Animation Scoop

52nd Annie Award Nominations Announced

ASIFA-Hollywood announced nominations today for its 52nd Annie Awards recognizing the year’s best in the field of animation. For a complete list of nominations, please visit www.annieawards.org/nominations. The 52nd Annie Awards is set for Saturday, February 8, 2025 at UCLA’s Royce Hall. Pre-reception and Red Carpet begin at 4:30 p.m., followed by the ceremony at […]

INTERVIEW: David Lowery Presents “An Almost Christmas Story”

David Lowery (director of Pete’s Dragon and Peter Pan & Wendy for Disney) helms the new animated holiday short film An Almost Christmas Story, which premieres this Friday Nov. 15 on Disney+. It’s about an owl named Moon who forms a unique friendship with a girl named Luna in The Big Apple. Lowery shares what […]

INTERVIEW: Looney Lowdown On “The Day The Earth Blew Up”

Long-awaited, fully animated The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie will receive an awards-qualifying run before the end of 2024, ahead of its official theatrical release on February 28th, 2025. I’ve screened the film and spoke with director Peter Browngardt about this sci-fi action comedy starring beloved characters who are true to […]

TRAILER: “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl”

Netflix debut the first trailer and announced the release date for the new Aardman new stop-motion animated feature film Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl today. The film will be released on Netflix globally (except in the UK/IE) on January 3rd, 2025 (it will have a limited theatrical run in December to qualify for this […]

TOHO To Acquire GKIDS

Japanese entertainment leader Toho Co., Ltd. announced today that it has reached an agreement to acquire a 100% equity share of GKIDS, Inc., the Academy Award-winning North American animation producer and distributor. Financial terms were not disclosed. GKIDS, which maintains offices in New York and Los Angeles, will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Los […]

REVIEW: “Puss In Boots: The Last Wish”

January 5th, 2023

Martin Goodman

DreamWorks Animation has found a new sport: outperforming far more costly and heavily promoted Disney movies. As a result, the latest entry, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (PIB2 for the duration of this review), is better, livelier, and far more creative than the tedious and disappointing Disney opus Strange World. One might think this unlikely, considering that the titular character was born from the mediocre Shrek franchise. Still, the charismatic cat has also blown Strange World away at the box office. DreamWorks is simply playing at a different game.

INTERVIEW: “SuperKitties” Play And Save The Day

January 5th, 2023

Jackson Murphy

Disney Junior’s new family animated series SuperKitties premieres this Wednesday January 11th at 10:30am. Episodes will also be on Disney+. Creator and executive producer Paula Rosenthal and Co-EP Kirk Van Wormer join me for a cat-tacular conversation. (This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)

Paula Rosenthal: It’s really paw-some to be here!

Jackson Murphy: Paw-some, indeed! Paula, do you remember when and how you fell in love with cats?

PR: Oh my gosh. What’s not to love about cats, right? In my family, we adopted a kitten when I was very young. We took care of it and nurtured it through most of her adult life. And then when she sadly passed, we had a second one that was probably the size of a small wildcat. It had its own personality. I fell in love with them back then and haven’t stopped since.

INTERVIEW: “New Moon” Team Full Of Joy And Gratitude

January 4th, 2023

Jackson Murphy

New Moon is one of the 15 finalists for the 2023 Best Animated Short Film Oscar. The story is taken from “A Boy and His Soul”, a stage play by Emmy winner Colman Domingo (“Euphoria”, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”). Domingo, in such vivid and moving ways, details growing-up with his mother in Philadelphia and, specifically, what happened when they looked into the sky. Domingo, co-writer and co-director Raúl Domingo, and co-directors Jeff Le Bars and Jérémie Balais, share highlights of their one of a kind experience making “New Moon”. (This Animation Scoop interview was conducted as an Email Q&A and was edited for length and clarity.)

Jackson Murphy: What did you enjoy about bringing the atmosphere of a play to life?

Jeff Le Bars: The idea that our animated film can exist within a live theatre performance was the most exciting. It was wonderful to have the comfort of the anchor of the theatrical audience and theatrical set, and to subsequently break the rules and break free of the confines of the physical space with Mother teaching Jay Jay the magic of being open. In theatre, live performance evolves every night, and in animation anything is possible. Combining the two truly allowed us to invent a whole new universe in “New Moon”.

