This week Jeffrey Katzenberg said goodbye to the studio he founded. Evaluating the full impact of Jeffrey Katzenberg over the past three decades will take years. The animation industry loses a true cheerleader whose legacy has barely been formed but finds itself without an immediately apparent replacement. Katzenberg’s live-action background didn’t exactly prepare him for […]
Archive for the ‘Commentary’ Category
Despite Four Shrek Films, History Will be Kind to Jeffrey Katzenberg
August 26th, 2016 
Charles Kenny 
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Why Some Fans Are Giving Animation A Black Eye
August 19th, 2016 Charles Kenny Fandoms in general constantly contend with a minority that makes the majority look bad. If it isn’t long-term fans belittling newcomers, it’s one faction squaring off against another over some trifle disagreement. Fans arguing amongst themselves is nothing new, but when the anger gets directed towards creators or those on the creative team, the results […]
What Cartoons From Today Will Be Written About in 25 Years?
August 11th, 2016 Charles Kenny Entertainment Weekly has published an article reminiscing about the three original Nicktoons that turn 25 this year. It’s a memorable birthday for a trio of revolutionary cartoons, yet it’s an excuse to wonder what cartoons from today (if any) will be given the same treatment in 2041. The period of 1989 to 1991 witnessed radical […]
Why Did Chowder Never Get A Cookbook?
August 5th, 2016 Charles Kenny Earlier this week, VIZ announced that they are releasing a cookbook based on Frederator’s web series Bee & Puppycat by Natasha Allegri. It’s somewhat surprising news, but begs the question of why an even more well-known cooking-based cartoon never got the same treatment? Remember Chowder? The Cartoon Network series about the eponymous plucky purple creature […]
REVIEW: “The Little Prince”
August 4th, 2016 Jackson Murphy The Little Prince, a co-American/French animated feature based on the classic 1943 children’s book by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, proves that animation remains one of the most powerful forms of cinematic storytelling. Directed by Mark Osborne (Kung Fu Panda) and featuring a stellar, star-studded voice cast, this is a magical gem. Paramount was originally on track […]
The World Isn’t Ready for a Live-Action Beavis & Butthead
July 15th, 2016 Charles Kenny Mike Judge has indicated that if the seminal MTV show Beavis & Butthead were to be rebooted (again), it probably wouldn’t be animated. Just what is he thinking??? In an interview, the creator of the show prophesises that if the show were to return, it should be a new incarnation, not a reboot. If should […]
THE SCOOP ON PANELS at SDCC 2016: One Girl’s Story of Building Panels Celebrating Women, Diversity, and Wisdom in Animation
July 14th, 2016 Leslie Combemale It has only been a few months since I started writing for Animation Scoop, and even a shorter time since I’ve had my own column Animation Insights. On the other hand, I’ve been planning my panels at Comic-Con International: San Diego this year almost since my return flight landed last July. Still, as the moderator […]
Where’s Our 21st Century Ralph Bakshi?
July 8th, 2016 Charles Kenny Has animation gone stale? Perhaps not quite, but it certainly has become a tad boring. Between large, big-budget features, there’s a decent number of independent features, but none are rattling any cages, and animation has historically been much better at doing just that. Ironically enough, it’s the advent of the internet that has made animation […]
“Angry Birds” May Have Won the Battle, But It Has Lost The War
June 30th, 2016 Charles Kenny The announcement that the enormously popular app known as Angry Birds was to be given the silver screen treatment caused a bit of a stir as people began to seriously wonder if an app could even be translated into a feature film, let alone a successful one. After a couple of years’ development the questions […]
On The Manufactured Rivalry Between Disney And Pixar
June 23rd, 2016 Charles Kenny Ever since both animation studios were joined under the same corporate umbrella, there has been a fair degree of rampant speculation over which studio has been the ‘better’ of the two. The existence of a rivalry between the two may be real, but the extent to which it is pedaled borders on the obscene. In […]
Forget ‘Finding Dory’ – The Sequel You Secretly Really Want Could be on the Way!
June 16th, 2016 Charles Kenny Yes, barely two months since it was first announced that Universal bought Dreamworks, comes the news we’ve been clinging to the edge of our chairs for: Shrek is coming back! It’s still only a possibility at this stage, but even that remains worrisome. The entertainment business has a bad reputation for flogging horses until they’re […]
Is A New, All-Animated “Garfield Movie” a Nail in the Coffin for CGI/Live-Action Hybrids?
May 26th, 2016 Charles Kenny The announcement that comic strip star Garfield is to return to the big screen in fully animated form is rather surprising given that his previous outings were mostly live-action hybrids. Does this news mean that there is a nail being (finally) driven into that style of film? Garfield is well-known for his animated outings. The […]
Alan Young: A Voice to Remember
May 21st, 2016 Greg Ehrbar 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 […]
Family Guy’s Stealthy Renewal Spells Bad News for Broadcast Toons
May 19th, 2016 Charles Kenny Long a permanent fixture of Fox’s ‘Animation Domination’ Sunday night lineup, Family Guy continues to rack up the episode count as it nears its 14th season. This time around though, nobody really seemed to notice that it was renewed at all, and that could spell trouble ahead. As far as animated programs go, Fox has […]
COMMENTARY: Children or Adults? Can “Kubo” Find It’s Audience?
From Pinocchio and Fantasia to The Iron Giant, the history of animation is littered with good, sometimes great, films that failed to reach the audiences they deserved on their initial release. Sadly, Kubo and the Two Strings seems to be the latest addition to that list. Its hard to say why the film hasn’t done […]