{{link http://forum.bcdb.com/gforum.cgi?post=13391 The Big Cartoon Database}} reports that “after two years of preparation, filming of the first Wallace and Gromit feature movie will start in a few days”. \\Curse Of The Wererabbit\\, featuring the voices of Peter Sallis , Helena Bonham Carter, and Ralph Fiennes, is expected to be in production for 18 months with […]

{{link http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/ Anime News Network}} reports that Hayao Miyazaki’s \\Howl’s Moving Castle\\ is set for its Japanese release on July 17, 2004. The Japanese release date for \\Ghost in the Shell: Innocence\\ was also annonced and is set for March 6, 2004.

Last week’s NPR interview with \\The Simpson’s\\ and \\Futurama\\ creator Matt Groening is now available on the {{link http://freshair.npr.org/day_fa.jhtml?display=day&todayDate=10/23/2003 NPR website}} in Real or Windows Media formats.

{{link http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hp&cf=prev&id=1808405700 Greg’s Previews}} reports the rumor (first heard from {{link http://www.variety.com Variety}}) that Pixar is considering a slight name change for John Lasseter’s next film, \\Cars\\. The possibly renamed \\The Cars\\ is heading for a 2005 release.

{{link http://www.davisdvd.com/news/daily_news.html DavisDVD}} has Columbia TriStar’s January release slate, which includes (finally!) \\The Critic: The Entire Series\\ on the 27th. The show debuted in 1994, on ABC before being cancelled. It was picked up by FOX where it ran for another season (including a guest apperance by \\Critic\\ Jay Sherman on a crossover episode of […]

{{link http://www.billboard.com/bb/charts/videos/dvd.jsp \\Billboard\\ November 1, 2003 chart}}: 1 – \\The Lion King\\ (Platinum Edition) 10 – \\Sleeping Beauty\\

{{link http://www.billboard.com/bb/charts/videos/sales.jsp \\Billboard\\ November 1, 2003 chart}}: 1 – \\The Lion King\\ (Platinum Edition) 2 – \\Barbie of Swan Lake\\ 5 – \\Scooby-Doo and the Monster of Mexico\\ 7 – \\Sleeping Beauty\\ 8 – \\Stitch! The Movie\\ 10 – \\Bionicle: Mask of Light\\

{{link http://www.dvdfanatic.com/news.php?id=0310241 DVDFanatic.com}} reviews the direct to video \\Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman\\. The reviewer believes that “the story just isn’t compelling and the supporting cast doesn’t get to support anything”. However, he says, the “story was never the most compelling part of the Batman cartoon. It’s the look and this is where \\BMOTB\\ delivers. […]

In an in-depth article, {{link http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=pageone&article_no=1898 AWN}} follows the story behind \\Brother Bear\\, from its inception to its debut. This one is a must read! Besides telling an interesting story, it has a lot of little known trivia including: – part of Michael Eisner’s inspiration in pushing this project forward was “an original landscape he’d […]

{{link http://lightsoutentertainment.com/news/news.php?id=1931 Lights Out Entertainment}} has the first look at the teaser poster for the live-action/CG film \\Garfield\\. The movie, which opens June 18, 2004, features Bill Murray as the title voice, and a screenplay by Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow, co-writers of \\Toy Story\\.

The future does not look bright for \\Brother Bear\\ if the compilation of reviews at {{link http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/BrotherBear-1127071/reviews.php?rtp=1 Rotten Tomatoes}} is right. So far the Disney film already has 15 rotten reviews out of 17, for an abysmal freshness rating of 12%. Keep track as the reviews pour in in advance of next Saturday’s release date.

The Glen Keane directed Disney movie \\Rapunzel\\ has apparently been renamed. According to \\{{link http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB106686389992986500,00.html?mod=home%5Fpage%5Fone%5Fus The Wall Street Journal}}\\, the title is now \\Rapunzel Unbraided\\. The \\Journal\\ takes an in-depth look at Disney’s switch from traditional hand drawn animation to computer animation. The story follows traditional animator Keane’s journey as he trades in his pencils […]

FOX TV has four new animated shows planned for the 2004-2005 season, and \\{{link http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=upsell_article&articleID=VR1117894386&cs=1 Variety}}\\ reports that one is based on radio host Phil Hendrie, the “critically-hailed KFI-AM gabber known for his ‘theater of the mind’-style show”. (\\{{link http://www.animationmagazine.net/article.php?article_id=1677 Animation Magazine}}\\ has the info for those without a \\Variety\\ subscription.) Steve Levitan, Phil Lord, […]

In 1986, Apple Computer founder Steve Jobs purchased the computer graphics division of Lucasfilms for $10 million. The new company, called Pixar, has gone on to become one of the greatest success stories in the animation business. {{link http://www.redherring.com/article.aspx?f=Articles/2003%2F10%2F0c7fc820-5666-48fc-addf-496ba6276531%2F0c7fc820-5666-48fc-addf-496ba6276531.xml&hed=George%20Lucas%20gets%20animated Red Herring}} reports that George Lucas’ company is preparing to strike back. “Earlier this year, San […]

An {{link http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=16359 Ain’t It Cool News}} contributor got a sneak look at Dreamworks’ \\Shrek 2\\. “This is going to be HUGE. We were treated to the voice acting, and later a few actual shots, of Shrek and Donkey running into Puss in Boots played by the one and only Antonio Banderas. and I can […]

{{link http://www.nausicaa.net Nausicaa.net}} will be interviewing Cindy and Don Hewitt, “the duo behind the English adaptations of \\Spirited Away\\, \\Porco Rosso\\, and \\Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind\\ (among others)”. They are {{email nausicaa_interview@airpost.net accepting interview questions}} from their readers through October 25. They have also announced they are moving to a new server, so […]

