Well, now that the new Mickey Mouse feature, The Three Musketeers, is actually on shelves in stores ({{link http://www.dvdtoons.com/reviews/327 review here}}), there’s no one better placed than director {{link http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/539/539804p1.html?fromint=1 Donovan Cook to reveal all}} about the making of the picture. He writes for IGN-FilmForce about the three-year production, his genuine respect and enthusiasm for […]

‘Prgoddess’ in the {{link http://animation.skyblueproductions.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=4864#post4864 Animated News Forum}} links to Cuppa Coffee’s new site promoting an upcoming stopmotion film that crosses The Nightmare Before Christmas with the classic Rankin/Bass television shows, {{link http://www.averybarrychristmas.com/flash/index.html A Very Barry Christmas}}. Set in Australia, the hour-long special sees animal charity worked Barry Buckley trading places with Santa (voiced by […]

The new classic animation website {{link http://www.goldenagecartoons.com Golden Age Cartoons}} has been formed by a group of long-time toon-loving webheads, and looks to be an amazing place to keep up to date on the past. Among their {{link http://forums.goldenagecartoons.com/showthread.php?t=70 forum topics}} is leaked news that on top of a new 20-minute Bob Clampett featurette, the […]

‘Special Ed’ in the {{link http://animation.skyblueproductions.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=4851#post4851 AN Forum}} has linked to an interesting piece at CBS News, which looks at a new series of commemorative stamp pressings coming for 2005. Of particular note will be the series of ten Muppet characters, sharing a sheet with a single stamp for their creator, Jim Henson. Also in […]

‘Athena’ in the {{link http://animation.skyblueproductions.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=4845#post4845 AN Forum}} points out that the animation resource site {{link http://www.keyframeonline.com/kf.php Keyframe}} has been updated. In their Top 5 stories is news of the previously unannounced Balto 3: Wings Of Change appearing on Universal’s {{link http://www.universalpictures.jp/balto3wingsofchange/catalog_item_sell.html?#850 Japanese website}}, though no release dates have been set yet.

Just weeks after losing gifted film composer Jerry Goldsmith, another Hollywood legend, Elmer Bernstein, has passed away. While not as strongly tied to the animation world as Goldsmith, Bernstein’s {{link http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000930/ long-spanning career}} saw him write music for many special effects blockbusters, such as The Ten Commandments, GhostBusters and Wild Wild West. Perhaps his biggest […]

DVD Toons has a trailer up for the fourth computer-animated video movie to star Mattel’s Barbie, {{link http://www.dvdtoons.com/news/595 The Princess And The Pauper}}, with the twist this time being that she will sing her own songs on screen (previous outings have seen dance sequences and villains hogging the spotlight). Barbie: The Princess And The Pauper […]

“I thought it looked like a commercial for Pixar stock” says one particularly disgruntled money manager about the teaser for Chicken Little. He’s quoted in a story at {{link http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/variety/20040815/va_ne_al/inside_move__beak_preview&e=5 Yahoo Finance}} about Disney’s upcoming CG boom-without-Pixar. “In recent months, he and many others have seen clips of the film at investor conferences. Reaction was […]

The {{link http://www.iesb.net/movies/movie81304c.htm IESB.net}} site spoke to Lord Of The Rings star Ian Holm at the premiere of his new film about the possibility of his returning to the role of Bilbo Baggins, in Peter Jackson’s anticipated final trip to Middle Earth, The Hobbit. Currently in rights negotiations between Warner Bros. and MGM, Holm says […]

‘Monkeyboy12’ in the {{link http://animation.skyblueproductions.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=4837#post4837 Animated News Forum}} points to the offcial {{link http://disney.go.com/disneyvideos/animatedfilms/aladdin/index.html Aladdin DVD webpage}}, which is now updated with clips, activities and a sweepstakes contest. Still a few “coming soon” sections, so keep an eye out for additional new features!

Matt Stone and Trey Parker have posted some {{link http://www.craptv.com/teamamerica/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=2&page=1 audio clips}} [WARNING: VERY MATURE CONTENT] from the editing room of their new movie Team America: World Police in which they talk about their previous projects, the new film and, in a QuickTime video clip, the eventual demise of their hit show South Park, which […]

The official programme for the first London International Animation Festival hit the streets late last week. LIAF 2004 features the “finest animation from all over the world, bringing more than 150 animated films from 30 countries to the big screen” in London’s Soho. For further details and line-up, read on here:

Offering developmental work in film and animated production, a team of artists and designers, mostly alumni of the world famous Art Center College Of Design in Pasadena, have banded together under Baruch Inbar to launch {{link http://www.snaut.com/ Snaut Entertainment}}, an LA-based company providing extensive creative services for the industry. Currently the group is engaged in […]

Animation fan Matthieu Saghezchi has just come to the end of his studies as a computer graphic artist, and has posted two animated films in Divx format on his {{link http://users.skynet.be/saghezchimatthieu/ portfolio site}}. Check out the unique look of Poison Trisha and his latest creation Mambo Party, and contact Matt directly to leave your comments.

