him in the revised version. Another major difference between the new and the original segments is that now Christopher Robin is touring the map of the Hundred Acre Wood as the characters are introduced.
NOTE: The clips presented here are dubbed in German and are being presented primarily for the animation itself. We will replace with English versions as they become available, so do not watch if you do not want to see them presented in a foreign language.
If you wish to compare, you can find the first film’s opening on YouTube here. The counterpart to the new intro begins at about the 2:20 mark.
Also released is this extended clip from the new film in which Christopher Robin has gathered the gang together to present a contest in order to find a new tail for Eeyore.
In the film, the first big-screen Pooh adventure in more than 35 years from Walt Disney Animation Studios who at last returns to the Hundred Acre Wood. With the charm, wit and whimsy of the original featurettes, this all-new movie reunites audiences with the philosophical “bear of very little brain” and friends Tigger, Rabbit, Piglet, Kanga, Roo—and last, but certainly not least, Eeyore, who has lost his tail. “Well a tail is either there or it isn’t there,” said Pooh. “And yours isn’t… there.” Owl sends the whole gang on a wild quest to save Christopher Robin from an imaginary culprit. It turns out to be a very busy day for a bear who simply set out to find some hunny. Inspired by five stories from A.A. Milne’s books in Disney’s classic, hand-drawn art style.
Winnie the Pooh stars the voice talents of Jim Cummings (Pooh/Tigger), Craig Ferguson (Owl), Tom Kenny (Rabbit), Travis Oates (Piglet), Bud Luckey (Eeyore), is directed by Stephen J. Anderson and Don Hall and features all new music composed by Henry Jackman with lyrics by Robert and Kristen Lopez along with a whole new take on the classic theme by Zooey Deschanel.
Winnie the Pooh bounces into theaters on July 15, 2011.
Categories: Movies Tags: Winnie-the-Pooh, WTP
First Listen: ‘Winnie the Pooh’ ‘So Long’ by Zooey Deschanel
He’s a bear of very little brain. She’s half of the acclaimed band She & Him. This year, they come together on the big screen in Winnie the Pooh, which hits theaters in select international markets in Spring 2011, and in the U.S. on July 15, 2011. Actress/Musician/Singer/Songwriter Zooey Deschanel (Almost Famous, (500) Days of Summer) joins Winnie the Pooh and all of his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood, performing three songs for the film, including her own take on the classic Winnie the Pooh theme song, ‘A Very Important Thing to Do’ and the original end-credit song ‘So Long,’ which was written by Deschanel and performed with She & Him bandmate M. Ward.
“This has been one of the most fun experiences I’ve ever had,” says Deschanel. “And I’ve just been thanking my lucky stars that I was able to work on this movie, because it’s delightful.”
Filmmakers were drawn to Deschanel’s signature style. “She was the perfect choice to do the ‘Winnie the Pooh’ song—a classic theme from the Sherman Brothers,” says director Don Hall. “Her music actually embodies the underlying spirit of the movie. We’re taking something that has vintage roots in the sixties, but spinning it in our own way and updating it. If you listen to Zooey’s music with She & Him—that’s their sound to a tee.”
Adds director Stephen Anderson, “It’s a perfect way to start the movie, letting the audience know right off the bat that this is Winnie the Pooh like you know him, but it’s something for today. We wanted to keep the same charm as the original, but give it a fresh spin, a contemporary feel, and she opens the movie with so much freshness, so much energy.”
“It’s always fun to have a contemporary artist rediscover a classic and that’s exactly what Zooey did,” says producer Peter Del Vecho. “She brought her own personality to the song—when she sings about introducing the individual characters, it’s as though she’s known them her whole life—and she has.”
“I’m a big fan of Winnie the Pooh and all his friends,” says Deschanel, who also plays the ukulele in the song. “It’s really hard to pick a favorite: Winnie the Pooh is so special, he loves honey and he’s just cool. Eeyore is amazing, I love Eeyore. And Piglet is so small. It’s really a four-way tie between Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, Piglet and Tigger.”
