Zambezia

Zambezia (2012)
Directed by Wayne Thornley

I mentioned in a prior post other animations popping up from studios other than the usual suspects (Disney and DreamWorks). This is one of them--Triggerfish Animation Studios. And the movie is great!

Image from www.zambeziamovie.com

Cabin fever is killing curious young falcon, Tai, but his father, Tendai wants the two of them to just stick to the area they currently reside in. Unfortunately for Tendai, a stork Gogo, her friend Tini and some eggs stop in breaking the monotony. Their sudden appearance makes Tai want to explore even more. The newcomers say they're going to an island called Zambezia, a safe heaven for all birds except for marabou. Weird thing is though Tai has never seen them before they seem to know Tendai.
When they leave, Tai decides to follow them, apologizing to his father but saying he has to do this. Tendai later decides to go after his son but overhears some marabou talking to Budzo, a large leguaan who eats eggs. They're teaming up and planning a coup d'etat over Zambezia! Unfortunately before Tendai can fly away to warn the citizens he's captured.
Meanwhile in Zambezia Tai is eager to join the Hurricanes, an elite group of flyers that patrols the city, offers citizens help, and keeps the area safe. He makes the cut to be a trainee and makes some new friends, Ezee and Zoe.
Zoe's father Sekhuru is informed of Tai's arrival in the city and asks Gogo if Tendai will be coming. Doesn't look like it.
On the day of Zambezia's Spring Celebration all the weaver birds are kidnapped by Marabou! Tai and the Hurricanes go after them. Thinking he can catch up with them, Tai breaks formation, but to no avail. Not being able to work with the team gets Tai in trouble. Then things get worse. Tai decides he'll go look around himself for the missing weavers. That night Ezee, Zoe and Tai sneak out even though Tai is grounded. They end up overhearing an evil plot between the marabou and Budzo about forcing the weavers to build a bridge across the water to Zambezia. The marabou will no longer be excluded and no one will be able to stop Budzo. It's a horribly evil team! Unfortunately Ezee gets hurt so Zoe flies back for help. This gets them in big trouble, and Tai is kicked off the Hurricanes.
Shortly afterwards a few more Maribou stop by. The Huriccanes leave in pursuit, however it's a trap!
They're caught in a net.
Meanwhile Tai is sulking and thinking of going back to his father's. Gogo is angry at hearing this and forces him to see Sekhuru. Gogo insists it's time for Tai to know the truth of his past, and his mother. Sekhuru agrees.
Long ago Tai's mother and father founded the Hurricanes to protect Zambezia. Zambezia came first. They were attacked by Budzo, who was stealing eggs. Sukhuru, Tendai, and Tai's mother gave it there all but were only able to save one egg. That eggs grew up to be Zoe. Sekhuru lost a wing, Budzo a toe, and Tai's mother lost her life. Tendai was overwhelmed by grief and left with baby Tai to find a new place to live. He wanted to live in a place where the strong didn't have to stick their necks out for the weak. He didn't want to have to suffer all these pains for what to him seemed like nothing. He wanted to be far from the island.
Inspired by the story, Tai insists they go search for Budzo's trail from the other night. Zoe, Tai and Gogo leave on their mission.  Tai and Gogo don't find Budzo, but they find the weavers and Tendai, caged. They break them out and hear that the marabou and Budzo left long ago to put the plan in motion. With everyone free they head back to Zambezia. When they arrive it's too late! The marabou have just put down the woven bridge and Budzo begins to cross. When Budzo meets on the bridge with marabou leader Cecil he explains it's not just a coup d'etat for Zambezia, but he's double crossing the marabou too! Leguanns all over are rushing for the bridge.
With the Huriccanes still gone, Tendai and Tai take it upon themselves to do what they can. Tai convinces the marabou to side with them against the leguaans since they now have a common enemy.
Still searching, Zoe hears distant cries. It's the Huriccanes calling from help from the net! She finds them and frees them, then they rush back home.
On the island the birds are panicking. Budzo is heading for the eggs! Tai tries to raise morale and encourage everyone to do what they can to help keep their home safe. The Hurricanes return and the battle is heated. Birds are chucking watermelon at the bridge trying to stop the other leguaans, and Cecil is frantically trying to chew through the bridge. Eventually he makes it, and the only problem left is Budzo. The whole community is giving it their all. The Hurricanes have brought back the net they were on and use it on Budzo. Everyone is pulling the net or pushing the structure Budzo is on, trying to make him fall off the island. Finally he gives, and tumbles down. But Zoe's foot is caught in the net! As she falls with him, Tai dives to save her. They get dangerously close to the water, beyond the point any other bird is able to pull up in time. Tendai and Sukhuru fear they've lost their children, when Ezee's amazing eyesight spots them in the mists rising up. They return victorious.
Zambezia now welcome the marabou as part of their paradise, and the Hurricanes induct many new recruits, including Morton, distant cousin of Cecil who after year of vying for Cecil's love and attention finally gets it. Every bird is safe and happy.

Image from www.zambeziamovie.com

Nice amount of detailing. Even in dessert scenes, the animation doesn't seem spartan and cheap because of little details, like the sun passing through feathers. So nice! Not as crazy detailed as Legend of the Guardians, but pretty nice.

I also personally love all the difference accents going on. It's really fun. The audio, dialogue, foley, and music is wonderful.

This South African film stars the voice talents of stars from all over, including Leonard Nimoy! Crazy, right? If you're not strictly on a live-action diet, this film is soooo so worth a watch. It's littered with awesome live-action celebs that are actually doing quiet well with voice acting.

Mr. Nimoy and his character Sekhuru. Images from IMDB and https://www.facebook.com/zambeziamovie

Here's something else crazy, this amazing film is this animation studio's first work! Triggerfish Animation Studios has done commercials in the past, but with the success of their first movie, hopefully it'll be feature lengths from here on out. Zambezia had been in the works for six years, and it turned out great. Their next film, Khumba, is set to release this year. This having been their first feature film doesn't make Triggerfish a threat to the big dogs, but I enjoyed this film so much I'll gladly watch the next one, and I wouldn't be surprised if their studio became a new household name in the US.

There's been a handful of entertaining bird themed animations over the last several years--Surf's Up, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga-Hoole, Happy Feet and more. If you enjoyed any of those films, this one won't dissappoint.

