Michael JR. Author Archive
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Star Wars: Episode III title revealed: Revenge Of The Sith

Those lucky enough to be at San Diego’s Comic-Con have just been the first to learn the title of the next Star Wars blockbuster. George Lucas just released the official title, Revenge Of The Sith, while fans also had a chance to see concept artist Ryan Church show some drawings and footage from the new […]

Disney in court again?

Wow, Disney just can’t seem to go a month without someone dragging them into court. This time it is none other than the comic giant Marvel, with the case stemming back to Disney’s purchase of the Fox Family channel in 2001, now known as ABC Family. Marvel claims that Disney is “cooking the books” when […]

Spider Man 2 sets box office record in one day

After just one day in release, our new favorite red and blue spandex hero of the sticky web has already wrapped up The Return Of The King for the biggest Wednesday opening ever, with over $38 million according to Box Office Mojo. Could it make it make back its cost of $200m in just one […]

New Miyazaki DVDs delayed till 2005

Well what can you do when the Mouse House has the golden keys to the vault? Just wait I guess. Check out The Digital Bits for more info.

Shrek 2 is the #1 toon of All Time!

This past Saturday, Shrek 2 became the #1 animated film, digital or 2D, of all time, sinking poor Nemo off the top ten list in the US. Shrek 2 may just work its magic all the way up to the number 5 or 6 spot, passing such movies as The Passion Of The Christ, Jurassic […]

An Evening with Ray Harryhausen

If only I lived in Hollywood – sniff-sniff. In my book, Ray is the Grand Uncle of the current trend of CG movie characters. With titles like Sinbad and Clash of the Titans, he put heart and soul into everything he did. If you are lucky enough and are a fan of the amazing Ray […]

New Garfield: The Movie trailer online

…And on TV, where I saw it today in all its NTSC glory. Style is similar to the Stuart Little and Scooby CG characters. Well, I can’t blame Garfield for falling for Jennifer Love Hewitt. I got drool all over my keyboard, man… How about you just check it out for yourself over at Apple […]

Family Guy is coming back!!!

I guess when you are #1 all over the place, it’s doesn’t matter how un PC you are, you get a second chance. 2005 is a bit away, but I think I can wait. I’m to excited to type anymore, go read about it here at AWN.

For all you late night adults out there :)

Tripping the Rift will air it’s premiere episode tonight 9:30 and 11:00pm CT on the SciFi channel. Well, you already know, if you have seen the original short a while back ago, that this show will not be for the faint of heart or little kiddies that stay up late. The first show’s story is […]

Philadelphia 2004: Eisner no longer Head of Board but retains CEO position

Just heard it on Fox News, but it seems that Disney and Gold’s uprising didn’t fall on deaf ears. Eisner is now just the CEO of the company. More on this later, but could this spell a change for the House of Mouse?

Philadelphia 2004: Keep an eye on Cable news today

At 3:00pm central time, Fox News Channel’s Your World With Neil Cavuto will be talking about the rumblings at the Disney stockholders meeting. With 771,691,297 votes (preliminary figure from Fox News report) or 44% of all stockholders withholding Eisner votes, this could prove to be interesting. So if you are a fan of CNN or […]

Don't forget – it's Oscar Night!

At 6:00pm Central Time, on both ABC SD and HDTV, Barbara Walters will be doing her yearly inteview show and one of actors will be the big green guy himself: no, not Jabba the Hut, but Shrek. So go over to Oscar.com, print out your Oscar ballet, and have fun tonight when the main show […]

Poor little Jonah

Well, it wasn’t long ago that Big Idea’s CG feature Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie had two big distinctions about it. One, it was the movie that buried Big Idea up to its neck in financial problems; along with some other poor management deals. Two, it was, for a short while, the highest grossing Christian movie […]

Return of the King hits (place pinky next to lip)…1 BILLION DOLLARS – Muuhahaha!

Well I guess my Magic 8 Ball was right when I asked it if the last Rings movie would break the golden billion dollar mark. Which it did, in style I should say, doing it in 1 less week than the golden boy itself, Titanic. But unless every young lady in the world wants to […]

Alias for sale?

You are probably wondering what Alias is right? Sit down and raise your hand when called apon. Have you ever seen Terminator 2, Jurassic Park, Toy Story, Ice Age, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars 1 and 2, umm, well, just about every major Hollywood effects or digital movie since the advent of digital effects […]

This is not Disney's Jonny Appleseed, I tell you that!

