If you’re a big fan of Berkeley Breathed, who is perhaps best known for being the creator of the popular comic strip Bloom County, then you may already be familiar with his book MARS NEEDS MOMS – which has now been adapted for the big screen thanks to Walt Disney Pictures… well, at least it’s been sort of adapted, since the movie looks quite a bit different from the book. Now I’ve never been secret about the fact that I hate (and I mean HATE) motion capture technology, and the tagline notes it’s from “the producer of THE POLAR EXPRESS” is definitely not a selling point for me here. However, I will say the mocap depicted in this film looks fairly tolerable, maybe because much of it involves the alien world too. I do think if you’re going to make a mocap film, it needs to be something truly off the wall like this, so maybe this will change my mind a tad on that technology. The movie features the voices of Seth Green (ROBOT CHICKEN), Dan Fogler (GOOD LUCK CHUCK), Elisabeth Harnois (MIAMI MEDICAL), Mindy Sterling (AUSTIN POWERS), up and coming actor Kevin Cahoon, and Joan Cusack (Jessie in TOY STORY 2 and 3). It’s directed by by Simon Wells, who helmed THE PRINCE OF EGYPT a few years back, which is one of my favorite animated films on the past few decades. Take a look at the trailer below and tell us your thoughts in the comments. I hope Brethed gets a big fat check over this… we need an Opus movie!
Studio synopsis:
Take out the trash, eat your broccoli—who needs moms, anyway? Nine-year-old Milo (Seth Green) finds out just how much he needs his mom (Joan Cusack) when she’s nabbed by Martians who plan to steal her mom-ness for their own young. Produced by the team behind “Disney’s A Christmas Carol” and “The Polar Express,” “Mars Needs Moms” showcases Milo’s quest to save his mom—a wild adventure in Disney Digital 3D™ and IMAX® 3D that involves stowing away on a spaceship, navigating an elaborate, multi-level planet and taking on the alien nation and their leader (Mindy Sterling). With the help of a tech-savvy, underground earthman named Gribble (Dan Fogler) and a rebel Martian girl called Ki (Elisabeth Harnois), Milo just might find his way back to his mom—in more ways than one.
MARS NEEDS MOMS opens March 11, 2011
Born and raised in Dallas, Mark has been a movie critic since 1994, with reviews featured in print, radio and National TV. In 2001 he started the Entertainment section of the Herorealm website, where he contributed film reviews and celebrity interviews until 2004. After three years of service there, he started Bigfanboy.com, which has become one of the Dallas film community's leading information websites. Bigfanboy hosts several movie screenings in the Texas area, and works closely with film and TV studios and promotional partners to host exciting events and contests. The site also features a variety of rare celebrity and filmmaker interviews, and Bigfanboy.com regularly covers the film festival circuit as well. In addition to Hollywood reporting, Mark has worked for many years as an advertising and sci-fi/comic book artist. Clients have included Lucasfilm Ltd., Topps Trading Cards, The Dallas Mavericks and The Dallas Stars. From 2002 until 2015 he managed the Dallas Comic Con, Sci-Fi Expo and Fan Days events in the DFW area. He currently catalogs rare comic books and movie memorabilia for Heritage Auctions, and runs the Dallas Comic Show conventions, but remains an avid moviegoer and cinema buff. 
i see dead (eyed) people.
Heh. Well Chris, you have to admit it looks better than THE POLAR EXPRESS.
This looks so amazingly awful. I couldnt get all the way through it because it was just so… sad. Yes, it’s better than POLAR EXPRESS, as if that’s saying a whole lot. But Breathed has such a wonderfully quirky visual style: why couldnt they trust that? And these lamely predictable add-on characters?
Lord. This is just pathetic.