Apr 10

MGM releases the first trailer of ‘The Addams Family’

Posted in: Animation

MGM releases the first trailer of the upcoming animated feature, The Addams Family. The teaser looks spooky and fun at the same time, with family moments of a unique family.

The movie stars Oscar Isaac as the voice of Gomez Addams, Charlize Theron as Morticia, Finn Wolfhard as Pugsley, and Chloë Grace Moretz as Wednesday, alongwith Finn Wolfhard and Nick Kroll.

Directed by Conrad Vernon (Monsters vs. Aliens) and Greg Tiernan (Sausage Party), the feature is the latest adaptation of the Addams Family cartoons by Charles Addams, which first ran in the New Yorker in 1938. In addition to the television show in 1960s, there were three live-action feature films made in 1990s.

The Addams Family visits the theatres on 11 October 2019.

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Apr 10

Games2win and Sony Pictures Networks collaborate for CID Mobile Games

Posted in: Animation

Leading global mobile games publisher with over 220 million game downloads, Games2win has announced a partnership with Sony Pictures Networks India to launch a bouquet of CID mobile games inspired by one of the most successful television shows of India.

The first game of the series, CID – Daya Darwaza Tod Do, has already notched up half a million downloads and ranks amongst the top 10 action games in India. The game can be downloaded and played on both Android and iOS.

Games2win CEO and co-founder Alok Kejriwal commented, “Sony Television’s CID is one of the most iconic shows of Indian Television. It’s an all-time epic. That motivated us to partner with SET to create original, adrenalin pumping and super thrilling mobile CID mobile games that are just as exciting as the shows themselves.”

Daya Darwaza Tod Do finds the CID officer Daya doing what he does best and most famous for – catching goons, breaking doors and solving cases. In the game, players run as Daya solve through over five unique cases, complete 50 unique levels and navigate Mumbai famous landmarks such as Bandra Bandstand and Goregaon National Park. All along, as Daya runs and breaks down doors, his mentor – ACP Pradyuman encourages him besides giving him clues for this next mission.

The reason for coming up with these games is simple. Most millennials have grown up watching CID shows who now have a deeper relationship with their mobile screen than with their TV at home. The makers are sure that they will enjoy gaming with CID as much as they love watching it on a bigger screen. The initial launch numbers of the game have proved our thinking. The game has got good traction on Google Play Store and suggests that it might cross the 10 million download mark in a few months. Consumers have loved the game, rated it 4.2 stars and many have been writing to the makers with many new ideas for many more levels and game variations.

“Sony Pictures Network is strategically focused on the fast growing online gaming space. Most of our iconic shows and characters lend themselves to great gaming potential. CID game (Daya Darwaza Tod do) is the first of many steps we intend to take in this direction. We are very pleased and excited with the tremendous response the game has garnered in such a short span of time,” added SPN Partnership and New Initiatives content head Amogh Dusad.

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Apr 10

Cartoon Network teams with fashion designer Nandita Mahtani

Posted in: Animation

Cartoon Network Enterprises has partnered with well-known Indian fashion designer Nandita Mahtani to launch a stellar collection inspired by the network’s iconic 1990s toons. The capsule collection is inspired by The Powerpuff Girls, Johnny Bravo, Dexter’s Laboratory, Courage the Cowardly Dog and Samurai Jack.

Cartoon Network Enterprises VP Asia Pacific Vikram Sharma said, “This collection allows our fans to wear a piece of their childhood and look great at the same time. The range of clothes really brings out the best of our classic cartoon characters and will appeal to anyone who likes to wear great fashion with a great sense of humour.”

Each of the silhouettes celebrates fan-favorite characters with playful elements and details such as intricate hand embroidery, sequins, beads and embellishments in vibrant colors. The collection comprises slip dresses, skirts, bomber, denim jackets, sweat-shirts and more.

Mahtani held an exclusive preview at Sancho’s, Mumbai, on April 5, to unveil the collection, which will launch at retail and online in the second half of 2019. “I have always been a huge fan of cartoons and the journey of celebrating fashion through this collection has been fun and inspiring. I have tried to add my interpretation to give Cartoon Network a chic and standout fashion ensemble with a sense of fun!” said she.

The collection caters to age group six to 60, with a kids; capsule in the works. The collection will be available across the retail and online stores in latter 2019.

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Apr 10

Indie studio’s upcoming title will take you on a ride ‘In the Shadows’

Posted in: Animation

What if the shadows had the power to control our lives? With the same idea Gurgaon based indie gaming studio PlayBae is coming up with a new game, In The Shadows, which is a puzzle platformer where one has to play with real-world objects and use their shadows to create a platform to reach the destination in the shadow world.

