Animated News reader ‘Dacey’ has written in with a summary of a sneak peek, contained on the DTV Springtime With Roo, of Disney’s next Winnie The Pooh feature, The Heffalump Movie, which interestingly enough is now going under the title of Pooh’s Heffalump Movie. Read her full run down here:

Raider Productions, who {{link http://www.animatedviews.com/wp-content/uploads/archives/00001043.html we reported}} are looking for independent animated shorts from around the world for their upcoming DVD compilation The World’s Best Independent Animated Shorts, have let us know that their information and submissions website is {{link http://www.wbias.com now online}}. If you have any animated short films that you would like to […]

Maybe The Lion King 1½ wont be such a fluke decent sequel after all. One story doing the rounds today, and highlighted by {{link http://www.showbizdata.com/contacts/picknews.cfm?id=34899 Showbiz Data}}, sees the animators laid off from Disney’s Paris, Tokyo, Toronto, Florida and California studios finding their way back to the Mouse House – this time down under, at […]

The always entertaining {{link http://www.dvdfile.com/software/review/dvd-video_8/scoobydoo_s1_s2.html DVD File}} kick-starts the Scooby reviews online today with their first look at the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: The Complete First and Second Seasons DVD collection, which brings together all 24 episodes from the first two series. Although the package and episodes gain top marks, the bonus extras seem to […]

Walt Disney’s daughter Diane Disney-Miller has finally spoken out about the power struggles at the top of the company that bears her father’s name. Speaking to the {{link http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-diane10mar10,1,6178675.story?coll=la-home-headlines LA Times}} (free subscription and well worth it), she said that Michael Eisner had done some “great things for the company” but that it was “time […]

Cheryl Hines, who will lend her voice to DreamWorks/NBC’s Father of the Pride CGI comedy in the fall, is proud for very different reasons this week: she gave birth to daughter Catherine Rose on Monday! {{link http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,13669,00.html E Online}} reports the news, while also touching on Hines’ feelings on voicing an animated character and naming […]

Following the closure of Walt Disney Feature Animation-Florida, a group of animators, led by studio veteran Eddie Pittman, forged ahead with a plan to keep Walt Disney’s traditional style of animation alive, by opening Legacy Animation Studios. Chris Douvalas over at {{link http://www.animatedbuzz.com/WB/53.html Animated Buzz}} recently spoke to Pittman about the first couple of months […]

‘MusicFan’ has alerted us to a little bit of info he’s found on the screenwriter of DreamWorks as yet unannounced Rex Havoc feature. Panellists at this year’s {{link http://www.austinfilmfestival.com/panelistsbios03.php Austin Film Festival Site}} (running October 14-21) include many names that will be known to animation and film fans. A little down the list, though, is […]

The {{link http://www.hometheaterforum.com/index.php Home Theater Forum}} brigade, a seriously dedicated band of “cinema at home” enthusiasts, had their annual chat with home video and DVD execs from Warner Brothers last night. For details on titles of particular interest to animation fans, check out here:

While not strictly animated titles, there are a bunch of highly anticipated catalog releases coming from Disney this year that will appeal to all those who love the Studio’s classics, including the original Freaky Friday, Flight Of The Navigator and Walt’s last musical, The Happiest Millionaire. {{link http://www.dvdfile.com/software/dvd-video/archive/2004/03_08.html DVD File}} reports that Disney “will release […]

Following our story that DreamWorks seems to have more animated films in {{link http://www.animatedviews.com/wp-content/uploads/archives/00000922.html various states of production}} that it can shake a stick at, comes news, courtesy of ‘MusicFan’, that there are no less than five more projects lined up. The {{link http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1503404 already known-about}} Master P: Kung Fu Panda has had a new […]

{{link http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=598&ncid=790&e=7&u=/nm/20040308/film_nm/film_ross_dc The Hollywood Reporter}}, via Yahoo News, has revealed that Gary Ross, the writer of such films as Big, Dave and the director of Pleasantville and this year’s hopeful in the Oscar race, Seabuscuit, is getting into animation. “Universal Pictures has optioned Kate DiCamillo’s Newberry Medal-winning novel The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story […]

Christian Willis’ {{link http://www.songofthesouth.net/news/index.html Song Of The South.net}}, absolutely the greatest online resourse for all things Brer Rabbit (though don’t go looking for bootlegs – it’s a respectable site), is reporting that Roy Disney would support the eventual release of his Uncle Walt’s 1946 animation/live-action masterpiece Song Of The South on DVD. “[Eisner] has been […]

{{link http://www.darkhorizons.com/news04/040308f.php Dark Horizons}} points to some pretty major movies shifting their original release date orders. Of most interest to animation fans will be the Tom Hanks CGI-fest The Polar Express‘ date change. The Robert Zemeckis-helmed movie will now open nine days later, on November 19 2004.

