Disney has lastly made Tangled, a film about Rapunzel!

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

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

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

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

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

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.