This weekend director Andrew Stanton, famous for Pixar animations A Bug’s Life, Finding Nemo, and Wall-E, made his live-action debut with John Carter. There’s a saying that goes something like this: first you need to learn how to walk before you can run. Andrew Stanton, while he did cut his teeth in animation, jumped straight to a 50 mile marathon with the $250 million sci-fi epic John Carter.

But he is not the only animation director that makes his live-action debut this month. Phil Lord and Chris Miller of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, the Oscar nominated 2009 animated flick from Sony, are bringing 21 Jump Street to the big screen next week.

Obviously the duo of Phil Lord and Chris Miller are taking things slower compared to Andrew Stanton and unfortunately for the latter his first live-action flick is proving to be something of a box office bomb for Disney. According to estimates, John Carter opened with $30.6 million which is in line with expectations but a lot lower then what it should be doing in order to get a pass.

Over the years there have been more than a few directors that started in animation and then successfully transitioned to live-action. The following is not a ‘top list’ of the most popular individuals but more a collection of 5 directors in no particular order who managed to turn at least one or two box office hits during their live-action ventures.

Rob Minkoff

Co-director of the highest grossing hand-drawn animated film of all time, The Lion King, Rob Minkoff successfully transitioned to live-action (though not 100%) with Stuart Little back in 1999. It was a not so little film (no pun intended, the film did cost $133 million) based on the classic children novel of the same name written by E. B. White, that blended a computer generated hero (Stuart Little) with a live-action almost everything else. The movie went on to gross $300 million worldwide and even spawned a sequel released in 2002, handled again by the same Rob Minkoff, one that made quite a bit less ($170 million worldwide). He went back to Disney and in 2003 opened the rather bad Eddie Murphy comedy, The Haunted Mansion with a worldwide total of $182.3 million. Since then he also directed The Forbidden Kingdom, somewhat successful with $128 million around the world, and Flypaper, a movie almost no one saw when it opened in just 2 theaters back in August last year.

Kevin Lima

This guy right here co-directed one of the last Disney hand-drawn animations before the computer generated tide came and swept everything away, namely Tarzan. With $448.2 million worldwide in 1999, it was a very successful film so for his live-action debut, Disney handed him the reins to 102 Dalmatians, the sequel to the live-action remake of the 1961 animated classic. With only $183.6 million worldwide, 102 Dalmatians was not as successful as 101 Dalmatians (1996) and its $320.6 million. Also, the movie was kind of bad so not the best live-action start for Kevin Lima. Fortunately for him, Enchanted, his 2nd live-action adventure, proved to be a hit with both critics and the general audience, and took $340.5 million worldwide which was a damn good rebound for Kevin Lima. Disney are actually planning an Enchanted 2 for 2014 according to IMDB. Recently Kevin Lima went back to his roots for DreamWorks Animation’s upcoming Monkeys of Mumbai.

Brad Bird

Bird directed the magnificent The Iron Giant and then joined Pixar to direct The Incredibles and co-direct Ratatouille. With such a pedigree no wonder Tom Cruise was so keen on having him helm the 4th Mission: Impossible movie. So Brad Bird made his live-action debut last year in December with Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and considering that film made $686.1 million worldwide so far, I’d say this is arguably one of the best transitions from one medium to another. Truth be told, Mission: Impossible was already a household name but following Mission: Impossible 3, there were probably a few execs at Paramount scared that Brad Bird would not deliver. Looking back now, he more than delivered. Possibly up next for Brad Bird is 1906 for Warner Bros, a movie centered on the historical San Francisco earthquake of 1906 that he’s been trying to get made for a while now.

Andrew Adamson

Co-director of Shrek 1 and 2 for DreamWorks Animations, Andrew Adamson made a big leap into live-action with The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in 2005. As you may remember, after Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings were adapted into very profitable movies that spanned multiple entries, every other studio wanting a piece of the cake and went after just about all the big fantasy books out there. Most of them failed miserably but Narnia was one of the exceptions. Based on the very popular first Narnia book by C. S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe generated $745 million worldwide so you can’t blame Disney for thinking they struck gold again.

With the second book, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian adapted in 2008, again under Andrew Adamson, they went all out and spent $225 million ($45 million more than the original). Disney also moved the release date from December to May, something they probably regret now. Anyway, Prince Caspian was a huge disappointment with just $419.6 million worldwide so the house of mouse ended up dropping the series, thus leaving Fox more than happy to continue where they left off, sans Andrew Adamson. According to IMDB, the director has now finished one of his next project, Cirque to Soleil: Worlds Away for a tentative 2012 release date while the other, Mister Pip, is still in post-production also for a 2012 release.

Tim Burton

Probably not many know this but Tim Burton actually started as an animator at Disney, working on The Fox and the Hound and The Black Cauldron. While his career in animation wasn’t as long or prolific as the other names on here, Tim Burton is arguably the most successful director to make the jump to live-action with big hits like Batman ($411.3 million worldwide), Batman Returns ($266.8 million), Sleepy Hollow ($206.1 million), Planet of the Apes (2001, $362.2 million), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ($475 million) and Alice in Wonderland (2010, $1,024.3 million). Then there are other great films he made, maybe not as popular but still noteworthy, titles like Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Big Fish, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street or his return to stop-motion animation, Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride. For 2012 he has two films in post-production, Dark Shadows based on the popular 60′s TV show, and stop-motion animated flick Frankenweenie based on a live-action short he directed in 1984.