Well I don’t speak Japanesse, but you don’t have to, because anytime you mix a cute blonde, awesome robots, and kicken action out the wazzoo, you get the new Appleseed. Just go take a peek at the latest Appleseed trailer at the Japanesse Apple Quicktime site and enjoy your behind off. Man, the mix of […]

RuttRow – That's Scooby talk for SCARY GHOST BEHIND YOU!

Velma in Red Leather! doh, well you’ll understand what I’m talking about when you head over and d/l the full Scooby Doo 2 trailer at Apple Quicktimes It seems that Rhythm & Hues is taking on the hound once again. Wow, some of these shots look great, now hurry, before a scary, ghost knight in […]

Is there more to the Disney / Pixar split that meets the eye?

My bro-in-law sent me this very interesting article from the San Francisco Chronicle. It seems there could be a little school yard justice going on in the animation world. Wonder if they could just settle it all with a good old game of death volleyball. You remember that game don’t you? Maybe not if you […]

Nemo Is One Big Fish

So big I don’t think there is a rod and reel combo big enough to pull this big boy in. Not only did Finding Nemo move up to the #8 World Wide Movie of all time slot, it did it with some style and a few extra bucks. If it can pull in another 40 […]

Stupid, stupid Earth Child!!! Is Invader ZIM back on TV?

It seems Invader Zim is back on the air, for how long I don’t know. All I know is that is playing right now on NickToons and wasn’t playing just a month ago. I’ve check my Tivo listing out and it seems Invader ZIM is playing at all sorts of times and dates from Saturdays […]

Nemo is "Movin on UP"

Finding Nemo has moved into the Top 10 Worldwide Movies of all time according to Box Office Mojo and a few shakes of my Magic 8 Ball tells me that within the month it will break Spiderman’s web and find a home at Number 8. Stupid Magic 8 Ball isn’t telling me if Nemo can […]

Mix a little Anime with some WETA and what do you get?

Well take a peek at some pre-production work on a live action version of one of the best Anime series Evangelion. Harry over at Ain’t It Cool says it best, and I quote “Commence Drooling” or as Homer would say “mmmmm Evangelion ggrrgugul droooool”

2004 VES Awards nominees annouced

Take a peek at who is up for a 2k4 VES Award right here. It seems Pixar’s Finding Nemo is up for both the Outstanding Character Animation slots. Wonder if the animators’ have offices close to each other? Also it seems the VFX grandfather himself, George Lucas, is up for a Lifetime Achievement Award. I […]

Boundin'? What the heck is that? A new sky diving movie?

No silly, it’s Pixar’s latest Oscar worthy short directed by Industry vet Bud Luckey. VFXworld has a great article with some amazing images and detailed information about the production. Go take a peek, but you need to register with the site, no big, it’s FREE.

What do you do after you are fired from Disney Animation in Florida?

Start your own studio like these ex-Disney animators did. Legacy Animation will open it’s doors this month to continue the tradition of 2d Disney style animation. These people have a lot of talent to work from as this article shows at Animation Artist. It’s a shame the ex-Big Ideaers couldn’t have done the same, a […]

Finding Nemo Drowns Lion King

Finding Nemo swam it’s way to being the “World’s Largest Grossing Animated Film” ever in unadjusted dollars and it looks to swim past Star Wars within the next few months to enter the top 10. This according to Box Office Mojo. But in Adjusted Dollars, Star Wars is #2 with over a billion dollars worth […]

If you didn't already know this about the Finding Nemo DVD

The next time you pop in the Finding Nemo DVD for the kids, or for yourself (wink – wink, you big kid you), don’t be so hasty to hit the play button. Just let the main menu sit there for a minute and be ready to laugh. I wouldn’t have gotten this if I didn’t […]

Better late than never. Cineme has come to town.

Well I’ll be darned like a sock. It seems this slipped right by me even though I had signed up to go to part of it and didn’t know about all the rest of it. Chicago is, right now, having it’s first INTERNATIONAL ANIMATION FILM FESTIVAL called CINEME Nov 6th-9th at DePaul University downtown Chicago, […]

Brother Bear moves up to #1

It pulled in $100,000 more than Scary Movie 3, but how long can it last at #1 in the theaters? I’m guessing till the Matrix hits, but till then, keep an eye on it at Box Office Mojo There seems to more riding on this film than just box office money for Disney. Could this […]

Bugs and Daffy in the digital age.

What happened to the days artist used a paint brush to fill in animation cells? I don’t know, but take a peek at Animation Artist‘s little tid bit about the Looney Tunes: Back In Action movie.