Animation has taken over the nation’s movie screens this week as all of the top three showing films are animated films. According to {{link http://www.boxofficemojo.com/counts/chart/?yr=2004&wk=47&p=.htm Box Office Mojo}}, Disney/Pixar’s \\The Incredibles\\ is showing on 3,683 screens, Warner Brothers’ \\The Polar Express\\ is on 3,650 screens, and Paramount’s \\The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie\\ is on 3,212 screens. […]

If nautical nonsense be something you wish, you’ll be happy to know that \\The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie\\ opens today! The film has a 70% freshness rating from {{link http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/spongebob_squarepants_movie/ Rotten Tomatoes}}, with those critics who like it loving the zaniness, while those not liking it can’t seem to agree on why!

{{link http://www.afi.com/tvevents/100years/quotes.aspx The American Film Institute}} will “count down America’s 100 greatest lines of dialogue spoken in the movies, as chosen by experts of the motion picture community, in a three-hour television event on the CBS Television Network in June 2005”. AFI’s Director and CEO Jean Picker Firstenberg said, “Great movie quotes become part of […]

The {{link http://www.wearefamilyfoundation.org/ We Are Family Foundation}} has announced their partnership with some of the biggest names in children’s programming to create a DVD to be distributed in schools to promote tolerance and diversity. The project brings together characters from Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, and PBS programs to sing a new version of the song \\We […]

The long awaited \\Iron Giant\\: Special Edition DVD was finally released today. The DVD was reportedly finished months ago but held until the theatrical release of director Brad Bird’s latest film \\The Incredibles\\. For a film considered to be one of the best animated films in history, not many people have seen or even heard […]

Animated films took the top two box office spots this weekend according to {{link http://boxofficemojo.com/ Box Office Mojo}}. In its second week \\The Incredibles\\ took the #1 spot again with $51 million, bringing its total to $144 million. \\The Polar Express\\ had a $23.5 million three-day opening weekend – good enough for only the #2 […]

Todd Doogan of {{link http://www.thedigitalbits.com/doogansviews/111504.html#har The Digital Bits}} reviews the DVD of \\Harvie Krumpet\\, the film that beat competion from the some major studios (Disney’s \\Destino\\, Pixar’s \\Boundin’\\, and Blue Sky’s \\Gone Nutty\\) to win the Oscar for Best Animated Short. Doogan says the film has “plenty of heart and soul” and that the DVD […]

Greg Spiridellis of {{link http://www.jibjab.com/ JibJab Media}}, creators of the “animated web sensation” \\This Land\\ parody, revealed information about their next project. According to \\{{link http://www.animationmagazine.net/article.php?article_id=3202 Animation Magazine}}\\, he said “We’re working on a holiday piece that is going to be a spoof of \\We Are the World\\. It’s got all the world leaders including […]

{{link http://news.awn.com/index.php?ltype=cat&category1=Television&newsitem_no=12411 Animation World Network}} reports that after only three episodes aired Comedy Central has already ordered a second season of \\Drawn Together\\. The show, hyped as “television’s first animated reality series”, was created by Matt Silverstein and Dave Jeser and is produced by Rough Draft Studios. Silverstein and Jeser said, “We’re astonished that Comedy […]

{{link http://news.awn.com/index.php?ltype=top&newsitem_no=12405 Animation World Network}} reports that Warner Brothers has opened their new {{link http://LooneyTunes.com LooneyTunes.com}} website, which includes “the first original Looney Tunes shorts (online or offline) in more than a year… more games, a new Showcase section where fans can get the latest Looney Tunes news, an updated Looney Shop and more Looney […]

The Laguna College of Art and Design, in Laguna Beach, California, will be hosting The Art and Entertainment of Chuck Jones on Saturday, November 20. The event will include a collection from the archives of the Chuck Jones Foundation, showing the development of Chucks work from though process to creation of his characters and fine […]

{{link http://www.creativetalentnetwork.com/ The Creative Talent Network}}, a virtual community of industry animators, designers, production artists and others, is online as a resource for people who want to “come together to market their talents, pursue common goals, share their experience, connect with other professionals worldwide and improve the ability for clients to connect with them”. According […]

The webmaster at the {{link http://www.philcollins.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=news;action=display;num=1098992454 Phil Collins Forum}} reports that Collins has emailed them his upcoming schedule which includes the fact that after the arrival of his next child, “he has some singing to do for \\Tarzan 2\\, which is direct to video/DVD, for which he wrote a couple of new songs”.

DreamWorks has landed the domestic distribution rights to the Japanese science fiction action film \\Casshern\\, which it will release under the banner of its specialty film division, Go Fish Pictures. The film blends Japanimation and manga-inspired live action. DreamWorks says of the plot: “It is late in the 21st century. After 50 years of devastating […]

The reviews are in for \\The Polar Express\\ and according to {{link http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/polar_express/ Rotten Tomatoes}} they are more good then bad! The tomatometer weighs in at a respectable 67%, with 32 Fresh reviews and 16 Rotten. The reviewers that liked the film say the story was what made this film work: “The film is not sheer […]

{{link http://www.broadway.com/gen/Buzz_Story.aspx?ci=502193 Broadway.com}} reports that Disney Theatricals has named well known European director (and Broadway newcomer) Francesca Zambello as the director for the Broadway musical version of \\The Little Mermaid\\. Zambello worked previously for Disney on the theme park stage show \\Aladdin\\. She is best known for her work in opera and theatre, where her […]

{{link http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=pageone&article_no=2285 AWN}} notes that the hour long \\Popeye’s Voyage: The Quest for Pappy\\ DVD released today will air on FOX on December 17, in a slimmed down 30 minute version.

