After debuting at Yahoo earlier this week, the teaser for Spider-Man 2 is now available in much better {{link http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/spider-man_2/ QuickTime}} from Apple’s site. Also new today is a teaser for the not-so-anticipated sequel to the animation-referencing Jim Carrey comedy The Mask, available through {{link http://www.darkhorizons.com/news03/031218c.php Dark Horizons}}. Son Of The Mask (AKA The Mask […]

{{link http://www.hfpa.org/nominations2004.html The Hollywood Foreign Press Association}} has announced their nominations for the 2004 Golden Globe Awards. \\Finding Nemo\\ was nominated for Best Picture. Previous Golden Globe Awards for Best Picture have gone to \\Beauty and the Beast\\, \\The Lion King\\, and \\Toy Story 2\\. Golden Globe nominations for Best Picture have included \\Who Framed […]

{{link http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=pageone&article_no=1950 AWN}} has a story about “the most ambitious Spanish animated theatrical film ever produced”, \\El Cid, The Legend\\, set to be released in Spain tomorrow. The article looks at: the challenges of overcoming the “hegemony of North American animation in the Spanish screens”, technical aspects of creating the mostly traditionally animated film, the […]

The AP (via {{link http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2003-12-11-weekend-news_x.htm USA Today}}) reports that ABC has received approval from its affiliate board to produce weekend morning news shows which would compete with those on CBS and NBC. Currently, many ABC stations air cartoons which will have to be moved or removed to make room for the news programs.

{{link http://news.awn.com/index.php3?ltype=top&newsitem_no=9856 AWN}} reports that actor Christopher Reeve (former star of the \\Superman\\ franchise) is set to direct an as of yet untitled original feature length animated film “described as an urban fable set in the 1930s, and is expected to be completed in early 2005”. Digital Production Solutions, the animation unit of IDT Entertainment, […]

Disney’s official site for The Lion King 1½ updates with two new trailers, one entitled “Timon’s Proposal” in which Timon makes a weird, semi-musical proposition to Shenzi (and in which we discover what might be Shenzi’s full name), and one entitled “Gotta Go,” which shows what happens when you give your surrogate child too much […]

The Moose Hole criticizes the third installment of The Lord of the Rings series in several areas but praises Peter Jackson’s directing and overall artistic achievement of The Return Of The King. The site comments “King makes many leaps and bounds above most of the films this year but fails to achieve the consistency and […]

Katsuhiro Otomo’s three part movie Memories is coming to the US thanks to Sony/Columbia. Based on the manga of the same name, Memories collects three fascinating science fiction stories from the author of Akira and the upcoming Steamboy and is a must see for all anime fans. The DVD will be released on March 24th […]

{{link http://www.bfca.org/ The Broadcast Film Critics Association}} announced their nominees for the Critics Choice Awards. The BFCA, the largest film critics organization in the United States and Canada, claim their Critics Choice Awards “are the most accurate predictor of the Academy Award nominations. In the past five years, 94% of Oscar nominees for Best Picture […]

Another animated feature opens in Spain this week: Los Reyes Magos. The movie is a retelling of the tale of three wise men, Melchor, Gaspar and Baltasar, and their journey to Bethlehem. Produced by Madrid based Animagic Studio, the movie is another example of the prolific Spanish animation production and has been nominated for the […]

John Lasseter’s groundbreaking short film \\Tin Toy\\ and Warner Brothers’ \\One Froggy Evening\\, the short that gave birth to Michigan J. Frog, have been added to the {{link http://lcweb.loc.gov/film/filmnfr.html National Film Registry}} according to the head of Library of Congress, James Billington. Each year the Librarian of Congress, advised by the National Film Preservation Board, […]

Visit any effects or movie-related website today and you’re sure of one thing – a mention of the latest and last film in Peter Jackosn’s epic Lord Of The Rings trilogy, The Return Of The King, which opens worldwide today and has already been voted as possibly the best film of the year. {{link http://www.imdb.com/StudioBrief/#1 […]

When is an animated character not a cartoon? Perhaps, as Randall Cyrenne points out in his article over at DVD Toons, when it is a “Pixoon”. On the eve of the release of Peter Jackson’s The Return Of The King, which features the animated Gollum, Rand’s new My Toon Cents feature, {{link http://www.dvdtoons.com/features/60 Cartoon Or […]

Michael Barrier’s {{link http://www.michaelbarrier.com/index.html Funnyworld}} site updates this week with a number of {{link http://www.michaelbarrier.com/links.htm new added links}} to some great animation-related websites (including us – thanks Michael)! There’s also a wonderful {{link http://www.michaelbarrier.com/Funnyworld/Clampett/interview_bob_clampett.htm archive interview}} with Bob Clampett from a 1970 print edition of Funnyworld, which, as is pointed out on the site, “is […]

{{link http://www.jimhillmedia.com/articles/12162003.1.htm Jim Hill}} returns with his almost daily take on the next step in the Roy/Michael situation at Disney. Today, he wonders what Roy Disney and Stanley Gold might be up to next…

