Wondering how Chicken Little has been crowing at the top of the box office two weeks in a row when three weeks ago most people thought it didn’t have a wing and a prayer? Adroit industry observer Chuck Oberleitner helps to make sense of it all with his report at o-meon. And if you are […]

DreamWorks Animation SKG’s summer hit Madagascar comes out on DVD tomorrow and we have an advance look at some of the many bonus features packed onto the disc.

The X-Men fansite Xverse makes a brief mention that Hugh Jackman will make a guest appearance on The Simpsons in 2006.

Larry Loc has posted some photos from last night’s Kimba Reunion at the ASIFA-Hollywood blog and has made a few extra available to Animated News:

Kristin points us to a Japanese site which provides a very initial sneak peek at some Brother Bear 2 content and, yes, Rutt and Tuke are returning.

We have just been informed that Ollie Johnston, veteran Disney animator and the last surviving member of Walt’s Nine Old Men, will be awarded with the National Medal of Arts which will be “presented by the President and Mrs. Laura Bush in an Oval Office ceremony at the White House on November 10.” He will […]

Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers, Volume 1 and DuckTales, Vol. 1 are both being released today on Disney DVD through Buena Vista Home Entertainment. Animated News has one copy of each to send to the two winners of our caption contest. This caption contest is now over. The winning entries and some that deserve honorable […]

We mentioned it after it was first announced but are giving a reminder that this Thursday night ASIFA-Hollywood will be holding a reunion for the 40th Anniversary of Osamu Tezuka’s KIMBA, The White Lion. “Guest panelists will be famous animator Sadao Miyamoto (alumnus of Tezuka’s Mushi Production,) Jared Cook, translator & interpreter for Tezuka himself, […]

A recent Variety e-mailing reports that Pixar’s John Lasseter will be presented with the George Melies Award for Creative Excellence by the Visual Effects Society on February 15. “The kudos for Lasseter marks the first time the VES has given an honorary award to anyone from the animation business.”

Animation Podcast has updated with the third and final part of its John Musker and Ron Clements interview in which the famed directing/writing pair discuss “their writing process as well as developing The Little Mermaid and Aladdin.”

Halloween isn’t over yet, not now that Michel Gagne’s Insanely Twisted Shadow Puppets interstitials produced for Nickelodeon’s 2005 “Halloween Shriekin Weekend” have been posted online. And the sixteenth, all new Treehouse of Horror episode of The Simpsons premieres this coming Sunday, November 6, on the FOX network.

As we get nearer to the release of this year’s big Disney animated feature here are some of the many recent articles about Chicken Little that can be found on the web: World Premiere report at o-meon List of theaters showing Chicken Little in 3D at Laughing Place Will 3D help Chicken Little’s box office? […]

Any animation fan near the Hollywood area today should check out ASIFA-Hollywood’s screening of some rare but newly restored Krazy Kat cartoons being held at AFI’s Warner Bros. Screening Room at 3:00pm. Krazy Kat was “one of the first comic strip characters adapted to animated cartoons.” The screening is free for ASIFA members with a […]

If you’re getting near the end of a long work week and need a little boost or if you simply want to hear a great assortment of classic Disney music check out Radio Lion King, a fully legal online radio station hosted by Live365 and featuring a wildly eclectic mix of dozens of Disney songs […]

o-meon updates with an article by animation vet Floyd Norman about his recent trip to Kansas City, “the home of Walt Disney’s first animation studio.” Take a step back in time as he points out many of the important people and locales that influenced Walt’s entertainment empire at an early stage.

The following comes from a Variety e-mailing about the continuing success of Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit throughout the world:

Check out Greenwich Time for an article on stop motion animation and Nick Park’s efforts to keep it alive (with a mention of Flushed Away’s “deliberately understated” CGI animation). “In an era when computer-generated animated features rank among the most lucrative movies in history, filmmakers are increasingly looking to stop-motion to find fresh ways to […]

Following are four images from Disney’s compilation DVD Timeless Tales: Volume 3 due out on January 3, 2006:

Follow the ‘More’ link for four images from Arenas/Disney’s The 3 Wise Men (Los 3 Reyes Magos). The DVD will be released November 1 and will only be available through the Wal-Mart retail chain. Official Site

Check out Chuck Oberleitner’s o-meon editorial site for the lowdown on Apple’s new video playing iPod. What does this have to do with aniamtion? Well, six Pixar animated shorts (including Red’s Dream, which has never been on DVD) are some of the first videos available for download now from iTunes, along with episodes of Lost […]

The following is a press release with information on Cinderella items being auctioned off by Disney for charity with proceeds going to hurricane relief:

The first poster image for Happy Feet, “a comedy adventure set in the land of the Emperor Penguins in the heart of Antarctica,” has been revealed at India Times. The film utilizes the voice talent of some big Hollywood names, such as Nicole Kidman, Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Hugh Jackman, and Brittany Murphy. The main […]

In addition to Tim Burton’s shorts Vincent and Frankenweenie being played during the coming theatrical engagement of The Nightmare Before Christmas at Disney’s El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, Henry Selick’s new short Moongirl, produced by LAIKA Entertainment, will also be shown. Sounds like a full bill.

For a little introspective reading, check out Send a message by Ed Hooks. This article explores whether or not it is necessary for a Hollywood movie (including animated features) nowadays to convey a moral message or if it is simply enough that the movie bring in lots of money.

With Disney’s Chicken Little nearing release Chuck Oberleitner’s o-meon site examines some of the big expectations placed on it as Walt Disney Feature Animation’s first non-Pixar, 100% CGI animated flick. Read on to find out how it looks like this former “underdog” may be working its way out of the doghouse.

Animated News has received several copies of the Bionicle 3: Web of Shadows DVD from Buena Vista Home Entertainment to give away to five lucky winners. UPDATE: The contest is now over. Thank you to all who entered. View list of winners:

Steamin’ hot off the DreamWorks Animation press comes the following synopsis for The Madagascar Penguins in A Christmas Caper the short feature playing with this Friday’s release of Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and directed by none other than Beauty and the Beast’s Gary Trousdale:

Today marks the Region 1 release of Disney’s Cinderella for the first time on DVD. It appears as the sixth in a line of Platinum Editions of the most cherished movies from The Walt Disney Studios. Animated News reporter Christian Ziebarth has previewed the contents and put together a random sampling of some of its […]

Fire up those iPods because The Animation Podcast has just updated with part 2 of their Ron Clements and John Musker interview in which the fabulous directing duo “detail how they made the transition from animating to the story department to directing.”

The following is a press release from DreamWorks Animation SKG about some recent changes in their upper eschelons of management: