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 […]
Tickets for the 52nd Annie Awards celebration on Saturday, February 8, 2025 at UCLA’s Royce Hall are on sale now at asifa-hollywood.org.
Tickets are $300 each and include the pre- and post- receptions and ceremony. For complete ticket and event information, please visit the Annie Awards website at www.annieawards.org.
UCLA Box Office will send QR codes for all tickets purchased once the seating is completed. No ticket check-in at the event means shorter lines and longer time to enjoy the pre-reception festivities. The party begins at 4:30 p.m.
The Creative Talent Network (CTN), a leading advocate for animation talent and the broader creative industries, along with its nonprofit branch, the CTN Foundation, proudly unveils the International Creative Exchange Program (ICEP). This exciting initiative will officially debut during the CTN eXpo 2024, taking place November 21–24, 2024, in Burbank, California.
The critically acclaimed and Academy Awardwinning GKIDS, a producer and distributor of high quality animation from around the globe, has announced on November 14, 2024, from New York, NY, that North American distribution rights have been acquired for A Silent Voice (2016) and Liz and the Blue Bird (2018), two films from the renowned director Naoko Yamada. In addition, GKIDS has announced that A Silent Voice is set to return to theaters worldwide on December 15 and December 16 of this year. A Silent Voice now has tickets available for purchase.
The animation for both films has been produced by Kyoto Animation, the animation studio Naoko Yamada became a director at during her time as a member. The films additionally showcase a screenplay by the writer Reiko Yoshida, praised for Ride Your Wave and Violet Evergarden, and music from composer Kensuke Ushio, known for his work on Devilman Crybaby, and Chainsaw Man. Originally released to theaters in 2016, A Silent Voice ranked at #2 in Japan’s domestic box office, resulting in glowing reviews and a nomination for the Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year. Yamada next released a spin-off sequel, Liz and the Blue Bird, for the popular television series Sound! Euphonium.
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 the holidays and holiday movies mean to him, along with stories about working with star John C. Reilly and producer Alfonso Cuaron. (This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)
Jackson Murphy: Congratulations on this. I was just in New York City… and you capture the spirit and the magic of the city with Moon in the Christmas tree that’s in Rockefeller Center. Tell me about wanting to get that magic of the city just right.
David Lowery: It took me many years to make it to New York City, but I felt like I knew the city growing up because of what I saw in movies, specifically at Christmastime. So it’s hard for me to separate like New York from Christmas in my head. They go hand in hand, and making this film, as someone who doesn’t live in New York City, was an opportunity to really just dig into those memories of all of those Christmas movies that I grew up loving that were set in the big city at the holidays.
Known for its timeless and novel storytelling, Disney will once again bring feelings of cheer and inspiration this holiday season. In collaboration with Oscar-winner Taika Waititi, a new short has just made its debut.
“The story manages to connect the feelings that you get around the holidays, and the joy, the goodwill and everything, with those same emotions and those same sensibilities you get from Disney films,” explained Taika Waititi. “I think they go hand in hand and it’s the perfect match – and only Disney could have made something like this…with me.”
The new PBS Kids animated series Carl the Collector (premiering Thursday November 14th) is about a kid raccoon who has autism. He loves collecting things and sharing his enthusiasm for collections and activities with his friends and family. CTC is created by Zachariah OHora (of the Fuzzytown book universe). Lisa Whittick is the show’s director. This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity. (Images Courtesy: PBS Kids and Fuzzytown Productions)
Jackson Murphy: Zachariah, I love that Carl is sincere, honest, knowledgeable and passionate. Tell me about creating this lead character.
Zachariah OHora: I’ve always been obsessed with raccoons… looking for raccoon characters and putting them in my stories. I had the idea for Carl to be a collector — I’m a collector as well — some years ago. But I didn’t really have a story with it. When PBS came to me… we started working on developing Carl. At the same time, my kids were going to an inclusion school, which I wasn’t familiar with. It was a new concept to me. A democratic idea of every kid in the district, no matter what their needs are, gets to go to school and have the same classroom time, same social time with other kids, same interaction with teachers and access to education (time out of the classroom every day, be able to wear headphones to not feel overstimulated or have an aide in the class).
Berkeley Breathed is back in animation, and his many fans are the better for it. The mildly eccentric cartoonist behind the famous Bloom County comic strip was known to animation fans for his 1991 special A Wish For Wings That Work: An Opus Christmas Story. In 2000, Breathed made a nine-minute short for Nickelodeon, Edwurd Fudwupper Fibbed Big. Now, the cartoonist has returned in a big way with Hitpig!