If Michael Eisner bows to investor pressure and steps down from his post as CEO of The Walt Disney Company, after losing his Chairmanship at last week’s shareholders meeting in Philadelphia, he’s still going to be in one heck of a position, financially speaking. {{link http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/mar2004/nf2004035_4187_db016.htm BusinessWeek Online}} looks at what severance package prizes Uncle […]

While perhaps not containing the grace, charm and amazement of the cartoons described below in the Inkwell series, Disney’s Kim Possible: A Sitch In Time is pretty good fun for the “tween” set. {{link http://www.dvdtoons.com/reviews/280 DVD Toons}} has the first review online, pointing out about the time-hopping plot that “there’s plenty of fun to be […]

Ray Pointer, an animation enthusiast of the medium’s early days who turned his passion into a personal crusade to restore and present the work of such animation pioneers and innovators as Max Fleischer, Pat Sullivan, Otto Messmer and the young Walt Disney, has finally delivered on his promise to make his VHS anthology programs {{link […]

‘Dalboz’ in the {{link http://animation.skyblueproductions.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=1503#post1503 Animated News Forum}} alerts us to the fact that the Animation Show – Volume One DVD, which features “most (but not all) of the shorts included in the touring show, as well as a bunch of new ones”, is now available for {{link http://www.animationshow.com/dvd.html pre-order}} from the official site. Thanks […]

If you were one of the two people who didn’t see this in theaters, then get out now – you still can! For those who did, and want to see it again at home, DVD Answers have just revealed the {{link http://www.dvdanswers.com/index.php?r=0&s=1&c=3471&n=1&burl= full specs, artwork and menus}} for the upcoming region one edition. Features include […]

Crew members who have seen a close-to-final cut of the new Thunderbirds movie, due out in the UK on July 23, say that it is a “terrible film” and could cause its producers, London’s Working Title Films, headaches in the future. “We all saw what happened to FilmFour when they tried to bankroll a couple […]

The {{link http://www.animatedviews.com/wp-content/uploads/archives/00001019.html chat session}} with animator Chris Headrick that we told you about last Wednesday apparently had to be cut short, “due to unforseen technical problems”, according to an email we recieved from the organizers at AnimationHQ. However, Headrick will return today, Sunday March 7, tonight at 7pm EST to continue Saturday’s chat session. […]

The {{link http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-dizmoodmar06,1,4367947.story?coll=la-headlines-business Los Angeles Times.com}} (free subscription) has been talking to high-ranking Disney insiders about this week’s events within the company, currently referred to as the “unhappiest place on Earth”. One top executive comments: “The general feeling is that something else is going to happen. Everyone is talking about it. What about Comcast? How […]

Animation historian and writer Jerry Beck got a sneak peek at Disney’s next – and last – traditionally drawn animated film, the bovine comedy {{link http://www.cartoonresearch.com/reviews.html Home On The Range}}. “The Disney studio has come a long way from its Kansas City roots, Mickey Mouse beginnings and Snow White heights”, he says, adding that Range […]

‘Wolf Tooth’ in the {{link http://animation.skyblueproductions.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=1497#post1497 Animated News Forum}} reports some great news for fans of Miyazaki and his Studio Ghibli films. “Anime Digital in the UK gave us a heads-up that Spirited Away is now set for an end of March [DVD] release over there”, while “Howl’s Moving Castle is due in July in […]

Santa Clarita, California: Dan Ritchie, A professional computer graphics animator and FX artist who moved to California to work on the series Mystic Knights, is striking back at “slow employment opportunities by diversifying with a Squirrely new novel”, {{link http://www.squirreldome.com/AnimatorGoesSquirrely2.htm Silver Squirrel}}. Dan also worked on projects such as Starship Troopers Chronicles, Dan Dare and […]

After a busy newsweek, and finding ourselves with a slow newsday, hop on over to {{link http://atomfilms.shockwave.com/landing/landingIndex.jsp?id=atom_412&mature=accept Atom Films.com}} for a “naughty but hilarious short”, Wheelchair Rebecca. As the site describes it, “A child’s innocent question about her Wheelchair Rebecca doll leads Mommy to make some delightfully grotesque suppositions”. WARNING: THIS FILM IS FOR MATURE […]

The BBC’s disc review show, The DVD Collection, looks at the work of stop-motion animation director Ray Harryhausen today, plus the UK Looney Tunes releases and Belleville Rendezvous, on their 8.30pm show. For those in the UK with access to the BBC 4 digital cable channel, the show is repeated again at 11.30pm.

DVD Toons is running another giveaway contest, this time for the March 9th {{link http://www.dvdtoons.com/news/530 Winnie The Pooh: Springtime With Roo}} DVD. The site has five chances of winning!

It’s been there a while, but we’ve only just picked up on it! Over at Disney’s {{link http://disney.go.com/corporate/investors/ Investor Relations}} webpage, you’ll find a wealth of business material and corporate documents, such as Annual Reports and such, including Studio head {{link http://disney.go.com/corporate/investors/events/pdfs/dickcook.pdf Dick Cook’s presentation}} (link will open a large PDF file!) for the recent […]

Raider Productions is conducting a search throughout the world for clay, classical, computer, and flash animated shorts to create its 90 minute World’s Best Independent Animated Shorts 2004 VHS and DVD compilations. “These VHS and DVDs will be created to promote the diverse range of stories that the consistently developing medium that animation is allowing […]