UPDATE: Pixar has {{link http://www.pixar.com/shorts/bdn/ posted a sneak peak}} of their latest animated short film \\Boundin’\\ on their website! And after seeing the clip I can honestly say that I have never looked so forward to seeing an animated short! The story is told in song (with an old-timey western theme) and is about a […]

{{link http://www.superherohype.com/catwoman/index.php?id=693 Superhero Hype!}} has the scoop on an \\Entertainment Weekly\\ article that discusses Pixar’s upcoming \\The Incredibles\\. Though you might expect an action stud like Vin Diesel or The Rock to be voicing the herculean Mr. Incredible, the superlead is played by…Craig T. Nelson. (Holly Hunter speaks for his wife, Elastigirl.) “There’s a school […]

Several prestigious children’s book awards were announced earlier this week by the American Library Association, {{link http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/books/01/12/newbery.caldecott.ap/index.html CNN reports}}. Some of the winners included: \\The Tale of Despereaux\\ by Kate DiCamillo won the 2004 Newbery Medal given for the year’s best writing. It tells the “story of a small mouse in love with a princess”. […]

{{link http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/usatoday/20040109/en_usatoday/disneyraisingcurtainsonnewprojects&e=5 USA Today}} looks at what’s in the pipeline from Disney Theatricals. While much of the info has been reported in this space previously, Thomas Schumacher (president of Disney Theatrical Productions) does go into a little more detail on some of the upcoming shows.

Here’s an offbeat but interesting story from {{link http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/01/15/crime.haiti.reut/index.html CNN}}. Suppose you’re a former military chief in the Haitian army during the bloody military dictatorship of the early 1990’s. As the assistant commander in chief of the Haitian army you are convicted in absentia of murder in November 2000 and sentenced to life in prison […]

{{link http://www.comingsoon.net/news.php?id=3029 ComingSoon.net}} points us to {{link http://www.latinoreview.com/films_2004/dreamworks/shrek2/shrek2.html Latino Review}}, who have posted 6 new images of theatre banners from DreamWorks’ upcoming \\Shrek 2\\. The six banners are of Shrek, Donkey, Princess Fiona, the King and Queen of the Kingdom of Far Far Away, Fairy Godmother and Prince Charming, and Puss In Boots.

{{link http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=pageone&article_no=1971 AWN}} and Jerry Beck take a look back at “the surprises and failures of the 2003 animated features in the US”. He also takes a look at what the coming year holds in a year when “classic theatrical hand drawn character animation – for the first time since… well frankly, for the first […]

{{link http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hp&cf=prev&id=1808468770 Greg’s Prevews}} confirms that \\Garfield\\ has been moved back a week and will be released on June 25th. This “puts it closer to the 4th of July, as the only family movie within two weeks before the holiday”.

Two-time Academy Award winner John Lasseter will receive the Art Directors Guild’s honorary Contribution to Cinematic Imagery Award, according to \\{{link http://www.animationmagazine.net/article.php?article_id=1974 Animation Magazine}}\\. “Not given on an annual basis, the award recognizes individuals whose body of work in the film business has ‘richly enhanced the visual aspects of the movie-going experience’”. In addition to […]

{{link http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/art-film.html?2004-01/13/11.00.film SciFi Wire}} reports that Robert Luketic (\\Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!\\, \\Legally Blonde\\) will be directing and John Leguizamo (\\Ice Age\\, \\Titan A.E.\\) will be starring in the Fox/Blue Sky animated film \\The Iguana Brothers\\. “John Leguizamo’s doing the voice [of one brother],” Luketic said in an interview. “It’s about two Puerto […]

{{link http://forum.bcdb.com/gforum.cgi?post=17866 The Big Cartoon Database}} has a report that suggests that “the closure of Disney’s Orlando feature animation unit signals that an extension of the entertainment giant’s deal with Pixar Animation Studios is nigh”. According to a quoted analyist, if the Disney/Pixar deal were going to fall through, Disney would probably be ramping up […]

AWN has posted an {{link http://mag.awn.com/index.php?article_no=1965 Annie Award Voting Reference Guide}}. The “reference and resource list for all the nominated properties” has links to official websites, trailers, clips, pictures, and feature articles from Animation World Magazine and VFXWorld.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has {{link http://www.oscars.org/press/pressreleases/2003/04.01.12.html announced}} the winners of this years’ Scientific and Technical Achievement Academy Awards. Several awards relate to the art of special effects animation, including one to Stephen Regelous “for the design and development of Massive, the autonomous agent animation system used for the battle sequences […]

{{link http://www.broadway.com/template_1.asp?CI=33352&CT=38 Broadway.com}} reports that “as it is every year, the first week of January was a tough one on Broadway. Every single show was down from the previous week”. \\Beauty and the Beast\\ took one of the biggest hits “down a whopping $517,296 from the week ending January 4”.

