Month: May 2012

Lone Ranger gets pushed back…again

The Lone Ranger will be riding into the box office sunset a little later than anticipated. Superhero Hype! is reporting that Disney, apparently wanting to distance themselves from The Fast and the Furious 6 next May, has decided to instead release the movie on July 3td, 2013. Unfortunately, this will put the film against Despicable Me 2 […]

New Frankenweenie poster

The one sheet for Tim Burton’s upcoming animated movie Frankenweenie has made its way online and can be seen over at ComingSoon.net. The film marks Burton’s first stop-motion animated feature since 2005’s Corpse Bride. Coming in black and white–and in 3-D, too–, Frankenweenie comes back from the dead this October.

Epic details revealed

Twentieth Century Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios announced more information about the plot and voice cast for their upcoming film Epic (formally Leafmen). Directed by Chris Wedge, “Epic tells the story of an ongoing battle deep in the forest between the forces of good and the forces of evil. When a teen age girl […]

The Muppets blooper reel

ComicBookResources shares the cast of The Muppets goofing off in “the longest blooper real ever”. Running at over eight minutes, the clip features Kermit, Miss Piggy, Jason Segel, Amy Adams and the rest of the gang from last year’s The Muppets.

Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur details emerge

LA Times shares details on Pixar’s upcoming prehistoric adventure The Good Dinosaur. Directed by Bob Peterson, in The Good Dinosaur, “an asteroid never hit the Earth and dinosaurs still roam.” Peterson adds that the inspiration for the movie came from a childhood visit to the World’s Fair where he was awed by some dinosaur animatronics. […]

Catmull talks Pixar at D10

At the D: All Things Digital technology confernce this week Disney Animation and Pixar President Ed Catmull was featured on two panels. The first was a discussion on the legacy of Steve Jobs. The second was all about his work at Pixar and Disney. Some of the discussion centered on telling good stories and brutal […]

Disney Channel coming to phones and tablets

At an investor’s conference this week Disney CEO Bob Iger said that the company will soon launch an app that will allow subscribers to view the Disney Channel on their mobile devices. Reuters reports that Comcast will be the first cable company to offer the service and it could come as early as next week.

Trailers have their day

Those two and a half minute commercials for upcoming films we all anxiously wait for, talk endlessly about a year before the film will even appear, and pour over every frame of for nuggets of info deservedly have their day today. The Golden Trailer Awards, recognizing “the creative people who make movie trailers, and the […]

See Madagascar 3 this week… but only in Campbell CA

DreamWorks is apparently making the charity rounds with their upcoming film, Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted. Last week we reported on an event raising money for scholarships for public school students in Tucson. This week you can head out to Campbell CA for an early screening of the film benefitting the area’s Youth Science Institute. […]

Starship Troopers: Invasion trailer

Bleeding Cool has the second trailer for Sony’s animated Starship Troopers: Invasion film, slated as a straight-to-home-video release for summer 2012.

WALL-E’s M-O at Sears Portrait Studio

The L.A. Times has a fun slideshow from Andrew Stanton from his time directing Wall-E . Apparently the editorial department at Pixar took a model of M-O to a Sears Portrait Studio and had some fun!

Chu scores Oz

Toby Chu, who among his many other credits previously worked in the music department on several DreamWorks films, is scoring Summertime’s upcoming film Dorothy of Oz, according to Film Music Reporter. Deborah Lurie was originally announced as composer of the score.

Brave’s Jobs tribute

The Wall Street Journal confirms the unsurprising news that Pixar’s upcoming film Brave is dedicated to Steve Jobs, the founder and CEO of the company until its sale to Disney. In the credits he “is lauded as a partner, mentor and friend”.

Restoring Laugh-O-Gram Studio

A group called Thank You Walt Disney Inc. are in the final stages of fundraising in an attempt to revitalize Laugh-O-Gram, Disney’s first professional animation studio, according to the Kansas City Star. The group’s plans include an interactive historical site, an educational museum, and, if they raise enough money, a working animation and digital media […]

Boxleitner discusses TRON: Uprising

Collider talks with Bruce Boxleitner about the animated series TRON: Uprising, which officially premiere’s on Disney XD in June.

