Month: May 2007 – page 3

TV to DVD: Tom & Jerry, Super Friends, Thunderbirds

TV Shows on DVD premieres the cover artwork for the final volume of Tom & Jerry: Spotlight collection. The site also reveals the artwork for Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers and the 12-DVD Thunderbirds: 40th Anniversary Collector’s Edition Megaset, as well as listing the titles bonus features.

New Clone Wars poster

starwars.com showcases a new poster for the upcoming CGI-series, The Clone Wars. The poster also premieres the newest animated reincarnations of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, Yoda and others.

Shrek the Third opens

Paramount/DreamWorks’ Shrek the Third opens today in 4,122 theatres according to Box Office Mojo. The critics aren’t nearly as kind to the this outing of the franchise, with the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer showing “Rotten” with 43%. That shouldn’t slow down it’s haul; Box Office Report predicts a $101 million weekend.

New Bee Movie trailer

MovieFone premieres the first full lenght trailer for DreamWorks’ upcoming Bee Movie in both Standard and High-Definition formats. Bee Movie is scheduled to hit theaters on November 2nd, 2007.

Preview the Shrek the Third soundtrack

Among the latest titles in AOL Music’s Full CD Listening Parties section, the soundtrack to Shrek the Third is highlighted. Released last Tuesday, the album features tracks from such artists as Fergie, Eels, The Ramones, Led Zeppelin and Macy Gray, as well as the movie’s stars Antonio Banderas, Eddie Murphy, Rupert Everett and Maya Rudolph.

Disney to make Magic in China

Disney is hoping that a little vegetable will have big business in China. In its first co-production with the state-run China Film Group, the company will release the Chinese-language The Magic Gourd this summer. Featuring computer animation and live-action, the movie tells the Zhang Tianyi tale of “a boy who discovers a gourd – a […]

Pixar history revealed in pics, book

Upcoming Pixar spreads the JV Pixar News word that Picasa Web Albums is currently hosting pictures from the Pixar: 20 Years of Animation exhibition. The photos were taken while the presentation was at the National Museum of Scotland, in Edinburgh. The earlier-mentioned site also relays the Luxo info that the book The Story of Pixar […]

Poppins musical nabs seven Tony nominations

The nominees for the 61st Annual Tony Awards have been announced. Among them, the Broadway incarnation of Mary Poppins scored seven nods, including: Best Musical, Best Leading Actor (Gavin Lee), Best Featured Actress (Rebecca Luker), Best Choreography (Matthew Bourne, Stephen Mear), Best Scenic Design (Bob Crowley), Best Costume Design (Gregg Barnes) and Best Lighting Design […]

N-Bee-C

NY Daily News and The Chicago Tribune elaborate on the 20 live-action shorts for Bee Movie that will air on NBC this fall. Lasting 1 – 2 minutes, each minisode will humorously expand upon Jerry Seinfeld’s work for the film. With the program deal, NBC also landed the rights to air Bee Movie.

Marketing Surf's Up

SCI FI Wire writes that with its marketing campaign, Surf’s Up will try to show potential audiences that the film is a brand-new experience rather than a copy of March of the Penguins or Happy Feet. Nonetheless, the movie’s creators are hoping Surf’s Up has similar success to its penguin predecessors.

Ratatouille international trailer, posters

An international trailer for Disney/Pixar’s Ratatouille may be viewed at Apple.jp. Meanwhile, JV Pixar News reports that two Ratatouille posters (1,2) have been discovered at eBay.

More on Robot Chicken: Star Wars

StarWars.com has published a full article on the upcoming Robot Chicken: Star Wars special. The article includes an interview with Robot Chicken creators, Seth Green and Matthew Senreich, discussing the origin of Robot Chicken and how they went about in creating the 30-minute special. Robot Chicken: Star Wars premieres on June 17th, 2007 on Cartoon […]

Uh-oh: more Happy Feet? …and: excited about this year's TV pickups?

In a post hijack, 24, Smallville and Heroes are all back, plus Animal Logic’s 3D plans.