Among the songs Deschanel performed for the film is “A Very Important Thing to Do”—a song that helps illustrate the contest the friends from the Hundred Acre Wood take on to find Eeyore a new tail. She also lent her voice to “Everything is Honey” and “Pooh’s Finale,” joining Jim Cummings (the voice of Winnie the Pooh and Tigger), Tony Award®-winning songwriter Robert Lopez (“Avenue Q”) and other cast members.
For the end-credit song, Deschanel teamed up with Ward to perform “So Long,” a song Deschanel wrote. “When I was writing ‘So Long,’ I just held the images for the end credits in my mind,” she says. “I spent a number of days tinkering with ideas, melodies and chord progressions that I thought would fit the images, the new music being written and the original Sherman Brothers stuff– but still be my own thing. The song definitely has its own feel, but also pays respect to the original.”
Deschanel plays piano for “So Long” and turned to the instrument when it came time to write the song. “I usually write on piano because that’s the first instrument that I learned when I was a little kid,” she says. “All of my musical theory knowledge is in linear piano form.”
Her heart, however, is in the vocals. “I’m always thinking in terms of vocals, and arranging a fabric of vocals is the most exciting part. I love to sing backup parts—I always try to squeeze in as many as possible,” she says. “It’s fun; it’s my style.”
Deschanel’s songs, plus the Sherman Brothers classic and a host of original songs by Robert Lopez and wife Kristen Anderson-Lopez (“The Wonder Pets”), as well as original score from composer Henry Jackman (The Da Vinci Code, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest), will be included on the Winnie the Pooh soundtrack available in the U.S. on July 12, 2011 from Walt Disney Records.
Categories: Movies Tags: Soundtracks, Winnie-the-Pooh, WTP
First ‘Winnie the Pooh’ Clip: ‘Get Us Out of Here!’
Deep in the Hundred Acre Wood, deep inside a hole, the entire gang is hopelessly stuck inside a hole and it’s up to poor innoventive Piglet to find a means to rescue his friends. So goes ‘Get Us Out of Here!,’ a new clip from the upcoming Walt Disney Animation Studios’ film, Winnie the Pooh, marching into theaters on July 15, 2011.
In the film, the first big-screen Pooh adventure in more than 35 years from Walt Disney Animation Studios who at last returns to the Hundred Acre Wood. With the charm, wit and whimsy of the original featurettes, this all-new movie reunites audiences with the philosophical “bear of very little brain” and friends Tigger, Rabbit, Piglet, Kanga, Roo—and last, but certainly not least, Eeyore, who has lost his tail. “Well a tail is either there or it isn’t there,” said Pooh. “And yours isn’t… there.” Owl sends the whole gang on a wild quest to save Christopher Robin from an imaginary culprit. It turns out to be a very busy day for a bear who simply set out to find some hunny. Inspired by five stories from A.A. Milne’s books in Disney’s classic, hand-drawn art style.
Winnie the Pooh stars the voice talents of Jim Cummings (Pooh/Tigger), Craig Ferguson (Owl), Tom Kenny, Travis Oates, Bud Luckey (Eeyore), is directed by Stephen J. Anderson and Don Hall and features all new music composed by Henry Jackman with lyrics by Robert and Kristen Lopez along with a whole new take on the classic theme by Zooey Deschanel.
For much more on the film including concept art, stills, maquette photos and more, follow this live bookmark.
Categories: Movies Tags: Walt Disney Studios, WDAS, Winnie-the-Pooh, WTP
First Look: ‘Cars 2′ and ‘Winnie the Pooh’ Exhibits at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Located at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort, the Animation building traditionally plays host to an exhibit featuring the latest in Disney animation. Until recently, this honor was held by Disney’s Tangled, but with the threat of spring and summer looming and two animated features soon to be released, the installation was very recently switched over to promote both films: Winnie the Pooh from Walt Disney Animation Studios (July 15) and Cars 2 from Pixar Animation Studios (June 24).
