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.

The Visual Effects Society has announced the winners of their 10th Annual VES Awards, with Rango being the most honored project with four awards. The film won Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature Motion Picture, Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion Picture, Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature Motion Picture, and […]

If you’re looking to get a jump on whatever Oscar pool you might be participating in (we would suggest this one!) several websites are showcasing the shorts portion of the Academy Awards list before the films are set to get in front of a wider audience. ComingSoon.net and The Wrap synopsize the nominees and gauge […]

The Associated Press reports that Universal Pictures’ promotions for their upcoming film Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax are taking a different tack from the usual studio campaigns for animated movies. With partners that include the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Whole Foods Market, the marketers are are being more selective with their tie-ins and are focusing […]

Disney is showing off some of the first look concept art of a few of the “video game worlds” in their upcoming animated film Wreck-It Ralph. The movie is currently slated to open November 2nd. The three images follow.

The Hollywood Reporter announces that DreamWorks has set the main cast for their upcoming film Me & My Shadow. Josh Gad, Bill Hader, and Kate Hudson have signed on to star. “Conceived in-house as an original film, Shadow centers on Stan, a shadow (Hader) who yearns for a more exciting life than being attached to […]

HitFix handicaps the Best Animated Film Oscar race with a look at the nominees, who was snubbed, and who should and will win.

Hero Complex talks with DreamWorks’ Guillermo del Toro, who discusses the studio’s two Best Animated Feature nominees, his thoughts on live action directors crossing to animation and animation directors doing live action, how technology is being used in different ways and in different hands, and what he thought of The Hobbit trailer.

Several different sites have featured stories on this very cool look at rare test footage and artwork from a 1930’s animated version of John Carter of Mars, from the Danton Burroughs Tarzana Archives. All the links above have some great takes on the project, with Geeks of Doom summing it up this way: “It’s amazing […]

The Hollywood Reporter has a roundup of animation from the recent Sundance Film Festival. While several different styles of animation were represented the themes were more consistent with the bottom line being the “mixed bag of animated shorts was unusually focused on death and the universe’s indifference to man”.

According to Deadline, Aardman Animation will be changing a scene shown in the trailer for The Pirates! Band Of Misfits after complaints from leprosy groups. The scene in question featured a character with leprosy demonstrating he has the disease by showing his arm falling off. An Aardman spokesperson told Deadline, “After reviewing the matter, we […]

The International Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood, announced nominations today for its 39th Annual Annie Awards recognizing the year’s best in the field of animation. The slate of nominations for Best Animated Features tops 10 this year and include: A Cat in Paris, Arthur Christmas, Arrugas, Cars 2, Chico & Rita, Kung Fu Panda 2, Puss […]

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 18 films have been submitted for consideration in the Animated Feature Film category for the 84th Academy Awards. If all the films meet the Oscar criteria, 5 would be chosen as eventual nominees. The list and the rest of the press release follow:

Pixar founder and Disney Board member and largest shareholder Steve Jobs died today at 56. Jobs had been battling pancreatic cancer for years. He’s widely credited with completely transforming four different industries (computing, animation, music, and phones). According to the Wall Street Journal his family said he “died peacefully today surrounded by his family…We know […]

TheWrap.com is reporting that its sources are saying Disney and Pixar are ending their boycott of the Annie Awards. The studios dropped out about a year ago over judging criteria concerns. Since then ASIFA Hollywood has shaken up its management, revised the voting structure of the Annies, and established a multi-studio advisory board.