Over at {{link http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=17618 Ain’t It Cool News}}, Scott Essman takes an extremely informative and interesting interview with 84 year old stop-motion animation legend Ray Harryhausen, promoting his autobiography, An Animated Life.

With Tarzan II and Lilo And Stitch 2 likely to head into theaters, one title that looks destined to go direct-to-video is The Emperor’s New Grove II – AKA The Emperor’s Newer Groove. With an animation time of just over one year, it looks as if this DTV film will have the production values of […]

Richard O’Donovan, a 3D artist at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, has just finished an independent review of The Animation Motion Show Volume 2 for {{link http://10secondclub.net/reviews.php?id=10005 The 10 Second Club}}, “the worlds largest, longest running and most fertile breeding ground for character animators wanting to improve their skills, meet contacts and discuss their challenging craft”. […]

Animation World Network has an extensive article detailing the history behind the history-making release of Disney’s limited edition On the Front Lines DVD set from Wave 3 of the Walt Disney Treasure Series, which dovetails nicely with the similar article posted here a couple weeks ago.

Follow the ‘More’ link to view several newly released stills from Disney’s upcoming animated feature, The Three Musketeers, including DVD menu screens and deleted scenes.

Check out The New York Times article about Shrek and the possible sale of DreamWorks’ animation division. Thanks to Kristin for the heads up. Free subscription required to read article online.

The Futon Critic, via Toon Zone, shows that in the unveiling of its 2004 “fall” schedule and development slate, the Fox network has revealed that Seth MacFarlane’s American Dad, which focuses on “a clan consisting of a right-leaning CIA agent and his wife; their two kids (including a liberal daughter); a housebound alien named Roger […]

The San Francisco Business Times indicates that the company that made Finding Nemo may soon be finding another place to work. During the Emeryville City Council meeting on late Tuesday, Pixar Animation Studios threatened to leave Emeryville. This announcement came in response to the serious consideration council members are giving to eliminating most of the […]

Box Office Guru and Coming Soon! report that stomping into 3,737 North American theaters on Wednesday, Shrek 2 grossed $11,768,000 in its first day of release, thus beating the record for largest Wednesday opening for an animated film by more than $1.5 million. DreamWorks will release Shrek 2 into 426 more theaters on Friday. Thus, […]

The Dreamworks SKG Fansite has the details on a sight gag in the new trailer for Shark Tale. Apparently, in the sequence in which Oscar (Will Smith) and Lenny (Jack Black) are about to collide, Lenny goes through a Jaws poster, after being punched by Oscar. Look for it in Shark Tale‘s new trailer, which […]

The official website for The Spongbob Squarepants Movie, which floats into theaters on November 19, 2004, has been updated, now including a QuickTime version of the new trailer that debuted last week, and other new downloads. The website also provides more details to the film’s story, with a full synopsis:

As we {{link http://www.animatedviews.com/wp-content/uploads/archives/00001018.html announced}} back in March, a 2-disc Special Edition of Sylvain Chomet’s Les Triplettes de Belleville has in fact been released recently in Canada – the only question is, “was it worth the wait?” Apart from some deluxe packaging and the inclusion of the original French track, it seems the release still […]

Those with Disney’s Home On The Range on their wish lists at {{link http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00029LO0Y/qid=1085052061/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/102-4687562-8010520?v=glance&s=dvd Amazon.com}} will have been the first to see today that Walt Disney Home Video is listing a release date of September 14 for the animated cow comedy. No news on specs yet, though the $29.99 list price may well indicate a […]

The latest wave of Walt Disney Treasures was officially released through stores this past Tuesday, and now Kirby Holt of The Laughing Place has posted his final two looks at the new series with reviews of {{link http://www.laughingplace.com/News-PID280200-280200.asp TomorrowLand: Disney In Space And Beyond}} and the compilation of Duck cartoons, {{link http://www.laughingplace.com/News-ID280210.asp The Chronological Donald}}. […]

MSN and FilmForce talk to the voice of Puss in Boots in Shrek 2, Antonio Banderas.