As usual, the exhibit is chock full of concept art, most of which is on public display for the first time ever, stills, maquettes and even props created to add to the excitement and help cross over from the animated world to the real world.
So without further ado, we’d like to be one of the first to present to you these new, unique exhibits highlighting these widely anticipated films. For your enjoyment, we present these photos in a slightly larger-than-usual size so you can zoom in to appreciate some of the details. Click on each of the thumbnails to see a larger version and, if the resize arrows appear when you hover over the photo, click it to see the photo in its original size.
Categories: Disney's Hollywood Studios, Movies, Pixar, Theme Parks, Walt Disney World Tags: Cars, CARS2, DHS, Winnie-the-Pooh, WTP
First Look: Disney’s ‘Ballad of Nessie’ Hi-Res Stills
Walt Disney Animation Studios has provided us with hi-res stills from its upcoming short titled, The Ballad of Nessie, which will appear alongside Winnie the Pooh when it debuts this summer, on July 15, 2011.
Narrated by Scottish comedian Billy Connolly and directed by the Emmy® Award-winning team of Stevie Wermers-Skelton and Kevin Deters (‘Prep & Landing,’ ‘Operation Secret Santa’ and the 2007 Goofy short, How to Hook Up Your Home Theater), The Ballad of Nessie is animated in classic Disney hand-drawn style. Written by Wermers-Skelton, Deters, and Regina Conroy, the film is produced by Dorothy McKim and Tamara Boutcher, and features a musical score by Oscar®-winning composer Michael Giacchino (Ratatouille, Up). Animation on ‘Nessie’ was supervised by five of Disney’s top talents: Andreas Deja, Mark Henn, Randy Haycock, Dale Baer and Ruben A. Aquino.
Set in the ‘bonny blue highlands’ of Scotland, The Ballad of Nessie is a whimsical and colorful tall tale about the friendly Loch Ness monster, Nessie, and how she (and her best friend, the rubber duck MacQuack) came to live in the moor they now call home. Setting the adventure into motion is a greedy land developer named MacFroogle, who decides to build a mini-golf empire on top of Nessie’s home.
The short will make its world premiere tomorrow evening at the Anima Film Festival in Belgium. A book adaptation (written by Kieran Lachlan and illustrated by Andy Harkness) will be released on May 3, 2011 and is currently available for pre-order on Amazon.com
Categories: Movies Tags: The Ballad of Nessie, Walt Disney Animation Studios, WDAS, Winnie-the-Pooh, WTP
CONFIRMED: ‘Ballad of Nessie’ Attached to ‘Winnie the Pooh’
Walt Disney Studios has confirmed what we first speculated back in October 2010, that the Walt Disney Animation Studios short, The Ballad of Nessie will be the lead-in to Winnie the Pooh when it opens in theaters on July 15, 2011.
Narrated by Scottish comedian Billy Connolly and directed by the Emmy® Award-winning team of Stevie Wermers-Skelton and Kevin Deters (‘Prep & Landing,’ ‘Operation Secret Santa’ and the 2007 Goofy short, How to Hook Up Your Home Theater), The Ballad of Nessie is animated in classic Disney hand-drawn style. Written by Wermers-Skelton, Deters, and Regina Conroy, the film is produced by Dorothy McKim and Tamara Boutcher, and features a musical score by Oscar®-winning composer Michael Giacchino (Ratatouille, Up). Animation on ‘Nessie’ was supervised by five of Disney’s top talents: Andreas Deja, Mark Henn, Randy Haycock, Dale Baer and Ruben A. Aquino.