In conversation with AnimationXpress PlayBae, founder, Nakul Verma who worked professionally as a Unity game developer since the last five years shared, “The game features a unique mixture of skilful platforming and creative problem solving that opens up a plethora of solutions to a single puzzle. The entire level is your playground and the shadows are your toys.”

The game received the award for the Best Upcoming Game of the Year at IGDC 2018. According to Verma the idea of the game was a unique and technically challenging game, thus they won the unexpected award despite showing the prototype to the jury which they built within two months.

The game is simple with puzzles which use various shadow shapes to tackle deceptively tricky problems while avoiding entities that lurk only in the shadows.  Every level in the game has multiple solutions to it and it will depend on the players.“It can be easy for one to cross one level and it can be difficult for the other one to cross the same level. The catch is how one crosses one level by creating their platform with the skill of combination” he said.

When talking about his inspiration he expressed that on one hand, he enjoyed playing games which inspired him in designing and creating the gameplay, on the other hand, the idea of creating the game on shadows stroke him some other time, says he “Me and a couple of friends at terrace found a chain of shadows. Usually, in games and in real life, we are the one who creates shadows right,  what if the shadows have the power to control us  what if the shadows become the most important part of life, that was the  inception of the idea .”

Verma’s vision apparently involves creating unique, engaging and genuinely fun games, which is itended to revolutionise the independent game development scene in India.   He said, “A game should be remembered for its unique  gameplay  not  by the money earned!”

The game has a different room and every room has different levels. Probably  50 levels can be expected from the game. The game includes a house full of shadows to explore where each room with its own set of puzzles, shadows to play with and perils to avoid. Furthermore, it has a dark emotional story and each room has a story that links to a much deeper and darker story of the house.

“The gameplay is around the house where the family is trapped under the shadows and our main protagonist of the game is a girl from that family, whose aim is to reunite the family so that they can escape the shadows that the family used to reside in the house. Every character of the family is a level in the room and every room is a kind of new world in the game and you will have multiple levels in that room. This is the design of the game where every crossing room will qualify the relationships between the girl and the family members” said him.

The game will be available on iOS and later might be on Android mobile devices, since shadow calculation for android systems in Unreal or Unity can be heavy and expensive.

The game has a creepy ambient environment with dark gloomy visuals accompanied by chilling background music. Verma is aiming to publish the game in June or July since he believes that it will be the right time to get better traction.

The game was also nominated for the IMGA ( International Mobile Gaming Awards ) this year. It did not win any prize but it was a wonderful surprise for him to be nominated with games like PUBG, Angry Birds, Brawl Stars etc, says he.

We hope the game opens new avenues for Indian developers and players to explore the shadows and the powers of it.

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Apr 10

Former CTC Media head of Animation joins Red Carpet Studio

Posted in: Animation

Natalia Ivanova-Dostoevskaya

Russia-based film and TV content producer, Red Carpet Studio has named Natalia Ivanova-Dostoevskaya as the vice general producer in charge of animation business development.

This appointment takes place when the studio has announced a slate of animation projects, in addition to initiatives aimed at developing of service infrastructure for production, promotion, licensing and education in the animation sector.

Before joining this role, Ivanova-Dostoevskaya contributed to the development of CTC Media animation department and its projects. During her tenure at CTC, the animated series Kid-e-Cats enjoyed a successful global launch, currently airing in 170 countries worldwide, with increased brand recognition, winning multiple awards, including TEFI.

Kid-e-Cats resulted in 10 highly rated mobile games, while the YouTube version of the series had over a billion views. All these factors resulted in significant increase of revenues. Ivanova-Dostoevskaya’s other successes included participation in the biggest Russian and international animation trade fairs and markets, as well as a launch of Little Tiaras, animated series which found a great popularity in Russia.

Anton Kalinkin

Red Carpet Studio general producer Anton Kalinkin commented, “We created our animation development strategy for the next several years. During this time we plan to create at least two animated series, including one for the web, a feature, and mobile games. We aim at international scope of our projects and services. Our partners already number among them both Russian children’s television networks and global counterparts. We place a special emphasis on development and production of streaming content and plan to present our new projects at MIPJUNIOR/MIPCOM this fall. We are excited to be joined by Dostoevskaya with her experience of producing film and animation, and her expertise in global content creation and distribution.”

Red Carpet Studio also founded the Realist Web Fest, an international web series festival and digital market, and of the First Russian Award in the streaming industry, as well as of Digital Reporter Russia, an international portal dedicated to digital industry news.

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Apr 09

‘Shazam!’ review: DCEU on laughing gas

Posted in: Animation

David Sandberg’s latest offering Shazam! appears to be DCEU’s desperate endeavor to shed it’s dark and despairing themes that we’ve grown accustomed to, and embrace a refreshingly light and humorous tenor now that the production house is drinking in the last chance saloon.