Battle for Terra

Battle for Terra (2007)
Directed by Aristomenis Tsirbas

Giddy. Image from http://www.aceshowbiz.com/still/00003527/terra11.html

In an alien village of towering mushroom trees lives a girl and her father. These aliens don't have legs and fly. They propel with a swimming motion and are kind of leaf shaped. Although they can fly they use other flying contraptions equatable to motorcycles or cars to get places faster or move more people.
It's another peaceful day in this town when the sun is eclypsed. Dozens of tiny lights rain from the sky and turn out to be invading fighter ships. They're capturing the native people to run tests on and who knows what else. The girl, Mala, is distressed to see her father get abducted. Unable to tolorate losing her only other parent Mala tried to get abducted to get reunited.
None of the ships take her so she decided to take them. In her flying machine she manages to take down a ship. After it's crashes she finds the pilot unconscious and losing oxygen. Back at her home the pilot, Jim's rover unit tells Mala how she can create oxygen so he doesn't die. Giddy is able to teach her English, and Mala follows the instructing, driven by the hope that this human will be able to get her to her father.
Once concious Jim says he needs to get to his ship. If Mala helps him get to his ship, he'll take her to her dad. Mala eagerly agrees.
When they return the site of the crash the ship is gone! Giddy's sensors indicate it's been dragged off to a part of Mala's planet, Terra, where no one goes. They follow Giddy and end up at the ruins of an old civilization, and to Mala's surprise there are people there! One of her people's ships lands and the group follows it to get in. However once inside they're surrounded. With Jim's ship in sight, he takes Mala hostage in order to get to it. The three get inside and take off.
Jim approaches his home ship and docks. Mala is instructed by Jim to stay in his ship and wait for him. He has to be debriefed and scanned then he'll be back. Jim is greeted by his best friend who was worried Jim died, then drilled for information about the natives by higher-ups.
During all this Mala grows impatient. She's brought her respirator so she'll be able to filter the oxygen, and she grabs a laser gun from the cockpit that she'd seen Jim use.
Snooping around the ship eventually leads her to a holding chamber. Whether her people are dead inside or not is unclear. Her father in the connecting room is still alive, but very very weak. Mala attemps to push his stretcher out and make it back to Jim's ship but her father and her are tailed by two men. Not wanting anything bad to become of his daughter, Mala's father grabs the gun, throws her back in the room with her people and shuts the door on her. He shoots wildly at the men and the room, eventually breaching something resulting in all of them getting sucked into something and dying. Mala, heartbroken in the next room, sees all this through the glass. She collapses on the floor and is taken prisoner.
Jim tried to convince his supervisor, Hemmer, that the people are peaceful and they need to think of a way to get more oxygen for the humans without destroying the Terrans. Hemmer disagrees. He's taken over the government and the home ship. He demands that the terraformer be sent to the planet as soon as possible. It'll take a week for the planet to get converted to breathable oxygen, and as it is the ship only has two months of oxygen left. Hemmer begins to worry where Jim's loyalties lie.
On the other side of a one way mirror Jim sees Mala calling for help. She's in a room full of breathable air for her. Jim's best friend is then thrown in and begins to suffocate. Hemmer explains to him he has two options. He can press the red button and the room will fill with oxygen, saving his friend but killing Mala. Or he can let him die and show where his new allegiance lies.
Unable to kill his friend Jim presses the button. Mala begins to choke on the oxygen. Not wanting Mala to die either, Jim quietly orders Giddy to save her. Giddy breaks the glass and leads Mala to Jim's ship. Once inside they make a break for it back to Terra.
Back home Mala is asked to tell all she knows about the humans' plans. She tried also to get Giddy to explain, but he's unsure if his first allegiance lies with her or with Earth Force. Because Jim has ordered her protection, Giddy finalizes on helping Mala.
The Elders of Terra also reveal that in the ruins where Jim's ship had been held is a secret army base, in case of invasions like this. The Elders had once been at war, but because of the near total destruction the survivors started new lives teaching nothing of hate or war. However the past is now coming in handy.
The flying machines they have at this base are much more sophisticated than the ones ever other Terran uses. They actually stand a chance against Earth Force.
Hemmer launches the attack the the fighter ships on both sides take flight. Things look promising until Hemmer calls for backup.
The terraformer hits Terra's surface and begins producing oxygen. The residents of a nearby village being to suffocate. Seeing all these innocent civilians choking, Jim decides he can't go through with supporting the humans. Knowing he'll get closer than anyone else, human or Terran, to the terraformer before being suspected he becomes a martyr.
Rockets go straight through the machine, killing Hemmer. Mala sadly watches as Jim's ship explodes. The battle is over. But at a great cost on both sides.
The home ship still in space, Mala feels terrible for all the humans that have nothing to do but wait to die. The Elders assure her, there is always an alternative.
Some time later, Mala and her best friend, Senn, are racing through the clouds. They're approaching a large dome. It's a small part of her planet where the humans are able to terraform. The species can intermingle on Terra now with their respirators.
In the middle of the dome a large statue is under construction.
It's Jim, staring our to the stars.

Mushroom tree village. Image from http://www.transmissionfilms.com.au/index.php/battle-for-terra/

This films was alright. It definitely had a lot of feels towards the end.
The animation is meah. Things are pretty limited. Basically it seemed like in order to have to not worry about a lot of things, like leaves or grass or hair, the settings went where they did. The giant mushroom-topped trees the Terrans live in have a couple giant leaves on them, like maybe a dozen. All the Terrans are bald, and on the home ship it's pretty militant in attitude and dress so everyone is bald or close to it. They're also all in simple tight-ish uniforms so all that fabric secondary moment is not needed. Ect. Ect. I guess I'm just getting at it's a lot easier if all your materials have a shiny texture or matte texture to them. And if they're still or unmoving completely like metals. You don't have to deal with fabric folds then.

Modeling and stuff get's more complex towards the end of the film, when the battle sequences are going on. All of a sudden you have all these spaceships and Terran ships and explosions and blood. So it was nice from an animation standpoint for a change.

Jim's death was interesting. He really did become a martyr for these two races, so they'd find another way. A better way. The spaceships are shaped like plus signs for the humans, and the pilot sits in a bubble in the middle. During the final battle a couple of the wings on Jim's ship get clipped. There's a scene of Jim's ship closing in on the terraformer and Hemmer looking at it through the glass. It's like a cross. And then they both die.

For all the Terrans' weird flying things, they could sure use an astrologer. Not only did the rain catch them by surprise but a giant spaceship that definitely didn't just appear there. Pretty sure it was traveling for a long time. Their music sucks too XD The jam sessions that kept getting inturruprted in the beginning didn't seem like they were going well.

Funny part of the movie is when one of the humans says "It's a trap!" in the end battle. I literally paused it at that point and went to watch Admiral Ackbar say it on youtube.

The voice acting in the film is amazing. It's a lot of screen actors, not voice actors, doing the voices so it's extra impressive. Giddy, played by David Cross (Tim and Eric, Year One, Men in Black), and Evan Rachel Wood (Across the Universe, Thirteen, True Blood) did exceptional work. Also in it was Justin Long, who had been in Alpha and Omega, which I recently talked about on here too.

It was an okay one time watch. The storyline wasn't horrible. Definitely one of those go-green movies. However, it came before most of the ones that people complain about. Avatar was 2009, WALL-E was 2008. Yes there were many before that, and there will be many more. I just think it's something worth keeping in mind as you pass judgement.

This movie was better than Planet 51 by a long shot if that helps you make a decision.

There is also no love interest (except between the Terrans and their love for their home planet) which is nice. A movie without that is sometimes hard to come by in North America.

Mala and Giddy escaping the home ship back to Terra. Image from http://www.kpbs.org/news/2009/may/01/battle-terra/


Finally here's some more cool info about the movie. So this feature-length was actually based on a short that was written, directed, and animated by the same director.
Check it out.



