The animated world is mighty busy today with new trailers for Megamind and Rio to share. We've seen the Megamind teaser trailer, but Rio is a relatively new project. Both look funny and intriguing with slight twists on their respective genres.

The Megamind trailer presents more story than the simple teaser released a couple of  months ago. In it, Will Ferrell leads a big-name cast that includes Brad Pitt, Tina Fey and Jonah Hill. The plot for Megamind is a nice twist on the superhero genre, turning the focus on a super villain and his struggles.

"When super villain Megamind (Ferrell) defeats his archrival Metro Man (Pitt), the world should be his oyster. But instead Megamind falls into total despair. It turns out that life without a rival is life without a point for him. So, he creates a new superhero rival, Titan (Hill). Unfortunately, the new hero wants to be a super villain, too. Caught in the middle, star reporter Roxanne Ritchi (Fey) asks the tough questions: Who can we turn to? Who has what it takes to stand up to this menace? Who will defend the innocent? Megamind! That’s who.”

Obviously, it's  a re-telling of the classic Superman story, but for laughs. It's an interesting idea: What if another baby was launched towards Earth at the same time, creating a life-long rivalry? Hopefully Megamind will capture the humorous side of two "aliens" fighting on Earth better than Transformers 2 ;-) .

While we've known about Megamind for a few months now, Rio is a brand new movie. The teaser trailer should have fans of animations excited for the film. You get a good sense for the movie and its characters with just a teaser, but here is the synopsis:

“The comedy-adventure centers on Blu, a rare macaw who thinks he is the last of his kind. When Blu discovers there’s another — and that she’s a she — he leaves the comforts of his cage in small town Minnesota and heads to Rio. But it’s far from love at first sight between the domesticated and flight-challenged Blu and the fiercely independent, high-flying female, Jewel. Unexpectedly thrown together, they embark on an adventure of a lifetime, where they learn about friendship, love, courage, and being open to life’s many wonders.”

In such a short teaser, you get all the cliches of Rio de Janeiro from crowded beaches to, well, you know.

Voice talents on Rio include Anne Hathaway, Neil Patrick Harris, Rodrigo Santoro, George Lopez and Jake T. Austin. It is directed by Carlos Saldanha and released by Twentieth Century Fox. An interesting note about Saldanha is that he was the animation supervisor on Fight Club as well as director of the Ice Age trilogy.

Animation has come a long way and the studios are feeding off each other to create stunning visuals and fascinating stories. As interesting as Rio looks, I'll be anticipating Megamind more thanks to a superhero plot and all-star cast.

Megamind is set for a November 5th, 2010 release in 2D, 3D and IMAX.

Rio will fly into theaters in 2D and 3D on April 8th, 2011.

Which animated film are you looking forward to more? Discuss the trailers in the comments section below.

Source: /Film and Yahoo! Movies