Don Hahn’s refreshingly honest documentary on the “Disney Renaissance” of the 1990s, from its explosion to its explosive downfall, opens today on selected screens in New York, Los Angeles, San Francsico and Chicago. A poster and full press release, in which Hahn describes his film in depth, follows:

Pixar Story Supervisor Jason Katz and Lego Master Builder Erik Varszegi joined the children of the Boys & Girls Club of America to assemble a one-of-a-kind Lego mural in Hollywood on Tuesday, March 23, to promote the releases of Toy Story and Toy Story 2 Special Edition Blu-ray Discs yesterday. More details and photos can […]

The Hollywood Reporter this morning reports that the Walt Disney Company is to launch a local, Russian-language version of The Disney Channel, and is looking to additionally produce two to three theatrical features for the market as well. Disney’s recent expansion into localized content has seen big rewards for the company with such hits as […]

After the high cost and unexpectedly low returns on Disney’s Robert Zemeckis-directed A Christmas Carol, the studio has announced the closing of the ImageMovers Digital facility in Marin County. Currently at work on the Simon Welles directed Mars Needs Moms, Disney also speculates that it may remain a distributor for IMD’s movies, which include the […]

Caractacus Potts’ father has gone off for his last cup of tea with the maharajah: British actor and director Lionel Jeffries has died aged 83. Most remembered on screen for portraying Dick Van Dyke’s dad in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Jeffries was a fine actor, perhaps more famous for his comic roles (Two Way Stretch, […]

New Line has announced, via The Hollywood Reporter, that George Lopez is set to voice a contemporary Speedy Gonzales in a new CG/live-action hybrid written by the Garfield duo of Alec Sokolow and Joel Cohen. Story details, which point to a plot that sees “Speedy befriending a gun-shy race-car driver”, and the producers’ take on […]

From western to pirate villain: British actor Ian McShane, who has also provided voices for Shrek The Third, Kung Fu Panda and Coraline, will step into Edward Teach’s shoes to play the legendary scalawag of the seven seas, better known as Blackbeard, in the fourth Pirates Of The Caribbean film, On Stranger Tides, reports The […]

The Chuck Jones Center for Creativity has announced that Chuck Amuck: A Legacy Of Laughter, a retrospective exhibition of art and artifacts, will open with a free-to-the-public opening night reception on Friday, February 26, 2010 at Tempe Center for the Arts in Arizona, and remain on display through June 18th. Full details follow:

The Asia-Pacific edition of Animation Express reports on the release of War Of The Worlds: Goliath, a new 2D/3D animated feature set for DVD and limited theatrical engagements. Produced in the “steampunk” style that meshes Japanese anime with a Western visual approach, the film has been executive produced by Heavy Metal magazine publisher Kevin Eastman […]

Timed to the release of Peter Jackson’s The Lord Of The Rings trilogy coming to Blu-ray on April 6, Warner Bros. is also upgrading director Ralph Bakshi’s 1978 animated feature edition of the first half of the story as a BD/DVD combo pack for $29.99. Newly released cover art for the set, which will include […]

In production for over four years, Lucas Martell’s six-minute animated short Pigeon: Impossible has finally been posted to YouTube in its high definition entirety. Since May 2008, Martell has been posting monthly podcasts on the making of his film – about a “rookie secret agent faced with a problem seldom covered in basic training: what […]

As a tie-in to the upcoming mega-budget Warner Bros. remake of Ray Harryhausen’s Clash Of The Titans coming to theaters on March 26, a motion comic-animated sequel story to the original film is about to be unleashed by Eagle One Media. A press release and artwork for Wrath Of The Titans, which was created from […]

In addition to the previously announced Disney titles retiring from their current DVD pressings, the Studio has added The Jungle Book (DVD) and Sleeping Beauty (DVD and Blu-ray) Platinum Editions to the list of films that will be discontinued from this January 30. The titles will remain on shelves until stock runs out.

The Hollywood Reporter announces that the fourth Spider-Man movie under Sam Raimi has hit another stumbling block after the director and the producing studio Sony couldn’t agree on which villains Spidey would face. Raimi wants the Vulture while Sony is after the Black Cat, a situation the two partners have faced before when Sony forced […]

The Producers Guild of America have announced their nominations for their Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures, reports The Hollywood Reporter. Avatar alphabetically fronts the list, which also names District 9, An Education, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious B******s, Invictus, Precious, Star Trek, Up and Up In The Air. Up […]

It was an unfortunate start to 2010 for Walt Disney’s grandson Patrick Disney Miller, son of Walt’s daughter Diane Disney Miller and the Disney Company’s former CEO Ron Miller, when the 42 year old pleaded not guilty to weapons charges. He was arrested after police found multiple illegal guns and other items at his Los […]

As well as announcing the closing of the deal to purchase Marvel Entertainment, The Walt Disney Company has also “expanded its ties” with Stan Lee’s POW! Entertainment, with which it already has a first-look deal. Lee was the creator of many characters in the Marvel stable, and this new agreement will bring him closer to […]

Timed to the release of Peter Jackson’s The Lord Of The Rings trilogy coming to Blu-ray on April 6, distributors Warner Bros. will also upgrade director Ralph Bakshi’s 1978 animated feature edition of the first half of the story to the high definition format as a BD/DVD combo pack for $29.99. The film, notorious in […]