When the hostile Fire Nation threatens to enslave the Water, Earth, and Air Nations, a reluctant and irresponsible boy must face his destiny as the Avatar, the Chosen One who can restore the world order. This new animated action series centers on twelve-year-old Aang, who must forgo his selfish wandering to learn to master his […]

This short piece of animation was created by academy-award winning Aardman for the UK government using all new Creature Comforts characters and countryside sets of moorland, coast and farmland. It is being screened on TV channels across England and Wales and at selected cinemas and outdoor venues as a free ‘public service announcement’. Enjoy!

Dragon Booster, a CGI TV show created by The Story Hat and set to make its North American debut on October 24, is set in a fantasy world where humans and dragons coexist. The hero of Dragon Booster is an ordinary teenager named Artha Penn who becomes embroiled in a struggle between good and evil […]

As noted on their official site, “Water Warriors is an original concept by Silver Fox Films director Graham Ralph and tells the story of a young frog called Dudley, the smallest frog in the pond. When aliens crash land in their pond, they enslave the pond creatures to help raise their spaceship and then plot […]

The {{link http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1087373455725&p=1012571727162 Financial Times}} reports that the descendants of Zulu musician Solomom Linda have filed a lawsuit against Disney in South Africa claiming they are owed $1.6 million in royalties for the popular song The Lion Sleeps Tonight that the company used in their Lion King feature. Copyrights for the song, originally called Mbube, […]

Renart The Fox is a comedy based on the well known fairy tale “Le Roman de Renart.” The film tells the adventure of Renart, an outlaw fox who steals from the rich to help poor kids. Directed by Thierry Schiel and produced by Luxemburg based Oniria Pictures, the movie uses computer graphics to achieve a […]

Today’s LA Times has an interesting article about the new wave of animated features made possible by the dropping costs of computer equipment. Projects like Valiant, Delgo, Foodfight! and Hoodwinked – a detective-story take on Little Red Riding Hood – are being developed by small independent studios, often on a shoestring budget. The internet also […]

‘mr-dunn’ has posted on the Animation Nation forum a scan of a Curious George flyer from the Licensing Show, with new images from Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment’s animated feature coming to theaters in November 2005. Click to have a look at the full flyer here, which also announces a George television series to continue […]

A trailer for the upcoming CG feature based on Jean “Moebius” Giraud art is now online. Thru the Moebius Strip is a story about the coming of age of a brave, resourceful 14 year old boy who grew up refusing to accept the loss of his father.Out of the strength of his conviction, he reaches […]

ACM SIGGRAPH today announced the program for the Computer Animation Festival for SIGGRAPH 2004, the 31st International Conference on Computer Graphics & Interactive Techniques, being held 8-12 August 2004 in Los Angeles, California. The Computer Animation Festival jury chose 83 selections from a record 643 entries for exemplary use of computer-generated imagery and compelling storytelling. […]

Maya is a feature film project helmed by Mexican director Ricardo Arnaiz, whose goal is to promote the Mayan ancient culture. The movie will use traditional 2D techniques as well as CG. This is one of the most ambitious projects of Mexican cinema, featuring an all Mexican talent crew. The story integrates fictional elements in […]

A new trailer (in Spanish) for Filmax’s upcoming CG feature is now available online. This futuristic take on Collodi’s book is due to bow in Spain’s theaters this coming July. An English version of the movie featuring the voices of Whoopi Goldberg and Malcolm McDowell is also in the works.

AICN has a review of the upcoming Otomo’s feature Steamboy. The movie, that will open in Japan next month, tells the story of Ray, an orphan in 19th century England who accidentally comes into possession of a powerful machine. According to the review, Steamboy is “a perfect adventure film”.

