Over at Animated Views, we have an official announcement and commentary on Disney’s just-revealed plans for an eighth wave of Walt Disney Treasures: Destino; Dr. Syn, Alias The Scarecrow Of Romney Marsh and The Chronological Donald, Volume 4, which should complete the duck’s animated shorts on DVD. The three titles are expected to come to […]

Toshiba, the major hardware backer of the HD DVD format, has announced that they “will no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders”. The announcement signals an end to the high-definition optical disc war that has raged between HD DVD and rival Blu-ray for the past couple of years. Atsutoshi Nishida, President […]

Reporting from Toy Fair 2008, ComingSoon has posted a description of many new toys from the upcoming Kung Fu Panda, complete with a photo gallery of the different merchandise. Ranging from plush animals to action figures, the toys were reportedly receiving a big push from Mattel, the makers of the toys.

Movie Poster Addict premieres the teaser poster for Luc Besson’s Arthur and the Vengeance of Maltazard, the sequel to Arthur and the Invisibles and the second film in the planned Arthur-trilogy. The film will hit US theaters in 2009 with the third film, Arthur and the War of Two Worlds currently planned for a 2010 […]

According to Variety, Jessica Biel has joined Dwayne Johnson, Justin Long and Seann William Scott as the lead voices in Planet 51, New Line Cinema’s first venture into the world of CGI-animated films. Written by Joe Stillman and directed by Jorge Blanco, Planet 51 tells the story of a planet whose inhabitants live in fear […]

A 10-minute behind-the-scenes look at the upcoming anime, Batman: Gotham Knight, has reached its way online and can currently be viewed on YouTube. The inside peek elaborates on the inspiration for the stories, its visual style as well as revealing some the numerous villains featured in the shorts such as Killer Croc, Scarecrow and Man-Bat. […]

Cinema Blend reports that musician Peter Gabriel will be involved with creating the soundtrack to Wall•E, a project which he was approached about back in 2005. It is unclear as to exactly what Gabriel will lend to the film, keeping in mind that Thomas Newman is reportedly composing the score.

ComingSoon features a first look at Paramount Pictures’ upcoming big screen adaption of the Smurfs. Several images are hosted on the site, showing work-in-progress characters and layouts from the film. A short video demonstrating the animation process used in the movie can also be viewed by clicking on the first image in the article.

Variety reports that Oscar nominated animated film Persepolis has finally been shown in public in Tehran. Based on Marjane Satrapi’s semi-autobiographical graphic novel, Persepolis had angered Iranian authorities for its satirical portrayal of the 1979 Iranian revolution and was condemned by the government as anti-Iranian. This was the first legal screening of the film in […]

UpcomingPixar points at an exclusive video tour inside Pixar Animation Studios available on EmpireOnline. The video tour is hosted by “Pixar University Dean” Randy Nelson. In addition to this, UpcomingPixar also reports about two amctv.com videos hosted by Brightcove, which feature Brad Bird talking about Ratatouille and animation. Direct link to these videos can be […]

AnimeNewsNetwork reports that Michael Arias and Studio 4°C’s Tekkonkinkreet has won Animation of the Year award at the 31st Japan Academy Prizes on Friday. This is the second year that an award in the Animation of the Year category has been presented. Mamoru Hosoda and Madhouse’s The Girl Who Leapt through Time won the first […]

GhibliWorld, via Yomiyuri, reports about an interview with Ponyo on a Cliff theme song singers Fujioka Fujimaki. According to the article, the song “Gake no Ue no Ponyo” which was released in December, six months ahead of the much awaited animated film’s scheduled summer opening in Japan, was performed by 8 year old actress Nozomi […]

Joblo shares some info on Bananaz, a new documentary that follows the world’s most successful “virtual band”, Gorillaz. Created by film-maker Ceri Levy, the documentary features a behind-the-scenes look over a period of 6 years focusing on Gorillaz’ development from drawings to animation and from music to the musicians. Bananaz had its world-premiere today at […]

Animation Magazine has published an interview with actor Kyle MacLachlan regarding his recent work as a voice-artist in the upcoming Warner Bros/ DC Universe animated feature Justice League: The New Frontier. MacLachlan, who lends his voice to Superman, discusses his debut in animation, his overall expierence on providing the voice for one of the most […]

AOL Movies hosts a new theatrical trailer for the upcoming DreamWorks animated flick, Kung Fu Panda. The exclusive high-definition trailer can be viewed using QuickTime, and is available in several different sizes. Hitting theaters on June 6th, Panda follows the adventures of Po the bear as he trains to become a kung fu master. Thanks […]

Variety reports that after having created Beavis and Butt-Head for MTV and King of the Hill for FOX, Mike Judge is working on a new animated series for ABC, The Goode Family. The network has ordered 13 episodes of The Goode Family, with King of the Hill exec producers John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky already […]

Renowned movie poster artist, John Alvin, passed away unexpectedly on Wednesday, February 6th at the age of 59. Most will not know John Alvin by name but his work as a poster artist contains some of the most iconic poster work of the last 30 years and has left left behind a legacy of art […]

A project that had every animation-themed channel battling over who got bragging rights, it has been announced that Cartoon Network has landed the all-new CG-animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars from creator George Lucas. A full press-release and new artwork follows:

According to Ain’t It Cool News the US will get a theatrical release of Star Wars: Clone Wars on August 15 to kick off the CGI animated television series. The Clone Wars storyline takes place between Episodes II and III in George Lucas’ Star Wars film saga.

“DreamWorks Theatricals and Neal Street Productions, Ltd. are pleased to announce that Shrek the Musical will open at the Broadway Theatre on Sunday, December 14, 2008. Preview performances begin on November 8, 2008 following a pre-Broadway run at Seattle’s The 5th Avenue Theatre, August 14 to September 21.” The full press release follows:

The British Academy of Film and Television Awards were announced this Sunday evening in London’s West End. In the face of the almost concluded WGA strike, the ceremony proved to draw the glittering celebrities who might not have otherwise gotten a chance at walking down a red carpet had the Oscars not gone ahead later […]