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 […]

The National Academy Of Recording Arts & Sciences has announced the nominees for the 48th Annual Grammy Awards. The eligibility year for the Grammy’s does not coincide with the calendar year as most awards do. Nominees are chosen from recordings released from October 1, 2004 through September 30, 2005. Animated movies and tv shows received […]

\\Aeon Flux\\, the live action feature film based on the MTV animated series, came in second at the box office in its opening weekend according to {{link http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=1954&p=.htm Box Office Mojo}}. It’s $13.1 million was at the “high end of low expectations”. \\Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire\\ stayed in the top spot, making […]

{{link http://forum.bcdb.com/gforum.cgi?post=55126 The Big Cartoon Database}} reports that in addition to the {{link http://www.animatedviews.com/wp-content/uploads/archives/00004174.html DC Comics stamps}} being released next year, the {{link http://www.usps.com/communications/news/stamps/2005/sr05_054.htm United States Postal Service}} is also releasing two other postage sets featuring animated characters. The first, called “Favorite Children’s Book Animals” and being released in January, features eight cherished characters from […]

Admit it. You’re a Pixar geek! You put the DVD’s on the 42 inch TV so you can find all the hidden gags. You’ve read the book titles on Andy’s bookshelf. You’re clued in to A113. When wannabes try to tell you who Harryhausens restaurant is named after, you laugh at their feeble skills and […]

Stan Berenstain, who with his wife Jan created the popular \\Berenstain Bears\\ children’s books, died on Saturday in Pennsylvania, according to \\{{link http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-11-29-berenstain-obit_x.htm?csp=34 USA Today}}\\. He was 82. The couple published the first book, \\The Great Honey Hunt\\, in 1962, and since then \\The Berenstain Bears\\ have appeared in over 200 books, an animated TV […]

The perennial holiday classic \\Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer\\ airs tonight at 8pm ET on CBS. And, unlike the false reports last year, it \\will\\ air for the very first time in high definition this year! First broadcast in 1964, \\Rudolph\\ features a popular musical score from Johnny Marks and the voice talent of the legendary […]

{{link http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire2005/index.php?category=0&id=33425 SciFi Wire}} reports that Peter Chung, the creator of the MTV animated series \\Aeon Flux\\, has said that he’d rather see an animated version of his character than the live action version opening this Friday. “I honestly [was] very against it, because I wanted to do an animated movie, and I thought that […]

{{link http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4476534.stm BBC}} reports that \\Charlie and the Chocolate Factory\\ was named Best Film in the Kids’ Vote at the 10th Children’s British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards. However, \\The Incredibles\\ picked up the Best Film prize from the BAFTA panel. A full list of winners and nominees is available from the {{link […]

After earlier news that they were considering canceling the popular series, Disney Channel has picked up \\Kim Possible\\ for a fourth season, according to \\{{link http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=entertainmentNews&storyID=2005-11-29T031245Z_01_ARM911471_RTRUKOC_0_US-DISNEY.xml&archived=False The Hollywood Reporter}}\\. “The decision was spurred in part by a months-long viewer campaign for Disney to continue making episodes”. Disney Channel has also orders a full season of […]

Andrew Adamson, co-writer and director of the \\Shrek\\ films (and currently directing \\The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe\\), tells {{link http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire2005/index.php?category=0&id=33420 SciFi Wire}} that while he will help write and executive-produce \\Shrek 3\\ he will hand over the directoral duties to others. “It’s a story that I’m [emotionally] attached to, […]

{{link http://pixaranimation.blogspot.com/ Luxo}} has a roundup of blog updates from animators, including {{link http://louromano.blogspot.com/ Lou Ramano}}, {{link http://talesofcolossus.blogspot.com/ Mark Andrews}}, {{link http://www.ronniedelcarmen.com/blog1/blog.html Ronnie del Carmen}}, {{link http://enricocasarosa.com/wordpress.1/ Enrico Casarosa}}, {{link http://roseandisabel.blogspot.com/ Ted Mathot}}, and the {{link http://www.e-villepress.blogspot.com/ E-Ville Press}} gang (of Mark Andrews, Max Brace, Simon Dunsdon, Louis Gonzales, Robert Kondo, Ted Mathot, Kevin O’Brien, […]

Rick DeMott, managing editor of {{link http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=pageone&article_no=2705&page=2 Animation World Network}}, takes a look at the upcoming Academy Award races for Animated Feature and Animated Short films and tries to predict what Oscar might be thinking.

