Fox/Blue Sky’s \\Ice Age: The Meltdown\\ opens today at 3,963 theatres according to {{link http://www.boxofficemojo.com/counts/chart/?yr=2006&wk=13&p=.htm Box Office Mojo}}. The film’s reviews come in just on the Fresh side of {{link http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ice_age_2/ Rotten Tomatoes’}} Tomatometer with 62%. The critical consensus seems to be just the opposite of the the original: “Impressive animation carries this sequel, as […]

Speaking to MTV, Antonio Banderas reveals some interesting info regarding the future of his popular Shrek 2 character, Puss in Boots. For instance, Puss’ spinoff movie, Puss in Boots: The Story of an Ogre Killer, will take place between the third and fourth Shrek films. As for the fourth Shrek adventure, Banderas also acknowledges that […]

A couple of animation-related videos have been released to the world wide web recently. First up, the trailer for Garfield’s A Tale of Two Kitties is now available to view at Moviefone. In the meantime, Yahoo! Movies has a second clip, titled “Curling”, from Disney’s The Wild.

Two more teaser posters for Charlotte’s Web have arrived at Latino Review. Paramount Pictures’ update of the classic tale will enter theaters on December 20th.

TV Shows on DVD announces that Voltron: Defender of the Universe is coming to DVD this September. The release will carry the series’ first fifteen episodes. Bonus features for the package include “original character sketches, designs, promos, TV ads, news footage, and other treasures from the 80’s,” along with new content created exclusively for the […]

The Towerlight Online (Boston-based college newspaper) reviews DreamWorks Animation’s Over the Hedge, saying it “got huge laughs from the completely adult-filled theatre,” and, “if the mediocre Madagascar could gross near $200 million, Over the Hedge has the potential to be a massive blockbuster.” And, contrary to a previous report, it claims that Over the Hedge […]

Aaron Hartline, animation lead on Scrat for Blue Sky’s Ice Age 2: The Meltdown, speaks to {{link http://www.strutyourreel.com/forum/feature/ Strut Your Reel}} about breaking into the business, the highs and lows, tricks of the trade, and turning in a big Hollywood movie sequel in under eight months. Hartline is also participating in a forum-based {{link http://www.strutyourreel.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=35&sid=d940df825b313a22fff1d5108b8e0410 […]

{{link http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/home_video/brief_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002274534 The Hollywood Reporter}} announces that Disney’s Chicken Little “easily crossed the road to the top spot on the national DVD sales chart for the week ending March 26. According to VideoScan data, Chicken Little, the animated take on the classic sky-is-falling tale that grossed more than $135 million in theaters, outsold second-ranked Dreamer: […]

Tuesday evening held the premiere of the CNBC talk show Conversations with Michael Eisner, during which the former Disney CEO interviewed Martha Stewart, Bran Ferren, and Sir Howard Stringer. As reported by The Wall Street Journal [paid registration required], through Intercot’s Discussion Boards, the show scored a 0.0 rating and 0 share on CNBC’s Tuesday […]

Trailing only USA Network, Disney Channel came in second place among the top-rated cable stations, in the first quarter of 2006. With a 2.1 household rating and an average of 2.46 million viewers in prime, the channel discovered a 28 percent increase in ratings compared to its first-quarter 2005 audience. For information on how other […]

The Animation Guild Blog has an update on the behind-the-scenes buzz of Bee Movie. The site writes, “At DreamWorks, we hear that Jerry Seinfeld remains deeply involved with the animated feature he developed and wrote as the project moves into production. Staffers say he looks at models and designs giving input, and that he’s in […]

Via a press release at Yahoo! Finance, the annoucement has arrived that Hollywood’s El Capitan Theatre will host Walt Disney Picture’s The Wild, from April 14th through May 11th. In addition to a nightly showing of the film, the festivities will include a nightly presentation of exotic birds from around the world, courtesy of the […]

From Frédéric Desnoue, the brain behind the popular French Incredibles fansite, Les Indestructibles, comes an online ode to the newest Pixar product, Cars. The site sports a nice array of pics and info regarding the highly anticipated June release.

