animated-news

Disney and Sky expand agreement for new UK channels; team up for HDTV and broadband downloads

The Walt Disney Company and Britain’s BritishSkyBroadcasting have announced a new partnership that will see the introduction of two new channels for UK viewers. In addition to the Disney Channel, Playhouse Disney, Toon Disney, ABC and Jetix channels already on air, the new deal adds one new Disney channel, Disney Cinemagic (which will featuring its […]

Meet the Robinsons release date moved, toys unveiled

According to Box Office Mojo, Disney’s Meet the Robinsons, originally scheduled for this December 15th, has been moved to March 30, 2007. In other Robinsons news, toys for the movie may be viewed at JAKKS Pacific‘s coverage of Toy Fair 2006.

Other release dates revealed

Ultimate Disney has discovered a slew of more Disney-related 2007 release dates at Box Office Mojo, including: Bridge to Terabithia (February 16), Pirates of the Caribbean 3 (May 25), Ratatouille (June 29), Underdog (August 3rd), Enchanted (November 2), and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (December 14). Furthermore, Box Office Mojo lists that Fox’s animated […]

Disney channels’ animated movies, March 2006

Toon Zone offers the March animated schedules for Disney Channel and Toon Disney, where such films as Mulan, Tarzan, The Black Cauldron, The Brave Little Toaster, The Sword In The Stone, The Tigger Movie, and Aladdin And The King Of Thieves may be seen.

Weinstein’s capture Minimoys

The Weinstein Company now owns the rights to the family picture Arthur and the Minimoys. Based on Luc Besson’s children’s book, the movie’s screenplay was likewise adapted by Besson, who will serve as the film’s director as well. Starring in the live-action aspect of Minimoys are Freddie Highmore and Mia Farrow, as the voices of […]

Two new Ice Age 2 posters

Cinempire, via the Internet Movie Poster Awards, has the latest domestic one sheet for Ice Age: The Meltdown. Interestingly, the poster shows that the 2 has been dropped from the film’s title, at least in the U.S. In the meantime, Coming Soon has an international poster for the second Ice Age chapter.

Screen Media Ventures finds Mee-Shee

Screen Media Ventures has obtained all domestic rights to the computer animated family adventure Mee-Shee: The Water Giant, points out Variety through Dark Horizons. From a screenplay by Barry Authors, John Henderson directed the picture. Budgeted at $25 million, Mee-Shee is about one 8-year-old boy’s quest to save a “Loch Ness monster-type creature” from poachers.

Could a Little DTV be a big success?

Reuters via Yahoo! News focuses its attention to the direct-to-video title Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild. Considering the success other DTV animated projects have enjoyed, the composition examines the chances of success for a third Little movie, pointing out the film’s marketing and theatrical siblings.

Ant Bully hitting game consoles in July

Coming this July for PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Gameboy Advance and PC is the video game adaptation of Warner Brother’s family comedy The Ant Bully. IGN Filmforce has the project’s details.

Animaster-ing students for the animation field

The “Education” section of the Deccan Herald investigates the Animaster, a Bangalore-based animation school. The school offers an advanced three-year diploma in animation, collaborating with the Algonquin College of Ontario, Canada. Veena Pratap, president of Animaster, explains, “Animaster is involved in training, production and research in animation. A student here learns the animation skills and […]

Harvard School of Public Health studies ‘G’ rated films

FortWayne.com spotlights a recent study from the Harvard School of Public Health, in which 74 animated, G-rated films were tested for kid-friendliness. According to the creator of the study, Kim Thompson, an associate professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, the report found at least one act of violence per film, while 60% of […]

“Cartoon wars” about to commence?

CNN Money notices the large amount of computer animated movies hitting theaters in 2006, wondering which of them will achieve success. “Some of these movies could be in trouble. I suspect that a bunch will fall by the wayside,” Dennis McAlpine, an independent media analyst, unfortunately predicts. “Hollywood has never been bashful about its own […]

French Cars trailer

Previewing more new footage from the movie, the French trailer for Disney/Pixar’s Cars is up at Coming Soon.

