Traci Paige Johnson and Jennifer Twomey are the creators of the new DreamWorks Animation series Gabby’s Dollhouse. It debuts this Tuesday January 5th on Netflix. Johnson and Twomey (of Blue’s Clues fame) usher in 2021 with a fun, positive show about learning, adventure and… cats. What’s not to love? (This interview was conducted as an […]
Archive for December, 2020
INTERVIEW: Inside Dreamworks New Netflix Series “Gabby’s Dollhouse”
December 30th, 2020 
Jackson Murphy 
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REVIEW: Pixar’s “Soul”
December 28th, 2020 Martin Goodman I had my arms and heart open. I wanted to unashamedly love this film, smother it in chocolate valentine hearts, and set my keyboard aflame in effusive praise until I wore out my supply of similes. I wanted to compare it to some of the most outstanding achievements produced under Disney/Pixar’s aegis. What I saw […]
From Drama to Llama: The 20th Anniversary of “The Emperor’s New Groove”
December 25th, 2020 Michael Lyons From a movie production filled with drama came a film filled with laughs. Disney’s 40th animated feature, The Emperor’s New Groove, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this month, started life as a completely different movie that became mired in problems, but emerged as one of the funniest films ever to come out of the Studio. […]
INTERVIEW: Directors Make A 2020 Statement with Short “Cops and Robbers”
December 23rd, 2020 Jackson Murphy This Monday December 28th, Netflix is debuting one of the most important and impactful pieces of filmmaking this year. The animated short Cops and Robbers comes from directors Arnon Manor (filmmaker and Sony Pictures visual effects producer), Timothy Ware-Hill (an actor) and animators from around the globe. They’ve created a work of art for the […]
Asifa-Hollywood Announces It’s Juried Award Recipients for the 48th Annual Annie Awards
December 21st, 2020 Jerry Beck ASIFA-Hollywood announced today its selection of Juried Awards recipients for the 48th Annual Annie Awards. The Juried Awards honor career achievement and exceptional contributions to animation. The Winsor McCay Award for career contributions to the art of animation are being presented to three recipients – Willie Ito, animation designer whose career began at Warner Bros., […]
INTERVIEW: Madeline Sharafian On Nifty Pixar Short “Burrow”
December 21st, 2020 Jackson Murphy Madeline Sharafian has been nominated for two Annie Awards for her storyboarding on We Bare Bears and Coco. She also worked on Onward and is the writer and director of a new Pixar SparkShorts entry. Burrow, about a rabbit looking to create the (underground) home of her dreams, debuts with Soul this Friday December 25th […]
Doug Crane, Master Animator and Cartoonist has died, at 85
December 20th, 2020 J.J. Sedelmaier Well folks, 2020 can’t end soon enough. I just received word that we’ve lost two more of our industry’s members. This is the note from Rose-Ellen Eastman, daughter of Doug and Maureen Crane: “I wanted to reach out and let you know some very sad news. My Mom passed away on Tuesday night after a […]
A Spirited Adaptation: Richard Williams’ “A Christmas Carol” – An Appreciation
December 18th, 2020 Michael Lyons “How did they do that?” is a question that, as an audience, we don’t ask much anymore. This is especially true in animation, particularly in our digital age, where computer animation has made the impossible possible on screen, all the time. But “How did they do that?’ applies to every frame of director Richard Williams […]
CROWD FUNDING: Let’s Support Bill Plympton’s “Slide”
December 16th, 2020 Jerry Beck The king of the independent animators – Bill Plympton – has started a Kickstarter campaign to raise funding for his next ani aged feature-in-progress: Slide. It looks great to me – but I’ll let Bill tell you himself in the video below and his letter to me below that: Plympton’s New Feature SLIDE is running […]
Gkids Announces Release Plans and Voice Cast for Ghibli’s “Earwig and The Witch”
December 16th, 2020 Jerry Beck GKIDS, the acclaimed distributor of multiple Academy Award-nominated animated features, has announced the voice cast of the upcoming English language dub for legendary animation house Studio Ghibli’s latest feature Earwig and The Witch. The film is directed by Goro Miyazaki (From Up on Poppy Hill, Tales from Earthsea) and produced by studio co-founder Toshio Suzuki, […]
“The Proud Family” EPs Bruce W. Smith and Ralph Farquhar In New Deal with Disney Branded Television
December 15th, 2020 Jerry Beck Bruce W. Smith and Ralph Farquhar have entered into a wide-ranging, multiyear overall deal with Disney that calls for them to produce animated and live-action series and movies for Disney Branded Television. They will work closely with Meredith Roberts, senior vice president/general manager, Television Animation, Disney Channels, and Ayo Davis, executive vice president, Creative Development […]
ANIME REVIEW: Satoshi Kon’s “Paranoia Agent”
December 15th, 2020 Charles Solomon This first—and long overdue—release on Blu-ray of Satoshi Kon’s one television series, Paranoia Agent (2004), reminds viewers of the exceptional talent animation lost when he died a decade ago at 46. As he did in Millennium Actress and Paprika, Kon deftly blurs the boundaries between reality and fantasy: Neither the characters nor the viewer can […]
INTERVIEW: Animators and Story Team Bring Heart To Pixar’s “Soul”
December 15th, 2020 Jackson Murphy In addition to interviewing director Pete Docter, co-director Kemp Powers and producer Dana Murray, a few months ago I had the chance to speak with six other key creative makers of Soul. Pixar’s 23rd film is already nominated for the Best Animated Feature Critics Choice Award and debuts next Friday December 25th on Disney+. These […]
Netflix Announces “The Magician’s Elephant”
December 15th, 2020 Jerry Beck Netflix announced today a new animated feature film currently in production, The Magician’s Elephant, based on two-time Newbery Award winner Kate DiCamillo’s novel of the same title. The film marks the directorial debut of renowned visual effects veteran Wendy Rogers (Shrek, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Puss in Boots) and is produced by Julia […]
Charles Solomon’s Animation Year End Review 2020
Although he wrote them in 1859, Charles Dickens might have been thinking of animation in 2020 when he penned the celebrated lines, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the […]