Robot Playground Media (Rpm) has recruited a team of global animation companies to produce animated horror anthology series “A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts.”
The 10-episode series is based on Chinese-American author Ying Chang Compestine’s bestselling 2016 YA book. Episode 1 of the anthology, titled “Egg Fried Rice,” is currently in production as a pilot order from Singapore’s national media network Mediacorp, and is due an early 2024 release.
The project was one of the winning pitches at Mediacorp’s Content Development Pitch 2022 competition, which was part of Creatives Assembly, the company’s annual call for content ideas.
Rpm will be the lead producer for the anthology and has assembled a lineup of animation studios that will each create its unique horror short, including Igloo Studio (Thailand), Studio Climb (Malaysia), Something Big (France), Disnosc (France), Werlen Meyer (France) and Xanthus Animation (Taiwan) with more studios to be revealed imminently. Rpm will produce two episodes itself,...
The 10-episode series is based on Chinese-American author Ying Chang Compestine’s bestselling 2016 YA book. Episode 1 of the anthology, titled “Egg Fried Rice,” is currently in production as a pilot order from Singapore’s national media network Mediacorp, and is due an early 2024 release.
The project was one of the winning pitches at Mediacorp’s Content Development Pitch 2022 competition, which was part of Creatives Assembly, the company’s annual call for content ideas.
Rpm will be the lead producer for the anthology and has assembled a lineup of animation studios that will each create its unique horror short, including Igloo Studio (Thailand), Studio Climb (Malaysia), Something Big (France), Disnosc (France), Werlen Meyer (France) and Xanthus Animation (Taiwan) with more studios to be revealed imminently. Rpm will produce two episodes itself,...
- 6/12/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran and Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Bilbao (Spain), April 5 (Ians) Osasuna booked a place in the Copa del Rey final on Tuesday night after Pablo Ibanez’s goal in the 115th minute gave them a 1-1 draw away to Athletic Bilbao and a 2-1 aggregate win, here.
Ibanez placed a volley into the corner of the net to put his side through after Osasuna were kept in the tie by a string of fine saves from keeper Sergio Herrera.
Herrera made five or six vital saves as Athletic attacked, but once again paid for their inability to find the net.
The home side started looking to get quickly back on level terms in the tie, with Gorka Guruzeta seeing his effort well smothered by Osasuna keeper Sergio Herrera in the seventh minute, a Xinhua report said.
The game was as intense as you would expect in the return leg of a semifinal between the local rivals...
Ibanez placed a volley into the corner of the net to put his side through after Osasuna were kept in the tie by a string of fine saves from keeper Sergio Herrera.
Herrera made five or six vital saves as Athletic attacked, but once again paid for their inability to find the net.
The home side started looking to get quickly back on level terms in the tie, with Gorka Guruzeta seeing his effort well smothered by Osasuna keeper Sergio Herrera in the seventh minute, a Xinhua report said.
The game was as intense as you would expect in the return leg of a semifinal between the local rivals...
- 4/5/2023
- by News Bureau
- GlamSham
Co-production forum marks 20th anniversary this year.
Laurynas Bareisa, winner of the 2021 best film prize at Venice’s Orrizonti section for his debut Pilgrims, is among the directors presenting new projects at the 20th edition of the Sofia Meetings co-production forum (22-26 March).
The Lithuanian director is bringing Drowning Dry to Sofia where it is one of five projects in a section dedicated to second feature films.
The section’s line-up also includes The Last Slap by Italian director Matteo Oleotto whose debut feature Zoran, My Nephew The Idiot premiered in Venice’s Critics Week in 2013.
The Last Slap’s...
Laurynas Bareisa, winner of the 2021 best film prize at Venice’s Orrizonti section for his debut Pilgrims, is among the directors presenting new projects at the 20th edition of the Sofia Meetings co-production forum (22-26 March).
The Lithuanian director is bringing Drowning Dry to Sofia where it is one of five projects in a section dedicated to second feature films.
The section’s line-up also includes The Last Slap by Italian director Matteo Oleotto whose debut feature Zoran, My Nephew The Idiot premiered in Venice’s Critics Week in 2013.
The Last Slap’s...
- 3/17/2023
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Madrid, March March 13 (Ians) Fc Barcelona take a nine-point lead over Real Madrid into next weekend’s El Clasico in the Camp Nou after a hard-fought and controversial 1-0 win away to Athletic Bilbao.
Raphinha’s diagonal shot in first-half injury time was enough to give Barca the points in a game where Raul Garcia and Alex Berenguer hit the woodwork for the home side, reports Xinhua.
Athletic thought they had scored a deserved equalizer through Inaki Williams in the 86th minute, but Var ruled the goal out for a supposed handball when Iker Muniain had won the ball in midfield – although the images seemed to show the ball had hit his shoulder.
Real Madrid warmed up for El Clasico with a relatively comfortable 3-1 win at home to Espanyol on Saturday.
Although Joselu put Espanyol ahead in the eighth minute, Vinicius Jr and Eder Militao turned the game around before halftime.
Raphinha’s diagonal shot in first-half injury time was enough to give Barca the points in a game where Raul Garcia and Alex Berenguer hit the woodwork for the home side, reports Xinhua.
Athletic thought they had scored a deserved equalizer through Inaki Williams in the 86th minute, but Var ruled the goal out for a supposed handball when Iker Muniain had won the ball in midfield – although the images seemed to show the ball had hit his shoulder.
Real Madrid warmed up for El Clasico with a relatively comfortable 3-1 win at home to Espanyol on Saturday.
Although Joselu put Espanyol ahead in the eighth minute, Vinicius Jr and Eder Militao turned the game around before halftime.
- 3/13/2023
- by News Bureau
- GlamSham
Madrid, Feb 28 (Ians) Osasuna entertain Athletic Club Bilbao in the first leg of the first semi-final of the Copa del Rey knockout competition in their El Sadar Stadium on Wednesday night.
The game will be played in front of a packed house, with the home side who have never won the cup looking to take a step towards their first final since 2005.
Athletic Club are looking to end a 39-year period without winning the cup, after qualifying for and losing finals in 2009, 2012, 2015, 2020 and 2021 although the last two matches were both played in April 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, a Xinhua report said.
The two sides are next to each other in La Liga, with Osasuna currently eighth, while Athletic lie ninth, just a point below them. Osasuna will go into the game with their morale sky high after a 3-2 win away to Sevilla whom they defeated in the quarter-final on Sunday night.
The game will be played in front of a packed house, with the home side who have never won the cup looking to take a step towards their first final since 2005.
Athletic Club are looking to end a 39-year period without winning the cup, after qualifying for and losing finals in 2009, 2012, 2015, 2020 and 2021 although the last two matches were both played in April 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, a Xinhua report said.
The two sides are next to each other in La Liga, with Osasuna currently eighth, while Athletic lie ninth, just a point below them. Osasuna will go into the game with their morale sky high after a 3-2 win away to Sevilla whom they defeated in the quarter-final on Sunday night.
- 2/28/2023
- by News Bureau
- GlamSham
Madrid, Feb 27 (Ians) Fc Barcelona wasted a chance to move 10 points clear at the top of La Liga when they lost 1-0 away to Almeria.
El Bilal Toure’s 23rd-minute shot, which went in off the underside of the bar, led to the only goal of the game as the forward found space between the Barcelona defenders, reports Xinhua news agency.
What followed was an exercise in frustration for Barca who tried, but failed to create clear chances against a rival that had lost three consecutive matches and started the game in the relegation zone.
Xavi Hernandez commented post-match that it was his side’s worst display of the season.
The result ends a dreadful week for Barca, who were knocked out of the Europa League on Thursday night as they wasted the chance to take an almost definitive grip on La Liga after a 1-1 draw between second-placed Real...
El Bilal Toure’s 23rd-minute shot, which went in off the underside of the bar, led to the only goal of the game as the forward found space between the Barcelona defenders, reports Xinhua news agency.
What followed was an exercise in frustration for Barca who tried, but failed to create clear chances against a rival that had lost three consecutive matches and started the game in the relegation zone.
Xavi Hernandez commented post-match that it was his side’s worst display of the season.
The result ends a dreadful week for Barca, who were knocked out of the Europa League on Thursday night as they wasted the chance to take an almost definitive grip on La Liga after a 1-1 draw between second-placed Real...
- 2/27/2023
- by News Bureau
- GlamSham
Madrid, Oct 16 (Ians) Atletico Madrid moved into third place in La Liga on Saturday night with a hard-fought 1-0 win away to Athletic Club Bilbao.
