
The Hobbit on track for 2012
Despite rumors to the contrary, Warner Bros. is announcing that the first in producer Peter Jackson’s two-part version of The Hobbit will arrive a little later than originally expected (2011), but earlier than has been reported (2013). With the financial woes at co-producer MGM apparently not to blame for the hold-up, The Hobbit‘s two parts […] |
Hollywood Reporter roundup: Peanuts and Dragon 2
THR today reports that the licensing company Iconix has reached an agreement to buy United Features Syndicate’s stake in the Peanuts characters and other brands for $175 million. Iconix will acquire UFS’ 80% share, with the remaining 20% retained by the Charles Schulz family. With $180m in box-office grosses so far, DreamWorks’ Jeffrey Katzenberg has […] |
Batman: Under the Red Hood trailer online
Collider has posted a trailer and a few images from the next DC Universe animated movie Batman: Under the Red Hood. Featuring the voices of Bruce Greenwood, Jensen Ackles, Neil Patrick Harris, John DiMaggio and Jason Issacs, the straight to DVD/Blu-ray movie arrives July 27. |
Giacchino to host AMPAS animation music event
Oscar-winning composer Michael Giacchino will be hosting “What’s Opera, Doc? Animation and Classical Music” on May 14 in Beverly Hills. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences event will present “some of the most inspired and memorable uses of classical music in animation”. Also appearing are Academy Music Branch governor Bruce Broughton and director […] |
Sony Classics to present The Illusionist
Following their successful pairing on Sylvain Chomet’s The Triplets Of Belleville in 2003, Sony Pictures Classics and the director have announced that his new film, The Illusionist, based on an unproduced script by the master of French silent cinema Jacques Tati, will be distributed in the US by the company towards the end of 2010. […] |
Inspiration for, and from, Up!
The Guardian recently published an account on Charles Brewer-Carias, a “real-life Indiana Jones” who has spent over 50 years in the Venezuela jungle discovering new species and exploring rare organisms. Indeed, there are suggestion that the 71 year old was the basis for Charles Muntz in Pixar’s most recent feature Up, set amid the area’s […] |
DreamWorks’ Dragon dominates
DreamWorks How to Train Your Dragon continues to dominate according to Box Office Mojo. In it’s fifth weekend it has reclaimed the #1 spot. In total the film has brought in $178 million domestically and $355 million worldwide. Mojo says, “At its current pace, Dragon will vie with Kung Fu Panda to become DreamWorks Animation’s […] |
Disney’s Iger exceeding expectations
Disney CEO Bob Iger is featured in a New York Times piece. “Widely dismissed” when he took over the top job from Michael Eisner, the new take on Iger is “blockbuster CEO”. The article discusses the many changes he’s made at the company (and the reactions to them), and follows him on “a day in […] |
Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear commercial goes viral
Upcoming Pixar linked to a cool video this weekend a taped-to-VCR commercial purportedly from 1983 featuring the season’s hot new toy, Lots-o’-Huggin’ Bear. Obviously a Pixar job, the video is just the latest of several viral videos for Toy Story 3 from the studio. In addition, AV reader Grace points out that Barbie’s pal […] |
Batman stage show in the works
Batman may soon be coming to a stage near you, according to ABC News. Tentatively titled Batman Live, the show would be “an elaborate arena production aimed at kids and families”. While no firm dates have been set, a 2011/2012 launch timeframe is being discussed. |
Pixar 2012: Brave and Monsters Inc. sequel
Box Office Mojo reports that Pixar will be releasing a sequel to Monsters Inc. in November 2012 and that The Bear and the Bow has been renamed Brave and pushed back to June 2012. |
Cartoon Network reviving Looney Tunes
Cartoon Network has announced that it plans to launch a new version of the classic Warner Bros. series Looney Tunes. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the network plans to have each episode of The Looney Toons Show as a half-hour story along with “cartoons within a cartoon.” The concept takes Bugs and Daffy out of […] |
MacCurdy, Snyder join Technicolor for Berkeley Breathed project
Technicolor Animation, previously Paprikaas Animation based in India, has welcomed veteran producers Jean MacCurdy and Fonda Snyder on board to develop their new property, Pete & Pickles, based on the work of Opus cartoonist Berkeley Breathed. A press release may be read here: |
New Shrek Forever After clip
Yahoo!Movies has made available a new clip from DreamWorks Animation’s upcoming flick Shrek Forever After featuring Puss in Boots. Directed by Mike Mitchell, the final chapter in the Shrek series, Shrek Forever After hits theaters on May 21, 2010. |
Disney goes back to Canada with new Pixar shorts studio
After closing its previously owned DisneyToon studio in Toronto and cutting ties with The Wild producers CORE Animation, the Disney organization has returned again to Canada for the location of a new Pixar subsidiary. Launched yesterday, April 20, Pixar Canada will create short films based on their Toy Story and Cars characters for online and […] |
Annies online!