So who do you think made the smoothest transition from animation to live-action? Or who you like best? Also, if I missed someone feel free to mention him and contribute to this post!

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I might be in the minority here, but I’m one of those people who likes the behind-the-scenes stuff for movies just as much (if not MORE, sometimes) as I like movies themselves.

One of the best directors out there, Andrew Adamson, has introduced us to both Shrek and The Chronicles of Narnia. Below, you’ll find an interesting interview with the man himself and Narnia producer Mark Johnson, hosted by New Zealand radio personality Rob Holding, where they talk about filming, the challenges of adapting the book for the screen, and religion!

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The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe took the world by surprise. Not many thought that the success of the Lord of the Rings trilogy or the Harry Potter series could be repeated, yet it happened again with The Chronicles of Narnia. The first movie went on to gross over $730 million worldwide and left audiences all over the globe wanting MORE.

In Prince Caspian, the world of Narnia has been ravaged by time and the harsh rule of a race of humans called the Telmarines, a people who do not believe in magic. In the 1300 years since the Pevensie siblings left Narnia after serving for years as Kings and Queens, the Telmarines invaded and managed to drive Narnians almost to extinction.

The King of the Telmarines is dead and his son, Prince Caspian, is waiting for a time when he can take the throne. In the meantime, Caspian’s uncle, Miraz, serves as Regent of the realm. However, when Miraz’s wife gives birth to a son, Caspian’s life is suddenly in danger and he is forced to flee in order to survive. In the throes of his escape, he blows a horn with a mysterious past, and in doing so summons the Kings and Queens of old to help in his plight.

It has only been a year for the Pevensies, yet the transition from royal adults back to ordinary “children” hasn’t been easy for all of them. Peter, for one, hates being treated for his age and starts fights with other school-aged boys just to prove his manhood. Yet one day they feel an strange pinching in their stomachs as they’re waiting for the train to school, a pinch that feels oddly like magic. In the blink of an eye, the children are back in Narnia and they are faced with fighting two battles: the advancing Talmarine army, and their waning faith in Aslan and in themselves.

From the moment I stepped out of the theater after watching the first Narnia installment, I instantly wanted to watch the next one. It has been two and a half years, and six months longer than the original release date, and I’m very pleased to say that the wait has been well worth it. Through most of the two and a half hour movie, I literally had chills running up my spine. This movie, in my opinion, is even better than the first.

What makes it so great is that director Andrew Adamson didn’t try to recreate the look and feel of the first movie. This is a much darker movie, one with severe moral undertones about acceptance and prejudice, and it shouldn’t feel as fluffy as the first one was. A number of reviews I read about the movie complained that there wasn’t enough magic in this one, yet what did they expect? The Pevensies come back in an age where magic is all but gone, so there naturally wouldn’t be any magic to see. There are still a number of Narnians left: from centaurs and minotaurs, to talking badgers and mice to dwarves. There was plenty of magic in that respect, and certainly enough action, to let the audience leave feeling satisfied.

Another interesting element of this movie is the level of emotion that the young actors were able to bring to their roles, as well as the feelings the characters themselves were feeling. In the first Narnia, it’s obvious that it was their first real acting job. Yes, they did the best they could at the time, but they have all grown as actors, resulting in much more three dimensional characters this time around. They actually FELT like they were the Kings and Queens of Narnia past stuck in the bodies of teenagers and children. It was something in their eyes, a sense of knowledge far beyond their years, and the very way they held themselves that made it so believable. They have all grown, and I can’t wait to see what they do next.

My favorite transition was in the character of Edmund who, in the first movie, betrayed his family for his own gain. In Prince Caspian, you can tell he is still trying to make up for this betrayal and will do anything for his family. Not only does he defend his brother, stick up for Lucy when no one believes that she’s been seeing Aslan when none of the rest of them has, but he’s turned into a calculated, badass warrior. He’s very confident in his position as a King, gets right into the thick of battles, and even slides down a roof to kick a Talmerine soldier over a balcony. He is able to stand in front of the Telmarine usurper, surrounded by enemies, and shoot off a witty sort of banter that lets Miraz know exactly who Edmund is: a Narnian King.  Not to mention how much older he seems, considering actor Skandar Keynes’ voice dropped about three octaves!

Newcomer Ben Barnes as Prince Caspian only added to the great cast. The only thing I was confused about was his accent. He’s British, yet he had some sort of Italian accent in the movie, which didn’t exactly match up with the rest of the Telmarines. Other than that, I’m glad we’ll be seeing more of him in the upcoming The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader movie in 2010.

Overall, really incredible movie. The action is enough to keep anyone’s eyes glued to the screen, but the sarcasm and wit will keep you in your seat, and the emotion will leave you longing for more. This is one of those movies that you really need to see in theaters, and one you’re likely to see multiple times (like I’m surely going to do myself!): 10/10.

GO SEE THIS MOVIE.

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