INTERVIEW: Stop-Motion Comedy “An Ostrich Told Me The World Is Fake And I Think I Believe It”

January 3rd, 2023

Jackson Murphy

Lachlan Pendragon recently won a Student Academy Award for his stop-motion animation short about stop-motion animation, An Ostrich Told Me The World is Fake and I Think I Believe It. Now he’s on the 2023 Oscars shortlist as one of the 15 finalists for Best Animated Short Film honors. Pendragon, from Brisbane, Australia, made this clever comedy at home during the early days of the pandemic. (This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)

Jackson Murphy: How does it feel to be on the Oscar shortlist?

Lachlan Pendragon: Pretty crazy. It’s been a wild ride. I was only [a few months ago] at the Student Academy Awards. It just keeps snowballing into this crazy thing. A dream come true.

Charles Solomon’s Animation Year End Review 2022

December 30th, 2022

Charles Solomon

Although he wrote them in 1859, Charles Dickens might have been thinking of animation in 2022 when he penned the celebrated lines, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us…”

As the COVID pandemic waned, the animation industry, like the entertainment industry in general, faced uncertain releasing strategies and box office earnings. Which films were released and how and when and what they earned was, to say the least, a puzzlement. After reporting revenue problems, Netflix cancelled some its most promising and prestigious animation projects. Other major studios saw their features go down in flames.

Looking over a year that see-sawed between Light and Darkness, I’m presenting the 10th annual awards for the year’s best and worst, named for the ultimate animation APM, Mikiko “Kuromi” Oguro.

INTERVIEW: “Little Nicholas” Directors Happy With Charming New Movie

December 30th, 2022

Jackson Murphy

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 Los Angeles for the 2023 Best Animated Feature Oscar. Fans of Nicholas, and of unique, moving storytelling, are sure to enjoy it. Here’s my Animation Scoop Q&A with directors Benjamin Massoubre and Amandine Fredon. (This interview was conducted as an Email Q&A and was edited for length and clarity. All stills are courtesy of Buffalo 8.)

Jackson Murphy: How did you decide on the storytelling framework and structure of the movie?

Benjamin Massoubre: In the early days of development, the producers planned to combine archival footage of the creators with the animated segments, but the live-action material was not as good as we wanted it to be, so that’s when it was decided to have both sections of the movie be animated. We first had the script written by René Goscinny’s daughter Anne and Michel Fessler. Amandine and I wanted to flesh out the creators’ stories, so, with Anne writing, we added more biographical material to the movie. We felt that we had never seen the story of a writer and an illustrator working together on the screen, so we were excited to extend the portions of the movie about the creators’ lives in an animated format.

REVIEW: “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”

December 29th, 2022

Martin Goodman

I have not seen every film based on Carlos Collodi’s 1883 Italian novel Pinnochio; the essential story has spawned countless variations and thematic similarities. In truth, I have seen six or seven, none especially notable other than the 1940 Disney animated classic, which remains the ne plus ultra of the bunch. That said, the 2022 version from Director Guillermo del Toro and co-director Mark Gustafson now joins Disney with an unabashed triumph of design, stop-motion animation, story revision, and atmosphere. The picture has already won accolades as Best Animated Picture from various Film Critic Associations and has several more nominations pending.

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 an Email Q&A and was edited for length and clarity.)

JM: I think we can all relate to the story. I’ve been a train passenger often throughout my life and have witnessed all kinds of things. What inspired you to come-up with the story of “Passenger”?

Juan Pablo Zaramella: The origin of the story was exactly that: It started one day. I was waiting in a train station. I travel a lot because of my work, and like many of my colleagues, I spend the time drawing or taking notes in my sketchbook. I’m often in front of social situations, sometimes as a protagonist, sometimes as a spectator. I took a series of notes about those events and started to explore them until I found a main character that worked as an epicenter: it’s not me, it’s not somebody in particular. He could be the whole society.

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 a race car-obsessed father, his son who tries to help him win in an unconventional way, and a shocked mother. In this Animation Scoop Q&A, Joon reveals the personal inspirations for the unique story, look and tone of this memorable short. (This interview was edited for length and clarity.)

Jackson Murphy: First of all, how does it feel to be on the Oscar shortlist?

Sander Joon: The feeling is amazing. We cannot really believe it… the whole experience with this film. It’s been a really thrilling ride. It was really unexpected. Being here is a sort of magical feeling.

An Eye for A Classic: The 60th Anniversary of “Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol”

December 22nd, 2022

Michael Lyons

He may be near-sighted, but it was Mr. Magoo who could see the way and blaze a trail for all future animated television Christmas specials. Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol debuted on December 18, 1962, on NBC, making it the very first animated Christmas special to be produced for television. It aired two years before Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, three years before A Charlie Brown Christmas, and four years before Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

However, Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol hasn’t received the attention, and the annual airings that have become part of the tradition of so many other TV specials. This is a shame, as this retelling of the familiar tale brings its unique spin in terms of story, animation, and music.