And yet, it leaves quite a lot to be desired. Shazam! tries to be funny, but the jokes don’t really land unless you’re a 13-year old adolescent, or simply, someone who gets your funny bone tickled even at run-of-the-mill gags. However, some quality quips and wisecrackers are indeed delivered early on, as Shazam – hammed to the hilt by Zachary Levi – and his foster brother-cum-bestie Freddy Freeman – essayed superbly by Jack Dylan Grazer – come to grips with the former’s hidden superpowers.

Without giving much away, even his transformation into Shazam/Captain Sparklefingers/Red Cyclone/ yadda yadda yadda, is frankly comical. And so is that of Dr. Thaddeus Sivana. But the whole narrative of the film is such it doesn’t want you to take any slice of it too seriously. Just sit back and condition yourself to nonchalant spectatorship while the movie just whizzes past.

DC is merely flirting with its whimsical fantasies here, letting its two central characters have a gala time under the sun. Even as things get serious with Dr.Sivana threatening to wreak havoc in his hot pursuit of Shazam’s glorious powers, the confrontation lacks the necessary urgency or dread normally associated with such a superhero versus supervillain face-off. But then again, as aforementioned DC is trying to be frivolous.

Credit where credit’s due: DC has paid close attention to many of its follies with earlier production, but some boxes are still left unchecked. Like Steppenwolf in Justice League, Dr.Sivana doesn’t imbue villainy convincingly, whereas the humor needs to be wittier and catering to adult audience too.

As far as visual effects is concerned, it’s a massive letdown after what Aquaman delivered. Of course, both movies tread different narratives. But the scenes that are actually leveraged by CG are shambolic: the seven sins that Dr.Sivana exudes are just too comical. Hence, places where they try to be really gory and gruesome doesn’t pack a punch. And this is one of the movie’s own undoings.

Expectations riding on David Sandberg after delivering box-office successes like Lights Out and Annabelle: Creation, was naturally high, especially considering he was entrusted with the rebuilding of the otherwise faltering DC Universe. And he does deliver on a few accounts, regardless of the shortcomings.

Shazam! does a decent job when drawn parallels to its DCEU predecessors, but if you’re expecting Deadpool-esque humor or stakes of Marvel’s standards, you’d be disappointed. DCEU still has streets to traverse.

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Apr 09

Daler Mehndi to sing anthem for ‘Chhota Bheem: Kung Fu Dhamaka’

Posted in: Animation

Chhota Bheem: Kung Fu Dhamaka, which is all set to hit theatres on 10 May, has increased the excitement by roping in singer and king of Punjabi pop Daler Mehndi for a special song.

“Chhota Bheem is a huge sensation among kids. I am really thrilled to be singing for him, especially since my five year daughter, Rabaab is a huge fan of him. She has played an integral part in the song preparation and she will also be featuring in the song video. In fact it will be our first song video together for a feature film and we are looking forward to making this a super hit. The song is full of energy and I am sure both kids and parents will equally enjoy it,” mentioned Daler Mehndi.

Packed with energy and pumping beats, the song is composed by Sunil Kaushik. It personifies Chhota Bheem who always comes through for his friends and fights the villains. The song is expected to have everybody grooving as it showcases the might of Bheem and his friends.

Speaking on the song, director Rajiv Chilaka commented, “We are super excited to have Daler Mehndi singing this song for Chhota Bheem: Kung Fu Dhamaka. We have completed the recording and now we plan to release a music video too. Daler Ji has done total justice to it and I am sure it will be the summer anthem among kids.”

In Chhota Bheem: Kung Fu Dhamaka, Bheem and friends head to China for an adventure in the Land of the Dragon. Bheem and friends go to participate in the biggest Kung Fu competition in the world. However, the competition disrupts as Bheem is called upon to help save the princess and protect China from the evil nemesis Zuhu.

Directed by Rajiv Chilaka and Binayak Das, produced by Green Gold Animation and distributed by Yash Raj Films, Chhota Bheem: Kung Fu Dhamaka will find Bheem in a 3D avatar.

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Apr 09

Steadview Capital buys secondary shares of Dream11

Posted in: Animation

Dream11, has announced the completion of a secondary investment by Steadview Capital, an Asia-focused alternative asset manager. This investment marks Dream11’s entry into the ‘Unicorn Club’ as the first Indian gaming company to achieve this milestone.

Apart from Steadview Capital, Kalaari Capital, Think Investments, Multiples Equity and Tencent are the other marquee investors in Dream11. As per the IFSG-KPMG report, in terms of total user base on a fantasy sports platform, Dream11 is the market leader with over 50 million users. Its user base has grown at a CAGR of ~230 per cent over a period of three years.