In honesty I think I like the short better. Not in terms of quality, but purely story. The American flag with a million stars is genius! Really threatening too.
In terms of technicalities, this short, in my opinion, is great. The score by Matt Messina is awesome. I love how the horns build uneasily. I really do. At first it was abrasive, but it's supposed to be. It's supposed to make you feel uneasy. I'd recommend the short to anyone. If you really love the short then maybe the film is for you.

Speckles the Tarbosaurus

Speckles the Tarbosaurus (2012)
Directed by Han Sang-Ho

Five/five stars! This movie is great! Really great!

Speckles and his family

Speckles, a young Tarbosaurus (very similar species to the t-rex) is the youngest in his family. Only 1 year old, Speckles is dwarfed by his older twin sisters, 10 year old brother, and mother. His mother and siblings usually hunt without him, but one day Speckles decides he's going to join in on the action and no one can stop him. Unfortunately someone else has the same idea. One Eye, a Tyrannosaurus rex, has been watching the Tarbosaurus from a distance for a while, but sees an opportunity to get close in this hunt.

Big brother, Quicks, is about to start chasing their prey, but Speckles rushes out before him. Speckles runs towards some large herbavores, but instead of running away they head straight back towards him! Something has scared the herd back in the direction of Speckles' family!

The stampede threatens to squash tiny Speckles but Quicks runs in just in time to save him, sacrificing himself. Meanwhile his sisters are trapped between the stampede and the edge of a cliff. Mom rushes through the stampede to get to her girls, but is knocked down.

When she gets up it's too late. The twins have fallen over the edge, like so many other dinosaurs in the stampede. Mom cries in sorrow as the stampede comes to and end, and the catalyst reveals itself. One Eye, the one-eyed t-rex is who started the stampede. And now he aims to take down Mom.

Tiny helpless Speckles can only watch horrified at One Eye pushes his mother over the edge too. One Eye roars in victory, now the dominant hunter of the area. Speckles seeks refuge in the forest, away from larger animals, hoping only to somehow survive on his own. Years go by and Speckles runs into One Eye again. Watching from the sidelines, Speckles sees One Eye take down a therizinosaurus, maybe the same kind of animal that took his eye to begin with.

While eating, One Eye is approached by a smaller Tarbosaurus about the same age and size as Speckles. While One Eye is chasing her away, Speckles using the opportunity to steal some of One Eye's lunch. Safely away from One Eye, Speckles eats and is joined by the other Tarbosaurus. Good thing she got away. From then on the female Tarbosaurus, Blue Eyes, and Speckles are inseparable. They grow up together and become a hunting team.

When they're ten the two have another encounter with One Eye. While waiting to ambush their prey, One Eye appears at the sink hole the two hunt at. One Eye knocks Blue Eyes down on her leg then goes in for the kill. Before he has the change to finish her off, Speckles clamps down on his leg.

From the corner of his eye Speckles sees Blue Eyes get up and hobble away. However now Speckles has to figure out a way to lose One Eye. He decides to draw him into the sink hole. It seems to work, and the Tarbosaurs regroup. Unfortunately somehow One Eye has gotten out of the muck. Exhausted, he roars at the Tarbosaurs. He probably would have tried again to finish them off but he's tired from dragging his tons and tons of weight our of the mud. Speckles and Blue Eyes leave.

The two go far away and eventually get a spot of luck. They follow a herd of dinosaurs to a hot spring. The relaxation and warm water heals Blue Eyes.

Ten years later the two are still together. In face they're waiting for their eggs to hatch. In the mean time the two have found a nest.

Speckles (left) and Blue Eyes (right)

One day while eating in their nest overlooking their new home, the rocks from the hill they live on begin to fall. The two look up to see a boulder coming at them! Speckles pushes Blue Eyes out of the way and the boulder forces him over a cliff.

One Eye pushed that boulder down the hill and now he's after Blue Eyes! She give it her best shot, but One Eye takes her down. She falls, on the same side One Eye had pushed her all those years ago. She seems to submit to him. One Eye is possibly trying to steal Blue Eyes from Speckles, not kill her, so he can mate with her, and so be it that he has to use force.

Before he can kill her, or mate with her (whichever he was trying to do), Speckles appears! He had fallen off the cliff and into the pool below. The giants fight, and Speckles wins! One Eye leaves defeated, and the couple has the chance to get Speckle's old nest back.

Their eggs hatch and they have three children. One of them, Jr., looks just like Speckles except for his mother's eyes. Things go well for a while, when a volcano explodes. The family flees. The world is collapsing around them and a rock lands on one of the babies. Blue Eyes and Speckles stop to try to push the boulder off, but Speckles seeing it's useless snatched up his other child. Pushing Jr. out of the way of another rock Blue Eyes is hit, in the same leg! Luckily the remaining four make it to the tail end of a herd, but there doesn't seem to be any rest in sight. The herbivores are on the move to try to find a new, safe forest, and the carnivores have to follow their food.

Unfortunately the leg wound is too much for Blue Eyes. She falls to the ground and raptors begin to attack. Speckles fights them off as long as he can, but for the sake of his children has to leave her body behind.

Weeks pass and eventually the herd sees green. There is one more hurdle to cross before they're at their new home--a long, thin, serpentine land bridge. The herd presses on.

It seems like salvation is near when One Eye strikes again! He drives the herd back, creating another stampede. Speckles is stuck on one side, his children on the other, riding the edge of the ocean! The stampede passes and the three of them are alive. That soon changes when One Eye head butts one of the babies over the edge. Only Speckles and Jr. are left.

In their battle Jr. is flicked over the edge by One Eye's tail. Speckles does the same to One Eye, sending the beast into the ocean. Both have survived though, and One Eye is heading for Jr.! Speckles dives off the cliff, determine not to let One Eye take his son.

They have an epic underwater battle. All the commotion attracts some tylosauruses, giant underwater carnivores that make t-rexes seem small. It seems like One Eye and Speckles will kill each other when a tylosaurus snatches One Eye up. The villian is brought to the depths of the ocean as a snack, and Speckles catches up with his son.

Exhausted and fading fasts Speckles sees that the battle has drawn them far from shore. He swims as hard and far as he can until he blacks out.

When he awakens he's on the beach, his son next to him, just fine. He gets up and the two continue on to their new green paradise.

Young Speckles

This is so much more than I expected! Actually I didn't know what to expect, but this is far better than anything I'd have guessed. The animation is excellent. The sound design is really interesting. The Tarbosaurus are really vocal so you get to listen to their cool voices a lot.

As far as characters that speak, none of them are speaking anything but roars. There is but a single internal narration from Speckles. It's really interesting how there's not a lot of character development but there is at the same time. Speckles grows and has simple motivations, like protecting his family, but some of the ways he does things that get complex or simple in a time of great panic play a lot to how Speckles has grown. For example when he was ten with Blue Eyes he was cunning and somewhat pompous to try to take One Eye down by using the sink hole, but as an adult seeing his kids' trapped on that ledge he tried to rush through a stampede only to get knocked out. Cool stuff.

Great in every way. And you learn too!

So from what I've read Tarbosaurus are very closing related to Tyrannosaurus rex, thus it's not far fetched to think a t-rex that sees a Tarbosaurus might think they can mate. They look really similar too. The Tarbosaurus' head is a lot lighter, and many Tarbosaurus bones are hollow. Bird like, or what? Anyway this is a South Korean film about a pretty much exclusively Asian dinoaur. T-rex are from North America and Tarbosaurus are from Asia.