Antoine Griezmann’s goal two minutes into the second half was enough to decide a game of few chances, although the home side pressed Atletico hard in the last 15 minutes.
Jan Oblak had to leave the pitch with a shoulder injury and his substitute Ivo Grbic made one excellent save to deny Inigo Martinez, while Reinildo Mandava made a vital block to frustrate Raul Garcia with just two minutes left after the referee allowed 10 minutes of injury time.
A combination of a magnificent goal from Nemanja Gudelj and a series of magnificent saves from goalkeeper Bono were enough to give Sevilla a 1-0 win away to Mallorca, reports Xinhua.
Gudelj’s 53rd-minute shot from around 30 meters was Sevilla’s only shot on target all game...
Antoine Griezmann’s goal two minutes into the second half was enough to decide a game of few chances, although the home side pressed Atletico hard in the last 15 minutes.
Jan Oblak had to leave the pitch with a shoulder injury and his substitute Ivo Grbic made one excellent save to deny Inigo Martinez, while Reinildo Mandava made a vital block to frustrate Raul Garcia with just two minutes left after the referee allowed 10 minutes of injury time.
A combination of a magnificent goal from Nemanja Gudelj and a series of magnificent saves from goalkeeper Bono were enough to give Sevilla a 1-0 win away to Mallorca, reports Xinhua.
Gudelj’s 53rd-minute shot from around 30 meters was Sevilla’s only shot on target all game...
- 10/16/2022
- by Glamsham Bureau
- GlamSham
Animayo Gran Canaria, Spain’s prominent Canary Islands-based animation festival, has expanded threefold as it divides its multiple activities into three sections: In-person over May 5-8; an avatar-based virtual event on May 13-15; and online from May 17 through October.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has been a blessing; it came as a shock at first but we found a creative solution,” said Damian Perea, founder-director of the festival, which also includes VFX and video gaming.
By deploying an avatar-based virtual event platform dubbed Roomkey (formerly Teooh) that enables professional and enterprise communities to sit and interact in the same digital space, Animayo Gran Canaria became the first animation festival in the world to go virtual last year. “We lured up to 45,000 participants in 2020 and expect to reach or surpass that tally in this edition,” Perea said. “Going virtual has been a blessing for mid-sized festivals as it has allowed us to expand...
“The Covid-19 pandemic has been a blessing; it came as a shock at first but we found a creative solution,” said Damian Perea, founder-director of the festival, which also includes VFX and video gaming.
By deploying an avatar-based virtual event platform dubbed Roomkey (formerly Teooh) that enables professional and enterprise communities to sit and interact in the same digital space, Animayo Gran Canaria became the first animation festival in the world to go virtual last year. “We lured up to 45,000 participants in 2020 and expect to reach or surpass that tally in this edition,” Perea said. “Going virtual has been a blessing for mid-sized festivals as it has allowed us to expand...
- 4/27/2021
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Madrid, March 8 (Ians) Karim Benzema's 88th minute goal kept Real Madrid in the race for the La Liga title on Sunday as he canceled out Luis Suarez's opener for Atletico Madrid in a 1-1 draw in the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium.
Suarez's 14th minute goal, following excellent work from Marco Llorente, looked as if it was going to allow Atletico to open up an eight-point gap over their neighbours in the table, and Atletico were good value for their lead for much of the game on Sunday.
However, after being aggressive for much of the game, they sat deep in the last 15 minutes and allowed Real Madrid to attack them, with Benzema's goal after an exchange of passes with Casemiro punishing that decision, Xinhua news reports.
The result allows Fc Barcelona to move to within three points of Atletico and two ahead of Real Madrid thanks to a 2-0 win...
Suarez's 14th minute goal, following excellent work from Marco Llorente, looked as if it was going to allow Atletico to open up an eight-point gap over their neighbours in the table, and Atletico were good value for their lead for much of the game on Sunday.
However, after being aggressive for much of the game, they sat deep in the last 15 minutes and allowed Real Madrid to attack them, with Benzema's goal after an exchange of passes with Casemiro punishing that decision, Xinhua news reports.
The result allows Fc Barcelona to move to within three points of Atletico and two ahead of Real Madrid thanks to a 2-0 win...
- 3/8/2021
- by Glamsham Bureau
- GlamSham
Valencia (Spain) March 5 (Ians) Athletic Bilbao booked their place to play Fc Barcelona in the final of this season's Copa del Rey after winning the return leg of their semifinal 2-1 away to Levante.
Levante have never played a cup final, but went into the game with a slight advantage after a 1-1 draw in Bilbao three weeks ago. A 0-0 would have seen them through. The visitors knew that too and quickly went on the attack against a Levante side that was reasonably happy to sit deep and soak up pressure on Thursday, Xinhua news reports.
Raul Garcia fired Athletic's first chance just wide after good work from Oscar de Marcos before Roger Marti put Levante ahead by turning and squeezing off a shot from the edge of the six-yard box.
Iker Muniain headed wide for Bilbao when he should have hit the target, but the visitors were level...
Levante have never played a cup final, but went into the game with a slight advantage after a 1-1 draw in Bilbao three weeks ago. A 0-0 would have seen them through. The visitors knew that too and quickly went on the attack against a Levante side that was reasonably happy to sit deep and soak up pressure on Thursday, Xinhua news reports.
Raul Garcia fired Athletic's first chance just wide after good work from Oscar de Marcos before Roger Marti put Levante ahead by turning and squeezing off a shot from the edge of the six-yard box.
Iker Muniain headed wide for Bilbao when he should have hit the target, but the visitors were level...
- 3/5/2021
- by Glamsham Bureau
- GlamSham
Madrid, March 1 (Ians) Atletico Madrid opened up a five-point lead over Barcelona at the top of La Liga after a 2-0 win away to Villarreal.
Recent results implied the game could be another potential banana skin for Atletico, who have seen their lead at the top of the table cut from 10 to three points over the past three weeks, but Diego Simeone's side got through their visit to the east coast with three vital points, Xinhua news agency reported.
They had a touch of fortune in their opening goal when Stefan Savic's 24th-minute header was saved by Sergio Asenjo only to bounce back over the line off Antonio Pedraza, but an assured second-half display saw Joao Felix double their lead in the 69th minute after a poor clearance from Pau Torres.
The result puts pressure on Real Madrid, who entertains Real Sociedad on Monday night.
On Saturday, Fc Barcelona...
Recent results implied the game could be another potential banana skin for Atletico, who have seen their lead at the top of the table cut from 10 to three points over the past three weeks, but Diego Simeone's side got through their visit to the east coast with three vital points, Xinhua news agency reported.
They had a touch of fortune in their opening goal when Stefan Savic's 24th-minute header was saved by Sergio Asenjo only to bounce back over the line off Antonio Pedraza, but an assured second-half display saw Joao Felix double their lead in the 69th minute after a poor clearance from Pau Torres.
The result puts pressure on Real Madrid, who entertains Real Sociedad on Monday night.
On Saturday, Fc Barcelona...
- 3/1/2021
- by Glamsham Bureau
- GlamSham
At this point, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ governors election looks more like a round-up than a race; more than 180 members have declared their interest in filling 17 contested spots on the 54-member Board of Governors.
Voting in the run-off round starts on Monday and ends May 18. That will narrow the present field to a maximum of four nominees per branch in the final round, which follows.
For now, there are on average about 11 candidates in the running for each slot. In the casting directors and costume design branches, only three members have declared for each slot. But not so in the actors branch, where 17 members — including Brie Larson, Jacki Weaver and Meg Ryan — are vying for the spot being vacated by termed-out Tom Hanks; or the producers, executives, and public relations branches, all of which have a bumper crop of candidates. Marvin Levy, currently a governor in the public relations branch,...
Voting in the run-off round starts on Monday and ends May 18. That will narrow the present field to a maximum of four nominees per branch in the final round, which follows.
For now, there are on average about 11 candidates in the running for each slot. In the casting directors and costume design branches, only three members have declared for each slot. But not so in the actors branch, where 17 members — including Brie Larson, Jacki Weaver and Meg Ryan — are vying for the spot being vacated by termed-out Tom Hanks; or the producers, executives, and public relations branches, all of which have a bumper crop of candidates. Marvin Levy, currently a governor in the public relations branch,...
- 5/11/2018
- by Michael Cieply
- Deadline Film + TV
The International Animated Film Society, Asifa-Hollywood, has announced the nominations for the 43rd Annual Annie Awards and "Inside Out" and "The Good Dinosaur," both Pixar movies, led the pack! "Inside Out" received fourteen nominations while "The Good Dinosaur" got nine.
