Picnic Pictures’ The Chestnut Tree (see our prior writeup), directed by Hyun-min Lee, produced by Bert and Jennifer Klein, and executive produced by Don Hahn, recently won “Best Animated Short” at the LaFemme International Film Festival held in Beverly Hills. A photo of the award winners shortly after accepting the award and more information on […]

Information on the changes announced earlier today for Disney’s California Adventure theme park in Anaheim, CA, can be found at The Orange County Register and o-meon (with numerous photos). Of particular interest to animation fans is news of Cars Land, “A 12-acre addition that will be based on the Cars movie, including an attraction called […]

Today, Trolltech has announced that Lucasfilm is using Trolltech’s Qt software to help develop their digital entertainment software. Examples of other major studios using Qt are Walt Disney Feature Animation, Sony Pictures Imageworks and Duboi. Using Trolltech’s Qt is helping big animation houses get their movies to market faster and save money. The full press […]

“Final Cut Pro facility design experts, The DR Group, announced today that its DR Consulting division was tapped by edgy animation studio, Titmouse, Inc. to deliver Metalocalypse, its ongoing series for Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, in High Definition.” Read on for the full press release:

The first three “TV Jrs.” for DreamWorks Animation’s Bee Movie have now been posted at NBC.com. Watch Jerry Seinfeld hunt down animators, spy on others watching Bee Movie on all sorts of devices, and . . . call for Super Chicken?

Today Aniboom, a multi-platform animation network, announced a partnership with Joost, the world’s first broadcast-quality Internet television service. Aniboom will have a channel on Joost featuring many genres and styles of animation. The full press release follows:

The Orange County Register today features an interview with Linda Clough of Costa Mesa, daughter of Daffy Duck creator and Warner Bros. animation luminary Chuck Jones, in honor of the 70th birthday of Daffy Duck. The article also mentions a celebration being held today at the Orange Main Public Library.

“Yesterday, 20 years after Fred MacMurray became the very first Disney Legend, the Walt Disney Company honored 12 more individuals whose body of work ‘has made a significant impact on the Disney Legacy.’ From film, television, animation, Imagineering, and the Disney Archive, this year’s inductees join a long line of truly legendary Disney cast members.” […]

Walt Disney Events Services has announced a special 70th Anniversary screening event of Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs on November 16, 2007, at the theater inside Disney’s California Adventure® Park. Two types of event packages are available so follow the link and read up for details. Animation and film luminaries such as […]

For those planning to visit Disney’s California Adventure soon, or for animation fans who need an extra excuse to go, the Character Close-up section of the Disney Animation building there is now showcasing maquettes from WALL-E, Ratatouille, and Meet the Robinsons, as well as a spinning, strobe light-enabled Toy Story animation . . . Pixar […]

Check out the Batman: Yesterday, Today, & Beyond website for exclusive preview pics featuring vigilante hero Green Arrow and villainous Count Vertigo from the “Vertigo” episode of The Batman set to air October 6, on the Kids’ WB! network.

According to Animation World Network, Reboot, the pioneering CGI television series, has pioneered a new level of fan participation in popular animation by allowing its fans to choose the creative teams responsible for the production of an online comic book. “This marks the first step in re-launching the property in advance of Rainmaker’s upcoming trilogy […]

Apparently due to its name starting with the letter “B” the city of Boston was chosen as the spot for a huge press event for DreamWorks Animation’s Bee Movie with star Jerry Seinfeld and directors Simon J. Smith and Steven Hickner attending and meeting with fans. Mention is also made of some “TV Jrs.” that […]

A recent entry at Cartoon Brew links to an image of a cardboard disc handed out to attendees at the Ottawa International Animation Festival last week which shows a complete (or pretty close to complete) list of all the animated features and shorts produced by Walt Disney Animation from 1928 to 2010. Even with the […]

Animation World Magazine takes a look at some of the animated shorts shown at recent animation festivals around the world. Featured this month are Mr. Reaper’s Really Bad Morning, Birdcalls, Lapsus, I Like Pandas, and La memoria dei cani (The Memories of Dogs). A 30-second clip of each short is included.

