Bring on the Popcorn, and Make it a LOL Kids Movie Night! The Emoji Movie includes the original Hotel Transylvania Short “Puppy!”

Available on Digital October 10 and On 4K Ultra HD™ Combo Pack, Blu-ray + Digital, & DVD on October 24

CULVER CITY, Calif. (September 12, 2017) – Be the movie night hero and bring home the film that kids give two thumbs up to for the ultimate kid’s movie night! It’s time to express yourself when Sony Pictures Animation’s THE EMOJI MOVIE arrives for the first time on Digital on October 10 and on 4K Ultra HD+ Blu-ray + Digital, Blu-ray + Digital and DVD October 24 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The animated comedy unlocks the never-before-seen secret world inside your smartphone. Hidden within the messaging app is Textopolis, a bustling city where all your favorite emojis live, hoping to be selected by the phone’s user. In this world, each emoji has only one facial expression – except for Gene (T.J. Miller), an exuberant emoji who was born without a filter and is bursting with multiple expressions. Determined to become “normal” like the other emojis, Gene enlists the help of his handy best friend Hi-5 (James Corden) and the notorious code breaker emoji Jailbreak (Anna Faris). Together, they embark on an epic “app-venture” through the apps on the phone, each its own wild and fun world, to find the code that will fix Gene. But when a greater danger threatens the phone, the fate of all emojis depends on these three unlikely friends who must save their world before it’s deleted forever.

THE EMOJI MOVIE features an all-star voice cast including T.J. Miller (How To Train Your Dragon) as Gene Meh, James Corden (“Late Late Show with James Corden”) as Hi-5, Anna Faris (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs) as Jailbreak, Maya Rudolph (Big Hero 6) as Smiler, Steven Wright (Louie) as Mel Meh, Jennifer Coolidge (American Pie, Legally Blonde) as Mary Meh, Jake T. Austin (“Wizards of Waverly Place”) as phone owner Alex, Grammy® Award Winner Christina Aguilera as Akiko Glitter, Emmy® Award Nominee Sofia Vergara (The Smurfs) as Flamenca, Rachael Ray (“Rachael Ray”) as Spam, Emmy® Award Winner Sean Hayes (“Will & Grace”) as “Devil” Steven, and Emmy® Award Nominee Sir Patrick Stewart (X-Men, Star Trek: The Next Generation) as Poop.

THE EMOJI MOVIE is filled with interactive bonus materials on the Blu-ray, 4K Ultra HD, DVD and digital releases that are fun for the entire family to enjoy including the “Good Vibrations” Dance Along and Lyric Video, where you can join along in the dance party. You can tell that they don’t spare any expense with video production either. Learn about the amazing dance moves from the film’s celebrity choreographer in “Choreographing Emoji with Matt Steffanina.” Get creative with step-by-step tutorials on how to draw your favorite Emoji’s with two “how to” videos. Go behind-the-scenes of a real-life coding school with the “Girls Who Code” featurette, and get to know everything about the all-star cast in “Express Yourself: Meet the Cast.” Fans will also get to unveil more of the story behind their beloved character in “Jailbreak Decoded: The Untold Story.” Additional featurettes include “Creating the World Inside Your Phone,” “Bringing Emoji’s to Life,” and the very exciting “Puppy! An Original Hotel Transylvania Short.”

In addition to extra content above, exclusive to Blu-ray, fans of all ages will be able to give it their best shot at the “Gimme a Hand! Guess the Emoji Game,” where Hi-5 and Smiler give you clues to help you guess the mystery Emojis. You will also have the chance to get creative with your Halloween Trick-Or-Treat candy with “Sweet App-etite: Make Your Own Candy Crush Inspired Saga Cake.”

THE EMOJI MOVIE is directed by Tony Leondis, with screenplay by Tony Leondis & Eric Siegel and Mike White and story by Tony Leondis & Eric Siegel. The film is produced by Sony Pictures Animation, with Michelle Raimo Kouyate serving as the producer.

DVD and Digital Bonus Materials Include: 
• Director & Animators Commentary
• Puppy! An Original Hotel Transylvania Short
• Jailbreak Decoded: The Untold Story
• “Good Vibrations” Dance Along
• “Good Vibrations” Lyric Video
• Express Yourself: Meet The Cast
• Girls Can Code!
• Choreographing Emoji With Matt Steffanina
• Creating the World Inside Your Phone
• Bringing Emojis to Life
• How To Draw Poop
• How To Draw Gene

Blu-ray Exclusive Bonus Materials Include:
Everything listed above, plus:
• Gimme a Hand! Guess the Emoji Game
• Sweet App-etite: Make Your Own Candy Crush Inspired Saga Cake

THE EMOJI MOVIE has a run time of approximately 91 minutes and is rated PG: for Rude Humor.