My pick of the year for best animated feature is "Inside Out" but I love Charlie Kaufman's "Anomalisa" as well which picked five noms.
We'll find out the winners of the Annie Awards on February 6th!
Here is the full list of nominees in all categories of the 43rd Annie Awards:
Best Animated Feature
Anomalisa
Paramount Pictures
Inside Out
Pixar Animation Studios
Shaun the Sheep The Movie
Aardman Animations
The Good Dinosaur
Pixar Animation Studios
The Peanuts Movie
Blue Sky Studios, Twentieth Century Fox Animation
Best Animated Special Production
Elf: Buddy.s Musical Christmas
Warner Bros. Animation
He Named Me Malala
Parkes-MacDonald / Little Door
I Am A Witness
Moonbot...
My pick of the year for best animated feature is "Inside Out" but I love Charlie Kaufman's "Anomalisa" as well which picked five noms.
We'll find out the winners of the Annie Awards on February 6th!
Here is the full list of nominees in all categories of the 43rd Annie Awards:
Best Animated Feature
Anomalisa
Paramount Pictures
Inside Out
Pixar Animation Studios
Shaun the Sheep The Movie
Aardman Animations
The Good Dinosaur
Pixar Animation Studios
The Peanuts Movie
Blue Sky Studios, Twentieth Century Fox Animation
Best Animated Special Production
Elf: Buddy.s Musical Christmas
Warner Bros. Animation
He Named Me Malala
Parkes-MacDonald / Little Door
I Am A Witness
Moonbot...
- 12/2/2015
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
Fear is an intricate emotion, which triggers visible physical reactions but profoundly affects one’s psyche in ways far more destructive. It thrives on uncertainty as it serves to prevent us from facing danger and experiencing pain. It’s because of this that death, the most certain part of our mortal lives, ranks high on the list of things we fear. It can happen anywhere, at any time, for countless reasons, it’s permanent, and yet its aftermath is unknown.
Enthralled by this idea, Edgar Allan Poe explored humanity’s relationship with its fatal destiny by writing fiction that focused on the supernatural, on evil, and alternate realities, attempting to decipher this terrifying concept. “Extraordinary Tales," Raul Garcia's animated anthology, takes five of these stories by revered writer and transforms them into stylistically distinct shorts that are as visually striking as they are spine-chilling.
The Spanish animator became fascinated with Poe and his otherworldly stories at an early age, but worked on an array of projects before finally bringing one of his favorite authors to the screen by simultaneously honoring numerous other artists that have influenced his career. Each of the five segments in "Extraordinary Tales" is inspired by a different aesthetic, which makes for an eclectic showcase of what 3D animation could be beyond the mainstream conventions.
To make the film an even more compelling affair, Garcia was able to recruit some of the most important and iconic voices in genre cinema. Bela Lugosi reappears from beyond the grave thanks to a previously unreleased recording, Christopher Lee returns to horror one final time to narrate one of the episodes, Roger Corman continues to demonstrate his love for Poe by voicing one of the characters, and Guillermo del Toro shows his voice acting talents in an unexpected fashion.
During our conversation Garcia talked about his artistic influences, being an independent animator today, getting to work with his childhood heroes, and the biggest mistake horror films make when trying to instill fear.
How did you fall in love with Edgar Allan Poe's stories? What was the seed that sparked this fascination with his work that compelled you to create this beautiful animated anthology?
Raul Garcia: The seed was planted when I was bout 12-years-old because the firs adult book I read was a compilation of Poe’s stories. That was the first book for grown-ups I read [Laughs]. Then there was my passion as an avid comic book and graphic novel reader. I’ve always leaned towards the dark side, so it was the perfect combination. Since then, I’ve been a fan of horror literature and science fiction and fantasy as well. That first book was the seed that started it all.
Edgar Allan Poe’s stories have been adapted countless because it seems like they lend themselves to interpretation and experimentation. How did you approach the material to make your animated versions distinct from the rest?
Raul Garcia: There are thousands of different film adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe’s works everywhere. Obviously, the ones that most of us know are the ones done by Roger Corman in the 60s with Vincent Price, which were not really adaptations because they only used the titles as an excuse to make a horror film. When I decided to make my version of Poe’s stories, I wanted to respect the original material or to at least get closer to what his stories are really about. Most other adaptations I’ve seen sort of follow the story but they never satisfy me as an audience member or as a reader. I wanted to get closer to the spirit of the stories more than than to the text itself. I didn’t necessarily want to do it verbatim, but there are some lines of dialogue that I’ve taken literally from Poe’s writings. I wanted to make adaptations that distilled the essence of what attracted me about these stories in the first place.
Each segment has a very particular stylistic approach. While they are all beautiful in their own right, each showcases an eclectic mix of textures and influences. How did each visual style originate?
Raul Garcia: Everything started with “The Tell-Tale Heart," which was the first short I made for this project, which originally was supposed to be a one-off. This was a story that I wanted to tell with art inspired by one of the greatest comic book artist there is, Alberto Breccia. He was Argentine comic book artist. It was about adapting his style to this story. Departing from this decision I created a set rules for myself, which I would apply to the rest of the stories. Since for this first story I had used Breccia’s art as the basis, I thought that for the rest of the stories I would try to reconnect with all the artistic influences I’ve had in my life and apply them in a way that had something to do with the spirit of the each story. I searched for things that attracted in terms of artistic styles and I tried to adapt them into the world of animation to make these short films.
For example, in “The Fall of the House of Usher,” the idea was for the characters to look as if they were carved out of wood, like if they were figures that belonged to Czech animator Jirí Trnka. In “The Masque of the Red Death,” the biggest influence was Egon Schiele and Bruegel. Egon Schiele worked with oil paint, but he used very thin layers of paint which made his works look like watercolors. I tried to resemble that to create moving painting for that’s story. That short is one of my favorites, because in Poe’s original story there is no dialogue except for the line that’s in the short. It’s all very descriptive. This really represented a challenged that allowed me to have fun during the process of creating it. I’ve always tried to find those distinct approaches because this is a 3D animated film and I wanted to stay away from the style that all 3D animated films have today. They are all rendered in the same manner with photorealist textures. I tried to make something much more pictorial, so that the audience wouldn’t know if they were watching something done in 3D, 2D, in oil paintings, or made out of cut-outs.
The segment based on “The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar” looks very much like if it was a 2D animated film. It's interesting to hear it was all 3D.
Raul Garcia Yes. Poe wrote that story as if it was a real case or the study written by a scientist taking notes from an experiment. When it was published people thought that the case in the story actually happened. People though that what they were reading were the notes taken by a scientist that had brought a corpse back to life. Having this in mind, my approach to find the right style was to look at medical illustrations and to make the animation look like if it was taken from a medical journal. However, and because I think I should also tell you about the bad experiences, I have to admit that approach didn’t work. I didn’t like how it looked. It felt very cold and calculated. But then, I reread the story and realized that this story was over the top, very exaggerated. Then I thought about the horror comic books that I read when I was kid, which shared this outrageous and exaggerated spirit.
That’s when I decided to make this story based on the look of horror comic books from the 50s, which were printed on cheap paper and only used four different color inks. They were printed using the Cmyk color model, so the color spectrum used was very small. Colorists, who used to be very underpaid, did what they could with these four colors. Sometimes in one panel a face was blue and in the next one the same face was red, and nobody cared about having any sort of continuity [Laughs]. I applied this color limitation to this story. Besides the fact that the style is very much inspired by those comic books, the animation is also animated as if it was 2D. In computer animation each second is created by 24 frames and each one of these 24 frames is different. In 2D animation, to save time and money, you create 12 drawings and each drawing is used twice. In one second created of 24 frames you really only have 12 frames. I tried to do it this segment using this process as if it was 2D because it gives the animation a different cadence in comparison to the rest of the stories.
Then you have “The Pit and the Pendulum,” which is in a sense hyperrealist even though it still feels like there are elements of fine art in it.
Raul Garcia: That one was interesting because the original story takes place in a prison and there is only one character. When I started thinking about how to make these stories, what I wanted was to experiment with different types of animation and see how far we could get in terms of technology. Initially, I wanted to make this segment using motion capture. At the time I thought that films made using motion capture always looked bad, and I wanted to know why! [Laughs]. Unfortunately I couldn’t find a motion capture team to make it. At that moment the challenge changed, and we decided to make something hyperrealist - something I personally hate [Laughs]. I decided we should make something hyperrealist but with more traditional 3D animation and see how refined and subtle we could make it without using motion capture or any real life references. That’s how the style for this one came about, which I think it’s a blend between Goya and Nicéphore Niépce and the beginning of photography, mixed with those prisons that Piranesi drew in his carvings. What I’ve tried to do is give myself the pleasure and luxury to explore the universes of the artists I admire.
