Disney’s The Jungle Book is ready to boogie onto DVD, and the studio has released some concept, design and photo art from the Platinum Edition, available from October 2. The images include storyboard art of the “lost character” Rocky-the-Rhino, who is featured in his own DVD bonus feature, plus further details of the release. You’ll […]

Hot out of the oven are the disc specifications for Disney/Pixar’s Ratatouille on standard definition DVD and hi-def Blu-Ray Disc. While the standard platter will be a slightly less nourishing affair than Pixar’s regular feature-packed 2-disc editions and more along the lines of last year’s Cars, the new format high definition release promises to be […]

Nocturna, the long-awaited new film by Víctor Maldonado and Adriá García, will open Animadrid, the 8th International Festival of the Animated Image of Pozuelo de Alarcón – Community of Madrid, running September 28 through October 5, 2007. The Festival is organized by the Council of Culture and Tourism for the Community of Madrid and the […]

Animated Views has added several reviews covering Filmation product spanning the studio’s history, from their first commissioned program, 1966’s The New Adventures Of Superman and another DC Comics classic, The New Adventures Of Batman from 1977 when the studio was at its peak. The rise of other facilities and changing tastes in audiences and networks […]

Already a controversial figure for some, Cartoon Brew‘s Amid Amidi has found himself in ASIFA-Hollywood Executive Board member Larry Loc’s sights after Amidi penned some disparaging remarks about the organization’s annual Annie Awards. Amidi campaigned for recognition to Disney animator Art Stevens and branded ASIFA “useless” when Stevens passed away this past May without an […]

The UK’s Guardian newspaper today prints an article that pinpoints the exact date The Simpsons went from being “dizzyingly intelligent, daring, exhilarating stuff” to a “stupid shade of what it used to be [with] cheap, idle storytelling” – 1997. This was the year of creative team change at Groening Central, and the piece, available to […]

On July 24th, Buena Vista Home Entertainment will release the blacker than black detective noir thriller Renaissance, which got an extremely limited theatrical run in 2006, on DVD through their Miramax imprint. In the vein of Blade Runner, Minority Report and Sin City, this cel-shaded CGI animation’s English dub cast features the voice of Daniel […]

Over at Animated Views, we’ve just posted our take on Disney’s latest direct-to-video offering, Cinderella III: A Twist In Time. While the animation isn’t as top notch as the 1950 classic, the film’s intentions are in the right place, and taken at face value there’s some good old-fashioned entertainment to be had.

With the release of Luc Besson’s Arthur And The Invisibles in the US, the CS Monitor looks at the new wave of animated films coming out of France and their place in the over-saturated CG marketplace.

It’s here! After meticulous planning under top-secret conditions and the sometimes desperate measures taken to ensure nothing slipped before we were ready, we’re finally able to bring you something that we feel is a little special: Animated-Views.com, the new and improved companion site to the Animated News experience where we go beyond the news to […]

An extended vodcast edition of Melvyn Bragg’s interview with Aardman animator Nick Park, {{link http://www.animatedviews.com/wp-content/uploads/archives/00005785.html broadcast Sunday evening}} on the UK’s South Bank Show is now available on the ITV {{link http://www.itv.com/page.asp?partid=6479 South Bank webpage}}. The free 20-minute special will remain the highlighted episode for one week and can be played in regular iTunes players.

As Flushed Away gears up for its debut in UK cinemas, a specially animated Plasticine Melvyn Bragg introduces tonight’s South Bank Show profile of Aardman Animation’s Nick Park, whose small and big-screen hits include Wallace & Gromit, Chicken Run and Creature Comforts, examining the filmmaker’s stringent working practices and asking why the studio has been […]

{{link http://www.animationmagazine.net/article.php?article_id=5971 Animation Magazine}} is reporting that due to the box office failure of Wallace And Gromit: The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit and creative friction in the production of the upcoming Flushed Away, DreamWorks has announced it has “no plans” to work with the celebrated stop-motion company after the release of Flushed Away on November […]

As {{link http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6367445.html?nid=2705 Video Business states}}, “20th Century Fox Home Entertainment may be the last major distributor to announce titles in high-definition, but it’s making up for it by bringing Ice Age: The Meltdown to Blu-Ray Disc at the same time as the standard-definition DVD on November 21″. With a $195 million box-office gross, the […]

Two actors who counted parts in a pair of Disney films among their prolific careers have passed away. {{link http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&ie=UTF-8&q=red+buttons&btnG=Search+News Red Buttons}}, the famed song-and-dance comedian, was perhaps best known to animation fans as villain Jim Dale’s sidekick in 1977’s Pete’s Dragon and as the voice of Robespierre in Chuck Jones’ 1962 feature Gay Purr-ee, […]

The schedule for this year’s {{link http://www.comic-con.org/index.php San Diego Comic-Con}} has just been released and there’s a whole bunch of stuff to get worked up about for animation and film fans. Check the link for the full exhaustive program, including the official announcement of an extended edition of Peter Jackson’s King Kong, while some bite-sized […]

