Month: May 2008

Fly Me To The Moon trailer and blog

Check out the trailer for the first animated film created from scratch for 3-D at Cartoon Brew, which also links to the official Fly Me To The Moon blog.

Madagascar coming to Blu-ray on September 16th

The DreamWorks Animation blockbuster will debut on Blu-ray this Fall, says DVD Town, 6 weeks before the theatrical release of its sequel Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa.

Disney and Pixar: a Hollywood marriage that works?

The New York Times takes an interesting look at the surprisingly smooth integration of Pixar into Disney two years after their merger. Among other victories, the paper points out that while Cars racked up a relatively low (to Pixar’s standards) $460 million in global ticket sales, the franchise generated $5 billion in sales of related […]

Another Panda clip

An exclusive new clip from Kung Fu Panda has appeared on Latino Review. This clip centers on the Furious Five, a group of martial arts masters, and their intense training room. Kung Fu Panda hits theaters on June 6th.

New motion capture techniques give filmmakers greater flexibility

Variety takes a look at “newer, less-obtrusive options” for performance capture.

Jack Black discusses his role as Po in Kung Fu Panda

The actor tells Daily Camera that “in a way, I feel like this is my most fleshed out and the most satisfied I’ve been with a role. Where a lot of times, on most movies, I have a lot of leftover stuff that I didn’t feel I totally nailed as much as I wanted to. […]

Disney and John Lasseter going back to female characters with Tinker Bell

The L.A. Times takes a look at the challenge that Tinker Bell might represent for the John Lasseter-run Disney studio: “The female character’s success should be an interesting test for Lasseter, whose Pixar animated films over the past decade have largely catered to boys. Somehow Pixar and parent company Disney have managed to largely overlook […]

Animation books reviews

Head over to the SF Gate to check out Charles Solomon’s reviews of two new books about the Pixar studio: David Price’s The Pixar Touch and Karen Paik’s To Infinity and Beyond: The Story of Pixar Animation Studios. Meanwhile, AWN takes a look at Don Peri’s new book Working with Walt: Interviews with Disney Artists.

Kung Fu Panda prizes up for grabs

Radio stations nationwide are hosting online contests, giving you a chance to win some cool Mattel toys from the upcoming DreamWorks Animation film.

Be an Igor!

The official site for the upcoming animated comedy Igor currently has a new contest titled “Be An Igor”. The grand prize winner of the contest will get the chance to lend their voice to the new film, as well as be featured on the eventual DVD release. Four runner-ups will also have their entries included […]

New cast and more updates on Tinker Bell movie

Bye bye Brittany Murphy! Tinker Bell will magically get a new voice in her first feature film due October 28th on DVD and Blu-ray. MovieWeb reports that Tinker Bell now stars Mae Whitman as the title character, along with the voices of Raven-Symone (Iridessa), Kristen Chenoweth (Rosetta), Angelica Huston (Queen Clarion), America Fererra and Lucy […]

Hoodwinked sequel coming in January 2010

The Weinstein Company set January 15, 2010 as the release date for Hoodwinked 2: Hood vs. Evil which will be directed by animator Michael D’Isa-Hogan (Pooh’s Heffalump Movie, Home on the Range, Looney Tunes: Back in Action). A star-studded cast was already announced for the sequel to the 2005 sleeper hit: Heroes‘ Hayden Panettiere will […]

Wall•E, Kung Fu Panda videos

Two video featurettes for Wall•E and Kung Fu Panda have hit the the web. The first, titled “Wall•E: A Hero’s Journey”, can be viewed on Animation World Network TV. The Panda centered video, which provides a behind-the-scenes look at the animation process, is available on MovieWeb. Kung Fu Panda is set to hit theaters on […]

New images from Star Wars: The Clone Wars

More stills from the LucasFilm/Warner Bros. animated feature film surfaced online at MovieWeb. Star Wars: The Clone Wars will hit theaters on August 15th.

