Trailer Time: Zootopia Trailer #1 (2016) *Can Disney Animation Keep the Streak Alive?*

Can Walt Disney Animation continue its renaissance?  So dismally outshone by Pixar that it might as well have been dead, it looked like things were over for the House That Walt Built.  But after Tangled, Frozen and Big Hero 6, you could argue they’re operating on just as high a level (if not higher) than their Pixar brethren.  Either way, it’s great for Disney fans.

The modern mammal metropolis of Zootopia is a city like no other. Comprised of habitat neighborhoods like ritzy Sahara Square and frigid Tundratown, it’s a melting pot where animals from every environment live together—a place where no matter what you are, from the biggest elephant to the smallest shrew, you can be anything. But when rookie Officer Judy Hopps (voice of Ginnifer Goodwin) arrives, she discovers that being the first bunny on a police force of big, tough animals isn’t so easy. Determined to prove herself, she jumps at the opportunity to crack a case, even if it means partnering with a fast-talking, scam-artist fox, Nick Wilde (voice of Jason Bateman), to solve the mystery.Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Zootopia,”

The comedy-adventure is being directed by Byron Howard (Tangled, Bolt) and Rich Moore (Wreck-It Ralph, The Simpsons) and co-directed by Jared Bush (Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero). The voice cast also includes Shakira, Idris Elba, J.K. Simmons, Nate Torrence, Jenny Slate, Tommy Chong, Octavia Spencer, Bonnie Hunt, Don Lake, Alan Tudyk, Tommy “Tiny” Lister, Raymond Persi, Katie Lowes, Jesse Corti, and John DiMaggio.

Zootopia opens in theaters on March 4th, 2016.

Trailer Time: Now You See Me – The Second Act (2016) *Can Magic Strike Twice?*

One year after outwitting the FBI and winning the public’s adulation with their Robin Hood-style magic spectacles, The Four Horsemen resurface for a comeback performance in hopes of exposing the unethical practices of a tech magnate. The man behind their vanishing act is none other than Walter Mabry, a tech prodigy who threatens the Horsemen into pulling off their most impossible heist yet. Their only hope is to perform one last unprecedented stunt to clear their names and reveal the mastermind behind it all.

Now You See Me got mixed reviews, but, I thought it was absolutely brilliant fun.  They left the end of the first movie open for the possibility of more and more is coming in summer 2016.  The thing that stands out to me is that the female leads from the first film, Isla Fisher and Melanie Laurent, are not returning for the sequel.  Fisher was 1/4 of the Four Horsemen and her place appears to be taken by Lizzy Caplan.  It does look like Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine are returning, and I hope this ends up being as much of a blast as the first.  Now You See Me: The Second Act opens June 10, 2016.