Month: January 2008

Spotlight on Chinese Animation

“They already make most of the toys, holiday decorations, and household items sold in America, in addition to holding most of our debt. Think China is just content to be regarded as the place you go for cheap animation outsourcing? Think again!” o-meon covers almost 2000 years of Chinese animation and aims to show the […]

Up release date pushed forward

UpcomingPixar via BoxOfficeMojo and ComingSoon.net reports that the release date for Disney/Pixar’s Up appears to have been pushed forward by 14 days. Up was originally scheduled for a June 12, 2009 release but is now set to hit theatres on May 29, 2009.

Bee Movie DVD extras revealed

DVDTimes has posted the artwork and extras for the upcoming Bee Movie dvd which will hit the stores on 11th March 2008. Bee Movie will be made available as a Two-Disc Special Edition and standard single-disc versions. Extras on Two-Disc Special Edition will include Jerry Seinfeld & Filmmaker Commentary, TV Juniors – Hilarious “behind the […]

Hobbits, Floyd Norman, Lone Ranger, Zorro, Moses…what a line-up!

Thoughts on Guillermo del Toro directing The Hobbit movies, an interview with Disney Legend Floyd Norman, The Lone Ranger and Zorro reviewed, plus new giveaways!

New WALL•E images

UpcomingPixar has posted two new images from the upcoming Disney/Pixar film WALL•E. Direct links to these images, which appeared in Entertainment Weekly Magazine and Disney Reporter respectively, can be found here and here.

The AristoCats Special Edition – Winners Announced!

Catnap The AristoCats – Winning Names Announced!

The Ten Commandments Giveaway – Winning Names!

The Ten Commandments on DVD – Winners Announced!

Floyd Norman: Story Of A Storyman

Disney Legend Floyd Norman speaks to Animated Views about his career at the Disney Studios, including his experiences working on Walt’s final animated classic The Jungle Book.

The New Adventures Of The Lone Ranger And Zorro: Volume 1

Two heroes of yesteryear see their legacies handled nicely by Filmation.

New Up concept image

Upcoming Pixar has posted new concept art from Pixar’s upcoming animated release, Up. A direct link to the image can be found here. Hitting theaters in 2009, Up is the story of a 70-year old man who teams up with a Wilderness Ranger to fight beasts and villains. Thanks to “PixarVixen” over at the Animated […]

Brad Bird wins Golden Tomato Award

Brad Bird, director of last year’s animated hit Ratatouille, has received the Golden Tomato Award, an honor rewarded yearly by movie website Rotten Tomatoes, where Bird is also featured in an interview about the award. This is the second Golden Tomato Bird has received, the first being for The Incredibles in 2004. Ratatouille was deemed […]

Astro Boy finds a new director

David Bowers, director of last year’s Flushed Away, has replaced Colin Brady as director of the upcoming CGI adaption of Astro Boy, reports Variety. The $50 million film is currently being produced at Imagi Studios, with Warner Bros. and Weinstein Co. releasing. Astro Boy is set to hit theaters 2009.

Weekend wrap-up…

Heath Ledger RIP, the Oscar nominations, plus Underdog and Teen Titans reviews!

Newport Beach Film Festival announces the "Chuck Jones Award"

“The Newport Beach Film Festival and the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity announced today the first ever ‘Chuck Jones Award for Excellence in Animation’ to be presented at the 2008 Festival. Named after the legendary animation director, the inaugural award will be given each year to an individual or group who best exemplifies artistic achievement […]

All three Toy Story movies to get the 3D treatment

Toon Zone reports that all three of Pixar’s Toy Story movies will be getting the 3D treatment with the first one being released to theaters in October 2009, the second one in in February 2010, and the third one, presumably receiving a simultaneous traditional and 3D release on June 18, 2010.

Pirate Bunnies

The complete Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy can now be seen in less than two minutes and re-enacted by animator Jennifer Shiman’s bunnies by watching parts 1 and 2 here and part 3 here.

Underdog (live-action movie)

Disney continues its streak of well-made, entertaining family comedies with a surprisingly winning combination of laughs, credible canine acting and fun special effects. Woof!

Teen Titans: The Complete Fourth Season

This season has some of the dumbest episodes yet but also a scary season-long arc that ends with Raven’s demon father bringing armageddon.

2008 Oscar nominations announced

The nominations for the 80th Annual Academy Awards have been announced. Come tell us your thoughts in the Animated News & Views Forum. The nominees for Best Animated Feature Film are • Persepolis – Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud • Ratatouille – Brad Bird • Surf’s Up – Ash Brannon and Chris Buck The nominees […]

101 Dalmatians run loose at the El Capitan

From now until January 30, Disney’s El Capitan Theatre is screening One Hundred and One Dalmatians leading up to its Platinum Edition DVD release on March 4. The new Goofy short How to Hook Up Your Home Theater accompanies the classic film. Read on for pictures from the opening night which featured a panel moderated […]

DreamWorks to launch theme park in Dubai

Variety reports that DreamWorks Animation has teamed up with Dubai based real estate company Tatweer to develop a range of tourism and leisure projects in Dubai, the highlight of which will be a theme park. The 5 million-square-foot DreamWorks Animation-branded park will see rides incorporate characters from DreamWorks titles such as the Shrek franchise and […]

Batman, Pixar, Pooh…and Cinders two!

My Friends Tigger And Pooh and Cinderella II reviewed, plus a chat with Pixar Shorts’ composer Michael Giacchino!

Michael Giacchino: not so short on ideas for Pixar Shorts!

Michael Giacchino speaks to us about creating his creatively entertaining music scores for Pixar’s recent short films One Man Band and Lifted.

My Friends Tigger And Pooh: Super Sleuth Christmas Movie

Tigger and Pooh find the Hundred Acre Wood’s gone CGI and welcomed new friends in this charming outing which, for pre-schoolers, is a lot of very well made fun.

The Batman: The Complete Fourth Season

The fourth time’s the charm for this series, which finally begins to emerge from the shadow of its predecessor at this point. It did this by developing better villains, better stories, and bringing Robin onto the show at last. Not only is Robin cool, he even makes Batgirl work better.

Shrek the Musical World Premiere at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre

“DreamWorks Theatricals and Neal Street Productions, Ltd. have announced that Shrek the Musical will play an exclusive world premiere engagement at The 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle, August 14th to September 21st, prior to opening on Broadway in the Fall of 2008. Preview performances will begin in early November at a theater to be announced.” […]

Smurfs film to feature "greater female presence"

Yahoo! Movies reports that due to the changes in the structure of society since the first appearance of the Smurfs, more female characters will appear in the upcoming CGI film. “There have been dramatic changes in socio-cultural values in the past 20 to 25 years,” explained head of Smurf’s rights holder Hendrik Coysman. “One of […]

Beowulf theatrical and director's cut DVDs in February

DVDActive reports that Paramount Home Entertainment has announced theatrical and director’s cut releases of Robert Zemeckis’ Beowulf on 26th February. The only extra feature on the theatrical cut will be A Hero’s Journey: The Making of Beowulf featurette. The Director’s Cut will include that, along with a Beasts of Burden featurette, a Origins of Beowulf […]

Cinderella II: Dreams Come True: Special Edition

Unless you really need this, pass on Cinderella II and save it for the much more intricate third film, A Twist In Time – that is, if you need a Cinders sequel on your shelf at all.

Animation Mentor Celebrates Graduates with Pete Docter

Last Saturday Pixar’s Pete Docter delivered the commencement address to the graduating class of Animation Mentor, “the online animation school by animators for animators” (see our prior writeup). The following press release summarizes his inspirational remarks: