News Archive for Josh

Exclusive: The Art of Planes book to coincide with Planes 2

When Amazon.com recently listed their upcoming books based on Disney’s Planes, one anticipated title was noticeably missing: The Art of Planes. Now an inside source has revealed to Animated Views that the book will not be released – at least, not anytime soon. Instead, Chronicle Books will publish the tentatively-titled Art of Planes 1 & […]

Disney offers first look at Big Hero 6!

The Los Angeles Times has the first look at Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Big Hero 6, its first movie inspired by a Marvel comic. From Winnie the Pooh director Don Hall, the CG feature centers on “a brilliant robotics prodigy Hiro Hamada, who finds himself in the grips of a criminal plot that threatens to […]

New Monsters University, Epic posters

FilmoFilia has three new international posters for Monsters University, centered on the Oozma Kappa (OK) and Jaws Theta Chi (JOX) fraternities and the Python Nu Kappa (PNK) sorority. In other poster news, IMP Awards has the latest one-sheet for Epic, which uses each letter in the film’s title as a “window” for a main character. […]

Unused DC screenplays to become animated features?

Over the past couple of decades, Warner Bros. has tried many times to bring its most famous DC characters to the big screen. To help with these endeavors, the studio has hired many talented writers and directors to develop projects that, for one reason or another, were ultimately abandoned. Some of the more famous attempts […]

Top Cat: The Movie trailer

Top Cat: The Movie has taken its time in coming to the U.S. The film hit theaters in Mexico in September 2011, before hitting the U.K. in June 2012. Now Top Cat: The Movie is making its way to U.S. theaters, and iTunes has the first trailer. Based on the classic Hanna-Barbera series, Top Cat: […]

The Croods TV series in development

After The Croods dominated the box office earlier this year, it was almost inevitable that the film would receive a sequel. But now, the Croods fan blog reports a TV series starring “the first modern family” is in the works as well. During DreamWorks’ Q1 earnings stockholder phone call last week, studio CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg […]

DreamWorks, IDW bringing Jay Ward characters to comics

DreamWorks Classics and Bullwinkle Studios are teaming with IDW Publishing to bring Jay Ward’s classic characters to your local comic book shop, says Comic Vine. Mr. Peabody & Sherman will be the first characters to receive a new comic book series, in anticipation of their computer animated film opening March 2014. A series of comics […]

Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh coming to Blu-ray

Disney has confirmed that The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh will arrive on Blu-ray on August 27. Bonus features for the release will include the classic theatrical short A Day for Eeyore as well as five brand-new Mini Adventures of Winnie the Pooh short films. Plus, for a limited time only, consumers will find […]

Tangled director plots secret Disney film with Jason Bateman

Jason Bateman will lend his voice to a top-secret feature from Walt Disney Animation Studios, says The Hollywood Reporter. With Disney remaining tight-lipped on the project, the only description THR provides is that it’s an “untitled animal comedy.” The feature appears to be in good hands, however, with Bryon Howard (Bolt, Tangled) directing. Bateman’s voiceover […]

Mike and Sulley leave Monsters University for Disney World

Mike Wazowski and James P. Sullivan are taking a break from their studies at Monsters University to visit Walt Disney World. Of course, the characters are no stranger to Disney’s theme parks, since the release of Monsters, Inc. in 2001. But now guests at Hollywood Studios can catch Mike and Sulley sporting younger makeovers and […]

How EAA AirVenture landed Planes

This week, Walt Disney Studios announced that Planes will have a special screening during this year’s EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, at Ford’s Fly-In Theater on August 2. Now TheNorthWestern.com goes behind the scenes of how this event was arranged. According to the article, Mach 2 Marketing began talking with Disney and the Experimental Aircraft Association last […]

Escape from Planet Earth director talks sequel possibility

In addition to being this year’s first animated movie, Escape from Planet Earth proved to be a box office success. Distributed by The Weinstein Company, the film opened mid-February with $16 million before eventually collecting more than $55 million domestically. Does this mean that animation studio Rainmaker Entertainment might soon enter pre-production on a sequel?

Latest on Egill from Legends of Vahalla: Thor creators

Animated Views has a new screenshot from CAOZ’s Egill, a computer animated feature integrating hand drawn elements. Egill is the second CGI film from the Reykjavík-based studio, whose first feature, Legends of Vahalla: Thor, hit U.S. stores last March as Thor: Legend of the Magical Hammer. CAOZ is co-producing Egill with the Hungarian production company […]

Minions gets a slice of Hamm

Deadline reports that Mad Men star Jon Hamm will voice Herb Overkill in Illumination Entertainment’s Despicable Me prequel, Minions. He joins the already-announced Sandra Bullock, who voices Overkill’s wife and aspiring super-villain Scarlet. According to Deadline, Minions is set in the 1960s – before the title henchmen met Gru – and focuses on the Minions’ […]

DreamWorks posts solid earnings for first quarter

For this year’s first quarter, DreamWorks Animation reported $134.6 million in revenue and $5.6 million in net income, partially thanks to The Croods in theaters and several titles on home video. Thus far, The Croods has collected almost $480 million worldwide, well on its way to beating Disney’s Oz the Great and Powerful as the […]

Reel FX aims for quality film slate with no “turkeys”

