Ted is the life of the box office party
Thanks to strong marketing and good reviews, Seth MacFarlene’s Ted beat expectations yesterday with a massive Friday debut of $20 million, THR is reporting. The raunchy movie is now on track to see an opening weekend of $50 million or more. That would give the live-action/animated film the best debut ever for an R-rated comedy that’s not a […] |
Rurouni Kenshin In Live Action
Anime News Network has some news briefs on the new live-action Rurouni Kenshin film that will hit Japanese theater August 25. They have a nice film poster and the full movie trailer. There hasn’t been any word about the movie coming to US shores, but since it is one of Viz’s headling series one can […] |
Welcome to Neon Alley!
Anime has carved out its niche in the world as a strong and vibrant animation medium. Viz, one of the biggest names in the US anime and manga market, has decided to hit subscription cable viewers with a new viewing option: Neon Alley. This new channel is anime 24/7, pulling the best of the best […] |
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John Carter (Of Mars)
Junk the clunky 3D and enjoy Andrew Stanton’s traditionally exciting adventure for what it is: a reclaiming of sci-fi ideas and concepts from 100 years ago, since borrowed for a host of “inspired”-by movies! |
The full trailer for Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie
The full trailer for Disney’s upcoming stop-motion animated movie Frankenweenie is now online, and can be found on iTunes. The horror comedy from Tim Burton opens everywhere this October. |
First Epic trailer debuts
Good Morning America has debuted the trailer for the new Blue Sky animated film Epic. The movie “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 finds herself magically transported into this secret universe, she must band together […] |
Brave takes aim at the box office
In news that should surprise almost no one, Disney and Pixar’s Brave ruled the box office this weekend, with an excellent take of $66 million, USA Today is reporting. The film marks the 13th time in a row that a Pixar movie has opened at number one, continuing the studio’s perfect track record in that […] |
Penguins win top animation Daytime Emmy
Nickelodeon’s Penguins of Madagascar won the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Children’s Animated Program according to Animation Magazine. This award is in addition to the two it won last week in the first portion of the awards ceremonies. |
Live Futurama opening
Comedy Central has a new promo that recreates the Futurama opening with live action. Made to bring notice to last week’s seventh season premiere, you can see some of how it was done via Vulture, who has a behind the scenes clip. Check out the original video here: |
Brave highlights modern princess archetype
Pixar’s latest film has journalists talking about the evolution of the onscreen princess role. The Contra Costa Times has a more Pixar specific piece, while Hero Complex takes a more general look at recent princesses and other strong female leads. And you can watch VH1 talk with Kelly Macdonald on being the first female lead […] |
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Brave
Brave may not be as epic as audiences have come to expect from big budget animated features, but in all the ways that count it hits the target. |
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Batman & Mr. Freeze: Subzero / Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm
With Christopher Nolan defining Batman for a new generation, now is a good time to revisit two of Batman’s more revered animated adventures, where we find that one fares better than the other. |
Brave opens
Disney/Pixar’s Brave opens today in a Pixar record 4,164 theatres according to Box Office Mojo — and two-thirds of those theatres will be showing it in 3D. It’s earned a fresh 73% rating from Rotten Tomatoes with the critical consensus being that while it “may not live up to the lofty standards of the Pixar […] |
GKids to bring From Up On Poppy Hill to North America
GKids has acquired the North American rights to Studio Ghibli’s latest feature From Up On Poppy Hill and a theatrical release is planned for March 2013, reports Coming Soon. GKids will be handling theatrical, home video, television and VOD rights for the film. Based on a screenplay by Hayao Miyazaki and directed by Goro Miyazaki, […] |
First teaser for Monsters University now online
Pixar and Walt Disney Studios have unveiled the first teaser trailer for Monsters University, the prequel to their 2001 hit Monsters, Inc. Directed by Dan Scanlon, and featuring the voices of Steve Buscemi, John Ratzenberger, Dave Foley, Frank Oz, Joel Murray, J.B. Smoove, Ken Jeong, Rob Riggle, and Kelsey Grammer, Monsters University is scheduled for […] |
Madagascar 3 continues to roar at the box office
For the second weekend in a row, DreamWorks Animation’s Madagascar 3 ruled the box office, Box Office Mojo is reporting. The sequel earned $34 million in its second frame, and currently has a grand total of $119 million. The party may be cut short this Friday, however, as Alex and his wacky zoo animals will face […] |
Television Academy hypocrisy allowing live action writers into animation categories?
