After passing \\The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie\\ on last weekends box office chart, \\The Polar Express\\ sped past \\The Incredibles\\ and became the top animated film this week according to {{link http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=2004&wknd=49&p=.htm Box Office Mojo}}. \\The Polar Express\\ moved up to third on the weekends box office with $11 million ($96.4 total), barely missing the number […]

The WB television network holiday slate this year features several perennial favorites, the biggest being the exclusive network broadcast airing of the \\The Wizard of Oz\\. The film will air on Sunday, December 19 at 7:30pm ET. \\The Wizard of Oz\\, based on the book by L. Frank Baum and starring Judy Garland, will be […]

A holiday tradition continues this week when the CBS television network begins airing its holiday animated specials. First up is the 40th anniversary broadcast of \\Rudolph The Red-nosed Reindeer\\ on tonight at 8pm ET. \\Rudolph\\ features a popular musical score from Johnny Marks and the voice talent of the legendary Burl Ives. It was produced […]

{{link http://www.mushroomvillage.com/smurfs-article049.html MushroomVillage.com}} reports that DIC Entertainment has acquired the broadcast rights to 26 half-hour episodes of the classic cartoon series \\The Smurfs\\. “\\The Smurfs\\ will begin airing in January 2005 on the top-rated DIC Kid’s Network, a unique three-hour programming block designed to provide stations with children’s programming that meets ‘core’ FCC requirements. DIC […]

{{link http://comingsoon.net/news/topnews.php?id=7361 ComingSoon.net}} notes that Cheech Marin has said in an interview that he is part of the cast for Pixar’s \\Cars\\. His character, named Ramon, is “the auto–body shop, paintjob and interior type guy. He’s a ’58 Chevy and every time you see him he’s got a new look, a new paintjob, new interior; […]

The three animated films released this month all remain in the top 5 at the box office this week according to {{link http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=2004&wknd=48&p=.htm Box Office Mojo}}. \\The Incredibles\\ held steady at #2 with $24 million ($214.7 million total). With the unofficial start of the Christmas season this past weekend \\The Polar Express\\ charged past \\The […]

Tonight is a great night for animation fans as two broadcast networks are airing two popular computer animated films. NBC will air DreamWorks’ \\Shrek\\, while FOX will air Twentieth Century Fox/Blue Sky’s \\Ice Age\\. Both begin at 7pm ET (barring sporting events running late). And for those able to receive it, both will air in […]

According to {{link http://www.boxofficemojo.com/daily/chart/?sortdate=2004-11-26&p=.htm Box Office Mojo}} estimates \\The Incredibles\\ topped the $200 million mark on Friday. The take is just below \\Finding Nemo\\, which had earned $213 million by its 22nd day of release, and well behind \\Shrek 2\\, which had earned $325 million by its 22nd day of release. \\The Incredibles\\’ box office […]

{{link http://voom.com/vhdo/mnst/index.jsp Monster HD}}, one of the Voom satellite television service original channels, will air a special Ray Harryhausen Triple Feature on Tuesday, November 30. The three films running back to back to back are \\It Came from Beneath the Sea\\, \\The Three Worlds of Gulliver\\, and \\One Million Years B.C\\. All the films will […]

Retailer {{link http://www.childrensplace.com/ The Children’s Place}} has announced that it has successfully completed its previously announced acquisition of the Disney Store retail chain in North America. Ezra Dabah, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Children’s Place said, “We believe that the Disney brand together with our retail expertise will be a powerful and profitable […]

\\{{link http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hkdisney23nov23,1,7240083.story The L.A. Times}}\\ reports that Disney has consulted a feng shui master to determine the opening date for Hong Kong Disneyland – September 12, 2005. The park’s group managing director Don Robinson said, “A lot of our work has gone through feng shui masters”. He added that they “assured us that Sept. 12 […]

Two relative newcomers will direct and write the fifth installment of the popular \\Harry Potter\\ film franchise according to a \\Variety\\ report at {{link http://www.cinecon.com/news.php?id=0411194 Cinema Confidential}}. \\Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix\\ will be directed by David Yates with a screenplay by Michael Goldenberg. Yates, who is more known for his televison […]

{{link http://www.cartoonbrew.com/ Cartoon Brew}}’s Jerry Beck reports that the long-suffering aways-in-limbo \\Lil’ Pimp\\ will finally see the light of release. On January 11th, 2005, the R-rated Flash made film, originally planned as a theatrical feature, will be released on DVD. Beck succinctly sums up the production’s troubled backstory: “It has a disasterous production history, stories […]

According to \\{{link http://www.thehollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/brief_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000725285 The Hollywood Reporter}}\\, FOX will be airing an episode of \\Family Guy\\ that they once banned because of anti-Semitic concerns. Titled \\When You Wish Upon a Weinstein\\ and set for broadcast at 9:30pm ET December 10, “sources said the network was emboldened to air the episode because it has already run […]

{{link http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=2004&wknd=47&p=.htm Box Office Mojo}} reports that \\The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie\\ opened with $32 million this weekend, coming in second to \\National Treasure\\’s $35.1 million. {{link http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/041121/nysu023_1.html Nick Movies}} notes that the take shatters “the previous record held by \\The Rugrats Movie\\ in 1998 at $27.3 million… to make it the strongest opening ever for […]

\\{{link http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/fridayreview/story/0,,1348509,00.html The Guardian}}\\ has a feature article titled \\How Pixar Conquered the Planet\\ that looks behind the scenes of “the most successful studio in the history of cinema”.

