Animated Horror

I’m a horror fan. I’m also an animator. It’s only natural for me to want to combine the two in the projects I’m working on, but until recently there haven’t been too many horror cartoons. That’s about to change with some upcoming shows and movies.

The Corpse Bride

Coming in September is a stop motion feature from producer Tim Burton, a follow-up of sorts to The Nightmare Before Christmas. This seems like an instant hit to me. When I saw the trailer recently, there were murmurs of excitement all around the theater. The character design reminds you of Jack Skellington, but also is similar to the look of Burton’s short film “Vincent.” Check out the website at CorpseBrideMovie.com

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Who doesn’t love Wallace and Gromit? I’m so happy they’ve finally got a feature film, an a horror-inspired one at that. Visit the website at www.wandg.com

The Amazing Screw-On Head

Mike Mignola’s screwy comic will soon be an animated series on the SciFi channel. Mignola is the amazing artist who created Hellboy and contributed conceptual designs to Disney’s Atlantis. Read about Screw-On Head over at Ain’t it Cool News. Or see some screwy artwork and an interview with Mignola at VRMMM.com.

El Superbeasto!

My favorite rock star Rob Zombie has a film in the works based on characters from his Spookshow International comic. It’ll be produced by Anchor Bay (one of the best horror DVD companies around) and involves talent from Spongebob and Dexter’s Lab. See some pre-production art over at Dread Central.

Monster House

Robert Zemekis just can’t get enough of that motion capture style he used so well in The Polar Express. The next such project is Monster House, about a three boys and… a house you wouldn’t want to go home to. Sounds like something out of Stephen King’s Dark Tower books. See the lenticular poster over at Ain’t it Cool News.