Coming Soon conducts an interesting conversation with Ratatouille director Brad Bird. Meanwhile, SCI FI Wire serves a trio of articles regarding the movie: “Ratatouille, Short Share A Character,” “Ratatouille Sparked To Oswalt’s Rant” and “Ratatouille Mixes Toon Styles.”

From Colin Ord comes the new book Magic Moving Images – Animated Optical Illusions. The publication features such visuals as a horse galloping, a cat pouncing, cogs turning and 3D objects rotating. A demonstration of Magic Moving Images may be found at YouTube.

Details on the Enchanted Nintendo DS game have arrived at Mickey News. Coming this fall, the game will allow one to play as Princess Giselle, Prince Edward and chipmunk Pip in the settings of mythical Andalasia and real-world New York City. From Disney Interactive Studios, the Enchanted video game is being developed by Altron Corporation.

The trailer for the video game adaptation of Seinfeld’s Bee Movie can be viewed at Yahoo! Games. A free game demo is also available on the site.

Reuters has posted an interesting article giving insight on the changes Brad Bird made to Ratatouille when he took over as director for the film. The story also mentions why he was asked to step in on the project, as well as looking at his views on filmmaking and what his future plans are.

The latest poster for The Simpsons Movie can be found at CanMag. The one-sheet features the famous family on the run from an angry mob.

Comic Book Resources writes that a comic mini-series of Robert Zemeckis’ Beowulf will arrive this October. From writer Chris Ryall, artist Gabriel Rodriguez and colorist Jay Fotos, the 32-page comics will be released in four weekly installments, leading up to the November 16 release of the motion picture.

Thomas Schumacher, Disney’s head of theatrical productions, has announced that the Broadway incarnation of the animated hit Tarzan will end July 8, reports the IMDB’s Studio Briefing. Admitting that the show will close “earlier than any of us had hoped,” Schumacher was optmistic about the Dutch version of Tarzan, commenting, “I would have loved for […]

TV Shows on DVD has the specs and artwork for She-Ra: Princess of Power – Season 2 and The Littles – The Complete Series. The site also introduces the front cover art for Happy Tree Friends – Season 1, Volume 3. In addition, the rear side of Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends – The Complete […]

IGN features information on the soundtrack for The Simpsons Movie, which will be released July 24th, 2007. The article includes a look at what composer Hanz Zimmer wanted the music to be, as well as listing the tracks on the album. A limited edition will be released the following week.

The official site for the Woody Woodpecker and friends – Classic Cartoon Collection DVD has been updated and now holds an extensive look at the DVD, its featured cartoons and bonus material. Furthermore, the site showcases some photos, clips and downloads. Woody‘s first venture on DVD will be available to own from July 24th.

The following are images of four paintings by Disney animator Andreas Deja and displayed last Thursday night at (and available for sale from) the Van Eaton Galleries in Sherman Oaks, CA:

Variety reports that a trio of toon veterans (Fred Seibert, Kevin Kolde and Eric Gardner) are launching Frederator Films as an indie feature film company with a mission to produce 2D animated genre movies budgeted below $20 million. Among the projects currently planned, the most noticable is a feature film based on Cartoon Network’s Samurai […]

o-meon has pictures and sound bites of the actors and other Pixar luminaries at last Friday’s world premiere of Disney/Pixar’s Ratatouille at the Hollywood Kodak Theatre, home of the Academy Awards. Among those caught among the sights and sounds of the multimedia extravaganza were Disney Studio chairman Dick Cook, Ratatouille stars Brad Garrett, Lou Romano, […]

In an update to a report filed Thursday, June 21, FinanzNachrichten.de has the full press release regarding the partnership that Cartoon Network and Hasbro have formed to present Transformers Animated. Scheduled to air in early 2008, the series’ first season will contain 26 half-hour episodes, in addition to a 90-minute special. Talent involved with Transformers […]

Jerry Seinfeld recently spoke to BlackFilm.com about his work for the DreamWorks Animation comedy Bee Movie, opening November 2nd. In the conversation, Seinfeld notes how he became involved with the film and considers whether or not he would do a sequel to it.

This year, the Vancouver International Digital Festival begins a partnership with the Vancouver International Film Festival. As a result, the Digital Festival will kick off the Film Festival, thus bringing together talent in the animation community with representatives of global film and television. An official press release on the event is available here:

With Coming Soon, Brad Bird shares his thoughts on Toy Story 3 and a sequel to The Incredibles, while the latter possible project is also discussed with SCI FI Wire. “I have to come up with a story that is as good as or better than the original,” the Ratatouille director explained. “If I could […]

Business Wire has the announcement that American Greetings Properties and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment are expanding their current partnership with a long-term deal. Series mentioned in the press release involve Sushi Pack, Twisted Whiskers and Maryoku Yummy, as well as such properties as Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake.

With The Denver Post, Alan Menken talks about the upcoming stage adaptation of The Little Mermaid, while also reminiscing about his late writing partner, Howard Ashman. “I talk to him. He shows up in my dreams all the time,” says Menken. Still, the composer promises that the new songs in the upcoming musical are as […]

Digital Spy records that Antonio Banderas recently spoke of a spin-off to his popular Shrek supporting character Puss in Boots. “The movie is going to show his back history, from being born a kitten to the swaggering cat that he is today,” explains Banderas. “I’ve seen the scripts and they’re very emotional, as well as […]

Ultimate Disney presents a helpful guide to products promoting the Disney/Pixar picture Ratatouille. The page lists items in the categories of “Books,” “Toys & Games,” “Video Games,” “Audio CDs,” “For the Kids,” and “Posters & Miscellaneous.” Speaking of posters, a new Ratatouille bus shelter banner has been discovered at eBay, with the poster focusing on […]

The following are photos of three wire sculptures crafted by Disney animator Andreas Deja and displayed last Thursday night at the Van Eaton Galleries. These wire sculptures were first mentioned at Animated News & Views in August 2005 in our Conversation with Andreas Deja (look at the very end of the interview) and were inspired […]

Disney Consumer Products has revealed that not only will the 1959 Disney classic Sleeping Beauty receive the Platinum Edition DVD treatment in October 2008, they plan to release the film in high definition on Blu-ray disc next year as well. Sleeping Beauty was previously released as a 2-disc special edition in 2003. The only other […]

From now until the end of August Regal Cinemas is holding its annual summertime Family Film Festival. “Selected G & PG movies start at 10AM each Tuesday and Wednesday during the festival. First-come, first-served seating is limited to theatre capacity. The Free Family Film Festival is safe, lots of fun and a great way for […]

The following is a quick YouTube clip taken at last night’s lecture by Disney animator Andreas Deja at the Van Eaton Galleries in Sherman Oaks as part of a fundraiser for ASIFA-Hollywood (numerous photos from the event coming soon). Here he is explaining how he got inspiration for Lilo from watching a group of Hawaiian […]