The Entertainment section of Canada.com reports that Disney has been cleared of copyright theft in the suit brought against them by French author Franck Le Calvez who alleged that they had copied his creation (see our initial report on this story from December 2003) and that Le Calvez has now been convicted of fraud (link […]

Just a reminder that The Complete Peanuts, Volume 3: 1955-1956 from Fantagraphics Books is now on the shelves of bookstores everywhere. This volume starts out with an introduction by Life in Hell/Simpsons creator Matt Groening that reveals what an innate Peanuts fan he really is. I talked with Matt after the ASIFA-Hollywood screening of The […]

A recent mailer from ASIFA-Hollywood announces that this years 2D Expo will once again be held on the Woodbury University Campus in Burbank, CA. The expo promises workshops on how to pitch, Flash animation, portfolio review, and also the screening of new films.

The Save Disney website has updated with an extensive article given by Ward Kimball detailing many of his personal remembrances of his dealings with Walt Disney.

While gearing up for the May 19th release of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith be sure to check out the LEGO cartoon Star Wars: Revenge of the Brick May 8th at 7:00PM on Cartoon Network. “Good and evil clash, imagination explodes, and creativity saves the day when the heroic Jedi Knights battle the villainous […]

On sale at eBay right now are what purports to be Walt Disney’s personal notes handwritten on to Dalton Reymond’s typewritten outline for Song of the South from 1944. It seems that this item is not up for auction but available for sale to the first person willing to fork over $25,000 for it (link […]

The Toy section of About.com has the rundown on some of the Madagascar toys about to be released and Amazon.co.uk is already selling Madagascar plushes. Also, Toy Globe has some Corpse Bride plushes by McFarlane Toys available to order. Thanks to Kristin for the heads up.

The ASIFA-Hollywood site has announced that this year’s 2D Expo will be held on Saturday, June 25. Location and schedule are yet to be announced but it should be just as worthwhile to attend as last year’s, where industry professionals and aspiring industry professionals and animation enthusiasts gathered for workshops and to discuss their appreciation […]

Chuck Oberleitner has updated his o-meon site with more words of wisdom to those planning a trip to the Magic Kingdom this year in his new installment of The Grownup Geeks’ Guide to Disneyland’s 50th Anniversary. This installment focuses on maximizing your time while at the Disneyland Resort and includes tips from experienced visitors.

Heard of Darth Tater? Well, here’s Darth Mickey.

After our claim last Saturday that Golden Blaze was “believed to be the first full-length animated feature produced in Flash to receive a theatrical release” Octavio Valdés wrote in to tell us about Magos y Gigantes (Wizards and Giants) which was a fully Flash produced film created by Anima Studios and released in Latin American […]

Every Saturday this month Regal Cinemas will be screening Golden Blaze, directed by animator Bryon E. Carson and believed to be the first full-length animated feature produced in Flash to receive a theatrical release. The movie features the voice talent skills of Blair Underwood, Michael Clarke Duncan, Neil Patrick Harris, Sanaa Lathan, and Khleo Thomas. […]

The Newport Beach Film Festival, which runs April 21-30, has recently released its full schedule. There are a number of animation events (some can be previewed on the website) as part of the festival, with perhaps the biggest announcement being that they are going to screen Dan Lund’s Dream On Silly Dreamer, which chronicles the […]

Three new stills from Disney’s Tarzan II can be viewed here:

April Fool’s Day has come and gone so you know we can’t be joking about this. The Pakistani Daily Times reports that Pope John Paul II will now live on posthumously as new superhero “The Incredible Popeman” in a comic book produced by Rodolfo Leon of Colombia. Leon plans to have his creation meet up […]

We reported before on a “Ward Kimball home movie” event to take place on April 21 and now we have some more information it from a mailing from Hollywood Heritage. Follow the ‘More’ link for an exact reproduction of the text of the postcard (right down to the misspelling of Ward’s last name). It appears […]

Chuck Oberleitner has updated his Grownup Geeks’s Guide to Disneyland’s 50th Anniversary with substantial and pertinent information on how to hone in on the best times to visit Disneyland Resort in Anaheim. With the 50th Anniversary celebration about to begin soon there are many different factors that will affect crowd size at various points in […]

Since today is April Fool’s Day we figured we should do something for it, but the best we could come up with is this report from a couple of years ago at The Museum of Hoaxes that on April 1, 2002, “The Japan Times announced that the Japanese government . . . would be . […]

JHM guest writer Cory Mitchell has the lowdown on a “proposed Futurama simulator ride that has been making the rounds to different theme parks.” Apparently the ride acts as a parody of Disney’s Star Tours space flight simulator.

DIK Animation Studios has announced that they will be creating an animated series based on the live action TV series smash hit Friends. Studio chief, Dan Mutschler, states, “Friends left the air at the height of its popularity. It would be crazy not to take advantage of that. Through the magic of animation we can […]

If you’ve ever wanted to see yourself as a South Park character but haven’t yet built up enough industry clout to be featured in one of the episodes you can now create yourself as a friend of Kenny, Kyle, Cartman, and Stan at this German South Park fan site. Thanks to South Park fan extraordinaire […]

The US Postal Service has revealed new postage stamp designs for this year including ones featuring Jim Henson and the Muppets and another set featuring Disney characters (and there’s another one of the Northeast Deciduous Forest that sure looks like the cover for Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are).

We mentioned yesterday that some more Star Wars animation was on its way but we’re not sure this is exactly what we meant. Anyways, M&M’s now have an animated commercial up advertising their new Darth Vader dark chocolate candies featuring colors that seem to be taken from the Dark Lord of the Sith’s robotic chest […]

‘Plightyear’ in our Animated News Forum points us to an article at Coming Soon about plans for more animated Star Wars material including half hour episodes of Clone Wars.

Industry observer Chuck Oberleitner gives the rundown on the latest business move by The Walt Disney Company: CEO Elect Bob Iger’s dismantling of the Eisner regime’s Strategic Planning unit. While this may seem like a purely business move and not a creative one it is likely to have long range positive effects on Disney’s creative […]

From our “Not Necessarily Animation News” files we’d like to point out that there was a character named Jack Sparrow in an old Uncle Remus tale long before there was a character named Jack Sparrow in Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Perhaps the Pirates of the Caribbean writers were inspired by the earlier story.

Animation World Network has a new article all about Disney’s direct-to-video empire. The article is quite comprehensive and discusses the history of the phenomenon from Return of Jafar all the way up to Stitch Has a Glitch and Kronk’s New Groove . . . and hints that maybe even the shelved Dumbo II will eventually […]

The ASIFA-Hollywood blog is now sporting some photos from last Saturday’s Animated Commercials from the 1950s & 60s program (original link via Cartoon Brew). The show was a sold-out success with a few people even having to sit on the steps in the aisles. Due to its success Jerry Beck has promised to put together […]

Tomorrow afternoon ASIFA-Hollywood and Cartoon Brew’s Jerry Beck will be hosting a program featuring animated commercials from the 1950s & 60s, television’s golden age. Come check it out because, “much of the material being screened on Saturday is not on video or viewable in any other format.” March 26th • 3:00pm The American Film Institute […]

While likely to be an early April Fool’s Day joke, somebody has gone to great lengths to explain why they need to auction off a plush Stitch toy on eBay that is supposedly possessed by a poltergeist or other restless spirit. Perhaps this is a Blair Witch-style marketing scheme on behalf of Disney to drum […]