Month: January 2014

Miyazaki expresses views on Japan’s anime industry

Hayao Miyazaki, director of My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, and Castle in the Sky, was recently interviewed on his thoughts about Japan’s anime industry. Anime News Network reports that in the interview Miyazaki said the problem with the anime industry is that it has too many otaku “…who ‘don’t spend time watching real people’ and […]

Leaked first images of Michael Bay’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

A few images have leaked on the Internet of the turtles in Michael Bay’s live action remake of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Many news sources were asked to take down the images, but ComicsAlliance still has one available. Many fans have been speculating about what Michael Bay’s turtles would look like and the pictures […]

New poster for How To Train Your Dragon 2

Collider has the newest poster for How To Train Your Dragon 2, featuring the viking twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut with their two-headed Zippleback, affectionately named Barf and Belch. The movie releases on June 13.

New Lego Movie trailer parodies Man of Steel

A short new preview for The Lego Movie is now online, and it’s a direct spoof of trailers for last year’s blockbuster Man of Steel, complete with Hans Zimmer’s score. The preview–which can be seen on Collider–features a Lego version of Superman, who in the film is voiced by Channing Tatum. A much anticipated release, […]

Production officially begins on Shaun the Sheep movie

He’s baaaa-ack! Shaun the Sheep, who made his debut in Aardman Animation’s Wallace and Gromit short A Close Shave before moving on to his own spin-off TV series, will now star in his own movie, ComingSoon.Net is reporting. Production on the film officially just began, with the film’s plot involving Shaun and Bitzer the dog […]

Animated Van Gogh movie now in the works

An animated movie about Vincent Van Gogh could be heading our way…or at least it will if a KickStarter campaign is successful. The movie, titled Loving Vincent, is in production at BreakThru Films, the studio responsible for the Oscar-winning 2008 animated short Peter and the Wolf. The aim of the film is to tell the […]

Sly Cooper movie on the way

An animated movie based on the video game series Sly Cooper is well into production, Collider is reporting. The site has a first trailer for the film, while Shack News has much more info on the release. The Sly Cooper movie will find the thieving raccoon from the video games on a quest to “reassemble pieces […]

Frozen and Me now face less competition in Best Song category

A few weeks ago, many were surprised when the low-budget Christian movie Alone Yet Not Alone got a nomination for Best Song at the Oscars…especially since most people had never heard of the film before then. Now another shock comes with the news that Alone Yet Not Alone has been disqualified from the Academy Awards, EW […]

Sing-a-long poster for Frozen revealed

The poster for the “sing-a-long” version of Frozen has made its way online over at the IMP Awards. The “all new version” of the film features lyrics to all of the film’s songs appearing on screens so audiences can sing along. It opens in select theaters on Friday (although most theaters that are already playing […]

Angelina Jolie makes evil look beautiful in new Maleifcent trailer

Disney’s classic Sleeping Beauty doesn’t delve into the evil enchantress Maleficent’s past. After 55 years, Disney is revealing Maleficent’s backstory in a live-action movie starring Angelina Jolie as the wicked villainess and Elle Fanning as Princess Aurora. In the new film trailer from E! Online, Maleficent’s dastardly deeds are hinted at, including a battle and […]

Should Google buy DreamWorks?

A columnist for The Motley Fool believes that the partnership Google and DreamWorks Animation recently sealed doesn’t go far enough, and they the search engine should outright buy the movie studio. “Google doesn’t just want to own YouTube for others to program… Google has invested directly in popular channels like Machinima and Vevo. It’s done […]

Animation pioneer brings his perspective to the stage

Academy Award winning animator Will Vinton is turning his attention to the stage with his latest project: a musical called The Kiss based on The Frog Prince. “I’m thrilled about bringing a comedic animation perspective to the stage… We’ve already put several years of blood, sweat, and tears into The Kiss originally as an animated […]

The Nut Job 2 already confirmed

After just one week in theaters, Open Road Films has already announced a theatrical sequel to The Nut Job, the LA Times is reporting. The news follows a better-than-expected opening for the film last weekend. It’s unknown if any cast members are set to return, but The Nut Job 2 is set for release on […]

Captain Underpants on DreamWorks slate

DreamWorks Animation has announced that Ed Helms, Kevin Hart, Thomas Middleditch, Nick Kroll and Jordan Peele will be starring in an upcoming feature titled Captain Underpants. The film will is based on Dav Pilkey’s book series “which centers around two scheming fourth graders, George Beard and Harold Hutchins whose personal missions are to play pranks, […]

Disney classic theatrical sequels

While Fortune discusses whether a Frozen sequel should be in the works despite Disney’s usual reluctance to do so with their classic series films, The Animation Guild Blog looks at the question from another more interesting perspective.

