Mickey Mouse is an cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks.
The BRIC Foundation, dedicated to increasing representation in the entertainment and gaming industries, today announced the official lineup for its 4th annual BRIC Summit, to be held February 11-12, 2022. Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, musician and co-founder of KidNation, an interactive platform for children to enjoy kid-centric, educational entertainment, will deliver the opening keynote address.
With the Oscar nominations just a little over a month away, another contender emerges in the Best Animated Short Film category. One of the 15 finalists is Step Into the River, from director and animation teacher Weijia Ma. She joined me over Zoom from Shanghai for this Animation Scoop Q&A. (This interview was edited for […]
Today, Disney+ unveiled the trailer and poster for The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild, an all-new animated adventure featuring the return of the beloved characters from the wildly successful global “Ice Age” franchise. The original movie premieres exclusively on Disney+ January 28th, 2022. The “Ice Age” collection (five films and two television specials) is […]
Hugo Covarrubias is having a very good 2022 so far. His dramatic animated short Bestia is one of the 15 finalists for the Best Animated Short Film Oscar. It’s already nominated in the same category at the Annie Awards. And later this month, Bestia will be shown at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival. Covarrubias takes […]
Sony Pictures Animation’s fourth and final film installment in the Hotel Transylvania franchise is Hotel Transylvania: Transformania. After multiple attempts to open it in theaters, Sony decided to partner with Amazon, which will release Hotel T4 on Prime Video on January 14th. In late November, I submitted questions for a virtual Q&A with some of […]
A Handy-Dandy Checklist of the Animated Features Scheduled For Release in the U.S. (Due to the COVID-19 pandemic many release dates below may change.) 1. EARWIG AND THE WITCH (2/3/21) GKids. D: Goro Miyazaki 2. TOM & JERRY (3/5/21) Warner Bros. D: Tim Story 3. RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON (3/12/21) Disney. D: Don Hall […]
The past year has been another challenging one. However, for animation fans, there was, at times, a fraction of escape with films, TV shows, and short subjects. Additionally, there have been many milestones for movies and TV shows that have been marked throughout the year. This column has celebrated such anniversaries as the 20th of […]
Oscar nominee Joanna Quinn (“Famous Fred”) could be on the ballot again, this time with Affairs of the Art, one of the 15 Best Animated Short Film finalists. She directs this fourth short starring the dynamic character Beryl, who previously headlined “Girls Night Out” (1987), “Body Beautiful” (1990) and “Dreams and Desires” (2006). The comedic […]
BoxBallet is a hand-drawn short that’s one of the 15 finalists for the upcoming Best Animated Short Film Academy Award. It’s about an unconventional relationship between a ballerina and a boxer. Will they fall in love and stay together amidst the pressures of their professions? Director Anton Dyakov explains why he had to tell this […]
Charles Solomon’s Animation Year End Review 2021
Although he wrote them in 1859, Charles Dickens might have been thinking of animation in 2021 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 […]