James R Whitson Author Archive
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Disney Channel revives \\Kim Possible\\, adds \\The Replacements\\

After earlier news that they were considering canceling the popular series, Disney Channel has picked up \\Kim Possible\\ for a fourth season, according to \\{{link http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=entertainmentNews&storyID=2005-11-29T031245Z_01_ARM911471_RTRUKOC_0_US-DISNEY.xml&archived=False The Hollywood Reporter}}\\. “The decision was spurred in part by a months-long viewer campaign for Disney to continue making episodes”. Disney Channel has also orders a full season of […]

\\Shrek\\ director ready to hand over reins

Andrew Adamson, co-writer and director of the \\Shrek\\ films (and currently directing \\The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe\\), tells {{link http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire2005/index.php?category=0&id=33420 SciFi Wire}} that while he will help write and executive-produce \\Shrek 3\\ he will hand over the directoral duties to others. “It’s a story that I’m [emotionally] attached to, […]

Animation blog updates

{{link http://pixaranimation.blogspot.com/ Luxo}} has a roundup of blog updates from animators, including {{link http://louromano.blogspot.com/ Lou Ramano}}, {{link http://talesofcolossus.blogspot.com/ Mark Andrews}}, {{link http://www.ronniedelcarmen.com/blog1/blog.html Ronnie del Carmen}}, {{link http://enricocasarosa.com/wordpress.1/ Enrico Casarosa}}, {{link http://roseandisabel.blogspot.com/ Ted Mathot}}, and the {{link http://www.e-villepress.blogspot.com/ E-Ville Press}} gang (of Mark Andrews, Max Brace, Simon Dunsdon, Louis Gonzales, Robert Kondo, Ted Mathot, Kevin O’Brien, […]

Predicting the animation Oscars

Rick DeMott, managing editor of {{link http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=pageone&article_no=2705&page=2 Animation World Network}}, takes a look at the upcoming Academy Award races for Animated Feature and Animated Short films and tries to predict what Oscar might be thinking.

\\Pirate\\ ship photos online

{{link http://www.darkhorizons.com/news05/051128a.php Dark Horizons}} has pictures of the Davy Jones haunted ship from Disney’s upcoming film \\Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest\\. The film is scheduled to open in July 2006.

Producers Guild to recognize animation at annual PGA Awards

The Producers Guild of America added a category for animation to their annual PGA Awards, according to {{link http://news.awn.com/index.php?ltype=top&newsitem_no=15473 AWN}}. PGA Awards co-chair, Bruce Cohen said, “The recent renaissance in animated features has been one of our industry’s greatest success stories of the past decade, and we feel it’s only appropriate that the Producers Guild […]

\\Aeon Flux\\ website gets major update

{{link http://www.moviesonline.ca/movienews_6450.html Movies Online}} notes that the official website for \\{{link http://www.aeonflux.com/ Aeon Flux}}\\ has been updated with lots of new content, including new sections for production notes and cast and crew bios, more images and production art, a downloadable screensaver, and much more. The film, based on the MTV animated series created by Peter […]

LA SIGGRAPH presents The Making of \\Chicken Little\\

{{link http://www.la.siggraph.org The Los Angeles Professional Chapter of ACM SIGGRAPH}} is holding a special screening of \\Chicken Little\\ in Disney Digital 3-D, followed by speakers from Walt Disney Feature Animation presenting the making of \\Chicken Little\\, with a focus on animation, effects, and the process of bringing the film to theaters in 3-D. The event […]

Behind the scenes of \\Chicken Little\\

On its opening day, take a look behind the scenes of Disney’s first CG animated feature, \\Chicken Little\\. QUICKTIME: little | big WINDOWS MEDIA: little | big

\\Chicken Little\\ in Disney Digital 3-D

In addition to being Disney’s first entirely computer generated animated film, \\Chicken Little\\ will also be the first film screened in Disney Digital 3-D, a new technology created in collaboration with Dolby Laboratories and Industrial Light & Magic. More information about Disney Digital 3-D, a commercial promoting the film in this format, and a full […]

