News Archive for James R Whitson

Changes in store for ASIFA-Hollywood, Annie Awards

ASIFA-Hollywood, an organization established to promote and encourage the art and craft of animation and the group behind the Annie Awards, has announced new officers, a restructuring of their infrastructure, and changes in how the awards are selected. The full press release follows:

Bambi on Blu-ray today

We relaunch our Media section today with a forest full of features celebrating the release of Disney’s classic Bambi on Blu-ray. Check out three clips from the film, several previews of the available bonus features, a look at four of the “lost” characters, and then just for fun learn how to draw Bambi and Thumper. […]

Toy Story 3, Inception, The Lost Thing win Oscars

Pixar’s Toy Story 3 took home the Oscar for Best Animated Film at the 83rd Academy Awards. Randy Newman earned his second Oscar in 20 nominations for the song We Belong Together, from Toy Story 3. Inception picked up a night-tying high 4 trophies, including Best Visual Effects. And The Lost Thing was the winner […]

Toy Story short stills

Two stills from the upcoming Toy Story short entitled Hawaiian Vacation have been released. The short will be attached to Cars 2 opening June 24th. You can check out the pics right here:

Newman wins Grammy

Though he didn’t get an Oscar nod for his Toy Story 3 score, Randy Newman was honored by the music industry with a Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media. It is Newman’s fifth Grammy out of 14 career nominations. All his wins have been for Disney […]

Super Bowl movie ads

While the Packers won the game, FOX was the big winner with 30 second ads during the Super Bowl last night going for $3 million! Among them were spots for upcoming films, including animation like Rio, Kung Fu Panda 2, Rango, and Mars Needs Moms, some comic inspired properties like Thor, Cowboys and Aliens, and […]

DreamWorks, Dragon take home the Annies

DreamWorks was once again the big winner at the Annie Awards (though Disney and Pixar cut their involvement with animation’s highest honor this time out). Toy Story 3 may be an Oscar nominee for Best Picture, but How To Train Your Dragon won the Best Animated Feature Annie. Pixar’s Day & Night won Best Animated […]

Dragon wins big at VES Awards

DreamWorks’ How To Train Your Dragon was the big animated winner at the 9th Annual Visual Effects Society Awards. It’s three wins (in all three categories it was nominated in) were for Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature, Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature, and Outstanding Effects Animation in an Animated Feature. Pixar’s Day […]

DreamWorks bringing Lidsville to theatres

DreamWorks has announced they will be bringing the 1970s Sid & Marty Krofft television series Lidsville to the big screen. “Sid and I have had a longstanding relationship with Jeffrey Katzenberg and we’re excited to bring Lidsville to DreamWorks Animation. It’s incredible to envision a high-quality 3D animated movie being made out of one of […]

Rio premiere, interview, and game tie-in

While you might not realize it based on all the news focusing on one of the stars’ wardrobe choices, Blue Sky’s Rio had its Hollywood premiere this past weekend. Director Carlos Saldanha, and stars Anne Hathaway, Jamie Foxx, and George Lopez talk about the film with Collider. The studio has announced a unique promotional tie-in […]

Alice comes to Blu-ray

Disney’s Alice in Wonderland is available on Blu-ray today. Kathryn Beaumont, the voice of Alice, talks with MovieWeb and The Trades. Cinema Blend will tell you how to save some money on the new disc. And, while not strictly related to the Disney version, check out this gallery of Alice book covers of the past […]

Forty-one songs compete for Oscar

Forty-one songs from the films of 2010 are in the running for Best Original Song Oscar nominations. Nine are from animated features: • Despicable Me from Despicable Me • Prettiest Girls from Despicable Me • Sticks & Stones from How to Train Your Dragon • Le Gris from Idiots and Angels • Chanson Illusionist from […]

Bambi coming in March 2011

Disney has announced Bambi will be the next in the Diamond Edition line, to be released on March 1, 2011. The film were feature a newly enhanced digital restoration, and enhanced picture and sound. A BD/DVD combo pack, HD digital download, and an SD digital download will be available on release day, with the DVD […]

2010 Annie Award nominations announced

ASIFA-Hollywood, has announced the nominations for the 38th Annual Annie Awards. The nominees for Best Animated Feature are Despicable Me, How to Train Your Dragon, Tangled, The Illusionist, and Toy Story 3. “This has been an unprecedented year for animation, as the high quality of work represented by our nominees will attest,” said ASIFA-Hollywood President […]

Toy Story 3 picks up NBR awards

Award season continues as the National Board of Review revealed their picks today. Toy Story 3 picked up the award for Best Animated Feature and was named one of the Ten Best Films of the year.

