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Posted by Michael Pinto on Apr 30, 2015 in Animation, Anime, Cinema, Comic Books, Design, Fandom, Hobbies and Collections, Horror, Podcasts, Pulp Fiction, Science, Star Trek, Star Wars, Tech, Television, Videogames 
I’m sorry to report that Fanboy.com is now on hiatus: We’re currently thinking of relaunching the site in the future, but for now no new stories will appear. We will still be posting links we love on a regular basis on our Facebook page so please keep in touch with us there.
I first registered this site on a lark in the 90s, but then started blogging almost 9 years ago in 2006 and found it to be a very rewarding experience. However after about 3,000 or so posts I got a bit burned out, however I was very lucky in that I found a few folks who were willing to put in the work to keep the site alive (namely Ben Huber, Bob Muir and Tim Sheehy) and to them I owe a great deal of thanks. I also would like to thank you the readers of this website for coming back to us over the past few years. In the meantime we’ll keep this site up for anyone who would like to see our old stories until further notice.
Posted by Ben Huber on Apr 24, 2015 in Animation, Cinema 
Surprise! That leaked news from the Sony email hack from last year has turned out to be true! Phil Lord and Chris Miller are working on an animated Spider-Man film for Sony — in fact, they’ll be the “masterminds” behind the project and will executive produce as well. However, the press release doesn’t mention them directing it, and doesn’t bring up anyone else, so who will helm the pic remains a mystery. According to Sony, it will exist independently of the live-action Spider-Man film universe and they have already dated it for July 20th, 2018. I wonder if we’ll see a different interpretation of Spider-Man here? Having two Spidey films going at the same time could be awfully confusing… unless the animated one is say, Spider-Man 2099 or Miles Morales, eh? Hey, I can hope, can’t I? Read more…
Tags: Chris Miller, Phil Lord, Sony, Spider-man
Posted by Bob Muir on Apr 8, 2015 in Animation, Comic Books 
Marvel has put out plenty of cartoons with their popular characters, but none of them have been tied into the Marvel Cinematic Universe yet. But since it’s already expanded to TV and Netflix, who’s to say they shouldn’t try cartoons as well? At Emerald City Comic Con, a fan asked Marvel VP of Animation Development and Production Cort Lane whether any of their cartoons would ever tie into the MCU. Lane replied, “I can’t announce anything, but things are in the works.” Obviously that’s little to go on, but hey, it could be cool if they put some more care into the project than their current kid-targeted shows. Something more along the lines of The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes than Avengers Assemble would be fun. Read more…
Tags: Marvel
Posted by Ben Huber on Apr 3, 2015 in Animation, Cinema 
Winnie the Pooh is one of the most iconic bears out there, so it’s no surprise that this is happening finally, but here we are all the same: Disney is planning a live-action Winnie the Pooh film and has signed on Alex Ross Perry (fresh off his hit Sundance indie film Listen Up Philip) to script the film. This seems to be a consistent strategy from Disney: nab a young, up-and-coming director to pilot a big picture, with the hopes it’ll help cross the gap between blockbuster and indie film, kids and adults. We have yet to see the fruits of this experiment (Pete’s Dragon is coming up too) so it remains to be see if this plan pans out. Read more…
Tags: Winnie the Pooh
Posted by Bob Muir on Mar 31, 2015 in Animation, Cinema, Comic Books 
While Batman is much more popular these days as a dark, gritty superhero, fans have slowly become more accepting of the classic 60s TV series. The recent resurgence last year — including a DVD/Blu-ray release — has raised interest, and in addition to comics, there will be a movie based on the campy universe. Adam West (Batman) made the announcement at Mad Monster Party, revealing that he and Burt Ward (Robin) would be voicing their characters in a feature-length animated movie. It’s due out for the TV series’s 50th anniversary in 2016, likely direct-to-video, making this the much more interesting of two Batman movies that year. Sorry, Batman v. Superman, but after Man of Steel, I’d rather concentrate my excitement on this strong counterpoint to the Batman mythos. Read more…
Tags: Adam West, Batman, DC Comics, Warner Brothers
Posted by Bob Muir on Mar 25, 2015 in Animation, Fandom, Star Wars 
