Cartoon News

Trade Show Banner Cartoon

2012-02-14T22:48:00.000-08:00

More Details: http://www.impact-displays.com/

Wilco's "Dawned On Me" Music Video gets initial New Hand-Drawn "Popeye"

2012-01-31T00:39:00.000-08:00

Syndicate to produce the first new animated "Popeye" cartoon since 1987 as a music video for the song "Dawned On Me":

Wilco’s sweet, whimsical love song comes from their latest album, the 2012 Grammy-nominated, The Whole Love. The video is directed by Darren Romanelli, the fashion and pop culture innovator.

As one of the earliest animated characters, introduced in 1933 by Fleischer Studios, Popeye has become one of the most enduring and iconic cartoon characters of all time and is forever entwined in the evolution of animation. The music video marks the first new Popeye cartoon since “Popeye’s Voyage: The Quest for Pappy,” the 3-D CGI primetime TV special and deluxe DVD release produced by King Features Syndicate for Popeye’s 75th Anniversary in 2004. In what has become a primarily digital world, this new video marks the first hand-drawn, frame-by-frame rendering for Popeye cell animation since the Popeye and Son series from 1987.

This certainly isn’t Popeye’s first foray into love territory: the Sailor Man first met his “goil,” Olive Oyl, in Elzie Crisler Segar’s popular Thimble Theatre comic strip in the 1930s and their legendary love only grew and captivated the imagination of fans all over the world. The couple even made People Magazine’s list of the Greatest Love Stories of the 20th Century.

The most flexible prom dresses ever to be designed

2011-12-28T04:12:00.000-08:00

Choosing the most reasonably priced prom dresses from the newest arrival of 2012 prom gowns to make you attractive and to give the perfect desirable look. Most women like this strapless neckline dresses and they probably select this type of dress, to show them more gorgeous. Strapless with deep neckline dress look modern and give the elegant look with romantic showing of sexy bust lines. Mermaid dresses of 2012 have the trend look and favors for any school event,prom.

Mermaid silhouetted gowns have ranks this time and covered, mostly fizz edged with stylishness for a clothing to have and the celebrity of Hollywood fashion of dresses, make you good-looking heart of concentration. The most popular style of dress is one shoulder strap dress of 2012. Good-looking cuts, side cut along fashionable lines and series partly beautify 2012 dresses are all extraordinary improvements for 2012 dresses.

Rainbow Brite, Smurfs and Other Cartoon Characters Take Over Facebook

2011-11-30T00:47:00.000-08:00

NEW YORK (CBS) Popular characters from the animated world are invading Facebook.

Like the last celebrity doppelganger craze, members of the massive social networking site are replacing their profile pictures with images from their favorite childhood cartoons.

Change your profile picture to your favorite cartoon from when you were a kid," it says on the note that is being passed around between friends. "The goal of this game is not to see a human picture on Facebook, but an invasion of childhood memories . PLAY AND PASS ALONG!

Based on trending Google searches , the new practice is picking up ground. Popular search terms include "cartoon characters from the 80s," "Rainbow Brite," "Smurfs," "Ren and Stimpy," "Rugrats, " and "Doug".

According to the note, the new Facebook meme has a charitable purpose.From now until December 7, change your profile picture to a cartoon character from your childhood. The objective of this is not to see any human faces on Facebook but an invasion of memories for the fight against Violence to Children. Remember we were kids too.

Annoying Orange to star in Cartoon Network series

2011-11-18T00:02:00.000-08:00

Cartoon Network announced Thursday that it's bringing The Annoying Orange, an Internet hit, to its 2012 lineup as a half-hour series.

The Annoying Orange, in which a nasal-voiced, mouthy orange pesters an apple and other objects with puns and jokes, has drawn more than 850 million views on YouTube, according to Cartoon Network.

The TV series will follow Orange and his produce buddies as they travel through time in a magical fruit car, finding adventures along the way, the network said.

A debut date was not announced.The above image released by Cartoon Network, a scene is shown from the web series, "The Annoying Orange." The popular Internet hit is coming to TV as a Cartoon Network series.

Coloring cartoon is a wise act for kid

2011-10-31T04:09:00.000-07:00

Children love Cartoon characters and they love to watch cartoons. Animated cartoon varies from movie to movie. Some kids like drawing cartoons then coloring them. Some kids are very much fond of cartoon posters. These posters show the imagination power of kids. Cartoon color pages could be a gift in child birthday. There are many cartoon coloring books in stores, but some kids watch action oriented cartoons like power ranger, captain planet, and pokemon. Some kids like funny cartoon movies like tail spin or duck tales. Carton coloring sheet could be downloaded to print out. For a young boy spiderman coloring pages will be ideal. For girls like Barbie, Cinderella or winx club coloring pages. These cartoon coloring pages may bring a huge smile on your kids face.

For preschool teacher, Scooby doo coloring pages, precious moment’s pages or Disney coloring pages would be ideal. If you want to learn their favorite cartoon. Just ask. Cat coloring pages will be ideal for boys and girls. Some cartoons are not just for kids. There are some political coloring pages that often showed real politicians or other famous people. One way to make these characters easy to recognize was to make some of their features bigger or smaller. So, if a politician had a round nose and a big chin, then the artist would make the nose rounder and the chin bigger. There are many modern cartoon artists who do “portrait cartoons” or “caricatures”.

Villa Vacation in Costa Rica

2011-08-12T06:57:00.000-07:00

Manuel Antonio is the country's well-known national park. It can be described as one equal half of the beachfront and other equal parts of the rainforest, and that’s the reason why people choose a Manuel Antonio Villa for their trip to this gorgeous country.

Costa Rica Villa is the most popular formats in terms of accommodation and supple style. Vacation renters offers you large and opulent homes that sit straight on the beaches, come with private bungalows or beach front services, and which give you everything from daily housekeeping to a private chef. You can also find the right differing situation and find a cozy villa situated up in the hills with a breathtaking view of the sea and yet the calm of the forest at night. There are also a small private house or villas that are maintained by locals who live in the building too.

This is particularly right when heading to some place as amazing as Manuel Antonio. This is the kind of place where you might enjoy a tour of the "canopy" in order to spot rare birds and rainforest mortals. You could also head down to shady riverfront locations put into the forests as well and see the various kinds of mangrove trees and the many unusual plants and animals that live in this environment too. You can also find some accommodations that give you direct right of entry to the incredibly beautiful land and waters of the Manuel Antonio park as well. The primary thing to keep in mind about any Costa Rica vacation is the easy fact that it is one of the supplest and diverse chances available and it all begins with choosing your perfect villa for your getaway.
links:http://www.thebestvillas.com/

Cartoon Festival to Open in July

2011-07-01T03:38:00.000-07:00

The Seoul Metropolitan Government has announced that the 15th Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival (SICAF2011), Asia's largest particular cartoon festival, will be held at COEX in Samseong-dong, CGV Myeong-dong Station, and the Seoul Animation Center for five days from July 20.

The event splits into four categories, counting an exhibition of cartoons and animations, an international animated film festival, a digital cartoon competition and the Seoul Promotion Plan (SPP), a kind of industry fair.
The animation competition, which is aimed at finding out talented cartoonists as well as energizing the Korean digital cartoon market, will feature a series of exhibitions, including one dedicated to the work of Won Su-yeon. There will also be a particular exhibition of Korean digital cartoons, a 3-D video show and a display of award-winning works.

The nation's largest cartoon fair will take place at the COEX Conference Center from July 20 to 22.

Vintage cartoons to be exposed on the big screen at the County Theatre in Doylestown

2011-06-06T22:08:00.000-07:00

Bucks County resident Lou DiCrescenzo, local film historian and film preservationist, will present a collection of rare, vintage cartoons at the County and Ambler Theaters. The occasion will take place at the County Theater on Wednesday, June 15 and the Ambler Theater on Thursday, June 23. Both shows will start at 7 p.m.

The program will feature a variety of cartoon classics diversity in age from 1936 to 1960. Cartoon icons such as The Pink Panther, Bugs Bunny, The Road Runner, Yosemite Sam will once again be seen on the silver screen. In addition, these comic gems all predate “computer animation” and are an outstanding instance of customary, hand drawn animation. All cartoon shorts will be shown on 35mm film. They are in immaculate condition.

The evening will comprise a mix of zany antics with characters being crushed by huge boulders or going over the rim of a precipice. For those with more complicated tastes there will be selections such as The Cat Concerto, Rabbit Romeo and War and Pieces.

Many of these 35mm films are the only obtainable copies and can’t be seen anywhere else. The program promises to be an entertaining evening for both young and old alike and will run approximately 2 hours.

Lou DiCrescenzo, a resident of Langhorne and a associate of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, will be on hand at both theaters to impart stories and tales about his treasures of animated film. He has been collecting out of print 35mm films and equipment for over thirty years and has many of his finds in museum collections.

The County Theater and the Ambler Theater are community possessed organizations which present a full program of art and independent films daily. ”Classic Cartoons from the Vaults of Lou D” is part of the Theaters Hollywood Summer Nights Series. The series runs through August 2011.

General admission to the County and Ambler Theaters is $9.75. Admission for seniors and students at both theaters is $7.25. Brochures of all programs are obtainable at the theaters.

‘The Lion of Judah’ is a plain cartoon | 1 star

2011-06-03T04:11:00.000-07:00

A faith-based cartoon aimed at the very youngest Sunday school students, “The Lion of Judah” is the story of Easter as observer by farm animals.

There’s assure in the idea that farm animals might band together to put sideways a spunky lamb (voiced by Georgina Cordova) who doesn’t understand he’s about to become a give up. Landing Oscar winner Ernest Borgnine as the voice of a heroic rat and Michael Madsen (an “unclean” raven) counts as a coup.

But the script is drab and nearly grave. It’s as if the writers never saw a secular cartoon and couldn’t find anything funny to do with a cowardly horse, an irked human-hating donkey and a lamb who calls himself “The Lion of Judah.” The 2-D and 3-D animation tends toward the unrefined — in the clunky style of direct-to-video fare. What, the VeggieTales folks weren’t available for a discussion?

No sooner have the animals met Judah than a human has quick him and sent him off to Jerusalem. The other critters suck up the bravery to go after him. Along the way, they hear of a new “King” among the humans, a king born in their steady years before. He is the only person who can set the lamb free, they consider.

The dialogue is banal, the jokes weak and the sight gags, like all else animated here, leave a lot to be desired. The meek may come into the Earth, but they won’t do well at the cinema complex if they can’t do better than this.

The Museum of Cartoon and Comic Art Fest 2011

2011-05-29T22:42:00.000-07:00

The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art -- MoCCA is pleased to announce that PETER KUPER has designed the image for the 2011 MoCCA Festival poster and t-shirt in honor of the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art -- MoCCA's 10th anniversary. PETER KUPER is the co-founder of World War 3 Illustrated. His illustrations and comics have appeared in magazines running the gamut from Time to MAD.He has published over twenty books including an adaptation of Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis. His latest book is Diario de Oaxaca a journal of two years he spent living in Mexico.

Special guests at MoCCA Fest 2011 include Johnnie Arnold, Peter Bagge, Nick Bertozzi, Ken Dahl, Jules Feiffer, Pascal Girard,Tom Hart, Dean Haspiel, Ben Katchor, Chip Kidd, Michael Kupperman, Robert Mankoff, Joe Ollmann, Bill Plympton, Alex Robinson, R. Sikoryak, Eric Skillman, Ted Stearn, Adrian Tomine, Gahan Wilson, Julia Wertz, Sarah Glidden, Jessica Abel, Lisa Hanawalt, Leslie Stein, Domitille Collardey, Meredith Gran, and Kate Beaton.

Featured exhibitors include Abrams Books, Danish Consulate, Drawn & Quarterly, Evil Twin Comics, Fantagraphics, First Second Books, Kirby Museum, Mammal Magazine, NBM, New York University, Pantheon Books, Papercutz, Parsons Illustration, Picturebox, Random House Publishing Group, Royal Norwegian Consulate General, Sparkplug Comic Books, School of Visual Arts, The Center for Cartoon Studies, The Daily Show, Top Shelf Productions, Will Eisner Studios, World War 3, and Zip Comics
The 2011 Klein Award will be given to Al Jaffee by Peter Kuper!!
The MoCCA Festival will take place over April 9-10, 2011 at the Lexington Avenue Armory located at 68 Lexington Avenue between 25th and 26th Streets. The annual two-day event attracts thousands of comic art lovers and creators from around the globe to celebrate the world’s most popular art form in the heart of New York City.

Since 2002 the MoCCA Festival offers a unique venue to experience comics, mini-comics, web comics, graphic novels, animation, posters, prints, original artwork and more. Each year, the Festival invites dozens of established and emerging creators, scholars, and other experts to participate in two days of lecture/discussion panels on a variety of comics and cartoon topics. For 2011, the panels and programs are being organized by Brian Heater (The Daily Crosshatch)

Big visuals, big adventure put kick in 'Kung Fu Panda 2'

2011-05-26T05:49:00.000-07:00

When you're the take on son of a noodle-making goose, you've got to wonder where you come from. That question takes DreamWorks' kung fu-loving panda, Po, on a new escapade in "Kung Fu Panda 2." It's the starting point for a slick 3D sequel packed with dramatic visuals, great slapstick humor and the return of Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman and Angelina Jolie.

Po's quest for individuality and his mission to destroy Lord Shen, a megalomaniac peacock out to rule China work jointly well and propel this tale along at a pleasant clip. The film's dramatic opening, which includes cut-out shadow puppet and 2D flashbacks to Po's childhood, sets the stage for many arresting visuals to come in this animated treat.
From fog-laced trees rank in secluded glens to the individual hairs in Po's fur, "Kung Fu Panda 2" comes alive with hard to consider realism thanks to its vibrant use of CGI colour and 3D technology. The movie's chases and martial arts showdowns are also a hoot.

One of the film's funniest scenes comes when Po and his warrior buddies disguise themselves in a dragon puppet to bypass Lord Shen's soldiers. One by one the racing puppet ingests the guards and poops them out the back end. Here and somewhere else, Po's klutzy, likeable personality shines through thanks to Black's playful voice work.

Yet Gary Oldman comes close to theft Black's thunder. As the voice of Lord Shen, Oldman's villain is so scrumptiously insane and vain that it rates right up there with Hollywood's all-time best bad guys. This sequel's only flaw is that it gives very few lines to its heavyweight costars like Jolie, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen and others.

Frankly, moviegoers will hardly even notice they're there. Audiences, however, will likely forgive DreamWorks this one mistake.

In "Kung Fu Panda 2" these animation maestros have created a warm, funny, action-packed crowd-pleaser that's no matter which but an assembly line franchise entry. Cute, cuddly Po doesn't merely save the day here. He finds out who is really is. That's always a victory.

All of us need to reward ourselves over a time for the stress toll taken both physically and mentally by us. One of the best ways to chill out is to take a vacation and here are some amazing worldwide vacation rentals you can consider booking for your vacations.

Flintstones set for yabba-dabba-do-over

2011-05-22T22:10:00.000-07:00

Cartoon classic The Flintstones is set to return in a new account planned by Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, Fox Television has long-established.

The new series, likely to air in 2013, will give a "21st Century spin" to the 1960s Hanna-Barbera lively series.
The popular show followed the fortunes of Fred Flintstone, his wife Wilma and their neighbors Barney and Betty.

"The very first cartoon character I drew at age two was Fred Flintstone," said MacFarlane said in a statement.

"So it's suitable that events have come full circle, allowing me to create the newest incarnation of this great permit."

According to Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly, it is hoped the new series - to begin production later this year - will bring in the prehistoric characters to a "whole new generation."

"Fox has long been home to iconic families like the Simpsons and the Griffins, so I have no doubt that the Flintstones and the Rubbles are going to fit right in," he said.

MacFarlane, 37, is best known for Family Guy, which centre’s on the dysfunctional family of awkward patriarch Peter Griffin.

The Flintstones first came into view on US television in the 1960s, going on to inspire three Hollywood films.
The new show will be a co-production between 20th Century Fox Television and Warners Bros Television, owners of the Hanna-Barbera stable of animated possessions.