{{link http://www.darkhorizons.com/news05/051128a.php Dark Horizons}} has pictures of the Davy Jones haunted ship from Disney’s upcoming film \\Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest\\. The film is scheduled to open in July 2006.

The Producers Guild of America added a category for animation to their annual PGA Awards, according to {{link http://news.awn.com/index.php?ltype=top&newsitem_no=15473 AWN}}. PGA Awards co-chair, Bruce Cohen said, “The recent renaissance in animated features has been one of our industry’s greatest success stories of the past decade, and we feel it’s only appropriate that the Producers Guild […]

{{link http://www.moviesonline.ca/movienews_6450.html Movies Online}} notes that the official website for \\{{link http://www.aeonflux.com/ Aeon Flux}}\\ has been updated with lots of new content, including new sections for production notes and cast and crew bios, more images and production art, a downloadable screensaver, and much more. The film, based on the MTV animated series created by Peter […]

{{link http://www.la.siggraph.org The Los Angeles Professional Chapter of ACM SIGGRAPH}} is holding a special screening of \\Chicken Little\\ in Disney Digital 3-D, followed by speakers from Walt Disney Feature Animation presenting the making of \\Chicken Little\\, with a focus on animation, effects, and the process of bringing the film to theaters in 3-D. The event […]

On its opening day, take a look behind the scenes of Disney’s first CG animated feature, \\Chicken Little\\. QUICKTIME: little | big WINDOWS MEDIA: little | big

In addition to being Disney’s first entirely computer generated animated film, \\Chicken Little\\ will also be the first film screened in Disney Digital 3-D, a new technology created in collaboration with Dolby Laboratories and Industrial Light & Magic. More information about Disney Digital 3-D, a commercial promoting the film in this format, and a full […]

On a day when Aardman Animaton planned on celebrating this weekend’s box office success, things went sour when a warehouse used to store props and sets from past projects caught fire this morning in Bristol, England, according to {{link http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Movies/10/10/aardman.fire/index.html CNN}}. No one was in the building at the time and no one was hurt. […]

One of the projects of interest to animation fans being shown and launched at this year’s MIPCOM, the audiovisual content show hosted in Cannes later this month, is \\Ginja Ninja\\ (pronounced like “Ginger”, to rhyme with “Ninja”). The live-action show mixes the traditions of classic silent comedies with highly visual storytelling, slapstick situations, and big […]

Advertising for \\The Curse of the Were-Rabbit\\ has been banned from the Isle of Portland, Dorset in the United Kingdom, according to \\{{link http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1815040,00.html The Times}}\\. For over a century local superstition has considered the word “rabbit” to be bad luck. The word is not used by the locals who use terms like “underground mutton” […]

{{link http://movies.aol.com/behind_the_scenes_wallace_gromit_movie Moviefone}} goes behind the scenes of \\The Curse of the Were-Rabbit\\ to learn about the work necessary to bring Wallace and Gromit to life with these two videos.

In a surprising announcement, Disney said yesterday in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that Michael Eisner “resigned his board seat last Friday and will not serve as a company consultant, as he had been entitled to do under his employment agreement”, according to the {{link http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051007/ap_on_bi_ge/disney_eisner AP}}. After resigning as CEO in September Eisner […]

DreamWorks/Aardman’s \\The Curse of the Were-Rabbit\\ opens today in 3,645 theatres, according to {{link http://www.boxofficemojo.com/counts/chart/?yr=2005&wk=40&p=.htm Box Office Mojo}}, who {{link http://www.boxofficemojo.com/forecast/ predict}} a first place finish for the weekend with $14.8 million. {{link http://www.rottentomatoes.com/news/comments/?entryid=248729 Rotten Tomatoes}} says “this \\Curse\\ is a blessing. Or, more to the point, it’s the best-reviewed wide release of the year […]

Take a sneak peek at \\The Curse of the Were-Rabbit\\ with these seven clips from the movie, available in four different sizes in Quicktime, Windows Media, and Real Player formats.