{{link http://www.oscars.org/press/pressreleases/2003/03.11.19.a.html The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences}} has released the names of the eleven films that will compete for the Best Animated Feature Film Oscar in the next Academy Awards competition. The films that will compete for the three nominations are: \\Brother Bear\\, \\Finding Nemo\\, \\Jester Till (Till Eulenspiegel)\\, \\The Jungle Book […]

{{link http://www.tiscali.co.za/tiscali/entertainment/entertainment_story.jsp?content=109769 Tiscali Entertainment}} has interviewed Samuel L. Jackson, who discussed his role in the upcoming Pixar movie \\The Incredibles\\. He reveals that he does not play a bad guy, as some thought, but Mr. Incredible’s best friend Frozon. “I’ve got superpowers, man! – I can make things freeze… Yeah, it was cool, spent about […]

{{link http://www.usatoday.com/life/columnist/popcandy/2003-11-18-pop-candy_x.htm USA Today}} asks “Enough of the mouse – what about the cat?” The writer takes an interesting and fun look at the world’s first animated star, Felix the Cat. Brush up on your Felix trivia with nuggets like: “the first television images transmitted were of a Felix the Cat doll” – 75 years […]

{{link http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/film/brief_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=2031147 The Hollywood Reporter}} is reporting that The American Film Institute will “honor the songs of Hollywood in its ongoing celebration of 100 years of American movies with \\AFI’s 100 Years … 100 Songs: America’s Greatest Music in the Movies\\. The three-hour special, airing in June 2004 on CBS, will count down the 100 […]

Cartoon Network will air a new hour long Powerpuff Girls Christmas special this holiday season according to {{link http://news.awn.com/index.php3?ltype=top&newsitem_no=9637 AWN}}. In \\’Twas the Fight Before Christmas\\, which will debut December 12 at 9pm, “the girls are shocked to find themselves on Santa’s naughty list”. This is the same episode that was released on DVD in […]

To celebrate the 75th birthday of Mickey Mouse {{link http://www.animationmagazine.net/article.php?article_id=1805 Animation Magazine}} is collecting messages from readers. They ask that readers write about “how you feel about Walt’s world famous creation – how Mickey influenced your career, how he brought you together (or continues to bring you together) with friends and family, and basically makes […]

The Guardian (UK) has released their list of the forty best directors in the world today, and Hayao Miyazaki is in the eighth position, just below Errol Morris and above David Cronenberg. On his films, they wrote, “[Miyazaki’s] films create the world anew, literally. Each is set in an intricate, self-contained fantasy world that’s been […]

Baby Stewie could be staging a comeback. In a sign of the growing importance of DVD sales to Hollywood, 20th Century Fox is considering a plan to resume production of Family Guy, a sometimes crude animated comedy that the Fox network took off the air more than 18 months ago. As many as 35 new […]

Famous French comic book artist Enki Bilal is directing a CG adaptation of his Nikopol trilogy (La foire aux immortels, 1980, La femme piège, 1986, and Froid Equateur, 1992). Set in a futuristic Paris where ancient Egyptian gods come back to life, Immortel (Ad Vitam) is scheduled for a March 2004 release and wll star […]

As the day draws on, various entertainment and news channels are all running stories on Mickey’s 75th, most of them touching on his Steamboat Willie roots and looking to the future, with first-look clips from the 2D feature Three Musketeers, the 3D them park attraction Mickey’s Philharmagic and next Christmas’ 3D video title Twice Upon […]

Perhaps illustrating just exactly how important the creation of Mickey Mouse was, and continues to be, to the animation industry, {{link http://www.animationmagazine.net/ Animation Magazine}}’s website today launches with a great splash page montage featuring stills and rare audio featuring Walt Disney as Mickey from 1948 – celebrating the Mouse’s 20th Birthday! Once the clip has […]

{{link http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hp&cf=prev&id=1808403007&intl=us Greg’s Previews}} reports that the U.S. release date for \\Kaena: The Prophecy\\ has been set for June 4th, 2004. The film will debut in New York and Los Angeles on that day before opening in wider release on a later date.

The California Supreme Court will review a lower court ruling that holds Disneyland “to the same passenger safety requirements as operators of buses, trains, taxi cabs, escalators and ski lifts” according to {{link http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-disney18nov18235631,1,4057455.story The L.A. Times}}. Disney believes the higher standard should not apply since amusement park rides are entertainment not public transportation. If […]

Today sees the wide release on DVD of the warm and affectionate 1995 documentary {{link http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000TAYSO/ref=cm_wl_ovu-pg.1-pos.1/002-1902555-2863210?v=glance&coliid=I1XWCRLQV3O6K1&me=ATVPDKIKX0DER Frank And Ollie}}, an inside look at the lives of two of Walt’s fabled “Nine Old Men”. Previously available on a pan-and-scan VHS, this new Special Edition goes some way to cheering up those who were left disappointed by […]

