animated-news

Verbinski, King & Logan to make animated film

Gore Verbinski, director of all three Pirates Of The Caribbean films, and The Departed producer Graham King are teaming up to develop an animated feature, reports ComingSoon. John Logan, nominated for an Academy Award, is in talks with the two filmmakers to pen the script for the big-budget film. Though it is not mentioned in […]

Warners adapting Akira with DiCaprio

The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Leonardo DiCaprio is developing a live-action take on the classic manga feature Akira. DiCaprio will produce the film, which will be distributed by Warner Bros.

Coraline teaser

The first teaser trailer for Henry Selick’s stop-motion Coraline has appeared on Cineplex. Due out in theaters in 3D on February 6th, 2009, Coraline is the dark tale of a girl who enters a parallel reality that appears to resemble a fantasy version of her own life. The film is an adaption of a best-selling […]

Walt Disney Treasures Wave VIII announced!

Over at Animated Views, we have an official announcement and commentary on Disney’s just-revealed plans for an eighth wave of Walt Disney Treasures: Destino; Dr. Syn, Alias The Scarecrow Of Romney Marsh and The Chronological Donald, Volume 4, which should complete the duck’s animated shorts on DVD. The three titles are expected to come to […]

HD disc war is over — Blu-ray wins

Toshiba, the major hardware backer of the HD DVD format, has announced that they “will no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders”. The announcement signals an end to the high-definition optical disc war that has raged between HD DVD and rival Blu-ray for the past couple of years. Atsutoshi Nishida, President […]

Kung Fu Panda merchandise

Reporting from Toy Fair 2008, ComingSoon has posted a description of many new toys from the upcoming Kung Fu Panda, complete with a photo gallery of the different merchandise. Ranging from plush animals to action figures, the toys were reportedly receiving a big push from Mattel, the makers of the toys.

Arthur and the Vengeance of Maltazard poster

Movie Poster Addict premieres the teaser poster for Luc Besson’s Arthur and the Vengeance of Maltazard, the sequel to Arthur and the Invisibles and the second film in the planned Arthur-trilogy. The film will hit US theaters in 2009 with the third film, Arthur and the War of Two Worlds currently planned for a 2010 […]

Biel, Johnson, Long and Scott travel to Planet 51

According to Variety, Jessica Biel has joined Dwayne Johnson, Justin Long and Seann William Scott as the lead voices in Planet 51, New Line Cinema’s first venture into the world of CGI-animated films. Written by Joe Stillman and directed by Jorge Blanco, Planet 51 tells the story of a planet whose inhabitants live in fear […]

Batman: Gotham Knight inside peek

A 10-minute behind-the-scenes look at the upcoming anime, Batman: Gotham Knight, has reached its way online and can currently be viewed on YouTube. The inside peek elaborates on the inspiration for the stories, its visual style as well as revealing some the numerous villains featured in the shorts such as Killer Croc, Scarecrow and Man-Bat. […]

Peter Gabriel working on Wall•E soundtrack

Cinema Blend reports that musician Peter Gabriel will be involved with creating the soundtrack to Wall•E, a project which he was approached about back in 2005. It is unclear as to exactly what Gabriel will lend to the film, keeping in mind that Thomas Newman is reportedly composing the score.

First look at CGI Smurfs film

ComingSoon features a first look at Paramount Pictures’ upcoming big screen adaption of the Smurfs. Several images are hosted on the site, showing work-in-progress characters and layouts from the film. A short video demonstrating the animation process used in the movie can also be viewed by clicking on the first image in the article.

Persepolis screened in Tehran

Variety reports that Oscar nominated animated film Persepolis has finally been shown in public in Tehran. Based on Marjane Satrapi’s semi-autobiographical graphic novel, Persepolis had angered Iranian authorities for its satirical portrayal of the 1979 Iranian revolution and was condemned by the government as anti-Iranian. This was the first legal screening of the film in […]

Pixar video tour, Brad Bird videos

UpcomingPixar points at an exclusive video tour inside Pixar Animation Studios available on EmpireOnline. The video tour is hosted by “Pixar University Dean” Randy Nelson. In addition to this, UpcomingPixar also reports about two amctv.com videos hosted by Brightcove, which feature Brad Bird talking about Ratatouille and animation. Direct link to these videos can be […]

Tekkonkinkreet wins Japan's Academy Award for Animation

AnimeNewsNetwork reports that Michael Arias and Studio 4°C’s Tekkonkinkreet has won Animation of the Year award at the 31st Japan Academy Prizes on Friday. This is the second year that an award in the Animation of the Year category has been presented. Mamoru Hosoda and Madhouse’s The Girl Who Leapt through Time won the first […]

Interview with Ponyo on a Cliff singers, Unseen Miyazaki art

GhibliWorld, via Yomiyuri, reports about an interview with Ponyo on a Cliff theme song singers Fujioka Fujimaki. According to the article, the song “Gake no Ue no Ponyo” which was released in December, six months ahead of the much awaited animated film’s scheduled summer opening in Japan, was performed by 8 year old actress Nozomi […]

