Famed Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki’s latest animated film Howl’s Moving Castle chalked up 1.48 billion yen in box-office revenue and attracted an audience of 1.1 million people during its first two days of release, a record for a domestic film, Toho Co. said Monday. For its first two days, the movie surpassed the record of […]

\\{{link http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/fridayreview/story/0,,1348509,00.html The Guardian}}\\ has a feature article titled \\How Pixar Conquered the Planet\\ that looks behind the scenes of “the most successful studio in the history of cinema”.

In an in interview on NPR, the director of Titanic and Aliens confirmed that his next movie will be Battle Angel, a live action take on the Battle Angel Alita manga/anime. The movie will be shot in 3D, using the same technology of Cameron’s IMAX 3D movie Aliens of the Deep. The main character will […]

Variety(subscription required) reports that DreamWorks has hired scribes Ed Decter and John Strauss to write the animated pic Puss in Boots, based on the Antonio Banderas-voiced character from Shrek 2.

Animated News reader Thorsten Hasenkamm writes in to inform us that, hot on the heels of the recent DVD release of the live action Pink Panther movies, The Pink Panther Cartoon Collection is now available from Amazon UK in a special 4-disc set. Maybe they will eventually release such a complete set stateside.

Our Animated News reader Vinicio writes in from Guatemala with screen shots and menu screens for the upcoming Mulan II, which has just been released in his area. The design seems to reflect the recent 2-disc edition of the original film, and you can check out the main menus, set up options, scene selection, bonus […]

Animation has taken over the nation’s movie screens this week as all of the top three showing films are animated films. According to {{link http://www.boxofficemojo.com/counts/chart/?yr=2004&wk=47&p=.htm Box Office Mojo}}, Disney/Pixar’s \\The Incredibles\\ is showing on 3,683 screens, Warner Brothers’ \\The Polar Express\\ is on 3,650 screens, and Paramount’s \\The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie\\ is on 3,212 screens. […]

If nautical nonsense be something you wish, you’ll be happy to know that \\The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie\\ opens today! The film has a 70% freshness rating from {{link http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/spongebob_squarepants_movie/ Rotten Tomatoes}}, with those critics who like it loving the zaniness, while those not liking it can’t seem to agree on why!

Just a reminder of the “Art and Entertainment of Chuck Jones” event going on tomorrow, November 20, at The Laguna College of Art and Design and the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity (see original Animated News article and the Cartoon Brew piece). Eric Goldberg will be presenting and speaking on some rare Chuck Jones material. […]

Disney Channel has given the go-ahead to a cartoon series based on the 2000 theatrical release The Emperor’s New Groove. The kids’ cable network has ordered 21 episodes of Emperor’s New Skool for 2006. Groove has performed well on Disney Channel in the past; an Aug. 21 airing was tops in its time period among […]

{{link http://www.afi.com/tvevents/100years/quotes.aspx The American Film Institute}} will “count down America’s 100 greatest lines of dialogue spoken in the movies, as chosen by experts of the motion picture community, in a three-hour television event on the CBS Television Network in June 2005”. AFI’s Director and CEO Jean Picker Firstenberg said, “Great movie quotes become part of […]

For the first time since 1966 Mickey Mouse has been chosen to be the Grand Marshal at the 2005 Tournament of Roses parade in Pasadena, CA, Yahoo! News reports. The only other non-humans to have led the parade in its 116 year history have been Kermit the Frog and ventriloquist dummy Charlie McCarthy along with […]

Coming Soon! reports that Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will release the Spider-Man – The New Animated Series: Extreme Threat DVD on January 25, 2005. The DVD contains episodes from MTV animated series, including such titles as “Royal Scam,” “Heroes and Villains,” and “Flash Memory”. Also included at the site is a menu screen from the […]

Getting a big head start on April Fool’s Day joking, the Dateline: Hollywood site has an interesting fictional piece about the eight major Hollywood studios suing Pixar for being continuously successful. As faux as the piece may be, it still seems to accurately reveal the Hollywood mentality. Case in point: “The complaint asks that a […]

Ultimate Disney has the cover art for the second wave of 2-Disc Studio Ghibli DVDs, including Nausicaä of the Valley of the Winds, Porco Rosso, and The Cat Returns. The three DVDs will be available to own on February 22, 2005.

