Nov 9, 2018

STX enters the fray for feature animation with "Ugly Doll" (trailer)

Here's the Uglydolls trailer, inspired by the plush toy line that launched in the early 2000s. It's yet another film derived from a non-narrative property or concept, following in the footsteps of recent projects like Trolls, The Lego Movie, The Angry Birds Movie, and The Emoji Movie.

It's also the first feature from STX Films, the upstart studio headed by former Universal chairman Adam Fogelson. His business model for the company, per this New Yorker profile from a couple years back, is producing star-driven films, hence the Uglydoll's emphasis on celebrities and musicians. As the New Yorker explained, “Having come up as a marketer at Universal Pictures, which he ran from 2009 to 2013, Fogelson believes that seventy-five per cent of a movie's success is due to its marketing and its marketability.”

The studio synopsis is below:

The new trailer highlights the singing and acting voices of Kelly Clarkson, Nick Jonas, Janelle Monáe, Blake Shelton, and Pitbull, in addition to the voices of Wanda Sykes, Emma Roberts, Gabriel Iglesias, and Wang Leehom.

Uglydolls is directed by Kelly Asbury (Smurfs: The Lost Village, Gnomeo and Juliet, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Shrek 2) and written by Erica Rivinoja (The Last Man on Earth, Trolls, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2) with additional writing by Vivian Wang. The film was originally announced as the animation directorial debut of Robert Rodriguez (From Dusk Till Dawn, Spy Kids), but he has since stepped back into a producer's role, which he shares with Jane Hartwell.

The animation is produced by Dallas-based Reel FX (The Book of Life, Rock Dog, Free Birds), with a lot of it produced at their new satellite studio in Montreal.

STX will release Uglydolls on May 10, 2019.