After six years in production, this all-French feature is finally coming to theaters December 3rd. The movie is an adaptation of Noah’s Ark, in which frogs help humans and other animals during the flood. Director Jacques-Rémy Girerd spent two years of research to translate the naive designs of Iouri Tcherenkov into a movie. The voice […]

Happy Thanksgiving to those readers where the holiday is celebrated today! Because of the extended Thanksgiving weekend here in the United States updates to this site may be slow until Monday.

{{link http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=pageone&article_no=1930 AWN}} looks at how Macromedia’s Flash animation software, once considered a “toy for Internet users”, has grown into a “serious production tool” for creating broadcast quality animation. They take a look at the views of “Flash animation from both the designers and animators who use it and the TV companies that broadcast programs […]

Frank And Ollie, the 1995 documentary film that peeks into the extraordinary Disney careers and personal lives of animators Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, was put in “wide release” on November 18th, though copies have been very hard to find. Stores such as Target, KMART, Walmart, Best Buy, Circuit City and Blockbuster seem not to […]

{{link http://www.comingsoon.net/news.php?id=2497 ComingSoon.net}} has a new promotional image from DreamWorks’ \\Shrek 2\\. Be sure to check out their site for a larger version of the image. UPDATE: I just received an email from an alert reader saying that this image is neither an actual promotional shot nor new. Apparently it is fan art that has […]

The official site of ABC is now sporting a page for the upcoming Peanuts special I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown! “It’s Christmas vacation and, as usual, ReRun’s big sister is stressing him out, so he decides to turn to his best friend, Snoopy, for amusement and holiday cheer.” Follow the link for […]

The Moose Hole gives a mixed review of the feature film adaptation of the classic Disney theme park attraction. “If you are looking for another Pirates Of The Caribbean, wait for the film’s sequel rather then searching for it in The Haunted Mansion” but the site does find it slightly entertaining. Read the full review […]

MovieHole reports that Demi Moore’s production company is considering making a live-action Barbie movie, with Ethan Hawke and Ashton Kutcher being considered for the role of ‘Ken’. The website jokes, “Thankfully, no word on Demi starring as Barbie yet.”

While looking over the background of the new \\Incredibles\\ composer Michael Giacchino, I came across {{link http://www.gsamusic.com/additional/Giacchino.pdf this resumé}} from the Gorfaine/Schwartz Agency. One of the Giacchino’s credits listed under “Motion Pictures” is \\One Man Band\\, an “animated short film” from “Pixar Animation Studios”, produced by “Brad Bird” (who happens to be the director for […]

Japanese studio Production IG is co-producing with Manga Video a new movie, Dead Leaves. The feature, slated to be released next January, is helmed by Hiroyuki Imaishi and based on designs by Imaitoonz, whose aggressive style has appeared on MTV generics as well as on commercials for Sega and Sony. These two artists have created […]

Okay, let the bad pirate/ship puns begin: this summer’s surprise Disney blockbuster {{link http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00005JM5E/qid=1069876840/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/002-1902555-2863210?v=glance&s=dvd&n=507846 Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl}} hits the shiny movie disc format on December 2nd. The always excellent {{link http://www.dvdfile.com/software/review/dvd-video_7/piratesofthecaribbeancurse.html DVD File is first online with a full review}} of the disc, which should please long-time DisneyLand […]

As we approach Thanksgiving (in the United States), Wade Sampson of {{link http://www.jimhillmedia.com/legacy/index.htm?../articles/guest/wsampson.11262003.1.htm~contentFrame Jim Hill Media}} writes about the history of the famous Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and the role that Mickey Mouse has played in it.

Several people (including “macontosh2000” at the {{link http://animation.skyblueproductions.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=105 A-N Forum}}) have reported that the news page at composer {{link http://www.michaelgiacchino.com/EPMnews.html Michael Giacchino’s website}} notes that he has been signed to score Pixar’s \\The Incredibles\\. Giacchino’s {{link http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0315974/ previous experience}} is almost completely in scoring video games. His most well known credit is for writing the […]

{{link http://www.michaelbarrier.com/index.html Michael Barrier}}, author of Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation In Its Golden Age and a contributor to the recent Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD set, offers up his take on a couple of films still in theaters: {{link http://www.michaelbarrier.com/Commentary/Brother_Bear/Brother_Bear.htm Brother Bear}} and {{link http://www.michaelbarrier.com/Commentary/Looney_Tunes_Back_in_Action/Looney_Tunes_Back_in_Action.htm Looney Tunes: Back In Action}}. Sounds like he didn’t have […]

Craig Crumpton on the {{link http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=95455 Toon Zone Forums}} posts a link to {{link http://www.gameinformer.com/ Game Informer}}’s site, which reports that Tim Burton’s stop-motion animated The Nightmare Before Christmas is headed to the PlayStation 2 console, courtesy of games giant Capcom. There’s an early look at a couple of screencaps {{link http://gameinformer.com/News/Screens/ScreenShots.htm?CS_pid={0E0A7CD9-063A-42F1-97CE-6EDEFD87DC32} here}} and a […]

{{link http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hp&cf=prev&id=1808451614 Greg’s Previews}} has a few tidbits on the upcoming \\Teacher’s Pet\\ movie. First of all, the title has been changed from \\Teacher’s Pet: The Movie\\ to just \\Teacher’s Pet\\. Second, Kelsey Grammer, Paul Reubens, Megan Mullally, and Jay Thomas have been confirmed as part of the cast. Greg also notes that “Kevin Schon […]

{{link http://www.usanimation.com/pdf/OscarNominations.htm Toon Boom Technologies}} notes that their animation software was used on almost half of the animated films eligible for the Animated Oscar. Five of the eleven films (\\The Jungle Book 2\\, \\Piglet’s Big Movie\\, \\Looney Tunes: Back in Action\\, \\Rugrats Go Wild!\\, and \\The Triplets of Belleville\\) were done with their USAnimation software.

