Bee Movie opens in second place
DreamWorks’ Bee Movie fell a bit short of the #1 spot at the box office this weekend but it did about as well as expected otherwise bringing in $39.1 million, according to Box Office Mojo. Disney’s 3-D version of The Nightmare Before Christmas brought in an additional $1.5 million over the weekend to bring its […] |
Ratatouille coming to DVD and Blu-ray in November
Video Business reports that Disney/Pixar’s Ratatouille will be released on DVD and Blu-ray disc on November 6th, 2007. The film will join the previously announced Blu-ray release of Cars on the same day. |
Pixar shorts coming to Blu-ray disc
Blu-ray.com reports that the Pixar Short Films Collection will be made available on Blu-ray on November 6th for the first time in high definition. The disc will include all 13 Pixar short films, both theatrical and those that premiered on DVD. |
The Simpsons Movie opens
Fox’s The Simpsons Movie opens today in 3,922 theatres according to Box Office Mojo. The film is winning over the critics with a very fresh rating of 89% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer. Time Magazine says, “It was worth waiting for”, for while the Washington Post says, “It’s really one of the best movies of […] |
Ratatouille story supervisor discusses research and challenges
Ratatouille story supervisor Mark Andrews discusses the research that went into making the animated film with Leo N. Holzer at TheReporter.com. A trip to Paris was a must. “With Google, we could look at shots of Paris until our eyes bleed, but you don’t get a sense of the true light there. You don’t get […] |
Boomerang marathon to air every Flintstones episode
Cable channel Boomerang, Cartoon Network’s sister network, announced a special Independence Day marathon where they will air every episode of the first prime time animated series, The Flintstones, in chronological order. Kicking things off at 6am on Wednesday, July 4, will be the original pilot, entitled The Flagstones. The series finale will air Saturday, July […] |
Ratatouille opens
Disney/Pixar’s Ratatouille opens today in 3,940 theaters according to Box Office Mojo. The film is wowing the critics, garnering an impressive 94% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer, and a perfect 100% with the Cream of the Crop critics. The film is being gushed over for its look (Chicago Tribune: “you have never seen a computer-animated […] |
Sleeping Beauty going Platinum, coming to Blu-ray
Disney Consumer Products has revealed that not only will the 1959 Disney classic Sleeping Beauty receive the Platinum Edition DVD treatment in October 2008, they plan to release the film in high definition on Blu-ray disc next year as well. Sleeping Beauty was previously released as a 2-disc special edition in 2003. The only other […] |
AMPAS revises Oscar's animated feature definition
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has approved several new rule changes to take effect starting with the 80th Annual Academy Awards. Among them is a change in the definition of an animated feature film. The revision appears to have been made to avoid any possible controversy with motion capture technology now being […] |
Charles Nelson Reilly dead at 76
Charles Nelson Reilly, best known for his appearances on game shows such as Match Game and Hollywood Squares, died Friday due to complications from pneumonia, the L.A.Times reports. The Tony award winning actor did voice work for many animated projects during the last two decades of his life. He appeared in the films All Dogs […] |
Shrek the Third opens
Paramount/DreamWorks’ Shrek the Third opens today in 4,122 theatres according to Box Office Mojo. The critics aren’t nearly as kind to the this outing of the franchise, with the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer showing “Rotten” with 43%. That shouldn’t slow down it’s haul; Box Office Report predicts a $101 million weekend. |
TMNT opens
Warner Bros.’ TMNT opens today in 3,110 theatres according to Box Office Mojo. The critics aren’t shelling out much praise for the film – currently at 25% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer. Entertainment Weekly says the film “is missing the goofy excitement of the old TMNT”, while The Hollywood Reporter believes “the movie seems driven […] |
Oscar Shorts on iTunes
Four of the five nominees for Best Animated Short at the 2007 Academy Awards are available for download at the iTunes Store, including Oscar winner The Danish Poet. Also online are The Little Matchgirl, Maestro, and No Time For Nuts. All cost $1.99. |
Happy Feet dances to Oscar gold
On a night where Hollywood touted and awarded environmental awareness, Warner Brothers’ Happy Feet fit the theme better than Pixar’s gas-guzzling Cars to win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. Cars also lost out to another environmental film, Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, for Best Song. Torill Kove’s The Danish Poet took the award for […] |
The Simpsons wins WGA Award
The Simpsons won the animation prize at the 2007 Writers Guild of America Awards. The award went to John Frink for writing the episode “The Italian Bob”. |
