Sony Pictures Animation has released a video featuring test footage from
Genndy Tartakovsky's forthcoming
Popeye movie. It's fair to say that Sony is not the first studio you think of in relation to animation, but the movie arm of the Japanese electronic giant is trying to change that. This revival of the classic character is due in 2016, and will be the second time
Dexter's Lab creator Tartakovsky has worked with Sony, following 2012's
Hotel Transylvania. His first feature may have been a disappointment (critically at least) but this footage gives us plenty to be excited about. The director explains in his introduction how it's the film he's always wanted to make, and it shows. It's a wonderful capturing of the style of the classic cartoons blended with gorgeous modern animation techniques. It's made clear this is just test footage and is intended to show what they are trying to do, but does not feature actual film footage.
Tom "Spongebob Squarepants" Kenny voices Popeye in the clip, and does a spot-on job. It seems extremely likely the studio will want to replace him with a bigger name, unfortunately. God forbid you cast an
actual voice actor in the lead role in an animated movie... Check out the footage below.
