ASIFA-Hollywood announced its slate of presenters today for the 45th Annie Awards this Saturday, February 3 from UCLA’s Royce Hall. Presenters include actress Wendie Malick; Coco’s Anthony Gonzalez; Director Nora Twomey and actress Saara Chaudry from The Breadwinner; Disney voice talent Russi Taylor; SpongeBob himself, Tom Kenny; Animators Mark Henn and Floyd Norman, and other […]
Archive for January, 2018
ANIME REVIEW: “The Morose Mononokean”
January 27th, 2018 
Charles Solomon We don’t really have a word in English that corresponds to the Japanese yokai. They aren’t ghosts as we think of them; nor do they correspond to Western demons or ogres. Their appearance is often monstrous, but they’re not all huge or ugly. Yokai can be grotesque, hideous, funny-looking or even attractive. There doesn’t seem […]
EXCLUSIVE CLIP: “Puss In Boots” Season 6
January 25th, 2018 Jerry Beck Lest you’ve forgotten, DreamWorks Animation’s very funny The Adventures of Puss in Boots Season 6 will premiere Friday, January 26th on Netflix. The Emmy-winning series stars the voices of Eric Bauza (TurboFAST, Uncle Grandpa, Woody Woodpecker) as Puss and Jayma Mays (The Millers) as Dulciena. Here’s an exclusive first look at Puss – in slippers?
Academy Award Nominations
January 23rd, 2018 Jerry Beck The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that nominations for its 90th Annual Academy Awards. The 5 films are listed below in alphabetical order by title, with their directors: Best Animated Feature nominees were: THE BOSS BABY Dreamworks-20th Century Fox. – Tom McGrath. THE BREADWINNER GKids/Cartoon Saloon – Nora Twomey COCO Disney/Pixar […]
45th Annie Awards To Live Stream
January 22nd, 2018 Jerry Beck ASIFA-Hollywood announced today that although VIP tickets to the 45th Annie Awards are sold out, you can watch the ceremony live on our Annies streaming channel – http://annieawards.org/watch-it-live/. The fun starts at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 3rd. The award ceremony’s multi-camera and audio set up will cover the entire ceremony – the celebrations, the […]
Silent Cartoon Restorations highlight “Animatus Eventus”
January 20th, 2018 Jerry Beck On Saturday, February 10th, 2018 at 7:30pm and Sunday, February 11th, 2018 at 2:00pm the Riverside Philharmonic Presents “Animatus Eventus” – an all animation program with live musical accompaniment by the Riverside Philharmonic. It will feature the premiere of Mark Watters’ original score for a newly restored Walt Disney’s silent short, Alice’s Little Parade (1926). […]
INTERVIEW: “Trolls: The Beat Goes On” Executive Producer Matt Beans
January 18th, 2018 Greg Ehrbar The animated feature Trolls is one of six new series that DreamWorks Television Animation has prepared for Netflix, and while it’s a slam dunk for tots, you might also like it more than you think. The TV version has the same elements of fantasy, music, goodness and niceness, but there’s a layer of character-driven comedy […]
INTERVIEW: Actress Ruby Barnhill on Voicing “Mary and The Witch’s Flower”
January 17th, 2018 Jackson Murphy This Thursday January 18th, Fathom Events is screening both the foreign and English-language versions of the new anime film, Mary and The Witch’s Flower, in select theaters nationwide – the night before its regular theatrical release. “Mary” is one of the 26 films eligible for an Oscar nomination in this year’s Best Animated Feature category. […]
GLAS Animation Festival 2018 Signal Film by Ori Toor
January 16th, 2018 Jerry Beck Put down your coffee and plug in your ear buds. Check out this friggin’ cool signal film for the 2018 GLAS Animation Festival. The event takes place March 22-25 in Berkeley, CA – and they’ll soon be announcing competition selections, curated programs, special guests, and the complete festival schedule. In the meantime, feast your eyes […]
INTERVIEW: Nora Twomey talks “The Breadwinner”
January 15th, 2018 Jackson Murphy Nora Twomey is the co-founder of Cartoon Saloon, the studio behind The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea and several other animated films of the past few years. Her latest credit is as director of The Breadwinner, which is up for 10 Annie Awards, and also received Best Animated Feature nominations from both Critics […]
INTERVIEW: Duo Directors Talk “The Big Bad Fox & Other Tales”
January 11th, 2018 Jackson Murphy The Big Bad Fox & Other Tales is a hilarious Annie-nominated animated comedy based on popular French graphic novels. Directors Patrick Imbert and Benjamin Renner talk about creating this unique film. Jackson Murphy: The three stories were originally going to be three separate TV specials. What made you guys decide to connect them into a […]
TEASER: Warner Bros. “Teen Titans Go! To The Movies”
January 10th, 2018 Jerry Beck When the Teen Titans go to the big screen, they go big! Teen Titans GO! to the Movies finds the egocentric, wildly satirical Super Heroes in their first feature film extravaganza — a gleefully clever, tongue-in-cheek play on the super hero genre – complete with musical numbers. The theatrical film is being directed by Aaron […]
Posted in WAG (Features), Warner Bros., WB Animation (TV) 
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Less Is More: The Simple Beauty of “Dam Keeper Poems”, “The Big Bad Fox”, and “The Yamadas”
January 8th, 2018 Charles Solomon We live in an era of visual overload. Animation studios are producing images so detailed, they’re virtually indistinguishable from live action, but why do they want to? How does rendering every leaf in the background make a story more compelling? What does an audience gain by seeing each stitch in a cartoon character’s sweater? Why […]
Pixar’s “Coco” Wins Golden Globe Award
January 7th, 2018 Jerry Beck The infamous Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced their winners tonight – and included in the mix was the winner for Best Animated Feature. Pixar’s Coco won the top honor. Director Lee Unkrich accepted the award and spoke – accompanied on stage by producer Darla K. Anderson and co-director Adrian Molina. The Golden Globes were awarded […]
Mindy Johnson’s Advice to the Young Generation of “Film Experts”
January 6th, 2018 Lauren Ashton Creativity meets expertise in Mindy Johnson: an award winning author, historian, musician, playwright, and professor based in the Los Angeles area. Johnson has produced several books on early film and animation, and conducted astounding works of research in regards to women’s role throughout the history of cinema. Her newest book, Ink and Paint- The Women […]
