To understand the success of Triggerfish, the fast-rising, Cape Town-based animation house, which won the prestigious MIFA Animation Industry Award this week in Annecy, one need look no further than the circumstances of its birth 25 years ago.
South Africa was finally emerging from the shadows of apartheid, a cruel and exploitive system of institutionalized racism that had oppressed its Black-majority population for nearly 50 years. Nelson Mandela was elected the country’s first Black president, and after years of being ostracized on the world stage, South Africa was finally rejoining the global community.
“I think it was a very heady time for the country,” says Triggerfish CEO Stuart Forrest. “Everyone was very excited. We were the ‘Rainbow Nation,’ and we really felt we could do anything.”
That boundless optimism—a sense that, as in the world of animation, even the impossible could be rendered possible—was baked into the company’s DNA.
South Africa was finally emerging from the shadows of apartheid, a cruel and exploitive system of institutionalized racism that had oppressed its Black-majority population for nearly 50 years. Nelson Mandela was elected the country’s first Black president, and after years of being ostracized on the world stage, South Africa was finally rejoining the global community.
“I think it was a very heady time for the country,” says Triggerfish CEO Stuart Forrest. “Everyone was very excited. We were the ‘Rainbow Nation,’ and we really felt we could do anything.”
That boundless optimism—a sense that, as in the world of animation, even the impossible could be rendered possible—was baked into the company’s DNA.
- 6/18/2021
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Dee Dee Davis is best known for playing the youngest trouble maker, Bryana "Baby Girl" Thomkins -- alongside her onscreen siblings, Jeremy Suarez and Camille Winbush -- in the hilarious family comedy, "The Bernie Mac Show." Guess what she looks like now!
- 1/16/2019
- by TMZ Staff
- TMZ
Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie
Directed by Kevin Finn and James D. Rolfe
Written by Kevin Finn and James D. Rolfe
2014, USA
For the uninitiated, The Angry Video Game Nerd started as a small independent Youtube series of surrealistic sketch comedy. Created by James Rolfe, the show became an internet sensation over the years amassing millions of subscribers and countless imitators. Rolfe’s foul-mouthed, hard-drinking online personality has turned him into a cult star, building a fan base interested in watching, but not necessarily playing, terrible 8-bit video games from the past. There’s a lot of rage, beer drinking, explosions, cursing, and toilet humour – but excessive profanity aside, just about every major online game review show today, owes a little something to Avgn. Rolfe might just be the world’s angriest, crudest retro-gamer but he’s also a man who’s built an empire in his basement, and truth be told,...
Directed by Kevin Finn and James D. Rolfe
Written by Kevin Finn and James D. Rolfe
2014, USA
For the uninitiated, The Angry Video Game Nerd started as a small independent Youtube series of surrealistic sketch comedy. Created by James Rolfe, the show became an internet sensation over the years amassing millions of subscribers and countless imitators. Rolfe’s foul-mouthed, hard-drinking online personality has turned him into a cult star, building a fan base interested in watching, but not necessarily playing, terrible 8-bit video games from the past. There’s a lot of rage, beer drinking, explosions, cursing, and toilet humour – but excessive profanity aside, just about every major online game review show today, owes a little something to Avgn. Rolfe might just be the world’s angriest, crudest retro-gamer but he’s also a man who’s built an empire in his basement, and truth be told,...
- 1/25/2015
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
London – Cape Town-based Triggerfish Animation Studios has signed with Wme for representation in all areas. The Hollywood agency will work with the independent studio, known as "the Pixar of South Africa," which plans to produce five new feature film projects over the next seven years. Known for producing animated features Zambezia, starring the voices of Jeremy Suarez, Abigail Breslin, Jeff Goldblum, Leonard Nimoy and Samuel L. Jackson, and Khumba, starring Jake T. Austin, AnnaSophia Robb, Steve Buscemi, Laurence Fishburne and Liam Neeson, Triggerfish is currently in development on its third feature. The film, Sea Monster,
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- 4/30/2014
- by Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Film: "Zambezia"; Voiceovers: Jeremy Suarez, Samuel J. Jackson, Jennifer Lewis, Abigail Breslin, Leonard Nimoy, Jeff Goldblum, Richard E. Grant, Jamal Mixon, Jim Cummings; Director: Wayne Thornley; Rating: ** and 1/2
This animated film in 2D and 3D versions from South Africa is at par with any other such from Hollywood. It is innocently and delightfully mesmerising. It is also colourful and lively with a birdy - entertainment.
The film begins with Kai (Jeremy Suarez) a young, enthusiastic and lonely falcon living in the barren Katungu desert of Africa questioning his reclusive father, Tendai (Samuel J. Jackson), "Is living all about surviving?" when his father was training him to be the fastest lizard grabber.
Just.
This animated film in 2D and 3D versions from South Africa is at par with any other such from Hollywood. It is innocently and delightfully mesmerising. It is also colourful and lively with a birdy - entertainment.
The film begins with Kai (Jeremy Suarez) a young, enthusiastic and lonely falcon living in the barren Katungu desert of Africa questioning his reclusive father, Tendai (Samuel J. Jackson), "Is living all about surviving?" when his father was training him to be the fastest lizard grabber.
Just.
- 8/1/2013
- by Diksha Singh
- RealBollywood.com
Yesterday when I showed you the list of the 21 Animated Feature contenders for the 2013 Oscars there were five films I didn't yet have information on -- Adventures in Zambezia, Delhi Safari, Hey Krishna, The Mystical Laws and Walter & Tandoori's Christmas. Well, I did a little scrounging and have come up with details on all five including trailers for each and only one of them is lacking subtitles. I have included information on all five below along with their trailers and, again, you can check out the full list of contenders here and I will be updating my Best Animation predictions very soon. Adventures in Zambezia Director: Wayne Thornley Voice Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Leonard Nimoy, Abigail Breslin, Jeff Goldblum, Richard E. Grant, Jeremy Suarez and Jenifer Lewis Synopsis: Frustrated with his isolated upbringing, a young falcon journeys to the bird city of Zambezia, leaving his home and father to make a life for himself.
- 11/3/2012
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
The first one-sheet poster and trailer for Zambezia, an ambitious animated feature produced by Triggerfish studios in South Africa, have arrived. A young falcon leaves the desolate desert where he lives with his father to discover action and adventure in the big city of Zambezia. The movie features voice acting from Jeremy Suarez, Abigail Breslin, [...]
Continue reading Zambezia Trailer and Poster on FilmoFilia.
Related posts: CG-Animated Feature Zambezia 3D Adds All-Star Cast ‘Definitely, Maybe’ Movie Trailer and Poster IMAX Poster and Trailer for “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa”...
Continue reading Zambezia Trailer and Poster on FilmoFilia.
Related posts: CG-Animated Feature Zambezia 3D Adds All-Star Cast ‘Definitely, Maybe’ Movie Trailer and Poster IMAX Poster and Trailer for “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa”...
- 6/5/2012
- by Allan Ford
- Filmofilia
Leonard Nimoy, Abigail Breslin, Jeff Goldblum and Samuel L. Jackson have joined the voice cast for 3D animated feature "Zambezia" for Triggerfish Animation Studios says Screen Daily.
The action is set near one of the giant waterfalls along the Zambezi river in a bird sanctuary led by the wise and battle-tested Fish Eagle Sekhuru (Leonard Nimoy). The story follows a young flying daredevil falcon who leaves to join the Hurricane defense flyers.
Richard E. Grant, Jennifer Lewis, Jim Cummings and Jeremy Suarez also voice characters in the film which Wayne Thornley directs from a screenplay by Andrew Cook, Anthony Silverston and Raffaella Delle Donne. The project is currently in production in Cape Town, South Africa.
The action is set near one of the giant waterfalls along the Zambezi river in a bird sanctuary led by the wise and battle-tested Fish Eagle Sekhuru (Leonard Nimoy). The story follows a young flying daredevil falcon who leaves to join the Hurricane defense flyers.
Richard E. Grant, Jennifer Lewis, Jim Cummings and Jeremy Suarez also voice characters in the film which Wayne Thornley directs from a screenplay by Andrew Cook, Anthony Silverston and Raffaella Delle Donne. The project is currently in production in Cape Town, South Africa.
- 9/12/2011
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Fat Albert is alive and kicking. Director Joel Zwick, who boarded the project nearly a year ago, has found a new leading man in Kenan Thompson. The actor and former star of Nickelodeon's Kenan and Kel as well as the current Barbershop 2: Back in Business will play the title character for 20th Century Fox. Production is gearing up for a mid-April start with a cast that also includes Omarion of B2K fame as Reggie, Raven-Symone in the animated part of Danielle, Jermaine Williams as Mush Mouth, Jeremy Suarez in the animated role of Russell and Aaron Frazier as Weird Harold. Thompson steps into a role once filled by newcomer Omar Benson Miller. Miller was to topline with Forest Whitaker at the helm in early 2002. However, that package fell apart because of a conflict of visions between Whitaker and Bill Cosby, who created the characters, and the director exited the project (HR 4/5/02).