Fire destroys Aardman warehouse, spoils \\Were-Rabbit\\ celebration

On a day when Aardman Animaton planned on celebrating this weekend’s box office success, things went sour when a warehouse used to store props and sets from past projects caught fire this morning in Bristol, England, according to {{link http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Movies/10/10/aardman.fire/index.html CNN}}. No one was in the building at the time and no one was hurt. […]

Making Ginja Ninja Cool at this year's MIPCOM

One of the projects of interest to animation fans being shown and launched at this year’s MIPCOM, the audiovisual content show hosted in Cannes later this month, is \\Ginja Ninja\\ (pronounced like “Ginger”, to rhyme with “Ninja”). The live-action show mixes the traditions of classic silent comedies with highly visual storytelling, slapstick situations, and big […]

\\Curse\\-word? Community objects to word "R*bb*t"

Advertising for \\The Curse of the Were-Rabbit\\ has been banned from the Isle of Portland, Dorset in the United Kingdom, according to \\{{link http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1815040,00.html The Times}}\\. For over a century local superstition has considered the word “rabbit” to be bad luck. The word is not used by the locals who use terms like “underground mutton” […]

Behind the scenes of \\The Curse of the Were-Rabbit\\

{{link http://movies.aol.com/behind_the_scenes_wallace_gromit_movie Moviefone}} goes behind the scenes of \\The Curse of the Were-Rabbit\\ to learn about the work necessary to bring Wallace and Gromit to life with these two videos.

Eisner resigns board seat, leaves Disney completely

In a surprising announcement, Disney said yesterday in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that Michael Eisner “resigned his board seat last Friday and will not serve as a company consultant, as he had been entitled to do under his employment agreement”, according to the {{link http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051007/ap_on_bi_ge/disney_eisner AP}}. After resigning as CEO in September Eisner […]

\\Wallace and Gromit The Curse of the Were-Rabbit\\ opens

DreamWorks/Aardman’s \\The Curse of the Were-Rabbit\\ opens today in 3,645 theatres, according to {{link http://www.boxofficemojo.com/counts/chart/?yr=2005&wk=40&p=.htm Box Office Mojo}}, who {{link http://www.boxofficemojo.com/forecast/ predict}} a first place finish for the weekend with $14.8 million. {{link http://www.rottentomatoes.com/news/comments/?entryid=248729 Rotten Tomatoes}} says “this \\Curse\\ is a blessing. Or, more to the point, it’s the best-reviewed wide release of the year […]

Seven \\The Curse of the Were-Rabbit\\ video clips

Take a sneak peek at \\The Curse of the Were-Rabbit\\ with these seven clips from the movie, available in four different sizes in Quicktime, Windows Media, and Real Player formats.

Eisner era at Disney ends

After 21 years at the helm, Michael Eisner will step down as chief executive of The Walt Disney Company today. Reports from around the web look at his legacy: “Just days before exiting his post as CEO of the Walt Disney Co., Michael Eisner… called his 21 years at Disney “the most gratifying experience in […]

\\Corpse Bride\\ meets box office expectations

\\Corpse Bride\\ made $20.1 million in its (wide) opening weekend, according to {{link http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=2005&wknd=38&p=.htm Box Office Mojo}}. That puts the fim right at {{link http://www.boxofficemojo.com/forecast/ Mojo’s}} prediction, $4 million short of {{link http://www.boxofficereport.com/wbon/forecast.shtml Box Office Report’s}} prediction, and $4 million above {{link http://www.boxofficeprophets.com/column/index.cfm?columnID=9189 Box Office Prophet’s}} prediction.

\\Corpse Bride\\ answers all your questions

Not sure whether you should see \\Corpse Bride\\? Or just got any other question you need an answer to? Why not {{link http://www.askthedead.com/ Ask the Dead}}? This \\Corpse Bride\\ themed ouija board can get you the answer you seek from beyond the grave! OK, maybe not, but it’s still fun!