Animation has taken over the nation’s movie screens this week as all of the top three showing films are animated films. According to {{link http://www.boxofficemojo.com/counts/chart/?yr=2004&wk=47&p=.htm Box Office Mojo}}, Disney/Pixar’s \\The Incredibles\\ is showing on 3,683 screens, Warner Brothers’ \\The Polar Express\\ is on 3,650 screens, and Paramount’s \\The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie\\ is on 3,212 screens. […]

If nautical nonsense be something you wish, you’ll be happy to know that \\The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie\\ opens today! The film has a 70% freshness rating from {{link http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/spongebob_squarepants_movie/ Rotten Tomatoes}}, with those critics who like it loving the zaniness, while those not liking it can’t seem to agree on why!

{{link http://www.afi.com/tvevents/100years/quotes.aspx The American Film Institute}} will “count down America’s 100 greatest lines of dialogue spoken in the movies, as chosen by experts of the motion picture community, in a three-hour television event on the CBS Television Network in June 2005”. AFI’s Director and CEO Jean Picker Firstenberg said, “Great movie quotes become part of […]

The {{link http://www.wearefamilyfoundation.org/ We Are Family Foundation}} has announced their partnership with some of the biggest names in children’s programming to create a DVD to be distributed in schools to promote tolerance and diversity. The project brings together characters from Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, and PBS programs to sing a new version of the song \\We […]

The long awaited \\Iron Giant\\: Special Edition DVD was finally released today. The DVD was reportedly finished months ago but held until the theatrical release of director Brad Bird’s latest film \\The Incredibles\\. For a film considered to be one of the best animated films in history, not many people have seen or even heard […]

Animated films took the top two box office spots this weekend according to {{link http://boxofficemojo.com/ Box Office Mojo}}. In its second week \\The Incredibles\\ took the #1 spot again with $51 million, bringing its total to $144 million. \\The Polar Express\\ had a $23.5 million three-day opening weekend – good enough for only the #2 […]

Todd Doogan of {{link http://www.thedigitalbits.com/doogansviews/111504.html#har The Digital Bits}} reviews the DVD of \\Harvie Krumpet\\, the film that beat competion from the some major studios (Disney’s \\Destino\\, Pixar’s \\Boundin’\\, and Blue Sky’s \\Gone Nutty\\) to win the Oscar for Best Animated Short. Doogan says the film has “plenty of heart and soul” and that the DVD […]

Greg Spiridellis of {{link http://www.jibjab.com/ JibJab Media}}, creators of the “animated web sensation” \\This Land\\ parody, revealed information about their next project. According to \\{{link http://www.animationmagazine.net/article.php?article_id=3202 Animation Magazine}}\\, he said “We’re working on a holiday piece that is going to be a spoof of \\We Are the World\\. It’s got all the world leaders including […]

{{link http://news.awn.com/index.php?ltype=cat&category1=Television&newsitem_no=12411 Animation World Network}} reports that after only three episodes aired Comedy Central has already ordered a second season of \\Drawn Together\\. The show, hyped as “television’s first animated reality series”, was created by Matt Silverstein and Dave Jeser and is produced by Rough Draft Studios. Silverstein and Jeser said, “We’re astonished that Comedy […]

{{link http://news.awn.com/index.php?ltype=top&newsitem_no=12405 Animation World Network}} reports that Warner Brothers has opened their new {{link http://LooneyTunes.com LooneyTunes.com}} website, which includes “the first original Looney Tunes shorts (online or offline) in more than a year… more games, a new Showcase section where fans can get the latest Looney Tunes news, an updated Looney Shop and more Looney […]

The Laguna College of Art and Design, in Laguna Beach, California, will be hosting The Art and Entertainment of Chuck Jones on Saturday, November 20. The event will include a collection from the archives of the Chuck Jones Foundation, showing the development of Chucks work from though process to creation of his characters and fine […]

{{link http://www.creativetalentnetwork.com/ The Creative Talent Network}}, a virtual community of industry animators, designers, production artists and others, is online as a resource for people who want to “come together to market their talents, pursue common goals, share their experience, connect with other professionals worldwide and improve the ability for clients to connect with them”. According […]

The webmaster at the {{link http://www.philcollins.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=news;action=display;num=1098992454 Phil Collins Forum}} reports that Collins has emailed them his upcoming schedule which includes the fact that after the arrival of his next child, “he has some singing to do for \\Tarzan 2\\, which is direct to video/DVD, for which he wrote a couple of new songs”.

DreamWorks has landed the domestic distribution rights to the Japanese science fiction action film \\Casshern\\, which it will release under the banner of its specialty film division, Go Fish Pictures. The film blends Japanimation and manga-inspired live action. DreamWorks says of the plot: “It is late in the 21st century. After 50 years of devastating […]