'Monsters' - Horizon Scanning

Percy Jackson and the Olympians; the sea of monsters 2013

Passell, S. (2010).

"Percy Jackson and the Olympians; the sea of Monsters! Directed by Thor Freudenthal has been announced to be released in 2013.

"The son of Poseidon and his friends head into the Sea of Monsters to find the mythical Golden Fleece."

imdb, inc. (2011).

Going back to the tales of Mythological monsters and Gods that had recently appeared in the film "Clash of the titans" which was a box office hit, this film is contains the same characters and themes of the Greeks Legends and is also a sequel to "Percy Jackson and the Olympians; The Lightning thief" which also contained Monsters and the story of Poseidon's son.

waterstones. (2011). Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters: The Graphic Novel 

Around the time of "Percy Jackson and the Olympians; the sea of monsters" a Graphic novel will be released as well  This shows that the story which contains the mythological monsters will be presented in different media. Large Monsters have been in the film industry for along time and have been spoken of for centuries with great tales of warriors taking down beasts etc but this franchise is taking all those popular legends and bring them to the modern world like fighting the monsters in the city or in a school.

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Wrath of the titans 2012

flicksandbits. (2011). wrath of the titans.

"Wrath of the titans" directed by Jonathan Liebesman has been announced to be released in 2012, the first film was very popular and no doubt this film will be a success too, with God and monstrous creatures, it seems that the media is grabbing hold of legends which are loved by many and turning them into feature length films. However unlike the "Percy Jackson" films, these films are not based in the modern time but re imagined in the time that the stories where originally set.

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Monster University (Monsters inc 2) 2013

The Movie Insider. (2011). Monsters University.

Monsters Inc by Disney Pixar was very popular and it has been announced that Monster University will be released in 2013.

"Monsters, Inc, released in 2001 by Pixar, was an early hit for the studio. It was the company's fourth feature film and made over $525million (£328million) on release.
John Goodman and Billy Crystal are expected to return as the 'fright engineer' characters Sully and Mike Wazowski from the first film. No details were revealed about the plot of the movie, although the title has suggested to many that it will be a prequel."

IPC Media. (2011). 

Even though evil monsters are popular in the media, friendly and funny monsters are loved as well but I would think that the aim of Pixar with their monsters widens the range of audience who can watch it and enjoy it.

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waterstones. (2011).

Monsters are also still be released in books, for example "50 Monster Stories" By Belinda Gallagher which is to be published on 01/07/2012. This shows that there is still an interest in typical monsters that you would see in Fairy tales and legends.

feb 2012

Forbidden Planet. (2011). 

Another example is the Graphic Novel "B.P.R.D. hell on earth; Gods and monsters" which is to be released in February 2012. The title shows that once again the idea of gods and Monsters seems to be very popular in the media and there a future releases which contain these themes. The style on the cover shows that it will be quite violent and dark, the opposite of what you would see in Monster Univeristy.

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I'm now going to look into Monster's within people and see future releases within the media that shows that killers and evil people are still popular.

Chucky Video Game announced

YOGEV. (2011). 

Although the "Gods and Monsters" and the typical strange looking beings are showing that they are still very popular in the future, serial Killers and evilness within people are still attracting attention within different media. Firstly there is the New Chucky video game announcement, this game will be based on the "Child's Play" Films. Puppets have appeared in previous research like Goosebumps etc so taking the fear of a living puppet killing innocent people still seems to be very popular. But will the players be playing as "Chucky" or be playing as the victim?.

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"Showtime has officially announced that everyone’s favorite serial killer, Dexter Morgan, will be back for another 24 episodes – as ‘Dexter’ has been renewed for seasons 7 and 8."

Kendrick, B. (2011).

The television show "Dexter" has announced to be making two more seasons to the show, this shows that the serial Killer vigilante is still popular and will continue in the future. The same story continues with each season having a new evil serial killer who is killing the innocent, so even though Dexter may be busy killing off bad people one by one he still needs to solve important crimes which are being done within Miami.

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Tom Hardy as Bane in "The Dark Knight Rises" Directed by Christopher Nolan 2012

Outlaw, K. (2011).

