Month: March 2014

Frozen is now the biggest animated movie ever in terms of worldwide box office

Frozen surpassed yet another milestone today, surpassing Toy Story 3 to become the biggest animated movie of all time in terms of worldwide box office receipts, The Wrap is reporting. The movie also passed Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, making the billion dollar hit one of the ten biggest movies of all time. One record […]

Cowabunga! First Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles trailer now online

After years of troubled production, a first teaser trailer for the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot is now online, and can be seen on YouTube. The preview features only fleeting glimpses of the heroes in a half-shell, with the main focus being on Megan Fox’s April O’Neal. Those who want to wait to see […]

First How to Train Your Dragon 2 clips emerges

A first (and very short) clip from How to Train Your Dragon 2 has made its way online, and can be seen at ComingSoon.net. In addition, a new trailer for the sequel is expected to debut in the coming weeks. The much anticipated release flies into theaters on June 13th.

The Venture Bros.: The Fifth Season

The latest season of the [adult swim] fan favorite sees the rebirth and fall of SPHINX, The Monarch gain his revenge on Doctor Venture (or so he says), and the recently graduated Venture Bros. clumsily finding their way in the world, even as family secrets come to light.

Dexter’s Laboratory gets a comic book series

Dexter’s Laboratory was a popular show on Cartoon Network. It was about a super genius boy named Dexter with a secret laboratory in his house. His experiments were constantly being destroyed by his older sister Dee Dee with whom Dexter had a love-hate relationship. Cartoon Network is breathing new life into some of its popular, […]

Muppets not quite Most Wanted at the box office

The Muppets returned to the big screen for the first time since 2011’s The Muppets this weekend, but in terms of money, things weren’t quite as good for them this time around. Box Office Mojo is reporting that Muppets Most Wanted made a less-than-expected $17 million, which was still good for second place. Part of the reason […]

Great songs never die: how art director Amos Sussigan is crafting the look of Aria For A Cow

We check in on the production of the short based on the Howard Ashman song, and look at its visual style.

Behind the animation on Cosmos

The reboot of the classic TV series Cosmos is currently airing on FOX, which in addition to featuring impressive computer-generated images of the galaxy, also features animated sequences that tell the stories of old scientists and astronomers from history. Yahoo! Movies took a look behind the scenes, revealing that the idea for those scenes came from […]

Final Maleficent trailer now online

The final trailer for Disney’s upcoming Maleficent is now online, and can be seen at ComingSoon.net. The movie will reveal a number of things about the classic villain–including how she “lost her wings”–and of course will retell the story of Sleeping Beauty. Starring Angelina Jolie, Maleficent opens everywhere May 30th.

First Peanuts teaser trailer from Blue Sky

The first teaser trailer for Blue Sky’s upcoming Peanuts animated film has hit the web. Slated for a 2015 release, the studio hypes the new preview: “For the first time ever, Snoopy, Charlie Brown and the rest of the gang we know and love from Charles Schulz’s timeless Peanut comic strip will be making their […]

The Incredibles 2 and Cars 3 both in the works from Pixar

Fans have been wondering if it would happen for years, but it looks as though Pixar may finally be getting to work on an Incredibles sequel, Collider is reporting. At a recent meeting with investors, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that Brad Bird is “currently writing The Incredibles 2.” Iger also said that another Cars […]

Composer Frode Fjellheim on Frozen‘s native spirit

We speak with the Norwegian composer about helping to give the Disney hit its own unique sound.

Adventure Time: The Complete Third Season

The third season of the hit show keeps the strange stuff, while developing relationships a little further. Above all, it stays entertaining and creative in a way that can captivate both kids and adults.

Animation Addicts Podcast #62: Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron – Tradigital Animation

It’s Morgan and Mason for a M&M episode, where they review DreamWorks’ 2002 traditionally animated film Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron.

GKIDS to bring Ghibli’s The Tale Of The Princess Kaguya Stateside

GKIDS has announced that they have acquired the theatrical and home release North American distribution rights for Studio Ghibli’s The Tale Of The Princess Kaguya, the new animated feature by Isao Takahata (Grave of the Fireflies, Pom Poko, Only Yesterday, My Neighbors the Yamadas), reports Deadline. An English language version is being produced by Studio […]

Sony Pictures Animation unveils updated production slate

SPA has just announced their production slate. It includes Kelly Asbury (Shrek2, Gnomeo & Juliet) directing an all-animated new Smurfs film with new designs and environments, scheduled for August 2015, and Genndy Tartakovsky directing Hotel Transylvania 2 eyeing September 2015, Popeye and developing an original idea entitled Can You Imagine?. The first concept art of […]