- 3/10/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Opens
October 24
Brother Bear will be the last 2-D or cel animated feature cartoon to come out of Disney for a long time. Whether Disney, enthralled with the creative (and boxoffice) potential of 3-D computer animation, will ever return to traditional animation is an open question. But at least Disney bids farewell to 2-D in fine style. For Brother Bear is a playful movie that celebrates nature and the spirit world with striking imagery and a smooth blend of drama and comedy. The film should attract solid family business at the boxoffice.
Directors Aaron Blaise and Robert Walker along with producer Chuck Williams also have fun with the layout and design: The film starts off in an earthen color palette and the standard 1.85:1 format. Then, at the moment the movie's central character, a native American youth named Kenai, is transformed into a grizzly bear, the screen shifts to more saturated colors and Cinemascope or a 2.35:1 format, thus opening up the rich vistas of the Pacific Northwest of 10,000 years ago to our startled eyes. It's a grand moment.
The movie begins as an old man relates a story to a group of young people in a cave, a story about himself and his two brothers. Years before, Tanana (Joan Copeland), the village shaman, gave the youngest brother, Kenai (Joaquin Phoenix), a totem to guide him through life. The totem, a carved bear, the symbol of love, disappoints him. This red-blooded brave would have preferred an eagle, such as the one given to his eldest brother, Sitka (D.B. Sweeny), or even the wolf that belongs to his brother Denahi (Jason Raize).
Later that day, when he discovers a bear has made off with his basket of fish, he hunts the grizzly down only to become trapped in the confrontation. His older brothers race to the rescue, with Sitka sacrificing his life to save Kenai. Heartbroken, Kenai vows revenge against the grizzly. Despite warnings from Denahi and Tanana, Kenai tracks the grizzly down and kills the animal. At that moment, the Great Spirits in the sky transform Kenai into a bear himself. So when Denahi comes upon the scene, he assumes this bear has now killed a second brother and moves to attack the bear, forcing Kenai to flee.
Tanana appears to the young man in a bear's body to explain that he was transformed by Sitka and that Kenai can find Sitka on the "mountain where the light touches the earth." While pondering this, Kenai encounters two dumber-than-dirt Canadian-accented moose (Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas hilariously reprising their MacKenzie brothers routine as dimwitted moose). Neither Rutt nor Tuke has any idea where to find this mountain, but they do reappear occasionally for comic relief.
Becoming ensnared in a hunter's trap, Kenai is rescued by a chatterbox bear cub named Koda (Jeremy Suarez) who not only frees him but claims to know where the mountain is. Reluctantly, Kenai takes on the cub as his companion for an adventurous trek through lively forests, glacial caverns and a volcanic field, all the while being tracked by revenge-minded Denahi.
The relationship between the put-upon Kenai and the gabby Koda is more than a little reminiscent of other recent cartoon "road" movies, say, the laconic mammoth Manfred and Sid the chattering sloth in Ice Age or even the loquacious donkey and the cranky ogre in Shrek. But this odd-couple pairing does lead to solid laughs, fueled in no small part by the wonderful comic patter of Suarez as Koda.
All the voice actors in fact are terrific, especially Moranis and Thomas and later Michael Clarke Duncan as Tug, a jovial bear who welcomes fellow bears at the annual salmon run. The mix of 2-D and 3-D effects gives this post-Ice Age wilderness startling, painterly beauty. Disney animators fill the landscapes with spectacular water effects, billowing clouds, drifting snow, volcanic mud pots and the brilliant hues of the Northern Lights aurora. The Cinemascope format gives a vastness to the scenery as if this wilderness goes on forever. The film also benefits from melodic songs written by Phil Collins in his second Disney cartoon outing and his first collaboration (with Mark Mancina) on a film score.
BROTHER BEAR
Buena Vista Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures
Credits:
Directors: Aaron Blaise, Robert Walker
Producer: Chuck Williams
Screenwriters: Tab Murphy, Lorne Cameron, David Hoselton, Steve Bencich, Ron J. Friedman
Songs: Phil Collins
Music: Mark Mancina, Phil Collins
Associate producer: Igor Khait
Editor: Tim Mertens
Art director: Robh Ruppel
Background stylist: Xiangyuan Jie
Voices:
Kenai/Bear: Joaquin Phoenix
Koda: Jeremy Suarez
Rutt: Rick Moranis
Tuke: Dave Thomas
Sitka: D.B. Sweeny
Denahi: Jason Raize
Tug: Michael Clarke Duncan
Tanana: Joan Copeland
Mabel: Estelle Harris
Running time -- 81 minutes
MPAA rating: G...
