12:26PM, Jul 20, 2009
Somersaulting on to Sky Movies Premiere / HD, Dreamworks Animation’s latest smash hit, Kung Fu Panda, is part of our celebration of the best of the best CGI cartoons – all in eye-popping high definition…
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL ANIMATION SEASON SCHEDULE ON SKY MOVIES FAMILY / HD
Of course, big names such as Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, Seth Rogen (need we go on…) are partly responsible for the enormous success of Kung Fu Panda – which took more than $12 million (£8 million) at the UK box office on its opening weekend – but it’s the stunning animation that really caught the world’s imagination.
From the individual hairs on panda Po’s back to the slickly choreographed fight scenes, no detail has been overlooked by its top class animators, putting Kung Fu Panda right at the forefront of technical wizardry – it even garnered an Oscar® nomination in the animation category earlier this year (losing out to the extraordinary WALL•E).
And, as computer generated animation is constantly improving and evolving with each new offering – this year seeing 3D beginning to take CG animation to the next, well, dimension in cinemas – there’s no better way to keep up with the ever-increasing level of incredible detail than experiencing them in high definition. Take it from Pixar guru Brad Bird (director of hit animations including Ratatouille, The Incredibles and The Iron Giant, which is showing as part of Sky Movies’ Animation Season): “The wonderful thing about high def is that you’ll see it as close to the best theatrical presentation as you can get.” So with animation in HD you really can stay in and go to the movies...
Although there will always be dynamic action scenes that take your breath away (check the mesmerising blink and- you’ll-miss-it quick-draw manoeuvres of the chopstick fight between Po and Master Shifu in Kung Fu Panda), it is often the clever little touches that make a film experience memorable, and the sharper detail of HD allows you to see every nuance.
With Jack Black voicing Po, a portly bear who escapes serving noodles in his father’s restaurant by dreaming of life as a kung fu master, the film was always going to have an exemplary comedy pedigree. But high definition really brings out the subtlety of the menagerie of characters’ expressions: Tigress’ (Angelina Jolie) scathing scowl and seductive eyes; the sheer exasperation on Master Shifu’s (Dustin Hoffman) face as he struggles to teach the greedy panda; and Viper’s (Lucy Liu) compassionate glances at poor Po as he bounces his way through training. And, it’s not just the visuals that shine. If you close your eyes, you can feel the impact of Po’s belly as he bounces to greats heights and back down with an impressively resonant ‘boiiing’ – the sound’s so convincing, you could even be in China with him!
Once the HD marvels of Kung Fu Panda have caught your attention, don’t miss Star Wars: The Clone Wars (also beaming onto Sky Premiere / HD). Then, why not revisit all your favourite animated moments, or discover new treasures as part of Sky Movies’ Animation Season, featuring the best in animation every day from 20-26 July on Sky Movies Family / HD.
See into every gruesome crevice of the big green ogre (Mike Myers) in Shrek as he and the impressively lifelike Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) travel through the beautifully rendered environments of Far, Far Away. Meet the innovative magical creatures along the way and feel your heart bleed as Dragon stares, lovesick, at her shimmering reflection in the water…
It’s these amazing feats in animation that earned the film an Oscar® for Best Animated Feature in 2002, and continue to make it a family favourite today. The most recent addition to the franchise, Shrek The Third, continued to push boundaries, with its advanced animated technology described by special effects veteran Arnauld Lamorlette (Shrek, Shrek The Third) as the “difference between drawing and sculpting”.
Co-director Raman Hui believes HD makes all the difference, “You can really feel the material of the fabric in Fiona’s dress,” he says. “It’s a little bit shinier when it’s facing the light. I swear you can feel the texture of it. You can feel the softness.”
Other season highlights include Surf’s Up – you can almost feel the sea spray as Big Z and Cody breeze across the sparkling ocean waves – and behold the inside of Bee Movie’s bee hive, in colourful, mind-boggling detail that future films will have difficulty topping. Dr Seuss’ Horton Hears A Who! delves deep into the animators’ imaginations, with Whoville unfolding like a quirky dream filtered through a candy store.
But it’s the characters that steal the limelight – from big bumbling elephant, Horton, to cute yellow fluffball Katie – the light, shadow and sleek edges of the characters making them look like they’ll pop out of the screen, with HD adding new depth to the animation.
“There’s so much detail in the imagery,” says John Lasseter (director of Toy Story and Pixar founder) of high definition. “For film buffs it’s fantastic.” With other cutting edge animated hits such as WALL•E set to hit Sky Movies in HD later this year and the upcoming influx of 3D films in cinemas, animation has never been so exciting.
See it at its best – see it in high definition.
Words: Kat Halstead
This article first appeared in the Sky Movies Magazine, July 2009.