With no signs of a buyer in sight analysts say Disney will have to wait until next year to find someone interested in purchasing its chain of Disney Stores. {{link http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/031022/media_disney_stores_3.html Reuters}} reports that one of the major problems is that Disney has already “sold hundreds of licenses for their famed characters, flooding the market […]

Walt Disney Internet Group {{link http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/?epi_menuItemID=989a6827590d7dda9cdf6023a0908a0c&epi_menuID=c791260db682611740b28e347a808a0c&epi_baseMenuID=384979e8cc48c441ef0130f5c6908a0c&newsId=20031022005227&ndmViewId=news_view&newsLang=en&div=1865077808 announced}} today that they will soon bring some of their popular Disney and Pixar characters to mobile phones in the form of voice ring tones. “Initially, the character voices will include Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Stitch, Pooh and Tigger. There will be several […]

{{link http://www.jimhillmedia.com/main/index.htm Jim Hill}} gets the scoop once again in a great article on \\George of the Jungle 2.\\ Brendan Fraser, the actor portraying the title character in the original movie, reportedly turned down $12.5 million to appear in the sequel but came up with a hilarious idea for a cameo. Unfortunately, when the directors […]

Disney Legend, animator, director, musician, railroad enthusiast, two-time Academy Award winner, and possibly the man responsible for getting America ready to head into space, Ward Kimball is the subject of new articles at both {{link http://www.digitalmediafx.com/Features/wardkimball.html Digital Media FX}} and {{link http://www.animagic.hpg.ig.com.br/wardkimball.htm Animagic}}.

Carl Urbano, winner of the Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists Golden Award in 1981, has died at 94. He began his career in the 1930’s, and in 1940 was an animator for the Oscar-nominated \\Puss Gets The Boot\\, the first appearance of Tom and Jerry and the first “full teaming of William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, […]

\\Fresh Spins\\, a direct-to-video animated series that takes traditional stories and gives them a, what else, fresh spin, is set for a Spring 2004 release according to \\{{link http://www.animationmagazine.net/article.php?article_id=1672 Animation Magazine}}\\. Developed by {{link http://www.Noodlesoup.net Noodlesoup Prods.}} and the {{link http://www.thejgroup.com Johnson Group}} and created by Jeffrey Nodelman, the stories will feature scripts by David […]

{{link http://www.broadway.com/template_1.asp?CI=31575&CT=38 Broadway.com}} reports that Destiny’s Child’s Michelle Williams will replace Toni Braxton in the musical \\Aida\\ next month. \\Aida\\, with a score by Elton John and Tim Rice in their first collaboration since \\The Lion King\\, is Disney Theatricals third Broadway show.

An insider who has seen the storyboards in progress has let us know that a \\Fox and the Hound\\ midquel is currently in development at Disney. We’re told the story features some sort of circus that looks similar to the backgrounds from the apparently dead in the water \\Dumbo 2\\. There is also a new […]

A federal court has denied Caterpillar’s request to halt Disney’s release of \\George of the Jungle 2\\, calling their arguments “unpersuasive”. Caterpillar charged trademark infringement because of scenes in the movie where the villains drive their equipment. They also claimed their reputation would be tarnished because of the association.

Scott Adams, creator of the daily comic strip \\Dilbert\\, has invited five top cartoonists to draw and write the strip all this week. A further twist – the artists are not named so you can try to guess who did them! Check out {{link http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/mystery_artist.html the strips}} all this week to play along.

Russia’s first theatrically released animated feature in forty years will be screened at the Chicago International Animation Festival (November 6-8) according to {{link http://www.bcdb.com/ The Big Cartoon Database}}. {{link http://melnitsa.com/melnitsa.htm Melnitsa Animation’s}} first full-length animated feature \\{{link http://karliknos.spb.ru/eng/mult Little Longnose}}\\ (\\Karlik Nos\\ in Russian) premiered in Russia in March 2003. BCDB contacted Melnitsa Animation about […]

{{link http://news.awn.com/index.php3?ltype=top&newsitem_no=9411 AWN}} reports that Disney has named it’s 2003 Disney Legends honorees, a recognition that began in 1987 to honor individuals for their “creativity and imagination”. This year’s honorees are: Tutti Camarata – Music; Edna Disney – Founder; Lillian Disney – Founder; Orlando Ferrante – Imagineering; Richard Fleischer – Film; Floyd Gottfredson – Publishing; […]

\\Business 2.0\\, a monthly magazine owned by Time Inc., reports in their {{link http://www.business2.com/articles/mag/0,,52723,00.html current issue}} that “on November 5, \\The Matrix: Revolutions\\ will become the first Hollywood film to open simultaneously on both traditional and Imax screens”. Hold on there! Apparently Disney’s \\Treasure Planet\\ still gets no respect! According to {{link http://www.licensingmedia.com/news/html/012502-3.html this story}} […]

Three DVD news items for you today! First, the much sought-after, but impossible to find \\{{link http://www.frankandollie.com Frank & Ollie}}\\ DVD has been spotted for sale in the music store on Main Street in Disneyland! {{link http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000TAYSO/qid=1066674006/sr=8-8/ref=sr_8_8/103-1770025-2203035?v=glance&s=dvd&n=507846 Amazon}} has relisted the disk as being not available until November 18, 2003. Second, {{link http://www.animatedbliss.com/news.asp?TID=1122 AnimatedBliss.com}} has […]