Oscar’s Snow White speaks
One of the most infamous musical numbers in Oscar history occurred in 1989 at the 61st Academy Awards when Rob Lowe and an unauthorized-by-Disney Snow White performed an excruciating 15 minute song and dance number with several uncomfortable stars in the audience as props. The producer behind the segment never worked in Hollywood again, Disney […] |
Taking animation seriously
Contactmusic and the AP say it’s time to take the animation category at the oscar seriously. Brave director Mark Andrews says, “I think this year with these films — and so many more — the envelope for animation is being pushed. We keep seeing more risky, deep films that we wouldn’t have seen 10 years […] |
Simpsons director talks The Longest Daycare
Unfortunately, Fox has pulled The Longest Daycare, the final film nominated for the Best Animated Short Oscar, off the web [update: it’s back online!], so hopefully you caught it when it aired this past Sunday. But The Hollywood Reporter has something almost as good for Simpsons fans: a 25 minute video interview with director David […] |
Saturn Award nominees
The 39th Annual Saturn Awards, honoring the best in science fiction, fantasy, and horror films, have announced their nominees. Brave, Frankenweenie, ParaNorman, and Wreck-It Ralph are up for Best Animated Film. And Danny Elfman was nominated for Best Music for Frankenweenie. The Avengers, Battleship, The Hobbit, John Carter, Life of Pi, and Snow White and […] |
Recreating New York for The Avengers
Visual effects house ILM has posted a video feature titled “Behind the Magic: Building a Digital New York for The Avengers“. According to their post at YouTube: “Although roughly a third of The Avengers is set in New York City precious little was actually filmed there… [The crew] digitally recreated roughly 20 square blocks of […] |
Deja blog educates and inspires
If you’re not checking out former Disney animator Andreas Deja’s blog Deja View you need to bookmark it now. A supervising animator on such classic films as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King, Deja’s last entry includes an historic photo of some of the Nine Old Men working on […] |
Beck to score Frozen
Christophe Beck has been hired to score Disney’s upcoming film Frozen, according to Film Music Reporter. Beck previously scored The Hangover, Percy Jackson & the Olympians, The Muppets, and Paperman among many others. |
Behind the early success of Escape From Planet Earth
Moviefone looks into the surprising opening week numbers for Escape From Planet Earth. “Here’s a kids’ film that’s not based on a familiar title or franchise, one without A-list stars in the leads, made by off-brand animators (Rainmaker Entertainment, which had never made a theatrical feature before) for an indie studio (The Weinstein Company), with […] |
MU students and staff revealed
Total Film has posted character art for several of the students and staff of Monsters University. Also included are their school ID cards revealing the names of some of the characters we’ve seen in the trailers. |
Little Mermaid will be 3D, but Planes DTV?
After canning the planned 3D theatrical re-release of The Little Mermaid originally set for later this year Disney announced the film would be making its way on to their Diamond Edition line of Blu-ray discs. Left unsaid was whether the work already done on the 3D version would be utilized on the home video release. […] |
Star and critic talk Croods
The Hollywood Reporter has the first big review of DreamWorks’ next animated film The Croods, which played at the Berlin International Film Festival this past week. Their bottom line is “the humor and charm… is too uneven to help it approach [Ice Age’s] mammoth market share. But its mostly fast-moving roller coaster of kinetic action […] |
Pixar: the happiest workplace on Earth?