Beowulf and Shrek the Third coming to Blu-ray this summer

DVD Active has full details on the Blu-ray releases of Beowulf: Director’s Cut coming out on July 29th and Shrek the Third on September 16th. The site also notes that Transformers will get the Blu-ray treatment on September 2nd while season 1 & 2 of Duckmann will be released by Paramount in the ogre’s shadow […]

Disney tidbits from Broadway

Check out the online scrapbook of The Little Mermaid on Broadway for photos of some of the most famous guests who recently attended the show. The official Disney on Broadway site also offers an interesting interview with Ashley Brown, Broadway’s super nanny Mary Poppins.

Casting now complete on Shrek the Musical

As previously reported, Brian d’Arcy James, the singing actor who was recently seen in the Off-Broadway musical Next to Normal, will play the title role of the green ogre in DreamWorks’ first Broadway musical Shrek the Musical, with Cry-Baby‘s Chester Gregory II as Donkey, Avenue Q Tony nominee John Tartaglia as Pinocchio, Tony winner Sutton […]

Olivia TV series coming next year on Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon plans to bring to life the Olivia books to life in a new computer-generated TV series set to debut in 2009. According to AWN, Olivia’s imagination leads the way in this new series which aims to foster the sense of make-believe and play that every preschooler has. The show will encourage children to be […]

A conversation with Kung Fu Panda character designer Nicolas Marlet

Variety posted a fascinating and rare portrait of Annie Award winner Nicolas Marlet, who DreamWorks’ Jeffrey Katzenberg approved as the single designer to create all the characters’ looks in the upcoming Kung Fu Panda. Nicolas explains among other things that his biggest challenge on the movie was the character of Viper, voiced by Lucy Liu. […]

A new age for animation?

AWN’s Joseph Gilland discusses here what he hopes is the next renaissance for animation.

Exclusive Panda clip

An exclusive clip from DreamWork’s upcoming martial-arts comedy Kung Fu Panda is currently featured on ComingSoon. The video, entitled “Tai Lung Is Free”, runs slightly over a minute. Kung Fu Panda can be viewed in its entirety when it hits theaters on June 6th.

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa rundown

A summary glimpse of the story for Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa can be read at the DreamWorks Animation website by clicking on the penguin image, rolling over “More Info,” and then clicking on “Story.” The followup to the hit 2005 CG-animated film Madagascar escapes to theaters, including IMAX, on November 7, 2008.

Animated Beetlejuice coming to DVD

Coming for the first time to DVD are three episodes of the Beetlejuice animated television series, which ran from 1989 to 1991, as extra features on the 20th Anniversary Beetlejuice DVD and Blu-Ray disc due out September 16, 2008 (via ToonZone). According to the Beetlejuice animated series fansite, The Neitherworld, “In the cartoon, Beetlejuice rents […]

Sony Pictures Classics to distribute Waltz With Bashir

The L.A. Times reveals that the much acclaimed animated film will be distributed in North America and select Latin American territories “sometime soon.” In the semi-autobiographical Waltz With Bashir, director Ari Folman loosely recounts his time fighting as an Israeli solider in the 1982 war with Lebanon. Last year, Sony Pictures Classics was the domestic […]

A look at India's Dashavatar

Bollywood Ungama talked to Dashavatar director Bhavik Thakore about the song featured in the upcoming animated film from India.

Pixar 2-set DVDs now on sale for $13 each

/film alerts Pixar fans that Amazon is currently offering six of the studio’s 2-disc special edition DVDs at a 57% discount!

Our Caspian coverage continues!

Jeremie speaks with Narnia co-producer Douglas Gresham!

Douglas Gresham: Producing Prince Caspian

Jeremie Noyer continues his trip into Narnia, with another discussion with co-producer Douglas Gresham on the new film, Prince Caspian!

Pixar's Presto!

Animation World Network features an exclusive first look at Pixar’s upcoming short film, Presto. Presto, the two-page article reports, stars a magician and his rabbit who partake in a cartoonish on-stage feud. The short film, will be playing alongside this summer’s Wall•E, is being helmed by first time director Doug Sweetland, who has worked on […]

Unseen Miyazaki art from Ponyo

Ghibliworld has posted a new unseen art done by Hayao Miyazaki for his upcoming film Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea which features an underwater scene from the film. Ponyo opens in theatres in Japan on July 19.