Toon house Futurikon is simultaneously producing a 2D television series, 3D movie and a video game of its original property Dragon Hunters. The series will bow on pubcaster France 3 in September, with the movie scheduled for delivery in 2006. Futurikon is aiming for 1 million admissions in France. Dragon Hunters tells the fantastic tales […]

AWN has an article about Comic book artist Steve Rude’s animated project Nexus. After 16 years, Rude finally managed to put together a promotional DVD that will be presented an San Diego Comic Con this year. The artist hopes to find a network interested in turning his comic book into a Johnny Quest like TV […]

Variety confirms that Whoopi Goldberg, Malcolm McDowell and Howie Mandel have provided voices for PK3: Pinocchio 3000, a futuristic take on Carlo Collodi’s classic produced by Canada’s CineGroupe, France’s Animakids and Spain’s Filmax Animation. It’s rare for toons from continental Europe to feature Hollywood stars. So the $12 million Pinocchio, which competed last week at […]

Animation Insider reports that Fighting Spirit, also referred to as Hajime no Ippo is scheduled to come to store shelves very soon from Geneon Entertainment. This Japanese animated series is a unique story of a young man striving to become stronger physically and mentally through his hard work and dedication to the art of boxing. […]

The Korean animated film Oseam, produced by Mago 21, was awarded the Cristal for Best Feature (Grand Prix Annecy) in the Feature Films Competition at the 2004 International Festival of Animated Film at Annecy, which ended on Saturday (local time) in France. Mago 21 staff said Sunday that during the animation festival, “Oseam” was a […]

Mind Game is a Japanese feature film directed by Masaaki Yuasa and produced by Studio 4°C. Based on the manga by Robin Nishi, the movie employs different techniques, mixing traditional animation and photographs in an explosive combination of action and violence. Mind Game tells the surreal story of manga artist Nishi,who is killed by the […]

Variety reports that Vanguard Animation’s John H. Williams, who brought William Steig’s Shrek to DreamWorks, has obtained the rights to The Zabajaba Jungle from the author’s estate. Published in 1991, the book is the story of a young boy who must travel through a jungle to find his captured parents. Vanguard Animation’s films in production […]

AnimWatch has a very interesting interview with composer Tim Larkin, who is working on the upcoming Doug Chieng’s CG feature Robota. Tim has just finished the final sound mix for Robota‘s trailer, which will debut sometime soon on Apple’s trailers site. Short clips from the trailer are included in the interview, as well as several […]

FilmForce has an interesting interview with controversial animation director Ralph Bakshi, whose filmography includes the racy Fritz the Cat, based on Robert Crumb’s comic, Heavy Traffic, American Pop, and the animated adaptation of Lord of the Rings that inspired many of the scenes in Peter Jackson’s movie.

Here is a teaser for the Disney short. Lorenzo was originally intended as part of a follow-up musical anthology to Fantasia 2000. It is the story of a snooty and spoiled cat in a sleepy South American town that receives his comeuppance when his tail becomes hexed and takes on an uncontrollable personality of its […]

Every year the beautiful French town Annecy hosts the top ranking competitive international festival entirely dedicated to animation. Over forty years after coming to the town, the Festival competition is now open to four categories giving a diversity of techniques, ranging from watercolour to 3D, by way of paper cut-outs and plasticine. The categories: short […]

The annual videogame extravaganza in Los Angeles is over. Among hundreds of games presented at the show, there were several based on animated movies or TV series. Here is a list of the most interesting ones. Click on more to see screenshots and a brief description.

Animation Master developer Hash Inc. has launched a web site devoted to promote independent movies created with their software. A:M Films is a free service to both animators and viewers, and allows you to search for films by name, animator, year, and genre. Genres include stories, music videos, anime, cartoons, game graphics, martial arts, and […]

Independent studio WhooHoo Pictures’ first film is out in selected theaters around the country, and coming to DVD “soon”. Rex Steele is a stereotypical war hero who fights Nazis around the world with the help of his sexy sidekick Penny Thimble. The movie is Alex Woo’s first film, after winning the Russell Hexter Filmmaker Award […]

Spanish site 3DA scored the first image from the upcoming Dreamworks’ CG extravaganza. Follow this link for the full resolution version.

Filmax’s retelling of the classic Cervantes masterpiece focuses on the point of view of the crazy gentleman’s horse and his servant’s donkey.The teaser for this CG feature looks intriguing, and is yet another example of the prolific production of this Spanish studio, that counts among its projects Nocturna, Pinocchio 3000 and El Cid. Donkey Xote […]

The Motley Fool has an article on Disney’s latest “dud”. Here are some interesting excerpts: “Blaming the medium instead of the messenger is akin to blaming your tailor because you gained a few pounds. You simply can’t make a blanket statement that hand-drawn animation is dead and that computerized renderings are the way of the […]