We reported before on a “Ward Kimball home movie” event to take place on April 21 and now we have some more information it from a mailing from Hollywood Heritage. Follow the ‘More’ link for an exact reproduction of the text of the postcard (right down to the misspelling of Ward’s last name). It appears […]

Chuck Oberleitner has updated his Grownup Geeks’s Guide to Disneyland’s 50th Anniversary with substantial and pertinent information on how to hone in on the best times to visit Disneyland Resort in Anaheim. With the 50th Anniversary celebration about to begin soon there are many different factors that will affect crowd size at various points in […]

The comic adaptation of Frank Miller’s \\Sin City\\ topped the box office in its opening weekend with $29.1 million, according to {{link http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=2005&wknd=13&p=.htm Box Office Mojo}}. \\Robots\\ continues to do well with $9.8 million this weekend, good for 4th place, and giving it enough to cross the $100 million threshold in its 4th week of […]

\\{{link http://www.thehollywoodreporter.com/thr/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000865912 The Hollywood Reporter}}\\ reviews \\Valiant\\, the Disney/Vanguard Animation film which has already opened in England and is slated to for an August 19th US release. \\THR\\ says that “despite a voice cast of big-name British stars including Ewan McGregor, Ricky Gervais and John Cleese, the movie almost certainly will head south for the […]

Superheroes, an ogre, a fish’s voice, and a washtub accessory were the big winners at the 18th annual Kids Choice Awards, held this past Saturday night. Hosted by Ben Stiller, who voices Alex the lion in DreamWorks’ upcoming CGI comedy Madagascar, the event presented Blimp Awards to the recipients, as chosen by fans who vote […]

Recently named writer and director of the long-in-development \\Wonder Woman\\, Joss Whedon (\\Toy Story\\, \\Titan AE\\, \\Atlantis: The Lost Empire\\) plans to take the superhero back to her roots, according to {{link http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1498869/03222005/story.jhtml MTV.com}}. “I think she sort of sprang out fully formed, much like Athena herself. And, you know, it’s a question of really […]

Henry Selick (\\The Nightmare Before Christmas\\, \\James and the Giant Peach\\) is attached to direct a film version of the children’s novel \\The Wall and the Wing\\ for the independent animation company Vinton Studios according to a \\Variety\\ story reported by {{link http://comingsoon.net/news/topnews.php?id=8751 ComingSoon.net}}. In part one of an interview with \\{{link http://www.animationmagazine.net/article.php?article_id=3757 Animation Magazine}}\\ […]

{{link http://www.cartoonbrew.com/ Cartoon Brew}} has posted a CalArts student film from the late 1980’s by longtime \\The Simpsons\\ director Jim Reardon. A parody of the “heart-warming holiday” \\Peanuts\\ specials, \\Bring Me the Head of Charlie Brown\\ has Linus, Lucy, and the rest of the gang trying to bump Charlie Brown off to collect a bounty […]

Following the recent unveiling of the {{link http://www.dvdanswers.com/index.php?r=0&s=1&c=5815&n=1&burl= full size cover art}}, a trade industry advert reveals that Tarzan II, a mid-quel to Disney’s 1999 theatrical hit, will run for 72 minutes – just over an hour, plus credit scroll. Though the ad mentions no extras, the disc is expected to arrive on June 14 […]

Ultimate Disney reveals that one of the bonus features for the Lilo and Sitch 2: Stitch Has A Glitch DVD is “an all-new animated short created exclusively for the DVD which reveals the secret origin of Stitch.” Lilo and Sitch 2: Stitch Has A Glitch will hit stores on August 30, 2005.

Since today is April Fool’s Day we figured we should do something for it, but the best we could come up with is this report from a couple of years ago at The Museum of Hoaxes that on April 1, 2002, “The Japan Times announced that the Japanese government . . . would be . […]

Empire Online confirms that Jack Davenport, who played Norrington in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, will be returning for the anticipated sequel, Dead Man’s Chest. Pirates of the Caribbean 2 will set sail on July 7, 2006.

JHM guest writer Cory Mitchell has the lowdown on a “proposed Futurama simulator ride that has been making the rounds to different theme parks.” Apparently the ride acts as a parody of Disney’s Star Tours space flight simulator.

The Film Bureau [free registration required] has exclusive storyboard art from Shrek 3, coming to theaters on May 18, 2007. Click “More” to view the pics.

