animated-news

Spotlight on Chinese Animation

“They already make most of the toys, holiday decorations, and household items sold in America, in addition to holding most of our debt. Think China is just content to be regarded as the place you go for cheap animation outsourcing? Think again!” o-meon covers almost 2000 years of Chinese animation and aims to show the […]

Up release date pushed forward

UpcomingPixar via BoxOfficeMojo and ComingSoon.net reports that the release date for Disney/Pixar’s Up appears to have been pushed forward by 14 days. Up was originally scheduled for a June 12, 2009 release but is now set to hit theatres on May 29, 2009.

Bee Movie DVD extras revealed

DVDTimes has posted the artwork and extras for the upcoming Bee Movie dvd which will hit the stores on 11th March 2008. Bee Movie will be made available as a Two-Disc Special Edition and standard single-disc versions. Extras on Two-Disc Special Edition will include Jerry Seinfeld & Filmmaker Commentary, TV Juniors – Hilarious “behind the […]

New WALL•E images

UpcomingPixar has posted two new images from the upcoming Disney/Pixar film WALL•E. Direct links to these images, which appeared in Entertainment Weekly Magazine and Disney Reporter respectively, can be found here and here.

New Up concept image

Upcoming Pixar has posted new concept art from Pixar’s upcoming animated release, Up. A direct link to the image can be found here. Hitting theaters in 2009, Up is the story of a 70-year old man who teams up with a Wilderness Ranger to fight beasts and villains. Thanks to “PixarVixen” over at the Animated […]

Brad Bird wins Golden Tomato Award

Brad Bird, director of last year’s animated hit Ratatouille, has received the Golden Tomato Award, an honor rewarded yearly by movie website Rotten Tomatoes, where Bird is also featured in an interview about the award. This is the second Golden Tomato Bird has received, the first being for The Incredibles in 2004. Ratatouille was deemed […]

Astro Boy finds a new director

David Bowers, director of last year’s Flushed Away, has replaced Colin Brady as director of the upcoming CGI adaption of Astro Boy, reports Variety. The $50 million film is currently being produced at Imagi Studios, with Warner Bros. and Weinstein Co. releasing. Astro Boy is set to hit theaters 2009.

Newport Beach Film Festival announces the "Chuck Jones Award"

“The Newport Beach Film Festival and the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity announced today the first ever ‘Chuck Jones Award for Excellence in Animation’ to be presented at the 2008 Festival. Named after the legendary animation director, the inaugural award will be given each year to an individual or group who best exemplifies artistic achievement […]

All three Toy Story movies to get the 3D treatment

Toon Zone reports that all three of Pixar’s Toy Story movies will be getting the 3D treatment with the first one being released to theaters in October 2009, the second one in in February 2010, and the third one, presumably receiving a simultaneous traditional and 3D release on June 18, 2010.

Pirate Bunnies

The complete Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy can now be seen in less than two minutes and re-enacted by animator Jennifer Shiman’s bunnies by watching parts 1 and 2 here and part 3 here.

2008 Oscar nominations announced

The nominations for the 80th Annual Academy Awards have been announced. Come tell us your thoughts in the Animated News & Views Forum. The nominees for Best Animated Feature Film are • Persepolis – Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud • Ratatouille – Brad Bird • Surf’s Up – Ash Brannon and Chris Buck The nominees […]

101 Dalmatians run loose at the El Capitan

From now until January 30, Disney’s El Capitan Theatre is screening One Hundred and One Dalmatians leading up to its Platinum Edition DVD release on March 4. The new Goofy short How to Hook Up Your Home Theater accompanies the classic film. Read on for pictures from the opening night which featured a panel moderated […]

DreamWorks to launch theme park in Dubai

Variety reports that DreamWorks Animation has teamed up with Dubai based real estate company Tatweer to develop a range of tourism and leisure projects in Dubai, the highlight of which will be a theme park. The 5 million-square-foot DreamWorks Animation-branded park will see rides incorporate characters from DreamWorks titles such as the Shrek franchise and […]

Shrek the Musical World Premiere at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre

“DreamWorks Theatricals and Neal Street Productions, Ltd. have announced that Shrek the Musical will play an exclusive world premiere engagement at The 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle, August 14th to September 21st, prior to opening on Broadway in the Fall of 2008. Preview performances will begin in early November at a theater to be announced.” […]

Smurfs film to feature "greater female presence"

Yahoo! Movies reports that due to the changes in the structure of society since the first appearance of the Smurfs, more female characters will appear in the upcoming CGI film. “There have been dramatic changes in socio-cultural values in the past 20 to 25 years,” explained head of Smurf’s rights holder Hendrik Coysman. “One of […]