Chuck Oberleitner reports at o-meon that director Mark Dindal and producer Randy Fullmer have decided to depart Walt Disney Feature Animation after wrapping up work on Chicken Little, culminating with its recent DVD release. The article makes clear that their decision was made prior to the forging of the Disney/Pixar deal in January.

The Boston Herald speculates on casting for Disney’s upcoming Underdog, a live-action update to the popular ’60s animated series. Set to open in theaters on August 3, 2007, the film’s title character will be played by a real dog, provided with a computer generated mouth. Rumor has it that Nicolas Cage was offered to voice […]

IGN has a look at the Over the Hedge video game, brought to life by Vicarious Visions. Noting its “impressive design,” the site further comments that the Nintendo DS project is “challenging and original.” The video game adaptation of Over the Hedge is scheduled for a May 9th release.

TV Shows on DVD presents the episode listings and cover artwork for the Pinky and the Brain and Animaniacs DVDs. Details on the sets’ extras have yet to arrive, though it is known that the Animaniacs package will include the interview-styled Animaniacs Live! featurette. Both DVD compilations will hit stores on July 25th.

With The Albuquerque Tribune, Disney animator Andreas Deja shares his thoughts on what direction the art of animation may be heading. Specifically, the animator believes the future will see more of the unique type animation that blends both traditional and computer generated styles.

Negotiations between the Screen Actors Guild and major producers of cartoons on basic cable have resulted in a 20 percent rise in residuals for voice actors. “This is a significant win for actors doing animation work,” said Loren Lester of the Guild’s member-led negotiating committee. “It’s truly historic when you consider the Guild hasn’t achieved […]

The blog Luxo has received word on when the Science Museum’s Pixar speaker presentations will take place. Scheduled to speak are Pixar employees Loren Carpenter (senior scientist), Dan Mason (animator), and Tia Kratter (digital painter/art director). The dates listed are all part of the Pixar: 20 Years of Animation exhibition.

Discovered by CGCHAR is the addition of the animated shorts In the Rough and Gopher Broke to Blur Studio’s official website. The projects are located in the “Animation” section of the site.

Headlines are heating up with Ice, as the Friday release of Ice Age: The Meltdown quickly approaches. Two video clips from the film have been obtained by IGN FilmForce, while a demo of the film’s video game adaptation is noticed at Gameguru Mania. In the meantime, the cast of Meltdown has been working overtime to […]

o-meon has updated with a report on the sometimes elaborate premieres for Disney movies. Special focus is given to the pending premieres for Cars and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.

A faithful reader points out more information on the official dropping of Disney’s Gnomeo & Juliet, which was being produced by Elton John, at the Herald News Daily. And there’s more information about Gnomeo and Meet the Robinsons at Jim Hill Media.

A post at Animation Nation points to The Animation Guild Blog, where word arrives that Disney’s Gnomeo and Juliet has been cancelled once more. The move was revealed by a Pixar executive at a recent studio meeting.

Jim Hill reflects on the first performance of Disney’s Tarzan Broadway musical, which took place last Friday night at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. As it turns out, many members of the show’s audience noted an “obstructed view,” the result of the musical’s stage setup. While further discussing this problem, Hill likewise notes story differences between […]

Larry Loc has posted photos at ASIFA-Hollywood blog and Jerry Beck has posted a report at Cartoon Brew of last night’s UPA tribute held at the historic Egyptian Theatre. Looks like they had a sizeable turnout with a lot of big names in animation.

MSNBC has a brief article discussing the use of quirky, ironic British humor in DreamWorks/Aardman’s Flushed Away. Thanks to Kristin for the heads up.

So crocs do live in New York city sewers. Apple’s movie trailers page now has an exclusive sneak peek at the crocodile scene from Disney’s The Wild.

The {{link http://forum.bcdb.com/gforum.cgi?post=60988 Big Cartoon DataBase reports}} the very sad passing of a true Hollywood legend, director Richard Fleischer, son of animation producer Max and the captain of Walt Disney’s foray into large scale filmmaking and first American shot live-action feature film 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, for which he famously asked his father’s permission […]