AWARDS WATCH 2023 WIP

January 15th, 2023

Jerry Beck

A Handy-Dandy Checklist of the Animated Features Scheduled For Release in the U.S. in 2023
(This list is a constant year-long work-in-progress. More titles will be added. Release dates below may change.)

1. THE MAGICIAN’S ELEPHANT (3/2023) D: Wendy Rogers. (Netflix)
2. THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE (4/7/23) D: Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic (Universal/Illumination)
3. SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE (6/2/23) D: Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson (Sony Animation)
4. STRAYS (6/9/23) D: Josh Greenbaum (Universal – Lord Miller)
5. ELEMENTAL (6/16/23) D: Peter Sohn. (Pixar)
6. HOW DO YOU LIVE (7/14/23) D: Hayao Miyazaki. (Studio Ghibli)
7. ESCAPE FROM HAT (2023) D: Mark Osbourne. (Netflix)
8. BABY SHARK’S BIG MOVIE (2023) D: Alan Foreman. (Nickelodeon)
9. HIGH IN THE CLOUDS (2023) D: Timothy Reckart. (Netflix)
10. THE MONKEY KING (2023) D: Anthony Stacchi (Netflix)
11. NIMONA (2023) D: Nick Bruno, Troy Quane. (Netflix)
12. TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLE: MUTANT MAYHEM (8/4/23) D: Jeff Rowe. (Nickelodeon/Paramount)
13. PAW PATROL: THE MIGHTY MOVIE (10/23/23) D: Cal Brunker. (Paramount/Nickelodeon)
14. SPELLBOUND (2023) D: Vicky Jensen. (Skydance/Apple)
15. CHICKEN RUN: DAWN OF THE NUGGET (11/10/23) D: Sam Fell. (Netflix/Aardman)
16. TROLLS 3 (11/17/23) Dreamworks/Universal
17. WISH (11/23/23) D: Chris Buck, Veerasunthorn (Disney) MIGRATION (12/22/23) D: Benjamin Renner. (Illumination)
18. SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS 4 (date and director to be announced)

2022 LIMITED RELEASE FEATURES (movies going Direct-to-Physical-Media or Streaming – some getting a limited theatrical billboard): TITLES TO BE ANNOUNCED

For further information on all U.S. Animated Feature releases since 1937 Click Here.

95th Oscars Shortlists – Animation

December 21st, 2022

Jerry Beck

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced shortlists in 10 categories for the 95th Academy Awards: Documentary Feature Film, Documentary Short Film, International Feature Film, Makeup and Hairstyling, Music (Original Score), Music (Original Song), Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film, Sound and Visual Effects. Here are the ones of interest to the Animation community:

A Very Merry Mickey: The 70th Anniversary of “Pluto’s Christmas Tree”

December 19th, 2022

Michael Lyons

The fall and winter of 1952 saw many at the Disney Studio in a holiday mood. In October that year, Disney released the Donald Duck short that would become a Halloween classic, Trick or Treat. And, just a month later, the Disney artists would get into the Christmas spirit with a short that has become equally classic and a staple of the holiday season, for many, Pluto’s Christmas Tree.

As Trick or Treat does for Halloween, Pluto’s Christmas Tree packs so much of the feelings of the season into a sparse seven minutes that one wishes it was longer. It could be because many of the same artists worked on both shorts.

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 film will comfort those who are struggling during the holidays. (This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)

Jackson Murphy: Charlie, what fascinated you about the book to screen transition with this story?

Charlie Mackesy: I always felt that the characters lent themselves to movement — I always wondered how they would sound and how it would feel to see them go across the page. I wondered about it so much that I did my own very, very bad, basic, rudimentary animations to see how it would feel to see them all move. In my head it was always a question, but I never dreamt it would never come to anything.

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 its official open this Wednesday December 21st. And it has already received Golden Globe and Critics Choice Awards Best Animated Feature nominations. In this Animation Scoop Q&A, The Last Wish director Joel Crawford details his goals with the story, visuals and tone of this new Puss In Boots chapter. (This interview was edited for length and clarity.)

Jackson Murphy: We spoke two years ago for The Croods: A New Age, and now you’re onto Puss in Boots. How have the last two years been for you?!

Joel Crawford: (laughs) Quite a ride! But a fun one. It’s amazing. I’ve been at DreamWorks for over 17 years and I love all these characters. To be able to take Puss in Boots and bring him back to the big screen for the next chapter… it’s such an honor to be part of the team to do that.