DIK Animation Studios has announced that they will be creating an animated series based on the live action TV series smash hit Friends. Studio chief, Dan Mutschler, states, “Friends left the air at the height of its popularity. It would be crazy not to take advantage of that. Through the magic of animation we can […]

The recent news that the previously shelved Dumbo II (due to story problems that apparently mirrored Babe: Pig In The City‘s plot) is back on the cards has opened the floodgates for more sequels to Walt Disney’s original classics. Following next year’s Bambi And The Great Prince and the in-production Cinderella III and Tinkerbell Movie, […]

If you’ve ever wanted to see yourself as a South Park character but haven’t yet built up enough industry clout to be featured in one of the episodes you can now create yourself as a friend of Kenny, Kyle, Cartman, and Stan at this German South Park fan site. Thanks to South Park fan extraordinaire […]

Beginning May 17th, those who buy the Shrek 2 DVD will find a “Madagascar Activity Disc” and a ticket to see the new animated feature included. Meanwhile, good buzz continues to spread regarding Madagascar. At a Banc of America Securities conference in New York on Wednesday, executives of rival Pixar Animation “rolled with genuine laughter” […]

Speaking to analysts and investors at a media conference in New York this past Wednesday, DreamWorks Animation’s Chief Executive Jeffrey Katzenberg remarked that he does not see the animated film industry becoming too crowded, due to the variety of animated features being produced. According to Katzenberg, the “single greatest fiction” concerning animated movies is that […]

The US Postal Service has revealed new postage stamp designs for this year including ones featuring Jim Henson and the Muppets and another set featuring Disney characters (and there’s another one of the Northeast Deciduous Forest that sure looks like the cover for Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are).

Cover art for Tarzan II, the “inbetween-quel” to its hit 1999 predecessor, is now up at Ultimate Disney. Tarzan II will swing to stores on June 14, 2005.

We mentioned yesterday that some more Star Wars animation was on its way but we’re not sure this is exactly what we meant. Anyways, M&M’s now have an animated commercial up advertising their new Darth Vader dark chocolate candies featuring colors that seem to be taken from the Dark Lord of the Sith’s robotic chest […]

Announced by Gamerz Edge, Kevin Munroe will write and direct a new computer animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film. The movie is being produced by Tom Gray – who produced the live-action Turtles trilogy – and Galen Walker of Imagi Services, while Peter Laird, co-creator of the original 1990 Turtles feature, is executive producing. Already […]

TV Guide introduces readers to the newest Batgirl, featured in the Kids’ WB’s animated The Batman. Along with a shot of the ‘Dark Knight Damsel’, the article reveals her launch into the show. As Police Commissioner Gordon’s daughter, Barbara is a teenage Olympic gymnastics hopeful who takes on crime fighting with a cape and cowl […]

‘Plightyear’ in our Animated News Forum points us to an article at Coming Soon about plans for more animated Star Wars material including half hour episodes of Clone Wars.

Industry observer Chuck Oberleitner gives the rundown on the latest business move by The Walt Disney Company: CEO Elect Bob Iger’s dismantling of the Eisner regime’s Strategic Planning unit. While this may seem like a purely business move and not a creative one it is likely to have long range positive effects on Disney’s creative […]

From our “Not Necessarily Animation News” files we’d like to point out that there was a character named Jack Sparrow in an old Uncle Remus tale long before there was a character named Jack Sparrow in Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Perhaps the Pirates of the Caribbean writers were inspired by the earlier story.

Animation World Network has a new article all about Disney’s direct-to-video empire. The article is quite comprehensive and discusses the history of the phenomenon from Return of Jafar all the way up to Stitch Has a Glitch and Kronk’s New Groove . . . and hints that maybe even the shelved Dumbo II will eventually […]

Nicktoons and Frederator Studios are holding their second film festival, this year renamed “Nextoons: The Nicktoons Film Festival”. The festival aims to showcase the diversity of independent animated filmmaking. Animators from around the world can submit entries from March 28th through June 17th. Entry forms can be downloaded on {{link http://www.nicktoons.com www.nicktoons.com}}. Keith Dawkins, General […]

DVD Answers has updated its pages for the DVD release of The Mask and Son of the Mask, now including menus. Both DVDs will hit stores on May 17, 2005.