This film has a horrible rating on IMDB, but no joke it's amazing! I hope Han Sang-Ho gets a chance to do another dinosaur movie!

On a pretty funny note, the credits list the cast members all as just the kinds of dinosaurs that appeared in the film XD

I'm sorry but I can't find Speckles' voice actors. I know IMDB has a few names listed, but I'm not 100% sure I always trust their info. They list Speckles' name are Spotty for goodness sakes, so how do know they're telling the trust about anything else?

Anyway, like many people from my generation, growing up watching Jurassic Park made us want to be paleontologists. Dinosaurs are the coolest! If you like dinosaurs, or if you like dinosaur movies, or if you like awesome scores set to animal battles watch Speckles.

All images in this entry are from the movie's facebook page: www.facebook.com/Tarbosaurus3Dfilm

Azureus Rising

Azureus Rising (????)
Proof of Concept (2010)


Swords, guns, mechs, amazing animation and sound?! This has got the makings of greatness!

Image from http://io9.com/tag/azureus-rising

So it's going on 3 years now since Black Sun teased the world with an amazing 5 minute proof of concept which is hopefully being made into a feature length film and game now.
If you haven't seen it already, check out proof of concept.


Amazing, right?
Anyway, like it on facebook and youtube or contact the team at http://azureusrising.com/ to show your support.

There's a big back story to this project, while the short above basically plays out like an action sequence in a longer movie. In case you want to know, our blue (azure?) protagonist is Eric, known as Azureus once he becomes a freedom fighter. From what I've seen and read, this feels like a possible Dune of a new age. And I love Dune, so this is a good thing. You've got your crazy smart, strong, and resourceful rebel leader breaking into a place overrun by military.

Amazing sound, great pacing. I love how you can hear the protagonist's breathing, and how the shots are quick. Not incredibly long ago you could have a single shot go on for a long time, but now shots are kept relatively quick. There's lots of reasons for this, the one you probably hear the most is because it holds the audience's attention better. Regardless of everything else, these shorter shots do hold attention well, which is a big factor in a proof of concept. I could sing the praises of this project all day. I really hope something becomes of it.

Read http://www.3dworldmag.com/2013/02/05/cool-animation-the-making-of-azureus-rising/ for tons of details.

Image from http://azureusrising.com

Alpha and Omega

Alpha and Omega (2010)
Directed by Anthony Bell and Ben Gluck
From Crest Animation Studios (aka Crest Animation Productions)

Cute little film :) Not the greatest animation quality by any means, but a cute movie nonetheless.

Garth after Lilly teaches him how to howl. Image from http://alphaandomegafilm.wikia.com/wiki/Garth

In Jasper Park, Canada, there are two wolf packs on the verge of war. The Northern wolves' territory has little food left to hunt so to survive they're beginning to break a pact by going into the other pack's territory to look for food. The hunters in either pack are called Alphas and the rest are Omegas. Alphas mate with Alphas, Omegas with Omegas.
Childhood friends Kate and Humphrey live in separate castes but Humphrey desparately wants to be with Kate.
Kate unfortunately is promised to the son of the pack leader of the Northern wolves. She and he are supposed to marry, merging the two packs thus avoiding the encroaching war.
On the night Kate is to be introduced to her fiance, Garth, she is repulsed by his howl. The wolves are supposed to howl together, creating a wonderful sound that binds them and will hopefully lead to love and mating. Kate excuses herself to get some water while Garth practices his vocals.
At the watering hole Kate bumps into Humphrey, but while they're together they both get shot with tranq darts and whisked away. When they are released they're in Idaho, brought there by humans in order to populate what's most likely a reserve.
After speaking with a French-Canadian goose and English duck (I think), they find out they can get back to Jasper by hiding in a trailer of some humans that visit there every year. The two sneak in and things go well for a while. Eventually at a pit stop Humphrey leaves the trailer to go to the bathroom but gets distracted by some sweets near the trash.
In the meantime the trailer starts to leave and Humphrey is spotted by some humans. Kate leaves the trailer and jumps the human before he can shoot Humphrey and the two escape into the forest. The goose and duck meet back up with the two and tell them there is another way. There is a train just over a mountain that will take them home. The wolves begin a new journey.
Meanwhile at home the Northern wolves' pack leader gives Kate until the full howling moon to return. If she's not back by then there will be war. In the meantime Kate's little sister, and Omega named Lilly, offers to show Garth around. In doing so Garth and her fall in love.
After a close encounter with some bears on the mountain Kate and Humphrey make it on the train, and arrive back in Jasper just as the battle is beginning. The two sides stop and begin marriage preparations.
The next day Lilly is sad, Kate is nervous, and Humphrey decides to leave Jasper since he can't be with the one he loves. Kate and Garth nearly finish their ceremony when Kate calls it off, saying she can't because she's in love with an Omega. The pack leaders are disgusted, but then Garth proclaims the same thing. Lilly is filled with joy and rushes to Garth.
The Northern wolves' pack leader won't have this though, and directs his pack to take the valley. Fighting commences, stirring a heard or carribou just down the valley into a stampede. The wolves stop fighting in order to seek cover from the beasts. The pack leaders find themselves trapped and Kate needs to save them. Humphrey appears, feeling that he can't leave, and the two toboggan down into the valley on a tree to save the leaders. With the log in the valley they can hide behind it, but before Kate reaches it she's knocked out the hoof of a caribou. Humphrey rushes to her body until the stampede is over. She doesn't get up and Humphrey proclaims his love. All the wolves howl in mourning.
After a little bit Kate's body stirs. The pack leaders decide that maybe these cross-caste loves can work.
That night the wolves howl at the moon.

Humphrey and Kate and flying high fro the tranq darts. http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/alpha-and-omega-film/images/12980483/title/omega-photo

I had been a bit opposed to watching it, mostly because when it was released in theatres in the US I heard nothing about it. It wasn't until the DVD release in January 2011 that I knew of it's existence. It's lack of marketing exposure basically turned me off. If there wasn't the time or money put into advertising the film, how great could this film actually be? Yes, there are lots of films without publicity, but if a children's film with a theatrical release isn't publicized it's almost certainly going to flop. It's one thing if its a horror movie straight to DVD, but a kids' movie needs to be known to make money, or needs to be an incredibly low budget mess like Chop Kick Panda (a limited animation short straight-to-DVD movie) because if no money is put into something there's nothing to lose and tons to possibly gain. It did well financially overall, but I can't say I know anyone else amongst my friends and family and even acquaintances that has seen this film.

Anyway, so I did end up watching Alpha and Omega after reading a few positive reviews. I was sick and cycling through my staple animated movies that I watch on lethargic days, so why not. Again, cute it was. The animation and environments seemed a bit barren, similar to Open Season 2 or Hoodwinked. At one point near the beginning of the film we see two random wolves howling together with just a blank sky and moon behind me. There wasn't a lot of depth in that seen. I mean visual depth. It was like a blue backdrop with a moon. There wasn't a million distant stars, or the tops of trees barely visible in the scene to show some dimension. Eventually the camera pulls out so we can see some environment, but that scene bothered by visually.

