The Wrap asks what’s next for the visual effects community after the Rhythm & Hues bankruptcy. Ideas range from forming a union to changing the way studios are charged for special effects. But with the availability of low-cost foreign effects and the other ways the price of their labor has been hit there are no […]

IGN has the first trailer for Nickelodeon’s Monsters vs. Aliens TV series, a spin-off of DreamWorks Animation’s hit film from 2009. The series is co-produced by New Zealand-based Oktobor Animation, who also provided animation for the DreamWorks/Nickelodeon series The Penguins of Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness. Nickelodeon will preview Monsters vs. Aliens […]

Deadline says that Marvel has signed a deal with Feld Entertainment (the company behind the Disney on Ice series) to bring their characters together in a live-action show called Marvel Universe Live. While various studios have the movie rights to certain characters, Marvel still holds the rights to them in other mediums meaning this version […]

The Writers Guild of America, West claims Nickelodeon has been negligent in making residual payments, according to The Wrap. The union has given them until March 25th to post a $3 million bond before they tell their members to withhold their services from the company. Nick says they’ve “been working with the WGA to resolve […]

Disney Interactive has pushed the launch date of its new video game and toy initiative Disney Infinity to August 18. The project was originally scheduled to debut in June for Nintendo Wii, Wii U, 3DS, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC and mobile. Infinity will feature activities inspired by Monsters University, Pirates of the Caribbean and […]

Clarius Entertainment will distribute Summertime Entertainment’s computer animated musical Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return in early 2014, says Variety. Originally titled Dorothy of Oz, the project had been scheduled for later this year. Directed by Daniel St. Pierre and Will Finn, Legends of Oz features Lea Michele as the voice of Dorothy, with songs by […]

China is the hotbed for the animation industry these days. Oriental Dreamworks is going into Shanghai and now Gary Wang, the Tudou founder, will build his own studio in Beijing. Wang sold Tudou, arguably the Chinese version of Youtube, to Youku, and decided to invest his future in domestic feature projects, says Animation Magazine. Wang […]

Last December, Disney announced the Atlantis: 2-Movie Collection Blu-ray, featuring The Lost Empire as well as its direct-to-video sequel Milo’s Return, would hit stores this week, alongside Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Mulan, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Brother Bear. But Disney quietly postponed the Atlantis Blu-ray in January, moving it to an unknown date. […]

While we’re not sure of the exact calorie count, the Japanese LAWSON convenience store chain is loaded with Super Saiyan snacks. The Japanese are notorious for play on word advertising and Dagon Ball Z is also known for naming its characters after food. ANN explains that as a promotion for Dragon Ball Z: Battle of […]

Gaumont Animation has entered a development and production agreement with DreamWorks Classics and France Télévisions to produce the computer animated series Noddy, says Deadline.com. The series will focus on the title wooden boy who lives in Toyland, as conceived by author Enid Blyton in 1949. DreamWorks acquired the rights to the character Noddy when the […]

On its official blog, Rovio unveils its game plan for the first of 52 episodes of the new Angry Birds Toons animated series. Starting March 16, the initial episode will hit broadcast TV in international territories, including Australia, Brazil, Finland, France, Germany, India, Israel, Korea and Norway. On March 17, the series will be available […]

Disney has hired Joe Ahearne (Danny Boyle’s upcoming Trance) to script The Beast, a live-action 3D adaptation of Beauty & the Beast. But audiences should expect a film far different than the studio’s 1991 animated musical. In the same vein as Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland and Oz The Great and Powerful, The Beast will […]

In news that will surprise many–given that a sixth season had already been put into production–, Lucasfilm and Disney have announced that Star Wars: The Clone Wars has been cancelled, the HD Room is reporting. The series was expected to air on Disney XD in the future, but in an effort to put a focus on […]

The Los Angeles Times profiles Goro Miyazaki and his latest directorial project, From Up on Poppy Hill. The son of legendary Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, Goro “represents the new guard” at Studio Ghibli. In addition to tracing his past, the article also reveals his prediction of what lies ahead for animation. “To be honest I […]

Coming Soon delivers three new ads for Monsters University, each continuing the viral campaign to recruit monsters for the film’s fictional college. But it’s the new Japanese trailer posted by Movie Collection that’s garnering the most recent buzz, as it contains a bit more info than some people would prefer. On Twitter, Pixar animator Catherine […]

At UCLA’s annual entertainment symposium last weekend, Simpsons creator Matt Groening said that a sequel to the 2007 hit The Simpsons Movie will not happen any time soon. “It took us four years [to make] and it killed us,” Groening said during a keynote Q&A with the movie’s director, David Silverman. The movie “stole animators […]

With Oz The Great and Powerful opening today, Indiewire looks back at the long history Disney has with the stories of L. Frank Baum, dating back to the 1930’s when Walt considered Oz as a possible followup to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

The Verge writes about a recent lecture titled Math in the Movies by Pixar Senior Scientist Tony DeRose at New York’s Museum of Mathematics. His talk to a diverse crowd of young and old was about “translating principles of arithmetic, geometry, and algebra into software that renders objects or powers physics engines. This process is […]

One of the first dubbed clips of Studio Ghibli’s newest feature film From Up On Poppy Hill has hit the Internet reports Anime News Network. GKids will release the film in the US. It is based on a 1960’s shōjo manga by Tetsurō Sayama and Chizuru Takahashi and it is about two teenagers falling in […]

Variety takes a look at the 15th annual Cartoon Movie, Europe’s gathering for animation enthusiasts. Fifty-six projects are set to premiere, including three movies: Miffy: The Movie based off the Dutch children’s TV series, Aya of Yop City described as a teen soap opera and it is based off a graphic novels series, and lastly […]

Bad news for traditional/2D animation fans, from The Guardian, Disney states they do not have any future plans for the medium. All of the current Disney movies in production are in 3D, which has become the industry standard. “To my knowledge we’re not developing a 2D or hand-drawn feature animated film right now,” said [Bob] […]

Other than a couple of press releases and a blurry image there isn’t a lot out there about Relativity Media and Reel FX’s upcoming film Turkeys. The movie was originally set for a 2014 premiere but in an aggressive move after DreamWorks moved Mr. Peabody and Sherman, Reel FX moved their film up by an […]

Last week’s episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars was not just the conclusion to the show’s fifth season, but it was also the first to feature veteran actor Tim Curry as the evil Palpatine. Giant Freaking Robot is reporting that the reason for this is that Ian Abercrombie, who had been voicing the character since 2008, […]