“I played softball growing up,” said Carrie Hobson, who wrote, directed and executive produced the series with Michael Yates. “Inspired by that experience, we felt fast-pitch softball was the perfect backdrop for the show. There are so many facets to playing sports that I love—it can bring out the best and worst of a person, the calmest person can lose their temper. And when it comes to winning and losing—the consequences are nothing, and yet, they’re everything. We really felt like it was the best arena for the themes we loved.”

According to Yates, the idea of spotlighting different perspectives was born of everyday life at Pixar. “Carrie and I were officemates on ‘Toy Story 4,’” he said. “We were both story artists on the film, and we would talk about a lot of things going on in the film, as well as things going on in the world—current events, news. We would always have different reactions or different interpretations of the same meeting. One of us would say, ‘That went great!’ and the other would say, ‘No! It was terrible, what are you talking about?’ We realised that our own experiences that we bring to the table change our perception of an event. We wanted to tell a story that illustrated all of that.”

“Win or Lose” features the voices of Will Forte, Rosie Foss, Josh Thomson, Milan Elizabeth Ray, Rosa Salazar, Dorien Watson, Izaac Wang, Chanel Stewart, Lil Rel Howery, Melissa Villaseñor, Jo Firestone, Flula Borg, Kyleigh Curran, Jaylin Fletcher, Erin Keif, Tom Law, Beck Nolan, Orion Tran and Rhea Seehorn. The series, which presents incredibly funny, very emotional and uniquely animated perspectives, is produced by David Lally, includes music by composer Ramin Djawadi and original songs by CAMPFIRE and Djawadi.
www.facebook.com/DisneyAUNZ/

Christoph Waltz plays Dr. Dyson Ido, a Geppetto like character who finds some cyborg remains in a scrap heap that is formed by the castoff rubbish of an Emerald City called Zalem. This city floats above the squalor that makes up the area called Iron City. Dr. Ido soon uses these parts to build a complete cyborg that he names Alita.

Alita (Rosa Salazar) has no immediate memory of her past and starts her new life doing things teenagers do, like disobeying her parental units, hanging out with a rowdy bunch and falling in love with boys. As she learns more about her past, her life become more noble.

With an ending that makes the proceeding 122 minutes feel a bit like an extended trailer for part two, Alita: Battle Angel still wins you over with solid conceptualisation and strong character development. Director Robert Rodriguez has a solid track record and it will be interesting to see how he builds on this with episode two.

Rob Hudson
www.facebook.com/AlitaBattleAngelAus

As Alita learns to navigate her new life and the treacherous streets of Iron City, Ido tries to shield her from her mysterious history while her street-smart new friend Hugo (Keean Johnson) offers instead to help trigger her memories. But it is only when the deadly and corrupt forces that run the city come after Alita that she discovers a clue to her past – she has unique fighting abilities that those in power will stop at nothing to control.

If she can stay out of their grasp, she could be the key to saving her friends, her family and the world she’s grown to love.

Alita: Battle Angel stars Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley, Keean Johnson and will be released in Australian Cinemas Boxing Day 2018.
www.facebook.com/AlitaBattleAngelAus

Set several centuries in the future, the abandoned Alita (Rosa Salazar) is found in the scrapyard of Iron City by Ido (Christoph Waltz), a compassionate cyber-doctor who takes the unconscious cyborg Alita to his clinic. When Alita awakens she has no memory of who she is, nor does she have any recognition of the world she finds herself in.

Everything is new to Alita, every experience a first. As she learns to navigate her new life and the treacherous streets of Iron City, Ido tries to shield Alita from her mysterious past while her street-smart new friend, Hugo (Keean Johnson), offers instead to help trigger her memories. A growing affection develops between the two until deadly forces come after Alita and threaten her newfound relationships. It is then that Alita discovers she has extraordinary fighting abilities that could be used to save the friends and family she’s grown to love.

Determined to uncover the truth behind her origin, Alita sets out on a journey that will lead her to take on the injustices of this dark, corrupt world, and discover that one young woman can change the world in which she lives.

Directed by Robert Rodriguez, Alita: Battle Angel stars Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly, Mahershala Ali, Ed Skrein, Jackie Earle Haley, Keean Johnson and is in Australian cinemas July 2018!
www.facebook.com/AlitaMovie