The hair is also pretty mediocre. Not the body fur, but the "hair" fur on the heads. It's clumpy and always seems to be bouncing. It may have been a budget choice to go with this kind of hair, but The Incredibles was 2004 so I know there's better animated hair more in tune with physics.

Kate going out to meet Garth and howl. Image from http://cartoonswalls.com/alpha_and_omega_cartoon_desktop_wallpaper-wallpapers.html

From an young animator's perspective I really enjoyed the credits. Movies these days usually have b-roll or little animations in the credits. This film shows it's animation process, from rough sketched to 3D models. Pretty cool to see that without having to buy an art book.

I could have tolerated the film being longer than its 88 minute run time too, just to see more wolves-falling-in-love adventures between Kate and Humphrey to reinforce why Kate ends up falling for the already in love Humphrey. Maybe just one or two little adventures or some witty banter. This film has a lot of adult moments in the dialogue and sometimes in the actions, so some more relationship dialogue doesn't seem too bad. Guess I'll have to check out the deleted scenes.

The character design making the wolves look distinct enough not to get them confused. In movies about animals without clothes studios run the risk of kids not being able to distinguish between main characters.

Just to throw this in here, it's interesting to have some new players on the animated children's movie field. I mentioned Escape from Planet Earth from Rainmaker in a previous entry, and now this film from Crest. There's more and more studios having theatrical or full length movies popping up. They don't seem threatening to the animation powerhouses... yet. Will be interesting to see who comes into play this summer.

If there is a sequel I'm likely to watch it.




BTW in case you find this interesting, this is currently the last released film Dennis Hopper stared in before his death in 2010. There is another film called The Last Film Festival but no release date has been given yet. I think the film is struggling financially at the moment. If filming was completed before Hopper's death, I don't know.

Theme Songs

I came across this show called Clone High recently and fell in love with the opening theme! So good!

I'll only partially brag about this awesome show being Canadian because I am as well. This awesome show is Canadian!

Ehem... Anyway, the great theme got me thinking about theme songs I enjoy.

Clone High (2002-2003)

Directed by Ted Collyer, Harold Harris, Phil Lord, and Chris Miller

Editing by Christopher Gould

Cartoon lovers, you may notice a similarity between Clone High and Total Drama. What's the connecting thread? Looks to be Todd Kauffman and Blayne Burnside. On blog John K Stuff after a post with a lot of replies on character design, Kauffman popped in to apologize for what the consensus of this entry through was horrible, ugly design. Here's his entry:

Anyway, I really like Clone High's theme. Tommy Walter is credited as the composer for the theme, which was performed by his group Abandoned Pools (which you can see in the final episode).

Ever heard of Baki the Grappler? The English version has a most enjoyable theme (in my opinion). Theme song is Child Prey by Dir En Grey.

Baki the Grappler (2001)

Directed by Hitoshi Nanba

Check it:

I enjoyed the show too. Pointless as it was. Sometimes you just watch something pointless though, you know? Sometimes pointless is good.

And do you remember the X-Men theme? I like it. 

X-Men (1992-1997)

Created by Stan Lee (surprised?)

Directed by Larry Houston, Fred Miller and Richard Bowman
Theme composed by Ron Wasserman

Homeland Pride

Anybody see previews, the movie, or commercials for Escape from Planet Earth?
Here's another question, do you remember the show Reboot?
(Image from http://reboot.wikia.com/wiki/Binome)

Okay last one: what do Escape from Planet Earth and Reboot have in common?
They're both made by the same animation studio. What's different is Escape is their first feature length film! Congrats, Rainmaker Entertainment. Good milestone.
This Canadian-based animation studio has made a lot of stuff. If you've got a little sister then you may have seen one of their Barbie films.
Anyway, can't say the film based on the trailer looks that incredible, but I hope to be proven wrong. The current rating for the film is just over 5 stars on IMDB, around average for CG kid films.
Go Canada!

 Image from http://www.apnatimepass.com/escape-from-planet-earth-movie-picture-26.php

Escape from Planet Earth (2013)
Directed by Cal Brunker
Cal is newer face on the film director scene, this being his 2nd time directing a feature-length film. His film work dates back only to 2003. He's been a writer, storyboard artist, and more. Perhaps this will be the beginning of him sticking with the directing role. But only time will tell. Go, Cal, go!

The Gloaming

The Gloaming (2011)
Directed by Nobrai
Written by Niko Nobrain


A pretty crazy short film
in a good way

Image from http://www.cgmeetup.net/home/the-gloaming-animated-short-film-by-sabotage-studio/

Watch it here http://www.nobrain.fr/the-gloaming-online

It's a lot to put in under 15 minutes--religion, war, politics, and more. This short film has everything from sex to explosion to bulbous hydra human beasts. If that's not enough to draw you on, it's also a mix of many different animation styles.
The Gloaming is 3D, 2D, stop motion, rotoscoping, and probably more that I'm not smart enough to spot. Anyway, just the mix alone is cool, let alone the topic of the film.

So we're in a desert when we meet our protagonist, a sleeping man turned deity. The man awakens, then walks along dunes to find a semi liquid blob on the ground. Upon picking it up it reacts, comes to life, and forms a planet complete with humans.
The man watches his planet progress, and indeed time passes insanely fast on this planet. We go from early man to future enslaved humankind in minutes.
From the beginning of civilization on the planet the man observes how quickly humans take to jealously, greed, and violence, as the first early man covets another's partner so much he kills him just to get her.
Giving up on that part of the world the man spins the planet to find tribes at war. At first when they notice him their war stops to worship, but soon enough they've moved on to destroying each other. The globe spins again and the man observes a civilization more or less something along the lines of the US right now. Families are slaves to processed meat and TV. And on the TV is news about violence.
The man finally comes to a futuristic civilization run by a multi-headed combination of the previous civilization's antagonists. They're harvesting humans for some sort of profit when the man steps in. He crushes one of the mind control satellites only to have another immediately dispatched. The next logical thing is to stop the satellites at the source, so he crushes their dispatch location. This upsets the globular ruler and the man finds himself under attack. He swats at the planet but his arm is stuck. Not only that but the planet begins to consume him! Soon the planet has reverted back to the beige-y blob it started as and it engulfs the man. He's liquified and absorbed, and the blog falls back onto the cracked dry ground it started on. The sun sets.


This film is interesting for a bunch of reasons. Beside the story of the film, the story of Nobrain is interesting too. So you got three homies who worked together in France. They joined forces and created Sabotage Studio. Then they relinquished it in order to take on roles that would allow them more control, from story to style. They became Nobrain, three individual artists acting as one director. Interesting, I'd say.
Also noteworthy is this is a film that transcends language. There's not really any litteral direct conversations between characters. There's grunts and screen and such, and that's all you need in order to understand everything they're saying. Not every wordless film achieves this so successfully.
Favourite scene in my book for this film is pretty much the ending. The man is covered in the sludge and his muffled yell competes against the screeches and screams of the planet and it's dying inhabitants. The rotoscoped look is really fun and intense, and the camera angle is perfect for the action.
Sound team, you're great. Foley is great, music is great. Yup yup.