Other new programmes proclaimed by Fox this week include Touch, a drama about a father-to-be played by Keifer Sutherland of 24 fame - with special mental abilities.

The network has also plans to make a cartoon version of cult comedy Napoleon Dynamite and a show about ghosts on Alcatraz - the brainchild of Lost and Alias creator JJ Abrams.

Roger Hargreaves' 76th birthday – Google Doodle

2011-05-08T22:50:00.000-07:00

Google has put up at least 16 diverse doodles on its home page to rejoice the 76th birth anniversary of English author and illustrator Charles Roger Hargreaves. Hargreaves is best known for his series of Mr Men and Little Miss books for children.

Born on May 9, 1935, in Cleckheaton, England, Hargreaves worked in his father's dry onslaught business, then moved to the world of advertising and lastly came back to his original goal, cartooning. In 1971, he wrote his first Mr. Men book, Mr Tickle, which was a runaway victory and later led to the animated series Mr. Men Show, on BBC. A decade later, the Little Miss series of books began to come into view. His books have sold millions of copies around the world and have been translated into many languages. Hargreaves died of a stroke on September 11, 1988.

While Google has recently been doing a number of animated doodles, the last few have been static descriptions. The different Roger Hargreaves doodles that appear on every enliven of the Google home page feature popular Mr. Men and Little Miss characters including:

Little Miss Magic, Little Miss Tiny, Little Miss Naughty, Little Miss Shy, Little Miss Sunshine, Little Miss Chatterbox, Little Miss Curious, Mr. Messy, Mr. Rush, Mr. Happy, Mr. Dizzy, Mr. Forgetful, Mr. Tickle, Mr. Bump, Mr. Slow and Mr. Funny.

For a dozen years, Google has been infrequently swapping its everyday logo for a doodle. The Google doodles, an artistic take on the Google logo, have gained huge popularity over the past few years and the Google doodle team has put out remembrance doodles on numerous events of international or national significance, ranging from news events, civic milestones, birthdays, death anniversaries and important dates in history. Google estimates it has created more than 900 doodles since 1998, with 270 of them running in 2010. Some appear globally, and others are tailored for local markets.

On May 8, Google celebrated Mother's Day with a greeting-card-like doodle on its home page.

My Dog Tulip – review

2011-05-06T03:08:00.000-07:00

Beware of the dog: this ain't no Marley and Me. Nor, in spite of the cartoon pooches, is it a top ticket for canine-mad kids. Paul and Sandra Fierlinger's version of the JR Ackerley memoir about the redemptive powers of a rescue Alsatian called Queenie (renamed for the film) is a good fit for those who like their New Yorker funnies, and like them good and sour. Christopher Plummer does a nice job voicing our misanthropic yet smitten narrator, and there's irrefutable beauty to the understated animation (hand-drawn plates, in a variety of sketchiness). But such a graphic and unrelenting interest in the contents of Tulip's tum, and in Ackerley's attempts to pimp her out ("The application of a little Vaseline to the bitch...") smacks first of obfuscation, then of extreme anxiety.

Warner Releases “Young Justice Season 1″ on DVD July 19th

2011-05-05T02:35:00.000-07:00

The newest Warner Bros. Animation–produced hit series on Cartoon Network finally turns up on DVD as Warner Home Video (WHV) let loose its secret weapon with Young Justice Season 1 Volume 1.

These DC Universe teenage super heroes have quickly proven to be a hit as the preferred show among boys 9-14. With non-stop action, Young Justice Season 1 Volume 1 comes to DVD for the first time on July 19, 2011.

In Young Justice, being a teenager income proving physically over and over — to peers, parents, teachers, advisers and, ultimately, to yourself. But what if you’re not just a normal teenager? What if you’re a teenage super hero? How much harder will it be to prove yourself in a world of super powers, super villains and super secrets? Are you ready to come of age in such a world? Are you ready for life or death rites of way? Are you ready to join the ranks of the great heroes and prove you’re worthy of the Justice association? That’s exactly what the members of Young Justice — Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Superboy, Miss Martian and Artemis — will find out: whether they have what it takes to be a proven hero.

These teenage heroes together become the Justice League’s secret weapon against the forces of evil. The young protégés must put their super hero education to the test and band together to covertly fight the evildoers that exist on Earth-16. Utilizing The Cave as their home base, the teen heroes will take on under-the-radar missions that would be impossible for the league’s famous and particular elders to grip clandestinely.

“We are thrilled to bring the latest and youngest members of the DC Universe to houses with the release of Young Justice Season 1 Volume 1,” said Mary Ellen Thomas, WHV Executive Director of Family and Animation Marketing. “As a brand new series, Young Justice is by now a favorite and will carry on exciting fans with its group of crime-fighting teenage super heroes.”

Young Justice Season 1 Volume 1 is executive produced by Sam Register and produced by Brandon Vietti and Greg Weisman. The voice cast includes Jesse McCartney as Robin, Khary Payton as Aqualad, Jason Spisak as Kid Flash, Nolan North as Superboy, Danica McKellar as Miss Martian, Stephanie Lemelin as Artemis and Bruce Greenwood as Batman.

New 'Looney Tunes' entered to longer tales

2011-05-02T22:04:00.000-07:00

In the old "Looney Tunes" cartoons of the 1940s and '50s, Bugs often was seen itinerant outside. In this new show, Bugs and Daffy are roommates in what appears to be a housing house.

In Tuesday's opening, they go on a TV game show, "Besties," to see how well they be acquainted with one more, competing against a pair of jovial gophers. In another episode, Bugs goes on a date with a female bunny voiced by "Saturday Night Live" mainstay Kristen Wiig.

Different past "Looney Tunes" shorts, the new episodes tell a single story -- with a "Merrie Melodies" intermission that plays like a music video -- over a half-hour.

"We knew we had to tell bigger stories and longer stories to get more characters involved," said Warner Bros. executive vice president of animation Sam Register at a press conference on the Warner Bros. lot last July. "We also wanted to make the characters look a little bit diverse and try something a little bit new since the world was going to be new."

Jessica Borutski, who re-designed the font for "The Looney Tunes Show," said she was initially wary of Warner Bros. intentions.

"I was worried that they might want to revamp them, maybe looking really cool in cool kid clothes or amazing," she said, acknowledging she was relieved when that proved not to be the case. "I took elements of the character designs all through all of the ages of 'Looney Tunes,' things from different directors that I really, really liked. ... I made their heads a bit better because I didn't like that near the end [of the original era] in the '60s, '70s, Bugs Bunny's head in progress to get really small and his body really long, and he started to look like a weird guy in a bunny suit."

Mr. Register said the need to update the characters came out of a desire to make them plea to children today.

"As the studio, we have a lot of asset in making these characters stay relevant," he said. "The interest is waning, and I think we want to share all of the great new stuff and with any luck bring in interest in the classic as well."

He described "The Looney Tunes Show" as the studio's greatest confront in recent memory with many re-takes when the dialogue and visual elements don't turn out funny sufficient on the first attempt.

"We spend, I think, one-third of our time on 'Looney Tunes' arguing about the past," he said. "When you are doing a unique show, you just move forward. And on 'The Looney Tunes Show,' they were so huge that we spend a lot of time just thinking about how to make them as good as they were at one time and being reverential to them while still trying to do something “

International animation festival opens in east China

2011-04-28T21:57:00.000-07:00

The Seventh International Animation and Cartoon Festival opened Thursday evening in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang region.

The six-day festival for animaters and fans cosponsored by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television and Zhejiang's provincial government, aims to allow cooperation, competition and development flanked by cartoon organizations from home and abroad.

A number of activities, such as a peak forum, an animation exhibition, and an animation contest, will take place throughout the event.

As well, an sale of cartoons by famous Chinese cartoonists will occur as part of the festival.

Animation companies and organizations from 54 countries and areas will attend the festival, as will the world's animation giant, Disney.

The International Animation and Cartoon Festival have been held annually in Hangzhou City since 2005.

Between 2005 to 2010, the event has paying attention more than 1,400 companies and organizations from 47 countries and regions, and has recorded a business transaction volume of 33.6 billion yuan (about 5.17 billion U.S. dollars).

New Children's TV Show - The Bosco and Zoe Show

2011-04-27T22:25:00.000-07:00

Bosco and Zoe are rapidly moving from the toy fair to the TV: Pacific Dragon Holdings, Inc. has recently acquired the rights to the animated characters, and is raising a children’s show in both English and Spanish.

Pacific Dragon Holdings will enter into a joint undertaking with Brothers Victory Cartoon Animation Fabrication Co., Ltd., the company that shaped the characters, to manage global licensing for the show. There are at present 130 completed episodes of “The Bosco and Zoe Show,” with 40 more in production.

The company plans to air the show for two years, at which time they will begin work on a film. Jeff Myers, president of Pacific Dragon Holdings, said he is already writing an draw round for the script.

The complicated animation has been done by four studios in the Huai’an City area, part of mainland China. Myers is in talks with larger animation houses about working together on the Bosco and Zoe project.

“Bosco and Zoe are intended to become main characters in the preschool market,” Myers said. “The sweet, innocent wisdom that each of these characters possess is amazing that is not very often seen.”

Myers first met the characters while at the International Hong Kong Toy Fair in January 2011, where he found a small booth that was displaying a poster of a character called Alafa. The company representative’s organization the booth explained that Alafa was accepted in one province in China, and they wanted to bring in the show to the Western market.

Myers was conspiracy, and in February began meeting with Brothers Victory Cartoon Animation Fabrication Company. Despite significant language barriers, the two companies agreed on a agreement. Pacific Dragon Holdings obtained the North American, South American and Japanese rights to the character. The company had the rights to re-name the characters, redub the show and produce new western version of the television show.

“It all started with a casual fleeting look, a change meeting in a foreign country and two foreign groups coming together in agreement, creating a new international joint venture,” he said. So get ready to welcome this wonderful new children’s animation, “The Bosco and Zoe Show” as it gains contact worldwide.

Sumo Mouse, Today (Apr 21)

2011-04-20T21:57:00.000-07:00

This Japanese-flavored rich animation is made by a Victorian production company and this first episode is penned by Melbourne-based comedian Tania Lacy. Yet the characters speak with American accents - except for the baddies, who are upper-class English.

Puzzling ethnic origins aside, it's a colourful, comic-book cartoon with brave little being that appear to be half-mouse/half-raver fighting the good fight against the leading species, smarmy little beings that appear to be half-cat/half-raver. Our unlikely sumo-wrestling hero makes his debut by harnessing the power within an ancient wrestler's top-knot in his quest to save his uncle and beat the evil top cat/raver figure. Nice bloodless violence.ut the genuineness of the ''sex addict'' diagnosis.

Bugs and Daffy Go Back in "The Looney Tunes Show"

2011-04-18T22:04:00.000-07:00

The Looney Tunes Show openings Tuesday, May 3, at 8 p.m. (ET, PT) on Cartoon Network
Animation's most much-loved characters are back in an all-new series, The Looney Tunes Show, premiering Tuesday, May 3, at 8 p.m. (ET, PT) on Cartoon Network. Bugs and Daffy haven't changed - but their living state of relationships has. Bugs are as brazen, ironic and ahead-of-the-game as ever, and Daffy, despite his vain, sociopathic and suspicious tendencies, is Bugs' best friend and seemingly enduring houseguest. No longer restricted to seven-minute shorts, their larger-than-life character (and egos) offer a rude, comical take on our modern world and introduce a whole new realm of potential. Now Bugs and Daffy can wreak as much havoc at the grocery store or the DMV as they once did in the forest.

The premiere episode, "Best Friends," sets the scene for this improbable pair's lively. Daffy make a decisions the duo can make a quick buck by going on the game show "Besties," where best friends answer questions about one another. However, it becomes fairly clear that self-absorbed Daffy knows absolutely nothing about Bugs. Daffy wants to make it up to him with a wonderful cruise, but cannot even do that right.
Throughout the series, familiar faces from the Looney Tunes cosmos join Bugs and Daffy. Rounding out the cast are the everlastingly hopeful Porky Pig, the quick and quick-witted Speedy Gonzales, the insane but lovable Lola, Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn, the Tasmanian Devil, Marvin the Martian, Pepe Le Pew, Tweety, Sylvester, Granny, the Witch, Gossamer, Tosh and Mac Gopher, and the newest nature of the bunch, Daffy's no-nonsense girlfriend, Tina.

The series also skin Merrie Melodies - animated music videos of original songs spotlight everyone from Elmer Fudd to Pepe Le Pew, plus all-new adventures with the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote in dramatic CG. All this jointly in one half-hour comedy, The Looney Tunes Show deliver fresh, sophisticated humor, heartwarming instants and something Looney for everyone.

The Looney Tunes Show will join fellow cartoon icons from the hit animated series Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated on Tuesday nights. Scooby and the gang are back solving mysteries in the spooky town of Crystal Cove - including the overarching mystery of Mister E. and their Mystery Incorporated predecessors - when season two of Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated premieres on Tuesday, May 3, at 7:30 p.m. (ET, PT).

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news, entertainment, animation and young adult media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.

Punky, a cartoon brave woman for the Saorview age

2011-04-14T21:52:00.000-07:00

Punky, a new series shaped by Irish animation company Monster

Meet Punky. She has Down syndrome, and she’s the eponymous star of a new animated series that will be broadcast weekdays on RTÉjr from May 3rd. The producers, Monster Animation & Design, say Punky - on the edge of becoming the latest success story for Irish animation – is the first ever animated TV series where the lead character has Down syndrome.

The nature of Punky, created by the writer Lindsay Jane Sedgwick, is voiced by Aimee Richardson, who herself has Down syndrome and Down Syndrome Ireland reviewed fabric during manufacture of the series. “It’s on the whole a look at everyday life from Punky’s perspective. It’s her daily custom,” says Monster’s Gerard O’Rourke. “She lives in the moment.”

Monster, which has a track record in lively kids’ TV shows through Ballybraddan and Fluffy Gardens, was move toward to produce the series by the Irish Film Board, which had granted development money to Sedgwick. RTÉ was keen on the project and custom-built it, while Monster also secured licence fee funding from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland’s Sound & Vision Fund.

After several phases of development, it was decided that Punky would be aimed at the discerning preschool audience. The 20 episodes, each seven minutes long, will be broadcast twice a day on the RTÉjr programming block of RTÉ 2, before finding another home later in the summer on the dedicated RTÉjr channel on Saorview, RTÉ’s free-to-air digital terrestrial television (DTT) service.

“To have a dedicated children’s channel is an amazing thing,” says O’Rourke, as RTÉ 2 pushes RTÉjr off the air whenever the Olympics or the European Championships or the World Cup is on – “anything that is more important than children’s programmes basically and the children’s programmes get bumped.”

RTÉ 2 also attempts the tricky task of catering for kids ranging in age from two to 15, which means that during school holidays, the preschool programmes often give way. The RTÉjr Saorview channel will mean there is a home purely for younger kids’ programming, while the older kids’ shows (styled TRTÉ) remain on RTÉ 2.

Much of this optimism depends, however, on the frequency with which RTÉjr chooses to repeat programming blocks. Early reports about the channel suggested it would run the kids’ shows on a tight loop rather than making a major extension to its schedule of new programming. But if the broadcaster does find the resources to avoid a parent-torturing level of repeats, it will find a home animation industry with the talent to produce low-cost original content – content that can become cultural exports via industry sales events like Mipcom Junior at Cannes and New York’s Kidscreen Summit.

Punky is described as a happy girl who loves music, dancing, playing with her big brother, Con, and jumping around with her dog, Rufus. She enjoys helping around the house and trying to make Cranky, her grandmother, a little less cranky.

“We don’t overly emphasise that she has Down syndrome. She tells you at the start of each episode that she has it and as she’s voiced by Aimee, she sounds like she has Down syndrome,” O’Rourke says. Her family sometimes has to stop everything and pull together to help her cope with unanticipated disruptions to her daily routine. “But she gets things done as well,” he explains.

Though the series deals with themes of difference, diversity and the problem-solving issues specific to people with Down syndrome, O’Rourke says he hopes Punky doesn’t “get pigeonholed” as an educational programme. “We hope that it will be as mainstream as Peppa Pig or Dora.”

