{{link http://news.awn.com/index.php?ltype=cat&category1=Television&newsitem_no=12411 Animation World Network}} reports that after only three episodes aired Comedy Central has already ordered a second season of \\Drawn Together\\. The show, hyped as “television’s first animated reality series”, was created by Matt Silverstein and Dave Jeser and is produced by Rough Draft Studios. Silverstein and Jeser said, “We’re astonished that Comedy […]

Shaping up much better than the 66-minute length DTVs that Disney usually puts out (which helpfully add up, with commercials, for a snug 90-minute later TV showing), the studio’s Mulan II is listed as being a fairly generous 79 minutes in a new industry promo. The ad points out that the title will come with […]

In its Stupid Crimes and Misdemeanors section Court TV.com reports that an off-duty police officer in Alberta, Canada, dressed as Shrek caught a smalltime thief fleeing from a liquor store. After running from “Shrek” the criminal surrendered himself to “regular” police officers, mostly in an attempt to find safety from the temporarily ogre-like cop.

DVD Toons has posted a scathing review of the direct-to-video {{link http://www.dvdtoons.com/reviews/350 Mickey’s Twice Upon A Christmas}}, calling its computer animation “knock-off, lifeless, carbon copy remnants of Walt Disney’s cherished creations”. The review adds that “off model, strangely lit, and devoid of all personality, Twice Upon A Christmas is a clearer indication than any that […]

Pixar has reported the company’s third quarter 2004 earnings in an investor conference call, on the business side of things, during the quarter, the company earned $22.4 million, or $0.38 per diluted share on revenues of $44.5 million. The company expects strong fourth quarter earnings that will be driven by the recent release of The […]

Chuck Oberleitner’s new site O-Meon has some fresh information on the very recent firing of Mulan producer Pam Coats from her post as Executive Vice President of Creative Affairs at Walt Disney Feature Animation. The firing was reported by one observer to be Stainton’s way of “clearing the field of potential replacements.”

Although there isn’t much there yet, an official Flash teaser site for the Platinum Edition DVD of Bambi, set to come out March 1st, has been set up for your viewing pleasure!

Animated Bliss has the press release for the acclaimed (if not too creatively titled) independent animated film The Boy Who Wanted to Be a Bear. Central Park Media will release this Danish film to both a standard and a collector’s edition DVD on February 8th of next year.

British tabloid The Sun has a short column today featuring an image of Johnny Depp as the one and only Willy Wonka, from Tim Burton’s upcoming adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In addition, Movie Hole has a few set pics that have been sneaked onto the net.

Jim Hill returns with even more answers to your Disney-related questions. This time around, Jim talks about the Times Square hotel that the Walt Disney Company almost built, where to look to find Frank & Ollie in The Incredibles, as well as announcing his next set of Disney World tours.

In an interview with IGN FilmForce, Tom Hanks speaks on the making of The Polar Express. However, what may be the highlight of the interview is his response to the question, “Will you be involved in the Toy Story sequels Disney is planning without Pixar?” Hanks’ response is, “I don’t know. The creative team that […]

DVD Answers has the details on the Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow DVD, flying into stores on February 1, 2005. Available in both anamorphic widescreen and full screen editions, the DVD will feature an English Dolby Digital 5.1 track, along with two audio commentaries, five behind the scenes featurettes on the various aspects […]

Jerry Bruckheimer clears up some rumors concerning the upcoming sequels to Pirates of the Caribbean, in an interview with Latino Review. Apparently, Keith Richards has not yet signed on to do the sequel, the tentative subtitle for the second film is not Treasures of the Lost Abyss, and back-to-back productions of two sequels has not […]

IGN FilmForce points to a new, funny music video featuring David Hasselhoff singing, while Spongebob and Patrick make guest appearances. Meanwhile, a new Spongebob Squarepants Movie poster featuring the three- sort of- has appeared on eBay. The Spongebob Squarepants Movie opens in theaters on November 19, 2004.

AWN reports that William Schifrin, writer of Quest for Camelot, has been hired to write the CG animated feature, Noah’s Ark, which Walden Media and Creative Battery are producing. The movie will tell the Biblical tale from the perspective of an unlucky camel, who must help save the animals on the ark.

