News Archive for Thomas Greenaway

In the mood to hunt easter eggs this holiday weekend?

DVD Review has unearthed hidden bonus features from recent animated releases including Ratatouille, The Simpsons Movie (DVD and Blu-Ray), Surf’s Up, Beowulf, Enchanted, Peter Pan: Platinum Edition, as well as Pixar Short Films Collection: Volume 1. Enjoy!

Behind the scenes of three Disney classics

Youtube is a wonderful thing! A vintage video of Walt Disney reenacting with his staff how The Three Little Pigs came to be has been uploaded online, along with the making of Pinocchio and The Magic Behind the Masterpiece of Bambi (part 1 and 2). Thank you to ‘Charles’ at Animation Nation for the links.

Preview some new Disney music

While the quality of the DisneyMania series from the Mouse House has been very inconsistent, Volume 6 sounds rather promising with songs performed by Colbie Chaillat, Elliott Yamin, Plain White T’s and Nikki Blonsky. Take an earful at Amazon MP3! DisneyMusic.com also offers a preview of the soundtrack of Disney’s new franchise, Camp Rock, starring […]

Real life Wall•E coming to Disney parks?

The little robot that audiences worldwide are already falling in love with might not have popped up in just any streets of L.A., says Newsweek. Real life replicas of Wall•E will apparently be coming soon to theme parks as part of Disney’s “Living Character Initiative.”

Another lawsuit for DreamWorks Animation

The South Florida Times reports that a Boca Raton man is suing DreamWorks Animation, claiming the studio stole his ideas to create the 2005 movie Madagascar. According to Joseph Davis, the DreamWorks blockbuster has striking similarities with a manuscript he submitted to the studio in 1999 and was never compensated for, about the adventures of […]

For you Indy fans

Paramount’s Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull reportedly opened with a bang on Thursday with a massive though not (yet) record-breaking $25 million in the U.S. alone, $4.5 million of which came from midnight U.S. screenings.

New look for Disneyland's Monorail trains

Check out the the new Disneyland Monorail Mark VII trains here! Built in Rhode Island, assembled in Vancouver and caravanned thousands of miles west, the first in the fleet of new Mark VII Monorails is the first new Monorail design at Disneyland Park in over 20 years. The Mark VII features a design inspired by […]

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time getting limited theatrical release in the U.S.

Jerry Beck points out on the Cartoon Brew to the fact that Mamoru Hosoda’s 2006 film, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, is going to get a limited U.S. theatrical release next month through Bandai Entertainment. “It’ll be screening June 13 through June 19 at the ImaginAsian Center in Los Angeles (251 South Main Street, […]

Video montage of the Art of Kung Fu Panda book

The Character Design blog put together a video montage showcasing some of the designs created by the amazing Nicolas Marlet that can be found in the Art of Kung Fu Panda book by Tracey Miller, now in stores.

Hans Zimmer and Will.i.am teaming up on Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

The Lion King and The Simpsons Movie composer Hans Zimmer revealed a very interesting bit of news in an August 2007 interview with MP3.com which has been flying under everyone’s radar–until now! Talking about his upcoming projects at the time, Hans revealed that he was working with Will.i.am from Black Eyed Peas on the Madagascar […]

Reality maven Mark Burnett ventures into animation

The Hollywood Reporter announces that top reality producer Mark Burnett (Survivor) has signed a deal with popular online animation Web site Liquid Generation to develop cartoon TV comedies-both original and based on existing content. Under the pact, Mark Burnett Prods. will produce Liquid Generation’s first three TV projects, including originals “Witness Protection” and “Rapper in […]

Report on AMPAS' Production Design panel

VFX World offers a short recap of last Friday’s discussion at the Science and Technology Council of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences about “The Art, Science and Psychology of Production Design.” The article highlights quotes from several of the participants including Ralph Ralph Eggleston (Wall•E) who talked to the audience about his […]

The Iron Giant screenings on June 7-8 in the Bay Area

The Poop Presents film series has programmed screenings of Brad Bird’s 2D masterpiece The Iron Giant at the Cerrito Speakeasy in El Cerrito, CA. Organizers explain it was a challenge convincing the theater owners to play this film, “probably the most vibrantly shot 2D animated film”, again since its original screening “bombed.”

MPAA rating for Wall•E

As expected, the upcoming Pixar film received a G rating.

