Panda directors discuss kung fu
Mark Osborne and John Stevenson recently chatted with Red Orbit about their new film. Says Mark, “We didn’t want to just make a parody and didn’t want to make just a silly movie, although we knew we had to make something that was funny and engaging and for a broad audience. But we saw it […] |
Behind the scenes of Wall•E
Scotland on Sunday offers a fascinating look at Pixar’s latest, including an interview with Ben Burtt, the legendary Star Wars sound designer who gave Wall•E his voice. “It was three years ago and I’d just finished Revenge Of The Sith,” says Ben. “I went home and said to my wife: ‘Oh boy, this is great. […] |
Exciting new projects to get their first look at Annecy this week
Variety notes that the six-day Annecy International Animated Film Festival will world premiere two new shorts, Pixar’s Presto, directed by Doug Sweetland, as well as Disney’s Glago’s Guest, helmed by Bolt co-director Chris Williams. Bibo Bergeron will also present his anticipated A Monster in Paris, the key animation project at Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp outside its […] |
Kung Fu Panda opening a strong #1 at the U.S. box office
Deadline Hollywood Daily reports that very early box office numbers show that DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda punched out at least a $17 million debut Friday in very wide release at 4,114 theaters. That could approach $20M if the West Coast figures continue coming in strong. The toon is well on its way to a […] |
New Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa trailer debuts
/Film posted the trailer for DreamWorks’ November sequel, which will be attached to copies of Kung Fu Panda this weekend. Enjoy! |
Kung Fu Panda directors take us behind the scenes
Mark Osborne and John Stevenson talk to AndPop about their directorial debut and their experience working on DreamWorks Animation’s latest. Kung Fu Panda is a critical darling with 85% positive reviews at Rotten Tomatoes, a rare feat for the studio and one largely due to these directors’ vision. The film is now in theaters nationwide […] |
Andrew Stanton discusses Waaaall•E
“What is the point of living? In my mind, the point of living is to love.” Stanton’s words to the Guardian are reflected in Wall•E — essentially a love story, but specifically about a robot’s awareness of the ability to love. Part of what inspired Stanton to create Wall•E was the exploration of the question […] |
Dustin Hoffman recalls first encounter with Kung Fu Panda co-star Angelina Jolie
Dustin Hoffman told Fox News on the red carpet of at the recent Kung Fu Panda premiere that he first met co-star Angelina Jolie when she was an awkward, not-so-stunning teen who accompanied her father, actor Jon Voight, to the set of Hook back in 1991. “I meet this slender, awkward, shy girl with a […] |
Wall•E to be screened at Moscow International Film Festival
It’s official: a gala screening of Andrew Stanton’s new Pixar film will be hosted out of competition at Moscow’s 30th international film festival on June 25th. |
Platinum Studios and Vanguard Animation developing Illegal Aliens as a feature film
Platinum Studios and Vanguard Animation have formed Vanguard Comics, an imprint designed to develop properties that can simultaneously be launched as comicbooks or graphic novels as well as feature films, says Variety. Platinum Studios CEO-chairman Scott Mitchell Rosenberg and Vanguard Animation chairman John H. Williams, producer of the Shrek series, are launching the imprint. They’ve […] |
Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg writing a Simpsons episode
Actor Seth Rogen reveals to Collider that he and his writing partner Evan Goldberg are currently penning an episode of The Simpsons‘ coming season. “We called The Simpsons and asked if we could write an episode. Evan actually met James L Brooks at a party and James said he really liked Superbad, so we thought […] |
Pixar animator presents UK animation workshop
Escape Studios is hosting a two-day animation workshop in London on June 10-11 presented by Andrew Gordon, who is currently supervising animator on Pixar’s new short film Presto. During the two days, Gordon will cover all aspects of character animation craft in extraordinary detail. He’ll review the basic principles, staging and pose design as well […] |
PPC acquires new Indian film Dashavatar
PPC has tied up with Anushvi productions for Dashavatar a mythological tale about the divine incarnations of Lord Vishnu in an animated format. PPC’s Shailendra Singh says of the company’s latest acquisition: “Our country’s mythology has such strong elements of story telling that it’s unbelievable that most of us are still in the dark about […] |
Casper the friendly ghost celebrates 60 years in 2009