'Hop' still tops at box office, 'Arthur' staggers

2011-04-11T22:31:00.000-07:00

Moviegoers would rather hear Russell Brand than see him.

The hasty English comic claimed the top two spots at the North American box office -- as the voice in the live-action/animated family film "Hop," which led the field for a second weekend, and as the star of the "Arthur" remake, which opened poorly at No. 2, according to studio approximate issued on Sunday.

"Hop" earned USD 21.7 million during the three days beginning Friday, taking its 10-day total to $68.2 million. The Easter-themed family picture was produced by Illumination Entertainment, the animation firm behind last year's hit "Appalling Me."

"Arthur," in whom Brand takes over the title role created by Dudley Moore 30 years ago, earned just USD 12.6 million during its first three days.

The film's distributor, Warner Bros., said it had hoped for an opening in the mid-teen millions. The film cost in the mid-USD 60 million ranges to make.

Three other films enter theaters on Friday. "Hanna," an action movie starring 16-year-old Saoirse Ronan as an killer, was No. 3 with USD 12.3 million; "Soul Surfer," the true-life story of a young girl who lost her arm to a shark, followed with USD 11.1 million; and "Your Highness," a medieval comedy starring newly minted Oscar winner Natalie Portman, bombed at No. 6 with just $9.5 million.

"Hop" and "Your Highness" were released by Universal Pictures, and "Hanna" by Focus Features. Both are units of NBC Universal, which is forbidden by Comcast Corp.

Warner Bros. is a unit of Time Warner Inc.

"Soul Surfer" was released by TriStar Pictures, a unit of Sony Corp.

‘ThunderCats’ Wondercon Trailer Hits the Web, New Plot Details Exposed

2011-04-10T21:55:00.000-07:00

The WB disclose the first footage for its future ThunderCats TV series revival, which is set to air this summer.

The weekend’s WonderCon fan meeting in San Francisco, Calif. brought attendees — among many other things — their first look at the future ThunderCats TV series revitalization, which is coming to Cartoon Network this summer from Warner Bros. Animation. Luckily for those of us who couldn’t make the hike out west, WB has been kind sufficient to post that entrance footage online.

It was first revealed during a weekend panel characteristic producers Michael Jelenic (Batman: The Brave and the Bold) and Ethan Spaulding (Avatar: The Last Airbender), art director Dan Norton and Larry Kenney, the voice of the original Lion-O as well as the same character’s father in the upcoming series. In addition to the recording, the panel also brought some information on the story’s basic layout.

There are 26 episodes of the show ready to go now, but the creators have twice that number intended should it be well-received. The trailer, which you can check out below or on The WB’s website feels like an equivalent mix of old and new. The character designs look mainly faithful, albeit with a Japanese anime taste, but there are mechs and missiles and lasers that give everything more of a sci-fi feel.

Schwarzenegger says owe success to U.S. and people's feel

2011-04-05T22:14:00.000-07:00

To hear Arnold Schwarzenegger explain the improbable course of his life as an actor and politician, achievement boils down to two factors: living in the United States and being a man of the people.

The Austrian-born Schwarzenegger, who came to the United States at the age of 21, started his career as a expert bodybuilder before graduating to Hollywood and starring in runaway success like "Terminator 2" and "True Lies."

After winning a vote to the governorship of California and serving a seven-year term -- where he earned the nickname "The Gubernator" -- he is back on the activity circuit promoting an animated series of the same name about the adventures of a comic book alter ego.

Always a showman, he had assured to return to show business, but had kept his next move under wraps.

"That's what I wanted to do: shock people and amuse the world," he told Reuters television in an interview.

"Am I going to be an action guy in front of the camera and making all kinds of action? Or is it going to be something else? No-one knew ... This is going to be a big surprise."

Even so, the transition from politics back to activity would not be difficult for Schwarzenegger, who said the two worlds were close cousins, based on an intelligence of people.

"In both cases you have to form a very good partnership with the people," he said. "In politics you are working for the people... The same is true for activity... You've got to be in touch with what it is your audience wants."

Asked how he had attained so much, Schwarzenegger gave all the credit to his adoptive country. "I call it an American success story because I don't think that anywhere in the world would I have been able to do what I did in my life if it wouldn't have been for America."

Japan disaster flashes Simpsons nuclear disaster ban

2011-04-01T01:49:00.001-07:00

Broadcasters in Germany, Australia and Switzerland have strong-willed to ban or censor episodes of The Simpsons that poke fun at nuclear tragedy in light of Japan's atomic crisis.

"We are examination all the episodes and we won't show any suspect ones, but we won't cut any scenes," Stella Rodger, a spokesman for German private broadcaster Pro7, said. "We haven't late any yet."

Austria's ORF network has so far banned a total of eight episodes, counting one that features scientists Marie and Pierre Curie dying of emission fatal. Switzerland's SF network has done the same.

The nuclear plant in the Simpsons' hometown of Springfield is a key element in the long-running satirical cartoon, with the hapless Homer in charge of safety despite a slapdash comes near evident from the opening credits beyond.

Previous episodes have shown nuclear waste deserted in a children's playground, plutonium used as a paperweight, cracked cooling towers, glowing rats and three-eyed mutant fish, as well as near-meltdowns.

"Of course we can't totally change the entire content," Ms Rodger acknowledged.

Cartoon Network declares 'DC Nation' Programming For 2012 Season

2011-03-27T22:53:00.000-07:00

Television will be getting an additional dosage of the DC Universe next year, thanks to Cartoon Network and Warner Bros. Animation.

During today's Cartoon Network upfront presentation, the network announced plans for on-air and online "DC Nation" programming in 2012, described as a mix of "event indoctrination, interstitials, exclusive behind-the-scenes of dramatic production and an insider look into the world of all things DC."

Produced by "ThunderCats" and "Green Lantern: The Animated Series" producers Warner Bros. Animation, the programming will premiere in 2012.

Here's the official outline of "DC Nation," as well as the outline for "ThunderCats" and "Green Lantern: The Animated Series"

DC Nation: A multi-platform, branded block of unique programming and exclusive content based on the DC Comics library of legendary character properties, DC Nation is developed in partnership with Cartoon Network, Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment. The all-new business enterprise will harness the publishing, theatrical and television assets together for one powerful on-air block on Cartoon Network with elite online happy.

ThunderCats: The re-imagined animated series based on the beloved 80s classic tells the tale of a hero’s epic journey to fulfill his final fate. On Third Earth, the kingdom of Thundera is being in danger by the evil sorcerer Mumm-Ra and young heir to the throne Lion-O embarks on a great quest to take his rightful place as king. The improbable champion, joined by his faithful comrades Tygra, Cheetara, Panthro, WilyKit, WilyKat and his loyal pet Snarf, must work together to save their world from darkness.

Green Lantern: The Animated Series: Based upon the DC Comics super hero, the series is an all-new CG animated action series from Warner Bros. As Earth’s Green Lantern, Hal Jordan is used to being in dangerous situations but he’s never faced anything like this! Set at the furthest reaches of deep space, Hal must face down an attack from the Red Lantern Corps. Hal is soon joined by an all-new group of heroes on a mission to protect Guardian Space and the Green Lantern group itself!

US: Lego Ninjago series heads up new Cartoon Network list

2011-03-24T23:38:00.000-07:00

Broadcaster confirms 13 new animated series' and 19 returning shows.

In a presentation at the New York Lincoln Centre, Cartoon Network revealed its new programming schedule - with Lego Ninjago and How to Train Your Dragon topping the list.

The CG-animated Ninjago series will air towards the end of 2011 and is yet more proof of Lego’s intention to grow the Ninjago brand.

Earlier this year Cartoon Network aired Lego Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu, a movie on January 24th. The story followed Kai, a young Lego man on a journey to become a ninja, and gives a basis for the forthcoming Nintendo DS game called Lego Battles: Ninjago, due for let go in April.

A TV series of Dreamworks’ Oscar nominated How to Train Your Dragon had previously been proclaimed, but with it scheduled in, the brand now looks set to soar, with sequels to the film in already the works.

Turner Broadcasting's animation president and chief operating officer, Stuart Snyder, said: "Our commitment last year to build on the volume of broad content for our audience has paid off in solid ratings growth and rehabilitated strength among our core six to 11 audience.

"We now have successful new shows that we can grow into the next big permits. By partnering with premier entertainment companies like Warner Bros, DreamWorks Animation SKG and DC Entertainment, we are laying the groundwork for even further growth and growth opportunities across the coming year."

Also on the way this year is The Amazing World of Gumball, predicted to be a top brand. Turner has already commissioned a new season of the show, before the first has even aired.

Turner gives Gumball second period order

2011-03-22T23:03:00.000-07:00

Turner has ordered a second period of The Amazing World of Gumball, the first sequence to come out of its European Development Studio.

The show was efficiently Cartoon Network Europe's first full-length animated series commission. Cartoon Network said that after imposing testing in the US that it has greenlit another 40x11mins series ahead of the first one airing. It will debut on Cartoon Network in the UK on May 2 before undulating out on its US channel a week later and then internationally from the fourth quarter.

The 2D and 3D comedy show is produced by Cartoon and Irish studio Boulder Media with the 3D elements handled by Studio Soi in Germany.

"There is a unbelievable hunger for high-quality, narrative driven comedy animation amongst children's audiences around the world, and with The Amazing World of Gumball, we are helping fill that gap," said Michael Carrington, Turner Broadcasting's chief content officer, who joined from the BBC last year.

Japanese cartoon uses potty humor to explain nuclear calamity to kids

2011-03-22T00:38:00.000-07:00

As officials raced to reinstate power to tsunami-damaged reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant today, one artist is attempting to explain Japan’s nuclear crisis to kids with some potty humour.

“Nuclear Boy” follows a square-headed lad pain from a tummy ache. After Nuclear Boy expels a few troublesome clouds of gas, doctors work around the clock to medicate him with seawater and boron, this so he won’t defecate all over the country.

“Nuclear Boy is infamous for his stinky poo. It would surely ruin everyone’s day if he pooped,” reads the translation.

Set to a banjo soundtrack, the cartoon also skin characters shaped like the stricken Chernobyl and Three Mile Island plants.

The cartoon has gathered more than a million views since it was posted on YouTube last week.

Disney staffs Two Scottish Legends For New Cartoon Short “The Balled Of Nessie”

2011-03-14T22:04:00.000-07:00

Disney is grouping up with two Scottish legends for a new cartoon that will be in cinemas after this month. The Loch Ness Monster stars in the short, “The Ballad of Nessie”, which is related by Billy Connolly and sees a go back to classic Disney hand-drawn animation. The animation short will be shown previous to Disney’s Winnie the Pooh, which is in UK cinemas April 15.

Set in the “bonny blue highlands” of Scotland, “The Ballad of Nessie” is a fanciful and colorful high tale about the welcoming Loch Ness monster, Nessie, and how she and her best friend MacQuack the rubber duck came to live in the moor they now call home. Setting the escapade into motion is a gluttonous land developer named MacFroogle, who make a decision to build a mini-golf empire on top of Nessie’s home.

Directed by the Emmy® Award-winning team of Stevie Wermers-Skelton and Kevin Deters (“Prep & Landing,” and the 2007 Goofy short “How to Hook Up Your Home Theater”), “The Ballad of Nessie” is lively in classic Disney hand-drawn style. Written by Wermers-Skelton, Deters and Regina Conroy, the film is produced by Dorothy McKim and Tamara Boutcher, and features a musical score by Oscar(R)-winning composer Michael Giacchino (“Ratatouille,” “Up”). Animation on “Nessie” was supervised by five of Disney’s top talents: Andreas Deja, Mark Henn, Randy Haycock, Dale Baer and Ruben A. Aquino. Scottish comedian Billy Connolly narrates the film.

Cartoon Saloon associates on 'Song'

2011-03-10T20:59:00.000-08:00

Moore's 'Kells' follow-up bordered as Euro co-prod

Ireland's Cartoon Saloon has joined down European partners on "Song of the Sea," Tomm Moore's follow-up to "The Secret of Kells."

In "Sea's" first sharing deal, Optimum Releasing has nabbed U.K. and Irish rights.
Cartoon Saloon will lead produce "Sea" out of its animation studio in Kilkenny, Ireland. Viborg-based Noerlum Studios will co-produce out of Denmark, as long as close to half the animation.

Big Farm co-produces from Belgium. A joint venture of brothers Serge and Marc Ume's Digital Graphics Studios and Stephan Roelant's Melusine in Luxembourg, Big Farm's involvement opens the manufacture up to both Digital Graphics and Melusine sister company Studio 352.

Digital Graphics will give CG animation, SFX, compositing and ink and paint and stereoscopic work. Paris' Super Prods., the new company of ex-Alphanim head Clement Calvet, will also co-produce, associating on post-production and music.
Pre-production is intended for September on "Sea," which is budgeted at €5.3 million ($7.4 million).

Moore will direct "Sea" from a screenplay co-penned with Will Collins, who wrote Tribeca Fest player "My Brothers," the managerial debut of Shane Meadow's scribe Paul Fraser.

"Song of the Sea" turns on Saoirse, a child who is the last of the selkies, women in Irish and Scottish legends who change from seals into people. She escapes from her grandmother's home to journey to the sea and free fairy being trapped in the contemporary world.

Rango – review

2011-03-03T20:57:00.000-08:00

Kids and their parents will get more than a few laughs out of "Rango," a enormously bright animated western that looks like it's in 3-D, even though it isn't. A pet chameleon gets estranged from his owners in a desert highway accident. He meanders to a town called Dirt, populated by a amazement of desert beings. Rango becomes the dried hamlet's new sheriff. He has fun live the role until he discovers that the mayor, a wily turtle, may be part of a wicked water-stealing plot that is killing the town.

Then Rango must find the real bravery to save Dirt and win over a girl lizard named Beans. "Rango" comes close to being incessantly pleasant - full of visual humor to amuse kids and references to classic westerns to tickle adults. But near the end there is a big battle that goes on too long and becomes a little too aggressive for under-8s and perhaps for 8-to-10-year-olds.

THE BOTTOM LINE: The PG score is tested a bit in the battle, when bad guys of an undefined species fly into the fray on huge bats. Creepy. The dialogue creates repeated use of the word "hell," along with at least one "damn."

John Lasseter wins lifetime achievement award

2011-02-28T00:39:00.000-08:00

John Lasseter's pair of Oscars has a new friend: a lifetime achievement trophy. The Pixar and Disney animation chief received the award Friday night for his devotion to the 40-minutes-or-less average from Shorts International, an entertainment organization which endorses, distributes, broadcasts and creates short films.

"It feels incredible because I love short films," said Lasseter. "I love the art form and what it did for me as a filmmaker. I learnt so much from making short films. They're these little gems, these unbelievable little ideas that are not meant to be a feature film. They're ideal unto themselves. A great short film leaves you smiling and thinking about it."

Lasseter won the animated short film Oscar in 1988 for "Tin Toy," as well as a particular achievement award in 1995 for "Toy Story," the primary feature-length computer-generated film. The lifetime achievement award from Shorts International may not be his only prize this weekend. He's nominated with the other "Toy Story 3" filmmakers for best modified script.

"Toy Story 3" is also rivaling in the sound editing, original song, animated feature and best picture categories. Lasseter is hopeful about its chances for the top prize, even though the motion picture academy has never gave an animated film with the best picture honor. "Toy Story 3" is only the third animated film to be nominated in that category.

"I do consider we will one day see an animated film win the best picture Oscar, and I hope it's on Sunday," said Lasseter. "I think that over time, more and more of Hollywood and the Academy have gotten to know animation. It's precisely the same as live action filmmaking. We tell great stories. We use great actors. We just use a dissimilar camera."

'Let's Pollute' proves that small budget is no Oscar obstruction

2011-02-24T21:09:00.000-08:00

Not all Oscar-nominated films cost big bucks. Geefwee Boedoe made one for less than $15,000 in his home studio and a friend's garage, writing his own tinkles and asking his wife to sing.