Paperman director goes to Paramount’s Shedd

Variety reports that Oscar winner John Kahrs, of Paperman fame, has been chosen to direct Paramount Pictures’ Shedd. “Tripper Clancy is writing the script, which is based on an original idea from Paramount’s Film Group president Adam Goodman, who oversees the animation division. The studio is keeping the logline under wraps.”

Disney highlights Frozen music on big and little screens

With a #1 album and Academy voters mulling a potential Best Song Oscar, Disney is putting the music of Frozen at the front of their latest publicity campaign for Frozen, a film still going remarkably strong in its third month since release. The studio has announced that a special sing-along version of the movie will […]

Sony Pictures Imageworks’ Pete Travers talks “wonderfood” VFX in Cloudy 2

The Visual Effects Supervisor discusses his role in crafting the entertaining and visually imaginative sequel to Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs.

The Nut Job

Despite the clever title and concept, The Nut Job fails to deliver the goods on just about every level — with a stale story, unremarkable animation, and lackluster acting.

The Muppets express outrage and get a lot of publicity

Disney released another trailer for Muppets Most Wanted and the Muppets were outraged…about not getting nominated for the Golden Globes. They may be outraged about the lack of nominations, but they should be pleased with the amount of publicity they are receiving. ToughPigs rounds up the all the press releases, interviews, and news articles that […]

The Nut Job and Frozen have strong weekends

The Nut Job had a surprisingly strong opening weekend bringing in $20.6, good for third place according to Box Office Mojo. Thats good news for Open Road Films since, as BOM mentions,”The Lego Movie doesn’t open until February 7th, meaning The Nut Job has another two weekends to play to families. The movie should ultimately […]

Animation Addicts Podcast #58: Cats Don’t Dance – It’s Big & Loud!

It’s big and LOUD! The Rotoscopers look into the one and only film from Turner Feature Animation, Cats Don’t Dance.

The Nut Job opens

The Nut Job, the first animated offering from Open Road Films, opens today in a weekend leading 3,427 theatres according to Box Office Mojo. The film is being hammered by the critics, with a measly 12% rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Their critical consensus: “Hampered by an unlikable central character and source material stretched too thin […]

Oscar nominations announced

The nominees for the 86th Academy Awards have been announced this week. American Hustle and Gravity led all films with ten each. BEST ANIMATED FEATURE – The Croods – Despicable Me 2 – Ernest and Celestine – Frozen – The Wind Rises BEST ANIMATED SHORT – Feral – Get a Horse! – Mr. Hublot – […]

Jeffrey: the series to make its debuts January 28

Jeffrey: the series, a new animated web-series created by long time Disney animator Dan Lund is premiering Tuesday, January 28, 2014. Jeffrey is taking the midlife crisis and giving it a fabulous make over one animated webisode at a time. Beyond the weekly episodes, this character is alive and “in the moment,” having a presence […]

New Peabody trailer, Rocky & Bullwinkle details

DreamWorks Animation has released a new trailer for their upcoming film Mr. Peabody and Sherman. And Rope of Silicon has a little information about the attached Rocky & Bullwinkle short film: “The short was directed by Gary Trousdale (Beauty and the Beast) and features the voice work of June Foray (the original voice of Rocket […]

VES nominees announced

Cartoon Brew has the full list of the nominees for the Visual Effects Society Awards. Gravity led all films with eight nominations while The Croods, Epic, and Frozen led the animation titles with four each. Also of special note is the nod for Sandra Bullock’s character from Gravity, Ryan Stone, in the Outstanding Animated Character […]

Frozen’s Oscar outlook

With Academy Award nominations set to be announced Thursday, “Showbiz Awards” site GoldDerby takes a look at the chances of Frozen. On the odds of getting a Best Picture nomination: “Perhaps the movie’s biggest detriment to playing in the big leagues is the Academy’s long-held penchant for overlooking animated films… over the past 85 years […]

Disney historian Didier Ghez takes us for a “Grand Tour” with Walt

The new book, over two decades in the making, enlightens fans about the surprising significance of the Disneys’ 1935 European adventure.

A look at the life of Ralph Bakshi

The Forward looks at the life of legendary animator Ralph Bakshi who is “working on his latest project, Last Days of Coney Island. The first segment of the film, which was financed through a successful Kickstarter campaign, will be released online in the coming months”. The site has also compiled a video of his works’ […]