Newman up for two Grammy’s

Composer Randy Newman is up for two Grammy Awards from two different animated projects. Toy Story 3 is nominated for Best Score Soundtrack. Other nominees include Danny Elfman for Alice in Wonderland and James Horner for Avatar. Newman is also up for Best Song written For TV or Film for Down in New Orleans from […]

Tangled stronger than expected

Tangled barely missed coming in first place over the weekend, performing stronger than analysts expected according to Entertainment Weekly. It took in $49.1 million to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ $50.3 million. Adding in the mid-week opening days gave it a $69 million five day take. That’s good for the second best Thanksgiving opening […]

Tangled opens

Disney’s 50th animated classic, Tangled, opens today in 3,603 theatres according to Box Office Mojo. The critical consensus has been very positive, with the film garnering a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes (and an even better 95% from the top critics). It’s being compared favorably to The Lion King and Aladdin, and a few have even […]

Megamind continues to rule box office

DreamWorks’ Megamind earned another first place finish at the box office with $30.1 million in its second week, according to EW.com. It’s cumulative total is $89.8 million.

Megamind opens

DreamWorks’ Megamind opens today in 3,944 theatres, according to Box Office Mojo. With a middling 64%, the Rotten Tomatoes critical consensus is “It regurgitates plot points from earlier animated efforts, and isn’t quite as funny as it should be, but a top-shelf voice cast and strong visuals help make Megamind a pleasant, if unspectacular, diversion.” […]

Phineas and Ferb origins detailed

Wired has a piece with the creators of Phineas and Ferb, where they discuss the long 16 year journey the show took from conception to screen, while being rejected from every studio they pitched to.

Bonus features creators interviewed

Pixar Talk talks with Pixar’s special features producers Erica Milsom and Tony Kaplan about how they create all that extra content for DVD/BD releases.

An Evening With Bill Plympton

ASIFA-Hollywood is presenting an Evening With Bill Plympton on Thursday, October 28, 2010 in Burbank CA. Hosted by Tom Sito, Plympton will discuss his prolific career and unique approach to film making. He’ll also speak about his new animated feature Idiots & Angels and an upcoming documentary about his career. Admission is free. Details follow:

Tangled actress Moore interview

SheKnows has a fun interviews with Mandy Moore about her upcoming role as the voice of Rapunzel in Disney’s Tangled. The questions include topics like getting grounded, the attraction of bad boys, hair styles, joining the Disney princess line, and married life for the star.

Rapunzel now greeting park guests

Starting today, characters portraying Rapunzel and Flynn Rider from Disney’s upcoming film Tangled are greeting guests at the Disneyland Park in California. Beginning October 24, the characters will also appear at Magic Kingdom in Florida.

Why do we cry so easily at animated films?

Time looks at why adults let loose with the waterworks so easily when watching animated films. Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich posits that, “Live action movies are someone else’s story. With animation, audiences can’t think that. Their guards are down.”

Green Lantern revealed

TV Guide has an exclusive first look at Green Lantern: The Animated Series. The Warner Bros. Animation series, coming to Cartoon Network in 2011, is being previewed this weekend at New York Comic Con. The DC character is also getting a live action feature in 2011 with Ryan Reynolds in the title role.

25 years of Pixar’s archives

CNet takes a look at the Oakland Museum of California exhibit Pixar: 25 Years of Animation. Included is a slideshow of 44 pieces from the collection.

Dragons And Princesses trailer online

Twitch has the first trailer for Michel Ocelot’s Dragons And Princesses. The project, from the director of Kirikou and the Sorceress and Azur & Asmar, is being developed as both a television series and a feature film.

Pepé Le Pew to stink up big screen

Pepé Le Pew is heading to the big screen according to Vulture. The film will be live-action/CGI and Mike Myers will give voice to the love sick skunk. Thanks to “gaastra” in the Animated Views Forum for the heads up.