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The Lion King II / The Lion King 1½

The first sequel suffers from too much comparison to its predecessor, but where the third film hits the mark is in being just the opposite: an all-out, almost full-on parody of Disney’s classic hit.

Wallace & Gromit’s World Of Invention

Although not featuring Nick Park’s classic characters as we’re more often used to seeing them, the Wallace and Gromit hosted World Of Invention is informative and fun thanks to their (brief) links.

The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn

Hergé’s iconic graphic album adventures burst onto the screen courtesy of top-flight motion-capture animation under the watchful eyes of Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson, and the result is simply astounding!

Justice League: Doom

It’s another superhero slugfest, though this one has the interesting twist of also bringing the League at odds with Batman. Includes a great Dwayne McDuffie tribute featurette and more.

Happy Feet Two

This poor, poor retread of the original film won’t win over any new fans, and old ones should just watch the first film again, but the disc wins big points for including an excellent new Looney Tunes short with a classic twist.

VeggieTales: Robin Good And His Not-So-Merry Men

Goofy humor, silly songs, and a good heart fill this latest in the popular VeggieTales series: short and clever enough that it just might be worth a look.

DC Nation Block – Week 1

Cartoon Network’s new action block promises an hour of superhero adventure and humor with Young Justice, Green Lantern and new DC Shorts, which, though the first week was full of premiere reruns and filler, made the hour worth watching.

Bubble Guppies-Bubble Puppy’s Fin-tastic Fairy Tale

Bubble Guppies is about a school of mermaid toddlers, who live, learn, have adventures in a world too cutesy and unreal to even exist in your imagination.

The Lorax

My name is the critic, I speak for the people. We’re tired of the morals in films writ so feeble. Unless Hollywood can better the plot, we’re not going to buy tickets. We’re not.

Bob Hilgenberg and Rob Muir on the Rise and Fall of Disney’s Circle 7 Animation

Screenwriting duo Bob and Rob recall Disney’s defunct Circle 7 Animation, where they wrote canceled sequels in the Toy Story and Monsters, Inc. franchises.

Lady And The Tramp

Walt Disney’s classic brings kitchen sink drama to animated film, and this latest home video version, while not adding much new to what the Platinum DVD served up, scores with its pristine audio and video presentation.

AV introduces website calendar and iPhone app

We launched two new features this week: an iPhone app called AV Countdown, and a website calendar listing upcoming animated films. Toon in here to get the details!

Lady and the Tramp’s Peggy Lee on the right side of the (sound)tracks!

With Lady And The Tramp’s debut on Blu-ray, Jeremie looks back and speaks with granddaughter Holly Foster-Wells about singer-songwriter Peggy Lee’s career and involvement in Walt’s canine masterpiece.

Mad: Season One, Part Two

The usual gang of idiots return for a second helping of the original satirical magazine’s surprisingly consistent transition to the screen, and even if the strike rate isn’t quite as strong as the first episodes there are still (“cheap!”) laughs to be had.

Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax: Deluxe Edition

Dr. Seuss’s ecological fable looks fantastic on Blu-ray, though its accompanying TV specials don’t get the same treatment. All three specials otherwise still stand up well as great family viewing.

Oscar weekend

It’s Oscar weekend — spend it with Animated Views! Print your ballot, follow the contest results in real time, check out the AV consensus in each category, and join us for a live chat.

Chris Miller discusses his Oscar nom and Puss In Boots

Jeremy Sollie speaks with Puss In Boots director Chris Miller on being Oscar nominated, the film’s story development, Guillermo del Toro, and his voice cast.

FINAL DAY to enter AV’s Oscar contest

Animated Views is giving away a $50 Amazon gift certificate! All you have to do is predict who is going to win at the 84th Annual Academy Awards (to be held on Sunday, February 26th on ABC). The person with the most correct picks will win! Entries are due TODAY by midnight ET. Already entered? […]

Scooby-Doo – Mystery, Incorporated: Crystal Cove Curse (Season One, Part 2)

The final half of the reimagined Scooby show hits DVD in a two-disc set. Purists may balk at the changes in the show’s premise, but the season-long storyline pays off nicely.

Real Steel

Memories of robot-in-the-ring childhood toy games will come flooding back for those of a certain age, for whom the big-hearted Real Steel will entertain as a good-time, old-style movie, but with state-of-the-art visuals.

Animated Views’ 2012 Oscar Contest

Animated Views is giving away a $50 Amazon gift certificate! All you have to do is predict who is going to win at the 84th Annual Academy Awards (to be held on Sunday, February 26th on ABC). The person with the most correct picks will win!

The Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Ultimate Collector’s Edition Volume One

Looking better than ever, the Looney Tunes have hit Blu-ray with a stunning collection of classic toons and tributes to Chuck Jones. Excellent.

Director Gore Verbinski wrangles up Rango!

Gore Verbinski shares his unique process for directing the awards season favorite Rango, the first animated feature from visual effects powerhouse Industrial Light and Magic.

Animation supervisor Jamie Beard captures The Aventures of Tintin!

Weta Digital’s Jamie Beard offers an inside look at the performance capture process for The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn, from director Steven Spielberg and producer Peter Jackson.

The Smurfs: A Christmas Carol : maxi-director Troy Quane on Sony’s mini-movie!

Jeremie speaks with The Smurfs’ Christmas Carol director Troy Quane about their return to traditional animation!

The Essential Daffy Duck

An overpriced random selection of milestones, also-rans and specials don’t really add anything to the Daffy Duck legend, but a couple of nostalgic TV specials may help to round out some collections.

The Art Of Pixar – The Complete Color Scripts And Select Art From 25 Years Of Animation: an Interview with author Amid Amidi

Jeremie speaks with animation historian and author Amid Amidi about his latest book, a peek at Pixar’s wonderful color scripts.

Beauty and the Beast: Belle’s Magical World

Belle’s adventures with the Beast and the enchanted servants are filled with magic and moral life lessons, but they loose their heart-warming meaning if you’re over twelve.

Dr. Seuss’s Holidays On The Loose!

A rather odd grouping of previously released Grinch specials, collected together under the pretence of the holidays when only one of them is actually tied to one, with undistinguished audio and video on all but the classic Christmas show.

Frosty’s Winter Wonderland

Frosty returns in the animated sequel to Frosty the Snowman with his wife Crystal, while Jack Frost grows jealous.