
Happy St. Patrick’s Day from Monsters University!
Mike and Sulley prepare for St. Patrick’s Day antics in the latest poster for Monsters University, on display at IMPAwards.com. Moviegoers should anticipate more themed posters from design studio FIVE33, also responsible for the film’s winter-themed poster, as the monsters make their way to theaters this summer. |
List of Cartoon Network, Adult Swim shows coming to Netflix
In January, Netflix announced it would carry full seasons of shows from Cartoon Network and Adult Swim starting March 30. Now Streaming Soon has the complete list of series about to hit the on-demand service. Courage the Cowardly Dog, Dexter’s Laboratory and The Powerpuff Girls are just some of the Cartoon Network titles to be […] |
Day of the Dead uses Kickstarter to get musical score
While Pixar and Guillermo del Toro prepare separate projects on the Day of the Dead, three seniors from the Ringling College of Art and Design are making their own short film about the Mexican holiday. Day of the Dead follows a young girl who discovers the holiday’s true meaning: “to celebrate the lives of lost […] |
Chris Sanders originally offered Rise of the Guardians?
Speaking with a fan site for The Croods, Chris Sanders reveals some interesting trivia about another DreamWorks feature, Rise of the Guardians. Upon joining the studio in 2007, the director was apparently given a choice between The Croods and Guardians. “The Croods was the one that was up and running and ready to go,” he […] |
Kung Fu Rabbit finds success via Redbox
Despite a slew of animated titles hitting stores this month, one smaller animated film has found an audience thanks to Redbox kiosks: The Legend of Kung Fu Rabbit. If the title looks suspiciously similar to Kung Fu Panda, so does the film’s trailer and synopsis. The film also borrows actor Michael Clarke Duncan, who joins […] |
From Up on Poppy Hill gets limited opening
Goro Miyazaki’s From Up on Poppy Hill opens in New York and Los Angeles today, according to Animation Magazine. “The film was the top-earning animated feature in Japan in 2011, grossing almost $54 million and outdrawing two Pokémon features. It also won the Japan Academy Prize for Best Animated Feature”. Check out the magazine’s site […] |
Reynolds, The Croods Guy, talks about film
Croods star Ryan Reynolds, who plays the role of Guy, sat for an interview with Flicks and Bits, where he discussed his character, the recording process, the family dynamic in the story, and what it was like seeing the finished product. The Croods opens March 22nd. |
What’s next for VFX
The Wrap asks what’s next for the visual effects community after the Rhythm & Hues bankruptcy. Ideas range from forming a union to changing the way studios are charged for special effects. But with the availability of low-cost foreign effects and the other ways the price of their labor has been hit there are no […] |
Monsters vs. Aliens TV series trailer premieres
IGN has the first trailer for Nickelodeon’s Monsters vs. Aliens TV series, a spin-off of DreamWorks Animation’s hit film from 2009. The series is co-produced by New Zealand-based Oktobor Animation, who also provided animation for the DreamWorks/Nickelodeon series The Penguins of Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness. Nickelodeon will preview Monsters vs. Aliens […] |
Marvel heroes to unite on stage
Deadline says that Marvel has signed a deal with Feld Entertainment (the company behind the Disney on Ice series) to bring their characters together in a live-action show called Marvel Universe Live. While various studios have the movie rights to certain characters, Marvel still holds the rights to them in other mediums meaning this version […] |
Writers Guild warns Nick
The Writers Guild of America, West claims Nickelodeon has been negligent in making residual payments, according to The Wrap. The union has given them until March 25th to post a $3 million bond before they tell their members to withhold their services from the company. Nick says they’ve “been working with the WGA to resolve […] |
Disney Infinity delayed until August
Disney Interactive has pushed the launch date of its new video game and toy initiative Disney Infinity to August 18. The project was originally scheduled to debut in June for Nintendo Wii, Wii U, 3DS, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC and mobile. Infinity will feature activities inspired by Monsters University, Pirates of the Caribbean and […] |
Dorothy of Oz gets new title, release date
Clarius Entertainment will distribute Summertime Entertainment’s computer animated musical Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return in early 2014, says Variety. Originally titled Dorothy of Oz, the project had been scheduled for later this year. Directed by Daniel St. Pierre and Will Finn, Legends of Oz features Lea Michele as the voice of Dorothy, with songs by […] |
China Gets Another Animation Studio
China is the hotbed for the animation industry these days. Oriental Dreamworks is going into Shanghai and now Gary Wang, the Tudou founder, will build his own studio in Beijing. Wang sold Tudou, arguably the Chinese version of Youtube, to Youku, and decided to invest his future in domestic feature projects, says Animation Magazine. Wang […] |
Atlantis Blu-ray coming this summer
Last December, Disney announced the Atlantis: 2-Movie Collection Blu-ray, featuring The Lost Empire as well as its direct-to-video sequel Milo’s Return, would hit stores this week, alongside Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Mulan, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Brother Bear. But Disney quietly postponed the Atlantis Blu-ray in January, moving it to an unknown date. […] |
