The Ballad of Nessie

[Semaj]

CONFIRMED: ‘Ballad of Nessie’ Attached to ‘Winnie the Pooh’
http://www.stitchkingdom.com/disney-news/movies/15109/

Walt Disney Studios has confirmed what we first speculated back in October 2010, that the Walt Disney Animation Studios short, The Ballad of Nessie will be the lead-in to Winnie the Pooh when it opens in theaters on July 15, 2011.

Narrated by Scottish comedian Billy Connolly and directed by the Emmy® Award-winning team of Stevie Wermers-Skelton and Kevin Deters (‘Prep & Landing,’ ‘Operation Secret Santa’ and the 2007 Goofy short, How to Hook Up Your Home Theater), The Ballad of Nessie is animated in classic Disney hand-drawn style. Written by Wermers-Skelton, Deters, and Regina Conroy, the film is produced by Dorothy McKim and Tamara Boutcher, and features a musical score by Oscar®-winning composer Michael Giacchino (Ratatouille, Up). Animation on ‘Nessie’ was supervised by five of Disney’s top talents: Andreas Deja, Mark Henn, Randy Haycock, Dale Baer and Ruben A. Aquino.

Set in the ‘bonny blue highlands’ of Scotland, The Ballad of Nessie is a whimsical and colorful tall tale about the friendly Loch Ness monster, Nessie, and how she (and her best friend, the rubber duck MacQuack) came to live in the moor they now call home. Setting the adventure into motion is a greedy land developer named MacFroogle, who decides to build a mini-golf empire on top of Nessie’s home.

The short will make its world premiere tomorrow evening at the Anima Film Festival in Belgium. A book adaptation (written by Kieran Lachlan and illustrated by Andy Harkness) will be released on May 3, 2011 and is currently available for pre-order on Amazon.com.

I really fucking hope so. Sick n' tired of their screwing around.

[SWillie!]

YES. Thank God. I can't wait to see this!!!

[TheValentineBros]

YES! YES! I gotta see this too!

[Sotiris]

More images are now available at the WDAS website.

[SWillie!]

Woah! That's not really how I was picturing it at all, but I love it regardless!

[Elladorine]

Gorgeous!

[Sotiris]

Nessie looks very cute! I'm not that fond of the character design of the villain though.

[PatrickvD]

The artwork is pretty gorgeous. I love the design of the hills. So cool.

Combine this with Pooh and it will be a great trip to the movies!

[Sotiris]

If you want the three images released in hi-res, click on the link below:

First Look: Disney’s ‘Ballad of Nessie’ Hi-Res Stills
http://www.stitchkingdom.com/disney-new ... es-stills/

[Old Fish Tale]

Magnificent!

[Loomis]

I have to admit that this is the first Disney project that has got me excited in quite some time. Really hope they play it in front of Winnie the Pooh when it is released in Australia. All too often we get gypped on the shorts.

I'm so excited, by the way, that I wrote a little piece on it here:
http://www.thereelbits.com/2011/03/15/f ... of-nessie/
(Shameless plug)

Even more exciting is that I posted here again, after a very long absence. Eep!

[Super Aurora]

HOLY SHIT LOOMIS IS BACK?! HSJKDFHSJKFHJS?!?!?!?1

[Loomis]

HOLY SHIT LOOMIS IS BACK?! HSJKDFHSJKFHJS?!?!?!?1

I can only assume that is why Mickey is gouging his eyes out in your avatar?

[Toky]

wow i actualy like the pics very much, it looks a bit Mary Blair. Some things look a bit too smooth and clear, or too modern, like the little chicken etc. But overal its sweet...cool that pencil strokes are visible in the trees

[Sotiris]

Warning: Spoiler Alert!

A six-minute opening cartoon, The Ballad of Nessie, about the Loch Ness monster's self-created lake of tears.

So begins the story of Nessie, the friendly Loch Ness monster who lives peacefully in a beautiful Scottish moor until one day, a developer named MacFroogle decides to build a mini-golf empire right on top of her home. Nessie roams the countryside in vain for a new place to live, and when she thinks all is lost, she begins to cry. She cries and cries and cries, until she sheds so many tears that she creates a new moor, providing a perfect home for her and her best friend, a duck named MacQuack.

Sources: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review ... iew-173002
http://www.amazon.com/Ballad-Nessie-Kie ... 196&sr=1-1

[DisneyFan09]

To be honest, I'm not interested to see this one. The animation looks quite cheap.

[Sotiris]

New Stills and Concept Art
http://www.toonzone.net/news/articles/3 ... -of-nessie

[Jules]

HOLY SHIT LOOMIS IS BACK?! HSJKDFHSJKFHJS?!?!?!?1

HOLY SHIT I missed him!

To be honest, I'm not interested to see this one. The animation looks quite cheap.

Many commenters on Cartoon Brew have (somewhat justifiably) grumbled about the conservative and recycled visuals. However, I fail to comprehend how you can complain about the animation when we haven't seen a second of it.

In theory, an animated film with the worst art direction and character design in the world can also be expertly animated. Maybe that could be its sole virtue.

And thank you Sotiris for the new pics. I don't particularly dislike the villain. He seems animalistic, though.

[Tristy]

i like how this short is turning out. It really reminds me of some of the shorts from the mid forties. That background with Nessie settling in the bucket kind of reminds me of the backgrounds for Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

[SillySymphony]

Wow. They really are going back to their roots. The villain seems to have a Queen of Hearts influence, hmm? And I didn't realize to what extent how much Mary Blair stylized this was/is. I'm still anticipating the finished result.