One of the many remarkable qualities of the film is that every segment captures the unsettling tone of the stories. The macabre atmosphere, regardless of which style you are using, is subtle but always present. At times it's truly terrifying.
Raul Garcia: Let’s remember that one of the biggest problems with horror cinema is showing too much. When horror turns into gore, when you show the monster, the killings, and the blood, it loses its suggestive powers. It loses part of what makes a horror film a horror film, which is that the images you see develop in your brain and you become the one imagining what you are not seeing on screen. You give the audience a bit of information, and he or she fills in the blanks with the most horrifying things they can think of. That was a key element I wanted to preserve. I didn’t want to make to make something very graphic, but instead maintain that mental introspection so that the viewer could put himself in that situation and imagine what’s happening.
In terms of the voice cast, you managed to put together and incredible cast including a voice from beyond the grave in a sense. The legendary Bela Lugosi returns thanks to your film. How did you obtain this recording?
Raul Garcia: It was a stroke of luck. I’m originally from Spain, so I’ve always read Edgar Allan Poe’s works in Spanish and at some point I wanted to enjoy the original material in English. For several years now I’ve been collecting narrated versions of Poe’s works. When I was getting ready to make “The Tell-Tale Heart, “ I discovered a recording of Bella Lugosi narrating this tale on Ebay. It was a cassette tape that was a copy of the original. It was the copy of the copy, of the copy, of the copy [Laughs]. When I finally got it the first thing I did was contact Bela G. Lugosi, his son who handles the Bela Lugosi’s state, and I discovered that this recording had never been published or released. Bela G. Lugosi didn’t even have in his archive, as it had been lost. Nobody had heard it and it hadn’t been exploited at all. I restored it as best as I could, but since I made that short in 2006 the technology was probably not as good as it's now. I tried to digitally polish it as much as possible to remove the static sound. But even though I wasn’t completely successful, I think that this static you hear gives the narration an unsettling quality. It sounds like something from another time that has returned after many years.
He was an icon in the horror genre, which makes it even more special for a film like "Extraordinary Tale."
Raul Garcia: Absolutely. This was the first short I did, so when I decided that it would instead be an anthology of several shorts, the bar was very high in terms of the voices that I could use. If the first one is someone as big as Bela Lugosi, who could be next? That pushed me to seek voices that meant something in the world of science fiction, fantasy and horror. The next short I made was “The Fall of the House of Usher,” and evidently Christopher Lee was the number candidate on my wish list.
How did you manage to get Christopher Lee to be a part of the film? "Extraordinary Tales" is the last film project he worked on before, unfortunately, passing away.
Raul Garcia: Unfortunately, as you point out, it's his last film appearance. But on the other hand, we were so fortunate to have his talent because it was really an incredible experience to work with him. It was very emotional for me, I was working with my childhood idol. It was great. When I recorded his voice, Christopher Lee was 89-years-old. He wasn’t very interested in revisiting horror cinema because at the time he was focused on becoming the lead singer of a heavy metal band [Laughs]. He was recording an album that was sort of like a heavy-metal-rock-opera based on the Charlemagne’s life. He was so passionate about it. It was hard to believe that an 89-year-old man had so much energy to do that. When I showed him the artwork he changed his mind and he agreed to do it. It was also funny that he didn’t want to go to a recording studio to do it. We set up a recording studio in his home so he could record it whenever he felt inspired.
Then you have Guillermo Del Toro, who has become Hollywood’s genre master working in horror, fantasy, and science fiction, and more recently in animation. How did he come on board?
Raul Garcia: Guillermo and I have been friends since the time he lived in Spain, and when I was searching for voices that were meaningful and important in the horror and fantasy genres he was high on my list. I know that deep inside Guillermo has a thing for acting, which he never talks about [Laughs]. I asked him to narrate the short and he agreed immediately. Then we had to chase him for a couple years because he has been extremely busy in the last few years, and we could never find the right time to do it. In the end we did it and Guillermo really gave it his all. His narration is very interesting and intriguing because it’s not the Guillermo we know. It’s a different facet of his talent that nobody knew about
Tell me about the process of creating the frame narrative in which Poe, in the shape of the iconic raven, has a dialogue with Death. This conversations connect the five major segments and give insight into the tormented mind of the artist.
Raul Garcia: I wanted to make a feature-length work and I didn’t like the idea of just putting one short after the other. It felt to me like it would look like a shorts program at a festival without any relationship between them, when in fact the relationship between them is Poe and his personal story. These interludes or framing segments where the last to be produced and at that point we were out of money, out of time, out of patience, out of everything [Laughs]. As I was working on each of the shorts the framing story that would unite them changed. Initially I wanted to unite the stories with this epic framing narrative where we would see the last day in Poe’s life as he went drunk from bar to bar until he dies. Then it changed to a story where Poe was lonely walking down the street towards the cemetery and finding different things that would remind him of his stories along the way.
As we got farther into production of the five major segments the framing narrative kept on changing and becoming shorter. In the end it became this dialogue between Poe and Death, which is like Scheherazade and the One Thousand and One Nights, where they tell each other stories. Poe wants to postpone his own death, while Death wants to convince him that if he is so miserable he might be better off dead. The biggest problem I faced, and which was truly a nightmare, is that as a viewer I don’t really like anthology films where there are connecting segments in between the stories, like George A. Romero's "Creepshow." As a viewer, when we get to the interludes or the framing narrative, what I’m thinking is, “Come on, Come, on, start the next story already!” [Laughs]. That’s why I really thought about the rhythm of these segments to try to precent the viewer from thinking, “I don’t want to see this. I want to see the next story.” I also wanted to give the viewer small doses of information needed for the whole story to make sense and for it to have structure.
Why do you think Edgar Allan Poe became so fascinated, even obsessed, with death and the darker and more disturbing aspects of the human condition?
Raul Garcia: Poe lived in a very romantic time. His life was the life of the typical tortured artist. His mother died when he was very young and his wife also died very young. In the Victorian era the health standards and life expectancy weren’t very high, thus death was a constant possibility lurking around. Besides this, his turbulent life turn him into a taciturn man with mental health issues. I think this really had an effect in the obsession he had with death. More than with death in general, he was obsessed with the possibility of being buried alive and discovering that he had to hold on to life even after death.
His work definitely set a precedent in the horror genre and in literature as a whole.
Raul Garcia: He was the first one to write horror stories. Without Poe probably Sherlock Holmes wouldn’t have been written because when Poe wrote the adventures of Dupin, like The Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Purloined Letter, he was setting up the basis for what would become the detective novel. In a way Poe was a big influence for Conan Doyle to create Sherlock Holmes. I think he really did influence many artist of the time like Baudelaire, who was a big fan of Poe, and who was the one that brought attention to Poe’s work in Europe. That’s how another generation of writers like Lord Dunsany, Ambrose Bierce, and many others were influenced by Poe’s stories.
Besides working in the U.S. you've worked in animated projects in Spain and Latin America, what's the most difficult aspect about creating animation in countries that are not necessarily seen as animation producers or that perhaps haven't fully developed the infrastructure for it?
Raul Garcia: I’ve worked in animation for a long time. I started in Spain and I wanted to make feature films. That desire to figure out how to make animated features brought me to the U.S. to work for Disney. Now things are different, in recent years technology has made it easier to make animated films than it used to be maybe 15 or 20 years ago. This has made it possible for the latent talents that are in countries without a tradition in animation to explore, learn, and create work. The biggest problem in countries that don’t have a tradition in animation or a film industry, is that precisely, that it’s not an industrial activity as it is in Hollywood where there are clear production procedures. Because of this we all become snipers making our films any way we can and crossing our fingers to get distribution so people can see them.
In a certain way working in animation has become very democratic because now anyone with the right technology can at least prepare a project from home in order to attract investors. Some people can even set up a small home studio and start working. Making features is much more complicated and expensive, but on the other hand, and thanks to this ubiquity and the decentralization of animation, anyone even in a small town can work with an animation program, stay in touch with people in other parts of the world, and manage to produce a film. That’s what we’ve done with "Extraordinary Tales,”although the film is a co-production between Luxembourg, Belgium, Spain and the U.S, in the end Mexican talent worked on it, people all over Spain worked on it, and even people in Honduras worked on it doing some modeling. With small teams across the world we managed to unite everyone’s talent to make the film.
"Extraordinary Tales" is finally opening in the U.S. Now that the cycle for this film is getting to its final stage, are you already working on your next project? Are you pursuing another horror writer to adapt into animation?