We’ve been championing Rex Steele: Nazi Smasher on the web ever since it started creeping into film festivals, but the availability of the short on disc has seen a much wider audience able to lap up Rex’s adventures. {{link http://www.dvdtoons.com/reviews/328 DVD Toons reviews}} the package, reporting that “any project that dresses itself up in such […]

Bishop Animation’s Floyd Bishop lets us know that his independent animated film Paul And His Bananas, which we’ve reported on before ({{link http://www.animatedviews.com/wp-content/uploads/archives/00001280.html here}} and {{link http://www.animatedviews.com/wp-content/uploads/archives/00001355.html here}}, is coming along nicely and sends news that his star is ready to take a bow. Check out the {{link http://www.bishopanimation.com/ba.php official site}} for a first look […]

The Disney Database has posted a Portugese version of a {{link http://www.disneydatabase.com/movie_clips.php?movieid=293 trailer for Mickey’s Twice Upon A Christmas}} very similar to the one that will appear on next week’s issue of The Three Musketeers DVD. Although the trailer is not in English, it’s okay, since this only means the foreign sound will mean as […]

The death of Pluto cast member Javier Cruz, who was run over and killed by a float in a parade at the Magic Kingdom, has seen the Disney company fined $6,300 by federal agency The Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Disney has until August 20 to show OSHA that it has made changes to prevent […]

Yes, it’s true folks! Dick Van Dyke, star of such classics as Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is well into his computer animation…so much so that a visual effects shot he created has already been included in his TV show and he has an idea for a planned animated feature! Catching up with […]

The {{link http://www.iesb.net/movies/movie81004c.htm IESB.net}} reports on the ongoing search to find a new Kal-El for the next big-screen Superman movie, now that director Bryan Singer has come on board and is starting from scratch.

With a third Mission: Impossible proving to be an impossible mission to pull together, Tom Cruise will at last join Steven Spielberg to star in the re-make of {{link http://www.iesb.net/movies/movie81204.htm The War Of The Worlds}}, now that Spielberg’s other planned project has also hit a stumbling block. The film is expected to mark a return […]

Always on the look out to poke one in the eye of computer animation, Amid Amidi at Cartoon Brew asks…is the Warner Brothers character Eggbert (AKA Egghead Jr.) reviving his career in Disney’s upcoming Chicken Little? Check out exactly {{link http://www.cartoonbrew.com/archives/2004_08.html#000399 what he means}} and spot the uncanny resemblance…

The {{link http://forum.bcdb.com/gforum.cgi?post=31357 Big Cartoon DataBase}} reports that “Michael Chartrand, the Walt Disney World employee charged with fondling a 13-year-old girl while dressed as Tigger, was acquitted last week and came back to the Florida theme park Sunday [saying that] he doesn’t expect to be back in the employee rotation for at least two weeks. […]

Despite a poor approach to the material, reflected in a poor movie and ever poorer box office takings, the one decent thing in the new live-action Thunderbirds movie is its special computer animation effects. {{link http://vfxworld.com/?sa=adv&code=319b255d&atype=articles&id=2178 AWN’s VFX World}} looks at how it was all done.

The {{link http://www.cineme.org/ CINEME International Animation Festival}}, held each year in Chicago, is gearing up for this year’s event, to be held September 24-26, 2004. Guests from Weta, Cartoon Network, DreamWorks, Nick and Disney will be on hand to speak and several will also judge the Halo competition, which offers $20,000 in cash prizes. We […]

Feeling the pinch from being scooped by a couple of sites with yesterday’s release of the cover art and release date, series contributor Jerry Beck chimes in on his {{link http://www.cartoonbrew.com/archives/2004_08.html#000401 Cartoon Brew}} website with a partial list of goodies to expect in the set. For starters, he lists 31 audio commentaries, six featurettes, fifteen […]

Ultimate Disney DVD has posted the complete specs for this fall’s {{link http://www.ultimatedisney.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4796 Mary Poppins: Definitive 2-disc 40th Anniversary Edition DVD}}. Highlights to look foward to include commentary with Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, Richard Sherman and Karen Dotrice, a 50-minute documentary, original teasers and trailers, and an all-new animated short produced in the style […]