October 24
Brother Bear will be the last 2-D or cel animated feature cartoon to come out of Disney for a long time. Whether Disney, enthralled with the creative (and boxoffice) potential of 3-D computer animation, will ever return to traditional animation is an open question. But at least Disney bids farewell to 2-D in fine style. For Brother Bear is a playful movie that celebrates nature and the spirit world with striking imagery and a smooth blend of drama and comedy. The film should attract solid family business at the boxoffice.
Directors Aaron Blaise and Robert Walker along with producer Chuck Williams also have fun with the layout and design: The film starts off in an earthen color palette and the standard 1.85:1 format. Then, at the moment the movie's central character, a native American youth named Kenai, is transformed into a grizzly bear, the screen shifts to more saturated colors and Cinemascope or a 2.35:1 format, thus opening up the rich vistas of the Pacific Northwest of 10,000 years ago to our startled eyes. It's a grand moment.
The movie begins as an old man relates a story to a group of young people in a cave, a story about himself and his two brothers. Years before, Tanana (Joan Copeland), the village shaman, gave the youngest brother, Kenai (Joaquin Phoenix), a totem to guide him through life. The totem, a carved bear, the symbol of love, disappoints him. This red-blooded brave would have preferred an eagle, such as the one given to his eldest brother, Sitka (D.B. Sweeny), or even the wolf that belongs to his brother Denahi (Jason Raize).
Later that day, when he discovers a bear has made off with his basket of fish, he hunts the grizzly down only to become trapped in the confrontation. His older brothers race to the rescue, with Sitka sacrificing his life to save Kenai. Heartbroken, Kenai vows revenge against the grizzly. Despite warnings from Denahi and Tanana, Kenai tracks the grizzly down and kills the animal. At that moment, the Great Spirits in the sky transform Kenai into a bear himself. So when Denahi comes upon the scene, he assumes this bear has now killed a second brother and moves to attack the bear, forcing Kenai to flee.
Tanana appears to the young man in a bear's body to explain that he was transformed by Sitka and that Kenai can find Sitka on the "mountain where the light touches the earth." While pondering this, Kenai encounters two dumber-than-dirt Canadian-accented moose (Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas hilariously reprising their MacKenzie brothers routine as dimwitted moose). Neither Rutt nor Tuke has any idea where to find this mountain, but they do reappear occasionally for comic relief.
Becoming ensnared in a hunter's trap, Kenai is rescued by a chatterbox bear cub named Koda (Jeremy Suarez) who not only frees him but claims to know where the mountain is. Reluctantly, Kenai takes on the cub as his companion for an adventurous trek through lively forests, glacial caverns and a volcanic field, all the while being tracked by revenge-minded Denahi.
The relationship between the put-upon Kenai and the gabby Koda is more than a little reminiscent of other recent cartoon "road" movies, say, the laconic mammoth Manfred and Sid the chattering sloth in Ice Age or even the loquacious donkey and the cranky ogre in Shrek. But this odd-couple pairing does lead to solid laughs, fueled in no small part by the wonderful comic patter of Suarez as Koda.
All the voice actors in fact are terrific, especially Moranis and Thomas and later Michael Clarke Duncan as Tug, a jovial bear who welcomes fellow bears at the annual salmon run. The mix of 2-D and 3-D effects gives this post-Ice Age wilderness startling, painterly beauty. Disney animators fill the landscapes with spectacular water effects, billowing clouds, drifting snow, volcanic mud pots and the brilliant hues of the Northern Lights aurora. The Cinemascope format gives a vastness to the scenery as if this wilderness goes on forever. The film also benefits from melodic songs written by Phil Collins in his second Disney cartoon outing and his first collaboration (with Mark Mancina) on a film score.
BROTHER BEAR
Buena Vista Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures
Credits:
Directors: Aaron Blaise, Robert Walker
Producer: Chuck Williams
Screenwriters: Tab Murphy, Lorne Cameron, David Hoselton, Steve Bencich, Ron J. Friedman
Songs: Phil Collins
Music: Mark Mancina, Phil Collins
Associate producer: Igor Khait
Editor: Tim Mertens
Art director: Robh Ruppel
Background stylist: Xiangyuan Jie
Voices:
Kenai/Bear: Joaquin Phoenix
Koda: Jeremy Suarez
Rutt: Rick Moranis
Tuke: Dave Thomas
Sitka: D.B. Sweeny
Denahi: Jason Raize
Tug: Michael Clarke Duncan
Tanana: Joan Copeland
Mabel: Estelle Harris
Running time -- 81 minutes
MPAA rating: G...
- 11/10/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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