Raul Garcia: Independence can be tough. Without a studio to back you up, when you finish a feature and want to start a new project you have to start from zero. The next thing I want to do is to bring to the screen a novel by Cornelia Funke, she is also the voice of Death in “Extraordinary Tales.” She is a German author who wrote the novel “Inkheart,” which was made into a film a few years ago. The book I want to adapt is called “Young Werewolf,” but my version would be titled “Bitten." I’m still trying to find the initial financing that will allow me to get started and get things going. Once the initial financing is secured the rest becomes easier, and just like with “Extraordinary Tales,” we can make a film with the cooperation of several small studios. For example, another film I worked on was the Mexican animated feature “El Americano,” which was mostly made in Tijuana but also had teams in Puebla and Los Angeles. It’s possible, but you do have to have the financial infrastructure behind you so this can work. In the world of independent animation there are many projects that are never completed because they lack that structure.
"Extraordinary Tales" is now playing in L.A. at the Sundance Sunset Cinemas and In NYC at IFC Center.
Enthralled by this idea, Edgar Allan Poe explored humanity’s relationship with its fatal destiny by writing fiction that focused on the supernatural, on evil, and alternate realities, attempting to decipher this terrifying concept. “Extraordinary Tales," Raul Garcia's animated anthology, takes five of these stories by revered writer and transforms them into stylistically distinct shorts that are as visually striking as they are spine-chilling.
The Spanish animator became fascinated with Poe and his otherworldly stories at an early age, but worked on an array of projects before finally bringing one of his favorite authors to the screen by simultaneously honoring numerous other artists that have influenced his career. Each of the five segments in "Extraordinary Tales" is inspired by a different aesthetic, which makes for an eclectic showcase of what 3D animation could be beyond the mainstream conventions.
To make the film an even more compelling affair, Garcia was able to recruit some of the most important and iconic voices in genre cinema. Bela Lugosi reappears from beyond the grave thanks to a previously unreleased recording, Christopher Lee returns to horror one final time to narrate one of the episodes, Roger Corman continues to demonstrate his love for Poe by voicing one of the characters, and Guillermo del Toro shows his voice acting talents in an unexpected fashion.
During our conversation Garcia talked about his artistic influences, being an independent animator today, getting to work with his childhood heroes, and the biggest mistake horror films make when trying to instill fear.
How did you fall in love with Edgar Allan Poe's stories? What was the seed that sparked this fascination with his work that compelled you to create this beautiful animated anthology?
Raul Garcia: The seed was planted when I was bout 12-years-old because the firs adult book I read was a compilation of Poe’s stories. That was the first book for grown-ups I read [Laughs]. Then there was my passion as an avid comic book and graphic novel reader. I’ve always leaned towards the dark side, so it was the perfect combination. Since then, I’ve been a fan of horror literature and science fiction and fantasy as well. That first book was the seed that started it all.
Edgar Allan Poe’s stories have been adapted countless because it seems like they lend themselves to interpretation and experimentation. How did you approach the material to make your animated versions distinct from the rest?
Raul Garcia: There are thousands of different film adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe’s works everywhere. Obviously, the ones that most of us know are the ones done by Roger Corman in the 60s with Vincent Price, which were not really adaptations because they only used the titles as an excuse to make a horror film. When I decided to make my version of Poe’s stories, I wanted to respect the original material or to at least get closer to what his stories are really about. Most other adaptations I’ve seen sort of follow the story but they never satisfy me as an audience member or as a reader. I wanted to get closer to the spirit of the stories more than than to the text itself. I didn’t necessarily want to do it verbatim, but there are some lines of dialogue that I’ve taken literally from Poe’s writings. I wanted to make adaptations that distilled the essence of what attracted me about these stories in the first place.
Each segment has a very particular stylistic approach. While they are all beautiful in their own right, each showcases an eclectic mix of textures and influences. How did each visual style originate?
Raul Garcia: Everything started with “The Tell-Tale Heart," which was the first short I made for this project, which originally was supposed to be a one-off. This was a story that I wanted to tell with art inspired by one of the greatest comic book artist there is, Alberto Breccia. He was Argentine comic book artist. It was about adapting his style to this story. Departing from this decision I created a set rules for myself, which I would apply to the rest of the stories. Since for this first story I had used Breccia’s art as the basis, I thought that for the rest of the stories I would try to reconnect with all the artistic influences I’ve had in my life and apply them in a way that had something to do with the spirit of the each story. I searched for things that attracted in terms of artistic styles and I tried to adapt them into the world of animation to make these short films.
For example, in “The Fall of the House of Usher,” the idea was for the characters to look as if they were carved out of wood, like if they were figures that belonged to Czech animator Jirí Trnka. In “The Masque of the Red Death,” the biggest influence was Egon Schiele and Bruegel. Egon Schiele worked with oil paint, but he used very thin layers of paint which made his works look like watercolors. I tried to resemble that to create moving painting for that’s story. That short is one of my favorites, because in Poe’s original story there is no dialogue except for the line that’s in the short. It’s all very descriptive. This really represented a challenged that allowed me to have fun during the process of creating it. I’ve always tried to find those distinct approaches because this is a 3D animated film and I wanted to stay away from the style that all 3D animated films have today. They are all rendered in the same manner with photorealist textures. I tried to make something much more pictorial, so that the audience wouldn’t know if they were watching something done in 3D, 2D, in oil paintings, or made out of cut-outs.
The segment based on “The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar” looks very much like if it was a 2D animated film. It's interesting to hear it was all 3D.
Raul Garcia Yes. Poe wrote that story as if it was a real case or the study written by a scientist taking notes from an experiment. When it was published people thought that the case in the story actually happened. People though that what they were reading were the notes taken by a scientist that had brought a corpse back to life. Having this in mind, my approach to find the right style was to look at medical illustrations and to make the animation look like if it was taken from a medical journal. However, and because I think I should also tell you about the bad experiences, I have to admit that approach didn’t work. I didn’t like how it looked. It felt very cold and calculated. But then, I reread the story and realized that this story was over the top, very exaggerated. Then I thought about the horror comic books that I read when I was kid, which shared this outrageous and exaggerated spirit.
That’s when I decided to make this story based on the look of horror comic books from the 50s, which were printed on cheap paper and only used four different color inks. They were printed using the Cmyk color model, so the color spectrum used was very small. Colorists, who used to be very underpaid, did what they could with these four colors. Sometimes in one panel a face was blue and in the next one the same face was red, and nobody cared about having any sort of continuity [Laughs]. I applied this color limitation to this story. Besides the fact that the style is very much inspired by those comic books, the animation is also animated as if it was 2D. In computer animation each second is created by 24 frames and each one of these 24 frames is different. In 2D animation, to save time and money, you create 12 drawings and each drawing is used twice. In one second created of 24 frames you really only have 12 frames. I tried to do it this segment using this process as if it was 2D because it gives the animation a different cadence in comparison to the rest of the stories.
Then you have “The Pit and the Pendulum,” which is in a sense hyperrealist even though it still feels like there are elements of fine art in it.
Raul Garcia: That one was interesting because the original story takes place in a prison and there is only one character. When I started thinking about how to make these stories, what I wanted was to experiment with different types of animation and see how far we could get in terms of technology. Initially, I wanted to make this segment using motion capture. At the time I thought that films made using motion capture always looked bad, and I wanted to know why! [Laughs]. Unfortunately I couldn’t find a motion capture team to make it. At that moment the challenge changed, and we decided to make something hyperrealist - something I personally hate [Laughs]. I decided we should make something hyperrealist but with more traditional 3D animation and see how refined and subtle we could make it without using motion capture or any real life references. That’s how the style for this one came about, which I think it’s a blend between Goya and Nicéphore Niépce and the beginning of photography, mixed with those prisons that Piranesi drew in his carvings. What I’ve tried to do is give myself the pleasure and luxury to explore the universes of the artists I admire.
One of the many remarkable qualities of the film is that every segment captures the unsettling tone of the stories. The macabre atmosphere, regardless of which style you are using, is subtle but always present. At times it's truly terrifying.
Raul Garcia: Let’s remember that one of the biggest problems with horror cinema is showing too much. When horror turns into gore, when you show the monster, the killings, and the blood, it loses its suggestive powers. It loses part of what makes a horror film a horror film, which is that the images you see develop in your brain and you become the one imagining what you are not seeing on screen. You give the audience a bit of information, and he or she fills in the blanks with the most horrifying things they can think of. That was a key element I wanted to preserve. I didn’t want to make to make something very graphic, but instead maintain that mental introspection so that the viewer could put himself in that situation and imagine what’s happening.