Anka receives scholarship from Warner Bros., Hanna-Barbera

Los Angeles County High School for the Arts senior Kris Anka, set to enter California Institute of the Arts this fall, has been selected to receive the first Warner Bros. Animation/Hanna-Barbera Scholarship. In response to the honor, Anka said, “I’m honored to be the first recipient of this scholarship as I’ve been a lifelong fan […]

Surf's documentary style explained

With SCI FI Wire, Surf’s Up animation layout supervisor James C.J. Williams explains the ways he and his crew captured a documentary feel for the Sony Pictures Animation release. “We literally bought a 20-year-old Sony camera on eBay and hooked it up so we could get the feel of the heavier, older camera when we’re […]

Latest on Darkwing Duck, Tick second sets

Ultimate Disney has the press releases for Darkwing Duck – Volume 2 and The Tick vs. Season 2, both arriving August 7. While Duck will contain 27 episodes, this new Tick release will only provide 12 of the 13 episodes from the show’s second season.

Update on American Dog, Frog, Rapunzel story reels

The Animation Guild Blog indicates that the American Dog story reels recently received a warm reception. “The whole picture was up on reels, and the notes were pretty positive,” said one story artist. “The crew worked lots of o.t. getting things up in a few months, and they’re pretty satisfied. They know they’ve got lots […]

Avatar – Book 2 coming September 11

TV Shows on DVD reports that Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Complete Book 2 Collection will hit stores this September 11. The five-disc DVD set will carry 20 episodes from the series’ second season.

Nemo sub coming to you

From the Disneyland news service comes the following press release regarding the yellow Nemo submarine making a cross-country tour to promote the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage attraction at Disney’s flagship theme park:

Filmation’s Ghostbusters: Volume One!

The other spook-bustin’ series comes to DVD and is a fun diversion that shows what was great (and not so great) about 1980s television animation.

Pirates on Hollywood Blvd.

Last night Buena Vista Home Entertainment held an event for the press showcasing the coming release of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest to Disney Blu-Ray DVD. These releases will have all of the content that their respective regular DVD releases had plus […]

More on Shrek The Halls

The makers of Shrek The Third told Sci-Fi Wire that they are also working on the upcoming half-hour holiday special, Shrek The Halls, which they hope will be an annual favorite rivaling the famous Charlie Brown Christmas special. Shrek the Third director Chris Miller said a separate group of directors are working on the story, […]

TV to DVD: South Park, Spongebob Squarepants

DVD Active displays the cover art for South Park – Season 10, wich will be available to own from August 28th . Meanwhile, TV Shows on DVD premieres the cover artwork for Spongebob Squarepants – Season 5: Volume 1. Set for a September 4th release, the 2-disc set will hold 23 episodes including 9 wich […]

Jackson up for Tintin; plus Venture and Ghostbusters reviews

Peter Jackson joins Steven Spielberg’s Tintin adventure, plus two new box set reviews!

Tintin teams with Spielberg, Jackson

Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson are teaming to bring Tintin, Georges Remi’s Belgian comic-strip hero, to life with a trilogy of films to be released possibly by DreamWorks Animation. Spielberg and Jackson will each direct at least one of the movies, although it is unknown at this time who will direct the third picture. Kathleen […]

Iron Man to fight with Light & Magic

Superhero Hype! indicates that Industrial Light & Magic has been named as the principle visual effects house for Iron Man. Visual Effects Supervisor Ben Snow and Oscar-winning Animation Supervisor Hal Hickel will lead the film’s ILM team. Meanwhile, Wayne Billheimer will produce for ILM, with Gretchen Libby acting as the company’s Executive Producer.

Voltron – Vol. 4: Red Lion coming in September

It appears that Voltron: Defender of the Universe – Vol. 4: Red Lion will make its way to stores on September 25. The news was found in a catalogue included with Vol. 3: Green Lion, released last Tuesday, May 8. TV Shows on DVD has the cover artwork for the package.

Spain voyages to Planet One

Variety notices the production of Planet One, produced by Madrid’s Ilion Animation Studios and London’s Handmade Films. With a budget of $54 million, the picture is the largest film of any type to arrive from Spain. Planet One also marks the movie debut of Spain’s highly successful international entertainment company, videogame and cell-phone content specialist […]

Pixar makes "Best of" lists

Upcoming Pixar points out that in a list of the “The 25 Best Movie Sequels of All Time,” Moviefone places Toy Story 2 at #13. Meanwhile, Cinema Blend releases its picks for the top five computer animated movies of all time. Their choices include: 1) The Incredibles, 2) Toy Story, 3) Shrek, 4) Finding Nemo […]

Kimball railroad being dismantled

According to the Los Angeles Times, Grizzly Flats Railroad is being disassembled. The 500-foot-long railroad sat next to the San Gabriel home of Disney Legend Ward Kimball and his wife, Betty, for around 70 years. Interestingly, the article notes that Grizzly Flats helped inspire Walt Disney to build the famous passenger train system that circles […]