Can Sean Connery's voice save 'Sir Billi' from its own CGI?
Does Sean Connery have a death wish?
That is the only reason that I can think of for his investing money, executive-producing, and voice-acting in the forthcoming first Scottish CGI animated feature, Sir Billi.
The Cartoon Brew website has the latest trailer, which is unbelievable. The humans and talking animals are the ugliest that I have ever seen. (Well, except for Hoodwinked, but that at least had a clever plot.)
Sir Billi is about, to quote CB’s Amid Amidi, a retired skateboarding bald senior-citizen veterinarian (Connery) with Gordon, his anthropomorphic homosexual pet goat with bladder problems, who wears a Bruce Lee-style yellow jumpsuit and thinks that he is a dog. Together they set out to rescue Bessie Boo, Scotland’s last beaver, and Wee Dave, a cute rabbit who helped raise her.
A heart-warming and hilarious action packed family movie, where thrilling car chases, heroic skydiving and daring stunts from this octogenarian, fueled with encounters with a hostile submarine, will keep you at the edge of your seat!
There are other anthro animals.
The movie has been made by Billi Productions Ltd. in Glasgow, directed by Sascha Hartmann, who wrote it with his wife Tessa. It was originally announced in 2010; then it was slated to premiere at the 15th annual Sonoma (Calif.) International Film Festival on April 11 – 15, 2012. It apparently did, according to a killer review, but it has not been seen since. Now no date is promised, BUT IT WILL BE RELEASED SOMEDAY! (Is that a promise or a threat?)
The link to the Cartoon Brew announcement includes two trailers. The second is the funnier. [Shown below to the left.]
Read more: Variety's brief, unfavourable review, and an interview with Tessa Hartmann by AMFM
About the author
Fred Patten — read stories — contact (login required)a retired former librarian from North Hollywood, California, interested in general anthropomorphics
Comments
The preview image on the trailer on right is disturbing. oh god, the black soulless pits... Watching trailer its clear its eyeshadow, but man, the character designs are so creepy. Clearly the Uncanny Valley is in Scotland somewhere.
I really think Connery didn't take a role where there wasn't at least the possibility of his character dying at the end of the movie after a certain point. Even as the last dragon, guy kicked it. He even "died" as 007 in "You Only Live Twice;" the only non-bond movies after the mid-80s I can remember him not dying are "The Rock" (where he faked his death) and "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" (where it literally took an act of God to save his life).
I didn't see that movie he was in where Catherine Zeta Jone's butt goes under a laser. He probably survived that one.
Also, I thought he was retired ...
A perfect example of how talent in one field does NOT mean you are an expert in another.
Not all actors make good directors. Or even makes them able to recognize a good script from garbage. Yet people still fall for celebrity endorsements. "I can catch a football, so use this brand of rocket engine lubricant because I said so!"
Someone should write a book. "When Good Actors Pick Bad Scripts"
Didn't Connery retire? Maybe this movie is meant to make people stop asking him to come out of retirement.
"Sir Billi" has just changed its title, at least for U.S. distribution. It's now "Guardian of the Highlands". Cartoon Brew has the story, along with the new DVD cover. Most of the Cartoon Brew comments express skepticism that the new title will increase sales much, given the extreme ugliness of the DVD cover and the new trailer.
http://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/sir-billi-retitled-guardian-of-the-highl...
Fred Patten
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