Cars speeds off with top Annie Award, Flushed Away wins big
Disney/Pixar’s Cars took home the top prize at the 2007 Annie Awards, but DreamWorks/Aardman’s Flushed Away was the night’s big winner. In addition to the award for “Best Animated Feature”, Cars also won for “Feature Music”. Flushed Away more than doubled that take with five awards, the most for any film: “Animated Effects”, “Feature Character […] |
Cars wins Grammy Award
Randy Newman picked up the 2007 Grammy Award for “Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media” for Our Town from Cars. The film’s album lost the “Best Compilation Soundtrack Album” award to Walk the Line, while Bob Dylan beat out John Mayer’s performance of Route 66 for the “Best Solo Rock […] |
Happy Feet wins BAFTA
The 2007 British Academy of Film and Television Arts has given their award for “Best Animated Feature” to Happy Feet. Ian Gouldstone’s GUY 101 took the “Animated Short” award. And the award for “Best Visual Effects” went to Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. |
Sunday a big night for awards
Five major groups will be handing awards out tonight – the British Academy of Film and Television Arts giving their equivalent of the Oscar, the Grammy Awards for music, the Annie Awards for animation, the Visual Effects Society Awards, and the Writers Guild of America Awards. Look for the winners to be announced as soon […] |
DreamWorks, Aardman split official
The rumors have been confirmed as DreamWorks Animation and Aardman Animation announced today that they have decided to discontinue their relationship with each other. The two companies teamed up to produce the films Chicken Run, Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, and Flushed Away. DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg said, “I have had the […] |
AWN looks at 2007 animated Oscar nominees
Animation World Network has posted their annual Oscar Showcase. The site features a collection of pics, articles, and info about each animated nominee and video clips from all the animated shorts. You can also vote on who you think will win on Oscar night. |
2007 Oscar nominations announced
The nominations for the 79th Annual Academy Awards have been announced. Come tell us your thoughts in the Animated News & Views Forum. The nominees for Best Animated Film are • Disney/Pixar’s Cars – John Lasseter • Warner Bros.’ Happy Feet – George Miller • Sony/Columbia’s Monster House – Gil Kenan The nominees for Best […] |
Cars takes PGA Award
Disney/Pixar’s Cars added more hardware to its shelf with Darla K. Anderson winning the Producers Guild’s Animated Feature award. The film raced past Flushed Away, Happy Feet, Ice Age: The Meltdown, and Monster House for the prize. |
Ghost in the Shell to go live-action?
Variety reports that a live action version of Ghost in the Shell is being shopped around by animation company Production I.G., who acquired the rights from publisher Kodansha. The animated futuristic police thriller has seen life in manga comics, animated features and a TV series. |
WALL• E revealed
The first image from WALL• E, the Disney/Pixar film scheduled to to come after Ratatouille, has been released in a December 2006 Letter to the Shareholders by Disney CEO Bob Iger. “We’re… excited about Pixar’s next animated movie, Ratatouille, which will be released this summer. And I’m pleased to give you an exclusive first look […] |
Disney/Pixar want rights to John Carter of Mars – but for live-action or animation?
Reports are that Disney and/or Pixar are working to acquire the rights to Tarzan author Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars series. But the question is will it be for a live-action franchise or an animated film? Variety started the ball rolling, while Dark Horizons and Mania Movies both go into history of the […] |
Animation from Enchanted online
Cartoon Brew has posted a link to a Disney promo video featuring clips from several upcoming films. Among them is the first animation seen from Enchanted. |
Lionsgate getting input from online users on future projects
Lionsgate is getting feedback from internet users to help them decide about future animated projects, according to Animation Magazine. The online teen community Habbo is hosting several animated shorts. For 14 days users can vote on whether or not Lionsgate should expand them to feature length. VP of marketing for Lionsgate Michael Rathauser said “Through […] |
Cars wins Animated Globe
Cars took home the first trophy for Best Animated Feature at the 64th Annual Golden Globe Awards. The Song of the Heart from Happy Feet took the award for Best Original Song. Cars director John Lasseter spoke afterwards about the large number of animated films released in 2006. “I love animation. I’m a big supporter […] |
Box Office: 1/12/2007 Weekend
In its opening weekend Arthur and the Invisibles took in $4.3 million, only good enough to crack the top ten in 9th place. Happily N’Ever After added another $3.3 million in its second weekend for a 12th place finish – and a two week total of $10.8 million. Happy Feet danced to a 17th place […] |