Kung Fu Panda
This picture shows the partnership between one of my all-time favourite human beings, Mr John Stevenson, and PO, a character designed by one of my all-time favourite artists, Nicolas Marlet. As I write this, John is currently wowing them in Cannes with his new movie, KUNG FU PANDA, which he directed (alongside John Osborne).
The look of the movie is based on the ever-elegant animal designs of Nicolas Marlet. Although he is very highly regarded by all who have ever worked with him and seen his drawings in person, it can be very hard to find samples of his work. The ART OF KUNG FU PANDA book will be a pretty good consolation prize for all of Nico’s many fans, who have been waiting in vain for him to start a blog or website, and it will certainly be on the must-have list of many artists in the animation community.
Kung Fu Panda is one of the movies that I am most looking forward to seeing this year, and that is really saying something, because 2008 is shaping up to be one of the best cinematic years to be a nerd. The last time I went to the movies (to see Ironman) there were an almost overwhelming number of trailers (or coming-soon posters in the lobby) for movies coming out this year, all of which built-in have nerd-appeal. Starting with Ironman, the nerd-friendly film roster continues with Speed Racer, Narnia, Indiana Jones, Kung Fu Panda, The Happening, The Incredible Hulk, Get Smart, Wall-E, Wanted, Hancock, Hellboy, The Dark Knight, The X-Files, The Mummy and Tropic Thunder. I am not interested in ALL of those films but I am certainly looking forward to quite a few of them.
And even if most of them suck then we movie-nerds will have even MORE stuff to complain about (which is almost more fun than actually liking stuff). Verily we live in the Golden Age of being a nerd.