Look, Star Wars: Rebels is alright, but they could be doing something so much more stylized and interesting with the franchise, like Genndy Tartakovsky’s Star Wars: Clone Wars. They should be doing, say, a Star Wars cartoon that looks like a late-80s sci-fi anime, with detailed ships and dramatic shading. That’s what animator Paul Johnson has been working on for the last four years of weekends, and now he has finished his seven-minute short. Star Wars: Tie Fighter takes inspiration from the 1994 PC game of the same name and captures that dark, cool look of some classic anime like Gunbuster. Watch it and be amazed! Read more…
Tags: Star Wars, TIE Fighter
Posted by Ben Huber on Mar 16, 2015 in Animation 
Things are tough out there for Genndy Tartakovsky. The dude seems like a stand-up fellow, so why do all of his projects seem to have such a hard time getting made… or staying around? It must be hard on him! Yes, Genndy has told Moviefone that he has moved on from Sony’s CGI Popeye film (with the amazing sizzle reel from last year). In fact, he implies Sony may can the project entirely. He’s still working on finishing up Hotel Transylvania 2 (which actually has a high chance of being better than the first film since he’s not picking up someone else’s leftovers), and will then move on to an original project he created, Can You Imagine?, which will hopefully have better luck! Read more…
Tags: Genndy Tartakovsky, Popeye
Posted by Ben Huber on Mar 1, 2015 in Animation, Cinema 
Adventure Time is everywhere and it probably one of the biggest TV shows for kids these days. Creator Pendleton Ward and the crew at Cartoon Network have done an impressive job keeping the show interesting as the cast and story expands. Now, the series will be getting a feature-length animated film in theaters, courtesy of Warner Bros. Chris McKay and Roy Lee will be producing the picture, some of the folks behind The LEGO Movie. I’m actually surprised this hasn’t happened sooner, as an Adventure Time movie seems like a license to print money! I wonder what sort of story they’ll tell, or if they’ll end up with “just a longer episode on a bigger screen” syndrome? Read more…
Tags: Adventure Time
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 26, 2015 in Animation, Television 
One of the best TV cartoons that Disney ever made was Ducktales, the classic, Emmy-winning spin-off of Donald Duck’s comics. From 1987 to 1990 (plus a movie), it chronicled the adventures of Scrooge McDuck (Donald’s uncle); Huey, Dewey, and Louie (Donald’s nephews); Launchpad McQuack (their pilot); and tons of other characters. Disney has finally come to their senses and is reviving this winning series with a new series for Disney XD. They won’t be ready until 2017, but that sounds like good news to me, as taking that much time could hopefully translate into more lavish, traditional animation. Read more…
Tags: Disney, DuckTales
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 17, 2015 in Animation 
Back in high school, one of the first videos I saw as internet video was taking off was Don Hertzfeldt’s Oscar-nominated classic Rejected. I still quote it to this day! Hertzfeldt is such a creative animator, and his next short film, World of Tomorrow, looks intriguing. Check out the trailer below, with its mixture of stick figures and colorful, alien vistas. It’ll be out on March 31. Read more…
Tags: Don Hertzfeldt, Short Films
Posted by Ben Huber on Jan 26, 2015 in Animation, Cinema 
I’m going down the list of classic cartoons that have been rebooted as CGI films, and I’m actually surprised the Jetsons hasn’t happened yet. We’re running out of cartoons though… soon we’re going to be scraping the bottom of the barrel with Snorks or something! Anyway, I digress… Warner Bros. is putting together a Jetsons animated theatrical film, and they’ve nabbed a scriptwriter for it as well in Matt Lieberman. About two years ago, Kanye West said he was creative director on a Jetsons film, but I highly doubt this is the same project now. But yet — if Kanye was involved, I’d be somewhat interested! Are the Jetsons on the cusp of making a comeback? Read more…
Tags: The Jetsons
Posted by Ben Huber on Jan 24, 2015 in Animation 
Things aren’t looking so hot for Dreamworks Animation right now. Their last couple films haven’t exactly performed well, so a lot of folks were expecting layoffs, however, I don’t think anyone thought they’d be quite so expansive. And closing the PDI studio is definitely sad to see happen as well. Apparently some artists are being offered a chance to work at the remaining Dreamworks Animation studio, but that’s small comfort when 500 people have just been laid off. They have now trimmed down their future releases, instead putting priority on their upcoming sequels like How To Train Your Dragon 3, The Croods 2, and Kung Fu Panda 3. A full list of upcoming films is below. Read more…