On the evening of November 18th 1928, a showbiz legend was born – Mickey Mouse flashed across the screen of the Colony Theater in NYC and danced and sung his way through Steamboat Willie. The actual singing of a character (at that point in animation or live-action) was still revolutionary, after the initial success of […]

A recent article at Film Force discusses Disney’s Brother Bear from a deep Campbellian and Jungian perspective by exploring its archetypes and the hero’s journey that Kenai takes in the film. It also dignifies the roles of the fraternal moose pair, Rutt and Tuke, by showing that they are more than mere comic relief but […]

As if learning about the cancellation of My Peoples wasn’t bad enough, now director Guillermo Del Toro (the Blade movies, Hellboy) has revealed that he is no longer attached to the Wind in the Willows adaption, a project that Disney had once hoped would do for it what Lord of the Rings did for New […]

{{link http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/local/sfl-1117mickeymouse,0,3592155.story?coll=sfla-business-front The Sun-Sentinel}} looks back on the career of one Mr Mouse, who will be celebrating 75 years in the buisiness on Tuesday, November 18th. It was 75 years ago this day that Walt Disney premiered the groundbreaking cartoon Steamboat Wiliie, the one (to coin an often too used phrase) that started it all! […]

Those were the words Pixar CEO Steve Jobs said in a statement to {{link http://www.videobusiness.com/article.asp?articleID=6533&catType=NEWS Video Business Online}} today, which announced that Disney/Pixar’s Finding Nemo has become the industry’s biggest selling title on home video, with 15 million DVDs and a further 5 million videocassettes sold in the first 12 days of release. Sales have […]

Perhaps more known for his infamous animated features Fritz The Cat and the recently DVD-issued live-action/cartoon combo Cool World, director Ralph Bakshi remains an interesting figure on the fringe. Now, {{link http://www.thedigitalbits.com/rumormill.html The Digital Bits Rumor Mill}} announces that he is down to record an audio commentary for his 1977 fantasy Wizards, “due next year […]

Monkees drummer Micky Dolenz will take over the role of Zoser in Disney Theatricals’ \\Aida\\ on January 6, according to {{link http://www.broadway.com/template_1.asp?CI=32162&CT=38 Broadway.com}}

\\{{link http://www.latimes.com/la-et-horn16nov16,1,3968503.story The L.A. Times}}\\ takes a look at how cost-cutting at Hollywood studios doesn’t apply to their efforts to win awards. “Disney has pink-slipped scores of animators in Paris, Tokyo and Orlando, Fla. It’s penny-pinching time across Hollywood – except when it comes to awards-season campaigning, where there’s still plenty of room for $5,000-a-day […]

As we reported last week, Disney has shut down production on its 2D/3D-mixed animated film My Peoples, which has had a troubled history, going through re-writes and strange titles galore: A Few Good Ghosts, Once In a Blue Moon and Angel and Her No Good Sister being among them. Now the {{link http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/cl-fi-disney15nov15,2,6422473.story Los Angeles […]

‘disneyaholic’ on our {{link http://animation.skyblueproductions.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=94 Animated News Forum}} points to a {{link http://magicalears.com/films/animation/ComingUp/FutureReleases.php complete listing}} of Disney DVD and VHS titles (though LD is listed as a format, there are no new planned releases) for the next few months. Many of these look to be price drops and re-prints of older titles, but it’s exciting […]

Steve Ogden’s excellent {{link http://www.animwatch.com/ AnimWatch}} website, which keeps an eye on all developments in the world of independent animation, has just been updated to feature details on nine new films this month, including Aardman’s latest Creature Comforts and The Triplets Of Belleville. With the continual closing of the big US studios’ 2D departments, the […]

The Big Cartoon Database has just kicked off a new feature, {{link http://forum.bcdb.com/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_view&post=14707 The Animated Word}}, which will be a review coulmn on new animated films and DVD releases. Alex Weitzman’s first pick is Looney Tunes: Back In Action – he thinks it’s pretty good…so what are you waiting for? Rush out Sunday and bump […]

‘dtemplar’ in the {{link http://forums.toontitan.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=17831#post17831 DVD Toons Forum}} posted that “Penny Singleton, who brought Jane to life on Hanna-Barbera’s 1962 primetime cartoon The Jetsons, died in California Wednesday two weeks after suffering a stroke. She was 95. Singleton is also known for creating the role of Blondie (of Dagwood and Blondie fame) on the big […]

The company responsible for such great shorts as Luxo Jr, Knick Knack and For The Birds has done it again. The recently completed Boundin’ is described as a charming, funny piece in the spirit of Disney’s cartoon Pecos Bill. No word yet on when and where it will premiere, though it’s a good guess that […]

Looney Tunes: Back In Action, which opened in 2903 theaters this weekend, failed to find an audience on its opening day bringing in only $2,140,000 in a distant seventh place. This does not fare well for the $85 million budgeted feature, as more family competition is to be expected this holiday season. Brother Bear, on […]

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 […]