During a press conference held by Howl’s Moving Castle producer Toshio Suzuki, an announcement was made that Pete Docter (director of Monsters, Inc.) will lead production of the English version of Howl’s Moving Castle. John Lasseter, the first choice to head the production, was unable to work on the film, due to his involvement with […]

Latino Review indicates that despite Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow doing only moderate business in theaters, the possibility of another Sky Captain film still remains. Jude Law states, “Yeah, I think there might be. I don’t really plan that far ahead. Obviously, I’m here with this film and I’m in rehearsals for another.” […]

IGN FilmForce chats with Transformers screenwriter John Rogers, concerning the theatrical version of the popular toy, comic book and cartoon franchise.

Coming Soon reports that the IMAX Corporation and Twentieth Century Fox announced today that the upcoming CGI flick Robots will open simultaneously in both IMAX® and conventional theatres on March 11, 2005. Robots marks the first day-and-date IMAX DMR release to open in the spring, thus increasing IMAX’s 2005 commercial film slate. Bruce Snyder, President, […]

Macy’s now has a page at their site dedicated to tomorrow’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with Sponge Bob and Chicken Little figuring in very prominently, amongst other animated characters.

{{link http://voom.com/vhdo/mnst/index.jsp Monster HD}}, one of the Voom satellite television service original channels, will air a special Ray Harryhausen Triple Feature on Tuesday, November 30. The three films running back to back to back are \\It Came from Beneath the Sea\\, \\The Three Worlds of Gulliver\\, and \\One Million Years B.C\\. All the films will […]

Retailer {{link http://www.childrensplace.com/ The Children’s Place}} has announced that it has successfully completed its previously announced acquisition of the Disney Store retail chain in North America. Ezra Dabah, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Children’s Place said, “We believe that the Disney brand together with our retail expertise will be a powerful and profitable […]

\\{{link http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hkdisney23nov23,1,7240083.story The L.A. Times}}\\ reports that Disney has consulted a feng shui master to determine the opening date for Hong Kong Disneyland – September 12, 2005. The park’s group managing director Don Robinson said, “A lot of our work has gone through feng shui masters”. He added that they “assured us that Sept. 12 […]

Two relative newcomers will direct and write the fifth installment of the popular \\Harry Potter\\ film franchise according to a \\Variety\\ report at {{link http://www.cinecon.com/news.php?id=0411194 Cinema Confidential}}. \\Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix\\ will be directed by David Yates with a screenplay by Michael Goldenberg. Yates, who is more known for his televison […]

{{link http://www.cartoonbrew.com/ Cartoon Brew}}’s Jerry Beck reports that the long-suffering aways-in-limbo \\Lil’ Pimp\\ will finally see the light of release. On January 11th, 2005, the R-rated Flash made film, originally planned as a theatrical feature, will be released on DVD. Beck succinctly sums up the production’s troubled backstory: “It has a disasterous production history, stories […]

According to \\{{link http://www.thehollywoodreporter.com/thr/television/brief_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000725285 The Hollywood Reporter}}\\, FOX will be airing an episode of \\Family Guy\\ that they once banned because of anti-Semitic concerns. Titled \\When You Wish Upon a Weinstein\\ and set for broadcast at 9:30pm ET December 10, “sources said the network was emboldened to air the episode because it has already run […]

{{link http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=2004&wknd=47&p=.htm Box Office Mojo}} reports that \\The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie\\ opened with $32 million this weekend, coming in second to \\National Treasure\\’s $35.1 million. {{link http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/041121/nysu023_1.html Nick Movies}} notes that the take shatters “the previous record held by \\The Rugrats Movie\\ in 1998 at $27.3 million… to make it the strongest opening ever for […]

Famed Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki’s latest animated film Howl’s Moving Castle chalked up 1.48 billion yen in box-office revenue and attracted an audience of 1.1 million people during its first two days of release, a record for a domestic film, Toho Co. said Monday. For its first two days, the movie surpassed the record of […]

\\{{link http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/fridayreview/story/0,,1348509,00.html The Guardian}}\\ has a feature article titled \\How Pixar Conquered the Planet\\ that looks behind the scenes of “the most successful studio in the history of cinema”.

In an in interview on NPR, the director of Titanic and Aliens confirmed that his next movie will be Battle Angel, a live action take on the Battle Angel Alita manga/anime. The movie will be shot in 3D, using the same technology of Cameron’s IMAX 3D movie Aliens of the Deep. The main character will […]

Variety(subscription required) reports that DreamWorks has hired scribes Ed Decter and John Strauss to write the animated pic Puss in Boots, based on the Antonio Banderas-voiced character from Shrek 2.

