Hey 2010, Make Way for 1964

Before Warner Bros Pictures releases it's live action version of Hanna-Barbera's Yogi Bear this weekend, try some of the good ol' old school stuff here!

Disney's Next Traditional Animated Feature

Be sure to keep an eye out for Walt Disney Feature Animation's next traditionally animated feature: "Winnie the Pooh". Coming Summer 2011.

Toy Story 3 Sneek Peek

Toonzone has an exclusive 2-minute sneek peek at Pixar's next feature: Toy Story 3 with an introduction by director Lee Unkrich.
http://news.toonzone.net/articles/32224/toonzone-presents-2-minute-toy-story-3-sneak-peek-video-clip
In the clip, Andy is heading to college and needs to decide what to do with his old toys, put in storage or throw out with garbage?

The Rescuers Down Under (1990)

I just watched this film from Disney Animation for the first time in about 15 years and I got to admit, it holds up well. Since I'm getting set to see "The Princess & The Frog" this weekend, I picked up a copy of "The Rescuers Down Under" while Christmas shopping.
The movie is filled with great traditional animation while still experimenting with early computer animation. A great cast consisting of Bob Newhart, Eva Gabor, George C. Scott, Tristan Rogers and John Candy.
I remembered having an article about this feature so I thought I would share it with you. From the pages of a 1990 Comics Scene magazine straight to your computer screen. Stay tuned afterward for a brief behind-the-scenes look courtesy of YouTube...

Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths Trailer

A lost Justice League adventure will be hitting DVD/Blu-Ray in the Spring of 2010 from Warner Premiere.
The DC Animated universe will finally be featuring the Crime Syndicate, which is an alternate, evil version of the Justice League. Sounds pretty awesome.

Lou's Art of Up

Check out Lou Romano's blog for a great in-depth look at the development & production work he did for the recent Pixar hit film, Up.
http://louromano.blogspot.com/2009/05/art-of-up_3697.html
The great illustrator/ art director shares many images he created to inspire the look of the final film. But beware, if you haven't seen the awesome movie yet, the post does contain spoilers (of sorts).

Flintstone Spy Film End Credits

I made a post before featuring the animated titles of the 1966 feature, The Man Called Flintstone, which were a spoof of other spy films of the time.
http://jedaniels-adventures.blogspot.com/2009/03/flintstone-spy-film-titles.html
Here are the interesting looking end-titles of the same film which take a total turn around by adopting a more storybook style. The look is very graphic and simplistic, characterizing the Flintstones and Rubbles.Add this great Flintstones adventure to your collection by picking up the DVD from Warner Home Video.

On The Rocks On YouTube

The rarely-seen animated film special "The Flintstones on The Rocks" is currently available for viewing on YouTube thanks to CN90s.
The special aired in 2001 on "Cartoon Network's Cartoon Theater" and is based on the original 1960's series.
The character designs and production art pay respect to their roots as well as the script.
The basic storyline has Fred and Wilma's marriage falling apart so The Rubbles take them on vacation to try and fix things. A jewel thief gets his bag mixed up with Wilma's and Fred uses the diamond to win his wife back, but the thief has other plans.

part 2
part 3
part 4
part 5
part 6
part 7
The Flintstones on the Rocks (2001)

Jeff Bergman - Fred
Tress MacNeille - Wilma
Kevin Michael Richardson - Barney
Grey Delisle - Betty

Music by
Hoyt Curtin, Joey Altruda, Skip Heller

Character Design - Craig Kellman
Background Design - Jim Worthy
Background Color - Don Watson - Tim Maloney

Written & Storyboards by
Cindy Morrow, Clayton McKenzie Morrow, Chris Savino, David Smith

Storyboard Clean-Up
Bill Wray

Animation Direction by Robert Alvarez

Directed by David Smith & Chris Savino

Supervising Producer Genndy Tartakovsky

Flintstone Spy Film Titles

Here are some examples of the great-looking opening titles of the 1966 feature, The Man Called Flintstone.
The graphic look and feel are really a spoof of the animated titles of other spy films being released during the 60's.You can add this great Flintstones adventure to your collection by picking up the DVD from Warner Home Video.