In terms of the voice cast, you managed to put together and incredible cast including a voice from beyond the grave in a sense. The legendary Bela Lugosi returns thanks to your film. How did you obtain this recording?
Raul Garcia: It was a stroke of luck. I’m originally from Spain, so I’ve always read Edgar Allan Poe’s works in Spanish and at some point I wanted to enjoy the original material in English. For several years now I’ve been collecting narrated versions of Poe’s works. When I was getting ready to make “The Tell-Tale Heart, “ I discovered a recording of Bella Lugosi narrating this tale on Ebay. It was a cassette tape that was a copy of the original. It was the copy of the copy, of the copy, of the copy [Laughs]. When I finally got it the first thing I did was contact Bela G. Lugosi, his son who handles the Bela Lugosi’s state, and I discovered that this recording had never been published or released. Bela G. Lugosi didn’t even have in his archive, as it had been lost. Nobody had heard it and it hadn’t been exploited at all. I restored it as best as I could, but since I made that short in 2006 the technology was probably not as good as it's now. I tried to digitally polish it as much as possible to remove the static sound. But even though I wasn’t completely successful, I think that this static you hear gives the narration an unsettling quality. It sounds like something from another time that has returned after many years.
He was an icon in the horror genre, which makes it even more special for a film like "Extraordinary Tale."
Raul Garcia: Absolutely. This was the first short I did, so when I decided that it would instead be an anthology of several shorts, the bar was very high in terms of the voices that I could use. If the first one is someone as big as Bela Lugosi, who could be next? That pushed me to seek voices that meant something in the world of science fiction, fantasy and horror. The next short I made was “The Fall of the House of Usher,” and evidently Christopher Lee was the number candidate on my wish list.
How did you manage to get Christopher Lee to be a part of the film? "Extraordinary Tales" is the last film project he worked on before, unfortunately, passing away.
Raul Garcia: Unfortunately, as you point out, it's his last film appearance. But on the other hand, we were so fortunate to have his talent because it was really an incredible experience to work with him. It was very emotional for me, I was working with my childhood idol. It was great. When I recorded his voice, Christopher Lee was 89-years-old. He wasn’t very interested in revisiting horror cinema because at the time he was focused on becoming the lead singer of a heavy metal band [Laughs]. He was recording an album that was sort of like a heavy-metal-rock-opera based on the Charlemagne’s life. He was so passionate about it. It was hard to believe that an 89-year-old man had so much energy to do that. When I showed him the artwork he changed his mind and he agreed to do it. It was also funny that he didn’t want to go to a recording studio to do it. We set up a recording studio in his home so he could record it whenever he felt inspired.
Then you have Guillermo Del Toro, who has become Hollywood’s genre master working in horror, fantasy, and science fiction, and more recently in animation. How did he come on board?
Raul Garcia: Guillermo and I have been friends since the time he lived in Spain, and when I was searching for voices that were meaningful and important in the horror and fantasy genres he was high on my list. I know that deep inside Guillermo has a thing for acting, which he never talks about [Laughs]. I asked him to narrate the short and he agreed immediately. Then we had to chase him for a couple years because he has been extremely busy in the last few years, and we could never find the right time to do it. In the end we did it and Guillermo really gave it his all. His narration is very interesting and intriguing because it’s not the Guillermo we know. It’s a different facet of his talent that nobody knew about
Tell me about the process of creating the frame narrative in which Poe, in the shape of the iconic raven, has a dialogue with Death. This conversations connect the five major segments and give insight into the tormented mind of the artist.
Raul Garcia: I wanted to make a feature-length work and I didn’t like the idea of just putting one short after the other. It felt to me like it would look like a shorts program at a festival without any relationship between them, when in fact the relationship between them is Poe and his personal story. These interludes or framing segments where the last to be produced and at that point we were out of money, out of time, out of patience, out of everything [Laughs]. As I was working on each of the shorts the framing story that would unite them changed. Initially I wanted to unite the stories with this epic framing narrative where we would see the last day in Poe’s life as he went drunk from bar to bar until he dies. Then it changed to a story where Poe was lonely walking down the street towards the cemetery and finding different things that would remind him of his stories along the way.
As we got farther into production of the five major segments the framing narrative kept on changing and becoming shorter. In the end it became this dialogue between Poe and Death, which is like Scheherazade and the One Thousand and One Nights, where they tell each other stories. Poe wants to postpone his own death, while Death wants to convince him that if he is so miserable he might be better off dead. The biggest problem I faced, and which was truly a nightmare, is that as a viewer I don’t really like anthology films where there are connecting segments in between the stories, like George A. Romero's "Creepshow." As a viewer, when we get to the interludes or the framing narrative, what I’m thinking is, “Come on, Come, on, start the next story already!” [Laughs]. That’s why I really thought about the rhythm of these segments to try to precent the viewer from thinking, “I don’t want to see this. I want to see the next story.” I also wanted to give the viewer small doses of information needed for the whole story to make sense and for it to have structure.
Why do you think Edgar Allan Poe became so fascinated, even obsessed, with death and the darker and more disturbing aspects of the human condition?
Raul Garcia: Poe lived in a very romantic time. His life was the life of the typical tortured artist. His mother died when he was very young and his wife also died very young. In the Victorian era the health standards and life expectancy weren’t very high, thus death was a constant possibility lurking around. Besides this, his turbulent life turn him into a taciturn man with mental health issues. I think this really had an effect in the obsession he had with death. More than with death in general, he was obsessed with the possibility of being buried alive and discovering that he had to hold on to life even after death.
His work definitely set a precedent in the horror genre and in literature as a whole.
Raul Garcia: He was the first one to write horror stories. Without Poe probably Sherlock Holmes wouldn’t have been written because when Poe wrote the adventures of Dupin, like The Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Purloined Letter, he was setting up the basis for what would become the detective novel. In a way Poe was a big influence for Conan Doyle to create Sherlock Holmes. I think he really did influence many artist of the time like Baudelaire, who was a big fan of Poe, and who was the one that brought attention to Poe’s work in Europe. That’s how another generation of writers like Lord Dunsany, Ambrose Bierce, and many others were influenced by Poe’s stories.
Besides working in the U.S. you've worked in animated projects in Spain and Latin America, what's the most difficult aspect about creating animation in countries that are not necessarily seen as animation producers or that perhaps haven't fully developed the infrastructure for it?
Raul Garcia: I’ve worked in animation for a long time. I started in Spain and I wanted to make feature films. That desire to figure out how to make animated features brought me to the U.S. to work for Disney. Now things are different, in recent years technology has made it easier to make animated films than it used to be maybe 15 or 20 years ago. This has made it possible for the latent talents that are in countries without a tradition in animation to explore, learn, and create work. The biggest problem in countries that don’t have a tradition in animation or a film industry, is that precisely, that it’s not an industrial activity as it is in Hollywood where there are clear production procedures. Because of this we all become snipers making our films any way we can and crossing our fingers to get distribution so people can see them.
In a certain way working in animation has become very democratic because now anyone with the right technology can at least prepare a project from home in order to attract investors. Some people can even set up a small home studio and start working. Making features is much more complicated and expensive, but on the other hand, and thanks to this ubiquity and the decentralization of animation, anyone even in a small town can work with an animation program, stay in touch with people in other parts of the world, and manage to produce a film. That’s what we’ve done with "Extraordinary Tales,”although the film is a co-production between Luxembourg, Belgium, Spain and the U.S, in the end Mexican talent worked on it, people all over Spain worked on it, and even people in Honduras worked on it doing some modeling. With small teams across the world we managed to unite everyone’s talent to make the film.
"Extraordinary Tales" is finally opening in the U.S. Now that the cycle for this film is getting to its final stage, are you already working on your next project? Are you pursuing another horror writer to adapt into animation?
Raul Garcia: Independence can be tough. Without a studio to back you up, when you finish a feature and want to start a new project you have to start from zero. The next thing I want to do is to bring to the screen a novel by Cornelia Funke, she is also the voice of Death in “Extraordinary Tales.” She is a German author who wrote the novel “Inkheart,” which was made into a film a few years ago. The book I want to adapt is called “Young Werewolf,” but my version would be titled “Bitten." I’m still trying to find the initial financing that will allow me to get started and get things going. Once the initial financing is secured the rest becomes easier, and just like with “Extraordinary Tales,” we can make a film with the cooperation of several small studios. For example, another film I worked on was the Mexican animated feature “El Americano,” which was mostly made in Tijuana but also had teams in Puebla and Los Angeles. It’s possible, but you do have to have the financial infrastructure behind you so this can work. In the world of independent animation there are many projects that are never completed because they lack that structure.
