Here's the thing about Bob Zemeckis and all his newfangled motion-capture outings. When put to more mythic use in Beowulf, I was more drawn in by the adventure and less distracted by the characters. However, between The Polar Express and A Christmas Carol, I couldn't help but be
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re-struck time and time again but that unfortunate uncanny valley, especially when the characters look so much like the real thing (see: Gary Oldman as Cratchit) that I'd just as soon watch them give live-action performances that would then go surrounded by countless effects (you know, the way they used to make movies).
That disappointing truth, combined with last weekend's good-not-great opening for Carol, isn't getting Zemeckis down, though. According to Pajiba, he's pursuing The Nutcracker as his next holiday adaptation to be 'enhanced' by mo-cap technology. (I think it's fairly safe to assume after Carol and Express that this will likely end up in 3-D as well.) The site says that he'll be working from E.T.A. Hoffman's original novel over the Tchaikovsky ballet, "a period piece, set in 19th century Russia, which will explore how the cursed Nutcracker character came to be and the battle between the dolls and the mice."
Well, that shows how much I remember of the original tale (a war between dolls and mice?). Personally, I just want this one to go on the busy man's back burner if it means getting that Roger Rabbit sequel done sooner. At least the bunny doesn't creep me out with his lifeless eyes...
Filed under: Animation, Deals, RumorMonger, Family Films
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