Chuck Oberleitner, formerly of Jim Hill Media fame, writes in to point us to an article at his new site (O-Meon) about all the ups and downs in the last couple decades of Walt Disney’s Feature Animation division, with special emphasis on David Stainton’s involvement and the upcoming Chicken Little film.

{{link http://news.awn.com/index.php?ltype=top&newsitem_no=12405 Animation World Network}} reports that Warner Brothers has opened their new {{link http://LooneyTunes.com LooneyTunes.com}} website, which includes “the first original Looney Tunes shorts (online or offline) in more than a year… more games, a new Showcase section where fans can get the latest Looney Tunes news, an updated Looney Shop and more Looney […]

The Laguna College of Art and Design, in Laguna Beach, California, will be hosting The Art and Entertainment of Chuck Jones on Saturday, November 20. The event will include a collection from the archives of the Chuck Jones Foundation, showing the development of Chucks work from though process to creation of his characters and fine […]

{{link http://www.creativetalentnetwork.com/ The Creative Talent Network}}, a virtual community of industry animators, designers, production artists and others, is online as a resource for people who want to “come together to market their talents, pursue common goals, share their experience, connect with other professionals worldwide and improve the ability for clients to connect with them”. According […]

The webmaster at the {{link http://www.philcollins.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=news;action=display;num=1098992454 Phil Collins Forum}} reports that Collins has emailed them his upcoming schedule which includes the fact that after the arrival of his next child, “he has some singing to do for \\Tarzan 2\\, which is direct to video/DVD, for which he wrote a couple of new songs”.

DreamWorks has landed the domestic distribution rights to the Japanese science fiction action film \\Casshern\\, which it will release under the banner of its specialty film division, Go Fish Pictures. The film blends Japanimation and manga-inspired live action. DreamWorks says of the plot: “It is late in the 21st century. After 50 years of devastating […]

All the way from Japan, ‘Senator Ovaltine’ has sent Ain’t It Cool News a positive early review of the next Hayao Miyazaki film Howl’s Moving Castle. While he has a few minor quibbles, it was overall a great experience; hopefully this bodes well for the film when it arrives in U.S. theaters next year!

The reviews are in for \\The Polar Express\\ and according to {{link http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/polar_express/ Rotten Tomatoes}} they are more good then bad! The tomatometer weighs in at a respectable 67%, with 32 Fresh reviews and 16 Rotten. The reviewers that liked the film say the story was what made this film work: “The film is not sheer […]

Michel Gagné, ambitiously continuing his Insanely Twisted Puppet Show pet project, has released a new teaser for the series, first reported about by Animated News on October 30th. This time around he gives us a much eerier and more tantalizing glimpse at what’s in store!

Be prepared for yet another new DVD line from Disney; this time with Walt Disney’s Classic Cartoon Favorites! Mimicking the Spotlight Collection series that Warner Bros. has utilized with the Looney Tunes, among others, these four single-disc DVD volumes will each contain an hour of classic Disney shorts – making the cartoons more widely available […]

Many thanks to Ultimate Disney for the exciting press release! Buena Vista has, at last, announced the release of three more 2-disc Special Edition DVDs of long sought-after Studio Ghibli films! In short – the good news is the release date is still February 22nd, 2005; it has not been pushed back further. The bad […]

{{link http://www.broadway.com/gen/Buzz_Story.aspx?ci=502193 Broadway.com}} reports that Disney Theatricals has named well known European director (and Broadway newcomer) Francesca Zambello as the director for the Broadway musical version of \\The Little Mermaid\\. Zambello worked previously for Disney on the theme park stage show \\Aladdin\\. She is best known for her work in opera and theatre, where her […]

{{link http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=pageone&article_no=2285 AWN}} notes that the hour long \\Popeye’s Voyage: The Quest for Pappy\\ DVD released today will air on FOX on December 17, in a slimmed down 30 minute version.

{{link http://www.animationinsider.net/article.php?articleID=312 Animation Insider}} reports that children’s publisher Scholastic has signed an exclusive deal with Cartoon Network to publish books based on current series’ \\Codename: Kids Next Door\\, and \\Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends\\, and upcoming shows \\Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi\\ and \\The Life and Times of Juniper Lee\\.