Big news for the site (movie related)

Site Discussion Team Discussion
21

I’ve got some tidbits on the movie:

1). The concept artist has been confirmed to be Charlie Wen. He is also the concept artist for some of the biggest video games on the PS2 including God of War and God of War II. My source told me to google his name and I would find some samples of his artwork. This is what I found:

http://www.charliewen.typepad.com/

2). While my source neither confirm or deny the rumor I posted earlier in the week, what he/she could say is that they have indeed started working on casting voice actors for the movie. However, these said actors are not only being casted for their voices, but also their movement. Basically, the actors are being tested in motion capture suits as well as their voice work. This includes facial expressions. The example given to me was Golem from Lord of the Rings. The actor who was the voice of the character also did all the motion capturing. My assumption is that if Larry were to get the role of Lion-O…he wouldn’t be able to do the motion capture as he is getting along in age. It was also assumed that if Larry does not get the part of Lion-O that he would be in the movie in some form…just as I predicted. :wink:

It was reiterated that nothing is set in stone and the actors reading for parts have not been officially casted. Everything is still in test mode.

3). Jerry will be doing an interview with us as soon as the studio gives him the greenlight. He wants to do an interview with me, but he is “at the mercy of the studio.”

And I think the one that fans would be interesting in knowing is:

  1. Two of the producers currently working on the movie were also original producers from the cartoon. There you have it!

Lastly…I am allowed to divulge the information regarding the concept artist on the site, but nothing else…at least not yet. :slight_smile:

Shhhh!!!

I’m so excited!

22

WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW

Holy crap I just about dropped a brick in my pants reading this. I am an instant fan of Charlie Wen

I AM SO EXCITED

No way I’m going to be able to sleep tonight

MAN OH MAN OH MAN

23

I’m glad you’re excited! LOL.

I’m waiting for an email just to be sure that I can make it public on the front page. I don’t want to get anyone in trouble. :slight_smile:

Do you know what else Charlie Wen is known for Mark? I’m curious to see more of his work.

24

Nope, no idea what Charlie Wen may have worked on. But in looking at the art on his blog I think he’s a tremendous talent and I’m very happy to have a guy with that much skill working on the show.

Wow … still buzzing with this news

25

Chris here…

Hey Manny, apologies for my delayed response - this is definitely all exciting news, both for TCats fans and for this site! It’s great to see WB utilising past talent from the original ThunderCats series, and, even though I would be gutted if Larry didn’t get the role of Lion-O, it would be good to see him get a speaking role of some description. :slight_smile:

Re: Charlie Wen as concept artist, the biggest thing I like about that is that these are not goofy-looking CGI concept art, in the style of something like The Incredibles or even last year’s TMNT movie, these are actually serious, straight-looking art pieces. Whilst that could, of course, all change, the one thing that would kill me would be seeing a ThunderCats movie done in a goofy, uber-kiddie style, not because I dislike that style of animation but just because I don’t feel a relatively serious sci-fi/fantasy hybrid concept like ThunderCats lends itself very well to that style. So, still early days, but looking good, and also looking as though TCats could, potentially, usher in a new style of CGI animated movie! :slight_smile:

Take care… :slight_smile:

26

Yeah, the email I was sent specifically said it was NOT going to look anything like the TMNT CGI film. For me personally, I actually liked TMNT, both plot and design wise. It caught me off guard because I was expecting not to like it since Shredder wasn’t in it. I’m definitely looking forward to a sequel.

I’m intrigued and cautiously optimistic with the artist they chose. God of War is definitely not a “kiddie” game…so I’m curious to see the direction Jerry and Charlie are taking the license.

EDIT: By the way, it’s nice to see you posting again Chris! Hope your feeling a little bit better!

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Chris here…

Hey Manny, I also really enjoyed TMNT - I felt the style of animation actually suited the characters, world and genre pretty well (although a more “conventional” style of character design I think would have worked equally as well), and so I’ve no real complaints. And like yourself, I can’t wait for the sequel, especially since Shredder is likely to be in it! :wink:

Yeah, definitely - my reference to TMNT, and also The Incredibles, in terms of their character designs, etc., is not so much that I dislike the look those movies and characters have, but that I really, really don’t it’s a style that would suit ThunderCats. So, I’m very intrigued and heartened by what I’m seeing and hearing… :slight_smile:

