Added to the exclusive line of Warner Archive Collection titles available directly from the studio, Hanna-Barbera’s Pirates Of Dark Water has just arrived on DVD this week, becoming one of the fastest selling titles in the collection. A review of the two-disc set will feature here shortly, in the meantime, cover art and a clip can be seen here:

Walt Disney Home Entertainment has now released the full and final specifications for their upcoming release of the Fantasia: 2-Movie Collection set on November 30, 2010. The announcement, alongside updated final cover art, can be seen here:

Details on Disney's recent family premiere screening of Tinker Bell And The Great Fairy Rescue on the big screen in LA, ahead of its release on DVD and Blu-ray Disc, can be found here:

Walt Disney Home Entertainment has announced the DVD and Blu-ray releases of Fantasia and Fantasia 2000 for November 30th, 2010, reports DVDizzy. The musical animated features will be released as a 2 movie collection in a 4-Disc Special Edition Blu-ray and DVD Combo and a 2-Disc Special Edition DVD. Blu-ray exclusives will include the Oscar-nominated Walt Disney/Salvador Dali collaboration Destino, the documentary "Dali & Disney: A Date with Destino", BD-Live feature "Disney's Virtual Vault", an interactive art gallery, DisneyView sidebar art, and detailed notes from the newly-discovered Schultheis Notebook. Available on both the Blu-ray and DVD discs will be audio commentaries and the featurettes "Disney Family Museum" and "Musicana: Walt's Inspiration for a Fantasia Sequel".

Full details and cover art for Disney's 25th anniversary edition of its 25th animated feature can be seen here:

USA Today recently spoke with Dan Aykroyd about voicing the title character in Warner Bros.’ upcoming Yogi Bear film. “When I heard they were doing this project, I called my agent and said I would love to be a part of this, because it’s a part of me,” Aykroyd said, remembering his love of the cartoon as a child. The site also has another article related to the film that goes into the challenges of converting the 2D character into a CGI creation, and also explores similar upcoming projects, including The Smurfs.

After recently becoming the highest grossing animated movie of all time worldwide, Toy Story 3 has now scored another victory by crossing the $1 billion mark, according to Entertainment Weekly. Thanks to this and Alice in Wonderland, Disney has become the first studio to ever release two $1 billion hits in the same year.

James Cameron's Avatar--the highest grossing movie of all time--is being re-released on about 800 3-D and IMAX screens across the country today. According to USA Today, Cameron decided to re-release the film because he felt that Disney's Alice in Wonderland stole some of his business when it was released in March. "I would say the decision was made three days after Alice in Wonderland came out and took half our 3-D screens and all of our IMAX screens," he said.  "And we were still selling out shows. So I looked for our next window, which was the end of August." The "new version" of the film contains about nine minutes of new footage, but is not expected to make a big impact at the box office this week. ComingSoon.net's The Weekend Warrior predicts a $3.6 million weekend.

A new French poster for Tangled–which is very different from the US poster–has just been revealed over at ComingSoon.net. The Disney animated movie opens in the states this Thanksgiving.

The original version of Kermit the Frog, created by Jim Henson out of a green coat and pingpong balls, is being donated to the Smithsonian, USA Today is reporting. The puppet is one of ten characters from the 1950s TV show Sam and Friends that is being given to the museum by Jim's widow Jane Henson. Apart from Kermit, the puppets include characters who would later become the inspiration for Sesame Street Muppets Oscar the Grouch and Cookie Monster, along with Jim's oldest surviving creation, Pierre the French Rat. "It certainly shows the Muppets at the beginning of the career of a large family of entertainers," said Smithsonian curator Dwight Blocker Bowers. "More than anything, I think it shows the genius of Jim Henson."

ComingSoon.net now has three new TV spots for Warner Bros.' upcoming animated film Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of  Ga'Hoole. The Zack Snyder adventure comes to theaters next month.

A new international poster for Disney’s Tron: Legacy is now online over at the Internet Movie Poster Awards. The sequel zooms into theaters and IMAX 3-D this Christmas.

ASIFA-Hollywood has announced the creation of a new Student Annie Award, to be handed out at the next Annie Awards ceremony. More details can be read here:

Variety reports that Disney and Pixar have decided to withdraw from ASIFA-Hollywood, following concerns over the judging criteria. "After more than a year of discussions with the ASIFA board, we have regretfully decided to withdraw from the organization and no longer participate in the annual Annie Awards," said Disney-Pixar president Ed Catmull. Disney has been supporting the Hollywood's longest running animation event since it started in 1972.

Noted and influential anime director Satoshi Kon, known for such films as Perfect Blue, Tokyo Godfathers and Millennium Actress, has passed away at the age of 47, per this article from the Anime News Network.

Acclaimed anime director Hayao Miyazaki is apparently developing a sequel to his 1992 animated film Porco Rosso. The original movie told the story of a World War I pilot who is magically transformed into a pig, with Michael Keaton voicing the main character in the English language dub. If the film--currently titled Porco Rosso: The Last Sortie--ends up getting made, it would be the first time that Miyazaki has ever made a direct sequel to one of his movies.

Married screenwriters Joe Syracuse and Lisa Addario (Surf’s Up!) are currently working on a script for a new DreamWorks Animation film called Imaginary Enemies. The story will involve the imaginary friends of children–fed up with being blamed for their misdeeds–looking for revenge when their kids have grown up. Mike Mitchell of Sky High and Shrek Forever After fame is working as a developer on the project. There are also, apparently, discussions being made about the movie possibly being a mix of live-action and animation, which would be a first for the animation studio. Risky Business has more information on the project.

Warner Bros.’ upcoming animated movie Legend of the Guardians has just been rated PG for “some scary sequences of action,” ComingSoon.net is reporting. The Zack Snyder film swoops into theaters this September.

A press release for the upcoming release of Batman Beyond on DVD from Warner Home Video on November 23 can be read in full here alongside cover art for the set:

After months of speculation as to when an official confirmation would be made regarding when the Star Wars films will come to Blu-Ray, George Lucas has recently announced that all six live-action movies in the series will finally be released in that format in the fall of 2011. The deluxe set will include several brand new extras, including never-before-seen footage from the Lucasfilm archives. “Blu-ray is the absolute best way to experience Star Wars at home,” Lucas said. “The films have never looked or sounded better.”

Yahoo (via Reuters) reports that Toy Story 3 is now the highest-grossing animated film of all time. The final film in the Toy Story series has grossed US$920 million worldwide, surpassing Shrek 2’s total worldwide gross of US$919.8 million.

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment has formally announced the DVD and Blu-Ray releases of Toy Story 3, set for release on November 2nd, 2010.

Warner Bros. has just announced plans to bring a new theatrical Bugs Bunny movie to the screen. The film, to be a mix of live-action and computer animation, is being penned by Elf and Spiderwick Chronicles screenwriter David Berenbaum. The project is currently without a release date.

An unaired episode of Family Guy, titled Partial Terms of Endearment, is set to come to DVD on September 28th, DVD Active is reporting. The episode was rejected by Fox due to a controversial plot involving Lois agreeing to become a surrogate mother for an infertile couple. Extras on the release will include Seth and Alex’s Almost Live Comedy Show, a table reading, original songs and more.

The Hollywood Reporter has announced that David L. Wolper, the producer of the original Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory feature film, among many other achievements, has died in Hollywood. He was 82.