\\Corpse Bride\\ opens

Warner Brothers’ \\Corpse Bride\\ opens today in 3,204 theatres, according to {{link http://www.boxofficemojo.com/counts/chart/?yr=2005&wk=38&p=.htm Box Office Mojo}}, who {{link http://www.boxofficemojo.com/forecast/ predict}} a second place finish for the weekend with $20 million. {{link http://www.rottentomatoes.com/news/comments/?entryid=243728 Rotten Tomatoes}} calls it “one of the best reviewed wide releases of the year”. The film has an 81% fresh rating on the […]

\\Corpse Bride\\'s email

Send an email to your friends reminding them of tomorrow’s opening of \\Corpse Bride\\ with Warner Brothers’ {{link http://www.bonymail.com/ Bony Mail}} . Using a skeletal finger on a foggy mirror you can write a message to a friend, who will get to see your message written by the bony hand!

Home video of a real \\Corpse Bride\\?

Someone has captured this {{link http://www.sept23.com/ freaky home video}} of what appears to be a real \\Corpse Bride\\ at an unnamed graveyard. The cameraman says he is not sure if what he heard and saw was “just my imagination, but see for yourself”. If you can’t see what he’s talking about, at 20 seconds into […]

Kids' WB! fall season to debut three new cartoons

Kids’ WB! will be unleashing three new series tomorrow, Saturday, September 17th, as part of The WB’s fall season, all produced by Warner Brothers Animation: Loonitics Unleashed, Coconut Fred’s Fruit Salad Island, and Johnny Test. For a preview of each read on!

SEC launches Pixar inquiry

\\{{link http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-pixar27aug27,1,786367.story The L.A. Times}}\\ reports that Pixar Animation Studios is confirming they are the focus of a Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry. Though neither the SEC nor Pixar are commenting on the subject of the inquiry, “analysts speculated that it might concern the sharp drop in revenue reported by the company in its second […]

\\Superman Returns\\ footage in Bryan Singer video journal

{{link http://www.bluetights.net/bulletin_list.php Blue Tights Adventure Network}} has a video journal with \\Superman Returns\\ director Bryan Singer on his way and at San Diego Comic-Con. Singer answers fan questions, shows footage of the film, and gets his hair cut.

\\Valiant\\ disappoints at the box office

Disney/Vanguard’s \\Valiant\\ opened in a disappointingly low 7th place this weekend according to {{link http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=2005&wknd=33&p=.htm Box Office Mojo}}. In its debut weekend the film brought in about $6.1 million.

\\Toy Story\\ to be first animated Disney UMD; animation flourishing on new disc format

According to {{link http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/umdguide/index.html#umdreleaselist The Digital Bits}}, on September 6th DVD won’t be the only disc format to get \\Toy Story – 10th Anniversary Edition\\. The film will also be Buena Vista’s first animated UMD video release. UMD (Universal Media Disc) is a Sony created disc format for use on their PlayStation Portable entertainment system. […]

\\Valiant\\ opens

Disney/Vanguard’s \\Valiant\\ opens today in 2,014 theatres, a surprisingly low number. {{link http://www.boxofficemojo.com/counts/chart/?yr=2005&wk=33&p=.htm Ten other films}}, including the documentary \\March of the Penguins\\ (which has been out for 9 weeks already), are in more theatres. {{link http://www.boxofficemojo.com/forecast/ Box Office Mojo}} predicts a 4th place finish this weekend, with the film taking in $8.2 million. \\Valiant\\ […]

Joe Ranft, dead at 45

Confirming rumors we’ve been hearing all day, {{link http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/people/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001017139 The Hollywood Reporter}} and {{link http://news.awn.com/index.php?ltype=top&newsitem_no=14650 AWN}} report that Joe Ranft was killed Tuesday afternoon in a car accident. Ranft worked on many of the most beloved modern classics out of Disney and Pixar, including: writing for \\The Brave Little Toaster\\, \\Oliver & Company\\, \\The Rescuers […]