Like many of Breathed’s endeavors, the film began as a children’s book, Pete & Pickles. DreamWorks considered P&P as an animated project in 2014 but never developed it further. After an unsuccessful attempt to turn the book into an animated TV series, Breathed eventually found a producer in a British animation company, Aniventure. Cinesite took over production, using two Canadian facilities, and Hitpig! was on its way.
Spellbound follows the adventures of Ellian, the tenacious young daughter of the rulers of Lumbria who must go on a daring quest to save her family and kingdom after a mysterious spell transforms her parents into monsters. Spellbound is directed by Vicky Jenson (Shrek) with original score from EGOT-winning composer Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast) and lyrics by Glenn Slater (Tangled). A Netflix Film from Skydance Animation, Spellbound boasts an all-star voice cast led by Rachel Zegler, John Lithgow, Jenifer Lewis, Nathan Lane, Tituss Burgess, with Javier Bardem, and Nicole Kidman. It will be available on Netflix starting November 22nd. Here’s the trailer:
On October 29, 2024, Crunchyroll, the leading anime streaming service, announced a new distribution deal with YouTube Primetime Channels, effectively allowing more users access to anime worldwide. The launch is expected to go live by the end of 2024 and will be available to users in the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Australia.
YouTube Primetime Channels is a hub for users to access content from multiple different streaming services, all organized in one place within the YouTube app. YouTube Primetime Channels has over 45 channels to offer, with Crunchyroll set to join this year. This partnership will further make anime more accessible to fans around the globe through Crunchyroll, the world’s largest anime library home to 15 million subscribers worldwide.
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 themselves and presented in ways you’ve never seen before. (This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)
Jackson Murphy: How does it feel having Ketchup Entertainment release this on Feb. 28 and for an awards qualifying run before the end of the year?
Peter Browngardt: Very very happy. Very excited. Fortunate the film is coming out. Very exciting for not only myself but also the whole crew. We’ve worked really hard for many years making the film. And it’s just going to be really cool to go to a movie theater and see all our hard work up on the big screen.
From writer Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Love Actually, Yesterday) and director Simon Otto (How to Train Your Dragon trilogy), Netflix will debut That Christmas on December 4, 2024. Animation was produced by Locksmith Animation, written by Curtis & Peter Souter, produced by Nicole P. Hearon p.g.a (Moana, Frozen) and Adam Tandy p.g.a (The Thick of It) and features original songs by Ed Sheeran. Here’s our first look:
It’s been just over a week since I attended New York Comic Con 2024 — the fourth year I’ve spent a full day at one of the country’s biggest entertainment events. Besides checking out the fun Hazbin Hotel, Phineas and Ferb and Rick and Morty panels, I walked through the show floor and other parts of the Javits Center and discovered some cool animation surprises.
Toei Animation, renowned for producing several anime classics like Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon, and One Piece, is developing a new original series titled “Girls Band Cry,” which Crunchyroll recently acquired. It’s been confirmed that Crunchyroll will release the series to their streaming service on November 6, 2024, with all 13 episodes made immediately available at launch. The series will be available to stream around the world, which includes English-speaking territories, LATAM, Europe, Southeast Asia, as well as the Indian subcontinent. Crunchyroll offers multiple viewing options for the series, with 9 different languages and subtitles to choose from.
Adam Elliot won the Best Animated Short Film Academy Award 20 years ago for Harvie Krumpet. He followed that up with acclaimed stop-motion feature Mary & Max. His latest claymation movie is Memoir of a Snail, which opens in theaters on Oct. 25. (This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)
Jackson Murphy: This is one of the most detailed animated films I’ve ever seen. Congratulations.
Adam Elliot: Thank you very much. We’re just relieved after eight long years the film is being received well.
Brought to audiences by Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures Entertainment, the highly anticipated action-adventure film “Solo Leveling ReAwakening” is headed to North American theaters this December 6. Shunsuke Nakashig, known for his previous work on “Solo Leveling,” returns to the franchise once again as the film’s director. The original story by Chugong, illustrated by DUBU, will be brought to life with animation by A-1 Pictures and motion graphics from Production I.G. The soundtrack includes music from the award-winning Hiroyuki Sawano, praised for his groundbreaking composing for “Attack on Titan,” in collaboration with the popular boy band TOMORROW X TOGETHER. In addition, Tomoko Sudo is credited as the character designer alongside Hirotaka Tokuda as the monster designer.
November 18th, 2024 
Jerry Beck 
