Up was named the Best Animated Film of the year and Michael Giacchino won for scoring it at the Golden Globes. Avatar won Best Picture and Best Director.

Is Fantastic Mr. Fox the frontrunner for the Oscar? The New York TImes makes the case — in their usual in-depth fashion. Awards Daily, however, much more tersely replies “but critics don’t vote on the Oscars”.

Amid over at Cartoon Brew has the disappointing news that the Tintin estate (or more specifically “the lawyer who married the widow of Tintin creator Hergé and now controls the Tintin estate”) is suing people who use the character, even when it might fall into the fair use category. One target of a lawsuit, Bob […]

The New York TImes has a list of about 100 films being released this year including a short blurb about each. Note that the list is sorted by the season of the year the films are being released.

The New York Times has a nice piece about Blue Sky Studios, their history, how they upset the major players in 2009, and their future. They note that Ice Age 3 was the #1 animated film of 2009 at the global box office, easily besting Pixar’s Up and DreamWorks’ Monsters vs. Aliens — and they […]

The L.A. Times was on hand for a screening of Waking Sleeping Beauty, a documentary which looks at Disney during the turbulent period from the 1980s to early 1990s. Financed and distributed by Disney, and produced by Peter Schneider and directed by Don Hahn, you might expect a white-washed version of events. Not so says […]

ABC7 in Los Angeles has a report and some video of the Roy E. Disney memorial service held yesterday at the El Capitan Theatre. The upbeat ceremony featured performances and clips from some of his work and guests were asked to wear bright colors instead of black. Disney CEO Robert Iger announced that Burbank animation […]

DreamWorks Animation made a splash at the recent Consumer Electronics Show. The company is teaming up with Samsung to promote 3D television, according to Variety. Buyers of Samsung 3D TV’s will get a free copy of the Monsters vs. Aliens 3D Blu-ray disc, the first ever 3D BD. Exclusive 3D trailers from DreamWorks will also […]

Now at 20 years and counting, The Simpsons is a pop culture institution. Intelligent Life compares and contrasts the show to another animation powerhouse — Disney. The piece makes several interesting points, including: while The Simpsons started as a sort of anti-Disney, over time the show has gone from rebel to establishment; perhaps counterintuitively, Disney […]

Little Nemo, The Muppet Movie, Quasi at the Quackadero, The Red Book, and Scratch and Crow were added to the National Film Registry according to the head of the Library of Congress, James Billington. Each year the Librarian of Congress, advised by the National Film Preservation Board, selects up to 25 films that are culturally, […]

Annie Award winning actress Brittany Murphy has died of an apparent heart attack at age 32, several sources (such as the New York Post) are reporting. Murphy is best known to animation fans as the voice of Luanne Platter on the long running series King of the Hill. She also had roles in the TV […]

James Cameron’s Avatar (finally) opens in 3,453 theatres according to Box Office Mojo. The film scores a solid 82% at Rotten Tomatoes, with their consensus being that “It might be more impressive on a technical level than as a piece of storytelling, but Avatar reaffirms James Cameron’s singular gift for imaginative, absorbing filmmaking.” The Tomatometer […]

New trailers for what are poised to be two of the biggest films of 2010 are now online in high definition at the Apple trailers site: Shrek Forever After (opening in May) and Toy Story 3 (opening in June).

If you’re lucky enough to be in the area Saturday night, check out this charity art show and auction at the at the CCAA Museum of Art in Rancho Cucamonga. The event benefits the Loma Linda Childrens Hospital. Among those displaying work will be Disney artists, Floyd Norman, Bruce Smith, Bill Perkins, Aurian Redson, Glen […]

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, Coraline, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Princess And The Frog, and Up are the nominees for Best Animated Feature at the upcoming Golden Globe Awards. Avatar picked up nods for Best Picture, Director, Score, and Song. And Michael Giacchino got a nomination for scoring Up. The HFPA has more.

Disney’s long awaited return to hand drawn animation,The Princess and the Frog, opens today in 3,432 theatres according to Box Office Mojo. The film is getting good reviews from the critics, scoring a solid 83% at Rotten Tomatoes. The critical consensus is that “The warmth of traditional Disney animation makes this occasionally lightweight fairy-tale update […]

If you’re not a Twitter user you’re missing out on a really cool tool to connect with friends and strangers around the world. And some of those strangers are actually celebrities who talk about what they’re up to. Case in point — today Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich (@leeunkrich) is tweeting and posting updates, […]

Variety reports that actor Jack Black, partner Ben Cooley, and writer Jason Micallef have successfully pitched an untitled animated film to Illumination Entertainment, who are currently in production on Despicable Me. The story is about cryptozoology.

The Fox TV network, already home to more prime time animated series’ than any other network, is adding two more to the lineup. Variety says Fox won the bidding on the Matthew McConaughey produced Rooster Tales, based on the life of the actor’s real life brother. “”My brother’s life is so unbelievable, we had to […]

ASIFA-Hollywood has announced the nominations for the 37th Annual Annie Awards, which recognize the year’s best achievements in the field of animation. The Best Animated Feature nominees are Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Coraline, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Princess and the Frog, The Secret of Kells, and Up. Walt Disney Animation Studios’ The Princess […]

A new extended trailer for the next Family Guy Star Wars spoof — Something, Something, Something, Dark Side — premieres today on the iTunes Store and the Apple Trailers website.

Fast Company has an extensive and frank piece with DreamWorks’ Jeffrey Katzenberg who, among many other interesting quotes, says, “Michael Eisner firing me is the best thing that ever happened in my career”.

The directors of The Princess and the Frog, Ron Clements and John Musker, are on the promotional circuit for their new film. You can check out interviews with the two at AWN and the L.A.Times.

With the upcoming The Princess and the Frog giving Disney its first black princess, some say that Walt Disney would be spinning in his grave since he was really a racist — a charge detractors have leveled over the years. The L.A Times takes an in-depth look at the history of the man and finds […]

Planet 51 opened yesterday in 3,035 theatres according to Box Office Mojo. It’s Tomatometer rating at Rotten Tomatoes is an abysmal 16%, though the Cream of the Crop critics give it a slightly better 27% and the RT Community is loving it with an 81% score. Box Office Prophets predicts a 5th place opening with […]

AMPAS has announced the 10 animated short films that will compete for Oscar nominations. Thirty-seven pictures had originally qualified in the category. The shorts shortlist follows:

The Animation Blog reports that Disney bought the cover of Daily Variety last week to promote Up not only for Best Animated Feature, but for Best Picture as well. The L.A. Times says Fantastic Mr. Fox’s impressive showing during it’s qualifying run and it’s critical success may make it a strong contender for an animated […]

With awards season getting ready to kick off, it might be fun to discuss some of the best animation of all time. Entertainment Weekly recently put out their take, and if you’ve ever complained that these kinds of lists are too American or Disney-centric you might want to check this one out. On the other […]

The Oscars aren’t the only awards show expanding. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has announced a new rule for the Golden Globe Awards that would allow five nominations in the Best Animated Feature category when there are at least 12 eligible films — which is the case this year. The past three years have had […]