I've previously discussed about the previous villain of the new Batman series which was "The Joker" But now the next villain which is to be unleashed next is "Bane", the style of villain has changed a lot since the first showing of the enemies in the past, the killers seem to be updating and becoming much more merciless with the new vision of Christopher Nolan. Tom Hardy's "Bane" as well as Heath Ledger's "Joker both have facial features which make them look abnormal and more frightening than an average killer, Joker with his painted mask and Bane's dark mask creating more unique loveable enemies.

"He's brutal. He's a terrorist. A really horrible piece of work."

Outlaw, K. (2011). 

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Prototype 2

imdb, inc. (2011).

Prototype is a video game were the players can play as a character who has monster-like features; claws, large black spikes which spear people through the ground etc. The character doesn't care for people but only wants to find out the truth of the story. The game gives the player the ability to run around the city of Manhattan freely killing anyone they wish and fight other monsters who are infecting the city. The actions themselves shows that the character is very monstrous but with its strange mutated abilities it makes the character fit perfectly into a being a "Monster". A sequel was made because of the success of the first "Prototype game" and not much has changed, although the character may be new it still contains the features which were involved within the first game, this shows that the ability of players being a monster themselves within the game is very popular and liked.

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We'll keep you all informed here about 2012! we're looking forward to it already!

Carnival of Monsters. (2011).

The Carnival of Monsters isn't really about monsters or any of the popular themes which I have spoken about in the previous research but thought it would be quite interesting to see that the title of "Monsters" are still popular in other media than just evil people, serial killers and the typical monstrous being. The title contains the name "Carnival of monsters" which could relate back to the idea of "Circus freak shows". The festival is an art show which exhibits many different artists who show their contemporary art, the 2011 show was a success and the owners already plan on continuing the event next year in 2012.

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The famous popular killers which have become well known names within the Horror Genre are back for more, the stories are simply remakes of films which have been made in the past but altered to fit into the new modern age.

Halloween 3-D

Firstly there is Halloween 3-D directed by Patrick Lussier which is to be released in 2012, this is the second sequel to the updated remakes of the Halloween franchise. Michael Myers is a very popular killer and seems to continue to feature in on-going horror films.

"Everyone hated Zombie's Part II for trying something different, but just wait for the complaints if the franchise now retreats into doing nothing new at all...

All speculation obviously, but we can probably confidently predict that thisHalloween 3 will involve Michael Myers, and won't feature an evil toymaker and a really annoying song."

Williams, O. (2011).

Texas chainsaw massacre 3-D

Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3-D directed by John Luessenhop is also being released in 2012 with "Halloween 3-D" containing the famous characters fans have to come to love and he is known as "Leather Face". Both Halloween and Texas Chainsaw Massacre are being released in 3D as 3D viewing is becoming very popular and is now help creating a more fearful atmosphere within the horror films.

"Lionsgate and Millennium are planning a new kind of Saw for next Hallowe'en. Or rather, an old kind, with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D reportedly taking the elderly franchise right back to its Tobe Hooper roots. They always say that though."

Williams, O. (2011).

Nightmare on Elm Street 2

Stevennix2001. (2011).


Another popular horror character is Freddy Kruger with a new sequel which has been announced to be released in 2012, with the recent 2010 remake of the original film, the franchise will be continuing its horror with another film based on the classic story of the killer who kills people in their dreams.

The classic horror serial killers who have a large fan base are continuing to released feature length films, this shows that the stories which have been around for 30 years are still popular today and in the future.

ParaNorman

gfxwarrior. (2011).

From the creators of Caroline comes the new film named "ParaNorman" directed by Chris Butler, Sam Fell, which is to be released in the 2012. The Film is about a boy who can see ghouls and monsters, pretty much the "Paranormal". The animation is stop motion animated which makes the films visuals very unique and outstanding to watch. The films looks at typical monsters that you would expect to see in spooky story books and tales.

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"Coming soon, Moshi monsters tour and album They've conquered the online world, topped Christmas wish lists and infuriated Lady Gaga.Now bosses at Moshi Monsters, the Shoreditch children's website, plan an album and a UK tour early next year." 

Prigg, M. (2011).

Moshi Monsters continues to be a huge online sensation and will soon be releasing new content and going on a UK tour, this shows that the cute monster features are very popular to children and will continue to be.