ABC News got a private tour of Pixar with Brave director Mark Andrews and a behind the scenes look at, not just the work that went into the making the film, but the playtime as well. Watch it here: |
Watch Oscar nominated short Fresh Guacamole
Today we continue bringing you the nominees for the Best Animated Short Academy Award with the film Fresh Guacamole. At less than two minutes long it is the shortest movie ever nominated for an Oscar. Animated in stop motion by PES, the film is about a person making the title dip with some not so […] |
Escape from Planet Earth opens better than expected
Escape from Planet Earth beat expectations over its opening weekend, pulling in $16.6 million for a 4th place finish, according to Box Office Mojo’s studio estimates. BOM had projected the film would only bring in $11.3 million while Box Office Prophets predicted a similar $12.1 million haul. |
The Simpsons takes WGA award
The Simpsons won the Writers Guild award for TV animation last night for the episode Ned ‘n Edna’s Blend Agenda. This was writer Jeff Westbrook’s third award in the category, having previously won in 2007 and 2008 for the long running series as well. The Hollywood Reporter has the full list of nominees and winners. |
Visual effects spotlighted
With the Oscars just over a week away and voting about to end, nominees (and their representation!) are working hard to put themselves and their work in the public eye. In fact, all the films nominated for Best Visual Effects have been profiled in the media recently. • Cinema Blend talked to executive producer Victoria […] |
DreamWorks opening theme parks in Russia
DreamWorks Animation and REGIONS Group of Companies have signed a licensing agreement to develop indoor theme parks in major cities throughout Russia. The theme parks, scheduled to open in 2015, will be located in St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Yekaterinburg. The parks will include a mixed-use movie and concert hall, 4D movie theater, three-star 400-room hotel, […] |
Escape from Planet Earth soundtrack details
The soundtrack for the just released film Escape from Planet Earth is available and Film Music Reporter has the details and track listing. The Aaron Zigman scored album was recorded “with a 100 piece orchestra and choir at Abbey Road Studios in London”. |
Universal keeping big animated project under wraps
The Wrap reports that Universal has put a mystery film on their schedule for July 3, 2015 — a holiday weekend usually reserved for major tentpole releases. The movie will be an animated feature from Illumination Entertainment, the company behind Despicable Me, The Lorax, and the upcoming Grinch remake. But this will be a new, […] |
Turbo Camero make-over
With their spring release just weeks away, DreamWorks is already looking towards Turbo, slated to come out this summer. IOL Motoring reports that the studio has tricked out a Chevy Camaro with “a make-over of Hollywood proportions. The DTM-style front splitter is big enough to make a locomotive blush, and the goliath supercharger sprouting out […] |
Director and stars discuss Escape From Planet Earth
Finishing up their promotional push, more stars of the film Escape From Planet Earth talked with the media this week. William Shatner spoke with the Montreal Gazette. Jane Lynch interviewed with She Knows. And director Cal Brunker talked with the Canadian Press on how the film is a big leap for Canadian animation. The film, […] |
The Blue Umbrella poster
Check out The Rotoscopers for a look at the poster for Pixar’s upcoming short film The Blue Umbrella. A giveaway prize at the short’s premiere in Germany, “the poster is minimalistic and absolutely adorable. It shows the blue umbrella cuddling up to the red umbrella among a sea of boring black umbrellas.” Look for The […] |
Alba and Lopez talk Escape from Planet Earth
Jessica Alba and George Lopez talk with Collider about their film opening this Thursday, Escape from Planet Earth. They talk about their reasons for doing the film, how they were case, the recording process, and much more. Lopez said, “When you look at who is in this movie, I mean, I’ve done a lot of […] |
DreamWorks to launch Netflix’s first original kids series
Netflix and DreamWorks Animation today announced they will create the first ever Netflix Original Series for kids. Based on their upcoming movie Turbo (premiering in theaters this summer) the Netflix series Turbo: F.A.S.T. (Fast Action Stunt Team) debuts exclusively this December. “Families love Netflix, so creating an original series for kids was a natural for […] |
Watch Oscar nominated short Head Over Heels
Today we’re bringing to your attention the third of the five nominees for the Best Animated Short Oscar, Head Over Heels. Written and directed by Timothy Reckart, the film is about a married couple who after many years have literally grown apart (he resides on the floor and she on the ceiling) and they now […] |
Jerry Beck leaves Cartoon Brew
Today was animation historian Jerry Beck’s last day at Cartoon Brew, the site he founded nine years ago with Amid Amidi. “For those wondering where I’m going – I’m planning to continue doing what I’ve been doing: animation showings in L.A. (with plans to bring my act to New York as well), teaching cartoon history, […] |
First full Monsters University trailer debuts
The first full trailer for Monsters University has been posted to the Disney’s UK YouTube page. According to Deadline, the trailer was attached to Wreck-it Ralph while in the United States it won’t be released theatrically until March 8th with Oz The Great And Powerful. MU is slated for a June 21st wide opening. Check […] |
Jim Hill theorizes on Tomorrowland
The person in charge of marketing for the mysterious Disney film now titled Tomorrowland needs a raise, as internet buzz over the unknown project is at a fever pitch. The latest to weigh in is Disney expert Jim Hill. In his usual detailed and entertaining style, Hill posits that the film formally known as 1952 […] |
Watch Oscar nominee Adam and Dog short
The Washington Post’s Comic Riffs has made Minkyu Lee’s Oscar nominated short Adam and Dog, which recently hit YouTube, their Pick of the Week. They say it is “a painterly, visually masterful and no-dialogue film that perhaps should be considered the front-runner for an Oscar later this month — despite the Pixar and Fox pedigrees […] |
Rhythm & Hues files for bankruptcy
Deadline is reporting that visual effects/animation studio Rhythm & Hues is filing for bankruptcy, telling some employees not to come in, and delaying paychecks. The news comes just hours after their winning of the Bafta for Special Visual Effects for Life of Pi and weeks before the Oscars where they are nominated twice in that […] |