FIRST LOOK

First Look: DreamWorks Monsters vs Aliens

by Alex Billington
March 11, 2008
Source: USA Today

After DreamWorks Animation releases both Kung Fu Panda and Madagascar: The Crate Escape later this year, they'll be brining Monsters vs. Aliens to theaters in digital 3D. Based on the horror comic book "Rex Havoc", the animated film is a throwback to "those B-movie glory days of the '50s when Martians invaded our backyards and rubber monsters stalked the Earth." The film turns those classic movies into an irreverent modern day action comedy about a monster hunter called upon to battle aliens who disrupt cable TV service. USA Today has released our first look at the main characters in Monsters vs. Aliens.

DreamWorks' Jeffrey Katzenberg spoke to USA Today about the 2009 animated flick and its 3D nature, saying, "this isn't our father's 3-D." Although we haven't advanced enough to the point where the goofy glasses are unnecessary, Katzenberg says that "the digital projection puts a perfect image on the screen. There is no ghosting, no eye strain or nausea."

Making up the cast is Susan Murphy aka Ginormica (voiced by Reese Witherspoon), a modern-day California girl who has the bad luck to be hit by a meteor on her wedding day and grows to be 49 feet, 11½ inches tall (a wink at 1958's The Attack of the 50-Foot Woman); Dr. Cockroach, PhD (voiced by Hugh Laurie); the jellylike B.O.B. (voiced by Seth Rogen); the half-ape, half-fish Missing Link (voiced Will Arnett); Gen. W.R. Monger (voiced by Kiefer Sutherland); the president (voiced by Stephen Colbert); and finally, the evil alien Gallaxhar (voiced by Rainn Wilson).

Seen above: Susan, the giant Insectosaurus, Dr. Cockroach (on her shoulder), Missing Link and B.O.B. Witherspoon also comments on her involvement in the film, saying that she was "very inspired when the studio showed me storyboards. Playing a larger-than-life woman has given me my own opportunity to make tall jokes. My father was a fan of Roger Corman movies, I watched a lot of those on late-night TV."

Monsters vs. Aliens is directed by Rob Letterman (who directed Shark Tale) and Conrad Vernon (who directed Shrek 2), two very experienced DreamWorks team members. The film hits theaters on March 27th, 2009 next year.

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