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"Pushing Daisies" creator Bryan Fuller will write and executive produce the reimagining of the 1960s sitcom.

Rose, L (2011).

Previously in my past research I had discussed about Frankenstein's monster and also the show "The munsters", it has been announced that Bryan fuller will be doing a remake of the classic series. The classic monsters like vampires and wolf boy etc are returning with a new imagining which will fit in the modern day. Vampires and obvious monsters have been popular for a long time now but with the "Twilight" fan base growing (Twilight are films about vampire romance) the old classic horror monsters coming back may be a new hit at the awards. 

'Fairy Tales' - Horizon Scanning

Now I'm going to look at what is on the horizon for Fairy tales and see where they are heading in the media. First I will look into upcoming films which are being released in 2012.

Snow White and the Huntsman Directed by Rupert Sanders 2012

 Grey. (2011).

Snow White and the huntsman (to be released in 2012) Directed by Rupert Sanders is about the classic tale of snow White and the huntsman the evil queen sends out to kill her. This Film doesn't look like the classic fairy tale we once knew it as which large swords fights and snow white wearing armour fighting with the dwarfs, this film seems very dark and action based. Very similar to recently released film of Riding Hood which was also dark and violent, it seems like audience for the new fairy tale films have been aimed at a more teenage group were romance, violence and darker themes seem to be popular due to the Twilight craze.

This year's Red Riding Hood set a bold new template for contemporary fairytale reworkings, by ignoring most of what people liked about the original and making the rest of it all insufferable and Twilighty. It's a formula that next summer's Snow White and the Huntsman would do well to stick to.

Heritage, S. (2011). 

SnowWhiteHuntsman . (2011). Snow White and the Huntsman - Teaser Trailer.

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"Mirror Mirror" Directed by Tarsem Singh 2012

imdb, inc. (2011). Mirror Mirror: The Untold Adventures of Snow White (2012) .

Mirror Mirror (To be released in 2012) Directed by Tarsem Singh, once again is another featured length film based on the tale of snow white, however this version of the tale is much more happier and light themed compared to "Snow white and the huntsman", reminds me of the same type of direction which stardust aimed for. In the trailer it shows that Snow white works with the bandits (Dwarfs) and just like "Snow white and the huntman" She fights, changing the role of snow white completely and as spoken before women are becoming much more strong inspiring characters instead of the innocent princess who needs a prince to save her.

"This kind of breaks my heart. Not because I was especially excited about another revisionist Snow White film, but rather because I am quite fond of a lot of the people involved. Alas, nothing about this trailer for Mirror Mirror gives me hope for the final film, nor does it allow me to describe it as anything other than terrible."

Nier, S. (2011). 

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Jack The Giant Killer Directed by Bryan Singer 2012

JPK movieinsider. (2011). 

"Jack the Giant Killer" tells the story of an ancient war that is reignited when a young farmhand unwittingly opens a gateway between our world and a fearsome race of giants."

Aceshowbiz. (2011).

On set filming "Jack the giant killer"

Daily Mail Reporter. (2011).

The Story for this upcoming films sound quite dark and more violent than the original tale, once again following the same style as the "Snow white and Huntsman" and "Red Riding Hood" which seems to be the trend of the new fairy tales that people are looking forward to. Moving on from just a simple story which was told to kids to a more action dark story which opens up its audience to a large range of ages but could mainly be aiming at teenagers like the other films.

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"Pinocchio (2014)
Mexican director Guillermo del Toro is known for his dark monsters. He directed the folk, fairy-tale film Pan's Labyrinth in 2008 and has just announced that in 2014 he will be behind a new version of Pinocchio. Very little about the film is known but the Jim Henson company will be involved – could we expect puppets?" 

Bowie-Sell, D. (2011). 

With the success of Pan's Labyrinth and its very dark theme, I wouldn't be surprised if this version of Pinocchio that is to be released in 2014 will be in the same theme and creativeness of darkness. The style is very unique but fits well with Fairy Tale films, it would be nice to see a new version escaping all these knights and sword battles which seem to be a big interest within the new fairy tale films.

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Disney Pixar's Brave Summer 2012

 Pervy. (2011). 