"I didn't really have a budget, so I didn't pay myself," says Boedoe, maker of the six-minute animated film Let's Pollute, a social send-up about U.S. consumption and its environmental destruction. He started working on the film more than three years ago, taking breaks only so he could do self-employed work to pay the bills.

A former Pixar animator, Boedoe wrote, directed and animated the film himself. He teamed up with a tiny post-production crew, including co-producer Joel Bloom, to edit the final version in Bloom's garage.

"This is all new," he says about the pre-Oscar buzz and Sunday's Academy Awards ceremony. He has never been to the Oscars, so for the occasion, he bought a 1960s black-tie-like outfit at a era shop in San Francisco, where he lives.

"Hopefully, they'll let me in," he says with a chuckle.

He sees his proposal as a sort of David and Goliath battle waged with pencils and computers. He says his four competitors in the best-animated-short category had much bigger budgets.

Pixar's nominee, Day & Night, available for purchase on iTunes, was shown to many audiences before the Disney-Pixar box office hit Toy Story 3. Two of the three foreign productions, The Gruffalo and The Lost Thing, are based on popular children's books, and the French offering, Madagascar, carnet de voyage, was backed by a production company.

He says his satire, animated in the style of 1950s educational films, has won awards at several regional film festivals, but not many Americans have seen it. He says those who have seem to either love or hate it.

"Pollution is our heritage and keeps our economy going strong," the narrator says, tongue-in-cheek, as he follows an American family doing its unhelpful best to keep up with the Joneses.

Boedoe says the best part of an Oscar nomination is having more people see his film. Since every academy member who votes for a winner in the group has to watch each candidate, he says: "I think I have a shot at winning."

Ottawa animation fest's best delivers diverse cartoon party

2011-02-17T20:54:00.000-08:00

IT'S not a good sign when an animator fails to close a film festival entry, desperately submits a roughly cobbled-together one-minute doo-dad titled Sorry Film Not Ready, and it still manages to get included on the annual best-of collection.

Auspiciously, the program of a dozen animated shorts culled from the 2010 Ottawa International Animation Festival does contain films of more work-intensive value. None of the films are on the list of this year's Oscar candidates either, but one film from last year's festival Madagascar, Carnet de Voyage is a 2010 Oscar nominee, so most probably some of the films on this year's program may be chosen for 2011.

My individual picks from the 14:

-- Little Deaths, an erotic doc-toon by Ruth Lingford, offers up some sumptuous, occasionally abstract images over the voices of various people effecting to explain what orgasm feels like.

-- Midtown Twist is a deftly satiric, jazzy representation of Manhattan commerce from animator Gary Leib.

-- Angry Man, from Norway, is a moving but frightening short employing storybook-like cut-outs to depict a little boy's fear and confusion at the spectacle of his father's violent rages. A dog and a flock of strange birds compel him to reveal shameful family secrets, and free his family from the oppression of bad temper.

-- Love &amp; Theft, a German work by Andreas Hykade, is an elegant vision (if such a thing is possible) in which one cartoon face morphs into another. The "theft" in the title may refer to faces that look something like copyright-protected figures such as Micky Mouse, Donald Duck, Betty Boop, Spider-Man and Spongebob Squarepants morphing into Karl Marx and Hitler, among many, many others. This is simple (but subversive) animation at its best.

-- The External World from David O'Reilly is a grand prize-winning, retro-computer animation featuring a assortment of pretty hilarious sight gags incorporating prehistoric video-game imagery, bloody slapstick and just plain rude behavior.

The Best of the Ottawa International Animation Festival plays at Cinematheque until Thursday, Feb. 24.

Gnomeo & Juliet – review

2011-02-13T21:17:00.000-08:00

This animated movie, produced by Elton John and David Furnish, retells the tale of Romeo and Juliet through the rising clash between the blue and red gnomes in the gardens of next-door houses busy by the Montague and Capulet families in a London suburban terrace. The voices are provided by leading British actors ranging from Jason Statham as Tybalt to Patrick Stewart as Shakespeare. A lot of consideration, love and hard work has gone into this picture, and it even has a happy ending, though what Shakespeare himself sees, to his obvious pleasure, is an atomic mushroom in the far coldness.

How To Train Your Dragon leads Annie awards

2011-02-06T21:07:00.000-08:00

Oscar-nominated cartoon How To Train Your Dragon has won 10 prizes at the Annie awards for animation in the US. The Dreamworks movie won best animated characteristic, animated effects and best direction awards in the middle of its haul at the Los Angeles ceremony.

Other winners at the gala built-in SpongeBob Square pants for best children's animation. Toy Story 3 and The Illusionist are also in the running for best animated characteristic at the Academy Awards.

At Saturday night's awards, Despicable Me and Tangled were also built-in in the five-strong shortlist for best animated feature. How To Train Your Dragon also triumphed in the writing groups. Jay Baruchel took a voice acting award for his role of Hiccup in the animation, beating Cameron Diaz, Geoffrey Rush, Gerard Butler and Steve Carrell in the groups.

Butler was also nominated for his work in the film, voicing the character Stoick. Last year's Annie award winner for best animated feature was Up, which went on to secure the Oscar.

Disney has lastly made Tangled, a film about Rapunzel!

2011-01-27T21:44:00.000-08:00

Having taken Disney almost 70 years to get there, Tangled realizes the studio’s long-held ambition to fetch the legend of Rapunzel to the big screen. THIS is the movie you will be advising to friends by saying, "You have got to go see it for the horse!".

The horse in question is called Max, one of the funniest characters Disney have ever created, up there with Robin Williams' genie in Aladdin - and he doesn't even speak.

THE CHARACTERS

Rapunzel (voiced by Mandy Moore)
Flynn Ryder (Zachary Levi)
Mother Gothel (Donna Murphy)
THE BIG 5-0
THE LASSETER EFFECT
THE HAIR

It's just one of the reasons to watch this retelling of the Rapunzel story. At £160million it is the most luxurious animated film ever made. But more highly, Disney's 50th animated characteristic marks the dawn of a new era for the studio. One in which they have effectively married their traditional storytelling with modern comedy and the latest animation techniques.

You know the classic story: Rapunzel is a princess with a huge barnet who is kidnapped as a baby and locked in a tower. Then a handsome thief rescues her after she whacks him over the head with a frying pan. There are some singing thugs, a chameleon called Pascal and of course there's the aforementioned angry horse.

The classic Rapunzel story. Contrast to the likes of Toy Story 3, the themes here of boy and girl falling in love feel old-fashioned.

It's the top songs, stunning 3D visuals including an astonishing dam-bursting sequence, funny script and laugh-out-loud physical comedy that make this a hugely pleasant experience for kids and adults alike.

Robert Downey Jr in "Peabody and Sherman" Movie

2011-01-17T22:27:00.000-08:00

Entertainment Weekly is reporting that DreamWorks Animation is operational on "Peabody and Sherman," a movie base on the old "Rocky and Bullwinkle" show about a genius dog Mr Peabody and a boy named Sherman.

Robert Downey Jr (Iron Man) has signed on to voice Mr. Peabody, who travels from side to side time to find out implausibly things about history's greatest figures. A script has already been written by Jeffrey Ventimilia and Joshua Sternin (Yogi Bear), who bare that the movie will focus not only on the time-traveling, but also on the origins of the characters.

"Mr. Peabody is this genetic irregularity," said director Rob Minkoff (The Lion King). "He does have brothers and sisters, all of them non-speaking, no super-smart dogs. He's an outcast, but has overcome it by being so great at so many things."

Minkoff added that the movie will be fully computer animated (not a mix of live-action/animation) and in 3D.

The voices of Peabody and Sherman were provided by Bill Scott and Walter Tetley, respectively.

Charlie Brown’s Christmas Tales – DVD Review

2011-01-09T20:52:00.000-08:00

A Charlie Brown Christmas became an instant holiday clip when it first aired in 1965 as the Peanuts animated tale reminds people that it’s time to move furnishings around to make space for the tree. Over the decades the special that rails against the commercialization of Christmas has become a fatality of networks adding more commercials to its half hour slot.

The suits originally carved out seconds until they butchered the gang singing, “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.” Fans weren’t happy at this shortened tradition. A solution was found in 2002 when they created Charlie Brown’s Christmas Tales to pad out an hour slot.

The new special compiles five cartoons based on original newspaper flooring done by Charles Schulz. “Happy Holidays From Snoopy” has the dog get a gig as a sidewalk Santa. He doesn’t put up with bad-tempered from the kids who didn’t get their gifts. Instead of ringing a bell, he plays the accordion. “Yuletide Greetings from Linus” comprises his letter to Santa Claus that attempts to avoid absolute asking for presents.

“Season’s Greetings from Sally” takes off with her giving everyone paper airplanes as their present. Later she messes up by writing to Samantha Claus. “Peace on Earth from Lucy” lets her unload on Linus when he writes her letter to Santa. She doesn’t take his submissions kindly. “Christmas from Charlie Brown” wraps up with Sally and Charlie getting ready for the big day. Sally wants to leave frozen broccoli under the tree for Santa. She does see Santa.

Ironically Charlie Brown’s Christmas Tales became a victim of network slashing this holiday season. ABC halved the show in order to cram in their “Prep & Landing: Operation Secret Santa” short. Thus in a strange twist, the only way to view the complete special is to buy the DVD. Charlie Brown’s Christmas Tales was originally a bonus feature on the I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown DVD, but was left off the recent Deluxe Edition release. This is the best place to get the complete special. Nobody wants to make it easy to enjoy Snoopy as Santa.

Fox Orders Animated ‘Napoleon Dynamite’ Show

2011-01-04T21:13:00.000-08:00

Fox has picked up 6 episodes of the animated version of 2004′s most quoted movie, Napoleon Dynamite. Deadline has the deets.

The original cast of Napoleon Dynamite led by Jon Heder is back to voice the animated series, which goes after the misadventures of an awkward high school teenager and his quirky friends as they move violently to navigate life in rural Idaho. The film’s writers Jared Hess, who also directed it, and Jerusha Hess wrote the adaptation with The Simpsons veteran Mike Scully.

Seems like the perfect movie to turn animated bearing in mind the film itself is insanely over the top. I always understood the llama for a pet and awkward teenage boy very much in need of psychological counseling, but side ponytails? C’mon, no one wears those anymore!

SpongeBob SquarePants Changed for Ninth Season

2011-01-03T21:36:00.000-08:00

SpongeBob SquarePants has been rehabilitated for a ninth season, Nickelodeon proclaimed Monday.

Nick ordered a 26-episode season, which will shove the hit children's cartoon over the 200-episode mark.

"SpongeBob's success in reaching over 200 episodes is a evidence to creator Stephen Hillenburg's vision, comedic deep feeling and his dynamic, lovable characters," Brown Johnson, Nickelodeon's animation president, said in a statement. "The series now joins the club of modern classic Nicktoons that have hit this benchmark, so we're very proud."

SpongeBob has been the No.1 animated series with kids aged 2-to-11 for the last 10 years. The Nov. 11 special, Mystery with a Twistery, drew 6.6 million viewers, and was the 2010's top animated telecast in that similar demographic. The show's next special, Legends of Bikini Bottom, will open Jan. 28.

The ninth season is lined up to begin airing in 2012.

‘Young Justice’ Gets Premiere Date, New Trailer

2011-01-02T21:37:00.000-08:00

A new trailer for ‘Young Justice’ Cartoon Network’s ‘Justice League Unlimited’ successor has debuted alongside the statement that the show will premiere this January.

Those of you waiting tolerantly for DC’s latest animation adaptation won’t have to wait much longer. After an hour-long sneak peak in November, Cartoon Network will debut Young Justice in its regular slot on Friday, January 7th at 7 PM. The channel’s been running a short trailer to get fans keyed up, and it has a few new tidbits to tide you over until the first show.

The junior superheroes are effective under the Justice League, functioning as a farm team and taking covert assignments from Batman. At the end of the sneak peak, the team included Robin, Kid Flash, a newly-cloned Superboy, Aqualad and Miss Martian. Speedy was seen briefly, but elected not to link the Justice League or the younger spin-off. Red Tornado serves as a live-in chaperone while Black Canary trains the youngsters in the arts of superhero chop-sockey.

You can check out the new trailer here:

As a big fan of Bruce Timm’s DCAU, I’m keyed up to see a good successor to Justice League. Young Justice looks to keep the kid-pleasing yet adult-friendly formula going, without resorting to the goofy, anime-inspired antics of Teen Titans. The addition of voice acting veterans like Alan Tudyk, Phil LaMarr and Khary Payton means that the action should be topped with some excellence acting by cartoon standards, at least.

Young Justice will air Fridays at 7:00 on Cartoon Network starting January 7th.

New Spider-Man Cartoon Will astonish As Much As ’90s Batman

2010-12-30T21:41:00.000-08:00

There’s been a lot of expectation surrounding Marvel TV’s upcoming Ultimate Spider-Man animated series, with comics and animation vets Paul Dini and Man of Action running the show. According to Dini, that excitement will pay off with the show itself.

As an aside during an interview with Newsarama, Dini said, Having a great time on Ultimate Spider-Man and I’m working with a few old friends from the Batman days on that. Coming up with a look for the Spider-Man show, I think it’s really going to take people by shock. It’s going to take people by surprise as much as the Batman show in the early ‘90s took comic fans by astonish. And yet at the same time it feels very right and it looks very right.

With a tease like that, I’m even more inquisitive about the series now. The visuals of the ’90s Batman revolutionized superhero cartoons and had a huge effect on television animation in general, and I can’t even picture what kind of thing would have as big an impact today, especially in a world filled with such visually-impressive, stylistically-led shows as Symbiotic Titan, Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends or even Batman: The Brave and The Bold. What could this show end up looking like…?

'Toy Story 3' highest grosser of 2010

2010-12-29T21:48:00.000-08:00

London, Dec 30 (IANS) Filmmaker Lee Unkrich's animated film 'Toy Story 3' has been named the highest coarse film of 2010, after making $1.1 billion at the international box office.

Director Tim Burton's 'Alice in Wonderland' came second in this year's list by raking in $1 billion worldwide, in spite of being panned by critics.

Christopher Nolan's 'Inception' starring Leonardo DiCaprio came third after earning $825.4 million followed by 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One' at $824.1 million.

'Shrek Forever After' wrapped up the top five with an earnings of $739.8 million.

2010's highest grossing films at the international box office:

1. 'Toy Story 3', $1.1 billion
2. 'Alice in Wonderland', $1 billion
3. 'Inception', $825.4
4. 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows', Part 1. $824.1
5. 'Shrek Forever After': $739.8 million
6. 'Twilight Saga: Eclipse', $693.5 million
7. 'Iron Man 2', $582.2 million
8. 'Despicable Me', $539.9 million
9. 'How to Train Your Dragon', $494.9 worldwide
10. 'Clash of the Titans', $493.2 million worldwide

Top 5 cartoons animation of the year 2010

2010-12-28T21:49:00.000-08:00

Before Brad Bird became one of the brain trust deities at Pixar, he made a little movie called The Iron Giant that served as his request for Most Crazy Talented Storywriter in the animated realm.

Hogarth befriends an alien robot during a time when Sputnik sounded the first rounds of the Cold War, and Iron Giant tells their story with that political scenery in mind, padding it with tropes from 1950s Sci-Fi fare.

Woody and Buzz returned four years after the original Toy Story and actually managed to top that work of art with their continued adventures. Here the gang has some time to themselves when their owner Andy heads off to summer camp, but they must soon contend with the final fanboy, a man-child voiced by Wayne Knight who wants Woody for his collection of rare toys.

One of Pixar's very finest labors to date is The Incredibles. By 2004, superhero movies had become big business, raking in hundreds of millions of dollars at a time.

Unlike most, The Incredibles wasn't based on a preexisting comic book series. Even so, it captured everything that made those classic Silver Age superhero stories great. Like the unbelievable Four, the Incredibles are less a superhero team and more a slightly dysfunctional family of super-powered do-gooders.

At the heart of most Pixar films is the theme of isolation. WALL-E, the animation studio's crowning achievement, is a breathtaking meditation on loneliness and the re-enforcement that every sentient being contains an unbeatable desire to connect with someone else.

