FILM 1949: FRANKENWEENIE

FILM 1949: FRANKENWEENIE

TRIVIA: This is Tim Burton's first film since Big Fish (2003) not to feature Johnny Depp, his first since Sleepy Hollow (1999) not to feature Helena Bonham Carter and his first since Mars Attacks! (1996) to feature neither of them.

One of Tim Burton's regular actors, Christopher Lee, did not take part in this film, but archive footage of him in Dracula (1958) is watched by Victor's parents on television.

The mayor of the town is Mr. Burgermeister, which means "mayor" in German. His name/appearance is also a homage to Burgermeister Meisterburger, the antagonist of the stop-motion film Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (1970).

A turtle named "Shelley" is buried in the pet cemetery. Mary Shelley wrote "Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus," the novel on which this film is loosely based.

Winona Ryder did her own singing. She agreed to do it when Tim Burton said the singing had to sound imperfect.

Tim Burton created the Weird Girl ("Staring Girl") in his book "The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories" (1997).

This film is loosely based on a live action short film of the same name, written and directed by Burton in 1984.

FILM 1903: THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT

FILM 1903: THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT 

TRIVIA: The film required 2.8 tons of Plasticine in 42 colors and 1000 baby-wipes per week to wipe it off animators' fingers.

Took five years to make. Production started not long after the release of Chicken Run(2000), Aardman Studio's previous Stop Motion Film that got distributed by DreamWorks.

During filming, Aardman managed an average of 3 seconds of usable footage per day.

Nick Park and Steve Box referred to The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) as the world's first vegetarian horror film.

In Wallace's bookcase there are several titles which refer to cheese. They are "The Hunt For Red Leicester", "Brighton Roquefort", "How Green Was My Cheese", "Brie Encounter", "Swiss Cheese Family Robinson", "East of Edam", "Grated Expectations", "Fromage to Eternity", and "Waiting for Gouda".

The vegetable shop that the were-rabbit attacks is named "Harvey's." Its name is taken from Harvey (1950), the play and movie (starring James Stewart) about a man who befriends a six-foot-tall invisible rabbit named Harvey.

When the film was released in Portland, Dorset, UK, the posters had to be altered to remove the word "rabbit". There is a local superstition that prohibits the use of this word (they use terms such as "underground mutton" or "furry things" instead) because burrowing can cause dangerous landslips in the local stone quarrying industry. The film posters in Portland use the alternative slogan "Something bunny is going on."

The Were-Rabbit had an internal mechanism that allowed the animators to move the model with minimal touching of the fur covering, thus avoiding the tell-tale impressions left by their fingers.

Shortly after this film was released, the Aardman warehouse in Bristol, England burned to the ground, destroying hundreds of plasticine characters and sets, virtually the entire history of the company. Nick Park was quoted as saying, "Even though it is a precious and nostalgic collection and valuable to the company, in light of other tragedies, today isn't a big deal."

DreamWorks wanted Aardman to replace Peter Sallis, the voice of Wallace since the first animated short, with a well-known actor that American audiences would recognize. According to Entertainment Weekly, they politely but firmly refused; instead, they got Ralph Fiennes and Helena Bonham Carter to play roles.

All the wallpaper created for the sets are entirely hand-painted.

During closeups of the character's faces it is possible to see tiny holes in the center of the pupils of the eyes. These were used to position the eyes by inserting a small pin and moving the eyes.

The grass is made from fun fur imported from the USA.

The end credits contain a list of the many babies that were born to the production staff over the long course of making this movie. 

Next door to Harvey's Vegetable Shop, is a barbershop called, "A Close Shave," which is also the name of an Oscar-winning animated short starring Wallace and Gromit.

According to Nick Park, some of Wallace's lines were actually recorded by Ben Whitehead, who also voiced Mr. Leaching. Whitehead went on to voice Wallace for specific projects whenever Peter Sallis was unavailable, and became the character's permanent voice in 2010 when Sallis retired from acting altogether.

FILM 1883: INCREDIBLES 2

FILM 1883: INCREDIBLES 2

TRIVIA: At one hour and fifty-eight minutes, this is not only the longest Pixar movie to date, but also the longest computer-animated movie to date, breaking Cars's record as longest Pixar film, which was one hour and fifty-seven minutes.

A typo on the movie theater marquee shown towards the end of the movie reads "A113", one of the most famous recurring Easter Eggs. Several Pixar producers and animators studied at California Institute of the Arts in classroom A113 and this number appears in every Pixar film.

HIDDEN MICKEY: The spirals on Screenslaver's hypnosis machine form a slightly lopsided, but still recognizable Mickey Mouse.