Beowulf theatrical and director's cut DVDs in February

DVDActive reports that Paramount Home Entertainment has announced theatrical and director’s cut releases of Robert Zemeckis’ Beowulf on 26th February. The only extra feature on the theatrical cut will be A Hero’s Journey: The Making of Beowulf featurette. The Director’s Cut will include that, along with a Beasts of Burden featurette, a Origins of Beowulf […]

Animation Mentor Celebrates Graduates with Pete Docter

Last Saturday Pixar’s Pete Docter delivered the commencement address to the graduating class of Animation Mentor, “the online animation school by animators for animators” (see our prior writeup). The following press release summarizes his inspirational remarks:

PGA announces nominees

The Producers Guild of America has announced the nominees for their 19th annual awards. Getting nods in the Producer of the Year Award in Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures categoy are: Bee Movie, Ratatouille, and The Simpsons Movie. Winners will be announced February 2nd.

Animated Views meets Steve Anderson and The Robinsons

Animated Views welcomes a new kid on the block today, Media Magic’s Jérémie Noyer, who promises to maintain his continuing stream of warm and knowledgeable interviews, kicking off with an exclusive talk with Meet The Robinsons’ director Steve Anderson! Originally undertaken for the promotion of the DVD release of his movie back in October, the […]

French Horton Hears a Who poster

Animatie Blog showcases the french teaser poster for 20th Century Fox/Blue Sky’s upcoming Horton Hears a Who. The computer-animated film, based on the 1954 childrens book by Dr. Seuss, will stomp its way to US theaters on March 14th, 2008.

First image of The Princess and the Frog revealed

Hidden inside the Walt Disney Company’s annual investors report lies the first “real” image of the studios’ 2009 animated feature, The Princess and the Frog, showcasing the film’s main character, Tiana. Meanwhile, David Gilson’s blog presents us with a high resolution, cleaned up version of the image. The Princess and the Frog will be the […]

Toy Story takes to the stage

Animation World Network reports that Pixar’s hit Toy Story will be adapted for the stage for audiences traveling on the Disney Wonder cruise ship. “Following the storyline of the original film, Toy Story – The Musical will give the audience a toy’s-eye view of life in Andy’s room, exploring the true meaning of friendship as […]

Israel loves animation

According to Variety, animated movies are big in Israel filling up six slots in their list of the top ten grossing movies at the box office for 2007 with Ratatouille and Shrek the Third topping the list and Bee Movie showing up as well.

Ratatouille is Golden

Despite the writer’s strike shutting down their more usual glitzy awards show, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association handed out their annual Golden Globes awards tonight. Disney/Pixar’s Ratatouille picked up this year’s award for Best Animated Film. The animation prize has only been awarded since last year when Pixar also picked up the trophy, for Cars. […]

Toy Story 3 'being prepared'

UpcomingPixar, via InTheNews.co.uk, reports that according to Tom Hanks, the third instalment of the Toy Story films is being prepared and has the full support of the actor, who voices one of the main characters Woody in the film. Directed by Lee Unkrich, Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story 3 is slated for a 2009 release.

WALL•E Video Game screenshots

UpcomingPixar has posted the first screenshots from the video game WALL•E. Published by THQ and created by Heavy Iron Studios, the video game is based on the upcoming Disney/Pixar’s feature WALL•E which is set to hit theatres June 27.

Brad Bird on writing Ratatouille

Over at The Hollywood Reporter‘s award season coverage, director Brad Bird is one of the six screenwriters sharing their experiences and approach to how they penned their nominated movies. Bird speaks about coming late to the production of Ratatouille, while of the other scribes, John Logan reveals what it was like adapting Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney […]

Pixar storyboard artist talks Ghibli and more

Ghibliworld has an exclusive in-depth interview with Pixar storyboard artist Enrico Casarosa wherein he talks about Studio Ghibli, Pixar and how Hayao Miyazaki’s films have influenced his own work. According to him, “Miyazaki has this uncanny ability to add a childish sense of wonder to his stories. He’s able to make us feel like little […]

Character Animation Panel Discussion

On Saturday, January 19th, a panel discussion devoted to character animationespecially as it relates to advancing animation technology will be held at the Ince Theater at Sony Pictures Imageworks. The panel will be moderated by Frank Gladstone and will include important guest panelists from several animation studios. More details follow:

Animated disc announcements

The Digital Bits has the scoop on several animated disc announcements made during the past week. On February 19th Warner will debut Tom and Jerry: Shiver Me Whiskers and Tom and Jerry: Tales – Volume 1 DVDs. Fox will be releasing an Ice Age: The Meltdown special edition DVD on March 2nd. Paramount/DreamWorks’ Bee Movie […]