BusinessWeek reports that with $1.18 billion in global sales in the bank in just three weeks, The Avengers has become the highest-grossing film in Disney history — more than the $1.07 billion the previous leader, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, earned over it’s entire theatrical run. Domestically the film has just passed Star […]

The San Jose Mercury News talks with composer/lyricist Richard Sherman, who discusses the creation of the music for Mary Poppins and his thoughts on the stage adaptation.

Cartoon Brew reports that a new 3D Simpsons short, titled The Longest Daycare, will be attached to the theatrical release of Ice Age: Continental Drift opening July 13th. Check out their site for a short teaser trailer. Thanks to ‘gaastra’ in the AV Forum for the heads up!

Digital Domain (Transformers, Tron: Legacy) has announced they plan to open a 150,000-square-foot production studio and media school in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, in 2015. The new studio “would create English- and Arabic-language animated movies targeted at Middle Eastern audiences, as well as produce visual and 3-D effects”.

Film Screen Rejects visits the set of what they say might be “the year’s most impressive animated movie” — Laika’s ParaNorman.

NPR has a piece about what independent animation companies have to do to compete in a tough Chinese market dominated by state run media and foreign animation studios.

Despite great reviews The Pirates! Band of Misfits had a disappointing weekend at the box office. While coming in a better than some expected 2nd place the film only earned $11.1 million according to Box Office Mojo. That tally is the worst ever opening for Aardman on this side of the pond. It’s not all […]

Aardman’s The Pirates! Band of Misfits made the publicity rounds this week. Indiewire talked with director Peter Lord about DreamWorks Animation, Batman, and the allure of Pirates, while SFGate continues with the director on the pirate theme. The Kansas City Star discusses the history of stop motion animation and how Aardman is helping the medium […]

Sony/Columbia/Aardman’s The Pirates! Band of Misfits opens today in 3,358 theatres, according to Box Office Mojo. The film is a hit with the critics so far, earning an 87% fresh rating from Rotten Tomatoes. That number soars to 96% when counting only the top critics. Unfortunately Box Office Prophets doubts the movie will be a […]

ComingSoon.net has the news out of CinemaCon detailing Pixars 2014-15 slate of films. The Good Dinosaur, directed by Bob Peterson, will debut on May 30, 2014. Pete Docter’s untitled film “that takes you inside the mind” is now set for June 19, 2015. Also announced was director Lee Unkrich’s next project with producer Darla Anderson […]

A new trailer for Brave is available online at Apple’s website. The Disney/Pixar film is set open June 22, 2012.

Skwigly Animation Magazine has launched a podcast. The first edition features an interview with Peter Lord on his new Pirates! film, along with discussion on other news of the day

The LA Times has a story on animation pioneers United Productions of America and how their unique style continues to inspire animators today. Up director Pete Docter said, “Seeing the UPA films was was almost like learning a different language because their approach to movement, design and filmmaking was so graphic and so different from […]

SPEED takes a look at DreamWorks’ recently announced animated film Turbo. Set for release on July 19, 2013, “Turbo is the story of a snail with an impossible dream: to win the Indianapolis 500 like his hero, five-time champion Guy Gagne. When one day imbued with amazing speed by a freak accident, he embarks on […]

The Beatles’ 1968 animated movie Yellow Submarine is coming to DVD and Blu-ray on May 28th, according to The National Post. The film has been given a 4k digital restoration, with workers tweaking the image frame by frame rather than using automated software. Depending on the format, special features will include a behind-the-scenes documentary, commentary, […]

The Wall Street Journal looks at the profitable relationship between Universal Pictures and animation studio Illumination Entertainment. While Illumination has only produced three films so far (Despicable Me, Hop, and The Lorax), each has been an unqualified hit, especially when their relatively small budgets are taken into account. Illumination has a $75 million budget target. […]

Ozzy Osbourne and the rest of his clan will be voicing themselves in a new stop motion animated series called The F’n Osbournes in development, according to Screen Rant. Cuppa Coffee Studios’ president and show creator Adam Shaheen notes, rather unnecessarily, that “although it is a cartoon, [The F’n Osbournes] is certainly not one for […]

Variety and the Chicago Tribune report that Nickelodeon has started an animated shorts program with a goal of attracting new talent and ideas. Animation president Brown Johnson said, “The new shorts program gives us an opportunity to tap into comedy talent from many different sources. We’re excited to offer this unique opportunity to artists and […]

Universal/Illumination’s The Lorax opens today, in 3,728 theatres according to Box Office Mojo. Reviews have been so-so with the Rotten Tomatoes consensus rating just barely fresh at 64%. Box Office Mojo predicts the biggest opening weekend of the year so far, with The Lorax expected to bring in a projected $53.5 million. UPDATE: With more […]

Cartoon Brew reminds us that today is the last day to celebrate Black History Month. Amid Amidi links to a Facebook gallery called African-American Animators—Past & Present, which he describes as a “wonderful tribute to the diversity and talent of the black animators who work in our industry”.

Rango and Gore Verbinski took home the Oscar for Best Animated Feature at the 84th Annual Academy Awards. The trophy for Animated Short went to William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg for The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossmann, and Alex Henning won the Oscar for Visual Effects for […]

Mark Morton at Examiner.com talks with John Hunter, the composer of an Oscar nominated silent film. No, not that one! Hunter compsed the soundtrack for The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, nominated for the Animated Short Film Oscar.

Guillermo del Toro is on board to produce the animated film Day of the Dead for independent animation studio Reel FX, according to Entertainment Weekly. The film is about “a star-crossed romance that revolves around the Mexican holiday”. They’re shooting for a 2014 release date. Also of note, EW says this is the 16th “yet-to-be-released […]

The Los Angeles Times reports that just four months after taking the job David Stainton has resigned as head of Paramount Pictures’ animation unit. President of Paramount Motion Picture Group Adam Goodman will now oversee the animation department. Stainton, who spent 17 years at Walt Disney studios culminating his time there as president of feature […]

U.S. film studios will have more access to China under an agreement announced this week according to Bloomberg. The restrictive regime, which limits foreign films allowed in the country to 20 per year, will now permit an additional 14 “enhanced-format” films (such as 3D and IMAX). The agreement will also allow the studios to earn […]

Televisual reports that the British Animation Awards has announced the finalists for the 2012 British Animation Awards. They’ve also kicked off a search (via public voting) for the UK’s favorite animated character of all time.

The Secret World of Arrietty opens in the United States today in 1,522 theatres according to Box Office Mojo. The film has a fresh 92% rating at Rotten Tomatoes (with a 100% score from just the Top Critics). Box Office Prophets predicts an 8th place opening weekend finish with $6.4 million. It’s already grossed over […]

Though it came out in 2010, due to an unconventional award year Tangled just picked up a Grammy Award for Best Song Written For Visual Media for I See The Light. The song was written by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater. It’s Menken’s 11th and Slater’s first Grammy.

Rango continued its march towards a potential Oscar by winning the British equivalent, the Bafta for Best Animated Film, at the the British Academy Film Awards. The Special Visual Effects award went to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2, while A Morning Stroll took home the award for Short Animation.

Animated Views has been undergoing some maintenance this weekend. While most of the work is now done, you may notice some errors while we finish getting everything fully functional again. Apologies for any inconvenience.