'Caveirao' by Guilherme Marcondes

Not many people know this, but every night at 3:33 Am time is frozen 

for a moment. During what is a fraction of second to mortal  eyes,

there is a second night, a secret one where the spirits of the city 

come out to play. That is the story of the eternal battle for the soul of 

Sao Paulo, the clash between bohemia and authoritarianism,

between comedy and horror. Inspired by the darker side of Brazilian 

pop culture, Caveirao crosses over genres and techniques. Fantasy,

horror and cartoon meet through live-action, 2D animation and 3D

vfx. This is the first film from 'The Master's Voice' project about ghost

stories based on urban folklore.

CREDITS

Director/Writer: Guilherme Marcondes

Cinematographer: Pierre de Kerchove

2D animation: Birdo

Production Designer: Olivia Helena Sanches

Music and sound designer: Paulo Beto - Anvil FX

Post Production Supervisor: Eddy Moussa

Editor: RJ Glass

Lead Compositor: John Harrison

Principal Cast: Carlos Dias as Caveirao

Mexican Mo-Cap Feature 'JOYFLUID'

The animated feature JOYFLUID opens in a limited number of IMAX 3D theaters in Mexico. The Mexico City-produced motion capture animated film was directed by Alejandro Rodriguez Huerta and made by the Rodriguez Brothers Animation Group.

The look of the film reflects its small budget, which was under $2 million. In its defense, that's only one-tenth the budget of the Indian mo-cap film Kochadaiiyaan, which looks only marginally better. No indication is given in the trailer, but JOYFLUID apparently has a socially aware message that deals with child development issues and disorders like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

The film has a Twitter account with frequent updates. If any Mexican readers see the film, please let us know what you think in the comments.

'Maleficent' A Hit, Seth MacFarlane Western Flops

Last month at the U.S box office, two films with strong animation ties opened in very different fashions. Disney's Maleficent, a dark fantasy re-imagining of the 1959 animated feature from the perspective of the villain, launched with $69.4 million. The Robert Stromberg-directed film tried to recapture the 2010 success of disney's live-action Alice in wonderland, but fell short of that earlier film's $116.1M opening. Even if it didn't reach the heights of the earlier Tim Burton film, Maleficent still posed a debut, including a $100.6M international opening, and certainly won't be the last Disney classic reheated as a live-action pic.

Meanwhile, A Million Ways to Die in the West, directed by and starring Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, sputtered with $16.8M. According to Box Office Mojo, "That's less than one-third of Ted's $54 million debut in June 2012. The movie even managed to open lower than past Summer comedy flops like Year One ($19.6 million), Land of the Lost ($18.8 million), The Dictator ($17.4 million) and The Internship ($17.3 million)."

The weak opening of Million Ways marks a rare miss for MacFarlane, who has generally enjoyed great success with his animated projects. The difference here is that MacFarlane relied on his own celebrity and acting instead of animation, which is what his fanbase likes about his work and has come to expect from him. The stark difference between the opening of Million Ways and Ted suggests that perhaps the earlier film's success owes a bigger-than-acknowledged debt to its animated star.

In other box offices news, Happy Little Submarine 3: Rainbow Treasure opened with $3.3M in Chinese theaters.

After Reading This, You'll Never Watch 'Finding Nemo" In the Same Way Again

Pixar's Finding Nemo told of a touching bond between a clown fish father and son. But according to this fascinating excerpt from Stephen R. Palumbi and Anthony R. Palumbi's new hook The Extreme Life of the Sea, Finding Nemo director Andrew Stanton bypassed the most intriguing trait of clown fish, which is that they can change their sex. Had Pixar stayed true to clown fish biology, they would have ended up with a quite different story:

The 2003 Disney film Finding Nemo formally canonized the

anemone dweller's adorability. The eponymous clown fish vanishes
 from his home anemone, forcing his widowed father to take off after
him. Finding Nemo gets many things right-the anxiety of leaving 
home and the obnoxious yelping of seagulls-but it punts away 
the most fascinating aspect of clown fish. As sequential 
hermaphrodites, they lead unique home lives. All are born male, with
the ability to change sex. Like a wild card, it's only good once: once
males turn into females, they can't turn back into males. The film 
supposes a lifelong romance for Nemo's parents, but genuine
clown fish live only as part of larger groups. A handful of fish share
each anemone, all beginning their lives as immature males. The 
largest and most dominant male turns into a female; the next-largest
develops functioning testes. She lay eggs, he fertilizes them. The
others bide their time, defending the anemone and the family's 
precious eggs. One of the mated pair will eventually die, to be swiftly
replaced by someone down the ladder.

If the matriarch dies, the fertile male who was #2 now takes her place 
as #1, metamorphosing into a female himself. A simply hierarchy of 
size and strength determines the family's whole structure, conflicting
with the acceptable social norms for children's movies. Finding 
Nemo painted a simple picture for more than just the sake of 
simplicity: a real clown fish father who lost his mate would not develop
a psychologically complex system of grieving and over protection. He
would simply become Nemo's new mother. Nemo (the only other fish 
remaining in the anemone) would rapidly develop mature gonads. He
would become his own father while his father became his mother,
and they would raise little incestuous Nemos together without a drip
of sentimentality. In retrospect, the producers at Disney probably
made the right call.

'Song of the Sea' Teaser Is A Sensitive Hand-Drawn Treat

Here's our first look at Cartoon Saloon's highly anticipated hand-drawn pic Song of the Sea, which will be released in the US this fall by GKIDS. The Irish film is directed by Tomm Moore whose debut feature The Secret of Kells was nominated for an Oscar in 2010:

Song of the Sea tells the story of Ben and his little sister Saoirse-

the last Seal-child - who embark on a fantastic journey across a 

fading world of ancient legend and magic in an attempt to return to

their home by the sea. The film takes inspiration from the

mythological Selkies of Irish folklore, who live as seals in the sea but

become humans on land. The film features the voices of Brendan

Gleeson, Fionnula Flanagan, David Rawle, Lisa Hannigan, Pat Shortt

and Jon Kenny. Music is by composer Bruno Coulais and Irish band

Kila, both of whom previously collaborated on The Secret of Kells.