The Flash

The Flash (1990-1991)
Directed by Mario Azzopardi, Bruce Bilson, Danny Bilson, and Gus Trikonis


So I'm on a DC kick, in case it's been hard to tell, so I've started watching the Flash show from the early 90s. I didn't even know this show existed until recently either! I was doing research about what other DC moving pictures there are besides the movies listed on DC's website and heard about this show.
If you like Batman: The Animated Series then in my opinion there's a good chance you'll enjoy this show. If 90s Batman was live action it would look a lot like The Flash. It's got that near perpetual nighttime like Batman, and that crazy lighting that looks awesome and dramatic when animated but a little cheap in real life...
Time period of the show seems very confused, mixing a lot of art deco, vehicles with 40s/50s aesthetics, and cell phones, sort of similarly to Batman!
Speaking of even more Batman similarities, the music for The Flash done by the same person as the 1992 cartoon, Shirley Walker. You can so clearly hear it in their opening themes:

Writing for The Flash needs a little work too. There's a lot of 'awkward situations', but their repetitiveness makes them trite only a few episodes in. For example, in one episode we see Barry Allen (The Flash) offering an old school acquaintance, now homeless, a job to help him out. The man turns Barry down, Barry pursues, leading to the guy eventually giving in without real closure to the scene. Besides that the scene went on too long and made Barry feel awkward for bringing bags of groceries and a job opportunity down to the sort of Hooverville. In another episode an old professor is in town because a priceless mask is going to be on display in Central City's museum but there are 6 suspects out to steal it. Barry (who is a police officer) tells his professor, Ted, after the briefing that he's asked for special permission to be posted at the museum. The old man tells him unkindly that it's not necessary. Then Barry jokingly says "Yeah, besides it's been years since I've been to the museum." Again, an unkind reply comes from Ted. "Why's that?" he asks flatly. There's little bits of awkward silence between lines too. It feels just a little too much like Barry's continuously thinking "Geez, everyone! I'm just trying to help", kind of like in New Frontier Barry made an impromptu appearance on the news as the Flash after the government tried to catch him to study him and he was all like 'I've only ever tried to help you guys! Why they try to catch me to dissect me >:O ?! Respect, people, respect!'
Just so many of those 'I was only trying to help' moments...

Barry talking to Ted

Anyway so the pilot/2 hourish premier was fun, and darker than most people probably think The Flash's story is. I'd even venture to say the pilot could have been a movie.

The Flash is also a character whose mystery gets explained. What I mean is, you clearly see how The Flash got his powers, the side effects, the emotional toll, ect. Lots of super characters are just shrouded in mysteries that are never brought to light, but not The Flash.
For example, how does Edward get Bella pregnant if vampires aren't supposed to have flowing blood? He couldn't have a boner without flowing blood... right? So thank you The Flash for addressing factors so you aren't horrible. DC seems to have a good track record of explaining those kinds of things.

I'm only several episodes in, but like I said, the series is fun thus far.
If you're a person who can enjoy a show in spite of phenomenal acting, believable sets, and substantial content, then give The Flash a try. Similarly to how people can enjoy B movies in spite of uncountable shortcomings, this is a show that at least has a high entertainment value for me.

 There's that classic sci-fi/action warm/cool lighting.

Batman: Gotham Knight

Batman: Gotham Knight (2008)
Directed by Yasuhiro Aoki, Yuichiro Hayashi, Futoshi Higashide, Toshiyuki Kubooka, Hiroshi Morioka, Jong-Sik Nam, and Shouijrou Nishimi

Didn't know what to expect going into this. Didn't read anything about it or even what's on case. Just went right to action watching the movie and my mind, it was blown.
Just as a side note too the estimated budget according to IMDB for this was $3,500,000 which is the same estimated amount for Emerald Knights, New Frontier, Year One, and Wonder Woman. Guess DC gives the same allowance for everything?

So the first short in Gotham Knight totally caught me by surprise. I was all like 'Waaaa?! Tekkonkinkreet! Wooah!'
All unique interpretations of what and who Batman and Bruce Wayne are, but that one in particular, largely due to the whimsical tales the art style can lend itself to (Tekkonkinkreet is an animated movie that came out a few years before Gotham Knight). Both Tekkonkinkreet and Gotham Knight's Have I got a Story for You share the same editor (Mitsumi Takemiya) and the same art director (Shinji Kimura) which explains the shares awesomeness.
Have I got a Story for You basically follows a group of kids as they talk about their encounters with Batman. They each have different ideas of what it is they saw. The story finally culminates in Batman bursting into their hangout to stop a villain with the aid of one of the kids.

 

(gif from http://chromatichouse.tumblr.com/search/batman#13262440287)

Crossfire is a story about two members of the Major Crimes Unit, one with faith in her work and Batman, and the other against Batman, feeling like all the MCU does is cleanup and babysit. Through chance they find their car parked between a bullet-riddled confrontation. Batman shows up to save the two officers and perhaps change the second one's opinion about a few things...
Interesting thing to note is Batman is HUGE in this story. He looks like 6' 4" or so (or everyone else is just tiny). Yes, Batman is 6' 2" which is on the taller side, but really, he looks HUGE in this one.

(image from http://www.grayflannelsuit.net/blog/gfs-home-movies-batman-gotham-knight)

The next short, Field Test, is probably the one I'm least fond of. Not that I hate anime at all, but super anime style Bruce Wayne was a bit strange. He's a pretty boy in the midst of more Western-design-style characters. His cowl I also wasn't very fond off. Once you see it, it seems like it would be more difficult than his normal cowl

 The cowl that would inhibit sight more than usual that I was talking about ^ (image from http://porkcutlets.wordpress.com/2008/07/14/gotham-knight-the-batmanime/)

Anyway, so Mr. Fox has developed a "highly sensitive shock wave sensor" that will activate the gyroscopic electromagnetic pulses deterring small arms bullets. Batman takes it for a spin and find it works too well, when a bullet bounces off the field and hits an enemy. Batman rushes the criminal to the hospital and discontinues the use of the shield.

 As cat-detective on tumblr put it "I don't think I'm okay with bishounen Bruce Wayne. I just can't deal with Kevin Conroy's voice coming out of this face...." (image from http://letterboxd.com/variousthings/film/batman-gotham-knight/)

In Darkness Dwells, Batman follows Killer Croc under Gotham and gets bitten. Scarecrow's fear toxin flowing through Killer Croc then enters Batman and he must continue his journey under the toxin's effects. Further into the underground maze Batman finds Scarecrow preparing to sacrifice Cardinal O'Fallon in the company of other Arkham escapees. Batman saves the holy man and leaves him in Gordan's care.
Batman runs off a ledge and glides into the night for the end. I really like the idea of animating something in slow motion. It's not like filming something at 200 fps then slowing it down; the animators had to really think about it. Speaking of animating, this short was directed by Yasuhiro Aoki, who was an animator for Steamboy, one of the Sailor Moon movies, and the original Neon Genesis Evangelion animated series.