Howl writing duo expecting Gromit to take Oscar

The husband-and-wife team Cindy David Hewitt and Donald H. Hewitt, writers of the English-language version of Howl’s Moving Castle, tell Sci-Fi Wire that they are expecting fellow Best Animated Film nominee Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit to take home the Oscar on Sunday. “”I think the momentum is behind Wallace & Gromit […]

Jerusalem Venture Partners sets sights on animation

Red Herring reports that on Tuesday, Jerusalem Venture Partners launched Israel’s first media center and multimillion-dollar animation studio, hoping to make Jerusalem a major presence in the animation and gaming industries. The Jerusalem Animation Lab acts as both animation and gaming studio, plus a developmental lab dedicated to creating animations for cellular phones. Max Howard, […]

Garfield: Search for Pooky screen captures

IGN features four screen captures from the Game Boy Advance adventure Garfield: The Search for Pooky, which arrived in stores last Wednesday.

Dykstra to helm Tortoise and Hippo

Two-time Oscar-winning visual effects supervisor John Dykstra will make his directorial debut with Walden Media and Relevant Entertainment’s Tortoise and Hippo, reports The Hollywood Reporter. The film is based on the true story of a baby hippo and 100-year-old tortoise that were rescued from the Indian Ocean following the Asian tsunami.

Cover art: Superman, Justice League, Nick Picks, Charlie Brown

DVDtoons has the box art for Superman: The Animated Series – Volume 3, Justice League – Season 2, and Nick Picks 4, all set for release on June 6. In addition, the site also serves the cover artwork for This is America, Charlie Brown, containing the eight episodes that comprise the series. Charlie Brown will […]

Brain works with robot to develop projects

At CGCHAR comes word that Wild Brain Animation Studios has made a majority stake acquisition of Kidrobot. The new deal will allow the companies to collaborate on such animated undertakings as television series, feature films, and direct-to-video activities. In the meantime, Paul Budnitz will remain the president of Kidrobot, while also acting as executive producer […]

Images: Fantastic Four, Warner Bros. toys

Through a plethora of pictures, the online version of Now Playing Magazine shares a peek at future toys from such properties as the upcoming Fantastic Four animated series and Warner Bros.’ classic characters.

Milt Kahl podcast conclusion

Following quickly on the heels of the first part, Part Two of the Milt Kahl lecture has been posted at the Animation Podcast. Milt answers questions from CalArts students, one of whom is the young Brad Bird from thirty years ago.

Catmull's pay hike

Apparently in the interest of full public disclosure, Yahoo! Finance reports that President Ed Catmull has been raised by Pixar to an annual salary of $1 million. Maybe now he can get a Cars pool next to his Finding Nemo swimming pool.

Milt Kahl podcast

Clay Kaytis’ Animation Podcast updated recently with an lecture Milt Kahl gave to students at CalArts in 1976 in which he “discusses a rough cut of some of his work on Medusa in The Rescuers.”

Up Close and Personal with Disney's CEO

Yahoo! Finance presents an up close and personal look at Disney’s new CEO Robert Iger with a special focus on Iger’s recent improvements at the Feature Animation division. According to Iger, “The real value will be in the quality and ultimate success of Animation under the new company, Disney and Pixar. That’s really where the […]

Cars plushies

The hard, metallic characters of Pixar’s Cars get a soft, fluffy makeover as new plushies by Snaptoys. So far only Luigi and McQueen are available, with more on the way.

Updated: Menken, Musker and Clements Return to Disney

Sources close to the Walt Disney Company tell o-meon.com that the popular feature animation production team of John Musker and Ron Clements will be returning to Walt Disney Feature Animation (WDFA). Musker and Clements whose work as writers, director and producer includes The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Hercules and Treasure Planet, left WDFA last year after […]

Disney new release Tuesday: Lady and the Tramp

Today marks the Region 1 release of Disney’s classic animated feature Lady and the Tramp as the next in the line of Disney’s prestigious Platinum Editions. This 2-disc set features a stunning digital restoration and tons of fun and informative extras, especially in giving story man Joe Grant well-deserved and due credit for the genesis […]

Toonacious™ Family Entertainment news release

The following is a recent press release from Toonacious™ Family Entertainment about their recent linking up with C&I Partners to fund animated feature film projects, both CG and 2D:

Updated: RIP, Dennis Weaver

Dennis Weaver, most famous for his work in the hit television series Gunsmoke and McCloud, died on Friday, at the age of 81 years old. His animated work included voicing the characters Dusty and Josh in Captain Planet and the Planeteers (1990). In 2002, Weaver enjoyed a guest role in the Simpsons episode “The Lastest […]

Press release: Moving Castle, Totoro, Whisper

At Utlimate Disney is the press release for next week’s wave of Studio Ghibli DVDs, including Howl’s Moving Castle, My Neighbor Totoro, and Whisper of the Heart. Found among the piece’s info is word on what bonus features are in store for the 2-disc sets.