Watch the video below to see the number one cartoon

Wacky viral video maker forced to charge for services

2010-12-27T21:41:00.000-08:00

Animation website Xtranormal whose cartoon-making tools have spawned viral videos of cuddly puppies debating such topics as quantitative reduction and the iPhone in stilted monotones is no longer offering free, unlimited use of its tools.

The change reflects the higher costs of running Xtranormal as the site's commonly grew.

More than 2 million people now use its easy moviemaking tools, up from about 500,000 in June. According to Xtranormal, those users have in print about 9.3 million videos so far. Some of the videos have received thousands or even millions of views, further boosting Xtranormal's fame and usage.

Then, as now, the videos don't comprise ads beyond an "Xtranormal" logo in the bottom left corner, and any characters and sets you buy are yours to use in other movies.

Users who signed up for the site before Thursday and already paid for characters or sets will be able to publish videos using those items for free until Feb. 1.

Bruno Langlais, Xtranormal's vice president of marketing, said the company had to inflict the new charges so it can become profitable quickly. Xtranormal expects to turn a profit for the first time in the first half of 2011.

The latest change could backfire, though, if current users those who boosted the site's fame through their videos become incensed by the change and stop using it.

Langlais doesn't believe this will happen: He said Xtranormal polled users before making the change and found them helpful.

He also pointed out that Xtranormal has revamped its online video-making tool to showcase more of the options users have when creating cartoons and, perhaps, entice them to buy more characters and sets.

(Mr) Bean counters

2010-12-26T22:43:00.000-08:00

The excruciating attention to detail needed to create even the broadest slapstick comedy has been revealed in a court case involving Mr Bean.

Legal wranglings between the animators who worked on the cartoon version of the character and production company Tiger Aspect disclose that more than 16,000 emails were exchanged over what might appear to be relatively minor changes in the shows.

It had been claimed that the requests from Tiger Aspect, which was set up by Mr Bean’s creator Rowan Atkinson, caused the budget for the 52 episodes to overrun by £4million.

According to today’s Sunday Times, areas for debate included whether:

    * Mr Bean’s chair at the hairdresser should be lower than the mirror
    * His ‘shushing’ one of the Queen’s corgis should be more forceful
    * A stray leaf fell on the right part of his nose
    * His spaceship’s legs should fold up or retract.
    * Enough light was coming from an open fridge door
    * The angle of a chair leg created the right comic effect.

Andras Erkel, the head of animation studio Varga, said: ‘I still regard Rowan as a comic genius. but animation is better suited to simplification than complexity.

Peter Bennett-Jones, chairman of Tiger Aspect, and Atkinson’s agent, said: ‘have known Rowan Atkinson for 25 years. He is a stickler like all people who are really brilliant at their job.’ But he insisted: ‘I have never met anyone more reasonable in understanding processes.’

Atkinson – who no longer owns a stake in Tiger Aspect – once said of comedy: ‘You know instinctively that a certain length of pause is funny, whereas a longer or shorter pause isn’t. You can’t script, “He looks puzzled for seven seconds”, so there was a lot of work.’

Disney's Tron Animated Series

2010-12-23T22:33:00.000-08:00

BoxOfficeMagazine has recently spoken with Adam Horowitz a writer and producer of the TV show Lost. He has also scripted Tron Legacy and is one of the developer’s of the new Tron Uprising cartoon that will show up on Disney XD. The voice cast includes Elijah Wood, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Mandy Moore, Paul Reubens, Nate Corddry and Lance Henriksen, with Bruce Boxleitner reprising his Tron character. Also Variety's previous report that Wood's character would be called "Beck" and will lead a revolution inside the Grid's computer world. It will be a 10 episode's and that the show will not then be released till the summer of 2012.

Horowitz Furher said:

"that the events of the show will take place in between the events of Tron and Tron: Legacy.”This animated show will take place from when Flynn is in a safe house. It's from when Clu takes over the grid to before when Sam comes in. So if you were wondering what was the grid like before that, and then watch the show."

Contempo Technologies PVT Ltd - Cartoon Day Celebration

2010-12-22T23:44:00.000-08:00

Contempo Technologies PVT LTD a leading SEO company with fullest of professional as well as amusing aspects has started its celebration to end off the year 2010 and to welcome 2011 with great cheers.

Contempo Technologies PVT LTD celebrates every occasion in a distinctive manner. As the celebration for Chris Mom-Chris Child game is going to end and the celebration for New Year are on process they have begun the Cartoon Day Celebration for the year 2011.

Though it is a celebration they always take everything as competition, they’ve been split into ten teams. The employees have been given liberty to use the resources to make their best of everything. So they are preparing for their cartoons and cartoon sketching.

The celebration is going to be held on January 9th Sunday in Contempo Technologies PVT LTD from 5pm to 9pm. They have also planned for many cultural performances. The local TV channels are forecasting the Cartoon Day celebration in Contempo Technologies PVT LTD. Three Chief guests have been invited. Best three cartoons are going to be established in top magazines.

The employees of Contempo Technologies PVT LTD are fervently waiting for the cartoon day celebration.

Animation Auteur to Speak in Birmingham

2010-12-21T21:57:00.000-08:00

Birmingham welcomes designer of Bob the Builder and creator of popular children’s cartoon Frankenstein's Cat, Curtis Jobling this coming January to share tips on how animators and designers can stay alive in the daunting world of freelancing.

Curtis Jobling: Breaking into Animation, Armed with a Crayon! Is free to attend, includes drinks and takes place at 7pm, 13th January 2011 at The Studio, Birmingham.

The talk is organised by animator networking group Animation Forum West Midlands and BSeen, an entrepreneurship programme for Birmingham-based, final year students and alumnae.

The Animation Designer will also be on hand to give insights into some of the best-loved animated children's characters.

“The event is open to animators and designers of all levels, along with anyone else who’s interested,” says Animation Forum WM project manager David Allen. “We’ll provide free drinks and refreshments, a Q&A with the Warrington-based, Animation Designer and a chance to meet and chat with fellow animators.”

New ‘Smurfs’ Poster Debuts

2010-12-20T21:38:00.000-08:00

Where the smurf are we? Right here on Oh, The Scandal! feasting your eyes on the just-released poster for the 3D CGI/live-action hybrid The Smurfs.

Directed by Raja Gosnell, the flick features the dulcet tones of Neil Patrick Harris, Jayma Mays, Sofia Vergara, Hank Azaria, Anton Yelchin, Jonathan Winters, Katy Perry and Alan Cumming.

The Smurfs is scheduled to hit theatres on August 21, 2011.
Also check out the teaser trailer below.

'Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol'

2010-12-19T21:56:00.000-08:00

"Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol," the first animated yuletide special, premiered on NBC in 1962 and introduced a lot of youngsters to Charles Dickens' beloved "A Christmas Carol." Featuring a musical score by Broadway composers Jule Styne and Bob Merrill, and a masterful turn as the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge by the nearsighted cartoon character Quincy Magoo, the hourlong special quickly became a perennial on NBC during the 1960s and has lived on in syndication and DVD.

But the special encountered a few challenges that could have turned this "Christmas Carol" into a humbug instead of a delicious serving of "razzleberry dressing" and "Woofle jelly cake."

"Lee wanted Robert Goulet to sing all of Jim Backus' parts," Van Citters says. "Somehow Jim must have persuaded him he could pull it off. I don't think it would have worked with Goulet. There would be a real audience disconnect."

Mr. Magoo was created by UPA animation studio and made his debut in "Ragtime Bear" in 1949. Two of the shorts starring the little, wealthy retiree who refused to admit he needed glasses won Academy Awards: 1955's "When Magoo Flew" and 1956's "Magoo's Puddle Jumper." He even starred in a feature-length film, 1959's "1001 Arabian Nights."

But in 1960, UPA changed hands. Because the theatrical market for animated shorts had run dry, they began making cartoons for television.

It was Orgel's idea to put Magoo and UPA's other famous character, Gerald McBoing-Boing — as Tiny Tim — into a musical version of the Dickens classic, Van Citters explains. "It seemed like an odd thing, but he probably saw Lionel Bart's "Oliver!' on stage, and that was the first time they put music and lyrics together to Dickens."

Van Citters says that it is the score that really makes the special soar. And so do the performers, including such Broadway vets as Jack Cassidy and Jane Kean. Among the gems are the lively "The Lord's Bright Blessing," the poignant "Alone in the World" and the haunting tune of lost love, "Winter Was Warm."

‘Yogi Bear’: Unbearable | 1 star

2010-12-16T21:50:00.000-08:00

Parents wearied by malls and crowds and hopeless of the adult fare at the multiplex will take their children to see “Yogi Bear.”

“I loved Yogi when I was a kid,” they’ll think. And when it’s over, having left their popcorn bags and a few IQ points in the theater, they’ll marvel at how quickly a beloved childhood memory can be shattered.

Which brings up the question: For what audience was this pessimistic, crushingly witless film made, exactly?

Not for parents who grew up with “Yogi” on TV, because as “Scooby-Doo” showed us, turning a cartoon into a live-action film is intrinsically wrong. You can’t make cartoons work in the real world. They have their own rules and environments. A movie like “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” knew this and played with the self-importance. “Yogi Bear” is far, far too stupid to care.

There’s a plot, but so what? Dan Aykroyd and Justin Timberlake voice Yogi and his young sidekick, Boo Boo. Anna Faris is the romantic interest, proving that it’s time for her to shoot her agent once again. Seeing her wasted is yet another reason to hate this steaming heap.

Want a great gift idea for the kids? Here’s a surefire hit: Don’t take them to “Yogi Bear.”

Sintel DVDs have shipped with film, commentaries, and Blender tutorials

2010-12-15T21:17:00.000-08:00

Well, even though it’s much longer than initially planned, the film is still very short just under 15 minutes. I don’t want to give away spoilers, though you may have heard them by now. But the film is moving to a far greater degree than the artsy and solid Elephants Dream or the cartoon humor of Big Buck Bunny. Not yet “high art”, perhaps, but entertaining and connecting. The characters are much more attractive than in the previous films. It seems to me that the Blender Institute is successfully learning how to produce better films.

I really enjoyed it, and I had to right away watch it several times to be grateful for the detail. Of course, the technical know-how of the modeling and animation is the real value of the show, and there is some amazing stuff here. Perhaps most on display is the particle-based hair modeling, which looks really good. I understand that it’s still not fairly where the developers want it to be, but as a viewer, I found it fairly impressive even as it is.

If I noticed anything that was unsatisfactory, it was probably the water effects. At a couple of points in the film, there is water in a urn, and the shape is wrong, as if the thickness and the optical properties of the water were wrong. But it’s a very minor subject, considering the number of things they got right.

There’s also just a lot in this film. Due to the use of mosaics with lots of different 3D environments, this short film has an awful lot of distinct settings, which must have required a lot of modeling.
The first two disks contain the movie and special features in NTSC and PAL formats, in that order; the third disk is a DVD-ROM with “Extras,” especially tutorials; and the fourth contains the actual Blender file data used to create the film

Scorching animation more than just kid's play

2010-12-14T22:46:00.000-08:00

Highlighting the creativity and possible of original Web programming, Miss Puff's Goldfish Bowl is an animated work that breaks new ground with its adult-themed content.

It has created a buzz on the Internet and generated 4.5 million views since it was on the loose three months ago.

Like Old Boys, the show is part of the 11 Degrees New Media Project series co-produced by Youku.com and China Film Group Corp (CFGC).

Centering on a love affair between the eponymous heroines, Miss Puff, a Beijing girl with a sleek figure, the show is "gelivable (awesome) because of its sexy scenes", says Pi San, the director of Miss Puff, and a lead the way of online cartoons.

"I don't think animation is a child-specific product," Pi says. "The cartoon art form can swathe many subjects, it doesn't always have to deal with innocent relationships between kids.

"Like Miss Puff, animations can also depict grown-up lifestyles, love and fantasy."

"As long as my works hold no unlawful content, I can dig up more adult subjects - and the Web is a perfect platform to do this," he says.

Jin Lu, distribution manager for the 11 Degrees New Media Project series, says the reason why Youku invested money in such an animated work is to enrich the genre and broaden the plea of Web-original shows.

'Firebreather'

2010-12-13T21:14:00.000-08:00

Few things disrupt a homecoming dance like the influx of two ill-tempered, 120-foot fire-breathing dragons.

On the other hand, it's kind of fun to watch the responses of the attendees, as long as you're not on the hook for a couple of hundred bucks on that rental tux or shiny gown.

"Firebreather," a new animated movie, tells the tale of Duncan, who would be a normal high school student, your basic new hot guy on campus, if it weren't for the fact his mother once saved the world from an attack of these dragons - Kaiju - and his father is one of them.

Don't ask how that happened. Please, don't ask.

Duncan just wants to be a normal kid and he looks normal enough so he could pull it off, except for a few genetic markers he inherited from his father. At lunch, for example, instead of pizza and an energy drink, he eats a plate of coal.

That's to feed his inner firebreather. It still tends to draw gazes in the cafeteria.

Duncan soon runs into bigger evils, though, like an epic showdown between humans and Kaiju, who it turns out have been living in caves under the Earth's crust for millions of years and see humans as intruders who are ruining the planet's quality of life.

Humans, naturally, feel the same way about Kaiju, what with the firebreathing and the aptitude to crush several humans at a time just by stepping on them.

Duncan, with a foot in both worlds, unavoidably gets drawn into this dispute, and at the most inconvenient moment.

In the bigger picture, "Firebreather" seems to be aimed at approximately the same age group, though not all the same individuals, who enjoyed the somewhat less violent "High School Musical" series.

There's no explicit performance or language, and while the Kaiju create a high sense of danger, there's nothing graphic in the results.

The dialogue includes a few puberty-level jokes and a few pure budding-romance exchanges, seemingly inserted just to make things interesting for someone other than 10-year-old boys.

In general, it succeeds. Unless you're stuck with a badly singed corsage.

Stop, Diego, Stop: Cartoon doll gets man carpool path ticket

2010-12-12T21:07:00.000-08:00

To be clear, State Patrol troopers say, kids do count for the carpool lane tally. Just not fake one.
On Thursday, the State Patrol detailed a stop in which a man late for work put his daughter's doll in the front passenger seat and tried to glide by in the carpool lane.

The doll was Diego, cousin of Dora the Explorer.

Diego got his own show, a spinoff of the Nickelodeon pre-school-age series, in 2005: "Go Diego, Go."

Luckily for him, fake kids don't get tickets from troopers.

The incident happened Nov. 29 on the northbound state Route 167 ramp to northbound Interstate 405. The driver was one of 21 people stopped for carpool lane violations that dawn.

"As cars moved past in the HOV lane the trooper observed a vehicle whose passenger had enormous unblinking eyes," Trooper Julie Startup said in a statement. "Realizing it was a doll in the front seat the vehicle was stopped."

But at least the driver was careful with his daughter's doll. Diego was wearing his seatbelt.

Katzenberg Planning 6 ‘Kung Fu Panda’ Movies

2010-12-10T21:36:00.000-08:00

This past summer, DreamWorks Animation closed the book on Shrek, putting the once lovable green ogre out of his unhappiness with Shrek Forever After, the fourth fairy tale adventure in the studio’s highest-grossing franchise. The widely popular series, which grossed $1.27 billion theatrically in the U.S. alone, seeded two holiday DVDs, a Broadway musical, and an upcoming Puss in Boots spin-off, but the big, bad Shrek only lasted for four features.

Which is why it’s a shock that Jeffrey Katzenberg, co-founder of DreamWorks and CEO of DreamWorks Animation, believes Kung Fu Panda, easily the next big thing at the cartoon production house, will make bigger into six individual chapters?

Speaking with Empire about Madagascar 3, Katzenberg said, “Kung Fu Panda actually has 6 chapters to it, and we’ve charted that out over the years. How To Train Your Dragon is at least three: maybe more, but we know there are a least three chapters to that story. There are in fact 8 books.”
I love KFP and I’m all for planning ahead (make a list before you go to the store!), but plotting out six sequels before a second is even in theaters is absurd and underscores the “dollar first” model of DreamWorks Animation versus the “story first” mentality of its closest competitor, Pixar though they have curved some to the pressure of sequels recently.