Love Scarecrow's design here. (image from http://www.batmanytb.com/animated/gothamknight/bios/scarecrow.php)

Working Through Pain is awesome! I really dig the character design of Bruce in this one.
So Bruce is underground in Gotham again, and gets shot. While trying to get to a meetup point with Alfred we see flashbacks of Bruce learning how to deal with pain from a woman named Cassandra. She's confronted by a gang of angry young men who says she's betrayed her culture by teaching these secrets to an outsiders and then attack her. Just like the teachings, she withstand the pain, but Bruce steps in and defends her. After the attackers stop Cassandra tells Bruce to leave as he's learned what he came there for. Back in the gutter Bruce finds loads of guns. Upon Alfred's arrival he extends his hand to Batman (arms full of guns) to take it only for Bruce to reply "I... I can't..."

 This was another animated slow mo moment. Prettay awesome. (image from http://otakurevolution.com/content/batman-gotham-knight-a-delicious-appetizer)

Deadshot, the last short, follows hitman Deadshot as he tried to take down Batman. To lour him out he attempts a hit on Commissioner Gordan. Of course Barman foils the shot Deadshot was taking from a moving train. Deadshot then attempts to to take out Batman from a closer range. As soon as Batman takes down Deadshot he turns from a pompous villain into a coward who sells out his client in an instant. Batman leaves Deadshot unconscious outside one of the train cars, then goes home to Alfred and sits in front of the fire.

(image from http://www.hobotrashcan.com/reviews/batmangothamknight.php)

Superman/Batman: Apocalypse

Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (2010)
Directed by Lauren Montgomery

Great great great!
Plus great to finally watch the movie where the Handsome Face meme comes from.

So the Kryptonite meteor Batman destroyed in Public Enemies was carrying something more than Kryptonite. Encased inside was Kara, cousin of Kal-El (Superman). When her parents had heard that Kal's were sending him off in a ship, they did the same.
Kara's ship falls to Earth, landing in Gotham. In her disorientation she wrecks Batman's ship he's taken to investigate the crash site, and Batman begins to pursue her, eventually ending their chase by knocking her out with a piece of Kryptonite.
When she awakens she freaks out, trashes some of Batman's equipments and begins to fly away uncontrollably.
Superman grabs her before she gets away and calms her down in their native language.
Thrilled at what she says, he tells Bruce she says she's his cousin (and thus Handsome Face was born). Bruce, however, is wary of this random girl from the sky who can't control her power or remember much.

Batman no approve!
This shot totz looks like Superman and Kara are having a moment and Batman is a third wheel. (image from http://hagiblog.wordpress.com/2010/12/28/supermanbatman-apocalypse-2010-film-reel-reviews/)

After a short period of time in the Fortress of Solitude Kara explains she wants to go out and see the world, live like an Earth girl. Kal-El thinks shopping in Metropolis is a good way to start. However their day ends in misery as Wonder Woman launches a sneak attack on Kara in a park and she panics, going crazy with her powers and destroying a statue of Superman. Furious Superman tells Wonder Woman to back off. She retorts that if this had happened in the daytime when the park was filled with people it would have been a disaster. Wonder Woman has decided to take Kara back to train with the Amazons.
After a few months with the women, Superman wants to take her back. All the arguing amongst the 'grown-ups' causes Kara to put her foot down, saying she wants to make her own decisions, then flying off with best friend Lyla.

Batman and Superman are talking smack about Wonder Woman behind her back lol! (image from http://www.popscreen.com/v/6GyeU/Superman-Batman-Apocalypse-Movie-Animated-Trailer-HD)

When the two are alone they are ambushed by evil Darkseid's henchmen. Lyla is killed and Kara is kidnapped to be brainwashed and used by Darkseid.
To get to Apokolips where Darkseid resides Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman enlist the aid of Barda who had previously defected from Darkseid's army.
Once on Apokilips, the team gets right to work trying to rescue Kara who is under Darkseid's mental control. In order to release her Batman sets a storeroom full explosive to detonate shortly and will only disarm them is Kara is freed. Impressed by Batman's courage to bet the destruction of the whole planet against Darkseid, Darkseid releases Kara and the group returns to Earth.
Back on Earth Kara tells Kal-El that she doesn't want to be a hero. He decides Smallville will be a good and safe place for Kara to live her desired life as an Earth girl. Too bad Darkseid has other plans. Waiting for them at the Kent's farm, he strikes while Clark isn't looking and knocks him into space. Looks like Kara will have to use that Amazonian training.
Even though under his rule Kara could be one of the universe's most powerful beings, she explains that she doesn't want that because she wants to have a say in her own life. She kicks his butt for a while but eventually gets beat down.
Meanwhile in space, Superman absorbs some sunlight then goes back to work, trying to trash Darkseid as well.
After a short period of unconsciousness Kara waked up, and uses a mother box to create a boom tube that Superman pushes Darkseid through (a trick she learned from Darkseid himself). He ends up floating frozen in space.
After the fight, the Kent's pull up their driveway to find their farm and house trashed, and their son and some new girl staring at them.
The fight has changed Kara's mind and she knows what she must do with her powers.
Superman re-introduces Kara to the Amazons as Supergirl. The cousins fly off happily. Yay!

Very good stuff. Batman's design is also great; the way he stand covered with his cape when watching the Amazons train or at Barda's house just looks so cool! His cape is very long in this movie.

Diana is also extra hot in this movie. The animation really shows care when Diana starts the practice exercise between Artemis and Kara and when Diana steps backwards her hips sway.

The scene with the care to animate the swaying hips on the left. (image from http://fortresstakes.wordpress.com/2010/11/10/supermanbatman-apocalypse-2010/)

Also interesting to note is Summer Glau is Supergirl's voice for this movie. You may know her from a little movie called Serenity! Kevin Conroy, voice of Bruce Wayne from the 90's Batman show is Batman's voice here too. Director Lauren Montgomery is also the director of Green Lantern: First Flight, Wonder Woman, Superman/Doomsday, and Justice League: Doom just to name a few. Basically her track record as director is amazing to me (though she did direct a Scooby Doo show and I hate Scooby Doo... However her other work is so impressive that maybe this show is actually good).

Nightwing thoughts

Did you guys know that there were thoughts, talk, and even a bit of pre-pro work done for a Nightwing cartoon? Ki Hyun Ryu, who has worked on animations like The Legend of Korra, The Boondocks, and Batman: Year One, had been working on character designs. Check it:

So that was Ki Hyun Ryu's Nightwing. Here's Phil Bourassa's (lead character designer from the animated Young Justice show):

Here's The Batman's Nightwing in his two outfits (character designs for this show done by Jeff Matsuda, Jon Suzuki, Andy Chiang, Thomas Perkins, and Dave Cupczyk):

Here's the animated Teen Titan's Nightwing (character design for this show done by Job Suzuki, Glen Murakami, Derrick Wyatt, and Brianne Drouhard):

Here's Nightwing from Batman: The Brave and the Bold (character designers for this show are Lynell Forestall, James Tucker, Michael Manley, Steve Jones, and Tommy Tejeda):