{{link http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/film/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002802054 The Hollywood Reporter}} online takes a look at what went into the planning of the new Walt Disney Pictures logo upgrade and reveals rather surprisingly that the new 30-second clip was actually animated by Peter Jackson’s Weta Digital effects outfit. The new logo premiered at the beginning of the studio’s current huge hit […]

With a low count of reviews online covering the recent re-issue of Don Bluth’s first Fox Animation feature Anastasia, DVD Toons has stepped in with a {{link http://www.dvdtoons.com/reviews/501 full review of the 2-disc set}} and places it on par with the Disney Platinum Edition line. “With this Family Fun set, Fox certainly have pulled one […]

Barring its many computer generated effects and character animation, the newly opened X-Men is largely, and intended as, a live-action movie, but it’s still just within our genre of reporting and its opening weekend numbers are such a staggering amount that it well warrants a mention! Proving that audiences will still make the trip to […]

The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that The Triplets Of Belleville director Sylvain Chomet {{link http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/film/brief_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002538527 has departed}} Universal’s animated adaptation of {{link http://www.animatedviews.com/wp-content/uploads/archives/00001942.html The Tale of Despereaux}} to work on a more personal project based on an unproduced screenplay by the French master comic Jacques Tati (Mr Hulot’s Holiday). Chomet’s replacement on Universal’s Despereaux is […]

Writing from the Cannes Film Festival, The {{link http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/awards/cannes/review_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002465069 Hollywood Reporter}} states that DreamWorks’ latest CGI comedy Over The Hedge “is a backyard ecological comedy outfitted with some fine, silly slapstick and clever animal characters. One gets the sense though that the animation team isn’t pushing the edges of their computers the way the Pixar […]

The {{link http://www.hollywoodreporter.com Hollywood Reporter}}’s Frank Scheck has been among the first to review the musical stage adaptation of Disney’s Phil Collins-penned Tarzan animated film, now playing on Broadway. Calling the production “more a theme park attraction than a show, but a spectacularly staged one nonetheless”, while adding that it is “gorgeous and imaginative [and] […]

A new advertisement being sent to video dealers reveals that the two-hour documentary Look, Up In The Sky! The Amazing Story Of Superman is set to receive its TV premiere on June 12, just days before it hits DVD on June 20 to tie in with the release of Superman Returns in theaters on June […]

With the release of Martin Rosen’s animated adaptations of Richard Adams’ novels Watership Down and The Plague Dogs to Region 4 DVD in Australia, {{link http://www.dvdtoons.com/features/78 DVD Toons looks back}} on these two movies and their latest disc incarnations. Particular emphasis is given to The Plague Dogs, which marks the first time the fully uncut […]

Over at {{link http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/reviews/review_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002343504 The Hollywood Reporter}}, Frank Scheck has seen Disney’s The Wild – out tomorrow – and has posted a review of the apparently not-screened-for-critics movie. While he highlights the “impressive animation”, the “ultra-frenetic” direction seems to have left Frank with impressions of a “relentlessly loud and ultimately exhausting exercise”, though he misses […]

Eight new character posters for Disney/Core’s The Wild have been made available online, introducing the film’s characters and providing fun facts about the movie. The movie’s {{link http://adisney.go.com/disneypictures/thewild/ official website}} has also been updated to include the full trailer in “Wild Vision”, more on the characters, slide show photos with voiceovers, downloadable stickers, wallpapers, AIM […]

{{link http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1743984,00.html Guardian Film}} reports that director Bryan Singer is creating an alternate 3D version of this summer’s anticipated blockbuster Superman Returns to be shown exclusively in Imax theaters. This version will “contain 20 minutes of 3D footage, with Singer inserting visual clues that tell audiences when to don their 3D shades”. movie will hit […]

Video Business magazine notes that King Kong has “aped its way to become the top-selling DVD in Universal Studios’ history, surpassing sales of $100 million in its first six days in stores. According to the studio, consumers bought 6.5 million discs through Sunday. Peter Jackson’s King Kong remake reached a worldwide theatrical gross of $550 […]

Often called the “Walt Disney of Norway” (though his puppet and stop-motion techniques are probably more akin to Ray Harryhausen’s fairy-tales or the Rankin/Bass specials of the 1950s and 60s), Ivo Caprino’s work is celebrated in a lavish new multi-disc DVD box set. The films, including Caprino’s international success Pinchcliffe Grand Prix, have all been […]

Aaron Hartline, animation lead on Scrat for Blue Sky’s Ice Age 2: The Meltdown, speaks to {{link http://www.strutyourreel.com/forum/feature/ Strut Your Reel}} about breaking into the business, the highs and lows, tricks of the trade, and turning in a big Hollywood movie sequel in under eight months. Hartline is also participating in a forum-based {{link http://www.strutyourreel.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=35&sid=d940df825b313a22fff1d5108b8e0410 […]