Roger Rabbit novelist still fighting for his share of profits

The Hollywood Reporter takes a closer look at the ongoing suit opposing Gary Wolf, the science fiction author whose 1981 novel formed the basis of Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, to Disney. Wolf signed an agreement with the studio back in 1983 that gave him 5% of “gross receipts” from Disney’s exploitation of his characters. The […]

Billy Crystal, from Woody to Mike

Disney Insider officially confirms what was already well known: that Billy Crystal was originally given the opportunity to voice Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story, but declined. “After seeing the finished film, he said that decision was the biggest mistake of his career. Upon learning this, Pixar offered Crystal the role of Mike in Monsters, Inc. […]

New distribution deals in place for Europe's Planet 51

Handmade Films Intl. has sold rights to its big budget European CGI film Planet 51 to TF1 for France and Moviemax Italia for Italy, with German and Japanese deals yet to be finalized, according to Variety. The alien planet comedy, budgeted at $60 million, was produced by Madrid’s Ilion Animation Studios and London’s Handmade Films. […]

Overview of new attractions in Orlando's theme parks

USA Today takes a closer look at various new rides opening in theme park capital of the world such as Universal’s Simpsons Ride and Walt DisneyWorld’s Toy Story Mania, noting that “for the first time in recent memory, each of them has a new major attraction to keep the turnstiles churning as tourism rebounds this […]

Is Speed Racer's failure bad news for the future of anime?

Definitely not according to this New York Post article, which notes that the anime community embraced the film and discusses upcoming high profile projects based on other anime franchises.

Regal & RealD rolling out 1,500 more 3D screens

Coming Soon! reports that Regal Entertainment Group and RealD 3D announced a deal that calls for a rollout of 1,500 RealD 3D screens, bringing the RealD 3D screen count to over 3,500. The rollout will allow most U.S. markets to have 3D capability. DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg commented that this new deal “marks a […]

James Cameron discusses 3D motion-capture Avatar

Titanic director James Cameron discussed yesterday at Microsoft Advance ’08 his new film Avatar, about a man who tries to become a miner by combining his being with an alien during an interplanetary war in which aliens can manifest themselves through human bodies — avatars. “Avatar is the single most complex piece of filmmaking ever […]

A 20th season for The Simpsons, but no signed cast yet

According to Variety, while Fox recently announced the 20th season of The Simpsons, a deal has yet to be struck with the series’ voice talent. Production had to be put on hold while negotiations are underway which is expected to result in a shorter season of 20 or fewer episodes instead of the regular 22. […]

Interview with Ghatothkach director

Sify Movies recently sat down with 75-year old veteran director Indian to discuss his new animated film Ghatothkach and the state of the animation industry in his home country of India.

Cloudy future for Amy Poehler and Will Arnett

People reports via Buddy TV that real life couple Amy Poehler and Will Arnett, who can currently be heard together in Fox/Blue Sky’s Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who, will be reunited for Sony Animation’s apparently not-so-troubled adaptation of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, due sometime next year.

More talks of Steven Spielberg & Peter Jackson co-directing third Tintin movie

Asked by the Dominion Post about the possibility of another Indiana Jones movie, director Steven Spielberg confirmed at the Cannes Film Festival that he would first be adapting Tintin for the big screen. “[Peter Jackson and I] are going to make three Tintin movies back-to-back. I’ll direct the first one, Peter will direct the second […]

Real Wall•E spotted in Los Angeles!

A real-life version of the new Pixar character has been seen by several cruising the streets of L.A. and videos started to surface on sites such as Film Crunch and Can Mag, the latter also offering a first look at new Wall•E posters from Poland.

Preview of Kung Fu Panda: The Game

PalGN wrote a positive review of the upcoming video game, concluding that “Kung Fu Panda should be a lot of fun for all ages, with a charming sense of style and simple yet effective gameplay.” The site also applaude the animation in the video game calling it “one of the better movie-to-game translations that we […]

Images from Wall•E cell phone game

The first shots of a Wall•E game for cell phones are now available at the British site Pocket Gamer.

How Jeffrey Katzenberg came to animation

Jeffrey Katzenberg, 57, admitted to The Associated Press during an interview this week in Cannes to promote Kung Fu Panda that he never set out to make cartoons. “I knew nothing about animation. Nothing whatsoever.” Katzenberg said his indoctrination into animation came on his first day at Disney, which he joined in 1984 as head […]

Horton Hears a Who edges out Bee Movie at worldwide box office

Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who! reached $287 million this weekend at the worldwide box office, with almost half of that amount ($136 million) already coming from overseas, an impressive feat for a Dr. Seuss adaptation. Previous movies based on books by the author, who is little known outside of the U.S., didn’t fare so […]