Don Knotts, most famous for his role as Deputy Barney Fife on \\The Andy Griffith Show\\, died Friday night of pulmonary and respiratory complications at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Beverly Hills, according to the {{link http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/02/25/knotts.obit.ap/index.html AP}}. He was 81 years old. Knotts was no stranger to animation voicing characters in several tv shows and […]

\\Stuart Little 3: Call Of The Wild\\ debuts on DVD today, moving from live action (with some CG characters) to this fully CG animated version which uses toon shading to create a 2D feel. In his third outing, Stuart can’t wait to spend his entire vacation canoeing, hiking and finding his inner scout. But, there […]

Universal Pictures’ \\{{link http://www.curiousgeorgemovie.com/ Curious George}}\\ opens today in 2,565 theatres, according to {{link http://www.boxofficemojo.com/counts/chart/?yr=2006&wk=06&p=.htm Box Office Mojo}}. The film is getting pretty good reviews so far, though most critics note that it is geared towards the younger viewers. The {{link http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10004008-curious_george/ Rotten Tomatoes}} Tomatometer has the film at 74% fresh. {{link http://www.boxofficereport.com/wbon/forecast.shtml Box Office […]

Parents wanting something to entertain the kids with before heading out to the theatre might want to check out these \\Curious George\\ downloads, crafts, and activities!

At the {{link http://www.grammy.com/ 48th Annual Grammy Awards}} music from two animated films took home golden gramophones. “Best Song Written For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media” went to \\Believe\\ from \\The Polar Express\\, written by Glen Ballard & Alan Silvestri and performed by Josh Groban. “Best Instrumental Arrangement” went to Gordon Goodwin for […]

The nominations for the {{link http://www.oscars.org/78academyawards/noms.html 78th Annual Academy Awards}} were announced today. Best Animated Film: \\Howl’s Moving Castle\\, \\Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride\\, \\Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were Rabbit\\ Best Animated Short: \\{{link http://www.tandemfilms.com/home.html Badgered}}\\, \\{{link http://homepages.nyu.edu/~jc7/press/canemaker.pdf The Moon And The Son: An Imagined Conversation}}\\, \\{{link http://www.jaspermorello.com/gazette/ The Mysterious Geographic Explorations Of Jasper […]

\\Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit\\ took home the Best Animated Film award at the {{link http://www.producersguild.org/pg/awards_a/ 17th Annual Producers Guild Awards}}. The DreamWorks/Aardman film beat out competition from \\Chicken Little\\, \\Madagascar\\, \\Robots\\, and \\Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride\\.

MTV Networks (which operates channels such as MTV, Nickelodeon, and Comedy Central) today {{link http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/01-26-2006/0004268298&EDATE= announced}} a partnership with Apple’s iTunes Music Store to make many of their popular shows available for download. Animated offerings now available include: the number-one show with kids 2-5, \\Dora the Explorer\\ ; the entire first season of the number-one […]

{{link http://www.nausicaa.net/index.shtml Nausicaa.net}} notes that 3 Hayao Miyazaki films will be airing on cable TV during the next few weeks. \\Only Yesterday\\ and \\Pom Poko\\ will be broadcast on Turner Classic Movies on January 26th, while \\Spirited Away\\, Academy Award winner for Best Animated Film, will air on Cartoon Network on February 3rd. The website […]

The Academy Award-nominated short film \\{{link http://www.blur.com/shorts/gopher_broke/ Gopher Broke}}\\ will be made into a feature-length film, reports {{link http://www.comingsoon.net/news/indietopnews.php?id=12886 ComingSoon.net}}. “Written and directed by Jeff Fowler, \\Gopher Broke\\ is a stylish toon about a hungry gopher who devises a madcap scheme that he hopes will provide him with a tasty snack.”

{{link http://www.cartoonbrew.com/archives/2006_01.html#001607 Cartoon Brew}} is calling for and posting comments from artists on their thoughts about the Disney/Pixar deal. Comments so far range from the excited (“The creative reins at Animation are being handed over to Pixar. I almost have to pinch myself: John Lasseter is now Creative Head of both Disney Animation AND Pixar […]

\\Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit\\ has been nominated for the Outstanding British Film of the Year in the annual {{link http://www.bafta.org/site/page287.html British Academy of Film and Television Arts}} Awards. Nominated for Short Animation Film are: \\Fallen Art\\, \\Film Noir\\, \\Kamiya’s Correspondence\\, \\The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello\\, and \\Rabbit\\. Nominated in Achievement […]

With Pixar’s Steve Jobs and Disney’s Bob Iger making huge news today, it’s probably just coincidence that Disney chose today to made good on its {{link http://www.animatedviews.com/wp-content/uploads/archives/00004368.html previous announcement}} concerning Job’s other company. Ten classic Disney Academy Award winning or nominated shorts can be downloaded from Apple’s iTunes Music Store starting today for $1.99. Now […]

CBS Corporation and Warner Bros. Entertainment will cease operations of their respective networks – UPN and The WB, the companies announced today. Instead the two will join forces to form a new 5th network, The CW, to be launched in the fall of 2006. The new broadcasting network will be a joint venture between Warner […]

Rotten Tomato’s {{link http://www.rottentomatoes.com/features/rtawards/index_2005.php 7th Annual Golden Tomato Awards}} has awarded \\Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit\\ their top prize for The Best Reviewed Film of 2005 in Wide Release. This is the second win for an Aardman film – \\Chicken Run\\ won the top award in 2000. It is also the third […]