‘Nicolas’ on the {{link http://animation.skyblueproductions.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=610#post610 Animated News Forum}} lets us know that Les Triplettes De Belleville “will be released in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on the 19th of December. The film’s release is a limited one, only playing in its original version at ‘Le Parisien’. The english version will probably soon follow for us non-French Canadians. […]

It’s December 16th, and for animation and effects fans, there’s a number of great releases out today, including {{link http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000CABL2/002-1902555-2863210?v=glance&s=dvd South Park: The Complete Third Season}}, the franchise colliding {{link http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000CABKY/002-1902555-2863210 Rugrats Go Wild}}, the old-style effects-packed and actually very good fun {{link http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00005JM5B/002-1902555-2863210?v=glance&s=dvd The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen}}, and Disney’s remake of their own […]

{{link http://www.afi.com/tvevents/afiawards03/default.aspx The American Film Institute}} has announced its “Ten Most Outstanding Motion Pictures and Television Programs of the Year”. Their awards are “the only form of national recognition that honors the film and television creative ensemble as a whole – those people in front of and behind the camera-acknowledging the collaborative nature of film […]

Though it is not a “special anniversary”, today is the date that Walt Disney passed away at St. Jospeh’s Hospital, in Burbank (right across the street from the Studio he founded). He died 37 years ago, in 1966, from “acute circulatory failure”, which was a result of complications arising from lung cancer, ten days after […]

\\{{link http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/story.asp?id=7530006A-C103-4E13-9A55-F6EFCC111ACC The Montreal Gazette}}\\ reports that the special effects wizards working on the third installment of \\The Lord of the Rings\\ trilogy, \\The Return of the King\\, encountered an unexpected problem when creating the climactic battle scene. Director Peter Jackson told his special effects department, “I want battles like nothing anyone has ever seen […]

{{link http://www.darkhorizons.com/news03/031215e.php Dark Horizons}} posts the updated weekend box office results from {{link http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=2003&wknd=42&p=.htm Box Office Mojo}}. The current top ten doesn’t feature any wholly animated films, but plenty of CG effects pop up in: 5. The Haunted Mansion, with $6.3m for a $53.9m total after 3 weeks 7. Elf, adding another $6.2m to bring […]

As we reported last week, Yahoo Webevents has landed the rights to bring you the first look at the teaser for next summer’s {{link http://advision.webevents.yahoo.com/sony/spiderman2/ Spider-Man 2}}. Though the clip is only available in Java mode, it’s well worth checking out (the effects look as “passable” as before, though Danny Elfman’s score shines), and a […]

The ever popular (and ever probing!) {{link http://www.jimhillmedia.com/main/index.htm Jim Hill Media}} is back this morning with another insightful story. To put it in his words, “as more stories leak out about Michael Eisner’s bizarre behavior over the past two weeks, {{link http://www.jimhillmedia.com/articles/12152003.1.htm Jim Hill asks}}: when is Disney’s Big Cheese actually going to admit that […]

The website for the stage version of \\Mary Poppins\\ is now online at {{link http://www.marypoppinsthemusical.com www.marypoppinsthemusical.com}}. Check out our previous reports on this show by clicking this button:

Online joke paper {{link http://www.watleyreview.com/EditorsDesk.html The Watley Review}}, “dedicated to the production of articles completely without journalistic merit or factual basis”, has posted a fun story on {{link http://www.watleyreview.com/2003/120903-3.html Mickey Mouse’s resignation}} from the Disney Studio. Although primarily for amusement, the piece does have serious undertones and makes for fascinating “between the lines” reading – […]

Amid Amidi’s {{link http://www.animationblast.com/ Animation Blast}} points us toward the “second edition of Doing Their Bit: Wartme American Animated Short Films, 1939-1945 [which] is being published soon and it sounds like a solid read for anybody interested in understanding the now-controversial animated shorts produced by the major Hollywood cartoon studios during World War II”. Michael […]

{{link http://www.cinescape.com/0/editorial.asp?aff_id=0&this_cat=News&action=page&obj_id=40401&type_id=270284&cat_id=272956&sub_id=0 Cinescape}} is back with another bunch of premiere pics – this time for the recent El Capitan theater showing of Disney’s Haunted Mansion, starring Eddie Murphy.

The answer to mankind’s age old question – namely, how does a superhero relaxe during the festive season – will be answered in an all-new holiday episode of Justice League, Cartoon Network’s popular animated series based on the the joining up of DC Comics’ biggest guns, reports {{link http://news.awn.com/index.php3?ltype=top&newsitem_no=9822 AWN}}. The half-hour Comfort And Joy, […]

Following the news that Brother Bear will see a March 30th 2004 disc release comes {{link http://www.ultimatedisney.com/ Ultimate Disney DVD}} with the initial specs: “The film will apparently be presented in both 1.66:1 widescreen (which they’re calling “Full Frame”) and 2.35:1 widescreen (which matches the majority of the film’s theatrical exhibition ratio)”. You can read […]