"Extraordinary Tales" is now playing in L.A. at the Sundance Sunset Cinemas and In NYC at IFC Center.
- 10/24/2015
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
Out now in select theaters and on iTunes is Extraordinary Tales, an animated film anthology adapting five Edgar Allan Poe stories and boasting a voice cast that includes late legends Sir Christopher Lee and Bela Lugosi, as well as Julian Sands, Roger Corman, and Guillermo del Toro. For our latest Q&A feature, we caught up with director Raul Garcia to discuss his film's amazing vocal lineup and much more.
Thanks for taking the time to converse with us today, Raul. Based on the trailer for Extraordinary Tales, you obviously have a real passion for the works of Edgar Allan Poe. When did you first become a fan of his fiction?
Raul Garcia: Since a very early age, I was addicted to reading comic books and I especially loved horror comics. When I was 12 or so, I read Extraordinary Tales by Edgar Allan Poe, my first "grown up" book I ever read,...
Thanks for taking the time to converse with us today, Raul. Based on the trailer for Extraordinary Tales, you obviously have a real passion for the works of Edgar Allan Poe. When did you first become a fan of his fiction?
Raul Garcia: Since a very early age, I was addicted to reading comic books and I especially loved horror comics. When I was 12 or so, I read Extraordinary Tales by Edgar Allan Poe, my first "grown up" book I ever read,...
- 10/23/2015
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Legendary horror film alumni lend their voices to animated Poe tribute Extraordinary Tales. Although he stalked off this mortal coil back in 1956, the essence of the immortal Bela Lugosi is alive and well in director Raul Garcia’s upcoming animated feature film Extraordinary Tales, a diverse anthology picture that translates the words of Edgar Allen…
The post Exclusive: Bela Lugosi Not Dead! Horror Legend Reads “The Tell-Tale Heart” appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.
The post Exclusive: Bela Lugosi Not Dead! Horror Legend Reads “The Tell-Tale Heart” appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.
- 10/21/2015
- by Chris Alexander
- shocktillyoudrop.com
With Poe’s richly sinister writing and Christopher Lee’s talent, this film should be a treat – but it has the visual flair of a malfunctioning Xbox
How enticing the work of Edgar Allan Poe must be to a producer. So rich in allegory, so fruitful for visual ingenuity and so inexpensive out there in the public domain! Animator Raul Garcia’s 70-minute anthology of five Poe stories, Extraordinary Tales, has its moments, and will be a welcome respite for any middle schooler sitting through a boring lecture. But if we were ever asked if we wanted a second viewing, we’d have to quoth the raven: nevermore.
Garcia, whose work in animation departments range from The Smurfs TV show to Fantasia 2000, unites the individual short films with a peculiar framing device. Between each chapter we check in on a conversation between Poe’s soul, represented by a raven...
How enticing the work of Edgar Allan Poe must be to a producer. So rich in allegory, so fruitful for visual ingenuity and so inexpensive out there in the public domain! Animator Raul Garcia’s 70-minute anthology of five Poe stories, Extraordinary Tales, has its moments, and will be a welcome respite for any middle schooler sitting through a boring lecture. But if we were ever asked if we wanted a second viewing, we’d have to quoth the raven: nevermore.
Garcia, whose work in animation departments range from The Smurfs TV show to Fantasia 2000, unites the individual short films with a peculiar framing device. Between each chapter we check in on a conversation between Poe’s soul, represented by a raven...
- 10/21/2015
- by Jordan Hoffman
- The Guardian - Film News
Anyone who needs to brush up on their Edgar Allen Poe should take a look at this film when it hits theaters. Extraordinary Tales is an animated anthology horror film telling five Edgar Allen Poe stories each by a different animator and with a different narrator. I wasn't expecting that all of the animation would look this good, but it does look good, and it's interesting to see all the unique styles used in the different stories. The outstanding set of narrators includes Sir Christopher Lee, Bela Lugosi, Julian Sands, Roger Corman and Guillermo del Toro. I'm curious to check this out, it looks like it might be fun to watch around Halloween. Here's the first official trailer (+ poster) for Raul Garcia's Extraordinary Tales, from GKids' YouTube: A film anthology of five of Edgar Allen Poe's best-known stories, each told in a unique graphic style, and featuring some...
- 10/7/2015
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Edgar Allan Poe meets Guillermo del Toro? Sign me up.
The first trailer for the animated horror anthology, Extraordinary Tales, was released last week and showed the latest takes on five of Poe’s most popular stories. The film features the voice work of Del Toro, Roger Corman, Bela Lugosi, Julian Sands, and Christopher Lee in one of his final roles.
The film follows five of Poe’s stories: The Fall of the House of Usher, The Tell-Tale Heart, The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar, The Masque of the Red Death, and The Pit and the Pendulum.
Each story has different animation and directed Raul Garcia seems to bring a distinct, spooky look to the stories that feels fresh even though these have been done multiple times before. It has been awhile since we have had a Poe adaptation (don’t remind me of that dreadful John Cusack...
The first trailer for the animated horror anthology, Extraordinary Tales, was released last week and showed the latest takes on five of Poe’s most popular stories. The film features the voice work of Del Toro, Roger Corman, Bela Lugosi, Julian Sands, and Christopher Lee in one of his final roles.
The film follows five of Poe’s stories: The Fall of the House of Usher, The Tell-Tale Heart, The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar, The Masque of the Red Death, and The Pit and the Pendulum.
Each story has different animation and directed Raul Garcia seems to bring a distinct, spooky look to the stories that feels fresh even though these have been done multiple times before. It has been awhile since we have had a Poe adaptation (don’t remind me of that dreadful John Cusack...
- 9/29/2015
- by Zach Dennis
- SoundOnSight
Read More: Gkids Acquires Raul Garcia's "Extrodinary Tales" A new trailer has been released for "Extraordinary Tales," a horror anthology that reimagines five of Edgar Allan Poe's most bone-chilling stories, each in a different style of animation. The five stories to be reborn on screen are "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Pit and the Pendulum," "The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Masque of Red Death" and "The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar." The above trailer offers all the thrills and chills one would expect from Edgar Allan Poe, and the creepy, stylized animation perfectly captures the menacing aura of the gothic poet. The stories will also be narrated by some of the most legendary names in horror, including Christopher Lee, Roger Corman, Guillermo Del Toro and Bela Lugosi. "Extraordinary Tales" will be released in theaters and On Demand on October 23, just in time for Halloween.
- 9/28/2015
- by Ryan Anielski
- Indiewire
“Extraordinary Tales,” an animated film featuring the voice of Sir Christopher Lee in one of his final performances, has been acquired by Gkids, the company announced Tuesday. Directed by Raúl García,”Extraordinary Tales” is a film anthology of five of Edgar Allen Poe‘s best-known stories, each told in a unique graphic style and featuring some of the most iconic figures in horror film history. “We are thrilled to be back in business with Stephan (Roelants) and Melusine Productions after our work together on ‘Ernest & Celestine’ and ‘Song of the Sea,'” David Jesteadt, Gkids’ Svp of distribution, said in a statement.
- 6/16/2015
- by Joe Otterson
- The Wrap
Animation features a voice performance from the late Christopher Lee.
Gkids has acquired North American rights to Extraordinary Tales, an animated film anthology of five of Edgar Allen Poe’s best-known stories.
The film, which features the voices of Sir Christopher Lee (in one of his final film performances), Bela Lugosi, Julian Sands, Roger Corman, and Guillermo Del Toro, screens throughout this week at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival.
Gkids plans a day-and-date release on October 30, in theaters and on video-on-demand platforms.
The deal was negotiated between Stephan Roelants for Melusine Productions and Eric Beckman for Gkids.
The film, directed by Raúl García, features new takes on The Tell-Tale Heart, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar, and The Masque of the Red Death.
The animation is inspired by sources from classic Hollywood black-and-white monster films to the pulp feel of EC Comics...
Gkids has acquired North American rights to Extraordinary Tales, an animated film anthology of five of Edgar Allen Poe’s best-known stories.
The film, which features the voices of Sir Christopher Lee (in one of his final film performances), Bela Lugosi, Julian Sands, Roger Corman, and Guillermo Del Toro, screens throughout this week at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival.
Gkids plans a day-and-date release on October 30, in theaters and on video-on-demand platforms.
The deal was negotiated between Stephan Roelants for Melusine Productions and Eric Beckman for Gkids.
The film, directed by Raúl García, features new takes on The Tell-Tale Heart, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar, and The Masque of the Red Death.
