Is there any animated film that doesn’t feature the voice of George Lopez? Ever since Beverly Hills Chihuahua Lopez is a hot commodity in the sound booth. Not only does Lopez voice Marmaduke’s feline friend Carlos, but he also just signed on to go blue and breathe some life into Grouchy Smurf. Marmaduke arrives on June 4th, The Smurfs on July 29th, 2011, and, sandwiched nicely between the two is yet another Lopez animated feature, Rio, due out next Easter.
This one comes from the folks responsible for the Ice Age movies over at Twentieth Century Fox and Blue Sky Studios. When a domesticated rare macaw named Blu discovers he’s not the last of his kind, he ditches Minnesota and heads south to Rio. He joins forces with the one that smashed his dreams of being the one and only, Jewel, another macaw that’s far more independent and adventurous than he.
The film’s first teaser trailer features Lopez’s character, a helpful toucan, attempting to give Blu a flying lesson. Whereas Lopez’s voice is as distinct as they come, I bet you’ll have to think for a minute before figuring out the talent behind Blu. Yes, our favorite geeky guy is transforming his ability to charm us with nerdiness on screen to the animated realm; Blu is Jesse Eisenberg. Rio should be pretty damn good even beyond the voice work. Check out the vibrancy of the animation. These birds are looking good and, even better, they’re sure to be outstanding in 3D. To top it all off, John Powell is in charge of scoring the film and will be assisted by Sergio Mendes and Will.i.am. If the music for this film turns out anything like Mendes’ collaboration with Will.i.am and the Black Eyed Peas, “Mas Que Nada,” this could be a fantastically unique score. There are so many reasons to look forward to Rio, so why not add another by checking out the new teaser from Moviefone?
