Variety reports that Oscar nominated animated film Persepolis has finally been shown in public in Tehran. Based on Marjane Satrapi’s semi-autobiographical graphic novel, Persepolis had angered Iranian authorities for its satirical portrayal of the 1979 Iranian revolution and was condemned by the government as anti-Iranian. This was the first legal screening of the film in […]

UpcomingPixar points at an exclusive video tour inside Pixar Animation Studios available on EmpireOnline. The video tour is hosted by “Pixar University Dean” Randy Nelson. In addition to this, UpcomingPixar also reports about two amctv.com videos hosted by Brightcove, which feature Brad Bird talking about Ratatouille and animation. Direct link to these videos can be […]

AnimeNewsNetwork reports that Michael Arias and Studio 4°C’s Tekkonkinkreet has won Animation of the Year award at the 31st Japan Academy Prizes on Friday. This is the second year that an award in the Animation of the Year category has been presented. Mamoru Hosoda and Madhouse’s The Girl Who Leapt through Time won the first […]

GhibliWorld, via Yomiyuri, reports about an interview with Ponyo on a Cliff theme song singers Fujioka Fujimaki. According to the article, the song “Gake no Ue no Ponyo” which was released in December, six months ahead of the much awaited animated film’s scheduled summer opening in Japan, was performed by 8 year old actress Nozomi […]

Variety reports that Pixar’s Ratatouille was the big winner at 35th Annie Awards, held on February 8, 2008, where it won 9 trophies, including best animated feature. Ratatouille also won writing and directing for Brad Bird, best voice acting for Ian Holm, best character animation, music, storyboarding, and production design. Other winners include Sony Pictures […]

IHT.com reports that Ratatouille was named the best animated film at the Producers Guild of America awards on Saturday. No Country for Old Men was declared the best feature film of 2007.

A UK poster for Blue Sky Studios’ upcoming film Dr Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who has appeared on IMPAWARDS. The release date for the film has been set as 14 March 2008.

The SuperBowl teaser for the new Disney/Pixar film WALL•E has appeared online and can be watched or downloaded here. Directed by Andrew Stanton, WALL•E is set to hit theatres on June 27, 2008.

Variety reports that Robert A. Iger, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Walt Disney Co. has signed a new five year contract with the company. Iger will continue as the president and CEO of the Walt Disney Co. through 2013, extending an initial contract which would have expired September 30, 2010. Move is attributed […]

AnimeNewsNetwork reports that Toshio Suzuki has stepped down as Studio Ghibli president and will be replaced by Koji Hoshino who was the former president of Walt Disney Japan. Suzuki will remain as a board director and producer for Studio Ghibli films. Hoshino started working for Ghibli in 1996 after Disney started releasing Ghibli filims on […]

UpcomingPixar via BoxOfficeMojo and ComingSoon.net reports that the release date for Disney/Pixar’s Up appears to have been pushed forward by 14 days. Up was originally scheduled for a June 12, 2009 release but is now set to hit theatres on May 29, 2009.

DVDTimes has posted the artwork and extras for the upcoming Bee Movie dvd which will hit the stores on 11th March 2008. Bee Movie will be made available as a Two-Disc Special Edition and standard single-disc versions. Extras on Two-Disc Special Edition will include Jerry Seinfeld & Filmmaker Commentary, TV Juniors – Hilarious “behind the […]

UpcomingPixar has posted two new images from the upcoming Disney/Pixar film WALL•E. Direct links to these images, which appeared in Entertainment Weekly Magazine and Disney Reporter respectively, can be found here and here.

Variety reports that DreamWorks Animation has teamed up with Dubai based real estate company Tatweer to develop a range of tourism and leisure projects in Dubai, the highlight of which will be a theme park. The 5 million-square-foot DreamWorks Animation-branded park will see rides incorporate characters from DreamWorks titles such as the Shrek franchise and […]

DVDActive reports that Paramount Home Entertainment has announced theatrical and director’s cut releases of Robert Zemeckis’ Beowulf on 26th February. The only extra feature on the theatrical cut will be A Hero’s Journey: The Making of Beowulf featurette. The Director’s Cut will include that, along with a Beasts of Burden featurette, a Origins of Beowulf […]

UpcomingPixar, via InTheNews.co.uk, reports that according to Tom Hanks, the third instalment of the Toy Story films is being prepared and has the full support of the actor, who voices one of the main characters Woody in the film. Directed by Lee Unkrich, Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story 3 is slated for a 2009 release.

