One of the movie business’ industry Bibles, The Hollywood Reporter has updated its website with several new animation stories. It confirms Sam Neill, Geoffrey Rush, Hugo Weaving and David Wenham have joined the voice cast of Animal Logic’s animated feature Guardians Of Ga’hoole for director Zack Snyder; the film follows “Soren, a young owl enthralled […]

The Oscars aren’t the only awards show expanding. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has announced a new rule for the Golden Globe Awards that would allow five nominations in the Best Animated Feature category when there are at least 12 eligible films — which is the case this year. The past three years have had […]

Disney is pulling out all the stops to make sure The Princess and the Frog is a success. The News and Observer looks at the big reasons why and focuses in on some of Tiana’s theme park appearances. Yahoo Finance looks at the major merchandising push and what’s available. And (as we reported previously) Disney […]

Marvel Entertainment’s newest animated movie, Planet Hulk, will be released on DVD and Blu Ray on February 2nd, 2010. The movie’s storyline will involve the Hulk, being seen as too dangerous to be kept on earth, getting exiled into outer space. DVD Active has details on the extras, which will include a commentary, a Making of […]

A number of new images and cast photos from Disney’s anticipated The Princess and the Frog can now be found at Comingsoon.net. The studio’s return to hand-drawn animation opens in limited release on November 25th before going wide on December 11th.

Despite playing at only four locations nationwide, Fatastic Mr. Fox was still able to make over $265,000 during its opening weekend in America, giving the movie an extremely impressive per-screen average of more than $66,000. The Wes Anderson animated film, which has been well-received by critics so far, goes wide next week.

Just a reminder (since it is over a week until Thanksgiving and you might not be expecting Christmas specials already!) that DreamWorks’ Merry Madagascar airs tonight at 8pm ET on NBC. The Washington Post has a preview. The verdict? While the reviewer would prefer to “move-it, move-it” to December, “there are laughs to be had”.

Disney’s The Princess and the Frog got a celebrity-filled red carpet premiere in Burbank Sunday, according to Variety. IESB.net has a gallery of photos from the event.

The winners of Nickelodeon’s Animation Festival have been announced. Select entries will be showcased on Nicktoons from November 16 through November 20, and will also be featured on their website. Check out Toon Zone for the full list of winners.

IGN Video has the trailer for the upcoming Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths direct-to-video animated movie. It is scheduled for release in Spring 2010.

The BBC reports that the Slesinger family is taking Disney back to court again over Winnie-the-Pooh. In a case just a few moths ago the judge ruled the Slesinger’s can not claim claim infringement since they transferred all of their rights to Pooh to Disney (who must still pay royalties). The family now says they […]

Victoria Beckham may be joining the cast of DreamWorks’ Madagascar 3, according to Aceshowbiz. The film hits theatres on May 25, 2012.

ComingSoon.net has the trailer for the upcoming animated film Dante’s Inferno. To be released on DVD and Blu-ray in February 2010, the film is an offshoot of the video game of the same name, also coming early next year.

InteractiveTV Today reports that Sony will let owners of their Bravia brand HDTVs and BD players with networking capability rent their studios’ Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs a month before its January DVD release date. The catch (besides having to own certain Sony TVs)? The price — $24.95. Hiro Kawano, SVP of Sony Electronics’ […]

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, the once-fabled Hollywood major that has faced troubled times since the late 1960s, passing through various hands and ending up as little more than a production company with a famous name, is said to be on the way to a sale, as reported by Variety. This marks the second time in just a […]

In a generally buoyant marketplace, the major entertainment conglomerates have posted better than expected returns for the summer, with Disney the last to announce an 18% rise in profits. This is despite a couple of theatrical misfires, including the Jerry Bruckheimer produced G-Force, and lower than usual consumer spending on DVDs, according to Video Business […]

Emmy award winning Stan Berkowitz, writer on a host of animated superhero shows and DC Universe movies, is to receive the Writers Guild of America West Animation Writers Caucus’ writing award tonight, for Lifetime Achievement. A full press release follows:

AMPAS announced today that 20 films have been submitted for consideration in the Animated Feature Film category for the 82nd Academy Awards, though 7 still await their qualifying runs. If at least 16 animated films qualify, there could be up to 5 nominees up for the big prize — a level that has only been […]

Comingsoon.net has a behind-the-scenes article about how director Wes Anderson and his team achieved the unique look of the stop-motion animated comedy Fantastic Mr. Fox. Starring George Clooney and based on the book by Roald Dahl, Mr. Fox opens in limited release on Friday before going nationwide on November 25th.

US distributor GKIDS has announced they will be bringing Irish director Tomm Moore’s animated film The Secret of Kells to U.S. audiences. Opening March 12, 2010, the film will first get an Oscar qualifying run in LA starting December 4. “Magic, fantasy, and Celtic mythology come together” in the story of young boy who meets […]

Yahoo! Movies now has a 2-minute clip from Sony’s upcoming animated sci-fi comedy Planet 51. The movie stars Dwayne Johnson as the voice of Chuck Baker, an American astronaut who finds himself on a planet populated entirely by green people who believe that he’s an alien invader. Also featuring Justin Long, Jessica Biel and Gary […]

ASIFA-Hollywood has announced the 2009 recipients of the Winsor McCay Award, “one of the highest honors given to an individual in the animation industry in recognition for career contributions to the art of animation.” Those being honored with the prize at the 37th Annual Annie Awards are: Tim Burton, Bruce Timm, and Jeffrey Katzenberg. ASIFA-Hollywood […]

Sony has announced their $118.6 million-grossing comedy Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs for home video release on January 5, 2010. Available on DVD ($28.96), two-DVD ($34.95) and Blu-ray ($39.95), the film will include commentary from directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller and, on the two-disc, featurettes, deleted scenes, music video, sing-along and game, the […]

Awards season is creeping up on us, and ABC News has the story on how animated films might factor into the Oscars. Up obviously could get Best Picture and Best Animated Film nominations, but could that hurt the film’s chances at getting either? Also discussed are the chances of the Best Animated Film category getting […]

FirstShowing.net has the latest on Disney’s social/viral marketing campaign for Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. The Mad Hatter has posted a new poster on his Facebook page. He’s offered to post more when he reaches 7,500 people giving the image a “Like”. He’s up almost 6,000 now so check back later to see what else […]

Newsarama has a two-part interview with Pete Docter and Bill Peterson, who (not so coincidentally!) are the men behind today’s DVD and BD release of Up. The piece goes into a lot of details about the inspiration, motivation, and construction of the film. “The first pitch to John Lasseter made him cry…with no visuals! Did […]

Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group president Mark Zoradi is leaving the company after 29 years, according to the LA Times. Following what many considered a surprise ousting of Dick Cook earlier this year (and the less reported leaving of Miramax Films President Daniel Battsek last month) it appears a major shakeup is going down at […]

Universal’s acclaimed stop-motion animated movie Coraline is set to be re-released this holiday season as a special edition gift set. The Coraline Gift Set will be available on both Blu-ray and DVD and include the same 2-disc editions that were released earlier this year, along with new collector’s packaging, postcards and a limited edition book. DVD Active has […]

DreamWorks is readying an online virtual world based on the Kung Fu Panda franchise, according to USA Today. Launching next year, the browser based Kung Fu Panda World is aimed at 8-12 year olds and will feature games and activities. Rick Rekedal, head of production of DreamWorks Animation Online, said, “Just like Po the Panda […]

BrandRepublic reports that Aardman’s Wallace and Gromit will be coming to the iPhone in a new comic series. Digital comic editor Ned Hartley said, “It’s really exciting to see Wallace and Gromit at the forefront of such a cracking new technology. Although I secretly suspect that Wallace would be more comfortable with the type of […]