We’ve got three fantastic bonus clips from The Jungle Book: 40th Anniversay Platinum Edition (October 2). The first clip shows how The Jungle Book directly inspired characters and animation techniques from recent classics like The Lion King, Aladdin and Lilo and Stitch. The next two clips feature Bruce Reitherman (voice of Mowgli) discussing his father, […]

“If you have a calling for creating cartoons, Aniboom is letting you show the world your talents. Aniboom (www.aniboom.com), the premier multi-platform animation network that partners with untapped animation talent from around the world to create the best independent animated content for global distribution, today announced the call for entries for its 2007 Aniboom Awards […]

Back on the animation news trail, Chuck Oberleitner at O-meon reports the animation grapevine that exists in the Hollywood area between the Disney and DreamWorks animation departments, from the rank-and-file animators all the way up to Bob Iger and Jeffrey Katzenberg. The article also discusses the soon-to-be-seen Goofy short, How to Install Your Home Theatre […]

For those with recently completed or soon-to-be-completed works of animation please be notified that ASIFA-Hollywood is now accepting nominations for the 35th Annual Annie Awards. More information follows:

For those who will be in Germany between September 30 – October 2 make note of the eDIT Filmmaker’s Festival which will have a special in-depth animation program on the last day featuring animators such as Bill Plympton, Steven Bender, as well as Spencer Cook, Animation Supervisor on Spiderman 3, and more.

The following are fun facts released by DreamWorks Animation regarding their upcoming Bee Movie, touching on subjects as diverse as alleged Albert Einstein quotes, cameos to look out for, the “green” nature of the vehicles seen in the film, and more.

According to Animation World Network American Cinema Int’l will be releasing an animated version of The Ten Commandments, the story of Moses leading his people out of Egyptian bondage and into the promised land, to theaters on Oct. 19, 2007. This will be the first in a twelve-part series focusing on epic stories from the […]

From now until September 23 Disney’s El Capitan Theatre on Hollywood Blvd. will be showing Disney’s classic animated feature The Jungle Book, the last film that Walt Disney himself worked on. Last Thursday night an opening night filmmaker’s panel was held to kick off the two week engagement. Photos and a rundown of the event […]

From Picnic Pictures and executive produced by Don Hahn comes a new hand-drawn animated short, The Chestnut Tree, making its debut at the Laemmle Sunset 5 beginning today and continuing through to Sunday. The film’s producers are scheduled to appear at the first Sunday screening to talk about their creation. This short will also be […]

In “Depth of a Salesmen” Business Week outlines Jeffrey Katzenberg’s ambitions to bring 3D movies back to the theaters to help counteract the trend of dwindling overall box office numbers. “DreamWorks has said it plans to release only 3D movies to theaters, starting in 2009 with an animated horror movie, Monsters vs. Aliens, as well […]

For those in the Los Angeles/Hollywood region please make note of a special one-week engagement of The Pixar Story which began last Friday and plays through to Thursday, August 30, at the Pasadena Laemmle theater. This is an independent documentary on the rise and rise of the Pixar Animation Studios. A possible subsequent wide release […]

From adamgault.com comes a new animated short Lantern Fishes, a completely unique computer-generated “2.5D” film shedding light on life at the bottom of the ocean depths. Meanwhile Motionographer has an interview with the creator. Thanks to Kristin for the heads up.

Gearing up for the 40th Anniversary Platinum Edition DVD of Disney’s The Jungle Book (release date: October 2), Animation World Network reports that the El Capitan Theatre on Hollywood Blvd. will host a two-week engagement of the animated classic from September 7 through 23, with a special opening night panel taking place on September 6. […]

IESB.net reports that the upcoming Justice League movie directed by George “Mad Max/Happy Feet” Miller will likely be animated with motion capture technology. Meanwhile, Cinema Confidential states that “neither Christian Bale nor Brandon Routh are being considered to play Batman and Superman respectively.” Maybe Tom Hanks will be acting all the roles.

Variety.com reports on the all the d’oh The Simpsons Movie is raking in in the overseas market, most recently besting The Bourne Ultimatum, amongst others. “Fox’s toon — propelled by solid launches of $5 million in Russia and $3 million in Brazil plus respectable Euro holdover biz — has continued to show impressive traction overseas. […]