Those unable to make the annual Annie Awards earlier this year will be animated by this welcome piece of news: the 37th awards ceremony, with featured highlights including host William Shatner, a special tribute to Roy Disney, and Winsor McCay recipients Jeffrey Katzenberg, Tim Burton and Bruce Timm, is now available to view online at […] |
Animated genre types are Drawn Together for their movie debut
The Drawn Together Movie: The Movie!, the first animated film based on Comedy Central’s long-running adult “reality show” series, premiered to a packed house at the Anaheim ComicCon last Friday (April 17), ahead of its debut today on DVD (and as a BestBuy Blu-ray exclusive) from Comedy Central and Paramount Home Entertainment. A full press […] |
The Paintings of Peregoy at Suspended Animation
The Suspended Animation Gallery, the online art collection produced by Disney animation artists to reflect their own personal inspirations in works created in their own choice of medium, has announced their latest artist addition: Walt Peregoy, best known for his work on 101 Dalmatians, but also notable for his contributions to Peter Pan, Lady and […] |
Shrek 1, 2 and 3-D
Announcing plans to convert the DreamWorks Shrek series to 3D format for release on Blu-ray Disc, Jeffrey Katzenberg has discussed the future of three dimensional movie viewing at the NAB convention in Las Vegas. |
How to Train Your Dragon reclaims top spot
Variety reports that DreamWorks animation’s animated flick How to Train Your Dragon catapulted back into first place at the U.S. box-office this weekend edging out Lionsgate’s superhero actioner Kick-Ass. With an estimated $20 million take this weekend, the 3D toon bounced back to the top spot after four weeks in release. The toon has grossed […] |
Mighty Mouse movie back in development
According to the LA Times, a Mighty Mouse movie is once again in the works at Paramount, though the studio is still looking for a writer and director for the flick. A Mighty Mouse movie has been in development at the studio for several years, with many different writers attempting to craft a script for […] |
New Shrek Forever After poster revealed
ComingSoon.net has an exclusive first look at the one sheet for Shrek Forever After. The poster shows Shrek and an army of ogres looking as though they are about to face off against Rumplestilskin and his army of witches. In addition, the site points out that The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that the first three Shrek films […] |
Jamie Foxx gets animated with Welcome to the Jungle
Variety reports that Jamie Foxx is making his animated film debut with Welcome to the Jungle for 20th Century Fox. Based on an original pitch by Foxx and scribe Malcolm Spellman, Foxx is all set to star in, produce and score the film. |
New images from Shrek Forever After
Collider shares a bunch of new Shrek Forever After images which were released by DreamWorks Animation and Paramount as part of an early look at the film. Directed by Mike Mitchell and featuring the voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz and Antonio Banderas, the fourth and final installment in the Shrek franchise will […] |
Stick a Sailor on your wall!
Recently released are a new series of officially licensed giant Popeye prints from the wall graphics company LTL Prints. The premium graphics include everything from laptop size up to LTL’s trademark seven foot ‘larger than life’ wall prints. Other characters licensed from King Features Syndicate, including Betty Boop, Flash Gordon, Hagar The Horrible and more, […] |
Cartoon Network, Adult Swim charity auction
The Gamm Theatre, a nonprofit theater company in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, is auctioning off two animation-related packages to raise funds for its artistic and educational work. Products based on programs from Cartoon Network and Adult Swim are open for auction until April 14. |
Burton profiled
Trevor Hogg, of the UK’s Flickering Myth website, has just posted his final chapter of a comprehensive four-part profile on animator/director Tim Burton. The first part, with links to the continuation of the series, begins right here. |
Your chance to see Last Chance
Animator Sami Nikki’s recently completed short, Last Chance, is now viewable online. In addition the Project Last Chance blog documents some of the creative process that has gone into creating the short’s unique painterly animation. |
First images from Sir Billi
Collider shares first images from the upcoming animated flick Sir Billi. Scheduled for completion in summer 2010, Scotland’s first full-length animated feature film Sir Billi features an all-star cast including Sean Connery in his first ever animated voice-over role. |
Tron…3 and 4?
The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Lost writers/exec producers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, who worked on Disney’s highly anticipated Tron: Legacy, have been asked to begin writing a sequel to the studio’s reinvented franchise. Although Legacy is itself a continuation of the original 1982 Tron, the project has been given the confusing working title […] |