Commenting on this development Dream11 CEO and co-founder Harsh Jain said, “We are excited to welcome Steadview Capital onboard. Our exponential growth over the past few years would not have been possible without the support and trust of our investors and Dreamsters (employees). Providing great returns to our shareholders, whether investors or Dreamsters, is very important to us and further reinforces their belief in Dream11. We will keep working hard and are targeting to end the year with 100 million users.”

Commenting on this development Steadview Capital, managing director Ravi Mehta, said, “We at Steadview believe that Dream11 is poised to become the leading sports company in India catering to everything a sports fan needs. We think very highly of the visionary founders and are excited to partner with the team in this journey. The company’s phenomenal growth track-record, dominant leadership in daily fantasy gaming and strong engagement metrics is a testament to the consumer love for the platform.”

Commenting on this development Dream11 COO and co-founder Bhavit Sheth said, “We are looking forward to working with the Steadview Capital team in providing the best sports experience to fans. I am proud of the fact that a lean yet highly efficient team of just 200 Dreamsters have been the driving force behind our rapid growth.”

Existing Investor quotes on Dream11 becoming a ‘Unicorn’:

Kalaari Capital founder and managing director Vani Kola said, ”A Startup is shaped by the spirit of the founders. At Dream11 that is obvious in everything, the aggressive scale, focused execution, customer centricity, employee well being. Becoming the latest unicorn is indeed a proud moment but I expect the Dream11 team to push sports engagement to new heights. Kalaari is glad to have been a part from the beginning of their journey.“

Think Investment, founder and CIO Shashin Shah, said, “Harsh and Bhavit have done an incredible job of maintaining a great culture while guiding the business through hypergrowth. Dream11 is now the world’s largest fantasy sports game and is paving the way for Indian companies to build truly global consumer tech businesses.”

Multiples Equity managing director Sumit Sinha  said, “At Dream11, we are excited to partner with a really top quality team to drive a shift in how people engage with sports. We are at the beginning of something really big here as this platform becomes synonymous with sports engagement over time.”

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Apr 09

Roosevelt Games announces a multiplayer VR game ‘GODS’ for PC, XBOX One, PS4 and Nintendo Switch

Posted in: Animation

Roosevelt Games has announced GODS, a multiplayer RTS/RPG god game for PC, XBOX One, PS4 and Nintendo Switch. It supports Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and PSVR. The company will release GODS in the third quarter of 2020.

Lion Creature from GODS

In GODS, the players can build a civilization, fight enemy gods, raise powerful creatures and take part in multiplayer games (e.g., death matches, two vs. two or creature battle tournaments). Also, the players can possess an actor to complete his/her quests from a third-person RPG-style game-play.

Roosevelt Games CEO and a senior software engineer at NASA Roosevelt Purification currently leading the project. The team wishes to bring a high-quality god game to VR for the first time

According to the CEO, “It’s been a while since the fans had a chance to play a god game in console devices or with VR support. We added unique elements, stories and various VR specific experiences. Any additional funds will support the rest of the game development, hardware, testing, marketing and miscellaneous fees.”

GODS Features:

Test Your Might — Battle against 10 enemy gods.

A Rich, Captivating Narrative — Story mode takes players through at least three islands.

A Diverse Experience — Each land features at least 20 characters and each character features three-five quests or challenges.

More Role-Playing — Players can possess any actor in the game and play from a third-person view.

Ultimate Diversity — There are Halflings, Wizards, Dwarves, Elves, Orcs, Egyptians, Vikings, Greeks and the Romans. Their physical features, behavior and capabilities are random and result from a combination of their parents.

Absolute Wonders — Mighty Lion, Tiger, Wolf, Dragon, Elephant and the Cyclops creatures are confirmed.

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Apr 09

Is Marvel’s Rocket Raccoon going to die?

Posted in: Animation

 Guardians of the Galaxy has been reigning on our minds as the racoon has been missing. Although we have seen the trace of Peter Quill and Groot, Rocket has remained out of the picture for a long time. But Marvel announced their first round of July solicitations earlier today in which we may get to know a lot about the character in question. According to the snippet of Guardians of the Galaxy #7 released by Marvel earlier today, the House of Ideas might end up our beloved Panda. The character is set to have a big role in the next handful of issues leading up to his unfortunate end.

 

THE DEATH OF ROCKET BEGINS HERE IN ”FAITHLESS” PART 1 In the aftermath of the FINAL GAUNTLET, the Guardians of the Galaxy are taking some well deserved R&R. But their vacation is about to be cut short when a familiar, but radically powerful enemy returns. And what does all of this have to do with the whereabouts of a certain racoon?


While we do feel mournful at the prospect of his end, we do wish to find out how things pan out in the MCU. Guardians of the Galaxy issue #4 rolls out next week.

 

 

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