It’s over 9000 calories! Chomp down on Dragon Ball Z food
While we’re not sure of the exact calorie count, the Japanese LAWSON convenience store chain is loaded with Super Saiyan snacks. The Japanese are notorious for play on word advertising and Dagon Ball Z is also known for naming its characters after food. ANN explains that as a promotion for Dragon Ball Z: Battle of […] |
New 2D shorts star the Mouse
Bob Iger may have said there aren’t any 2D films in production, but Disney has not stopped the traditional animated short according to Cartoon Research. The new shorts have…”the design esthetic for the Mickey Mouse cartoon shorts reaches back almost 80 years and borrows reverentially from the bold style of his 1930s design, but not […] |
Gaumont and DreamWorks team for Noddy animated series
Gaumont Animation has entered a development and production agreement with DreamWorks Classics and France Télévisions to produce the computer animated series Noddy, says Deadline.com. The series will focus on the title wooden boy who lives in Toyland, as conceived by author Enid Blyton in 1949. DreamWorks acquired the rights to the character Noddy when the […] |
Rovio reveals Angry Birds Toons international rollout
On its official blog, Rovio unveils its game plan for the first of 52 episodes of the new Angry Birds Toons animated series. Starting March 16, the initial episode will hit broadcast TV in international territories, including Australia, Brazil, Finland, France, Germany, India, Israel, Korea and Norway. On March 17, the series will be available […] |
Disney, Trance writer to make live-action Beauty & the Beast
Disney has hired Joe Ahearne (Danny Boyle’s upcoming Trance) to script The Beast, a live-action 3D adaptation of Beauty & the Beast. But audiences should expect a film far different than the studio’s 1991 animated musical. In the same vein as Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland and Oz The Great and Powerful, The Beast will […] |
UPDATED: Cancelled, Star Wars: The Clone Wars has been
In news that will surprise many–given that a sixth season had already been put into production–, Lucasfilm and Disney have announced that Star Wars: The Clone Wars has been cancelled, the HD Room is reporting. The series was expected to air on Disney XD in the future, but in an effort to put a focus on […] |
Goro Miyazaki on directing Poppy Hill
The Los Angeles Times profiles Goro Miyazaki and his latest directorial project, From Up on Poppy Hill. The son of legendary Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, Goro “represents the new guard” at Studio Ghibli. In addition to tracing his past, the article also reveals his prediction of what lies ahead for animation. “To be honest I […] |
New Monsters University vids include spoiler-filled Japanese trailer
Coming Soon delivers three new ads for Monsters University, each continuing the viral campaign to recruit monsters for the film’s fictional college. But it’s the new Japanese trailer posted by Movie Collection that’s garnering the most recent buzz, as it contains a bit more info than some people would prefer. On Twitter, Pixar animator Catherine […] |
Second Simpsons movie coming in distant future
At UCLA’s annual entertainment symposium last weekend, Simpsons creator Matt Groening said that a sequel to the 2007 hit The Simpsons Movie will not happen any time soon. “It took us four years [to make] and it killed us,” Groening said during a keynote Q&A with the movie’s director, David Silverman. The movie “stole animators […] |
SXSW films include Blue Umbrella, Gold Sparrow
The South by Southwest festival opens today in Austin, Texas. Eleven animated short films are on the schedule, including the United States premiere of Pixar’s The Blue Umbrella. The full list of movies being screened is on the SXSW website. Another film to look for is The Gold Sparrow. The film was directed by Daniel […] |
Disney and Oz through the years
With Oz The Great and Powerful opening today, Indiewire looks back at the long history Disney has with the stories of L. Frank Baum, dating back to the 1930’s when Walt considered Oz as a possible followup to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. |
Pixar scientist lectures on importance of math
The Verge writes about a recent lecture titled Math in the Movies by Pixar Senior Scientist Tony DeRose at New York’s Museum of Mathematics. His talk to a diverse crowd of young and old was about “translating principles of arithmetic, geometry, and algebra into software that renders objects or powers physics engines. This process is […] |
From Up On Poppy Hill dub clip
One of the first dubbed clips of Studio Ghibli’s newest feature film From Up On Poppy Hill has hit the Internet reports Anime News Network. GKids will release the film in the US. It is based on a 1960’s shōjo manga by Tetsurō Sayama and Chizuru Takahashi and it is about two teenagers falling in […] |
15th Cartoon Movie is underway
Variety takes a look at the 15th annual Cartoon Movie, Europe’s gathering for animation enthusiasts. Fifty-six projects are set to premiere, including three movies: Miffy: The Movie based off the Dutch children’s TV series, Aya of Yop City described as a teen soap opera and it is based off a graphic novels series, and lastly […] |
Disney pulls away from traditional animation
Bad news for traditional/2D animation fans, from The Guardian, Disney states they do not have any future plans for the medium. All of the current Disney movies in production are in 3D, which has become the industry standard. “To my knowledge we’re not developing a 2D or hand-drawn feature animated film right now,” said [Bob] […] |