Bill Justice RIP
Disney historian Brian Sibley has written a wonderfully warm tribute to animator-director Bill Justice, who died aged 97 on February 10, and who contributed to Disney’s Golden Age productions for 42 years, specifically being responsible for the antics of Donald Duck’s foils, the chipmunks Chip ‘n’ Dale, among a wealth of memorable screen credits that […] |
Toy Story 3 Best Animated Bafta winner
At the UK’s British Academy of Film and Television Awards Sunday evening, Disney/Pixar director Lee Unkrich accepted the Best Animated Film award for Toy Story 3, further raising its chances to take the same prize at this year’s Oscars. Best Animated Short went to Michael Please’s The Eagleman Stag. Toy Story 3 lost out to […] |
Oscars 2010: Toy Story 3 up for Best Picture
The Oscar nominations for the 83rd annual Academy Awards have been announced, with Toy Story 3 becoming only the third animated feature to land a nod for Best Picture. Halle Berry, Jeff Bridges, Sandra Bullock, Marisa Tomei and Oprah Winfrey will be among the presenters at the ceremony, to be hosted by new Catwoman Anne […] |
Get caught up in Tangled‘s disc details
Disney has officially announced Tangled for home video release on March 29 2011, in Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray and DVD editions. Full details can be read here: |
Tron: then and now…
An announcement for an intriguing event hosted by the Los Angeles Professional Chapter of ACM SIGGRAPH along with The Visual Effects Society Archive Committee, named Tron – Now and Then, can be read in the More link at the end of this story. Of historical significance is the fact that the LA Chapter’s first event […] |
How Tangled represents the modern fairytale
With Disney’s Tangled about to open in the UK, The Guardian takes a look at how animated fairytale features have evolved over the years, citing how the new take on Rapunzel manages to combine the traditions of old with a contemporary feel and avoids falling into the cliches of similar films from other studios. |
Pete Postlethwaite remembered
The UK’s Guardian Online has posted a warm tribute to Pete Postlethwaite, “the best actor in the world” as he was described by director Steven (The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Amistad) Spielberg. Postlethwaite, who appeared as the magic old man in James And The Giant Peach among many other films, sadly passed away aged 64 […] |
Scooby-Doo: Where Are You! The Complete Series (Mystery Machine Edition)
Fans with previous Scooby-Doo sets will probably not need to buy again for the new bonus disc, but – zoinks! – the quality packaging might be enough to tempt them! |
Disney’s Tangled and Tron still strong
The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Disney’s holiday hopes, the animated Tangled and fanboy favorite Tron: Legacy continue to do well. Tangled is “keeping up with newer Christmas family offerings” to pass the $150m domestic gross mark, while Tron also registered a milestone to become “the first Christmas film to cross $100m domestically”, pulling in […] |
Tangled gets groomed for disc release
With somewhat little fanfare and no official announcement as of yet, Disney’s current box-office hit Tangled has been added to Amazon.com in a variety of formats, all of which reveal the film’s cover art. Although available on single-disc DVD and regular two-disc Blu-ray/DVD, only the four-disc Blu-ray-3D Combo edition is available to pre-order, which includes […] |
The Best Of 2010: The Year 3D Made Contact!
Take a trip back through the past twelve months for our annual best and worst of the year, including the top ten DVD and Blu-ray highlights, which ones to avoid and the pick of 2010’s movies! |
Superman flies to Canada, alongside Alvin 3!?