In a surprise to many in the industry, The Weinstein Company’s \\Hoodwinked\\ came away with the most box office goodies making it top of the woods (Hollywood, at least) this holiday weekend with $16.6 million according to {{link http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=1984&p=.htm Box Office Mojo}}. “The first of over a dozen computer-animated movies scheduled for [a wide opening […]

On January 6, 2006, we posted {{link http://www.animatedviews.com/wp-content/uploads/archives/00004371.html this story}} taken from a {{link http://www.business-standard.com/iceworld/storypage.php?chklogin=&autono=210615&leftnm=lmnu9&leftindx=9&lselect=1 Business Standard}} article that quoted animator Manu Ittina. However, according to his {{link http://manuittina.com/blog.html blog}} Ittina says the Business Standard article “totally out of the blue made up statements and attributed” them to him since he has “never spoken to […]

In its first year of eligibility, Pixar’s first feature film, \\Toy Story\\, has been added to the {{link http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2005/05-262.html National Film Registry}} according to the head of the Library of Congress, James Billington. Each year the Librarian of Congress, advised by the National Film Preservation Board, selects up to 25 films that are culturally, historically […]

Today is the last day to pick up one-of-a-kind Ice Age and Robots artwork available in Blue Sky Studios’ charity auction on eBay. Proceeds from each piece will go to either the Red Cross or the American Humane Society, as they continue their relief efforts in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The auction […]

{{link http://www.oscars.org/press/pressreleases/2005/05.12.16b.html The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences}} has announced the 7 feature films released in 2005 up for consideration for the Best Visual Effects Oscar: \\Batman Begins\\ \\Charlie and the Chocolate Factory\\ \\The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe\\ \\Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire\\ \\King Kong\\ […]

{{link http://www.oscars.org/press/pressreleases/2005/05.12.15c.html The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences}} has announced the 42 original songs from eligible feature-length films released in 2005 up for consideration for Oscars. Six are from animated films: “\\Great Big World\\” from \\Hookwinked\\ “\\One Little Slip\\” from \\Chicken Little\\ “\\Remains of the Day\\” from \\Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride\\ “\\Shine\\” from […]

The film awards season was kicked off Saturday when the {{link http://www.lafca.net/Home/News/2005_lafca_awards_winners.html Los Angeles Film Critics Association}} announced their winners at their 31st annual festivities. Animated films picked up two awards. “Best Animation” went to \\Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit\\. And Joe Hisaishi took the “Best Music Score” award for \\Howl’s Moving […]

The National Academy Of Recording Arts & Sciences has announced the nominees for the 48th Annual Grammy Awards. The eligibility year for the Grammy’s does not coincide with the calendar year as most awards do. Nominees are chosen from recordings released from October 1, 2004 through September 30, 2005. Animated movies and tv shows received […]

\\Aeon Flux\\, the live action feature film based on the MTV animated series, came in second at the box office in its opening weekend according to {{link http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=1954&p=.htm Box Office Mojo}}. It’s $13.1 million was at the “high end of low expectations”. \\Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire\\ stayed in the top spot, making […]

{{link http://forum.bcdb.com/gforum.cgi?post=55126 The Big Cartoon Database}} reports that in addition to the {{link http://www.animatedviews.com/wp-content/uploads/archives/00004174.html DC Comics stamps}} being released next year, the {{link http://www.usps.com/communications/news/stamps/2005/sr05_054.htm United States Postal Service}} is also releasing two other postage sets featuring animated characters. The first, called “Favorite Children’s Book Animals” and being released in January, features eight cherished characters from […]

Admit it. You’re a Pixar geek! You put the DVD’s on the 42 inch TV so you can find all the hidden gags. You’ve read the book titles on Andy’s bookshelf. You’re clued in to A113. When wannabes try to tell you who Harryhausens restaurant is named after, you laugh at their feeble skills and […]

Stan Berenstain, who with his wife Jan created the popular \\Berenstain Bears\\ children’s books, died on Saturday in Pennsylvania, according to \\{{link http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-11-29-berenstain-obit_x.htm?csp=34 USA Today}}\\. He was 82. The couple published the first book, \\The Great Honey Hunt\\, in 1962, and since then \\The Berenstain Bears\\ have appeared in over 200 books, an animated TV […]

The perennial holiday classic \\Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer\\ airs tonight at 8pm ET on CBS. And, unlike the false reports last year, it \\will\\ air for the very first time in high definition this year! First broadcast in 1964, \\Rudolph\\ features a popular musical score from Johnny Marks and the voice talent of the legendary […]

{{link http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire2005/index.php?category=0&id=33425 SciFi Wire}} reports that Peter Chung, the creator of the MTV animated series \\Aeon Flux\\, has said that he’d rather see an animated version of his character than the live action version opening this Friday. “I honestly [was] very against it, because I wanted to do an animated movie, and I thought that […]

{{link http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4476534.stm BBC}} reports that \\Charlie and the Chocolate Factory\\ was named Best Film in the Kids’ Vote at the 10th Children’s British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards. However, \\The Incredibles\\ picked up the Best Film prize from the BAFTA panel. A full list of winners and nominees is available from the {{link […]