News Archive for Josh Armstrong

Listen to the Alvin & the Chipmunks soundtrack

AOL Music allows visitors to legally hear the complete soundtrack to Alvin & the Chipmunks for free. Included on the album are covers of such hits as Bad Day and Funkytown, as well as new and classic versions of Chipmunk favorites Witch Doctor and Christmas Don’t Be Late.

Justice League: New Frontier to receive 2-disc DVD

TV Shows on DVD reports that in addition to a single-disc DVD, the direct-to-video Justice League: The New Frontier will also receive a two-disc Special Edition package, when the film hits stores on February 26th. Word has yet to arrive on what bonus features the collector’s set will contain.

Interview with Jeffrey Katzenberg

Moviehole talks with DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg. The focus of the conversation is the company’s latest film, Bee Movie, although the Shrek franchise, Monsters Vs. Aliens and Mr. Peabody & Sherman are also briefly mentioned.

Disney Princess popularity and plans

The Wall Street Journal examines the success of the Disney Princess brand, reporting some interesting plans in store for it. Apparently, Disney is hoping to attract newborns and their parents with new products. In addition, the article indicates that an upcoming Pixar pic will feature a Scottish princess, while noticing the state of Princess-themed direct-to-video […]

Enchanted clip, premiere, interview

Yahoo! Movies has a new clip from Disney’s Enchanted, titled “Steel Beast.” Meanwhile, photos and summaries of the film’s Los Angeles premiere are also at the site as well as The Hollywood Reporter, Getty Images and The International Herald Tribune. Plus, Kevin Lima speaks with SCI FI Wire about the homages to classic Disney animation […]

Beowulf writers on expanding poem's story

With SCI FI Wire, co-writers Roger Avary and Neil Gaiman explain how they added details to the original tale of Beowulf for its current film adaptation. “It’s a fantastic epic story more than 1,000 years old, written by a monk,” says Avary, about the Anglo-Saxon epic poem. “We just filled in some of the holes.” […]

Lorne Lanning on Oddworld animated plans

Lorne Lanning talks to GamesIndustry.biz about the future of his Oddworld video game series. “There’s not a whole lot I can reveal. We’ve got four projects that we are working on. I can’t really get into them, except you know one of them is the film,” comments Lanning. “I can say that another one is […]

Interview: Walt Disney Studios chairman Dick Cook

Box Office Mojo speaks with Dick Cook, chairman of the Walt Disney Studios. The recommended conversation covers a healthy selection of topics, from the company’s animation library to the re-release of Song of the South.

Aristocats Special Edition DVD press release

Featuring a high-res version of the DVD’s cover artwork, DVD Active has the press release for The Aristocats Special Edition. Extras for the package will include a never-before-seen deleted song, a Disney Song Selection feature, Bath Day (a 1946 cartoon starring Figaro), and Backstage Disney: The Aristocats Scrapbook. The Aristocats will be re-released on February […]

Racehorse pic among worst movie pitches

Anonymous producers, agents, and writers share with Radar Online some of the worst movie pitches they have had to endure. One memory comes from an unnamed development executive at an animation studio. The pitch is recalled as, “A down-on-his-luck racehorse is worried he may be off to the glue factory because he just can’t seem […]

TV to DVD: Tree Friends, Smurfs, Batman, Titans, Beatrix Potter

TV Shows on DVD has the cover artwork for Happy Tree Friends – The Complete Season One, as well as revised rear artwork for The Smurfs – Season One, Volume One. The site also presents clips from the fourth seasons of The Batman and Teen Titans. In the meantime, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will release […]

New posters for Alvin, Pirates Who Don't Do Anything

The Internet Movie Poster Awards displays the one-sheet for The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything. The latest Veggietales movie will hit cinemas on January 11, 2008. Likewise, the site has the new international banner for Alvin and the Chipmunks, entering domestic theaters on December 14th.

Ten of the best animated/live-action flicks

In celebration of Disney’s Enchanted, MSN Movies takes a look at what it deems are ten of the best films, in chronological order, that blend animated characters with real-life actors. Appearing on the list are The Three Caballeros, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Cool World, The Pagemaster, Casper, Joe’s Apartment, Space Jam, Little […]

TV to DVD: Pebbles & Bamm-Bamm, Tom & Jerry, Rocket Robin Hood

TV Shows on DVD reports that Warner Canada has canceled the two volumes of the entire Rocket Robin Hood series that were to be released in November. At this time, no reason for the cancellation is known. Meanwhile, Tom & Jerry Tales – Volume 4, containing 12 shorts from episodes #14 – #17 of the […]

Burton to direct Alice, Frankenweenie

Variety indicates that Tim Burton will direct two 3-D films for Disney: Alice in Wonderland and Frankenweenie. Penned by Linda Woolverton (The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast), Alice will combine performance-capture imagery with live-action footage. As for Frankenweenie, the stop-motion feature will be based on Burton’s 1984 short film about a pet dog brought […]

Enchanted cast and crew video interviews

Coming Soon presents a behind-the-scenes featurette of its time speaking with Enchanted stars Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden and Susan Sarandon, as well as director Kevin Lima and composer Alan Menken. Enchanted will open in theaters on Wednesday, November 21st.