ABOUT SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) is a Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) company. Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE’s global operations encompass motion picture production, acquisition and distribution; television production, acquisition and distribution; television networks; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; and development of new entertainment products, services and technologies. For additional information, go to http://www.sonypictures.com.

ABOUT SONY PICTURES ANIMATION
Sony Pictures Animation produces a variety of animated and family entertainment for audiences around the world. The studio is following its worldwide comedy hits—the record-breaking monster comedies Hotel Transylvania and Hotel Transylvania 2, the hybrid live action/animated blockbusters The Smurfs and The Smurfs 2, and the mouth-watering Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs movies—with the fully animated reboot Smurfs: The Lost Village available on digital and Blu-ray now; a surprising and comic take at the secret world inside our phones with The Emoji Movie in July 2017; the inspirational The Star in November 2017; Hotel Transylvania 3 in July 2018; and an animated Spider-Man feature from the minds of directors Chris Miller and Phil Lord in December 2018. The studio, in conjunction with Aardman Animations, has produced two critically acclaimed feature films: the CG-animated family comedy Arthur Christmas; and the Academy Award® nominated stop-frame animated high-seas adventure, The Pirates! Band of Misfits. In 2007, Surf’s Up also received an Academy Award® nomination for Best Animated Feature Film; a sequel entitled Surf’s Up 2: WaveMania is now available on digital and DVD. The division, whose first feature film Open Season led to a very successful movie franchise including the brand new Open Season: Scared Sillynow available on digital, DVD and Blu-ray, was founded in 2002. Sony Pictures Animation is a division of the Sony Pictures Motion Pictures Group.

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Blu-ray 3D Review "Hotel Transylvania"

Starring: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Selena Gomez, Steve Buscemi, David Spade, Andy Samberg
Director: Genndy Tartakovsky
Number of discs: 3
Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Sony Animation
DVD Release Date: January 29, 2013
Run Time: 91 minutes

Film: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Extras: 3.5 out of 5 stars

After Adam Sandler’s last few terrible films like “That’s My Boy” and Jack and Jill”, I didn’t want to see any more of him. Luckily in “Hotel Transylvania” you only have to hear him, so that works for me. This is also the directorial debut for Genndy Tartakovsky, who is known best for “Samuari Jack” and the 2003 “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” mini-series. The animation style is very different but the man definitely knows how to direct animation. I am a big fan of the classic monsters and this film feels like today’s reboot of Rankin/Bass’ “Mad Monster Party”. We get all the great monsters here and this film is actually really funny and entertaining. I would highly recommend checking this out for sure, especially in 3D if possible. Sony Animation is really stepping up its game and delivering hit after hit in this department.

Besides Adam Sandler playing the role of Dracula. Wizard of Wavery Place’s Selena Gomez plays Mavis, Dracula’s 118 year old “teenage” daughter, Andy Samberg plays the human Jonathan, Kevin James voices Frankenstein and his wife Eunice is voiced by Fran Drescher. Steve Buscemi is Wayne the Werewolf and his wife Wanda is voiced by Molly Shannon. David Spade voices Griffin the Invisible Man. Cee Lo Green is Murray, the obese mummy. Lastly, Jon Lovitz voices Quasimodo Wilson, the former Hunchback of Notre Dame now a gourmet chef. I love the twist that they put on each of these classic monsters. It adds a lot to the film and really delivers the laughs.

Official Premise: Welcome to Hotel Transylvania, Dracula’s lavish five-stake resort, where monsters and their families can live it up and no humans are allowed. One special weekend, Dracula (Sandler) has invited all his best friends – Frankenstein and his wife, the Mummy, the Invisible Man, the Werewolf family, and more – to celebrate his beloved daughter Mavis’s (Gomez) 118th birthday. For Dracula, catering to all of these legendary monsters is no problem, but the party really starts when one ordinary guy stumbles into the hotel and changes everything.

I have to come straight out and say that I feel that Sony delivers the best Blu-ray experience, specially with Blu-ray 3D. They have been very consistent and never let’s you down. This release is very impressive in all areas. It comes as a combo pack with a Blu-ray 3D disc, a stanard Blu-ray, a DVD disc and also an UltraViolet Digital Copy, which will be immediately added to my account for repeat viewings. The 1080p transfer is really perfect. The 3D effects in the film are fun and not too over-the-top. I feel that they look even better on home media format then in theaters. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track really works well with the music and crazy antics that this film delivers.

