Song of the South.net reports the passing away January 15 of Ruth Warrick, who played Sally in Song of the South. Warrick also appeared in the movie classic Citizen Kane, as well as many other movies, and the TV soap All My Children. Full Story

Ultimate Disney is now displaying some screen captures from this fall’s Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch. The animation appears to be on a par with the original.

The audio feed of Bob Iger’s presentation given yesterday at the 15th Annual Global Entertainment, Media & Telecommunications Conference is now available online. Iger discusses finances, theme parks, HD-DVD, ABC, ESPN, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, The Incredibles and more.

TV Shows on DVD has a list of the extra features to be included on the March 22 DVD release of Star Wars: Clone Wars – Volume 1. Some features that stand out include a fan commentary track (a first?) and a three minute trailer for Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.

Follow the ‘More’ link for three menu screens from Disney’s Classic Cartoon Favorites starring Donald Duck, available tomorrow on DVD. This DVD is part 2 of a 4-part series also featuring Mickey Mouse, Goofy, and Chip and Dale.

Up against Disney/Pixar’s The Incredibles and Warner Bros.’ The Polar Express, DreamWorks Animation’s Shrek 2 has walked away with the 31st Annual People’s Choice Award for Favorite Animated Movie. Mike Myers accepted the award with a short speech, (apparently referring to the fact that Shrek 2 had already won the award for Favorite Movie Comedy): […]

Now Playing Magazine has posted an exclusive interview with Genndy Tartakovsky in which he discusses how well the last episode of the upcoming Clone Wars third season will dovetail into Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. An article coming Monday to Now Playing Magazine promises to discuss “the return of General Grievous, Jedi […]

While it is not likely (but who knows?) to be as controversial as last year’s shareholder meeting, C. W. Oberleitner’s o-meon site has the scoop on the when and where of this year’s meeting for those who hold stock in The Walt Disney Company.

Follow the ‘More’ link for five menu screens from Disney’s upcoming DVD release of Aladdin and the King of Thieves, the third and final Aladdin movie. Bonus features on the DVD are scarce but it does feature a nice behind-the-scenes look at the voice talent in the movie including John Ryhs-Davies (in a very loud […]

Follow the ‘More’ link to view five menu screens from Disney’s upcoming Aladdin: The Return of Jafar DVD. The DVD includes a trailer for the Incredibles DVD and fans of that movie may notice an alteration in one of the lines. Menu screens from Aladdin and the King of Thieves will be posted tomorrow.

With the new year of 2005 upon us Disneyland is beginning a yearlong celebration of its fiftieth anniversary. A commercial featuring CGI renderings of many classic Disney characters (including Stitch goofing on Marlon Brando) is available in streaming format at the Disney Destinations official site and for download at the Disney Echo fan site.

The official website for Mulan II is now up at Disney.com and features three rather lengthy clips from the movie, as well as the usual games and activities, downloads, etc. Also, Music from the Movies mentions Joel McNeely has composed the score for Mulan II and is now moving on to scoring Lilo and Stitch […]

DVD Exclusive has announced its list of nominees for its 2004 Awards ceremony to be held February 8 at the Annenberg Building at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Animated features figure in prominently with The Lion King 1½ gathering eleven nominations. Other animated features that earned nominations include: Mary Poppins 40th Anniversary Edition, […]

While news has been slow near the end of the year we can all use our hindsight now and take a look back at what was. For a rundown of the key business and animation events for The Walt Disney Company in the year 2004 check out That Was the (Disney) Year That Was at […]

This may be the most belated bit of news we’ll ever post here, but over at Cartoon Brew, Jerry Beck has posted a link to a piece at an Iranian News site about the recent discovery of the world’s oldest animation. The animated bit was found on some 5,000-year old pottery and shows a goat […]

Animated News just got back from ASIFA-Hollywood’s special presentation of Disney/Pixar’s The Incredibles. Matt Groening acted as host and writer/director Brad Bird was the guest of honor. After a screening of the film Matt and Brad had a discussion about it and then opened it up to questions from the audience. Includes info on Michael […]

Okay, this is a good example of the benefits derived from being a member of ASIFA-Hollywood (membership open to all): This Thursday night writer/director/inadvertent voice artist Brad Bird will be presenting his little film The Incredibles at the Writers Guild Screening Room in Beverly Hills, CA. The event is free for ASIFA-Hollywood members and is […]

C. W. Oberleitner has written at his o-meon site about Michael Eisner’s recently declared intentions to remain on the Disney Board of Directors even after his term as CEO of The Walt Disney Company expires and that “he may seek a more active role in the creative elements of the Disney Company.” Eisner’s remarks were […]

Representing Animated News, I was privileged to be able to attend a recent press screening of Maxmedia’s Sky Blue, “a love story set against the forces of destruction, a dystopian vision of Earth’s destiny, yet ultimately a reminder of our hope for the future.” The film offers up a deft blend of primarily computer generated […]

The Orange County Register has an article on the Davey & Goliath’s Snowboard Christmas special to be shown this coming Sunday on the Hallmark Channel (free subscription required to read article online). The special focuses on Davey’s snowboard contest with his Jewish friend Sam and his Muslim friend Yasmeen and stresses religious tolerance and respect […]

The website for Giftmaker Russ Berrie and Company, Inc. reports that they have inked a deal with DreamWorks Animation to produce merchandise for the upcoming CGI feature Madagascar. “In addition to plush toys, RUSS will also produce a variety of Madagascar products in other gift categories, including plush key chains and backpack danglers, hand puppets, […]

Justin Williams in our Animated News forum has listed a host of special features that will be on Disney’s upcoming 2-disc Bambi Platinum Edition DVD.

Roy Disney has recently posted an open letter stating that, despite their decision to not nominate an alternate slate of members for the Disney board, the Save Disney movement is still keeping a watchful eye on the Walt Disney Company to see to it that they keep their promise to “get rid of Eisner, and […]

The official Star Wars site has just announced that seasons 1 and 2 of the Clone Wars animated micro-series will be released to DVD on March 22, 2005, which is one day after season 3 first airs on Cartoon Network.

In his latest article, Chuck Oberleitner focuses on the recent news of Save Disney’s pulling back in their efforts to oust Michael Eisner from The Walt Disney Company. Special emphasis is given to Chairman George Mitchell’s reputation as a successful mediator.

“Blacksanta” at the Ultimate Disney forums shares an e-mail apparently from film historian Leonard Maltin about plans for upcoming waves of the Walt Disney Treasures series, which include a catch-all DVD for miscellaneous cartoons and the remaining Silly Symphonies.

Yahoo! News reports that, while not perfectly satisfied with the outcome of their efforts to oust Michael Eisner from his position as The Walt Disney Company’s CEO, Roy Disney and Stanley Gold have decided not to push for an alternate slate of directors when the company’s next annual meeting is held in March 2005. “The […]

Ultimate Disney has posted a review of the upcoming 2-disc 40th Anniversary Edition DVD of Mary Poppins. Mary Poppins represented the most ambitious blend of live action and animation up to that time. The review is summed up with, “Disney has put together an excellent two-disc set worthy of Walt’s most brilliant live action film. […]

While it was predominantly live action, the Mickey Mouse Club show from the 1950’s did have that militantly fun animated opening sequence and other animated bits. The first week of this show will be available on December 7 as part of Wave 4 of the Walt Disney Treasure series. The show is certainly a product […]

The menu screens from Disc 2 (which are formatted completely different from the ones on Disc 1) of Mickey Mouse in Black and White: Volume 2 can be found here: