Blue Sky Studios and the director of Ice Age are behind the well-reviewed animated family movie Epic.
Filled with name stars in the voice cast, the film tells the story of teenager Mary Katherine (Amanda Seyfried, In Time) who’s transported to a magical world and recruited by nature spirit Queen Tara (Beyonce Knowles, Austin Powers in Goldmember). The Queen needs help to save the Leafmen, whose existence is being threatened by evil warriors.
Also lending their voices to Epic are Colin Farrell (Seven Psychopaths), Christoph Waltz (Carnage), Jason Sudeikis (Horrible Bosses), Aziz Ansari (Ice Age: Continental Drift), Josh Hutcherson (The Hunger Games) and Rolling Stones’ own Steven Tyler.
Rated PG, the movie grossed a whopping $105.6 million in theaters, garnering decent reviews from critics and moviegoers. As critic Mike Scott with the Times-Picayune said, “It’s not quite an animated masterpiece, but it’s still a fun, sweet-hearted kid-pleaser that boasts some downright lovely animation.”
Both the DVD and Blu-ray come with the extras:
• Epic Coloring and Storybook Builder app, which helps kids create their own stories to share with family and friends.
• “Mub & Grub Intro” tour of the disc’s extras
• “Rot Rocks” showing how character Mandrake’s rotting world benefits ours
• “Bugs of Camouflage” showing how bugs hide in their environment, just like the movie’s Leafman
The Blu-ray Combo packs also contain these special features:
• “Birds, Bugs and Slugs: Forest Explorer” showing the forest characters and their real-life counterparts
• “The Epic Life at Two Inches Tall” about how life would be different if you were bug size
• “Mysteries of Moonhaven Revealed” with the filmmakers, artists and animators at Blue Sky Studios talking about the making of the film in seven sections:
• “The World”
• “The Leafman”
• “Queen Tara”
• “Mub & Grub”
• “Nim Galuu”
• “The Stompers”
• “Finding Moonhaven.”
The three-disc Blu-ray 3D Deluxe Edition Combo pack also comes with three seed cards, you fans can grow their own Epicgarden. And the two Blu-ray sets offer digital copy and instant streaming of the film with UltraViolet. Release date is August 20, 2013.