The International Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood, announced nominations today for its 44th Annual Annie Awards recognizing the year’s best in the field of animation. For a complete list of nominations, please visit The Annie Awards website. This year’s Best Animated Feature nominations include: Finding Dory (Pixar Animation Studios), Kubo and the Two Strings (Laika), Kung […]
Archive for November, 2016
2016 Annie Award Nominations: Dory, Kubo, Moana, Panda and Zootopia Take Top Honors
November 28th, 2016 
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Late Night Work Club Debuts New Anthology, “Strangers”
November 27th, 2016 Jerry Beck The Late Night Work Club collective debuts its the second anthology today, the 42-minute compilation “Strangers” – online now (embed below) – which includes new films from Loup Blaster, Jeanette Bonds, Sean Buckelew, Alex Grigg, Kirsten Lepore, Nicolas Ménard & Caleb Wood with interstitial animation by Charles Huettner and original music by Skillbard, David Kamp, […]
R.I.P. “Yellow Submarine” Producer Al Brodax (1926-2016)
November 26th, 2016 Jerry Beck Longtime King Features animation producer Al Brodax passed away Thanksgiving evening. The news was announced on Facebook by Beatle cartoon historian (and Brodax friend) Mitchell Axelrod this evening. While his best known screen credit may be as producer (and co-writer) of the ground breaking 1968 animated feature, Yellow Submarine, Brodax had a vast career in […]
ANIME TRAILER: “Napping Princess: The Story Of The Unknown Me”
November 25th, 2016 Jerry Beck Warner Bros. just posted a trailer for a new anime film by director Kenji Kamiyama – (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Eden of the East) – Napping Princess: The Story of the Unknown Me. I.G Port’s anime subsidiary Signal.MD is animating the film as its first anime film project. The film opens March […]
Academy Awards Best Animated Short – Short List
November 23rd, 2016 Jerry Beck The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 10 animated short films will advance in the voting process for the 89th Academy Awards. Sixty-nine pictures had originally qualified in the category. The 10 films are listed below in alphabetical order by title, with their production companies: Blind Vaysha Theodore Ushev, director (National […]
TEASER: Pixar’s “Cars 3”
November 21st, 2016 Jerry Beck From this moment, everything will change. Or at least feel different, as a new teaser for Pixar’s Cars 3 is here. Brian Fee (animator, designer, storyboard on numerous Disney/Pixar projects) is directing, Owen Wilson returns as Lightning McQueen, Daniel Gerson (Big Hero 6) is writing the screenplay. Cars 3 is in U.S. Theaters June 2017. […]
TRAILER: Sony’s “Smurfs: The Lost Village”
November 21st, 2016 Jerry Beck Forget those other Smurfs movies – Here comes the real deal. In this fully animated (translation: NO live action), all-new take, Sony Pictures Animation Smurfs: The Lost Village solves some of the biggest secrets in Smurfs history: Where are the rest of the Smurfs? And why is there only one Smurfette? And it looks pretty […]
Writer/Producer Mike Rowe Talks You Tube’s “Paranormal Action Squad”
November 18th, 2016 Jackson Murphy The Paranormal Action Squad is an 8-episode, animated comedy series that follows two paranormal enthusiasts, PAUL (voiced by SeaNanners) and BOB (voiced by TheMrSark) who, along with their enthusiastic neighbor VANOSS (voiced by VanossGaming), have made it their mission in life to uncover the mysteries of the ghostly universe. The Paranormal Action Squad is YouTube’s […]
Google Spotlight Stories and Nexus Studios Release New VR Short “Rain Or Shine”
November 17th, 2016 Jerry Beck Google Spotlight Stories and Nexus Studios announced the debut today of their new 360, interactive story, Rain or Shine. directed by animator Felix Massie. Massie is an award winning animation director and published children’s book author based at the Nexus Studios in London. The film is now available on YouTube 360, as well as on […]
Tonko House and 20th Century Fox Animation Developing “Dam Keeper” Feature
November 17th, 2016 Jerry Beck Tonko House and 20th Century Fox Animation announced today that they are partnering to develop a feature film based on The Dam Keeper, the 2015 Academy Award-nominated animated short written and directed by Tonko House founders Robert Kondo and Daisuke “Dice” Tsutsumi. Kondo and Tsutsumi, former art directors at Pixar (Toy Story 3, Monster’s University, […]
Creator John Dilworth Posts Online Commentary For “Courage The Cowardly Dog”
November 15th, 2016 Jerry Beck Calling all Courage The Cowardly Dog fans! Creator John Dilworth and Courage staff writer William Hohauser are producing commentary tracks for various Courage episodes. They have begun posting them on YouTube, with Dilworth doing all the talking on these commentaries – but in RiffTrax style. In other words, the viewer has to cue up their […]
Anime Review: “Big Windup!”
November 15th, 2016 Charles Solomon Based on a manga by Asa Higuchi, the 2007 broadcast series Big Windup! turns the clichés of the anime sports genre upside down. The main character is neither an ace who needs to be taught the importance of teamwork, like Ryoma in Prince of Tennis, nor a newbie who discovers his exceptional talent as he […]
Mickey Mouse News: 88th Birthday “Mickey and the Roadster Racers”
November 14th, 2016 Jackson Murphy To celebrate Mickey Mouse’s 88th Birthday (this Friday, Nov. 18th) Fathom Events held a sneak preview this past Saturday of the upcoming Disney Junior animated series Mickey and the Roadster Racers. The show debuts in January and centers on Mickey and pals Minnie, Goofy, Donald, Daisy, Pluto and Pete as race car drivers. Rob LaDuca […]
Nickelodeon Debuts Original Animated TV Movie “Albert” Friday, Dec. 9th
November 14th, 2016 Jerry Beck Nickelodeon had announced the debut of Albert, an original animated TV movie about a tiny Douglas fir tree who goes on a journey to become the city’s most famous Christmas tree ever. Premiering Friday, Dec. 9th, at 7:00 p.m. (ET/PT), this one-hour, CG-animated holiday special is directed by Oscar-nominated Max Lang (The Gruffalo), executive produced […]
Original Animated Films Aren’t Dead After All!
FOX is doubling-down on animated films, but the really interesting part is that many of those proposed are original adaptations of books! Such news is stunning for its notability if not for the regrettable nature for it being so. The feature segment of the animation industry has had a bad case of sequalitis for a […]