DreamWorks Animation defenders will cry out, “But it’s a business! It has to turn a profit and answer to shareholders!” Of course it does, and sequels are a proven way to take advantage of on a brand audiences have responded to before. But that argument/cop out doesn’t hold water when DWA’s “How to Train Your Kung Fu Shrek” is compared to the regular output of original, successful content at Pixar, or Disney Animation in its heyday.

The studio isn’t putting all its eggs in Po’s proverbial bowl of noodles, although. Maybe in response to raised eyebrows over Katzenberg’s master plan, DWA formally proclaimed it will bring Me and My Shadow to the screen in 2013. According to the press release (via ComingSoon), the original concept will unite hand-drawn and CGI animation into a 3D feature about “Shadow Stan, an extremely frustrated shadow who yearns for a dynamic life but happens to be stuck with Stanley Grubb, the world’s most boring human.” Until Shadow Stan breaks the one rule (”they lead, we follow”) and takes control of Stanley.

It sounds talented. Maybe even seven sequels promising. But is it original? Aside from the obvious Peter Pan reference, “Me and My Shadow” is a song written in 1927 by Al Jolson, Billy Rose, and Dave Dreyer (then later famously performed by Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr.) about a man and his shadow. I wish them the best on this non-sequel.

BFI receives ‘largest ever’ British animation donation

2010-12-09T21:57:00.000-08:00

More than 2,800 cans of animation plus film prints, stills, scripts, papers, and thousands of original cells from the Halas & Batchelor Cartoon Company – which includes classic titles such as Animal Farm & The Owl and the Pussycat – have been donated to the BFI National Archive.

The Collection has been donated by Vivien Halas, daughter of husband and wife team, John Halas and Joy Batchelor who set up their studio in 1940 and is the largest single donation of British animation in the BFI’s history.

Hailed as “a British counterpart to Disney”, Halas & Batchelor’s work included not just children’s films and series, but also theatrical shorts, wartime information, commercials and industrial training films.

Explaining her reason for donating the collection, Vivien Halas said: “A portrait bust of my father has been in the board room of the BFI for many years and the BFI National Archive has already preserved most of Halas & Batchelor’s early war films in the COI collection. So it seems very apt that this great institution should become a permanent home for the fruits of my parents’ labours.

“I gave up my career as a graphic designer in Paris to care for the collection after my father’s death in 1995 but now need the security of a large organisation who can offer the specialist knowledge to preserve the materials for future generations and to make them accessible”

BFI Director Amanda Nevill said the organisation was “very grateful” to have been entrusted without he collection which she said: “demands to be seen and we have the curatorial skills and resources to present it in new and exciting ways, whether online as an educational resource, in our expanding chain of BFI mediatheques, on DVD or in cinemas.”

NBC's 'Community' characters get animated

2010-12-08T22:35:00.000-08:00

The cast of NBC's sitcom "Community" will be more animated than ever in Thursday's episode because, well, they all were turned into marionettes.

That's right, the entire cast was re-created as changeable creatures for a stop-motion Christmas episode that recalls the Rankin/ Bass specials of yesteryear.

"My compass tells me it's a great little piece of television," says show creator Dan Harmon.
NBC honcho Jeff Gaspin first suggested to Harmon that "Community" should try an animated episode over the summer.

However, traditional animation takes a long time to produce. So consultant, writer and recurring character Dino Stamatopoulos suggested stop-motion, which he uses on the Cartoon Network.
"We started asking is it possible to squeeze something out before Christmas if you start right now?" Harmon says.

There was enough time, he found out, but they needed to start immediately. Soon, craftsmen in the art of stop-motion began the process of creating models of the cast. Harmon and his team began sketching out a Christmas story.

The result, airing Thursday at 8 p.m. on NBC, revolves around Abed (Danny Pudi), who wakes up seeing the world in a stopmotion scene.

He takes this as a sign that everyone needs to learn the meaning of Christmas. His fellow Greendale Community College students begin to think he's wacky. But soon they're all undergoing hypnosis to explore Abed's winter scene.

"I think we should commit to the format, starting with a song," Abed encourages, before breaking into a melody.

"These people practice a sadly dying craft - because of [computer-generated animation], but it's a completely different kind of art form," Harmon says. "You can't practice it without answering to a higher calling. You have to have a true love of human behavior. You really have to respect the people doing it in the Rankin/Bass days."

Rankin/Bass, of course, were the producers behind the stop-motion classics "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "The Year Without a Santa Claus."

Those specials, like the "Community" effort, were created by artists who carefully move each model, shoot a frame, move the models, shoot a frame. Or, as Abed says in the show, "We're silicone dolls, with foam bodies over ball-and-socket armatures."

Harmon says it took about a month and a half to shoot the episode, which came in at about the cost of an episode and a half of "Community."

Harmon says calling him a fan of classic stop-motion specials doesn't fully cover his feelings.
"Back when we were kids, there were three networks, and that stuff was going to be dispensed like communion wafers," he says, citing "Rudolph" as a favorite. "Rudolph walking through the snow, with his red nose and that sound effect that came with it.

"A lot of kids were comforted by these myths of misfits," says Harmon, "finding out all these things that make them stand out are going to be the things that make them great."

Independent’s Dave Brown wins Political Cartoon of Year

2010-12-07T22:34:00.000-08:00

A cartoon by The Independent's Dave Brown has been named Political Cartoon of the Year 2010.

Published in this newspaper the day after the Coalition government was formed in May, the cartoon shows David Cameron and Nick Clegg in a coal mine with the Liberal Democrat leader as the canary. Speaking at an awards ceremony organised by The Political Cartoon Society in London on Monday night, Dave Brown said the work reflected his belief "that Clegg was there as nothing more than personal protection for Cameron, an early warning of poisonous air ahead, and, of course, ultimately expendable."

Dave Brown previously won Cartoon of the Year awards in 2003 and 2006.

Animation Domination Contest Narrows

2010-12-06T22:17:00.000-08:00

The Oscars for the world of animation, the Annies, announced the nominees for this year’s top prize on Monday, and there were no surprises to be had. “Toy Story 3,” “How to Train Your Dragon,” “Tangled,” “The Illusionist,” and “Despicable Me” received nods for best animated characteristic.

The list of finalists, from the International Animated Film Society, is sure to have some partly cover with the little gold man race, especially this year, when the Academy can nominate only three films (out of 15 submitted for eligibility). “Toy Story 3″ is a lock, of course, but may also wind up in the best picture category, as “Up” did last year. “Tangled” performed well at the box office against stiff competition, which could help its chances.

“How to Train Your Dragon” might be a good bet for the final spot, but don’t double-down yet. Last year, Annie voters gave their top prize to the little-seen Irish film “The Secret of Kells,” and it went on to secure an Oscar slot. Can the same happen for the “Despicable Me” or “The Illusionist” this year? The Bagger will pay close attention to the cartoon winnings to find out.

Also, the Annie list for short animation has several titles in common with the Academy’s short list. Oscar pool fanatics, keep an eye on this to game your chances against your friends and colleagues.

New HARVEY COMICS maquettes!

2010-12-02T21:58:00.000-08:00

Electric Tiki is offering cool new model cartoon maquettes based on Harvey Comics/Famous Studios cartoon characters.

The latest releases are CASPER and WENDY. Both were designed by Tracy Mark Lee and sculpted by Bruce Lau. Casper is appox. 5" tall, made of cold cast resin and severely limited to 750 pieces. Casper will also boast 2 variants, the first being a Diamond Comics elite clear edition of 250. Electric Tiki will also have a phasing account that will be half clear/half painted. The phasing Casper will limited to only 100 pieces.

Baby Huey is their first "Not So Teeny Weeny" small maquette standing app. 7" tall. Designed to be in scale with the preceding figures, Huey is almost twice the size of his Harvey buddies.

Designed by Tracy Mark Lee and sculpted by James Lopez, Baby Huey is sternly limited to 500 pieces. And it comes individually numbered, in a decorated box with certificate of Authenticity.
Meanwhile, Terrytoons' Mighty Mouse Teeny Weeny mini maquette (below) is based on typical 1940's Connie Rasinski model sheet images.

Mighty Mouse comes fully painted, ready to show and stands on a specially designed logo base. Designed by Tracy Mark Lee and sculpted by famous animation sculptor Ruben Procopio.

Jesse McCartney: Young Justice's Robin!

2010-11-30T23:04:00.000-08:00

Are you ready to have more Jesse McCartney in your life? We are!

The 23-year-old musician has been working on adding his voice to the Young Justice reboot from Cartoon Network. Jesse, who will voice Robin, wedged up with JJJ to chat about the project and working with voice veterans. Check it out:

On Young Justice: “It’s so overwhelming so far. I’ve been working for about six months on the first season and almost finished with it. I play Robin, who is one of the legendary superheroes in the Young Justice league. I’m in a room full of other voice over artists who have been doing this for decades. It’s actually something I grew up wanting to do, being a huge comic book, cartoon and action hero fan. Now, I’m doing it and I get to recreate all these episodes for a new generation who get to watch cartoons on Saturday morning.”

On picking and choosing his superheroes: “I didn’t really care either way which superhero I was, I was just about to be ’super’ so it was great whichever way. The director called me up and I had worked with him before this. He just said that he had this Young Justice project with an amazing group of writers and wanted me to come in and read for Grayson. I usually play the younger guy who has to up his voice a lot. It’s such an easy-going process. I go in once a week and I’m in a room with about ten other artists. It’s been wild.”

On working alongside voice veterans: “These guys are such pros. This one guy, Kevin, I believe he voiced Scooby Doo. Some of these guys have been doing this since I was a kid. I think they were the voices in the stuff that I used to watch. Now getting to work next to them is great and they’re all so cool to me. I’m definitely the youngest in the room and the newest at it.

'Tangled' a smash: will Disney still retreat from fairy tales?

2010-11-29T05:00:00.000-08:00

The talk before the exuberant cartoon "Tangled" opened was that Disney's 50th animated featured would also be its final full-length fairy tale. Now that this funny, beguiling expansion of the Grimms' "Rapunzel" has given the new Harry Potter movie a run for the box-office crown this Thanksgiving weekend with the long-locked heroine losing to the boy wizard by, well, a hair will Disney animation chief John Lasseter rethink his reported ban on storybook fantasy? Doesn't the success of this movie prove that with the right blend of tradition and invention animated fairy tales can still click, artistically and at the box office?

Vampire Animation Released in Russia

2010-11-24T22:15:00.000-08:00

Full-length animation film Nosferatu. The Horror of Night created by Russian animators goes on universal release in Russia.

Its author is Vladimir Marinichev, a former officer of the Petersburg Criminal Investigation Department. He decided to try his wings as a film director after watching the animated cartoon film History of Toys. Animation seemed to him quite reasonably priced: one just needed a computer and some imagination.

The famous vampire named Nosferatu became the protagonist of The Horror of Night. After all, the former militiaman has firsthand experience in the naywards of human soul. Nevertheless, the animation film characters make one smile rather than fear. Dracula, for example, is very elegant and ironical, and a musician into the bargain.

Cartoon Network's CGI movie Firebreather Has Daddy Issues

2010-11-24T01:22:00.000-08:00

High school, for any kid, is tough enough. But if you're half-human, half-Kaiju it’s a mess. Cartoon Network's first unique CGI movie, Firebreather, follows 16-year-old Duncan Rosenblatt as he deals with his unique appearance superhuman abilities, typical girl troubles and an estranged father the size of a skyscraper who now wants a relationship with his son.

And while the movie based on the Image Comics series of the same name is packed with exciting and complicated action sequences, it was the character of Belloc, a 120-foot giant who somehow sired a son with Duncan's mother, Margaret, which created the project's greatest challenge.

"Belloc had to be attractive and charming enough as a character would believe that there could have been that relationship between him and Duncan's mother that could result in Duncan," says director Peter Chung. "Their relationship is such a vital part of what's driving Duncan and his inner conflict." And you thought your parents were uncomfortable.

Peter Chung Takes ‘the Big Risk’ With CGI-Animated Firebreather

2010-11-23T01:13:00.000-08:00

Infamously risky but rewarding animator Peter Chung has finally made a film for everybody in Firebreather. If his new all-CGI movie is a hit on Cartoon Network, the Aeon Flux creator hopes it will assure Hollywood that the time is right to pull the trigger on other adult-oriented animated movies.

Margaret and Belloc's carnal knowledge is something Duncan doesn't want particulars on, as one hilarious scene illustrates, but the cross-species sexual union fits perfectly with Chung's previous adult-oriented explorations in daring animated series like Aeon Flux and Reign: The Conqueror, as well as Ralph Bakshi's cult fantasy film Fire and Ice, one of Chung's earliest animation gigs.

Similarly, Firebreather, which first appearances Wednesday on Cartoon Network, finds Chung striking a confident balance between breathtaking action sequences, ranging from parkour chases to full-scale military and supernatural warfare, and the subtle shot-blocking that infuses the film's quieter moments with relatable psychodrama.

Not bad, considering Firebreather is Chung's first CGI feature film, and that he had zero contact to the comic prior to starting the project. From designing the main humanoid and demonic characters to naturally directing Firebreather's incendiary action and tender relationship sequences, Chung has proven he can do it all, for any target audience.

Kids' DVDs a symbol Christmas is heading our way

2010-11-21T23:29:00.000-08:00

Charlie Brown Christmas Tales" (Warner, 2002, $14.97). This cute and funny animated TV special is included of five holiday vignettes featuring Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the rest of the gang from Charles Schultz's "Peanuts" comic strip.

Lucy wants Schroeder as an ice-skating partner, Snoopy becomes a bell-ringer and presents an olive branch to the cat next door, Linus writes a letter to Santa, Sally aggressively goes after a Christmas tree, and she and Charlie Brown wait up for Old Saint Nick's visit.
Not quite up to the first and best of the "Peanuts" cartoons, "A Charlie Brown Christmas," but still attractive and enjoyable.

"Peanuts Deluxe Holiday Collection" (Warner/Blu-ray, 1965-73, $69.97). This Blu-ray upgrade of the set that came out two years ago looks great, headlined by the best of the "Peanuts" cartoons, "A Charlie Brown Christmas" (1965) and "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" (1966). Also here is "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" (1973), which is good, if not quite up to the first two.

This box set comprises a "Peanuts" snowglobe lenticular with scenes of Charlie Brown and friends in snowy activities, and three window clings. "The Boy Who Cried Wolf and More Children's Fables" (Scholastic, 2010, $14.95). The title story, along with "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi," "Stone Soup" and others, animated and narrated for youngsters ages 3-8.

"Click, Clack, Moo Cows that Type … and More Fun on the Farm!" (Scholastic, 2010, $24.95). This set collects the title disc, "Giggle, Giggle, Quack" and "Diary of a Spider," with animal stories animated for ages 3-8.

"Thomas & Friends Adventure Pack" (Lionsgate, 2009-10, $24.98). This is a full set of the latest episodes as Thomas and friends learn life lessons. For children ages 2-5.

Mickey Mouse's birthday has Walt Disney's most famous cartoon rodent turning 82

2010-11-19T02:22:00.000-08:00

Oh boy! Mickey Mouse is one old rodent! Walt Disney's most famous cartoon creatiobn turned 82 on Thursday. Mickey’s first appearance with sound and the first of his films to be distributed was in "Steamboat Willie" on Nov. 18, 1928.

The falsetto-speaking mouse appeared in "Plane Crazy" six months prior, alongside Minnie, but in that feature he was as quiet as a, well, mouse. Ub Iwerks was the main animator for both shorts as well as co-director with Walt Disney, who also provided the vocals for the star of the show .

The popular mouse first spoke actual words in "The Karnival Kid" in 1929. In 1978, Mickey became the first cartoon to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In an effort to bring the famous mouse back into the spotlight, last year the Walt Disney Company announced they would be rebranding Mickey Mouse as a more mischievous rodent, starting with the upcoming video game "Epic Mickey."