Quick question - have there been any other all-CGI animated movies in a style of animation akin to what we’re being shown here? I know there have been quite a few video games that have these kind-of scene-setting animations that use a “conventional” style of character design (I’ve just described them very badly, but if you’re a video game buff I think you’ll know what I mean!), but has that style of animation ever been utilised for a fully-animated movie before? :slight_smile:

If I’m honest…not significantly, but I’ll get there! :wink: At the moment I’m having panic/anxiety attacks that are knocking me down like a skittle, the only thing I keep telling myself is that I’ve had them before and that, based on experience, at some point they will go away by themselves. Unfortunately right now a lot of stuff is kind-of crumbling away around me, but the good thing is, my luck’s got to turn around soon just by law of averages! And if it doesn’t - my family have just signed up to eBay so I can put myself in debt with Retail Therapy!! :smiley:

Take care… :slight_smile:

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To be honest, even though we’ve seen samples of Charlie’s work, I’m not exactly sure where he’s going to take the designs. I mean, it could look like God of War, but he could also take it a totally different direction. With his talent, I’m sure he has a variety of styles he could use.

AlexofThundera posted screens to a movie based on a video game in the poll I made earlier today. Advent Children went for a more realistic style…but personally, it’s a bit bland.

If I’m assuming correctly, I believe the art style is going to be very stylistic. Then again, my guess is as good as yours. :wink:

I’m just glad we got some info on this!

If I’m honest…not significantly, but I’ll get there! :wink: At the moment I’m having panic/anxiety attacks that are knocking me down like a skittle, the only thing I keep telling myself is that I’ve had them before and that, based on experience, at some point they will go away by themselves. Unfortunately right now a lot of stuff is kind-of crumbling away around me, but the good thing is, my luck’s got to turn around soon just by law of averages! And if it doesn’t - my family have just signed up to eBay so I can put myself in debt with Retail Therapy!! :smiley:

Hang in there, Chris. It’ll get better sooner rather than later. :slight_smile:

Anyhow, two tidbits;

  1. I’ve been given the OK to make the Charlie Wen information public.

  2. I got more information on the rumor I posted last week. The rumor on Benjamin McKenzie is true and false. My source has confirmed that Ben has tested for the role of Lion-O. That part is fact. However, he has only tested for the role and is being considered for the part. As we all know, the voice casting probably won’t happen until everything else is set in stone so anything can happen in that timespan. I think what they’re doing is just seeing who’s interested in the film.

I should backtrack on what I said in my earlier posts in that they are definitely starting to look for voices, but that it is waay too early in the development to say who is going to get what roles.

So yeah…still waiting on the names of the producers, but not sure if my source is confused on who worked on the original series. Based on end credits of the show…there were two executive producers…Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin.

I’m going to try and get into contact with at least one of them and see if they can confirm their involvement.

I’ll probably post the rumor of Ben on the front page along with the information of Charlie Wen sometime during the day (Wednesday). Seems as though our front page is what Google ranks so every little bit helps. :slight_smile:

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All sounds exciting. Yay Manny :thumbsup:

30

If you guys didn’t believe me about Charlie Wen..he pretty much confirms it on his blog:

http://charliewen.typepad.com/my_weblog/

I guess he was tipped that we were going to announce it soon so he just let it out of the bag…

It also makes me feel good since I know my sources are reliable. :slight_smile:

I can’t wait to announce more BIG news that I have yet to mention to anyone. I have to be responsible…but it’s killing me not to tell anyone!!! :eek:

Now I know how Val feels!!!

31

Awesome news…sorry guys I havent been too busy here but my move to Germany is getting closer and closer and the beginning of another semester doesnt help on top of putting in 12 hour work days.

Good news is I’m 14 pounds lighter…once i get to Germany I’ll kick myself right back into gear do a bit more on the forum, perhaps more themes and do more cool stuff with the upcoming forum upgrade and of course I’ll be working in putting together a few pages on the stuff Jordan had.

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I don’t want to sound like a jerk, but I thought we were in this together? I’m a bit surprised that there is news your holding back.

As for Val, I think he’s big headed. Cool if he knows what’s going on with MOTU, but to me teasing folks that he knows makes him look like a big headed asshole.

33

I’ve got to concur with Neil here Manny… I think as a team we’ve all earned each other’s trust and we wouldn’t share something outside of the team if you asked us not to.