Tags: Dreamworks
Posted by Bob Muir on Dec 11, 2014 in Animation, Cinema 
I know that Pixar’s next movie is called Inside Out, but to me, this is a Cranium Command movie. Inside Out is about the emotions that live inside all of our heads and make our decisions; the movie focuses on the mind of a teenage girl. Similarly, Cranium Command was an Epcot ride about the person who lives inside our head and makes our decisions (along with other parts of the body); the ride focused on the body of a teenage boy. Sure, the new trailer for Inside Out is funny and charming. But more importantly, seeing as Cranium Command was closed years ago, this is the closest thing I’ve got to one of my favorite Epcot attractions! Read more…
Tags: Inside Out, Pixar
Posted by Bob Muir on Nov 27, 2014 in Animation 
For those who remember the classic CG cartoon ReBoot, you may have heard of a new series in the works. Rainmaker Entertainment is still working on the reimagining, and they just updated their website. The new series will now be called ReBoot: The Guardian Core, and it has a shiny new logo to prove it. The show is reported to have all the classic characters return in a format similar to the first two seasons of the original series. Hopefully one of these days, Rainmaker will have something more substantial to show us, since little else is known as of now. Read more…
Posted by Bob Muir on Nov 19, 2014 in Animation, Cinema 
Look, we’re getting an animated Peanuts movie whether we want it or not. Thankfully, BlueSky Studios has got the look down pat, despite being CGI. And “voices” like Snoopy and Woodstock sound good. But what is up with that generic pop song? That’s not Peanuts. It’s likely just trailer music, but it seems odd. Anyway, the Christmas theme makes me want to see this soon, but it’s not coming out until 2015. While Peanuts is still a classic comic to me, I wonder if modern kids will view it the same way. Read more…
Tags: 20th Century Fox, Peanuts
Posted by Ben Huber on Nov 8, 2014 in Animation, Cinema 
Yes, even Pixar can’t stay away from the lure of sequels. Disney announced in their most recent investors call that a new Toy Story film would be coming on June 16th, 2017. Toy Story 4, it’s official title so far, will be written by Rashida Jones and Will McCormack. In a surprise to many, John Lasseter himself will be directing the picture, making this his first time directing since Cars 2 in 2011. There had been plenty of rumors floating around about a fourth film, so it’s really not that surprising, but I still can’t help but wonder how this’ll turn out. Toy Story 3 ended on a perfect note — I’m not sure what else you can add to the story! Read more…
Tags: Pixar, Toy Story
Posted by Bob Muir on Nov 4, 2014 in Animation, Television 
Archer got a sort of reboot with season 5, Archer: Vice, as the employees of spy agency ISIS went into the drug business. It worked because it’s ultimately the characters that make the show work, and since the creators seemed tired of writing about spies, it gave the show a new direction. But apparently the creators found more to say, because this season 6 trailer shows the crew going back to work at ISIS — er, the CIA. (Due to Islamic extremists using the ISIS acronym, the show will see ISIS merged into the CIA, as Archer will not use the word going forward to avoid confusion.) The trailer shows the crew reuniting and going back to work. I’m looking forward to the new episodes, but in future seasons, I wouldn’t mind another plot shift for the hell of it. Read more…
Tags: Archer
Posted by Ben Huber on Nov 1, 2014 in Animation 
Most folks know Juanjo Guarnido as the man behind Blacksad (the amazing French noir comic series), but he also used to be a Disney animator. He recently teamed up with Fortiche Production earlier in the year to raise a bunch of money on Kickstarter (over $140,000) as a means to create a music video for Swedish rock band Freak Kitchen. Let’s just say: the money was put to good use. They’ve officially released the completed music video and it features a ton of gorgeous animation and fluid head-banging. Sadly, the song isn’t that good… but the video more than makes up for it. Check out the music video below! Read more…
Tags: Juanjo Guarnido, music videos
Posted by Ben Huber on Oct 24, 2014 in Animation 