Brave is new Disney Pixar animated film which is to be released in the summer of 2012, this film is about a princess who wanted to make her own path as strong woman who very skilled in archery and fights evil on her quest.

"This film seeks to do what Disney’s well-received film Tangled did before it: usher the classic princess fairytale into the modern age, via a heroine who is less ‘damsel in distress’ and more free spirited, independent and rambunctious."

Outlaw, K. (2011).

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J. Scott Campbell's Upcoming 2012 Fairy Tale Fantasies Calendar!

J. Scott Campbell's Upcoming 2012 Fairy Tale Fantasies Calendar!

Scott Campbell, J. (2011). 

Although the next year does seem to be taking a huge hit with the fairy tale film remakes, there are still other media which shows that fairy tales are still very popular and loved. J. Scott Campbell's Upcoming 2012 Fairy Tale Fantasies Calender is filled with many art pieces which resemble images which relate to fairy tale themes.

Although the theme of fairy tales seem to be heading in a Grimm direction, with dark endings and styles some art still remains in the beautiful colourful style we all once loved. More about magic than fighting.

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Four New Fairy Tale Jumble Stories by Hilary Robinson 2012

"After the success of the first four stories in the Fairytale Jumbles series Hilary has been asked to write four more! We’re wondering what new fairytales will be created by mixing up two existing stories? We can’t wait to see!Publication date is due for 2012"

Robinson, H. (2011).

Fairy Tale Jumbles are children books which mix up the characters we all know and put them together, very similar to dreamworks intentions with "Shrek". This shows that Fairy Tales haven't completely moved on from children to a more dark theme, there are still books for children to read and enjoy.

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Disney Fairy Tale Weddings by Alfred Angelo - Fall 2012

Style 216/Cinderella by Disney Fairy Tale Weddings by Alfred Angelo

Aquino, J. (2011).

Wedding Dresses are a big deal to women and many times it is quoted that people want "That fairy tale Weddings". With new line up of weddings dresses designed by Alfred Angelo based around the princesses of Disney classics shows that Disney's Fairy tales still have a big influence on the media today, with this example it is in fashion.

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Chinese New Year: 2012 

The Year of the Dragon 

"Chinese New Year is the longest and most important celebration in the Chinese calendar. The Chinese year 4710 begins on Jan. 23, 2012.

Chinese months are reckoned by the lunar calendar, with each month beginning on the darkest day. New Year festivities traditionally start on the first day of the month and continue until the fifteenth, when the moon is brightest. In China, people may take weeks of holiday from work to prepare for and celebrate the New Year."

Hartman, H. (2007).

As Dragons are a popular topic within the fairy tale genre it was quite interesting to see that the year when fairy tales take over the film industry is the year of the Dragon for the "Chinese new year"

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Some Kind of Fairy Tale by Graham Joyce - to be published in 2013

Waterstones. (2011). 

Fairy Tales books or stories influenced by fairy tales are still be released and there are many books which have been announced to be released in 2012 and 2013. The title some kind of fairy tale instantly shows what the audience would expect from the book.

waterstones. (2011). 

The Fairytales that are well known are still being released by different authors, like "Jack and the Beanstalk: Magnetic Fairytale Books" Although the tales may be old and told over and over again, they seem to keep coming but with new illustrations and new directions. Updating itself for the new age of children.

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Waterstones. (2011). Three Magic Mice - Fairy Tale Twists by Katie Dale.

 Waterstones. (2011). The Unfair-y Godmother - Fairy Tale Twists 6 by Katie Dale.  

Waterstones. (2011). Jack to the Rescue! - Fairy Tale Twists by Katie Dale.

Katie Dale and Matt Buckingham's take on Fairy tales are quite interesting, taking the same direction in which Shrek had gone by making the Fairy Tales have abit of a twist, the authors seemed to have aimed the books at children but more for comedy than just telling the same classic tale, like giving Jack from "Jack and the beanstalk" a super heroes costume and the "Fairy Godmother" being "Un-fairy".

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The Hobbit, 2012 directed by Peter Jackson

hdfreewallpaper. (2011).

With the success of the Lord of the Rings Franchise, Peter Jackson had to make two part feature length films based on before the story of the first three films. With enchanted creatures, magical wizards and evil beasts this style of production fits well within the Fairy Tale theme. 

