Reuters News have posted a story on the new $75 million {{link http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=industryNews&storyID=5019361 Tower Of Terror}} ride at Disney’s ailing California Adventure theme park – a “haunted hotel” which will hopefully pull in more crowds. Meanwhile, DisneyLand Paris faces a continued {{link http://www.jimhillmedia.com/articles/guest/mickeyfantasmic.05042004.1.htm financial crisis}}, and ‘Vee’ writes in to let us know that “It’s […]

Not as Earth-shattering as that headline sounds, the {{link http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=5019135 Reuters News Agency}} has a little more on the story that former Disney board members Roy Disney and Stan Gold’s plans to put forward an alternate slate of directors next year if the current board does not “face up to the issues”.

The {{link http://forum.bcdb.com/gforum.cgi?post=24994 Big Cartoon DataBase}} reports that “The Transistor Sisters, a fully animated singing group created by Emmy-winning executive producers Joey and Bernadette DiFrancesco, will make their singing debut on three new Gina D’s Kids Club episodes scheduled for production in June, which will be offered to major stations this September by BKS Entertainment”.

Join Jerry Beck to have the Fleischer Brothers’ original 1930s Popeye cartoons – some of the most brilliant and inventive shorts ever created – released on DVD. Over at {{link http://www.cartoonbrew.com/archives/2004_05.html#000133 Cartoon Brew}}, Beck points to an interesting article at the {{link http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2004/05/03/popeye_fans_get_animated_in_dvd_debate/ Boston Globe}} that puts the fans’ views forward in regards to the […]

Stop-motion effects legend Ray Harryhausen will present lucky attendees at this year’s Sci-Fi And Fantasy Classic Film Weekend to a special screening of perhaps his most revered work, Jason And The Argonauts, on Friday May 14 at the Landmark Loew’s Jersey Theatre in Jersey City. {{link http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=110145 Toon Zone}} announces that “Harryhausen’s talk, which will […]

{{link http://www.thehotbutton.com/today/hot.button/index.html The Hot Button}} files in with another report on this weekend’s presentation of Shark Tale at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival in New York, and over at the ever-reliable {{link http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=17480 Ain’t It Cool News}}, there’s another version of events, plus a description of the completed scenes that were played from the movie. […]

DreamWorks head honcho Jeffrey Katzenberg continues to play up his upcoming NBC animated series Father Of The Pride, which will begin airing later this year in the slot vacated by Friends. Over at {{link http://edition.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/TV/05/03/fatherofthepride.ap/index.html CNN.com}}, there’s a sense of deja-vu in what is said, but some new tidbits emerge nonetheless.

{{link http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/search/s_191257.html Chris Miller}}, head of story on DreamWorks’ Shrek 2, is interviewed over at Pittsburgh Live’s Tribune Review.

Pittsburgh Live’s {{link http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/search/s_191258.html Tribune Review}} has the first couple of images from DreamWorks’ Ghost In The Shell 2: Innocence online, while {{link http://www.comingsoon.net/films.php?id=4451 Coming Soon}} features a little more info, including a release date of September 17 2004 in the US.

Demonstrating how computer animated pre-visualization can help a director plan a scene, BET.com has an interesting {{link http://www.bet.com/articles/0,1048,p539gb9491-10442,00.html 35-second clip}} combining CGI and a green-screen-shot Halle Berry for a chase sequence in the upcoming Warners feature.

{{link http://www.darkhorizons.com/news04/040503d.php Dark Horizons}} posts this weekend’s box office figures, and it seems that Disney’s last 2D hope, Home On The Range, hasn’t hit the bottom of the top ten after all, taking just over $2.2 million to sit in ninth place with a $45.5m total. Bringing up the rear is WB’s Scooby-Doo 2, with […]

Not so much as a review than a general onceover of all the shorts, bonuses, interviews and extra clips to be found in the set, Kirby Holt’s Toon Talk takes a look at what to expect from Mickey Mouse In Living Color Volume 2, one of this year’s 2-disc packages in the lavish Walt Disney […]

Craig writes in with a report on Sunday’s DreamWorks event at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, where completed scenes from their October animated film Shark Tale were revealed. The event was “awesome”, says Craig, adding it was the “best $25 I’ve ever spent”. Thanks very much for the for taking the time to send this […]

Promoting the upcoming DVD release of his 1977 animated feature {{link http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0001NBMIK/ref%3Dnosim/cartoonresearch/TARGET%3D/102-4687562-8010520 Wizards}}, director Ralph Bakshi has spoken to {{link http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review.php?id=1031 Fulvuedrive-in.com}} about the film, its techniques, and his other animated work, including the 1978 The Lord Of The Rings. A very informative and entertaining Sunday read – thanks to {{link http://www.cartoonbrew.com/ Cartoon Brew}} for […]

DVD Answers has a host of new region one DVD shots for upcoming cartoon and superhero box sets in the works. As well as cover art and menus for {{link http://www.dvdanswers.com/index.php?r=0&s=1&c=3640&n=1&burl= Wonder Woman}} (the live-action 1970s television series), there’s an early look at the menus for {{link http://www.dvdanswers.com/index.php?r=0&s=1&c=3812&n=1&burl= Challenge of the Superfriends: The First Season}} […]

