What is hell?

Throughout the years, artists have tried to answer that question and through their eyes, we've been able to match images to a "place" that we hope to never see for ourselves.

Two new interpretations of hell are about to be introduced, both based on one of the most classic: Dante's Inferno. A video game named after Dante Alighieri's 14^th Century epic poem, is being released by EA on February 9 simultaneously with Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic, from top animation studio Film Roman (part of Spartacus: Blood and Sand producer Starz Media). Both follow Dante as he literally takes a journey to hell and back, visiting the nine circles of the inferno in order to save his true love, Beatrice, who has been taken from him by the devil.

Film Roman, a studio known for it's work animating Fox’s The Simpsons and Cartoon Network’s Marvel Superhero Squad (in addition Hellboy Animated and a prequel film in conjunction with EA's 2008 hit game Dead Space), brought together some of the top anime/animation talent in the world to create the film. Different studios including Production IG (Kill Billanimated sequence), Dongwoo (Batman: Gotham Knight), Manglobe (Ergo Proxy, Samurai Champloo), JM Animation (“Avatar: The Last Airbender”) in fact contributed their visions of the nine circles of hell – Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Anger, Heresy, Violence, Fraud, and Treachery – and the end result is amazing.

By employing a range of animation studios steeped in the anime tradition, Film Roman and EA created a completely unique vision of this epic, with each circle of hell having a distinct look and tone. While this gives it a modern twist, the feature still stays true to the original elements of the poem.  To highlight the feature’s unique artistic signature, the Dante’s Inferno: An Animated Epic DVD and Blu-ray™ – being released February 9 by Starz Media company Anchor Bay – boasts six limited edition customized covers specially created by the six participating animation studios.
 
Dante’s Inferno: An Animated Epic is sure to delight all gamers and fan boys as well, but voice-over work by Mark Hamill (Star Wars), Victoria Tennant (Legend of the Mummy), Vanessa Branch (Pirates of the Caribbean), and Graham McTavish (Prison Break) as Dante, give this production extra dramatic depth and the literary source material makes this a project that will appeal to an unusually broad range of adult audiences.

Pre-Order Dante's Inferno on Blu-ray or DVD at Amazon.com now

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