Variety via FilmForce indicates that Warner Brothers and Robert Zemeckis’ production company ImageMovers have purchased the movie rights to actor/writer Ian Ogilvy’s forthcoming three-book series entitled Measle and Wrathmonk. The filmmakers are supposedly planning to use the “performance capture” CG-animation technique which was used with The Polar Express. Measle and Wrathmonk involves “a young boy […]

Adding to our Shrek-themed news today comes this link sent in by ‘Olve’, which {{link http://www.shrek2.com/firstfive.html previews the first five minutes}} of DreamWorks’ latest blockbuster – out today in case you hadn’t guessed!

The Hollywoord Reporter reports that more “fractured fairy tales” appear to be on the way, as Wild Brain’s Big Bad Wolf, an animated retelling of “Little Red Riding Hood,” is on the way from Casey Silver Productions, which bought the project through the company’s discretionary fund with Universal. Wild Brain may decide to co-finance the […]

Aaron at Ultimate Disney has pointed out a Song of the South poll over at Roy Disney and Stanley Gold’s SaveDisney.com website. Head on over there to cast your vote.

DreamWorks’ \\Shrek 2\\ opens today on 3,737 screens according to {{link http://www.boxofficemojo.com/counts/chart/?yr=2004&wk=21&p=.htm Box Office Mojo}}. {{link http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4999152/ MSNBC}} says that “whatever was wrong with \\Shrek\\ – and there were more weaknesses than its beloved status would suggest – has been eradicated or improved upon with \\Shrek 2\\, a rare example of a sequel that’s better […]

On this day of the release of Shrek 2 to theaters it is hard to not talk about Shrek, about Disney, and about how Disney reacts to Shrek. Over at Jim Hill Media, Jim offers up some interesting reading on Walt Disney Feature Animation’s plans to catch up with the Shrek franchise in the lucrative […]

Before you head to the theater to check out Dreamworks’ sure-to-be-a-smash-hit Shrek 2, “ogre-ize” your computer with some nice M&M’s Shrek 2-themed Downloads. You can also watch a funny computer-animated commercial there.

In the {{link http://animation.skyblueproductions.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=2579#post2579 AN Forums}}, ‘tkt0820’ posts that “The CINEME International Animation Film Festival has announced its Call for Submissions. CINEME will be held September 24, 25 and 26, 2004 in Chicago, Illinois. Completed animated works may be submitted by June 1 for early consideration (with a reduced submission fee) or by July 1 […]

Frédéric writes in to point us towards his pretty impressive {{link http://www.theincredibles.free.fr/ Incredibles fan site}}. Though French speakers will get the most out of it, there’s some very nicely put together stuff to catch, including huge downloadable versions of the latest trailers and TV spots (in English), and new images to explore!

UIP Netherlands has the new poster for Shark Tale.

Julie Andrews speaks to Dark Horizons about her role as Queen Lillian in Shrek 2.

The irrepressible JoBlo.com is back with another, lengthy update on Shark Tale‘s {{link http://www.joblo.com/index.php?id=4313 appearance at the Cannes Film Festival}}, including asking DreamWorks’ head honcho Jeffrey Katzenberg about the name change from Shark Slayer, a brush with voice artist Angelina Jolie, and Jack Black falling off the Shark Tale inflatable… Funny stuff, and packed with […]

Moviehole reports that while at the Cannes Film Festival, Jeffrey Katzenberg revealed some new information on the upcoming Shrek 3 and Shrek 4. “Before the first one was finished, we talked about what the whole story of Shrek is, and each of the chapters answers questions about the first movie and gives us an insight,” […]

Following the {{link http://www.animatedviews.com/wp-content/uploads/archives/00001495.html Aladdin box set image}} we posted last last week, DVD Answers now have a full-sized look at the {{link http://www.dvdanswers.com/index.php?r=0&s=1&c=3972&n=1&burl= 2-disc set’s artwork}} itself. As they say, “Fingers crossed that the horrible ‘First Time on DVD’ banner will be removed pretty sharpish!”

‘Inkan1969’ in the {{link http://animation.skyblueproductions.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=2504#post2504 Animated News Forum}} posts the news that the sixth in the ever expanding – and seemingly never ending – universe of Pokemon films will not get a theatrical release. Distributors Miramax will release {{link http://www.pokemon.com/wishmaker/wishmaker.htm Pokemon: Jirachi Wish Maker}} direct to video on June 1.