Disney has announced that Dane Cook will voice the lead character Dusty in the upcoming film Planes. Inspired by the world of Cars and directed by Disneytoon Studios veteran Klay Hall (King of the Hill, The Simpsons), the film is about a plane who dreams of competing as an air racer despite his unfortunate fear […]

Flick Direct reports that Twentieth Century Fox has released cast details for their upcoming sequel Rio 2. Anne Hathaway, Jesse Eisenberg, Jemaine Clement, will.i.am, Tracy Morgan, George Lopez, Leslie Mann, Rodrigo Santoro, Bebel Gilberto, Jake T. Austin, and Jamie Foxx return and will be joined by Andy Garcia, Bruno Mars, Kristin Chenoweth, Rita Moreno, Amandla […]

Rovio’s weekly webseries Angry Birds Toons will launch on March 16, reports CNET. From the popular video game franchise, the colorful characters will work out their ornithological anger management as they take on the green piggies who want to steal their eggs. Watch the trailer for Angry Birds Toons here:

DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg said Tuesday that 350 of the studio’s 2,200 employees will be laid off by the end of the year. “These things are very, very difficult to do,” Katzenberg told The Hollywood Reporter. “I would say it’s the hardest thing I’ve had to do since we started DreamWorks. We’ve never had […]

The Weinstein Company has settled the $50 million lawsuit filed by Escape from Planet Earth producers Brian Inerfeld and Tony Leech nearly two years ago. The distributor came to a settlement with the plaintiffs on February 15, the same day Planet Earth hit theaters nationwide. In March 2011, Inerfeld and Leech sued “out of control” […]

The New York Times looks into Nickelodeon’s attempt to win the hearts of the young with their new app. After research showed their target audience was more interested in fun and games than watching TV, the company that makes TV shows had some work to do. But outside the entertainment value, the app “has serious […]

Jim Hill discusses DreamWorks’ upcoming film The Croods which recently had it’s premiere in a somewhat unlikely place. “You’d think — given the sophisticated sorts of folks who annually attend the Berlin Film Festival — that this wouldn’t be the sort of crowd which would enthusiastically embrace something as crass-sounding as The Croods. But that’s […]

Fast Company delves into the art and technology behind Paperman with legendary 2D animator Glen Keane and 3D animator John Kahrs. Inspired by watching Keane sketch on top of CG animations, Kahrs combined “new aesthetics with standing traditions” and married “the tangibility of CG with the human grit of a pen on paper” to bring […]

John Powell and Sergio Mendes will be back to provide the music for Rio 2, according to Film Music Reporter. The movie will also include “new Brazilian artists and original music by Janelle Monáe and The Wondaland Arts Society”. Look for the Rio to return next spring.

Disney recently announced a major new video game called Disney Infinity. Like Activision’s Skylanders, the game will use toys you buy as your onscreen character. The more toys you collect the more characters you have to choose from — and the more money the company rakes in on a game you already bought. John Lasseter […]

In their coverage of the “Top Moments in Black History” from 2000-2012, NewsOne has listed Disney introducing the first African-American princess. Voiced by Anika Noni Rose in the 2009 film The Princess and the Frog, “Tiana’s plucky character and the film’s New Orleans backdrop gave the typical tale with an original twist”.

Fox’s animated Simpsons short film Maggie Simpson in The Longest Daycare is now online for your viewing pleasure over on the studio’s official YouTube page. The Oscar-nominated cartoon features Maggie trapped in the dreaded Ayn Rand school for tots. It was shown in theaters before Ice Age 4 last summer.

After a pre-Oscar protest by Rhythm & Hues visual effects employees and supporters, and the winner of the visual effects Oscar having his mic cut off just as he was about to mention their issues, VFX Soldier has an open letter to Life of Pi director Ang Lee who mentioned after winning the directing trophy […]

After Paperman director John Kahrs accepted the Oscar for Best Animated Short at the Oscars last night, producer Kristina Reed threw several paper airplanes over the mezzanine in celebration, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “It went largely unnoticed by the crowd, but security didn’t think the act was very sweet, kicking her out of the […]

One of the most talked-about aspects of last night’s Oscars is the remarkable visual effects that allowed Ted the teddy bear to present, with Mark Wahlberg, Oscars for Sound Mixing and Sound Editing. Deadline.com and Coming Soon reveal how Tippet Studio integrated the CGI character into the live broadcast.

Brave kept Pixar’s winning streak going and Disney won an Oscar for Paperman. Life of Pi was the Visual Effects Academy Award winner. Acceptance speeches, baackstage interviews, and thank you videos from the Oscar website can be seen here:

Walt Disney Home Entertainment has announced the much awaited Blu-ray releases of Studio Ghibli classics My Neighbor Totoro and Howl’s Moving Castle this spring, reports Blu-ray. The specifications and special features on these releases have yet to be announced. These Blu-ray-DVD combo sets will be available to own starting May 21, 2013.

Turkeys–the obscure-sounding animated feature from Relativity Media about turkeys who travel back in time to the first Thanksgiving to change the course of history–is going to be coming out a lot sooner than expecting, Cinema Blend is reporting. The site is saying that the reason behind the bump was a possitive response to early test footage, and […]

Variety – The Children’s Charity of Southern California is hosting the online auction of two props used in LAIKA and Focus Features’ comedy thriller ParaNorman, which is Oscar-nominated for Best Animated Feature Film. The internet auction is coordinated through Profiles in History, from Friday, February 22nd to Monday, March 4th. All proceeds will help to […]

Wired has a look behind the scenes at the creation of the unique look in ParaNorman. Nelson Lowry, the film’s production designer, “had a goal: Nothing should be perfect. Lines didn’t have to be straight, inspiration would be found in mistakes, and the final product should looks as much like the ‘beautiful, expressive napkin sketch’ […]

A trailer for Cloudy with a Chance for Meatballs 2 will be released on February 27th. To build the anticipation, Sony Pictures Animation is posting a new image from the film everyday until then on their Facebook page. The film itself is slated to open on September 27, 2013.

USA Today says in a ceremony not likely to feature many surprises, the animation category is the place to look for drama. “Animated feature films, having shed some of their slapstick reputation by adopting more sophisticated themes and technology and a keener competitive spirit, are creating compelling storylines for Sunday night’s Academy Awards”. With the […]