Last year, it was reported that French animation studio Normaal Animation would be making a massive 500 90-second animated shorts based on Peanuts. Here’s two looks at the shorts, in both French and English (off-camera). Sadly, they appear to be sluggishly done. I’m not a Flash hater, but when it has that stereotypical “Flash” look, it turns me off. I’m sure these’ll be popular, though, and they’ve definitely caught Charles Schulz’s style in still images. The series will premiere in France on France 3 on November 9th, and will slowly have an international roll out through the next year. No word on when they’ll come the US, though! Check out the videos below. Read more…
Tags: Charles Schulz, Peanuts
Posted by Bob Muir on Oct 21, 2014 in Animation, Cinema 
Disney and Pixar are quite secretive these days about their upcoming films, considering how much a project can change during development. So it’s good to see them teasing some of their upcoming movies. First off, Disney officially announced Moana for release in late 2016. Set in the South Pacific, this movie sees the titular teenage girl set sail to fulfill her ancestors’ quest. The film is directed by Ron Clements and Jon Musker, best known for The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and The Princess and the Frog. Not to be outdone, Pixar shared a video of director Peter Sohn sketching Arlo, the main character in the upcoming The Good Dinosaur. While Pixar is releasing Inside Out in June 2015, The Good Dinosaur is set for November 2015; it tells the story of a world where dinosaurs continued living and rule the world. Both releases look great! Read more…
Tags: Disney, Pixar
Posted by Ben Huber on Oct 18, 2014 in Animation 
A new Disney film means it’s time for another Disney short too! Big Hero 6 debuts on November 7th, and in front of it there’ll be a new short by Paperman‘s head of animation, Patrick Osborne. This is his first time directing a short, and it looks like it’ll utilize a lot of the skills he put to work in Paperman, including the “Meander” process they use to make give the CGI that unique look. Feast follows an adorable puppy snacking on everything in sight, and the preview gives a peak at him growing up around food, living a happy life with a full belly. I’m not sure where the short will be headed though — will it end up being happy or end of a sadder note? No one better die in this! Read more…
Tags: Disney
Posted by Ben Huber on Oct 12, 2014 in Animation, Comic Books 
Back at San Diego Comic-Con we heard that the Guardians of the Galaxy would be getting an animated TV show on Disney XD. All it takes is one blockbuster and suddenly a crew who were referred to as “Who?” are now getting a sequel and spin-offs galore! This new animated series will be taking off in 2015, and Marvel released the SDCC test footage online at New York Comic-Con, along with the first art for the TV show. Thanos will also apparently feature in the show, along with other characters, as part of Marvel’s growing universe. Check out the full poster and test footage below the jump. Read more…
Tags: Guardians of the Galaxy
Posted by Ben Huber on Oct 4, 2014 in Animation, Cinema 
After spending a while in development, Pixar’s next film, Inside Out, has gotten a teaser trailer. Sadly, like most teaser trailers, it doesn’t show much. In fact, most of the trailer is footage from previous Pixar films, reminding you how good they were. It feels like Disney’s marketing department said, “Hey guys, we know this isn’t a sequel, so we’ve got to sell people on it by showing them characters they DO know!” Maybe that’ll be successful — I don’t know. Still, I’m interested, as this film is from Pete Docter, the fellow behind Up and Monsters Inc., so there is a skilled craftsman at the helm, at least. The last few Pixar films didn’t really blow me away, so I’m hoping this will be a return to form. Check out the teaser below! Read more…
Tags: Inside Out, Pixar
Posted by Ben Huber on Sep 29, 2014 in Animation, Videogames 
The Fourth Annual Saxxy Awards voting period is almost over, so if you haven’t had a chance yet, you should get over there and vote! The Saxxys is Valve’s annual video competition in which fans use the Source Filmmaker software to create CGI videos using game assets from Team Fortress 2, Portal 2, and Left 4 Dead. Most of the submitted films are TF2 -themed, but there’s really no limit to what you can put in your film, as long as it’s either using game assets or your own original work. There’s multiple categories and several awards to give out. I’ve put a few of the best I’ve seen below the jump. And then get voting here! Read more…
Tags: Saxxy Awards, Source Filmmaker, Team Fortress, Valve
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