Wild Green Yonder Box Art

TVshowsonDVD.com has gotten hold of the box art for the upcoming 4th Futurama film, "Into the Wild Green Yonder" which will be released February 24th.Futurama-Into-the-Wild-Green-Yonder
Will this be the final time we see the Planet Express crew? I suppose public demand and sales of all 4 films will ultimately decide their fate.
Let's watch a preview!

Cheech and Chong Get Animated Make Over

Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong will be entering the land of animation with Cheech and Chong's Smokin' Animated Movie.
http://www.animationmagazine.net/article/9356
The film will take their library of recorded comedy based on pot humor during the '70s and '80s and will be animated so that audiences can watch the 2 characters interact and react during the classic skits.

New Ice Age 3 Trailer

Apple.com has the new trailer for next summer's Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs!
http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/iceage3
It would seem that Scrat, the trilogy's comedy relief, has a new challenge to face...

Astro Boy Teaser Premieres

The first teaser trailer for the big-screen adaptation of the classic anime series has hit the web!
http://www.moviefone.com/movie/astro-boy
Judging by the first sneak peek of this CG film, it doesn't look terrible. Imagi Animation Studios is the same crew that handled the CG TMNT film so they know how to handle an animated action film.
The film is set to be released to theaters in October of 2009.

Astro Boy Hits Theaters October '09

Animation house Imagi Studios has announced an October 23, 2009 release of their CG-animated Astro Boy movie by Summit Ent.
http://www.animationmagazine.net/article/8953
Expect to see a slew of Astro Boy related merchandise in stores next summer to promote the film.

Original Disney Character Designs?

After watching the trailer for Disney's upcoming animated feature "Bolt", there are a couple of things that come to mind.
Not only do I personally prefer the original look of Chris Sander's "American Dog" which "Bolt" evolved from,
http://characterdesign.blogspot.com/2008/06/disneys-bolt.html
but the pigeons that appear in the trailer instantly reminded me of Warner Bros' Good Feathers characters that appeared in "Animaniacs".

I will give kudos to their hamster which seems like a fun character to watch, but there doesn't seem very much else that is "original". I guess only time and box office receipts will tell if this is a classic...

Wonder Woman Coming in '09

From the creators of "Superman: Doomsday", "Justice League: the Final Frontier" and "Batman: Gotham Knight" comes the story of how a princess became a warrior.
http://www.warnervideo.com/wonderwomanmovie/
Wonder Woman will be hitting shelves in February 2009.

Princess and The Frog Teaser Trailer

Walt Disney Pictures has posted the teaser trailer for 2009's "The Princess and The Frog" on the official website here:
http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/princessandthefrog/
This is Disney's official return to traditionally animated feature films with Ron Clements and John Musker at the helm as directors. The duo have directed previous Disney features such as "Aladdin", "The Little Mermaid" and "Hercules".
So far, I'm not dazzled by much. Randy Newman's musical score seems rather slow here...

Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow

Marvel has released the trailer for Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow (previously known as Teen Avengers and Avengers Reborn), its next upcoming direct to DVD animated movie distributed by Lions Gate.

The Next Avengers: Trailer
Uploaded by j-motion

To me, the film looks like it's going to be a lot of fun. Sure it seems like a rip of DC's animated Teen Titans, but at least it's a new property Marvel is dealing with.
Wonder if they are considering doing a Spider-Girl film yet?

1986 - 1995

Back in 1996, Animation Magazine was celebrating it's 10 year run. They released a celebration issue complete with a time-line that pinpoints animation highlights.
Now let's take a look back at what was dubbed by some, the "Silver Age of animation"!