34

Chris here…

I understand what you guys are saying, but in fairness to Manny it may be that somebody has said to him “We’re going to reveal something now, but you must keep it STRICTLY TO YOURSELF and not tell anyone - NOT EVEN THE OTHER TEAM MEMBERS!!!”, in which case I can understand him keeping a lid on it because he gave his word and could jeopardise his sources if he doesn’t. That said, I think we’re all of us adept at keeping things quiet, so I don’t think there’s any danger of confidential information leaking out of the team we have now - if Angie were still involved (given that she was the webmistress of a a rival site), possibly that’d be different, but I think we’ve all proved ourselves to be masters of stealth! :slight_smile:

The thing I’d say about Val Staples is he loves to come across like “the Big Man”, so how he approaches MOTU stuff tends to be used to inflate his superiority complex - yep, as you can tell, I’m not a fan of his either! :wink:

Take care… :slight_smile:

35

Aint it Cool News - picked up our Charlie Wen story

Hey guys, thought you’d like to know that AICN (Aint it Cool News) has posted our release about Charlie Wen. They included my note about the petition also which was pretty sweet of them.

The story is here: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/36446

Manny, could you pass this on to Jerry? I’m going to e-mail Charlie to let him know that AICN picked up the story.

I’m working on Rottentomatoes today and will send to a few anime and 80s cartoon sites today also.

Ciao,
Mark
Merged Post:
Hey Manny, what do you think about sending this story to publications like Variety.com? I wonder if Jerry would prefer that the studio handle press releases with places like that?

36

That’s exactly what I’m doing. I’m definitely not withholding information because I want tease everyone…I’m doing it to show my source that I can be a reliable gatekeeper (that’s what they call me).

I did tease the Charlie Wen information in the movie forum but only because I want people to know that we DO have information and that we are a reputable site for news. I still think we have to prove ourselves and one way of doing that is tease people…and make them come back.

But it’s not like I don’t tell you guys first anyways. When they give me the greenlight, I post here first before letting anyone else know.

When they say I can let everyone on the team know, I do…but in certain situations where I’m directly told not to say anything, I’m trying to gain their respect at a reputable representative for the site. :slight_smile:

That being said, I guess I did tease a little bit in my previous post when I shouldn’t have. Didn’t mean to…I was just excited.

And we are in this together. I’ve come straight to the team forum when news comes in…I definitely feel I’ve been open with everything that I can share.

Again if it were up to me, I would tell you guys everything. But I have an obligation to my sources to be honest with them since they are giving us amazing news.

Great job Mark! I wish they mentioned Charlie Wen’s blog post…that all but confirms his involvement in the project. Anyhow, we got plugged so I guess I should be happy. :slight_smile:

About Variety…I would try. Not sure if they would post information coming from a fansite like us, but if anything, they’d go straight to WB and try to get an official response.

Again, if they ask for some sort of evidence, just point them to our front page where I quoted Charlie Wen’s blog.

Thanks Mark for handling all of this!

And remember, the information regarding the voice casting has to be considered (ie., Benjamin McKenzie) rumor for now even though we know it’s not. :wink:

37

Hey Manny, they do actually link to Charlie’s blog post in the AICN article so the editor did see it. But the way AICN would need to verify the story would be by talking to one of their trusted sources at the studio. They don’t know who Charlie Wen is, and they’ve only just met us.

As we continue to leak stories for WB on this, places like AICN will see us as more credible and they’ll drop the “we couldn’t verify this” caveat.

The Anime editor is interested in receiving more updates from us, and has suggested that I cc some of the main movie editors on other stories too in case they want to put a bigger story on the front page movies section of the site. When we have big news to share, you can be sure AICN will be drumming up a lot of traffic for us.

Cheers,
Mark

38

Fair enough I guess. I just felt that being as we are all equals on this site, that we shouldn’t have big secrets from each other. That’s my point.

But I guess your sources were in place regardless of the site. Your sources seem to have placed you in a difficult situation. I just hope they don’t think we are simply site staff who work for you because that wouldn’t be fair.

But at the end of the day, at least things are coming good for the site and we are getting recognition we deserve!

39

http://screenrant.com/archives/thundercats-to-the-cgi-screen-1590.html

Check out this awesome writeup at screenrant.com after I sent over the Charlie Wen news.

40

Is the name Dick Roberts familiar to anyone? Source says he is the executive producer for the movie and also worked on the original series. Googled his name and found nothing.

Also, Dameon Clarke voice actor from shows like DBZ tested for the part of Slithe. Not sure if you guys are familiar with DBZ, but he voiced the character Cell.

Says something might pop up at Comic Con, but it would depend on what’s ready to show. That would be totally awesome…since I would be there in person!