Disney Parks ready to unveil animated inspired offerings

It could be said that the Disney Parks are built off the backs of the company’s animated properties. And with two new projects set to open in the coming weeks that couldn’t be more true. Next week Walt Disney World in Orlando is set to open the Art of Animation Resort, a value priced hotel […]

The Lady of Names, Making an Animatic

AV’s new blog, Outside the Lines, will bring to your attention projects from animators, studios, companies, and others working hard at their craft that maybe you’ve never heard of… yet.

Arjun opens worldwide, limited in US

The Indian film Arjun: The Warrior Prince opens worldwide today, but just in a limited release in the United States — only 10 theatres so far according to Box Office Mojo. The film, in Hindi with English subtitles, is a joint UTV Motion Pictures and Walt Disney Pictures production. Twitch has more about the movie, […]

Dark Knight Returns gets its voice cast

The voice cast for DC Comics’ upcoming animated movie The Dark Knight Returns has been announced via The Hollywood Reporter. The site reports that the cast will include Peter Weller (RoboCop) as the Caped Crusader and Ariel Winter as his sidekick Robin (who is notably a girl in this story). A two part production from […]

Ted gets a bump

With Paramount Pictures shocking the industry today by pushing their upcoming G.I. Joe sequel back to 2013, Universal has taken advantage of the release date change by giving their raunchy comedy Ted the open slot. ComingSoon.net is reporting that the Seth MacFarlene directed film will now open on June 29th. Originally, the live-action/animated movie was set […]

Lasseter talks to the Academy about the digital animator

Disney/Pixar leader John Lasseter was on hand for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ “Development Of The Digital Animator” panel this week, according to Deadline. He discussed traditional animation vs computer generated, his thoughts on motion capture, and said Pixar is interested in is bringing in new blood so “this Golden Age of […]

See Madagascar 3 this week… but only in Tucson

Madagascar 3 is coming to one theatre two weeks early in a special preview to help provide scholarships to students in a local Arizona school district. The Daily Star says the effort was a collaboration between Monique Soria, public relations director for the Sunnyside Unified School District, and Mireille Soria, of DreamWorks Animation who produced […]

The Avengers tops all Disney films

BusinessWeek reports that with $1.18 billion in global sales in the bank in just three weeks, The Avengers has become the highest-grossing film in Disney history — more than the $1.07 billion the previous leader, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, earned over it’s entire theatrical run. Domestically the film has just passed Star […]

The man behind the music of Mary Poppins

The San Jose Mercury News talks with composer/lyricist Richard Sherman, who discusses the creation of the music for Mary Poppins and his thoughts on the stage adaptation.

New Brave TV spot

A new TV spot for Disney and Pixar’s Brave has been revealed over at ComingSoon.net. The spot plays like a commercial for a phoney album, and features a number of new bits from the film. Brave opens everywhere this June.

3D Simpsons short with Ice Age 4

Cartoon Brew reports that a new 3D Simpsons short, titled The Longest Daycare, will be attached to the theatrical release of Ice Age: Continental Drift opening July 13th. Check out their site for a short teaser trailer. Thanks to ‘gaastra’ in the AV Forum for the heads up!

Digital Domain to open new studio in UAE

Digital Domain (Transformers, Tron: Legacy) has announced they plan to open a 150,000-square-foot production studio and media school in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, in 2015. The new studio “would create English- and Arabic-language animated movies targeted at Middle Eastern audiences, as well as produce visual and 3-D effects”.

On the set of ParaNorman

Film Screen Rejects visits the set of what they say might be “the year’s most impressive animated movie” — Laika’s ParaNorman.

Independents breaking into tough China market

NPR has a piece about what independent animation companies have to do to compete in a tough Chinese market dominated by state run media and foreign animation studios.

Iron Man Anime

The armored Avenger makes a slick transition into the anime world, taking on a variety of mecha (and public opinion) while trying to save the world.