The animation is inspired by sources from classic Hollywood black-and-white monster films to the pulp feel of EC Comics...
- 6/16/2015
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Competition titles revealed; exclusive first footage to screen from Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur and Disney’s Zootopia.
The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (June 15-20) is to spotlight the contribution of women to animation and their growing presence in the medium.
This year’s Honorary Cristal will be awarded to French director Florence Miailhe, whose unusual technique has been called “film painting”. She was first at Annecy in 2000 with Au premier dimanche d’aout, which won the Cear for Best Short Film, and won a special mention at Cannes in 2006 for her short Conte de quartier.
Sticking with the female focus, there will be films about maternity and sexuality, the female imagination and a strand titled The Future Is Woman.
Canadian filmmaker Janet Perlman, who secured an Oscar nomination with The Tender Tale of Cinderella Penguin (1981), will also be the subject of a special focus.
This year’s festival, overseen by artistic...
The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (June 15-20) is to spotlight the contribution of women to animation and their growing presence in the medium.
This year’s Honorary Cristal will be awarded to French director Florence Miailhe, whose unusual technique has been called “film painting”. She was first at Annecy in 2000 with Au premier dimanche d’aout, which won the Cear for Best Short Film, and won a special mention at Cannes in 2006 for her short Conte de quartier.
Sticking with the female focus, there will be films about maternity and sexuality, the female imagination and a strand titled The Future Is Woman.
Canadian filmmaker Janet Perlman, who secured an Oscar nomination with The Tender Tale of Cinderella Penguin (1981), will also be the subject of a special focus.
This year’s festival, overseen by artistic...
- 4/29/2015
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Though he's best known for directing, Guillermo Del Toro will lend his unique voice talents to the cast of Raul Garcia's animated omnibus feature "Extraordinary Tales" which Gkids will distribute in North America.
Based on Edgar Allan Poe's work, the modest $2.5 million-budget film re-tells five of the author's famed short stories with each boasting a different animation style that reflects Poe's universe and inspired by assorted artists.
Del Toro will voice the adaptation of "The Pit and the Pendulum" about a man being tortured during the reign of the Spanish Inquisition. Style wise this segment will be made to mimic a 19th century photograph.
Christopher Lee, Julian Sands and Roger Corman also lend their voices to other segments, one of which will be inspired by both Poe's "Masque of the Red Death" and Egon Schiele's paintings.
Source: Variety...
Based on Edgar Allan Poe's work, the modest $2.5 million-budget film re-tells five of the author's famed short stories with each boasting a different animation style that reflects Poe's universe and inspired by assorted artists.
Del Toro will voice the adaptation of "The Pit and the Pendulum" about a man being tortured during the reign of the Spanish Inquisition. Style wise this segment will be made to mimic a 19th century photograph.
Christopher Lee, Julian Sands and Roger Corman also lend their voices to other segments, one of which will be inspired by both Poe's "Masque of the Red Death" and Egon Schiele's paintings.
Source: Variety...
- 11/7/2014
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
• Who Gets the Dog? has found its lead in Alicia Silverstone. Steven C. Miller will direct from a script by Matt J.L. Wheeler and Rick Rapoza. The romantic comedy follows a divorcing couple that fights for custody of their pet. [Variety] • Sharon Stone has been cast as the lead in Darknet. Jacques Malaterre will direct the psychological thriller, which also stars Billy Zane, Gina Gershon, and Caterina Murino. Set in post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans, the film takes a deep dive into the world of organ trafficking. It centers on Stone’s character whose husband is murdered when he nearly uncovers...
- 11/7/2014
- by C. Molly Smith
- EW - Inside Movies
Submit your vote for Reviewer of the Year!
Every year, the Classic Horror Film Board recognizes the best in the horror/sci-fi/fantasy realm with the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards. Fans of the genre can vote for their favorites in over thirty categories, and this year, Cinelinx would like to ask you to vote for one of our own, staff writer Victor Medina, as Reviewer of the Year (Category 29)! We've even included the ballot below so you can vote!
Votes must be submitted by copying and pasting the ballot into your personal email, making your choices, including your name, and sending it in. Votes for Reviewer of the Year are write-in only, so you must be sure to include Vic's name yourself under Category 29 when you vote. Pre-filled ballots are not allowed, so we can't do it for you! Remember, you must write in "Victor Medina, Cinelinx.com" yourself.
Every year, the Classic Horror Film Board recognizes the best in the horror/sci-fi/fantasy realm with the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards. Fans of the genre can vote for their favorites in over thirty categories, and this year, Cinelinx would like to ask you to vote for one of our own, staff writer Victor Medina, as Reviewer of the Year (Category 29)! We've even included the ballot below so you can vote!
Votes must be submitted by copying and pasting the ballot into your personal email, making your choices, including your name, and sending it in. Votes for Reviewer of the Year are write-in only, so you must be sure to include Vic's name yourself under Category 29 when you vote. Pre-filled ballots are not allowed, so we can't do it for you! Remember, you must write in "Victor Medina, Cinelinx.com" yourself.
- 2/26/2013
- by feeds@cinelinx.com (Jordan Maison)
- Cinelinx
Hey Gang! Comic-Con International has released the full schedule for Friday July 23rd and its another full day crazy awesomeness!
Friday is traditionally known as Star Wars day at the convention. This year feature 6 Special Programs featuring official news, announcements and more from the Star Wars universe. There is also the classic march of the Stormtroopers which is always cool.
I honestly don't know how were going to cover everything we want to, but we will find away! We did it last year! I've hilighted all of the events and panels that we are looking forward to seeing. So check out the full schedule below and start planning out your epic Friday at Comic-Con!
Friday, July 23
Last changed: Fri, Jul 9, 11:26am
10:00-11:00 DC Talent Search 2— DC's editorial art director Mark Chiarello presents an informative orientation session that will explain how DC's Talent Search works and discuss the different needs of DC Universe,...
Friday is traditionally known as Star Wars day at the convention. This year feature 6 Special Programs featuring official news, announcements and more from the Star Wars universe. There is also the classic march of the Stormtroopers which is always cool.
I honestly don't know how were going to cover everything we want to, but we will find away! We did it last year! I've hilighted all of the events and panels that we are looking forward to seeing. So check out the full schedule below and start planning out your epic Friday at Comic-Con!
Friday, July 23
Last changed: Fri, Jul 9, 11:26am
10:00-11:00 DC Talent Search 2— DC's editorial art director Mark Chiarello presents an informative orientation session that will explain how DC's Talent Search works and discuss the different needs of DC Universe,...
- 7/9/2010
- by Venkman
- GeekTyrant
Here are the movie and TV highlights
The San Diego Comic-Con has posted the schedule for Friday, July 23. You can view the full schedule here, but below are the movie and TV events that ComingSoon.net/SuperHeroHype/ShockTillYouDrop.com will be concentrating on.
Friday, July 23
10:00-11:00 Comedy Central: Ugly Americans— David M. Stern (showrunner and executive producer), Dan Powell (executive producer), Jeff Poliquin (supervising producer), Devin Clark (producer and series creator), Aaron Augenblick (director of animation), Matt Oberg (voice of Mark Lilly), Kurt Metzger (voice of Randall Skeffington), and Randy Pearlstein (voice of Leonard) take you behind the scenes at this animated series sensation. Featuring a sneak peek of the new season, Q&A, and more. One audience member selected will be drawn into an upcoming episode! Room 25Abc
10:15-11:15 Aloha, Earth!— Lost castaway found! Battlestar Cylon becomes human! Star Trek writers return from space!
The San Diego Comic-Con has posted the schedule for Friday, July 23. You can view the full schedule here, but below are the movie and TV events that ComingSoon.net/SuperHeroHype/ShockTillYouDrop.com will be concentrating on.
Friday, July 23
10:00-11:00 Comedy Central: Ugly Americans— David M. Stern (showrunner and executive producer), Dan Powell (executive producer), Jeff Poliquin (supervising producer), Devin Clark (producer and series creator), Aaron Augenblick (director of animation), Matt Oberg (voice of Mark Lilly), Kurt Metzger (voice of Randall Skeffington), and Randy Pearlstein (voice of Leonard) take you behind the scenes at this animated series sensation. Featuring a sneak peek of the new season, Q&A, and more. One audience member selected will be drawn into an upcoming episode! Room 25Abc
10:15-11:15 Aloha, Earth!— Lost castaway found! Battlestar Cylon becomes human! Star Trek writers return from space!
- 7/9/2010
- by editor@comingsoon.net (SuperHeroHype)
- Superherohype
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