The UK’s Channel 4 wants viewers to vote for the 100 Greatest Cartoons of all time. The network later show a 4-hour marathon broadcast showcasing clips from the winners and interviews with the creators who made them. See the channel’s official website for more details.

Jim Hill Media looks at the Popeye’s Voyage: The Quest for Pappy DVD. Giving the movie a positive review, the site comments, “In spite of its flaws, is Popeye’s Voyage worth seeing? I’d say yes. It may not be the perfect modern Popeye cartoon, but it’s still enjoyable.” Popeye’s Voyage: The Quest for Pappy will […]

The {{link http://www.wearefamilyfoundation.org/ We Are Family Foundation}} has announced their partnership with some of the biggest names in children’s programming to create a DVD to be distributed in schools to promote tolerance and diversity. The project brings together characters from Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, and PBS programs to sing a new version of the song \\We […]

IGN FilmForce has an exclusive clip from The Spongebob Squarepants Movie, entitled “Mindy Gives a Bag of Wind”.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Sarah Vowell talks about landing the role of Violet in The Incredibles. The This American Life radio essayist notes that she has received offers previously to play animated characters, but always turned them down.

Dark Horizons speaks to the man behind the voice of the sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea. The Spongebob Squarepants Movie floats into theaters this Friday.

The long awaited \\Iron Giant\\: Special Edition DVD was finally released today. The DVD was reportedly finished months ago but held until the theatrical release of director Brad Bird’s latest film \\The Incredibles\\. For a film considered to be one of the best animated films in history, not many people have seen or even heard […]

In the latest edition of o-meon, an exciting new behind the scenes pop-culture and show biz news and information site, Editor C. W. Oberleitner talks about the future of Pixar Animation Studios and how it might have an impact on The Walt Disney Company’s search for a new CEO.

Yahoo! News reports that Disney’s long-rumored production of Toy Story 3 without Pixar’s involvement is now under way. Apparently Walt Disney Feature Animation is “in the process of setting up a digital animation facility in Glendale — not far from the digs of its bitter rival DreamWorks Animation.” Let’s all cross our fingers and hope […]

Randall Cyrene at DVD Toons has posted a review of the DVD release of the most recent Peanuts special, I Want A Dog For Christmas, Charlie Brown. If Disney’s recent CGI-ing of its classic characters has disappointed some we can all be glad that the Peanuts characters are still lovingly rendered in traditional hand-drawn animation […]

BonusMage at the Ultimate Disney forums has scanned in an ad from the UK edition of the recent Mulan DVD revealing that the release date (at least in the UK) for The Incredibles DVD will be Easter 2005.

Despite mixed reviews and being derailed at the box office by The Incredibles, The Polar Express is still able to claim the record of biggest opening weekend take for a Hollywood movie showing in IMAX format, according to The Big Cartoon Database. Previous contenders in this category include Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban […]

Animated films took the top two box office spots this weekend according to {{link http://boxofficemojo.com/ Box Office Mojo}}. In its second week \\The Incredibles\\ took the #1 spot again with $51 million, bringing its total to $144 million. \\The Polar Express\\ had a $23.5 million three-day opening weekend – good enough for only the #2 […]

Todd Doogan of {{link http://www.thedigitalbits.com/doogansviews/111504.html#har The Digital Bits}} reviews the DVD of \\Harvie Krumpet\\, the film that beat competion from the some major studios (Disney’s \\Destino\\, Pixar’s \\Boundin’\\, and Blue Sky’s \\Gone Nutty\\) to win the Oscar for Best Animated Short. Doogan says the film has “plenty of heart and soul” and that the DVD […]

Greg Spiridellis of {{link http://www.jibjab.com/ JibJab Media}}, creators of the “animated web sensation” \\This Land\\ parody, revealed information about their next project. According to \\{{link http://www.animationmagazine.net/article.php?article_id=3202 Animation Magazine}}\\, he said “We’re working on a holiday piece that is going to be a spoof of \\We Are the World\\. It’s got all the world leaders including […]