In one scene, while Bob Parr (Mr. Incredible) is trying to help Dash with his homework, he can be seen wrangling with "New Math", describing it as making no sense at all, and exclaiming "This is Math! Why would they change Math?" New Math was a brief, dramatic change in the way mathematics was taught in American grade schools during the 1960s (the approximate time frame of the Incredibles universe) which was highly criticized and quickly fell out of favor. The relevance of this joke evolves from the frustration modern parents (and students) occasionally experience with "Common Core" mathematics.

Made more money domestically in one weekend (one hundred eighty million dollars) than Pixar's previous summer release Cars 3 (2017) earned in its entire release of twenty weeks (one hundred fifty-three million dollars).

The fourteen-year gap between the first film and this follow-up was the longest waiting time between a Disney/Pixar movie and its sequel. (Finding Dory (2016)'s thirteen-year gap was the second longest, Monsters University (2013) was the third longest with a twelve-year gap, and Toy Story 3 (2010) was the fourth longest with an eleven-year gap.)

This was Pixar's twentieth feature film.

The background of the News Set Is an exact replica of that used in Broadcast News, which starred Holly Hunter.

FILM 1765: ISLE OF DOGS

FILM 1765: ISLE OF DOGS

TRIVIA: This is the longest stop-motion film of all time, beating out Coraline (2009) by two minutes.

Writer and Director Wes Anderson hosted a competition for someone to be a member of the voice cast for this film. The only requirement was that you donated ten dollars or more to the Film Foundation, a non-profit founded by Martin Scorsese, which specializes in the preservation and restoration of film around the world.

The movie was influenced by the work of Akira Kurosawa and Rankin-Bass stop-motion Christmas specials.

The hair of the dogs is made out of Alpacca wool.

Jeff Goldblum recorded his lines over the phone in California. Because of scheduling conflicts he couldn't go to England to record his lines with the rest of the cast.

Wes Anderson's eighth collaboration with Bill Murray.

At the end of the movie Anjelica Huston, who is a long time collaborator with Wes Anderson, is credited as the "Mute Poodle".

"Isle of Dogs" could also be read as "I love dogs"

FILM 1728: HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2

TRIVIA: The first Dreamworks Animation film to win a Golden Globe award for Best Animated Film.

When Astrid says to Eret, "Don't you know anything." That is a reference to when Ygritte says to Jon Snow, "You know nothing, Jon Snow." Kit Harrington plays both Eret and Jon Snow from Game of Thrones.

The drawings on the wall in the Dragon stables in Berk were actual drawings done by the children of the crew who worked on the film.

Was the frontrunner for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, but lost to Big Hero 6 (2014).

FILM 1668: BELLEVILLE RENDEZ-VOUS 

TRIVIA: Among the anti-Disney riffs in the film are a Mickey-shaped turd in a toilet, and a wallet-picture of a character in Disneyland with a lollipop that says SUCKER.

A caricatured Django Reinhardt playing guitar can be seen early in the black and white portion of the film. As in reality, the cartoon uses only two fingers to play, due to a burn suffered in 1928. Eventually, he brings his foot up and plays with his toes. The film's soundtrack sounds as though it was greatly influenced by Django's music (and he recorded a song called Belleville with Stéphane Grappelli).

There is also an animated caricature of dancer/singer/performer Josephine Baker, a black American entertainer who left the U.S. in the 1920s to escape its virulent racism, and became a tremendous star in Europe. She was very famous in Paris, and often appeared in shows half-nude, the way she's represented in this film.

Visible in their apartment are pictures of the Triplets with some period stars including Charles Chaplin, there's also a picture of the Triplets on the beach with Olive Oyl.

On the wall of the Triplets' living room is a calendar showing October of 1926 -- almost four decades out of date at the time of the story.

FILM 1619: BIG HERO 6

TRIVIA: According to Scott Watanabe, the movie is set in an alternate future where after the 1906 earthquake, San Francisco was rebuilt by Japanese immigrants using techniques that allow movement and flexibility in a seismic event. After the city was finished being rebuilt, it was renamed San Fransokyo due to it being a city with Japanese and American architecture combined.

The production team watched videos of fire ants as an inspiration of the movement of the Microbots.

In order to create the thousands of civilians living in San Fransokyo, the production team invented a program called the "Denizen Factory", which allowed them to build a whole series of background characters that each have a distinct design.

Over 200 different signs were created for the advertisements of San Fransokyo.

The inflatable, vinyl, truly huggable design of Baymax is inspired by 'soft robotics' research at Carnegie Mellon University.

The model of the design of Baymax's eyes is a Japanese traditional bell which is called Suzu. Don Hall, the director, says that he got an inspiration when he visited a temple in Japan.

One of the few Disney Films that is partially owned by both Pixar and Marvel.

This is Alan Tudyk's third Disney movie in a row (Wreck-It Ralph (2012) and Frozen (2013)).

During the first twenty minutes of the movie, Tadashi's breathing is also animated.

Fred's father, seen in the family portrait the six heros walk past upon first entering Fred's house, is based on Stan Lee (who has had a cameo in every Marvel movie to date).