As far back as our first year online, we’ve reported on the unhappiness of TV animation writers about the fact that they have to choose to be recognized in the animation categories or the regular comedy categories. Either/or, never both. King of the Hill, The Simpsons, and Family Guy have all tried and failed to […] |
Pixar’s rules of storytelling
io9 has a list of the 22 rules of storytelling compiled by Pixar storyboard artist Emma Coats — the “nuggets of narrative wisdom she’s received working for the animation studio over the years”. |
Brave premieres new Dolby sound system
Earlier this year Dolby announced a new sound system for theatres, called Atmos, that provide for 128 different sound “objects” to play at any given time. The more major advance from the audience perspective is the ability to have sound come from above with ceiling mounted speakers. (The Verge has more technical details on the […] |
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Margaret Kerry – The Original Tinker Bell
Margaret Kerry, the reference model for Tinker Bell, has led a pixie-dusted life, as she says herself. With a career that spans Hollywood movies to Peter Pan to the early Syncro-Vox cartoons, she is absolutely right! |
Foray, animated programs win Emmys
The Creative Arts portion of the Daytime Emmy Awards were announced Sunday. Nickelodeon’s Kung Fu Panda won four Emmys (Casting, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and an Individual Achievement award). Nickelodeon’s Penguins of Madagascar won two awards (Directing and Original Song for In the Happy Little Land of Hoboken Surprise). The Hub’s Transformers: Prime won two […] |
Tron: Uprising Premieres June 23
The midquel for Disney’s Tron franchise Tron: Uprising has its official premiere June 23 on DisneyXD. The series follows the young program Beck, who witnessed his best friend’s derezzation by Clu’s army. Beck launches a rebel force, quickly catching the attention of Tron who decides to train him as his successor. DisneyXD.ca is streaming the […] |
Disney unveils Frozen
Disney has officially unveiled Frozen, the long rumored Snow Queen based animated feature, now renamed in the vein of Tangled. The film will be directed by Chris Buck (Tarzan, Surf’s Up) and produced by Peter Del Vecho (Winnie the Pooh, The Princess and the Frog). Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel star. Original songs will be […] |
Mr. Peabody and Sherman, Cloudy 2 first looks
Licensing Expo 2012 is about to get under way and Collider is on top of the synopses, promo images, and posters being released in the run-up. First off they have a first image and blurb from DreamWorks’ Mr. Peabody and Sherman. They also have a first synopsis of Cloudy 2: Revenge of the Leftovers. |
Annecy winners announced
The winners of the Annecy International Animation Festival have been announced and Animation Magazine has the list. “French short Tram by Michaela Pavlátová took home the Annecy Cristal for best short film, while the Romanian movie Crulic – The Path to Beyond, by Anca Damian, was the winner in the best feature category.” Check out […] |
DreamWorks stock forecast on the rise
Deadline reports that analysts have raised the forecast for DreamWorks stock after the big opening weekend for Madagascar 3. |
Student Academy Award winners announced
The winners of the Student Academy Awards In Animation were announced this past week. The Gold Medal went to David Wolter of CalArts for Eyrie, the Silver Medal to Mark Nelson from UCLA for The Jockstrap Raiders, and the Bronze Medal to Eric Prah of Ringling College of Art and Design for My Little Friend. […] |
Indian animation set to grow over next few years
The Times of India reports that the animation industry in the country is expected to grow almost 25% over the next 4 years. The report by Pricewaterhouse Coopers International Limited means the value of the industry could reach $1 billion in 2014. |
Madagascar 3 rules the box office
Despite months of hype, Ridley Scott’s Alien prequel Prometheus ultimately wasn’t enough to top a bunch of wise-cracking zoo animals. Box Office Mojo is reporting that Madagascar 3 ruled the box office charts with a strong debut of $60 million, which is $10 million more than Prometheus brought in. Many credit the clever timing of the […] |
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Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted
The latest Madagascar will leave you wanting better especially if this is the end of the series, but it does deliver the expected laughs. |