Well that one flew right by us! In a confirmation that Zack Snyder’s new Superman reboot, to be produced by Christopher Nolan, will shoot in Vancouver, The Hollywood Reporter mentions that Alvin And The Chipmunks 3 will also lens at the North Shore/Mammoth Studios next year. Expect the film to arrive in theaters in late […] |
Tron: Legacy tops Avatar and Inception openings with $3.6m midnight showing
After what can politely be called “mixed reviews” Tron: Legacy‘s legion of ravenous fans have quelled any last minute fears Disney may have had in the box-office fortunes of the film by ringing up more than $3.6m in Thursday night midnight showings – more than the $3m posted earlier this year and Avatar‘s $3.5m showing […] |
Fantasia / Fantasia 2000
Perhaps the most anticipated release of the year, a variety of poor choices easily make this the most disappointing too, even if it’s nice to finally own Destino and see the documentary that we’ve been teased for years among some technical quality issues. |
Walt & El Grupo / The Boys / Waking Sleeping Beauty
Take a wonderful trip back in time to witness three periods in Disney Studios’ history, via a trio of excellent documentary features accompanied by a fantastic supplemental selection of Disney treasures. |
Scooby-Doo / Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed Double Feature
Scooby swaps limited television animation for full-blown CG, in a pair of fun live-action films that stay true to the original cartoons, particularly in the inspired casting. |
Disneynature: Oceans / The Crimson Wing: Mystery Of The Flamingos
While I don’t think Pierce Brosnan’s narration for Oceans could get any more waterlogged or mundane, The Crimson Wing gets back to what made the Disney nature films of old so enjoyable. |
Warner Archive: The Green Slime
Brilliantly bonkers slice of sixties sci-fi kitsch that actually disguises some solid story points, even if the unintentionally hilarious script and rubber monsters derail the fear factor! The disc is pricey, however, for an average transfer and zero extras. |
Sherlock: Season One
The Doctor Who team’s excellent contemporary updating of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s brilliant detective, with the disc also surprising in its solid technical and supplemental aspects. |
Secret Origin: The Story Of DC Comics
Though casual comic book fans may find much interest in this general-audience pleasing exploration, collectors and geeks could struggle to discover many new revelations, and the disc is as super-barren as they come. |
Awards Watch: Animators’ Roundtable
In the run to to the awards season, The Hollywood Reporter speaks frankly to the creators and directors of some of this year’s biggest animated films, including Toy Story 3, Despicable Me and Megamind. Click on the links for Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 to hear their thoughts on a variety of issues, […] |
A Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens’ century-plus classic gets rebooted into the digital age, by way of motion-capture that, in parts, breaks away from the restrictions of before. This disc does away with the 3D aspects, but offers a fascinating look into the process. |
Charlie And The Chocolate Factory iTunes Download – Winner!
Willy Wonka has arrived online, with Charlie And The Chocolate Factory available on iTunes, and we have one digital download to give away – Winner Announced! |
Pixar’s RenderMan licenses drop price
Pixar Animation Studios has announced new pricing for its RenderMan Pro Server software via an announcement which can be read here: |
Grab Despicable points!
In celebration of the Despicable Me 3D, Blu-ray and DVD release, Universal Studios Home Entertainment is launching its new Minion Madness groundbreaking points-based reward and social marketing program spotlighting the film’s endearingly mischievous sidekick characters. More details and clips follow here: |
Africa enters the 3D animated market
A press release announcing the production and releases of two African-made animated features, Zambezia and Khumba, may be read here: |
25 Years of Pixar is Qube’d
TV show and iPhone app In The Qube traveled to Singapore earlier this year, for the opening of a world-touring exhibition celebrating 25 Years of Pixar Animation Studios. Currently showing at the Oakland Museum of California in Los Angeles until January, a video clip may be viewed here: |
LA Festival honors Will Vinton
As announced by The Hollywood Reporter, The Los Angeles Animation Festival, hosted at Cinefamily’s Silent Movie Theatre between December 3-7, will honor stop-motion innovator Will Vinton with a 25th anniversary screening of The Adventures Of Mark Twain and a lineup of his short films. Vinton will be on hand for an awards presentation and to […] |
Toy Story 3
This closing chapter of the Story may well be perfect family entertainment, but an over-familiarity and a lack of genuinely awesome originality has set in third time around, even if the disc package still manages to fill the toybox. |
Have A Laugh! Volumes 1 and 2
While the cartoon selection isn’t always great, and the remixing and “Blamming” of footage pointless, the real treasure here are the pristine restorations of some real classics, including Goofy’s latest! |