No less than three of this year’s Oscar- and Annie-nominated animated features boast spectacular action sequences set upon roaring oceans: Moana, The Red Turtle and Kubo and the Two Strings. Astonishing as those sequences are, a look at the Monstro sequence on the new “Signature Collection” Blu-ray still takes one’s breath away over 75 years […]
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INTERVIEW: Gina Shay, Producer of “Trolls”
January 27th, 2017 
Greg Ehrbar Producer Gina Shay fell in love with animation not long after she graduated from Pratt Institute, moved to LA and worked on Ralph Bakshi’s Cool World as a PA. Since then, she amassed production credits on features with DreamWorks, Disney, Nickelodeon and others. “For a while, I thought I might take the artist route,” she […]
Interview: Joby Talbot, Composer of “Sing”
January 23rd, 2017 Greg Ehrbar Scoring a film that contains upwards of 100 songs—either in part or complete—in addition to a background score, calls for the kind of composer who can turn with ease from classical to jazz to rock to hip-hop and so on. For Sing director Garth Jennings, the task fell to a longtime collaborator with astonishing versatility […]
The Animated Side of “Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life”
October 7th, 2016 Greg Ehrbar There’s something cathartic about a film in which the protagonist is able to make fools of his/her detractors by outlandish means. The Marx Brothers and Bugs Bunny perfected it. In Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life–which opens nationwide today–the adolescent lead character might as well say, “Of course you know this means war.” […]
“Milo Murphy’s Law”: Disney XD Hopes for Years of Bad Luck
October 4th, 2016 Greg Ehrbar If a calamity can possibly happen, it happens to Milo Murphy, the protagonist of the new animated Disney XD series from Jeff “Swampy” Marsh and Dan Povenmire, who have a tough act to follow after setting the bar so high with Phineas and Ferb. Milo Murphy’s Law, which premiered this week, has a similar look, […]
TONIGHT: Disney XD Goes “Kapow!”
September 19th, 2016 Greg Ehrbar Warner Brothers animation irreverence makes itself at home on Disney XD tonight with the premiere of Right Now, Kapow, a lightning-paced animated sketch comedy series blending the eclectic, throw-it-at-the-wall-and-see-if-it-sticks approach of TV blackout sketch comedy and the limitless canvas of animation. Like Saturday Night Live, Laugh-In, All That and Key and Peele, the new series […]
Marni Nixon: The Singing Star Behind the (Cartoon) Stars
July 26th, 2016 Greg Ehrbar Hollywood has a long history of employing trained singers to sing off camera for actors who, even though capable of carrying a tune, do not have the technical skill or range of a training vocalist. Marni Nixon, who passed away on Monday, was easily the most celebrated of these “ghost singers.” What is not as […]
Director Jon Binkowski on his animation-inspired indie-feature “CharacterZ”
July 14th, 2016 Greg Ehrbar A movie in which the protagonist’s goal is getting to CalArts is unique, as is one about life as a costumed theme park character. Either makes CharacterZ worth a look. The indie comedy, which premieres this week on various digital platforms, stars former teen star Mitchel Musso as an aspiring animator whose parents’ bankruptcy keeps […]
Directors Byron Howard & Rich Moore Talk “Zootopia” On Blu-Ray
June 15th, 2016 Greg Ehrbar If you didn’t know that Byron Howard (Tangled, Bolt) and Rich Moore (Wreck-It Ralph, The Simpsons) were directors of one of this year’s biggest movie hits, you might think they were a successful comedy team. The chemistry between the two is evident in the bonus features on the new Zootopia Blu-ray (on sale now) and […]
Janet Waldo: The Sound of Youthful Joy
June 13th, 2016 Greg Ehrbar We are saddened to learn of the passing of veteran voice actress Janet Waldo. She was 94, cause of death was a brain tumor. Ms. Waldo was a fixture on old-time radio – in particular as the lead in Meet Corlis Archer, and had appeared in bit parts, small roles, and as a B-Western leading […]
Interview: DC’s “Scooby-Doo Apocalypse”
May 26th, 2016 Greg Ehrbar The world started to come to an end today—at least in the first issue of the DC Hanna-Barbera Scooby-Doo Apocalypse comic magazine, which just arrived in stores. It’s not the first time Scooby and his pals were given a different twist (far from it), so I spoke to three of the key creatives behind this […]
Alan Young: A Voice to Remember
Alan Young left us with a legacy that goes far beyond playing second banana to a horse on the comedy series Mister Ed — a role he took seriously and played with a remarkable sense of reality — but he also made contributions to the world of audio and animation, one of which is the […]