The closing credits for DreamWork’s hit animated flick Kung Fu Panda have appeared on the official website of Shine, the studio responsible for the creation of the sequence. These credits are unique in that they feature traditionally animated snippets of the main characters from the martial arts film, reflecting the film’s opening scene, which was […]

An interesting article over at O-Meon brings to light the common perception of animation as purely “kid’s stuff”. The story discusses how modern films like Kung Fu Panda and Wall•E are considered to be aimed solely at children, despite a large portion of their audiences being teenagers and adults. Older animated shorts and films, such […]

Aardman posted a half dozen new stills from the upcoming Nick Park short, A Matter of Loaf and Death (previously announced under the title Trouble At’ Mill). Production is almost half-way through on the half hour TV project which is expected to debut on BBC1 in the UK later this year.

DreamWorks Animation plans to launch a fairly modest licensing program behind Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa later this fall with a new videogame, toys, apparel and home decor, according to Variety. But the Madagascar film franchise, just like Fox’s Ice Age ‘s, has yet to translate in equally impressive consumer product sales. Hoping to come closer […]

Jeffrey Katzenberg’s studio has been snubbed by the Academy Awards two years in a row now, and only scored house nominations once in the past five years (Wallace & Gromit was the studio’s last win since 2001’s Shrek but an Aardman production). Tough to digest for the only studio in town to be solely dedicated […]

The Sixth Sense director told Coming Soon! about his plans for the live action adaptation of the Nickelodeon cartoon, which is set in a world that’s divided up into elemental factions, two of whom are preparing for war. Asked why he wanted to do the movie, Night explains: “It was just the story. I just […]

Variety reveals exclusively this morning that Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation are bringing a live-action/animated Smurfs project to the big screen, in what will be SPA’s first hybrid film. Sony obtained film rights to the blue-colored characters from Lafig Belgium via Jordan Kerner (Charlotte’s Web), who is producing. David Stem and David Weiss, who […]

Over at Animated Views, Kung Fu Panda‘s directors John Stevenson and Mark Osborne speak to Jeremie Noyer about the making of their $60 million grossing movie! Also newly posted is Animated Views’ Toon Review of the film.

Lucky Austin, TX residents should rush to Ain’t It Cool for their chance to see the new Pixar film this Sunday at the Alamo Drafthouse!

IESB recently caught up with Jason Segel about the Muppets film project he is currently developing with Nick Stoller for Walt Disney Pictures. “I actually just turned in my first draft of the MUPPETS and I’m really excited about it. I think we’re bringing them back. Sam the Eagle is definitely in it. Statler and […]

Weekend box office actuals are in and Jeffrey Katzenberg can sigh in relief: DreamWorks Animation’s latest ended up grossing a total of $60,239,130 over the weekend, slightly ahead of Cars‘ $60,119,509 opening two years ago today on June 9, 2006. Adjusted to inflation the Pixar film would still be ahead but who’s counting!

Coming Soon! offers an extended clip of Wall•E, introduced by none other than Pixar voice regular John Ratzenberger.

In another great article, Jim Hill looks at the opening weekend of Kung Fu Panda and reports that while Disney won’t discuss opening numbers for Wall•E, the Mouse House is currently projecting for the new Pixar film to end its theatrical domestic run north of $260 million. Which would reverse the domestic box office trends […]

The team at Disney’s Movie Surfers sat down with writer/director Andrew Stanton to chat about his new film Wall•E. Thanks to Upcoming Pixar for the link.

The Globe and Mail takes a very interesting look this morning at celebrity voices in animated feature films, noting that “em>Kung Fu Panda was in production for four years, but Angelina Jolie spent one week on it and got all the press. Few people know who provided the voices for such classic animated movies as […]

/Film posted on their site the video clip from Pixar’s upcoming film that was shown during ABC’s airing of Finding Nemo this weekend. The scene involves Eve placing Wall•E in a shuttle back to earth. Sigourney Weaver makes a cameo as the voice of the space shuttle computer.

Kids entertainment producer Hit Entertainment will produce the next series of Bob the Builder and Thomas & Friends in CGI, says C21 Media. Thomas will be reworked by Canadian production company Nitrogen, with LA-based SD Entertainment taking up CGI duties on Bob the Builder. The result of 18 months research, Christopher Skala, executive producer and […]

Singer Jesse McCartney, who was reportedly cast as Terrence in the direct-to-video animated film Tinker Bell coming this October, also ended up being the voice of Theodore in the Alvin & The Chipmunks feature film. The young artist told the Toronto Sun that he has been a huge fan of voiceover work and animation since […]

Kung Fu Panda not only topped the U.S. box office this weekend; it also had a strong start overseas with $20.7 million from only nine markets with each posting the top result for a DreamWorks animated film, according to Variety. “The booming Russian market led the way with $9.2 million, 158% better than Ratatouille, followed […]

DreamWorks Animation’s latest, powered by rave reviews and an underserved family audience, had the studio’s highest opening for a non-sequel with an estimated $60M gross over the three-day weekend. That is $120,000 shy of Cars‘ opening but Kung Fu Panda still has a shot at beating the Pixar film’s number when final grosses come in […]

Coming Soon! points to the new NBA TV spot for Disney/Pixar’s latest.

The Pixar Blog has confirmed that Andrew Stanton is currently writing the film version of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars for Pixar. No details on the project has been announced yet. AWN, however adds that the film is said to be a mix of live action and animation and Stanton is rumoured to […]

GhibliWiki reports that according to Toshio Suzuki, a US release for Miyazaki’s upcoming film Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea has been decided. Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy have been selected as the producers. No details on a release date or voice cast have been announced. The website however reports that a large scale […]

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 […]

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. […]

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 […]

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 […]

/Film posted the trailer for DreamWorks’ November sequel, which will be attached to copies of Kung Fu Panda this weekend. Enjoy!

DreamWork’s animated martial arts comedy Kung Fu Panda opened in theaters today. The film is doing very well with critics, scoring an impressive 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, with most reviewers agreeing that it is a highly enjoyable summer flick. The movie is expected to come in at number 1 at the box office this weekend, […]

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 […]