Animated News reader Thorsten Hasenkamm writes in to inform us that, hot on the heels of the recent DVD release of the live action Pink Panther movies, The Pink Panther Cartoon Collection is now available from Amazon UK in a special 4-disc set. Maybe they will eventually release such a complete set stateside.

Our Animated News reader Vinicio writes in from Guatemala with screen shots and menu screens for the upcoming Mulan II, which has just been released in his area. The design seems to reflect the recent 2-disc edition of the original film, and you can check out the main menus, set up options, scene selection, bonus […]

Animation has taken over the nation’s movie screens this week as all of the top three showing films are animated films. According to {{link http://www.boxofficemojo.com/counts/chart/?yr=2004&wk=47&p=.htm Box Office Mojo}}, Disney/Pixar’s \\The Incredibles\\ is showing on 3,683 screens, Warner Brothers’ \\The Polar Express\\ is on 3,650 screens, and Paramount’s \\The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie\\ is on 3,212 screens. […]

If nautical nonsense be something you wish, you’ll be happy to know that \\The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie\\ opens today! The film has a 70% freshness rating from {{link http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/spongebob_squarepants_movie/ Rotten Tomatoes}}, with those critics who like it loving the zaniness, while those not liking it can’t seem to agree on why!

Just a reminder of the “Art and Entertainment of Chuck Jones” event going on tomorrow, November 20, at The Laguna College of Art and Design and the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity (see original Animated News article and the Cartoon Brew piece). Eric Goldberg will be presenting and speaking on some rare Chuck Jones material. […]

Disney Channel has given the go-ahead to a cartoon series based on the 2000 theatrical release The Emperor’s New Groove. The kids’ cable network has ordered 21 episodes of Emperor’s New Skool for 2006. Groove has performed well on Disney Channel in the past; an Aug. 21 airing was tops in its time period among […]

{{link http://www.afi.com/tvevents/100years/quotes.aspx The American Film Institute}} will “count down America’s 100 greatest lines of dialogue spoken in the movies, as chosen by experts of the motion picture community, in a three-hour television event on the CBS Television Network in June 2005”. AFI’s Director and CEO Jean Picker Firstenberg said, “Great movie quotes become part of […]

For the first time since 1966 Mickey Mouse has been chosen to be the Grand Marshal at the 2005 Tournament of Roses parade in Pasadena, CA, Yahoo! News reports. The only other non-humans to have led the parade in its 116 year history have been Kermit the Frog and ventriloquist dummy Charlie McCarthy along with […]

Coming Soon! reports that Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will release the Spider-Man – The New Animated Series: Extreme Threat DVD on January 25, 2005. The DVD contains episodes from MTV animated series, including such titles as “Royal Scam,” “Heroes and Villains,” and “Flash Memory”. Also included at the site is a menu screen from the […]

Getting a big head start on April Fool’s Day joking, the Dateline: Hollywood site has an interesting fictional piece about the eight major Hollywood studios suing Pixar for being continuously successful. As faux as the piece may be, it still seems to accurately reveal the Hollywood mentality. Case in point: “The complaint asks that a […]

Ultimate Disney has the cover art for the second wave of 2-Disc Studio Ghibli DVDs, including Nausicaä of the Valley of the Winds, Porco Rosso, and The Cat Returns. The three DVDs will be available to own on February 22, 2005.

The UK’s Channel 4 wants viewers to vote for the 100 Greatest Cartoons of all time. The network later show a 4-hour marathon broadcast showcasing clips from the winners and interviews with the creators who made them. See the channel’s official website for more details.

Jim Hill Media looks at the Popeye’s Voyage: The Quest for Pappy DVD. Giving the movie a positive review, the site comments, “In spite of its flaws, is Popeye’s Voyage worth seeing? I’d say yes. It may not be the perfect modern Popeye cartoon, but it’s still enjoyable.” Popeye’s Voyage: The Quest for Pappy will […]

The {{link http://www.wearefamilyfoundation.org/ We Are Family Foundation}} has announced their partnership with some of the biggest names in children’s programming to create a DVD to be distributed in schools to promote tolerance and diversity. The project brings together characters from Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, and PBS programs to sing a new version of the song \\We […]