Gorillaz goes Bananaz

Joblo shares some info on Bananaz, a new documentary that follows the world’s most successful “virtual band”, Gorillaz. Created by film-maker Ceri Levy, the documentary features a behind-the-scenes look over a period of 6 years focusing on Gorillaz’ development from drawings to animation and from music to the musicians. Bananaz had its world-premiere today at […]

Interview: Kyle MacLachlan on voicing Superman

Animation Magazine has published an interview with actor Kyle MacLachlan regarding his recent work as a voice-artist in the upcoming Warner Bros/ DC Universe animated feature Justice League: The New Frontier. MacLachlan, who lends his voice to Superman, discusses his debut in animation, his overall expierence on providing the voice for one of the most […]

Exclusive Kung Fu Panda trailer online

AOL Movies hosts a new theatrical trailer for the upcoming DreamWorks animated flick, Kung Fu Panda. The exclusive high-definition trailer can be viewed using QuickTime, and is available in several different sizes. Hitting theaters on June 6th, Panda follows the adventures of Po the bear as he trains to become a kung fu master. Thanks […]

Mike Judge creates new series for ABC

Variety reports that after having created Beavis and Butt-Head for MTV and King of the Hill for FOX, Mike Judge is working on a new animated series for ABC, The Goode Family. The network has ordered 13 episodes of The Goode Family, with King of the Hill exec producers John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky already […]

RIP, John Alvin

Renowned movie poster artist, John Alvin, passed away unexpectedly on Wednesday, February 6th at the age of 59. Most will not know John Alvin by name but his work as a poster artist contains some of the most iconic poster work of the last 30 years and has left left behind a legacy of art […]

Clone Wars extends its battle to Cartoon Network

A project that had every animation-themed channel battling over who got bragging rights, it has been announced that Cartoon Network has landed the all-new CG-animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars from creator George Lucas. A full press-release and new artwork follows:

Clone Wars gets theatrical release

According to Ain’t It Cool News the US will get a theatrical release of Star Wars: Clone Wars on August 15 to kick off the CGI animated television series. The Clone Wars storyline takes place between Episodes II and III in George Lucas’ Star Wars film saga.

Shrek the Musical opens Sunday 12/14/08 at Broadway Theatre

“DreamWorks Theatricals and Neal Street Productions, Ltd. are pleased to announce that Shrek the Musical will open at the Broadway Theatre on Sunday, December 14, 2008. Preview performances begin on November 8, 2008 following a pre-Broadway run at Seattle’s The 5th Avenue Theatre, August 14 to September 21.” The full press release follows:

BAFTA The Future…

The British Academy of Film and Television Awards were announced this Sunday evening in London’s West End. In the face of the almost concluded WGA strike, the ceremony proved to draw the glittering celebrities who might not have otherwise gotten a chance at walking down a red carpet had the Oscars not gone ahead later […]

Ratatouille sweeps Annies

Variety reports that Pixar’s Ratatouille was the big winner at 35th Annie Awards, held on February 8, 2008, where it won 9 trophies, including best animated feature. Ratatouille also won writing and directing for Brad Bird, best voice acting for Ian Holm, best character animation, music, storyboarding, and production design. Other winners include Sony Pictures […]

Speed Racer The Next Generation: The Beginning animated film

SuperHeroHype reports that an animated Speed Racer film will be released to DVD on May 6th, with a special airing of the feature on Nicktoons four days prior. Setting up the new animated television series, Speeed Racer The Next Generation: The Beginning has a run time of 66 minutes, and is hoping that hype surrounding […]

New Kung Fu Panda images

A handful of new screen captures from the upcoming Kung Fu Panda have appeared on FilmWeb’s site. To view the images, click the link on that reads “zobacz całą galeriÄ™” or any of the four images that appear on the page. Thanks to ‘CGIFanatic’ over at the Animated News & Views Forums for the heads […]

Brad Bird radio interviews

Cartoon Brew points to a pair of recent radio interviews with writer-director Brad Bird which are worth a listen. The first interview elaborates on what he thinks is wrong with Hollywood filmmaking and about how animation is treated at the Academy Awards. The second interview gets off to quite a bad start when the host […]

MyToons Animation site inks deal with YouTube Channel

A press release published by Business Wire reveals that MyToons Animation, an online animation community, has made a deal with video site YouTube to showcase the creative work of thousands of animators on the new MyToons branded YouTube channel. MyToons.com provides a global platform for animators to design and share their original animated videos, cartoons, […]

UPDATED: Full WALL•E trailer premieres online

After a series of teaser trailers, Empire Online now premieres the exclusive first full trailer for Disney/Pixar’s WALL•E in a streaming flash format. What if mankind had to leave Earth, and somebody forgot to turn the last robot off? WALL•E, a robot, spends every day doing what he was made for. But soon, he will […]