Colin Brady on the AstroBoy CGI film

First Showing talks with Colin Brady about his directing the computer animated AstroBoy for Imagi Animation Studios. The interview showcases a brand-new piece of concept artwork, given exclusively to the site.

Enchanted deleted song, character posters

Tony-winning Broadway star Idina Menzel speaks to SCI FI Wire about her role of Nancy in Enchanted, specifically regarding why she does not sing in the film. Interestingly, Alan Menken notes in the article that Nancy once had a song in Enchanted, before it was cut. According to Menken, the musical number will be included […]

Cartman, Charlie Brown, Kermit, Homer named TV icons

Entertainment Weekly lists its picks for the 100 greatest television icons. Included in the list are Homer Simpson (#9), Kermit the frog (#21), Charlie Brown (#57) and Eric Cartman (#84).

Twenty benchmarks in computer animation history

Premiere displays a slideshow of what it deems “20 Benchmark Films in Computer Animation History.” Including Robert Zemeckis’ Beowulf, opening nationwide next week, the list includes such other upcoming films as Speed Racer and Avatar.

Latest on Stainton whereabouts

While speculating on the format war between Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD, including Ratatouille director Brad Bird’s choice between the two options, O-meon provides an update on the current location of former Disney Animation Studios president David Stainton. It appears that Stainton, last thought to be working overseas at the Tokyo Disney property, is back […]

Bee buzzes to top spot at box office

After debuting at #2 in its first weekend, DreamWorks Animation’s Bee Movie rose to the first place position on the box office chart this past weekend. The Jerry Seinfeld film took approximately $26 million from 3,944 theaters, increasing its total gross to an estimated $72,214,000. Box Office Mojo, Box Office Guru and Deadline Hollywood Daily […]

Cauldron book made into "not-so-good" movie?

A.V. Club presents the countdown “Lost In Translation: 20 Good Books Made Into Not-So-Good Movies.” Animation is represented in the list by Disney’s The Black Cauldron, with the article referring to it as “a muddled, uninspired mess, critically panned and a wash at the box office.”

Readers walk out on Pokemon, Waking Life

Entertainment Weekly has published some memories from its readers regarding why they walked out on certain movies. Two of the movies mentioned involve animation: Pokemon: The First Movie and Waking Life.

Ratatouille artwork on sale for children's home

Upcoming Pixar has the press release notifying collector’s that a one-of-a-kind, three-dimensional artwork by Darryl Bellach is now for sale to benefit the Valley of the Moon Children’s Home. Inspired Disney/Pixar’s Ratatouille, the piece, titled “What’s Cooking,” is currently being auctioned at eBay. The auction will end on Monday, November 19.

Animation Guild's 2007 election results

The results for the Animation Guild’s 2007 election have been posted at the event’s blog. Among the names and titles listed are Kevin Koch (President), Steve Hulett (Business Representative) and Earl Kress (Vice-President).

TV to DVD: Freakazoid!, Voltron, Denver

Keeper’s Contemporary Warner Bros. Cartoon Files via TV Shows on DVD has the latest on the rumor that a Freakazoid! DVD set is planned for 2008. Apparently, the series’ first season will hit store shelves in mid-2008. the same day as Tiny Toon Adventures – Volume 1. Meanwhile, the word is out on a special […]

Imagi acquires Fluorescent Black

Variety indicates that Imagi Animation Studios has acquired the screenplay rights to Fluorescent Black. The project is described as a “futuristic actioner” set in Singapore and the Malaysian peninsula. Written by sci-fi writer and short-film director Matt Wilson, the script will first be adapted as a graphic novel, illustrated by Nathan Fox and with text […]

Lasseter talks Princess, Toy Story 3, Up

John Lasseter, chief creative officer at Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios, recently mentioned some of studios’ upcoming projects to Rotten Tomatoes. Regarding the traditionally animated The Princess and the Frog, Lasseter commented, “It’s going to be great. We have an awful lot of animators at Pixar who have been trained in hand drawn. We […]

Enchanted clips include musical numbers

JoBlo features six clips from Disney’s Enchanted. Concurrently, MySpace presents two extended scenes from the motion picture, revealing the film’s musical numbers Happy Working Song and That’s How You Know. The MySpace page also reveals the music video for Ever Ever After, performed by Carrie Underwood.