Set in the ‘bonny blue highlands’ of Scotland, The Ballad of Nessie is a whimsical and colorful tall tale about the friendly Loch Ness monster, Nessie, and how she (and her best friend, the rubber duck MacQuack) came to live in the moor they now call home. Setting the adventure into motion is a greedy land developer named MacFroogle, who decides to build a mini-golf empire on top of Nessie’s home.
The short will make its world premiere tomorrow evening at the Anima Film Festival in Belgium. A book adaptation (written by Kieran Lachlan and illustrated by Andy Harkness) will be released on May 3, 2011 and is currently available for pre-order on Amazon.com
Special thanks to animatie.blog.nl for the tip.
Categories: Movies Tags: The Ballad of Nessie, Walt Disney Animation Studios, WDAS, Winnie-the-Pooh, WTP
‘Winnie the Pooh’ Domestic Teaser Poster (Hi-Res)
Yesterday, Yahoo! Movies debuted the domestic teaser poster for Winnie the Pooh which opens in theaters nationwide on July 15, 2011. Today, we are fortunate to have received a hi-res version of the poster provided to us by Walt Disney Animation Studios.
Based on original tales by creator A.A. Milne (‘In Which Eeyore Loses His Tale, ‘In Which Rabbit Has a Busy Day’ and ‘In Which Christopher Robin Leads an Expotition to the North Pole’), Winnie the Pooh stars the voice talents of Jim Cummings (Pooh/Tigger), Craig Ferguson (Owl), Tom Kenny, Travis Oates, Bud Luckey (Eeyore), is directed by Stephen J. Anderson and Don Hall and features all new music composed by Henry Jackman with lyrics by Robert and Kristen Lopez along with a whole new take on the classic theme by Zooey Deschanel.
For more information on the film, including concept art and the international teaser poster, follow this live bookmark.
Categories: Movies Tags: Walt Disney Animation Studios, WDAS, Winnie-the-Pooh, WTP
‘Winnie the Pooh’ Fun Facts, Character Model Sheets, Concept Art and More!
Walt Disney Studios and Walt Disney Animation Studios have provided us with an extraordinary number of character model sheets, concept art and even new stills in honor of its return to the Hundred Acre Wood in Winnie the Pooh which will be in theaters nationwide on July 15, 2011.
They’ve also provided us with some ‘fun facts’ regarding the movie and some of the magic that went into producing it, beginning with some of the original Pooh stories by A.A. Milne that inspired the new film.
MAKING MAGIC
STORY TIME — Senior story artist, Burny Mattinson, a 58-year Disney veteran animator/director/storyman who had worked as an assistant animator on the Studio’s first “Pooh” theatrical featurette back in 1966 (“Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree”), turned to three of A. A. Milne’s best-loved stories for inspiration in creating this latest animated feature. “In Which Eeyore Loses His Tale” appeared in Milne’s first Pooh collection, “Winnie-the-Pooh” (1926). “In Which Rabbit Has a Busy Day” and “In Which Christopher Robin Leads an Expotition to the North Pole” both appeared in the second book, “The House at Pooh Corner” (1928).
FIELD TRIP — In the fall of 2009, members of the film’s creative team (including directors Don Hall and Stephen Anderson, art director Paul Felix, layout supervisor Razoul Azadani and background supervisor Sunny Apinchapong) went on an expedition of their own to England. They visited Ashdown Forest in Sussex, the setting of Milne’s stories located a mile from where the author had his country home. There, they took copious photographs and did water colors on the actual sites. Felix was inspired by the lighting in the forest, and incorporated this element into his vision for the film.
A TALE OF A TAIL — During the course of the film, Eeyore’s pals attempt to find a replacement for his lost tail. Among the 17 different items that are suggested and tried are a balloon, a yo-yo, a cuckoo clock, a weather vane, a dartboard, an umbrella, a moose head, and an accordion.
AFTER THE JUMP: More fun facts, plus new stills, concept art, character models and more
Categories: Movies Tags: Walt Disney Animation Studios, WDAS, Winnie-the-Pooh, WTP
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