Ernest & Celestine Blu-ray/DVD in June

GKIDS and New Video Group have announced the Blu-ray/DVD combo pack release of the critically acclaimed, award-winning French-Belgian animated film Ernest & Celestine on June 10th, reports Blu-ray. The release will include both an original French language track and an English dub, featuring the voice talents of Forest Whitaker, Mackenzie Foy, Lauren Bacall, Paul Giamatti, […]

Mr. Peabody and Sherman

Mr. Peabody and Sherman’s focus on family is a nice change from the classic series, but the lack of humor and a good story make it improbable you’ll enjoy the film.

Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki retires

Studio Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki has announced his retirement as a producer, reports AnimeNewsNetwork. Suzuki, who co-founded Studio Ghibli together with Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, is voluntarily stepping down from his position but will still stay on as the general manager of the company. Suzuki also served as the president of Studio Ghibli until […]

New trailer for The Boxtrolls now online

Universal and Focus Features have released a new trailer for their new animated adventure The Boxtrolls, an upcoming stop motion animated feature from Laika Entertainment, the studio behind the visually stunning films Coraline and ParaNorman. Featuring the voice talents of Elle Fanning, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Ben Kingsley, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Toni Collette, Jared Harris, […]

Mr. Peabody and Sherman opens

DreamWorks Animation’s latest movie, Mr. Peabody and Sherman, opens today on 3,470 screens, Box Office Mojo is reporting. The film is scoring pretty well with critics, earning a 77% “freshness” score over at Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus being that the movie “offers a surprisingly entertaining burst of colorful all-ages fun, despite its dated source […]

Disney staff celebrates Oscar win

The New York Times covers a story that was a long time coming — Disney staffers celebrating an animated feature winning an Oscar. “The gathering at Walt Disney Animation here was supposed to be a giddy celebration. The studio had achieved the ultimate validation for its hard-fought creative rebirth: Frozen, its Nordic tale of two […]

Ernest & Celestine director discusses how he started

Ernest & Celestine co-director Benjamin Renner talks about the genesis of the film with the Wall Street Journal. The “24-year-old fresh out of film school… got a phone call that would change everything. Didier Brunner, the French producer behind Oscar-nominated films The Triplets of Belleville and The Secret of Kells, had liked one of Mr. […]

New Muppets Most Wanted posters

A fun new batch of international posters for Muppets Most Wanted is now alone, and can be seen on Bleeding Cool. The posters spoof those of various spy movies, including Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Skyfall. Muppets Most Wanted comes to theaters March 21st.

Pixar team leads Disney renaissance

The Pixar team that came into Disney Animation in 2006 believes their work at changing the culture at the then-struggling studio has paid off over the last few years, according to the Wall Street Journal. Disney and Pixar president Ed Catmull said, “When we came to Disney eight years ago, it was to bring the […]

Lava – Pixar’s newest short revealed?

One particular highlight of seeing a Pixar film in theaters is catching the short that precedes it. Now the newest theatrical short from the animation powerhouse may have been discovered: Lava. Scheduled for 2015, the short is listed among Pixar’s upcoming projects in the LinkedIn.com profile of animator Shaun Seong-Young Kim. Time will tell whether […]

First teaser trailer for Paddington arrives

TWC-Dimension has released the first teaser trailer for the Live Action/CGI feature Paddington, reports Collider. The teaser gives a brief look at the iconic Michael Bond character voiced by Colin Firth. Directed by Paul King, and produced by David Heyman, Paddington also stars Nicole Kidman, Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent and Peter […]

Frozen hits a billion, Lego Movie stays strong

Box Office Mojo reports that Frozen hit a major milestone this weekend, becoming just the 18th movie to ever take in $1 billion worldwide. They also note it’s only the fifth non-sequel movie to reach that number. They’re projecting Frozen could eventually land in the all-time worldwide top ten list, which would put it past […]

Gravity, Frozen big Oscar winners

Gravity was one of the big winners at the 76th Annual Academy Awards, taking home seven Oscars, including Best Director, Best Visual Effects, and Best Score. Frozen beat out Despicable Me 2, The Croods, Ernest and Celestine, and The Wind Rises for Best Animated Feature. The song Let It Go from Frozen won the award […]

Justice League: War

A younger version of the Justice League comes together as it battles Darkseid, not to mention a stale script and unappealing characterization. There are kernels of goodness here, though, as well as a nice set of bonus features.