'Igor' and 'Kung Fu Panda' Both Get New Trailers

Yes, but... here's the thing. I saw those earlier trailers for "Panda" too, especially with the live-action Jack Black, and it looked absolutely god-awful, right up there with the rest of the crap Dreamworks has produced.

There is a great animation site called "Cartoon Brew," and the editor is a guy named Jerry Beck. He's one of the most respected animation journalists and authors in the business. And he has made no bones in the past about his detestation of the Dreamworks films. This is what he posted in March:

"I see a lot of animated features in advance and, for the most part, keep my opinions to myself until the movie is in general release. Today I had the opportunity to screen Kung Fu Panda and cannot contain myself. I’m not going to write a review or post spoilers - but I just want to alert you to what I believe is one of the best CG animated films I’ve ever seen.

"Yup. Right up there with The Incredibles. Dreamworks has done it. No joke.

"The art direction, the voices, the character animation, the comedy, the action scenes, the opening 2-D cartoon sequence, the heart… it all works. Don’t miss this in a theatre. I don’t care what you think of the trailer, or Dreamworks track record, or anything like that. None of that matters. This film is good, and will a big hit. Mark my words - you’ll want the action figures.

"Yes, this is a rave. I’ll post a more formal review as we get closer to its release. I just wanted to be the first to tell you."

Believe me, coming from this guy, this is pretty amazing. It still has no real interest for me, but I wanted to share it with you guys. And do check out cartoonbrew.com

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I guess I'm just too much of a Jack Black fan, but can't wait to see this. I can do without anymore of those pre-screening "hush up" clips though. Especially since they don't work!

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I have also heard great things about Panda.

i heard the animation is great and the story and script is also good...

its like Kill Bill for families, with info good stuff for adults too

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I agree with the others on here, I think Kung-Fu Panda looks pretty damn funny. Maybe having somebody else controlling Jack Blacks display of physical humor is what he needs, but so far I'm looking forward to this one. Igor looks okay, but I don't see John Cusacks voice matching up with that character AT ALL. Everytime he speaks I feel like looking in the background shot to see if someone else is supposed to be talking. Having said that, its pretty obvious that Wall-E is going to take home the animated prize this year. That movie looks awesome.

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My biggest problem with animated features these days -- and it's mostly Dreamworks, but Disney's guilty of it too -- is the celebrity voice casting as if they were casting the roles as live-action. Was Demi Moore's voice so perfect as Esmerelda in "Hunchback of Notre Dame"? No, but she LOOKED the part. Can't we cast Mel Gibson in a live-action "Pocahontas"? Nope, it's a cartoon, so let's use his voice. Hey, let's cast James Gandolfini as a mob boss in "Shark Tale." What? He's changed his mind? Okay, let's get DeNiro instead. And remember who was originally cast as the overweight, slobbish title role in "Shrek" -- Chris Farley.

This is why I'm so grateful to Pixar, and especially Brad Bird, for casting the RIGHT voices in their films, whether they match the physical type of the animated character or not -- if Dreamworks had made "The Incredibles," you can bet they'd have chosen, say, Hilary Duff instead of Sarah Vowell, and they never would have allowed an unknown to play the young chef in "Ratatouille." (Okay, they still went with the obvious choices of Owen Wilson and Paul Newman in "Cars," but they didn't have to go with Bonnie Hunt.)

P.S. I HATE selling the voice talent as over-the-title stars. Did anyone REALLY go to see "Horton Hears A Who" because the "stars" were Jim Carrey and Steve Carell?

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So let me get this straight:

Now we have some hard-core Panda fans around here? Where were all you guys when I got after Ms. Rappe to show us some Panda-love and she dismissed me after remarking (and I'm paraphrasing here) "the trailer didn't impress me much and it doesn't have a cute robot". C'mon guys, back me up here ! :)

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I want to see WALL-E so bad! ^____^ I hope it doesn't get overshadowed by a PANDA!

There. I provided some backup, Philip.

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