Disney/C.O.R.E.’s \\The Wild\\ opens today at 2,854 theatres according to {{link http://www.boxofficemojo.com/counts/chart/?yr=2006&wk=15&p=.htm Box Office Mojo}}. The film’s reviews have been disappointing, scoring only 22% on {{link http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_wild/ Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer}}. The critical consensus is that “with a rehashed plot and unimpressive animation, there’s nothing wild about \\The Wild\\”. A third place finish for the weekend […]

{{link http://news.com.com/Disney+to+make+TV+shows+available+free+on+Web/2100-1026_3-6059298.html?tag=nefd.top Reuters}} reports that the ABC television network, owned by the Walt Disney Company, will offer some of its most popular TV shows online for free. Starting in May and June shows like \\Alias\\, \\Commander in Chief\\, \\Desperate Housewives\\, and \\Lost\\ will be available for viewing online the day after they air. The shows […]

Villagers in England hire guards to protect their beloved vegetable gardens from a monster rabbit. Plot of last years best animated film? True, but life is mimicing art in the village of Felton, according to {{link http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060407/od_afp/afplifestylebritainfoodrabbitoffbeat;_ylt=AqaeCQt4FsD0IZZYOdPR0mGs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3ODdxdHBhBHNlYwM5NjQ- AFP}}. Resident Jeff Smith said, “It is a massive thing. It is a monster”. George Brown added, “I […]

Karl Cohen shares with us a piece about Pixar’s upcoming film \\Cars\\ that he wrote for the April {{link http://www.asifa-sf.org/ ASIFA-SF}} newsletter: PIXAR’S \\CARS\\ IMPRESSED THEATER OWNERS AND REVIEWERS AT SHOWEST IN MARCH Reuters’ reported a Canadian theater owner said, “I thought it was a great movie” and that he believed the film would have […]

Easily beating estimates, \\Ice Age: The Meltdown\\ took in a staggering $68 million at the weekend box office according to {{link http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=2006&wknd=13&p=.htm Box Office Mojo}}. The total easily bests the previous top opening weekend in March of $46.3 million set by the original \\Ice Age\\ back in 2002. Overall, the film had the 21st biggest […]

Coming as a bit of a surprise, even after years of speculation, teaser trailers in front of \\Ice Age: The Meltdown\\ announce that a \\Simpsons\\ movie will be a reality in 2007, according to {{link http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=22909 Ain’t It Cool News}}. “The teasers appear to come in at least two flavors. One of the teasers is […]

(NOTE: click here to see how this page looked on April Fool’s Day 2006) AOL Acquires Animated News, Inc. AOL Extends Leadership in Online Entertainment News Hollywood, California – Online consumers seeking the best animation news will now find it on the leading free portal on the web – AOL.com. Animated News, Inc. has been […]

Fox/Blue Sky’s \\Ice Age: The Meltdown\\ opens today at 3,963 theatres according to {{link http://www.boxofficemojo.com/counts/chart/?yr=2006&wk=13&p=.htm Box Office Mojo}}. The film’s reviews come in just on the Fresh side of {{link http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ice_age_2/ Rotten Tomatoes’}} Tomatometer with 62%. The critical consensus seems to be just the opposite of the the original: “Impressive animation carries this sequel, as […]

Don Knotts, most famous for his role as Deputy Barney Fife on \\The Andy Griffith Show\\, died Friday night of pulmonary and respiratory complications at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Beverly Hills, according to the {{link http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/02/25/knotts.obit.ap/index.html AP}}. He was 81 years old. Knotts was no stranger to animation voicing characters in several tv shows and […]

\\Stuart Little 3: Call Of The Wild\\ debuts on DVD today, moving from live action (with some CG characters) to this fully CG animated version which uses toon shading to create a 2D feel. In his third outing, Stuart can’t wait to spend his entire vacation canoeing, hiking and finding his inner scout. But, there […]

Universal Pictures’ \\{{link http://www.curiousgeorgemovie.com/ Curious George}}\\ opens today in 2,565 theatres, according to {{link http://www.boxofficemojo.com/counts/chart/?yr=2006&wk=06&p=.htm Box Office Mojo}}. The film is getting pretty good reviews so far, though most critics note that it is geared towards the younger viewers. The {{link http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10004008-curious_george/ Rotten Tomatoes}} Tomatometer has the film at 74% fresh. {{link http://www.boxofficereport.com/wbon/forecast.shtml Box Office […]

Parents wanting something to entertain the kids with before heading out to the theatre might want to check out these \\Curious George\\ downloads, crafts, and activities!

At the {{link http://www.grammy.com/ 48th Annual Grammy Awards}} music from two animated films took home golden gramophones. “Best Song Written For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media” went to \\Believe\\ from \\The Polar Express\\, written by Glen Ballard & Alan Silvestri and performed by Josh Groban. “Best Instrumental Arrangement” went to Gordon Goodwin for […]

The nominations for the {{link http://www.oscars.org/78academyawards/noms.html 78th Annual Academy Awards}} were announced today. Best Animated Film: \\Howl’s Moving Castle\\, \\Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride\\, \\Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were Rabbit\\ Best Animated Short: \\{{link http://www.tandemfilms.com/home.html Badgered}}\\, \\{{link http://homepages.nyu.edu/~jc7/press/canemaker.pdf The Moon And The Son: An Imagined Conversation}}\\, \\{{link http://www.jaspermorello.com/gazette/ The Mysterious Geographic Explorations Of Jasper […]

\\Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit\\ took home the Best Animated Film award at the {{link http://www.producersguild.org/pg/awards_a/ 17th Annual Producers Guild Awards}}. The DreamWorks/Aardman film beat out competition from \\Chicken Little\\, \\Madagascar\\, \\Robots\\, and \\Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride\\.