{{link http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=pageone&article_no=1928&page=4 AWN}} has an interesting article on what makes an animated show a hit. Some factors include good writing (\\The Simpsons\\), the show’s pedigree (“I’ll open Matt Groening or (\\The Family Guy\\’s) Seth MacFarlane or (\\King of the Hill\\’s) Mike Judge’s submission first”), already established characters (book-based \\Arthur\\ created 25 years ago), having a […]

An {{link http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=16579 Ain’t It Cool News}} contributor gives us our first glimpse of the \\Garfield\\ teaser trailer. According to the {{link http://www.garfieldmovie.com/home.html official website}}, this trailer should appear online in December. If this teaser is any indication, this movies going to suck the very marrow out of next summer. As it begins, the beginning […]

Animation Blast recently posted a link to a New York Times article online in which the future of Mickey Mouse is discussed. While Mickey is certainly an enduring cultural and corporate icon the question is more about whether or not he can remain a viable and entertaining character in animated features. Sales of the upcoming […]

Hopefully this first look at next summer’s Jonathan Frakes-directed blockbuster wannabe will start popping up on other sites around the web, as the {{link http://www.workingtitlefilms.com/nusite.php Working Title Films}} website is a little tricky to navigate to say the least – not the most friendly of pages to find your way around, even if the Flash […]

The {{link http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-weta23nov23,1,1140535.story L.A. Times}} has a report on the lack of CG artists in the industry. “Industry observers agree that there are not enough experienced workers to fill the more than 5,000 jobs available in live-action movies, animated features and video game projects”. For example, while New Zealand based Weta Digital (the computer effects […]

{{link http://www.jimhillmedia.com/legacy/index.htm?../articles/11242003.1.htm~contentFrame Jim Hill Media}} today has a “mélange” of news including an update on Disney’s \\Chicken Little\\. It’s this really funny film by the guys who did \\The Emperor’s New Groove\\: director Mark Dindal and producer Randy Fullmer… Everything that made \\Groove\\ great – the film’s stylish look, its snarky story qualities, not to […]

Also at {{link http://www.jimhillmedia.com/legacy/index.htm?../articles/11242003.1.htm~contentFrame Jim Hill Media}} today are a few tidbits on \\The Emperor’s New Groove\\. “Disney is currently producing a direct-to-video sequel to the film – tentatively titled \\The Emperor’s Newer Groove\\ – as well as seriously looking into doing a \\Groove\\ TV series.

In the race to see who takes home Oscar gold next year, Finding Nemo seems to be taking a leaf out of Shrek‘s book and going for the big Best Picture prize itself, rather than pushing for Best Animated Feature. ‘Dalboz’, in the {{link http://animation.skyblueproductions.net/ Animated News Forums}} tells us that {{link http://www.oscarwatch.com/index.html OscarWatch}}, an […]

For those of us who were fans of Berkeley Breathed’s Pulitzer Prize winning \\Bloom County\\ back when it was originally published and were crushed when he ended the strip, and for those of you who never got a chance to experience Breathed’s sharp sense of humor, today is a great day! According to {{link http://www.berkeleybreathed.com/ […]

{{link http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=16564 Ain’t It Cool News}} has the first review of Pixar’s 2004 offering \\The Incredibles\\! WARNING – Their review is filled with spoilers so do not read it if you don’t want to know! I will summarize below with no spoilers. An AICN reader got to attend a general audience test screening of \\The […]

A little light reading for you on this rather slow news weekend: Amid Amidi’s {{link http://www.animationblast.com/ Animation Blast}} posted some early thoughts on Pixar’s new short Boundin’: “[It’s] humor-light: inoffensive, bordering on sappy, so utterly charming and sweet that it makes you feel dirty watching it. This is some of the sharpest and funniest computer […]

Timing in nicely with the release of the documentary on DVD, {{link http://frankanollie.com/ FrankAnOllie’s personal website}} has had a facelift, courtesy of new hosts Animation World Network! The site, originated and about the legendary Disney animators, features their personal tips on animation, background histories and their work, and fun with “new” characters Revilo and Nilknarf […]

A post at {{link http://www.animationnation.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=006966 Animation Nation}} brought to our attention the fact that a previous story we reported on was not true. Our {{link http://www.animatedviews.com/wp-content/uploads/archives/00000148.html previous report}} stated that Matt Groening, in an interview with the left-wing radio network NPR, said that “Fox News Channel threatened to sue the makers of \\The Simpsons\\ over […]