The special features are kick-ass just like the film and come jam-packed with a lot of kid-friendly goodies. First up we have ““Goodnight Mr. Foot””, which is the new mini-movie also directed and animated by Genndy Tartakovsky. There are three deleted scenes included. There is a music video by Becky G Featuring will.i.am for the song “Problem (Monster Remix)”, as well as a behind-the-scenes featurette on the video. There is a really sweet commentary with Director Genndy Tartakovsky, Producer Michelle Murdocca, and Visual Effects Supervisor Daniel Kramer. I loved listening to Genndy talks about the film and Daniel giving tips about the effects used. The rest of the extras are exclusive to the Blu-ray discs including three progression reels and two Featurettes: ““Meet the Staff and Guests: Voicing Hotel Transylvania”” and ““Making the Hotel””. Both featurettes are great and a higlight of the release.

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Filed Under: DVD/Blu-Ray Reviews Tagged With: 3d, bluray, hotel, review, transylvania

Book Review “The Art and Making of Hotel Transylvania”

Author: Tracey Miller-Zarneke
Hardcover: 160 pages
Publisher: Titan Books
Release Date: September 25, 2012

Our Score: 4 out of 5 stars

I am huge fan of the classic Universal monsters and films like Rankin/Bass’ “Mad Monster Party”. “Hotel Transylvania” feels like a 2012 new take on classic horror monsters like Dracula, Frankenstein, the Mummy, Werewolf, and the Invisible Man. The film is directed by Genndy Tartakovsky (who also delivers a great foreword), creator of “Samurai Jack” and executive producer and director of “Star Wars: Clone Wars” animated series, so you know you are getting quality. “The Art and Making of Hotel Transylvania” is a very fun and very informative look into the film and its production. Titan Books scores again for sure. When I honestly see that they are doing an Art/Making of book, I get psyched because they never you let down. This book also got me 100% more excited to see this film now. Fans of classics monsters, definitely check this out!

The film features the classic monsters but in more modern settings like Dracula owns a monsters-only hotel. I think that is a fun twist and should please both kids and parents alike. This book not only covers the beautiful art of this animated CG film but also dives deep into the production. There are over 400 pieces of concept art, character sketches, storyboards and digital art. It is nice to also include the digital aspect of the film since it really gives an insight into how much work went into this film. I am just a huge fan of concept art, I don’t know what it is but I love seeing the artists different conceptual designs. Besides all art there is also numerous interviews with filmmakers and crew chatting about the creating this film.

This book is authored by Tracey Miller-Zarneke, who has credited roles on the feature films “Meet the Robinsons”, “Chicken Little” and “The Emperor’s New Groove”. So this lady actually knows animation very well. If you still need more proof, Tracey has also written a bunch of other amazing “art of” books including “The Art and Making of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs”, “The Art of Kung Fu Panda 2” and “The Art of How to Train Your Dragon”. The book is very well presented and just looks amazing. The colors are very sharp and really pop off the pages. If their goal for this book was to really deliver us the world behind the film, “Hotel Transylvania”, (which I am sure it was) then they did their job very well. Highly recommended!

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Filed Under: Book Reviews Tagged With: art, book, hotel, making, review, transylvania, ...

Complimentary Passes to the Orlando, FL Screening for “Hotel Transylvania” [ENDED]

ALL TICKETS HAVE BEEN DISTRIBUTED! THANKS AGAIN FOR VISITING AND STAY TUNED LATER THIS WEEK FOR NEW GIVEAWAYS!!

For your chance to receive event passes, log on to www.GOFOBO.com/RSVP
Enter RSVP code: MEDIAM9ZLH
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Winter Park, FL
Passes are limited and are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Welcome to the Hotel Transylvania, Dracula’s lavish five-stake resort, where monsters and their families can live it up, free from meddling from the human world. As a haven for his daughter Mavis, he opens the Hotel Transylvania, where his daughter and some of the world’s most famous monsters — Frankenstein and his bride, the Mummy, the Invisible Man, a family of werewolves, and more — can kick back in safety and peace.

 “Hotel Transylvania” movie hits theaters on September 28, 2012.

Director: Genndy Tartakovsky
Screenwriter: Don Rhymer
Starring: Adam Sandler, Selena Gomez, Andy Samberg, Kevin James, Fran Drescher, Cee-Lo Green, David Spade, Steve Buscemi, Molly Shannon, David Koechner

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