MTV Networks (which operates channels such as MTV, Nickelodeon, and Comedy Central) today {{link http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/01-26-2006/0004268298&EDATE= announced}} a partnership with Apple’s iTunes Music Store to make many of their popular shows available for download. Animated offerings now available include: the number-one show with kids 2-5, \\Dora the Explorer\\ ; the entire first season of the number-one […]

{{link http://www.nausicaa.net/index.shtml Nausicaa.net}} notes that 3 Hayao Miyazaki films will be airing on cable TV during the next few weeks. \\Only Yesterday\\ and \\Pom Poko\\ will be broadcast on Turner Classic Movies on January 26th, while \\Spirited Away\\, Academy Award winner for Best Animated Film, will air on Cartoon Network on February 3rd. The website […]

The Academy Award-nominated short film \\{{link http://www.blur.com/shorts/gopher_broke/ Gopher Broke}}\\ will be made into a feature-length film, reports {{link http://www.comingsoon.net/news/indietopnews.php?id=12886 ComingSoon.net}}. “Written and directed by Jeff Fowler, \\Gopher Broke\\ is a stylish toon about a hungry gopher who devises a madcap scheme that he hopes will provide him with a tasty snack.”

{{link http://www.cartoonbrew.com/archives/2006_01.html#001607 Cartoon Brew}} is calling for and posting comments from artists on their thoughts about the Disney/Pixar deal. Comments so far range from the excited (“The creative reins at Animation are being handed over to Pixar. I almost have to pinch myself: John Lasseter is now Creative Head of both Disney Animation AND Pixar […]

\\Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit\\ has been nominated for the Outstanding British Film of the Year in the annual {{link http://www.bafta.org/site/page287.html British Academy of Film and Television Arts}} Awards. Nominated for Short Animation Film are: \\Fallen Art\\, \\Film Noir\\, \\Kamiya’s Correspondence\\, \\The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello\\, and \\Rabbit\\. Nominated in Achievement […]

With Pixar’s Steve Jobs and Disney’s Bob Iger making huge news today, it’s probably just coincidence that Disney chose today to made good on its {{link http://www.animatedviews.com/wp-content/uploads/archives/00004368.html previous announcement}} concerning Job’s other company. Ten classic Disney Academy Award winning or nominated shorts can be downloaded from Apple’s iTunes Music Store starting today for $1.99. Now […]

CBS Corporation and Warner Bros. Entertainment will cease operations of their respective networks – UPN and The WB, the companies announced today. Instead the two will join forces to form a new 5th network, The CW, to be launched in the fall of 2006. The new broadcasting network will be a joint venture between Warner […]

Rotten Tomato’s {{link http://www.rottentomatoes.com/features/rtawards/index_2005.php 7th Annual Golden Tomato Awards}} has awarded \\Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit\\ their top prize for The Best Reviewed Film of 2005 in Wide Release. This is the second win for an Aardman film – \\Chicken Run\\ won the top award in 2000. It is also the third […]

In a surprise to many in the industry, The Weinstein Company’s \\Hoodwinked\\ came away with the most box office goodies making it top of the woods (Hollywood, at least) this holiday weekend with $16.6 million according to {{link http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=1984&p=.htm Box Office Mojo}}. “The first of over a dozen computer-animated movies scheduled for [a wide opening […]

On January 6, 2006, we posted {{link http://www.animatedviews.com/wp-content/uploads/archives/00004371.html this story}} taken from a {{link http://www.business-standard.com/iceworld/storypage.php?chklogin=&autono=210615&leftnm=lmnu9&leftindx=9&lselect=1 Business Standard}} article that quoted animator Manu Ittina. However, according to his {{link http://manuittina.com/blog.html blog}} Ittina says the Business Standard article “totally out of the blue made up statements and attributed” them to him since he has “never spoken to […]

In its first year of eligibility, Pixar’s first feature film, \\Toy Story\\, has been added to the {{link http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2005/05-262.html 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, historically […]

Today is the last day to pick up one-of-a-kind Ice Age and Robots artwork available in Blue Sky Studios’ charity auction on eBay. Proceeds from each piece will go to either the Red Cross or the American Humane Society, as they continue their relief efforts in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The auction […]

{{link http://www.oscars.org/press/pressreleases/2005/05.12.16b.html The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences}} has announced the 7 feature films released in 2005 up for consideration for the Best Visual Effects Oscar: \\Batman Begins\\ \\Charlie and the Chocolate Factory\\ \\The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe\\ \\Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire\\ \\King Kong\\ […]

{{link http://www.oscars.org/press/pressreleases/2005/05.12.15c.html The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences}} has announced the 42 original songs from eligible feature-length films released in 2005 up for consideration for Oscars. Six are from animated films: “\\Great Big World\\” from \\Hookwinked\\ “\\One Little Slip\\” from \\Chicken Little\\ “\\Remains of the Day\\” from \\Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride\\ “\\Shine\\” from […]

The film awards season was kicked off Saturday when the {{link http://www.lafca.net/Home/News/2005_lafca_awards_winners.html Los Angeles Film Critics Association}} announced their winners at their 31st annual festivities. Animated films picked up two awards. “Best Animation” went to \\Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit\\. And Joe Hisaishi took the “Best Music Score” award for \\Howl’s Moving […]