UpcomingPixar has posted the first screenshots from the video game WALL•E. Published by THQ and created by Heavy Iron Studios, the video game is based on the upcoming Disney/Pixar’s feature WALL•E which is set to hit theatres June 27.

Ghibliworld has an exclusive in-depth interview with Pixar storyboard artist Enrico Casarosa wherein he talks about Studio Ghibli, Pixar and how Hayao Miyazaki’s films have influenced his own work. According to him, “Miyazaki has this uncanny ability to add a childish sense of wonder to his stories. He’s able to make us feel like little […]

UpcomingPixar via BusinessWire reports that Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment have announced their new line-up of Blu-ray initiatives in 2008 which will mark first Platinum Disney animated classic Sleeping Beauty on Blu-ray in the fall of 2008. Along with an all-new enhanced home theater mix in 7.1 surround sound, Sleeping Beauty Platinum Edition Blu-ray Disc […]

UpcomingPixar reports that THQ via BusinessWire have officially announced the WALL•E Video Game for all major platforms which include the Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. According to the press release, WALL•E is expected to release this summer and will mark THQ’s next installment in the company’s well-established and successful association with Disney/Pixar. Development […]

Trailers for the Fathom Studios’ upcoming animated film Delgo have appeared on Movie-list.com. Featuring the voices of actors such as Val Kilmer and Jennifer Love Hewitt, Delgo is a fantasy-adventure about a naive teenager who must rally his group of friends to protect their world from conflict between the Lockni and Nohrin people.

Variety via PixarPlanet has pulished an interview with Brad Bird wherein the Pixar writer and director calls for more respect for writers of animated films. Bird says, “The whole question of writing for animation is skewed. There isn’t a giant difference between animation and live action. You need characters, stories, themes. It’s called good storytelling.”

Editors at RottenTomatoes.com have picked twenty best films of 2007 which, according to them, are definitely worth your time. Animated films featured in the list are Ratatouille and Paprika.

IFC.com has published an article featuring five best directorial debut of the year 2007 which includes Marjane Satrapi’s animated film Persepolis. According to the article, “Satrapi’s film isn’t just a faithful adaptation but an energized improvement of its source material, lending the author’s personal saga of oppression and exile an aesthetic fluidity and vitality that […]

AWN has an in-depth article which focuses on how Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novels were brought to life in the award winning film Persepolis. The article examines how the novels were adapted to create a black-and-white animated film that stands apart and follows the filmmakers journey from defining the design of the film to finding distributors […]

CreativeLoafing, in one of its articles, talks about song and dance numbers from Tim Burton’s films which also features “Kidnap the Sandy Claus” from The Nightmare Before Christmas and “Remains of the Day” from The Corpse Bride. Both of these songs were composed by Burton’s perennial composer Danny Elfman.

UpcomingPixar reports that Ratatouille has been judged the Best Animated film at Austin Film Critics Award. Pixar’s Cars had won the same award last year.

TheReeler.com has posted an article on the animation scene in New York City. Besides the depiction of the city in animation over the years, the article also talks about local animation superstars, surprises and best-kept secrets.

UpcomingPixar, with ThePixarBlog, reports that IMDB is listing a new character from Pixar’s upcoming film WALL•E. The character is called Hoverchair Mother and is played by Kim Kopf. Directed by Andrew Stanton, WALL•E hits theatres 27 June 2008.

RottenTomatoes, In one of its articles, reports that according to Stan Lee, the company is leaving no major character unfilmed. Lee further adds, “Now they’re not working on it but they have been discussing whether to do it — Power Pack. They’ll be doing Submariner, Captain America, The Avengers, Nick Fury.”