{{link http://www.animationinsider.net/article.php?articleID=312 Animation Insider}} reports that children’s publisher Scholastic has signed an exclusive deal with Cartoon Network to publish books based on current series’ \\Codename: Kids Next Door\\, and \\Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends\\, and upcoming shows \\Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi\\ and \\The Life and Times of Juniper Lee\\.

{{link http://www.digitalentertainmentawards.com/ The Billboard Digital Entertainment Awards}}, recognizing “the cutting-edge developments and forward thinkers shaping the future of entertainment”, recently announced the winners in its first annual event. Pixar and Apple CEO Steve Jobs won one of the top awards of the night as “Visionary of the Year”. In the category “Best Use of Technology […]

Walt Disney Television Animation has named Meredith Metz Senior Vice President, Creative Affairs and has promoted Lisa Salamone Smith to Senior Vice President, Production, according to {{link http://news.awn.com/index.php?ltype=top&newsitem_no=12388 Animation World Network}}. Metz, formally Senior Vice President, Creative Affairs at Klasky Csupo, will oversee new and existing projects on Disney Channel and the JETIX block on […]

We reported yesterday that the first teaser trailer for Pixar’s 2005 feature \\Cars\\ was finally available online. Now {{link http://www.apple.com/trailers/disney/cars/ Apple has made the trailer available}} in high quality Quicktime format at four different sizes: Compact, Midsize, Fullsize, and SUV!

The Animated News Forum has moved to a new home! The new address is {{link http://animatedviews.com/forum animatedviews.com/forum}}. We’d like to thank Jawad Mir for taking care of our old messageboard for the past year! He has done a great job with it. (You can see the {{link http://animation.skyblueproductions.net/ archives here}} until it is eventually taken […]

\\{{link http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2004-10-17-box-office-analysis_x.htm USA Today}}\\ reports that \\Shark Tale\\ held on to the top of the box office for the third week in a row, easily beating a weaker than expected \\Team America: World Police\\. The puppets, despite good reviews, earned only $12.3 million to open in third place, behind \\Shark Tale’s\\ $22 million and \\Friday […]

A previously released \\Shark Tale\\ trailer is now available in high definiton from {{link http://www.divx.com/movies/trailer_sharktale.php DivX.com}}. The DivX codec is able to produce stunning 720p HD video with a bitrate of only 3.5mpbs – less than the bitrate of standard definition DVDs. The system requirements for playing the video are pretty hefty, but if you […]

DreamWorks’ \\Father of the Pride\\ premieres tonight on NBC at 9pm ET to mixed reviews. \\{{link http://www.cincypost.com/2004/08/31/nbc083104.html The Cincinnati Post}}\\ calls it “a mostly tired version of the family sitcom”, while \\{{link http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/08/31/DDGBB8FUKD1.DTL The San Francisco Chronicle}}\\ says “Let’s hope \\Father of the Pride\\ is on the road to extinction”. \\{{link http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/tv/mmx-0408310037aug31,0,7615358.story?coll=mmx-television_heds The Chicago Tribune}}\\ […]

\\Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie\\ opens today on 2,411 screens according to {{link http://www.boxofficemojo.com Box Office Mojo}}. The {{link http://yugioh.warnerbros.com/ Warner Brothers film}}, “based on the trading card and television series”, “is the story of Yugi, a boy captivated by the card game sweeping the nation: Duel Monsters! But there’s more to the game than meets the […]

A new trailer for DreamWorks’ \\Shark Tale\\ is now online at {{link http://www.apple.com/trailers/dreamworks/shark_tale/trailer/ Apple’s Quicktime movie trailer page}}.

{{link http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/08/06/ireland.atlantis.reut/index.html CNN}} reports on a new theory by a Swedish scientist who beleives that the legendary city of Atlantis may actually be Ireland. Ulf Erlingsson says he is “amazed no one has come up with this before, it’s incredible. Just like Atlantis, Ireland is 300 miles long, 200 miles wide, and widest across the […]

{{link http://corporate.pixar.com/news/20040805-141090.cfm Pixar}} announced they earned $37.4 million or $0.63 per diluted share for its fiscal second quarter, beating analyst predictions of 37 cents a share. In a statement CEO Steve Jobs, who is currently recuperating from successful cancer surgery, said “Our performance this quarter highlights the ongoing success of Finding Nemo and the longevity […]

{{link http://channels.netscape.com/ns/news/story.jsp?id=2004080519560002585206&dt=20040805195600&w=RTR&coview= Reuters}} reports that Walt Disney’s President and Chief Operating Officer Bob Iger has said he said he would “welcome a shot to succeed Michael Eisner as chief executive, but has not actively campaigned for the job”. Iger, who is often considered a likely candidate for the post said, “Obviously if I was offered […]