D Magazine has an in-depth profile on the Dallas-based animation studio Reel FX and its CEO Steve O’Brien. In 20 years, the studio has grown from animating direct-to-video films like Hasbro’s G.I. Joe titles and the Open Season sequels to producing its first theatrical feature, Free Birds. With voice acting by Owen Wilson, Woody Harrelson […]

Monsters University festivities at Disney World

Theme park enthusiast Jeff Lange is keeping viewers updated on the festivities at Walt Disney World to promote Monsters University. On YouTube, he shows Mike Wazowski and Sulley projected onto Epcot’s Spaceship Earth as part of the park’s Monstrous Summer All-Nighter. In another vid, Lange walks viewers through the Monsters University display at Hollywood Studios, […]

Toy Story, Spongebob freebies on iTunes

ITunes is offering some noteworthy freebies for families and animation enthusiasts. Toy Story: Smash It! has unveiled a free Lost Episode version, sure to please fans of the similar block-breaking game Angry Birds. Meanwhile, Surf’s Up, Spongebob! is iTunes’ free book of the week. The book’s synopsis reads, “SpongeBob eagerly accepts Sandy’s invitation to go […]

Smurfs 2 enlists Mario Lopez as Social Smurf

With the summer movie season kicking off this weekend, Sony Pictures is starting to put their marketing muscle behind The Smurfs 2. Of course, no good movie campaign nowadays would be complete without social media integration. Hence, the studio has enlisted the newest member of the original “blue man group”: Social Smurf, voiced by Extra […]

Monsters University director explains “fourth grade” controversy

Among marketing materials for Monsters University, one of the most frequently shown scenes involves a college-aged James P. Sullivan introducing himself to roommate Mike Wazowski. Monsters, Inc. fans have taken issue with this footage, since the 2001 hit has Mike joking to Sulley, “You’ve been jealous of my good looks since the fourth grade, pal!” […]

More How to Train Your Dragon 2 artwork

Our friends The Rotoscopers have scooped new promotional artwork for DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon 2. In addition to images reported last week, their assortment features the characters Hiccup, Toothless, Astrid and a slew of new creatures. Directed by Dean DeBlois, How to Train Your Dragon 2 is expected to enter theaters June […]

Disney’s Planes to take off at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh

Walt Disney Studios announced today that Planes will have a special screening at this year’s EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, the nation’s largest gathering of aviation enthusiasts. The screening will take place at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh, WI, on Friday, August 2 – one week before the film hits theaters nationwide.

The Croods Blu-ray now available to pre-order

Audiences who made The Croods this year’s first animated blockbuster can now pre-order the film on Amazon.com. The film will be available to own via 3D or standard Blu-ray combo packs, with the latter containing a plush toy of the character Belt for a limited time. Directed by Chris Sanders and Kirk DeMicco, The Croods […]

How Pixar built Monsters University; New trailer focuses on Scare Games

/Film looks at how Pixar crafted the actual university of Monsters University. To make the college as believable as possible, artists considered the many sizes and species of its monstrous students, whether it meant placing smaller stair steps on top of larger steps or having a section of the campus underwater. In related news, another […]

How to Train Your Dragon 2 artwork revealed

At CinemaCon last week, Fox released new information about DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon 2. During the sequel’s presentation, a teaser trailer was shown that surprised audiences by revealing an older version of the first film’s young protagonist, Hiccup. Now PerezHilton.com has artwork showing Hiccup’s new look as well as the film’s first […]

Despicable Me 2 Minion character banners

Most folks know the yellow, pint-sized comic relief characters of Despicable Me 2 only as “Minions.” However, a new series of character banners found on eBay reminds that each Minion has his own name, whether it’s the cupcake-loving Stuart or the befuddled Dave. Meanwhile, the Internet Movie Poster Awards has a new Russian poster for […]

Floyd Norman revisits Huck’s Landing

At his insightful blog, veteran Disney animator Floyd Norman recalls working on the cancelled Huck’s Landing, which was to be loosely based on Mark Twain’s classic character Huck Finn. As work commenced in the ’80s, the film’s production team included Kathy Alterie as art director, and Duncan Majoriebanks, Bruce Smith and Chris Bailey as animators. […]

Monsters University gets USA Today profile, Disney World monorail

Director Dan Scanlon talks with USA Today about making Monsters University. “If there’s a message [in the movie], I think it’s that sometimes you have to discover who you really are, instead of what you’re expected to be,” Scanlon explains. “It might be a slightly heavier theme than the first movie, but I think kids […]

More info on the Heavenly Sword film adaptation

At the bottom of yesterday’s announcement for the Ratchet & Clank movie, it was revealed that Blockade Entertainment is adapting the Heavenly Sword video game into a direct-to-video computer animated film. Now IGN is offering more info on the project. Produced by Brad Foxhoven and David Wohl, Heavenly Sword will be written by Todd Farmer, […]

Ratchet & Clank moving from game consoles to the big screen

Rainmaker Entertainment and Blockade Entertainment are teaming to give the popular video game duo Ratchet and Clank their own 3D computer animated movie, says Variety. The characters were introduced in 2002 with the Ratchet & Clank game, before growing into a successful franchise exclusive to PlayStation consoles. Jericca Cleland will direct the Ratchet & Clank […]