The Clone Wars: Ahsoka in New Look

2010-11-17T22:59:00.001-08:00

When Ahsoka Tano shows up in this week's episode of The Clone Wars Friday night, you'll notice some differences. The episode "Heroes on Both Sides" will bring in all-new character models for several characters on the show, including Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka.

For Anakin and Obi-Wan, their form is much more styled after their outfits in Revenge of the Sith, with both discarding the pieces of Clone Trooper armor they've been wearing up until now
"Over the course of the series so far, our characters have been affected by the clash, so the changes we are seeing are a reflection of what they've gone through and how they've changed," says Supervising Director Dave Filoni. "We're getting closer to the events of Episode III, and the look of the series is moving toward that look and those plans." Anakin's hair is also a bit longer, heading towards the look he had in reprisal of the Sith

As for Ahsoka, her form is a bit more drastically overhauled. Not only does she look a bit older, but her new costume covers her up more than her previous tube top look did. Says Filoni, "We don't have a live-action point of comparison for Ahsoka, but her development is definitely as pronounced as anyone's. When the war began, she was just a kid; she was strong and capable, but she had a lot to learn – and she's been through a lot. She's been changed by the things she's seen and done, and now we're seeing that reflected in her look. She's older, more mature. In this episode, we see a significant step for her emotional development, in addition to her aesthetic development. Coming face to face with the enemy is going to be an eye-opening experience for her."

Filoni notes that the new character models are part of the ever-evolving animation on the series. "Our production keeps getting better; as we move forward, we're able to incorporate new techniques and improved animation. As a weekly series, we've been pushing ourselves to do things that haven't been done in TV animation, and it's always a struggle just to get it done at all. But we are learning tricks that help to streamline the process, and we continue to build our asset library. We're at a place where we can explore and develop new and improved character assets for some of our primary players. In addition to the look change, these new models are so much more expressive."

Cheburashka is Back on Russian panel

2010-11-17T03:12:00.000-08:00

Cheburashka has returned on the Russian panel, now as a character of the Japanese animated cartoon. 3 new series about adventures of Cheburashka and Gena the Crocodile have been recently established in Moscow, at the opening of the Japanese Film Festival.

The animation about Cheburashka recreated and continued in Japan was accepted by the character’s literary father Eduard Uspenskiy, and co-creators of the original animation Leonid Shvartsman and Yuriy Norshteyn. "Cheburashka" was first time exposed in Japan almost ten years ago. All the sequences in Soviet Cheburashka animation were model shots shaped manually, without any computer aid.

The most famous Japanese animation director Hayao Miyazaki was personally busy in the digital processing of the four Soviet cartoon films directed by Roman Kachanov. The Japanese resorted for consultations to one of the most respected Russian animators - Yuriy Norshteyn. Yuriy Norshteyn: “It is an event that will probably go beyond the kingdom of animation and will perhaps somehow influence the attitude to animation in this country, if this entire story has stepped as far as the Japanese islands and created such a furore there”.

Animated Cartoon ‘Unstoppable’ fails to end ‘Megamind’ from first place

2010-11-14T21:46:00.000-08:00

Animated films are huge and they are going to play for a long time. ’Unstoppable’ estimates in the second place .The animated cartoon Megamind stays at No-1 which stated the top spot for the second week. According to Hollywood box office the anthology for this animated cartoon is $30.1 million.Unstoppable made $23.5 million.

The film with the voices of Will Ferrell and Tina Fey, has done $89.8 million in 10 days. Tony Scott still didn’t beat the box office traffic in theaters.

Livingston says studio executives would not expect to upend Megamind, which likes most recent, big-studio animation, enjoyed replicate business from kids and parents. The movie dropped a negligible 35% from last week’s No. 1 debut.

The first and the last book of Magoo

2010-11-13T01:04:00.000-08:00

To the very end Millard Kaufman was telling jokes, which was some sort of hobby to him. In that job he was gently helped by his wife. They had a phone trick; both of them would be online and just at one instant in the middle of the conversation one would say a joke. In a happy environment, Millard Kaufman lasted to live for 92 years: he died in his apartment in Los Angeles on March the 17th, this year.

He is well known, first of all by giving us a nature of an old, near-sighted Quincy Magoo, the famous cartoon character. Then, he had enough guts to write and publish his first book when he was at the age of 90. It was the book “Bowl of cherries”, translated to many languages. When the novel was conventional by riders, Millard got inspirited. One year later he started with writing a new novel “Misadventure”, which will unfortunately be published posthumously this drop.

The thing which applauded up Kaufman was the fact that the publishers to whom he had offered his writing couldn’t think that the book was written by a 90 years old man. “Bowl of cherries” is a story of an American soldier who went to Iraq where he found out the secrets of an ancient architecture. Novel is filled with curses, but as well with jokes of ex American president Bush.

Born in 1917, “father” of Quincy Magoo was a journalist. He stopped his career as a journalist for attending the II World War, to fight beside Hitler. He hasn’t continued to his returning his job as a journalist. Coming back to Los Angeles he started functioning in the film industry. First job was a beat to him. He wrote a script play for a cartoon. He made up a quality of a bold, rich, short-sighted and short gentleman who is getting into troubles because of his seeing problem. The character of Quincy Magoo came lively by John Humbly and Robert Canon. Then the life of this charming gentleman found his way directly to the Oscar. After that Kaufman got a job in MGM where he worked as a writer for 15 years. One of his best movies is for sure is “Bad day at Black Rock” with Spenser Tracy.

And so that was his job until he got withdraw. That is when Millard got to his senses and comprehend that all he wanted to be for all those years was to be a writer. The last script he wrote in 1986.

“It was a magnificent experience for me”, said Millard Kaufman in one of the latest interviews. “At the commencement I believed that writing a book is not more differences from writing a script play for a movie. I was wrong. It was a real confront for me.

Primary Look: Disney going old school with new Pooh

2010-11-09T23:23:00.000-08:00

"Winnie the Pooh" will be back to his old nature again next year.

Walt Disney Animation Studios is returning the honey-loving teddy bear and his pals to their hand-drawn animated roots for a feature film plunging into theaters July 15, 2011. The new "Winnie the Pooh," the first big-screen "Pooh" quest from Disney animators in more than 30 years, will more closely look like the classic short films from the 1960s and '70s.

"We wanted to create a movie for the big screen that had the appeal and wit of those innovative shorts," said Peter Del Vecho, the film's producer. "What originally endeared all of us adults and children to these characters was that they were distended animals that came to life in the imagination of a child. We wanted to renew that imagination in a big way."

Pooh and company will relinquish recent puppet-powered, computer-generated Disney Channel makeovers in favor of the old-fashioned illustrative style that places the silly bear and his friends among the pages of a storybook. Jim Cummings ("The Tigger Movie") returns as the voice of Pooh and Tigger, with John Cleese ("Monty Python") serving as the storyteller.

While this version of "Pooh" won't be produced by a computer or projected in 3-D, Del Vecho cautioned it wouldn't simply be a redux of past "Pooh" projects. He said the film, spearheaded by Disney and Pixar animation Chief John Lasseter, will trait five new original songs and a faster pace punctuated with humor that's fitting for modern audiences.

"We're definitely resyetting the franchise and using this film as the instance to set for the studio," said Del Vecho. "Many versions have been done, and it's been a way for the property to live on in children's minds, but we're eager this is a new phase for 'Winnie the Pooh.' It's a return to quality storytelling that's been missing in more recent projects."

World's longest cartoon revealed at Xiamen Int'l Animation Festival

2010-11-08T01:24:00.000-08:00

The 3rd Xiamen International Animation Festival released yesterday and is hosted by the Xiamen Municipal Government. The festival drew over 100 animation companies from 12 regions of China came to partake in it.

According to the organizing group, invited by the COSPLAY organizing group, the largest cartoon in the world - Pili will be shown at the 3rd Xiamen International Animation Festival.

Pili is a marionette show from Taiwan. The TV series started in 1985, and it still persists today. The Pili marionette show is performed by many kinds of puppets, and uses state-of-the-art animation to help there its fighting art. The fragile design of the appearance and characteristics of each puppet has made Pili puppet show a well-known entertainment in Taiwan.

Apart from that, well-known animation artists will be partaking and give performances at the 3rd Xiamen International Animation Festival, including Taiwanese cartoonist Xiao Yanzhong, COSER and Xiao Xiao Bai.

North Korea emerges as animation producer

2010-11-02T06:13:00.000-07:00

North Korea’s information technology (IT) industry, in particular in the field of computer-based animation production, is well on its way to achieve success, according to a Dutch outsourcing specialist currently conducting IT business with North Korean companies.

The ceremony was planned by the Hanns Seidel Foundation, a German organization. “Pororo the Little Penguin,” an animated cartoon series, was an inter-Korean project finished in 2002. Also the same year, Akom, a South Korean company, also outsourced the production of “Empress Chung” to North Korea. The animation was released in 2005.

Tjia stated that some of the American Walt Disney animations were created by North Koreans, merely by accident. Politically North Korea and America have a barbed relationship and the American government prohibits the private sector from doing business with North Korean companies.

“There was a time when Walt Disney outsourced their animation production to countries in Asia like Vietnam or the Philippines. But the company didn’t have whole control over exactly which country the work was shaped, and found out later that some was produced in North Korea,” he said, adding that this was discovered after the animations had aired on TV.

An official at the Seoul Animation Center confirmed some of what the Dutchman said, confirming that Walt Disney’s outsourcing to Asia was true, and that’s accurately how South Korea’s animation industry took off. The news of a burgeoning animation industry in North Korea comes as a revelation to many who are used to hearing mainly about food shortage, human rights violations and the regime’s nuclear ambitions.

Tina Fey realizes her inner cartoon

2010-10-29T03:06:00.000-07:00

Things are coating up for Tina Fey.

She's the acclaimed, Emmy-winning creator, writer and co-star of 30 Rock; earned rave reviews from fans and critics alike as the hugely popular Sarah Palin twin on Saturday Night Live; and this past spring, co-starred with Steve Carell in the romantic comedy, Date Night. Fey, 40, is trying something different, mostly designed to please her five-year-old daughter Alice. Mom is one of the star voices in the 3-D animated movie, Megamind, which releases Nov. 5.

In the spoofing superhero cartoon, Fey offers the voice for Roxanne Ritchi, a TV reporter and the quasi-love interest in the Lois Lane tradition of the Superman yarn. But unlike Lois Lane, Ritchi doesn't necessarily swoon for just one superhero. After all, in Megamind, there are two aliens from one more planet living in Metro City: Megamind (Will Ferrell) and Metro Man (Brad Pitt).

As luck and the plot would have it, Ferrell's Megamind is the nemesis to Pitt's Metro Man, since Metro Man ends up being a well-liked celebrity offense fighter in sharp contrast to the genius outcast, Megamind. Fed up with being rejected, Megamind uses his intellect for evil, and most probably defeats Metro Man, leaving Megamind lonely, and Metro City vulnerable, after the emergence of the Megamind's dastardly creation, Titan (Jonah Hill).

Ironic heroes and villains are everywhere. That's another reason Fey determined to make room for the project. "And I found the recording conference freeing, because you can really try different things," says Fey. She could also relate to the reporter role in Megamind, having played the droll newscaster on the popular Weekend Update sections of Saturday Night Live. "I am one of America's best known fake reporters," she says. "I'm going to have a fake show on CNN."

Joking aside, Fey did have a hand in making over the passive Lois Lane archetype, giving Roxanne Ritchi a more skeptical outlook. She was also pleased with her cartoon character's look, though the short haircut, she be firm, makes her character come across like a younger version of TV personality Sharon Osbourne.

China's 'Pleasant Goat' on Disney channels

2010-10-21T05:40:00.000-07:00

A well-known Chinese cartoon series will be aired on Disney channels in 52 countries and regions, in a milestone for China's homegrown animation industry. Creative Power Entertaining Corporation (CPE), a Guangdong Province-based animation company, said Monday, October 18, 2010 that it had reached a television license broadcast agreement with Disney affiliate Buena Vista to air its products.

"In the coming three years, audiences in countries such as India, Australia and Singapore will be able to enjoy the latest 100 episodes of the hit cartoon series 'Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf - Joys of Seasons'," said CPE General Manager Liu Manyi. The cartoon series will be broadcast in more than 10 languages.

"Disney's wide range of channels will help Chinese cartoons enter the international market," said Liu. The cartoon is China's most popular in decades. It stars a quick-witted goat named "Pleasant" and a wolf couple - "Grey Wolf" and "Red Wolf". The cartoon became enormously popular with Chinese school children after its debut in 2005.

Cashing in on the cartoon's success, the producer made an animated feature in 2009. It generated box office revenue of 130 million yuan (US$19.6 million) during the Chinese New Year this year.

'Dragon' series takes flight at Cartoon Network

2010-10-18T04:02:00.000-07:00

An animated series based on the DreamWorks film hit "How to Train Your Dragon" will start on domestically on Cartoon Network, and internationally as well, with what is expected to be an initial order of more than 20 episodes. We felt that the story and the characters would make a great television show said Cartoon Network topper Stuart Snyder, who is animation, young adults and kids’ business prexy-chief operating officer for Turner.

Now the work really begins, developing and fleshing out the show. I responded most to the blend of comedy and the action, he said. I think it's a great story, a great basis for our audience, which loves comedy and action in combination. If you look at our lineup, we have instances of shows like 'Clone Wars' and others that I call blends of action and comedy. Announcement comes three days before the DVD release of the film, which is approaching the $500 million mark in worldwide grosses. There is also a film sequel of the property skedded for release in 2013, the year after the TV series debuts.

"It is extremely exciting to be able to bring viewers deeper into the world of dragons and tell new stories each week inspired by our characters from the film," DreamWorks Animation COO Ann Daly said. DWA has had success with Nickelodeon's "The Penguins of Madagascar," adapted from its "Madagascar" franchise. Cartoon Network also said that it will premiere "The Legend of the BoneKnapper Dragon," an animated short that is part of the "How to Train Your Dragon" DVD bonus package, at 8 p.m. Thursday.

Stegelin's cartoon

2010-10-13T05:50:00.000-07:00

Street Artist Banksy Creates Dark Opening For 'The Simpsons'

2010-10-11T23:48:00.000-07:00

It takes some effort for a TV series to inspire shock, amazement, and controversy in its 22nd season, but last night's episode of "The Simpsons" accomplished this apparently impossible feat.

The episode, "MoneyBART," opens with an extended "couch gag" the opening series in which the Simpson family takes its place on their sofa created by British street artist Banksy. The artist's dark vision gives viewers a horrifying look at how he envisages the hit show and its profitable merchandise are made sweatshop conditions for its animators unsafe conditions for producers of its apparel boxes sealed with the tongue of a disembodied dolphin head the center holes popped out of its DVDs with the horn of a shackled, emaciated unicorn.

According to the Guardian, Banksy's involvement marks the first time "The Simpsons" has begged the work of an artist unconnected to the show. And though "Simpsons" executive producer Al Jean's comment on the disturbing sequence was, "This is what you get when you outsource," he and his colleagues had to have known that Banksy couldn't help delivering something subversive. Banksy who recently reached a wider audience with last summer's documentary "Exit Through the Gift Shop" is known for making notorious statements with his work, which most frequently involves stenciling public buildings all over the world. Banksy even once creep into the Louvre to hang one of his paintings, which mimicked the "Mona Lisa" with a yellow smiley face in place of the original visage

The opening also joins a long tradition of "Simpsons" producers sardonic their corporate masters. There have been countless jokes over the years about the moral bankruptcy of Fox programming and the evil genius of Rupert Murdoch, founder of Fox parent company News Corp. However, this instance pushed the show's self-mockery to a new level.

Cartoon Network Arabic - launch

2010-10-07T23:39:00.000-07:00

Cartoon Network Arabic, which will begin broadcasting on the 10th October, was launched last night at Media One in Dubai’s Media City.

The free-to-air channel will broadcast 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and will feature a mix of both imported and locally produced content. Indeed, although much of the channels initial output will be dubbed versions of its European sibling, parent company Turner Broadcasting’s VP Alan Musa was keen to point out at the event the importance the channel places on developing local content. This is a real statement of intent that we believe there are talented people in the Middle East that will help us grow.