Of course, then there's Nightwing from the amazing Batman: The Animated Series (character designers for this series are Bruce Timm (hopefully if you've been watching a lot of superhero media you know this name), Glen Murakami, Michael Diederish, Dan Riba, Chen-Yi Chang, Dexter Smith, Craig Kellman, Kevin Nowlan, Ronaldo Del Carmen, Michael Goguen, Paul Rudish, Mike Kim, Lynne Naylor, Debra Pugh, and Mike Mignola (crazy, huh!)):

The list of character designs for Nightwings over the years goes on and on. These are but a few. I can say I would have been really pumped for  Nightwing show, but perhaps it'll get made one day.
Now I'd like to take some time to acknowledge Dick Grayson's awesomeness.
So Dick Grayson is my favorite superhero.
I hadn't had a favorite superhero up until maybe almost a month ago (cause I don't count Ghost Rider as a hero. He's more avenger than hero honestly...).
And I say Dick Grayson instead of Nightwing cause even in his non-hero persona, he's still a hero.
He's a good person with pretty much unwavering morals, he's incredibly reliable and dedicated, he's a great role model/brother/father figure. He's pretty much the epitome of what a hero should be.
Batman molded him into a better Batman than he is. He's more than just a sidekick and protégé.
HE'S DA BEST!
Hal Jordan, Bruce, Clark, Diana, and others are great as well. I just pick Dick (lol! imagine that one a shirt!). A superhero with no 'superpowers'. Let this be a lesson to you, if you do good and the best you can, then you too can be super.

Green Lantern: First Flight

Green Lantern: First Flight (2009)
Directed by Lauren Montgomery

This movie is awesome! Animation quality is good, even great at moments (like the transformation).
So Hal Jordan inherits Abin Sur's ring, but when the Guardians find out Abin Sur's legacy has been handed down to a human they are displeased. Sinestro, a respected and feared Lantern suggests they give Hal Jordan a chance by letting the two work together for a bit. The Guardians agree.
After a short while of working together Hal Jordan sees that Sinestros methods for getting his man are all but humane. Sinestro even frames Hal Jordan for the death of the Corps' main suspect in the creation of a weapon as strong as the Green Lantern's battery. Sinestro has actually killed the suspect himself and is planning on finding and using the weapon. However because the Guardians believe Hal Jordan is responsible, they take from him the ring.
Big mistake, because Sinestro finds the weapon, essentially the same as the Green Lantern's battery but yellow. He swaps his green ring for a yellow one, then attacks the Corps.
Luckily Hal Jordan hadn't yet gotten sent back to Earth, because he find his ring and goes into the giant Lantern that houses the green battery. It seems that its dead from the attach from the yellow battery and it rains Green Lantern rings from the sky. All the Lanterns in space dies when the 'power went out'.
However, scratching the surface of the green battery reveals that under the dead outer coating, it's still alive inside. Hal Jordan holds his ring up to the battery while inside the giant lantern and becomes temporarily more super-powered that ever before.
With this new strength he takes out Sinestro and becomes the newest Green Lantern.

So when Hal Jordan transformed:

I did not make this youtube video, but it pretty much embodies how I felt about that sequence.
For the record though, this transformation sequence is totz boss. Love it.
Also, another nice touch to this movie was the choice to make Sinestro's teeth light yellow. Those little considerations add up to make a great animation.

All-Star Superman

All-Star Superman (2011)
Directed by Sam Liu 

Superman is awesome. He's an incorruptible force of good. I bet him, Jesus, Buddha, and Obi-Wan would be bffs given the chance.

So we open with Superman doing his regular super thing, saving people: he's flying practically into the sun to rescue the first manned flight to the sun because one of the scientists on board has gone nuts from being controlled by Lex Luthor back on Earth.
Of course Superman saves Dr. Quitum and the other crew that Luthor hadn't yet killed with his puppet. However, Luthor being the actually intelligent villian that he is, has just done this as part of a long term plan to kill Superman.
Being so close to the sun has basically over-charged Superman and his cells are exploding. He's dying (I don't believe the movie ever actually says how much time passes, but from what I understand it's supposed to be about a year between the Sun rescue and the end).
So there's a bunch of awesome little adventures that Superman has for his last year, the most memorable probably being a super day with Super Lois. As a gift to Lois, Superman created a serum that will give the consumer all of Superman's powers minus vulnerabilities for 24 hours (he also makes her a cute super outfit too). They have an awesome day, though I don't think Lois really needed to be so flirtatious with the time travelers than pop in to try to win her away from Superman.
Anyway, in prison Luthor is sent to the chair. For his last wish he asks for a special cocktail. They then flip the switch and fry him.
Or so they thought. Dun dun duuuhhhh!!!
The cocktail Lex had was the same as Lois had previously received. He breaks out of prison to have one final battle with Superman. Before the two fight, Lex has asked 'friend' Solaris, a giant sun eater of sorts to mess with the Sun, sending out red solar energy, so Superman goes to take care of that first.
Superman comes back to Earth for the next fight. Superman shoots Lex with a gravity gun, ending Luthor's 24 hour super day early. However his time with those powers leaves him enlightened and wanting to save the world. Unfortunately he has to got back to prison for his crimes, PLUS before Solaris was defeated, he foiled with the Sun, putting it in a dying state as well.
Unlike Superman though, the sun is 'under-charged' while Superman is 'over-charged'. For his last deed he kisses Lois, professes his eternal love for her, then flies into the Sun, just in time for him to more or less explode, giving the Sun back the power it needs to continue to support life on Earth.
Time passes and we see Lois in a park. She's approached, 'He's not coming back.'
She replies something to the effect of 'No, he's just fixing the Sun. He'll be back when he's done.'
In prison Lex passes notes to a visiting Dr. Quintum. They're for creating baby supermen. 'They always wanted children.'
Back in the Sun, Superman has become a 'solar being' and is working on... Sun stuff I guess.      
Thank you, Superman.

Yes, I cried.  

So, have you seen Handsome Face, you know, the meme(Superman/Batman: Apocalypse from 2010)? Well All-Star Superman's Superman is very reminiscent of Handsom Face Superman. I would attribute the similarities to the fact that Sam Lie directed All-Star Superman and was a character designer for Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (a lot of the crew worked on both animations, but I think that one is key).

I did not read the comics this is based on, and trying to fit 12 issues into 1 movie can be tricky. In other words, the pacing was kind of weird in the movie, where as if I had read the comics beforehand I wouldn't have been so confused at some parts. Mainly Lois' paranoia seems to come out of no where and I found myself speaking out loud when she shot Superman, "HGBEOIJGPOTBHNBLVMF FIOCJ0UHBD0 Y???!!!!!"

The other part where things were awkward was when Superman fell back to Earth when just before that he was saying 'I've found a suitable planet for this tiny city and its inhabitants that I've been keeping in my layer thus far. I'm going to go drop them off, however it'll take so long to get to this place that I may not be able to make it back to Earth to see you ever again, Lois. You know, since I'm dying and all." I just found that to not fit well because there wasn't really anything between Superman saying goodbye to him returning to indicate time had passed. When he crash landed I thought at first he had crashed on the planet where he was dropping off dat tiny city.

 dem lipz son (image from http://irfree.net/threads/391363-All-Star-Superman-%282011%29-%E2%80%93-1080p-%E2%80%93-500MB)