Miramax’s \\My Baby’s Daddy\\, which opened in the top five this past weekend, had some help from animation studio {{link http://www.Noodlesoup.net/ Noodlesoup Productions}}. Noodlesoup animated the opening minutes of the film, their second such project for Disney-owned Miramax. “We’re excited that Miramax has such faith in Noodlesoup Productions and has given us the opportunity to […]

Harry Knowles of {{link http://www.aintitcoolnews.com/display.cgi?id=16759 Ain’t It Cool News}} has posted a letter by Jim Hill that has several juicy news nuggets! – Disney Imagineers are preparing a new attraction for the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World called “Stitch’s Great Escape”. The show needed a “a few minutes of new traditionally animated footage featuring […]

The official {{link http://www.garfieldmovie.com/home.html Garfield}} website still lists June 18th as the release date for the film. However, {{link http://www.comingsoon.net/movies/g/garfield.php ComingSoon.net}} reports the release date as June 25th. Does ComingSoon.net have a scoop on a change? Or perhaps the film is going to have a limited opening on the 18th before opening wide a week […]

{{link http://www.comingsoon.net/news.php?id=2969 ComingSoon.net}} has posted a picture of Tom Hanks’ character in \\The Polar Express\\ taken from the latest issue of \\Entertainment Weekly\\ (go to ComingSoon.net for larger version). The magazine also explains how the film is being made. [Writer/Director Robert] Zemeckis is employing motion-capture technology to place Hanks inside what he calls a “moving […]

Cable network Trio will be airing a documentary called \\Shocked\\ about \\South Park\\ creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker on March 7th according to \\{{link http://www.animationmagazine.net/article.php?article_id=1959 Animation Magazine}}\\. “The show will chronicle the subversive duo’s rise from the obscurity of Internet entertainment to media mogul status. \\South Park\\ began with a crudely animated video Christmas […]

{{link http://www.animationblast.com/ Animation Blast}} reports that Klasky Csupo “is apparently not doing so well nowadays. Rumor has it that their staff has dwindled to around 30 people, and that they’re moving from their fancy digs on Sunset Blvd back into their old studio on Highland and Fountain”. {{link http://www.klaskycsupo.com/ Klasky Csupo}}’s work includes \\The Simpsons\\, […]

{{link http://www.bfca.org/ The Broadcast Film Critics Association}} announced the winners of their Critics Choice Awards. \\Finding Nemo\\ won for Best Animated Film, but lost the Best Picture award to \\The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King\\. \\Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl\\ won for Best Live Action Family […]

The {{link http://www.lafca.org/Home/News/2003_lafca_awards_winners.html Los Angeles Film Critics Association}} announced their annual awards today. \\The Triplets of Belleville\\ edged out \\Finding Nemo\\ in the Best Animation category. \\Triplets\\ also picked up the prize for Best Music Score. A Special Citation was awarded to \\Destino\\, the Walt Disney/Salvador Dali short film started in 1946 and only recently […]

\\{{link http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-disney7jan07,1,4316157.story The L.A. Times}}\\ reports that Disney may be taking some of Roy Disney and Stanley Gold’s complaints to heart. The “board of directors, which has come under fire for being too close to management, took another step Tuesday to strengthen its corporate governance guidelines. The changes include adopting a new code of conduct […]

\\Animation Magazine\\ reports changes are taking place at the top of two networks with toon-heavy content. [paid subscription required for Animation magazine] The {{link http://www.animationmagazine.net/article.php?article_id=1943 first report}} states that Cyma Zarghami, who has been with the network for 18 years, has been promoted to president of Nickelodeon Television. “Zarghami, who recently oversaw the wildly successful […]

Jerry Beck at {{link http://www.cartoonresearch.com Cartoon Research}} reviews \\Teacher’s Pet\\, the feature film based on the Disney animated series. Beck says “it’s a frantic, fast paced adventure” that is “certainly the best movie spun off from a Walt Disney Television Animation series – and perhaps the ‘cartooniest’ Disney release since \\The Three Caballeros\\”. The film […]

\\{{link http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-predict28dec28,1,3852827.story The L.A. Times}}\\ has made some bold predictions for the entertainment industry in 2004. Some of the interesting ones include: – “The coming year will be the year that Disney finally gets serious about finding a successor to Chairman Michael Eisner”. \\The Times\\ says that one likely successor could be News Corp.’s chief […]

While Jim Hill {{link http://www.jimhillmedia.com/legacy/index.htm?../articles/01062004.1.htm~contentFrame continues}} his spotlight of the WDFA – Florida situation, don’t miss {{link http://www.jimhillmedia.com/legacy/index.htm?../articles/guest/norman.01062004.1.htm~contentFrame Floyd Norman’s article}} on why what Disney needs right now is a “Crazy Man”!

According to {{link http://www.davisdvd.com/news/daily_news.html DavisDVD}}, \\Futurama: Volume 3\\ will be released on March 9th with a suggested retail price of $49.98. “The four-disc set will feature all twenty-two third season episodes in fullscreen and Dolby Digital Surround sound”. Check out the link for info on the bonus materials.

{{link http://news.awn.com/index.php3?ltype=top&newsitem_no=9951 AWN}} reports that \\Finding Nemo\\ has made the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences short list for the Best Achievement in Sound Editing category. The other potential nominees include: \\Kill Bill: Vol. 1\\, \\The Last Samurai\\, \\The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King\\, \\Master And Commander: The Far Side […]

Kirby C. Holt’s latest {{link http://www.laughingplace.com/News-PID280070-280070.asp Toon Talk}} column at {{link http://www.laughingplace.com Laughingplace.com}} is a look back at 2003 with “The Year in Review” and a top 10 list of “The Year’s Best Disney Films and Videos”.