And the network have great shows like The Powerpuff Girls that have become global franchises around the world, and those shows in Arabic will form the major part of our programming, but more important, network is partnering with local companies who are producing great shows like Freej from Lammtara group, and Rubicon with Ben and Izzy. Recognizing the talent is fundamental to our growth and success here.

Pushing the point further, Musa added that Turner itself would also be making programmes from its new Dubai HQ “I’m pleased to add that in two weeks time, Turner will be making its first ever production in the Middle East, a quiz show where kids will battle there favourite cartoon characters for prizes. We’ve got to get this channel right or the kids will go elsewhere, and we are fundamentally focussed on creating a beautiful channel called Cartoon Network Arabic.”

World's first children's story book with 3D animation

2010-10-07T02:06:00.000-07:00

Finland has published the world's first interactive 3D animation story book to offer children a brand new experience day.

The 3D animation story book for children is just like normal fairy books, only with some special small black squares in some pages of it to point to the interactive 3D animation. Once the web camera faces toward a black square, 3D-animation cartoon figures and pictures will come into view in computer screen. This latest technology be relevant to the children's story book was uniquely developed by the Technical Research Center of Finland with many years research on "Augmented Reality" technology.

According to a researcher from the technical research center, the so-called "Augmented Reality" is to add virtual reality on top of real video. The technology, though still in the childhood phase, is believed to be widely useful for mobile devices, mobile phones and game consoles, as well as the printing media, like newspapers. However, Finnish book publishers do not see this new 3D technology would threaten the traditional children's books, rather its added value is to bring more surprises to children.

Alien incursion at children’s fair

2010-10-05T21:50:00.000-07:00

WODONGA should brace for an alien incursion on Sunday.

The theme for this year’s Wodonga Children’s Fair is In and Out of This World, with a special live recital by characters from the Cartoon Network’s action/adventure series BEN 10.

The animation is centered on Ben Tennyson who, during a summer vacation with his tough-as-nails grandpa Max and snooty cousin Gwen, discovers an eccentric alien device that attaches itself to his wrist.

The watch-like tool allows Ben to change into 10 different alien superheroes, each with their own unique powers.

Ben, Gwen and Ben’s alien hero Four Arms will come to life at the fair, with audience members to be given the chance to see them up close and personal at a special meet and greet sitting after the show.

Other features of the free event include a giant bungee tramp, Wild Action Backyard Biodiversity Show, nomadic entertainers and stilt-walkers and farmyard animals.

The kids have completely loved it in the past and what’s good too is that it’s a free event for the family.

The activities are great with the whole lot from the concerts to cup making.

Mickey Mouse meets Boba Fett

2010-10-01T00:28:00.000-07:00

This one is a mix-up sandwiched between the Star Wars villain Boba Fett and the cartoon character Mickey Mouse. I don’t think their parents met in the past, but that Mickey seems tired, wanted to be neutral like Switzerland, that he put on a negative character’s outfit. Is it a good one? A bad one? Nah, it’s… Mickey Fett.
This is the work of Tom from England, a strange combo, but hilarious and cute as well. Now, a bit of a background about these two characters. I’ll start with the villain so I can create a happy ending.

Boba Fett is a character in the Star Wars fictional universe. A reward hunter hired by Darth Vader to find the Millennium Falcon; he is a major villain in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980). Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002) sets up Boba Fett’s back story as a clone of Jango Fett, a bounty hunter who hoists Boba as a son. The Star Wars Expanded Universe expands on Fett’s origins and career as a bounty hunter. Fett’s air of danger and secrecy has created a faction following the character, which has been merchandised across multiple media. Fett might be part of the live-action Star Wars series under development.

It’s one of the top five best-selling Star Wars action figures, and Boba Fett-related products are “among the most expensive” Star Wars merchandise; one of the rocket-firing prototypes sold at auction for $16,000 in 2003.

Mickey Mouse is one of the most beloved characters created by American director and cartoonist Walt Disney. Beginning in 1928 with the animated film Plane Crazy, the mouse dressed in red pants became a symbol of American cinema and culture. It’s also the protagonist in the first cartoon that synchronized sound with animation “Steamboat Willie”, which premiered in November 1928.

Apart from impressive its animation movie, the character Mickey Mouse was made known to the public and in many countries around the world by publishing regular appearances (magazine) comic which had worn the name.

No doubt this is one of the cutest and strangest combinations I’ve seen until now, but the thing I’m curious about is what kind of character it will be when it emerges from its neutral state, and which part of the force is stronger in him.

50 th anniversary of Flinstone

2010-09-29T21:37:00.000-07:00

Flinstone is one of the world’s most love cartoon series. It was created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, owners of the famed Hanna-Barbera Productions, in Sep 30, 1960. Flintstones cartoon series was one of the successful animated American sitcom and was telecasted in ABC from Sep 30, 1960 to Apr 1, 1966. With today Flinstone is celebrating 50th anniversary.

The Flintstones series portrayed a working class Stone Age man’s life with his family and his next door neighbor and best friend. Despite the show ended in 1966, Flintstones continue to be shown in various television channels. Later in 2000, based on Flintstones theme a movie
called Viva Rock Vegas was also released.

The famous characters in Flintstones, Barney, Fred, Wilma, Pebbles, and Dino are regarded as most loved cartoon characters throughout the world.

Yogi Bear – Movie Trailer

2010-09-29T02:18:00.000-07:00

Warner Bros has released a new movie trailer for the hybrid live-action/computer animated feature adaptation Yogi Bear on IGN.The first teaser preview went online in July.

The film stars Rachel (Anna Faris), as a nature documentary filmmaker who is trying to film Yogi and Boo-Boo for her next project. Dan Aykroyd will voice the computer animated Yogi, the lovable Jellystone Park bear who is infamous for his attempts at theft picnic baskets from campers, much to the displeasure of Park Ranger Smith (Tom Carvanagh), who just also happens to be the romantic interest of Rachel. And Justin Timberlake will voice the computer animated Boo-Boo, a bow-tied bear cub who acts as Yogi’s constant companion and conscience. And Andy Daly plays Mayor Brown, who has lightheartedly run his city’s budget into the red and wants to sell Jelly Stone Park to make some cash.

The big screen 3D movie is being directed by Eric Brevig (Journey to the Center of the Earth), from a screenplay by Brad Copeland (Wild Hogs). The film is currently filming in New Zealand Warner Bros is aiming for a December 17th 2010 release.

Welcome back Wile.E

2010-09-27T02:16:00.000-07:00

Cartoons are making a small but hopeful comeback in theaters this year. If you should happen to see Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’hoole, you’ll be treated to the second of Warner Bros.’ new Road Runner cartoons, Fur of Flying. (The first, titled Coyote Falls, played with Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, and the third, called Rabid Rider, will appear at the head of Yogi Bear in December.) These new widescreen films bring two classic Warner Bros. cartoon stars back to life, and while they convert the graphic characters and backgrounds into sculpted CGI form they remain absolutely true to the spirit of Chuck Jones’ vintage shorts.

That is no accident. Everyone at the refreshed Warner Bros. animation section took their mission seriously. They wanted to “do right” by these great cartoon characters, and realized they were in for a thrashing if they messed up. Thanks to staff producer Katherine Concepion, I was lucky to attend a special studio screening arranged for Chuck Jones’ daughter Linda and her son Craig. There, Register reported that senior Warners management was excited about the prospect of reviving their sidelined stars, and is so happy with the results that they have commissioned more new shorts with other members of the Looney Tunes cast.

O’Callaghan, who has several decades of animation experience behind him, starting at Disney in the 1980s, and two feature films under his belt as director approached the new Road Runner cartoons with a keen sense of what made them tick, and what challenges he faced. First, he was told the new films couldn’t run more than three minutes—about the same as a preview trailer—or theater owners would rebel. That meant readjusting the formula that Chuck Jones and writer Michael Maltese worked out so well: no time to freeze-frame and identify the characters in bogus Latin, only one chance to see the Coyote’s new scheme fizzle at first, etc. To inspire and guide his animators, O’Callaghan made frame enlargements of key drawings in old Road Runner cartoons.

His next hurdle was dealing with 3-D, and to my delight, he decided to use every trick in the book—like forced perspective—to exaggerate gags for dimensional effect. When Wile E. Coyote stretches his arms in a desperate attempt to reach something, and we see the action from his point-of-view, his limbs are falsely prolonged to boost the impact of the shot.

Most important, these new three-minute shorts are quite funny—and I’m sure they play as well “flat” as they do in 3-D. Young viewers who haven’t seen the old Road Runner shorts may have to acclimate to their modus operandi, but I’m sure it won’t take them long to catch on. The cartoons not only look good—they sound good, too. Warner Bros. encouraged the animation team to score them just like the old days, so that’s a sixty-piece orchestra playing Christopher Lennertz’s music on the soundtrack, including the “Merrily We Roll Along” theme.

I wish there were some easy way to see all three Road Runner cartoons without having to sit through those family-friendly features…but for now, that’s your only option. Still, if you love cartoons, and appreciate ingenious use of 3-D, I’d say they’re worth the price of admission.

The Alarming Truth About Your Favorite Cartoon Animals

2010-09-23T03:10:00.000-07:00

Usually depicted as loyal and imaginative companions

In reality they're reckoning and manipulative parasites. Cats have been known to gather in the homes of older single women, where they join forces to infect their hosts with the shocking brain disease dementia felinus, or “cat lady syndrome.” Early symptoms of the disease include lax grooming habits, slurring and incoherent speech, and chronic crankiness. Eventually, victims withdraw from society completely, emerging from shelter only to berate the occasional solicitor.

Usually depicted as brave and earnest dreamers.

Certainly they’re disease-ridden sociopaths. After nearly wiping out the whole of Europe in the middle ages with a particularly menacing germ warfare campaign dubbed the "Black Plague," rats went global with their war on humanity, displaying a particular affection for the insolvent peoples of the world. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the hairy rodents are responsible for “perpetuating a cycle of poverty and disease” in developing nations via their vast munitions store of deadly diseases. Forget ratatouille; the only dishes these genocidal fiends are fit to serve are a heaping bowl of slow, agonizing death.

Usually depicted as playful and fun-loving clowns.

In reality they’re droopy gluttons. Experts in evolutionary biology will tell you that penguins were once graceful flyers. But centuries of overindulging on Antarctica’s vast seafood buffet, combined with a primarily inactive lifestyle, caused their wings to atrophy and their waistlines to expand, turning them into flightless, waddling tubs of glop. Nowadays, they have barely enough energy to stuff their fat faces, let by you participate in such tiring activities as dancing or surfing. In a nation grappling with a childhood obesity epidemic, are these the kinds of responsibility we want our pre-diabetic young people to follow?

In the new animated film Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole, owls are portrayed mostly as noble creatures who sashay majestically through the air while clad in ornate headgear. But even the most casual observer of the animal kingdom knows that this portrayal couldn’t be further from reality. In truth, owls are vicious predators whose reputation for savagery is such that National Geographic nicknamed them “the bastards of the forest.” They’re far too busy horrifying the cuter animals of the forest, like bunny rabbits and baby ducklings, to care about funny metal helmets or other superfluous fashion accessories.

Best toys of 2010

2010-09-21T22:53:00.000-07:00

Lalaloopsy Doll

While they look like regular rag dolls, every Lalaloopsy character comes with its own special history, including the day it was sewn, what it was sewn from (painter’s smock, clown costume, baker’s apron), and how that history has infused the doll with a special personality—artist, goofball, sugar-lover, you get the idea.

Disney Princess And Me Dolls

Princess Dolls will always be a hit among the princess crowd, and these 18-inch Disney wonders—including Ariel, Aurora, Belle, Cinderella or Tiana—come with tiaras, signature gowns, and invitations to become part of the Princess & Me Royal Family.

Pillow Pets

A pillow that converts into a stuffed animal and back again? Genius and useful! We like the bee, but the ladybug, unicorn, monkey and puppy version are cute, too.

Calico Critters Luxury Town House

Calico Critters and the Cloverleaf Corner friends live it up in style with this four-room, two-story house. With a movable staircase and lights that turn on and off, we just wish it came in human size.

Bigfoot The Monster

This is a plastic toddler, but with the ability to talk, walks, chew, burp and throw a ball, this remote control could be an instant hit to your kid.

Large Zoo Set

An instant hit with any animal lovers, this plastic menagerie comes with multiple animal enclosures for the elephants, giraffes, zebras, and lion family, as well as a ticket counter and a souvenir shop.

Sing-A-Ma-Jigs

There’s more to these tiny, plush critters than dates the eye. Press their bellies and you’ll divulge a tiny singing mouth, press their hands and you’ll hear a range of singing options. Sing-A-Ma-Jigs can sing tunes, babble away or even sing in harmony with each other.

The world’s most famous cartoonist

2010-09-20T23:33:00.000-07:00

Hanna and Barbare are the two renowned cartoonist who are best known for their world famous cartoons like Scooby-Doo, Top Cat, Tom and Jerry etc.

Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. (previously Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc., and at first H-B Enterprises, Inc.) was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century. The company was originally formed in 1957 by former Metro Goldwyn Mayer animation directors William Hanna and Joseph Barbera in partnership with Columbia Pictures' Screen Gems television division, as H-B Enterprises, Inc.

Over the few decades H-B produced many successful cartoon shows like The Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?, Jonny Quest, The Yogi Bear Show, The Jetsons, The Huckleberry Hound Show, Top Cat, Wacky Races, The Quick Draw McGraw Show, Space Ghost, The Smurfs and The Magilla Gorilla Show.

The characters they created with his partner, William Hanna, are not only animated superstars but also a very beloved part of American pop culture.

Estonia’s ‘crocodile’ digs cartoon Oscar

2010-09-20T04:40:00.000-07:00

Imagine Oscars but in the world of animation. And you will have some idea of what it means to be awarded The Cartoon d’Or, handed out this year in Hungary.
Estonian winner Kaspar Jancis has triumphed with “Crocodile”, the tale of a former opera singer who ends up performing in a crocodile outfit for children in a shopping centre.

The Cartoon d’Or, which comes with 10,000 euros in cash, is a start on pad into the international animation industry. Most of those who have won this award in the past have got into the creation of feature length or TV projects.

Peanuts comic strip to be distributed by Universal Uclick

2010-09-15T23:44:00.000-07:00

Peanuts Worldwide has exposed that the popular comic strip license will be distributed in print, online and on mobile devices by Universal Uclick from February 2011.

Peanuts - which launched in seven US newspapers in October 1950 - will join more than 200 comic strip and cartoon skins on the Universal Uclick comic’s web portal, GoComics.com. They will also be available in daily GoComics emails, which users can modify to include their favorite strips.

"We decisively believe in the significance and vivacity of comic strips as an art form, and Peanuts exemplifies those traits," said John McMeel, president of Andrews McMeel Universal, parent company of Universal Uclick.

Ugly Americans

2010-09-15T05:53:00.000-07:00

Vampires, zombies and freaks shake up the Big Apple for another episode in the hit animated comedy series "Ugly Americans" premiering on Comedy Central on October 6 at 10:30 p.m.

On October 7, “Ugly Americans” new episodes will be available for Download to Own in HD, on iTunes, Xbox and Playstation and SD.

Bug-eyed: The cartoon faces of insects caught in incredible detail

2010-09-14T02:18:00.000-07:00

With their oversized eyes they look like features that should belong to cartoon characters.
But these stunning pictures show the strange faces of Britain's most colourful bugs that are normally far too small to see.

The spectacular series was captured by amateur photographer 'Bugman' Eddie Nurcombe, 42, using powerful macro equipment.

Top five comic characters

2010-09-13T03:10:00.001-07:00

Tom and Jerry

Micky Mouse

Donaldo

Tweety Bird

Bugs Bunny

New ‘Megamind’ Trailer Is Heavy On Plot

2010-09-09T23:49:00.000-07:00

The third official trailer for Dreamwork’s 3D animated feature Megamind has emerged online and reveals more about the blue-skinned titular villain (voice of Will Ferrell).