Little Nicholas: Happy As Can Be is a delightful new animated film about the characters from the iconic French children’s book series Le Petit Nicolas, and their creators, author Rene Goscinny and illustrator Jean-Jacques Sempe. Little Nicholas won Best Feature at this year’s Annecy Film Festival, and it recently had its awards-qualifying theatrical run in […]
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INTERVIEW: “Little Nicholas” Directors Happy With Charming New Movie
December 30th, 2022 
Jackson Murphy 
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INTERVIEW: “Passenger” Director Takes Us On Life-Changing Train Ride
December 29th, 2022 Jackson Murphy On the Oscar shortlist for the upcoming Best Animated Short Film category is Passenger (“Pasajero”), from director Juan Pablo Zaramella. A man boards a train and discovers a lot more about himself and society. This is a short about behavior, rewards, consequences and much more, as Zaramella explains. (This Animation Scoop interview was conducted as […]
INTERVIEW: “Sierra” Director On Oscar Shortlist For Auto Racing Short
December 28th, 2022 Jackson Murphy Start Your Engines! The Oscar shortlist has been unveiled — 15 animated short films vying for five spots on the Academy Awards ballot. Voting takes place in mid-January, with the nominations announcement coming Jan. 24. One of the shorts in contention is Sierra, from director Sander Joon, who’s based in Estonia. It’s the story of […]
INTERVIEW: “The Boy, The Mole, The Fox And The Horse” From Page To Screen
December 16th, 2022 Jackson Murphy On Christmas Day, you can experience the new short film version of author Charlie Mackesy’s beloved book The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse on AppleTV+. Mackesy and Peter Baynton are the co-directors. Cara Speller serves as producer. They share what makes the deep story and gorgeous animation so special and how this […]
INTERVIEW: Director Joel Crawford discusses “Puss In Boots: The Last Wish”
December 15th, 2022 Jackson Murphy It’s been 11 years since DreamWorks released the Oscar-nominated, hit Shrek prequel Puss in Boots. Now Antonio Banderas returns as the beloved cinematic cat in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (which takes place after the events of 2010’s Shrek Forever After). Universal screened The Last Wish in theaters nationwide over Thanksgiving weekend ahead of […]
INTERVIEW: A Fun Time Talking “Sonic Prime”
December 12th, 2022 Jackson Murphy Sonic the Hedgehog zooms onto Netflix with the new CG animated series Sonic Prime. It premieres this Thursday December 15th. Deven Mack, the new voice of Sonic, and executive producer Logan McPherson are excited to share this cool, dramatic, action-packed and energetic entry in the SEGA saga. (This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length […]
INTERVIEW: “Reindeer In Here” Seeks To Go Down In History
November 23rd, 2022 Jackson Murphy Adam Reed has taken his popular holiday book Reindeer in Here to the screen, with a new one-hour animated special premiering Tuesday November 29th at 9pm (right after Rudolph) on CBS. Reed serves as executive producer, and Lino DiSalvo (head of animation on Frozen) is the director. They join me to discuss how they collaborated […]
INTERVIEW: The Gift Of “Mickey Saves Christmas”
November 21st, 2022 Jackson Murphy New half-hour stop-motion holiday special Mickey Saves Christmas premieres this Sunday Nov. 27 at 7pm on ABC, Disney Channel, Disney Junior and Disney XD. It will then be available the next day on Disney+ and Hulu. Director David H. Brooks describes what he and the Stoopid Buddy Stoodios team did to capture the holiday magic […]
INTERVIEW: Hot Dog! It’s New Doc “Mickey: The Story Of A Mouse”
November 17th, 2022 Jackson Murphy Tomorrow, Friday November 18th, is Mickey Mouse’s 94th Birthday. To celebrate, Disney+ is premiering a new 90-minute documentary on the iconic character. Mickey: The Story of a Mouse is directed by Jeff Malmberg. He discusses the deep exploration into every aspect of Walt’s beloved creation in this Animation Scoop Q&A. (This interview was edited for […]
INTERVIEW: Start Spreading The News About “Blue’s Big City Adventure”
November 14th, 2022 Jackson Murphy Blue and Josh are taking The Big Apple by storm in Nickelodeon’s new musical movie Blue’s Big City Adventure, premiering this Friday November 18th on Paramount+. Steve and Joe return to the Blue’s Clues franchise to join in on the fun. I spoke with director Matt Stawski about the film from my own Thinking Chair! […]
INTERVIEW: Extra! Extra! Read All About “Zootopia+”
November 9th, 2022 Jackson Murphy Starting today you can check out six all-new shorts on Disney+ celebrating the feisty, fun and heartwarming characters from one of Disney Animation’s most popular recent films, the Oscar-winning Zootopia. Josie Trinidad and Trent Correy are the directors of Zootopia+. Nathan Curtis serves as the producer. All three spoke with me for this Animation Scoop […]
INTERVIEW: In The Driver’s Seat For “Transformers: EarthSpark”
November 7th, 2022 Jackson Murphy New CG animated series Transformers: EarthSpark premieres this Friday November 11th on Paramount+. (You can also watch the one-hour debut episode Friday at 4pm on Nickelodeon.) EarthSpark comes from EP Ant Ward and Co-EP Dale Malinowski. They spoke with me for this Animation Scoop Q&A about how some legendary characters — and whole-hearted new ones […]
INTERVIEW: Hungry For More “Aqua Teen”? “Plantasm” Is Here!
November 4th, 2022 Jackson Murphy Aqua Teen Hunger Force aired its series finale in the summer of 2015. For creators Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro, that could’ve meant the end of these iconic characters. But a phone call from WB early on in the COVID pandemic changed everything. Willis and Maiellaro serve as directors on the new feature-length Adult Swim […]
INTERVIEW: Nora Twomey Re-Introduces Us To “My Father’s Dragon”
November 3rd, 2022 Jackson Murphy Cartoon Saloon’s Nora Twomey was Oscar nominated for her phenomenal, Annie Award-winning 2017 animated feature The Breadwinner. Her follow-up is a sweet, moving and timely interpretation of the classic story My Father’s Dragon. Ahead of the film’s Netflix release on November 11th, I spoke with Twomey about her commitment to this project. (This Animation Scoop […]
INTERVIEW With The Valedictorian Of “Monster High”
October 24th, 2022 Jackson Murphy Shea Fontana is the showrunner and co-EP of Nickelodeon’s new Monster High animated series, premiering this Friday October 28th at 7pm. In this Animation Scoop Q&A, Fontana discusses the influence of the popular toys on the fun new show, as well as a revamped Dracula and her own high school memories. (This interview was edited […]