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Magic - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012

Tan, M. (2011).

Magic the gathering

Magic the Gathering card game has been around for quite a while now, with it's "Fairy Tale" type monsters, wizards and lands. The game seems to keep developing further and further into a more digital format so that the games opens up to a larger audience. The style has kept the same with the dark mystical theme which seems to be popular and looks as if the films to be soon released will be following this path too.

"Wizards is trying to bridge the gap between the card game and the video game communities. Impressively, they have done a good job with most of these goals by implementing solid tutorials, lots of decks to battle, and a good set of new puzzles."

4 1/2 out of 5 Stars Rating 

Boothe, N. (2011). 

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Dorothy of Oz Cover 2012

As spoken in my previous research "Wizard of Oz" had a strong theme towards fairy tale genre mainly due to its magical world and an evil witch. In 2012 an animated film will be released named "Dorothy of oz" which will be based on Dorothy's Return to oz. The Film has moved on from live action film to a 3D animated Adventure, which although may be welcoming towards the whole family it looks very aimed at being a children film. Looking at the success of previous Magical Animated films like Tangled, Shrek etc it looks like 3D animation is very popular with this Genre of film.


imdb, inc. (2011).

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Tangled ever after short january 13th 2012

Comingsoon. (2011). Disney's Tangled Ever After Heads to Theaters


With the original "Tangled" by Disney being very popular, Disney is to released a short animated film at the beginning of the release for Disney's Beauty and the beast in 3D. This shows that the colourful, funny attitiude towards "Fairy Tales" is popular and will continue to be loved.

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"Fantasyland Expansion: Certain phases have already opened and more will contiue to do throughout 2012 and 2013. New things to enjoy in 2012 will be the duelingDumbo The Flying Elephant attractions, Fantasyland Forest, Under The Sea: The Voyage of The Little Mermaid, and Barnstormer featuring the Great Goofini."

Walt Disney World is always expanding with new festivals, new shows etc and looks like it's success of being loved by millions of families continues and has much more in store to attract more customer. The Disney style of things isn't dead, it has started many years ago and continues to be very successful, also with the title "The year of more Magic" just shows that magic itself is going to be a big feature next year within Walt Disney and continue to be popular.

Cox, D. (2011). 

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waterstones. (2011). 

Aswell as the magic continuing in "Walt Disney World", the magic theme still continues through a spread of media, for example with this book "Melric" to be published in 2012. This shows that there is still an interest in magic to children audiences and that the theme will continue to next year.

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imdb, inc. (2011). The Avengers 

I have mentioned Super heroes quite a bit during my research as I have stumbled across of how popular they really are. In 2012 Marvel plan to release the film "The Avengers" directed by Joss Whedon. There is much excitement for this film for fans as it is a combination of a few main characters from other stories which have been put into one.

"The Avengers is that it will end up being a bit like one of those big screen transfers for a long-running successful TV show: the fans love it because they have an investment in the characters, but nobody else watching has got a clue why they should be remotely interested."

Child, B. (2011). 

Yes there may be worries about it only being popular to fans as they understand who is who and will automatically love the characters presented in previous films but isn't this common with many films, like with the new releases of "Fairy Tale" films, although yes the film introduces the character and a development can be made but aren't the "Fairy Tale" films more popular because we know what they are and they're features we have already fallen in love with.

An older audience seems more target-able as you know they know the stories.

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Goldberg , M. (2011).

Another example of were Fairy Tales meet film in the next year is the film titles "Hansel and Gretel: witch hunters". Once again this film looks darker and much more adult themed than the children's story book, it shows that over time the target audience is getting older and older and the features are getting darker and darker. Also this is another example of witches appearing in the horizon, Witches seem to be a very common enemy in the new releases of "Fairy Tales".

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Another addition to my research is the "Penguin Design Award 2012 brief", in this brief artists are asked to design a children's book for 2012 on the Grimm Brothers tales. This shows that Fairy Tales are still very popular and are also having a great influence on design in the near future.

From this research as well I have noticed that the "Grimm brothers" tales are becoming very popular and it seems like a lot of remakes based around there tales which could help me predict what could be a great IP opportunity for the near future.

Penguin Books ltd. (2011).