Animation appears to be going through something of a renaissance as several studios are putting out successful projects. Now Dreamworks has unveiled their follow-up to next months' Trolls with The Boss Baby. Alec Baldwin takes the title role in what be one of the most perfect pieces of voice casting in recent memory. Check out the first trailer below.
While the exact plot behind The Boss Baby isn't entirely clear from this one trailer, the basic concept appears to focus on the classic problems that arise when an only child is forced to deal with a new baby in the house that gets all of the attention. The catch here, is that there actually is something going on with the baby. It appears that mom and dad aren't the ones that dress him in a suit every day, and there's much more going on than meets the eye.
When The Boss is on the phone he's talking to somebody about "our usual procedures" including sleep deprivation and hunger strikes. It makes it sound like the infant may be performing some sort of experiment on the family that he's now living with, though the reason for such things is far from clear. Although, it should also be pointed out the film description on the YouTube page for the trailer describes our narrator as "delightfully unreliable," so it's quite possible that what we're seeing her may not be "real" in the strictest sense.
The voice cast for The Boss Baby includes Lisa Kudrow and Jimmy Kimmel as the parents, although it's clearly Alec Baldwin who will make or break this movie. With recent roles like Jack Donaghy on 30 Rock or his impression of Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live, it would seem that's he's the perfect person to play your fast-talking businessman character, even if that character, in this case, is an infant.
The Boss Baby is directed by Tom McGrath, the man who directed the Madagascar franchise as well as Megamind for Dreamworks Animation. The studio had the first animated hit of 2016 with Kung Fu Panda 3 in a year that has gone on to be a big year for the art form. Both Finding Dory and The Secret Life of Pets are in the top five of the domestic box office for the year, and several others are close behind. Dreamworks will also be releasing their second film of the year in early November with the Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake led Trolls.
What do you think of The Boss Baby so far? Will it keep the streak of animated hits going into 2017?