AWN reminds us that 2009 marks the 60th anniversary of Casper and Classic Media, an Entertainment Rights group company, is gearing up for the big celebration with the launch of an expanded licensing program for The Official Ambassador of Halloween. Casper products across key categories, including apparel, DVDs, music, digital content, games and social expressions […] |
New Wall•E clips online
Head over to Animation Magazine TV for another preview of Pixar’s anticipated new film. |
Yahoo! users rate the top 30 animated films of all time
DVD Town notes that Yahoo! have tallied their user ratings for animated films in order to come up with a ranked list of the top 30 animated films of all time. Not surprisingly, their top 12 is strictly comprised of movies released in the past 20 years, with half of them being Pixar features. This […] |
Dilbert cartoons now on YouTubes and iTunes for free
Daily Dilbert animated cartoons launched yesterday on YouTube and on iTunes as a free, subscription podcast. They will soon be available via RSS feeds, widgets, mobile and numerous other websites. |
Kung Fu Panda kicking into theaters tomorrow
DreamWorks Animation’s latest film entry is getting an unusual amount of positive reviews for the studio, currently cloking in at 82% on Rotten Tomatoes, with Jim Hill calling Kung Fu Panda “one fun summer flick.” And in a recent interview with Jam! Showbiz, Duston Hoffman recalls how he was initially hesitant to join the animated […] |
Looking back at Buzz Lightyear of Star Command
One of the best animation resources out there, the TAG Blog, takes a trip down memory lane on Disney TV Animation’s 2D series based on the space warrior in Toy Story. |
Vincent, deleted scenes, Tim Burton intro & commentary on Nightmare Before Christmas 2-disc collector's edition
Disney Home Video has announced a 2-disc collector’s edition of The Nightmare Before Christmas for release on the 26th August, says DVD Active. The film will be presented in 1.66:1 anamorphic widescreen, along with an English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround track. Extras will include a commentary by producer and writer Tim Burton, director Henry Selick […] |
New cast announced for Madagascar sequel, Will.i.am-Hans Zimmer music team confirmed
Coming Soon! reports that the original cast from Madagascar, including Ben Stiller as Alex the lion, Chris Rock as Marty the zebra, David Schwimmer as Melman the giraffe, Jada Pinkett Smith as Gloria the hippo, Sacha Baron Cohen as King Julien the lemur king, Cedric The Entertainer as Maurice, Julien’s advisor and Andy Richter as […] |
Kung Fu Panda toys unleashed at McD on Friday
Beginning June 6 through July 3 at McDonald’s restaurants in North America, and then rolling out across the globe, McDonald’s Kung Fu Panda Happy Meal program features exclusive characters from DreamWorks Animation’s upcoming. McDonald’s young guests will receive one of eight Kung Fu Panda toys with the purchase of a Happy Meal at participating McDonald’s […] |
Angelina Jolie "upset" by Disney films
Angelina Jolie told Digital Spy in a recent interviews that she finds Disney films offensive because they lack cultural diversity. The actress told OK! that she was reluctant to show her daughters movies from the animation giant because they don’t feature African princesses. “Even the colour of the children in the cartoon matters. There still […] |
Video interviews with the Kung Fu Panda cast
Coming Soon!‘s Heather Newgen talked exclusively to Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman and Lucy Liu about voicing Po the Panda, Master Shifu and Viper, respectively, in DreamWorks Animation’s new film Kung Fu Panda which will be kicking its way to conventional theaters and IMAX this Friday. |
Bernie Mac and Alec Baldwin onboard Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, more images surface
USA Today unveils this morning nine new photos from DreamWorks Animation’s sequel to Madagascar which will roar in conventional theaters and IMAX on November 7, 2008. Don’t expect a sneek peak at new characters though since the gallery is made of screen captures from the featurette that debuted a few months ago on the Bee […] |
The Simpsons voice actors seal deal with Fox, get salary bump
The Simpsons cast has sealed a four-year deal that hands it more “D’oh” and solidifies the animated hit’s 20th season, says Variety. Production on the show has been delayed for several months as voice actors and 20th Century Fox TV hammered out a deal. New pact bumps the stars’ salaries up to about $400,000 an […] |
More Wall•E photos sent in cyberspace
Slash Film unveiled 8 new images from the upcoming Pixar film this morning. Enjoy! |
DisneyWorld's new grim grinning gracious ghosts
“Forget about fright. Now it’s all about being polite.” Jim Hill warns you in his latest Monday Mouse Watch and talks about the new spiel that Magic Kingdom cast members are expected to recite whenever they work at the Haunted Mansion. |