Klasky Csupo, the studio responsible for a great deal of animation on television these days, has found a way to release some of the tension that must have built up over rumors of its recent financial struggles. {{link http://www.globaltantrum.com. Global Tantrum.com}}, the studio’s new site, is naughty, rude and full of very adult-natured content. The […]

As the Big Idea studio continues to pick up the pieces on the way to financial recovery, Senior Designer John Trauscht has alerted us to a new upcoming DVD set featuring the VeggieTales characters. {{link http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000228EZY/qid=1083429086/sr=1-23/ref=sr_1_23/102-4687562-8010520?v=glance&s=dvd The Bumblyburg Super-Hero Value Pack}} contains the complete Larry-Boy collection in a 4-disc DVD collection, including Larry-Boy and the […]

Word comes directly from Universal Home Video in Montreal that a two disc edition of The Triplets Of Belleville will be released on May 18th. Still no word on what this {{link http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00021447W/qid=1083180812/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_2_3/701-1499626-2443528 mysterious listing}} is on Amazon.ca though. In the meantime, the US single disc has been getting good reviews for the film and […]

‘MusicFan’ lets us know that the cast dispute for The Simpsons has been finally settled, with the actors getting, to borrow the {{link http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=494&e=1&u=/ap/tv_simpsons_dispute Associated Press}} story’s words, more “D’oh! Despite speculation the dispute would shorten the 2004-05 season, the studio said it was optimistic that all 22 planned episodes could be finished. ‘We couldn’t […]

The ups and downs of Disney’s trials and tribulations are played out again tonight, when the UK’s BBC ONE repeats a 60-minute documentary (originally produced for Three) on the company’s recent woes. The series {{link http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/tv/outrageous_fortunes/disney.shtml Outrageous Fortunes}} “goes in search of the real stories behind the success of the biggest brands in the world […]

Peggy Villar, of the Wonderful World of Animation, has let us know about a signing event set to take place at the {{link http://www.comic-con.org/Pages/WCWhatsNew.html WonderCon}} this weekend in San Francisco. The WWA is an art gallery specialising in original animation art, and will have Alan Burnett, Paul Dini and Bruce Timm on hand to sign […]

Valerio Mandova from Italy writes in to tell us about the Shark Tale trailer, which saw caught during a UIP (United International Pictures – DreamWorks and Universal’s worldwide distributor) presentation. Check out the description {{link http://www.cinemaplus.it/leggi-news.asp?id=220 here}}.

The UK is to see a lot of that lad with the lamp, Disney’s Aladdin, on DVD later this year. As well as the Special Edition of the original 1992 film, {{link http://www.dvdanswers.com/index.php?r=0&s=1&c=3855&n=1&burl= DVD Answers}} is reporting that the DTVs Jasmine’s Wish and Jasmine’s Greatest Treasure will also debut on October 4th, with video sequels […]

DVD Toons have just posted their review for Sony Pictures Classics’ release of Sylvain Chomet’s {{link http://www.dvdtoons.com/reviews/293 The Triplets Of Belleville}}: “The overall melancholy feel of Belleville is one of its major strengths, and it is certainly a film that should be seen this year by anyone remotely interested in animation as an art form […]

No word yet on the highly anticipated film sequel to Disney’s 1982 computer fantasy Tron, but good news in from Toon Zone, who report that the original film will be getting an {{link http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=109710 archival re-release}} from May 10th at Disney’s El Capitan theater in LA for ten days! Tickets for the opening night will […]

{{link http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=109703 Toon Zone}} reports that Disney CEO Michael Eisner has officially announced that The Jim Henson Company’s Muppets and Bear In The Big Blue House properties are now part of the Mouse House family of characters. Disney has already begun integrating these characters into the company, though no news on the rumored Muppets Wizzard […]

Now that Freddie Prinze Jr has been revealed as the voice of the hero in new independent CG movie Delgo (not that exciting after all, was it?), the studio behind it, Fathom Pictures, is starting to build awareness for the film. The company, and producer/co-director Marc Adler, are profiled today at {{link http://edition.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/Movies/04/27/delgo/ CNN.com}}, where […]

{{link http://www.darkhorizons.com/2004/garfield.php Dark Horizons}} has posted some new stills from the upcoming June 11 Fox release of Garfield: The Movie. Over at {{link http://movies.channel.aol.com/movie/main.adp?_pgtyp=pdct&tab=main&mid=14955 Moviefone}}, there’s a whole bunch of stuff on the movie, including cast bios, the trailer, and a new “making of” clip. Some features require registration or the downloading of America Online […]

George Cepeda writes in to ask about the 2-disc edition of Sylvain Chomet’s The Triplets Of Bellville that was rumored for release in Canada. “There’s no listing. The DVDs out on May 4 and May 18 are identical! Something screwy is going on,” says George, referring to the US edition through Sony Pictures and the […]

{{link http://www.milestonefilms.com/movie.php/winsor/ Milestone Films}} continues their great exploration of early animation with Winsor McCay: The Master Edition, an upgrade to the currently available collection of the pioneer’s works. {{link http://www.dvdtoons.com/news/562 DVD Toons}} has the full specs for this new release, due on June 1st, with audio commentary from John Canemaker as well as his 20-minute […]