Movies

Nerd Alert! Peanuts Movie trailer; DC (finally) outs Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy

by John Lucas on June 18th, 2015 at 11:25 AM
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      Welcome to Nerd Alert!, your weekly round-up of news from the world of science fiction, fantasy, comic books, animation, and all things nerdy.

      CHARLIE BROWN AND CO. get the full CGI treatment in the upcoming feature The Peanuts Movie. And while this might trouble some of us who grew up on Peanuts TV specials (particularly those directed by Bill Melendez), the new trailer ought to appease those nostalgic souls. The film, animated by Fox's Blue Sky Studios and helmed by Steve Martino (director of Horton Hears a Who! and Ice Age: Continental Drift) seems to get the look of the characters and the feel of the world just right.

      The music is a puzzler, however. What The Who's "Baba O'Riley" has to do with the Peanuts gang is anyone's guess. A better song selection might have been "Won't Get Fooled Again", which is Charlie Brown's mindset whenever Lucy offers to hold the football for him so he can practice his placekicking. She fools him every time, of course, because, as Rainier Wolfcastle would say:

      The Peanuts Movie opens in November.

      WHILE WE'RE ON THE subject of cartoons, those who create them should note that SPARK ANIMATION 2015 has extended its deadline for submissions to September 22. SPARK, a festival, conference, and job fair, takes place in Vancouver October 21 to 25. The fest is looking for everything from animated feature films and music videos to game cinematics in traditional, computer, and stop-motion animation styles. Lots more info can be found here.

      EVERYONE KNOWS HARLEY QUINN and the Joker are a couple, right? Sometimes. When he isn't trying to kill her. Turns out they're not exclusive. As part of a Twitter chat last Friday with Harley Quinn series creators Amanda Connor and Jimmy Palmiotti, DC's official Twitter account confirmed that the character is romantically involved with fellow Batman adversary Poison Ivy.

      Not exactly a major shocker, since fans have noted an implicit romance between the two characters for years. This video by YouTuber Magpie08AA5 combines clips of the pair from Batman: The Animated Series with Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl". (Don't get too excited; no girls actually get kissed in the video.)

      Harley Quinn will be portrayed by Margot Robbie in the upcoming Suicide Squad movie, which also features Jared Leto as the Joker. Poison Ivy will not appear in that film, but I suspect Axel Braun will figure out some way to work her into the inevitable Suicide Squad XXX. 

      THE NEXT EDITION OF Vancouver Comic Con takes place at its usual home of Heritage Hall on July 5. Special guests include Cary Nord (Conan, X-O Manowar, Eternal Warrior), Douglas Wheatley (Star Wars Dark Times, King Tiger), James Stevenson (WriteLightning), Alexis Sugden, and Beth Wagner. Visit the website for more details.

      Comments

      1 Comments

      Patrick Edward Longworth

      Jun 18, 2015 at 12:25pm

      I'm feeling optimistic about the Peanuts' film even if I think they make a mistake by including any songs by The Who. A better song might be "American Woman" by The Guess Who or maybe a song by Jewel or a song by Rik Emmett. The Who are highly over-rated and over-played.

      As for DC's film: blah. I could not care at all about anything that DC dredges up from the depths of their creative septic tank.