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. 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. Written by Lauren Hynek & Elizabeth Martin and Julia Miranda and produced by John Lasseter, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Bruce Anderson for Skydance Animation – the trailer dropped today:
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 […]
Aubry Mintz Elected New Executive Director For ASIFA-Hollywood
July 30th, 2024 
Jerry Beck Animation educator and professional, Aubry Mintz was recently elected by the ASIFA-Hollywood Board of Directors to serve as its new Executive Director (ED). Mintz held the Interim ED position after Frank Gladstone retired last December. “I look forward to working alongside the prestigious board of directors and staff at ASIFA-Hollywood, and I am honored to be chosen for this role,” said Mintz. “We have already hit the ground running and are working hard developing a strategic plan which includes fundraising for operational costs, growing our staff and supporting our many important initiatives outside of the Annie Awards.”
INTERVIEW: Texas Trip For SpongeBob And Sandy In “Saving Bikini Bottom”
July 29th, 2024 Jackson Murphy Sandy and SpongeBob head to The Lone Star State in the live-action/CG feature Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie. It premieres Friday August 2nd on Netflix. Executive Producers Vincent Waller and Marc Ceccarelli celebrate 25 years of SpongeBob with a deep dive into the beloved characters and the wild new film. (This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)
Jackson Murphy: Happy 25 years! Vincent, can you believe it’s been a quarter century of SpongeBob and his friends?
Vincent Waller: It is hard to believe, but 25 years does go by like that whenever you’re having fun, and we have been having fun.
INTERVIEW: From Blue Sky To “Purple Crayon”
July 23rd, 2024 Jackson Murphy At Blue Sky Studios, Carlos Saldanha co-directed Ice Age and Robots and was main director on the second and third Ice Age films, as well as both Rio installments and Ferdinand, which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature. Now Saldanha is the director of a live-action family film featuring some hand-drawn and CG animation. Harold and the Purple Crayon, adapted from the beloved book, opens in theaters nationwide on August 2nd. (This Animation Scoop Q&A with Saldanha was edited for length and clarity.)
Jackson Murphy: I enjoyed this. I know it’s been in the works for a long time. What a career you’ve had in animation and now transitioning into live-action. Was this something you always wanted to do?
Carlos Saldanha: Yes. I always love to learn. I think part of my life at Blue Sky was learning. Every movie that I made was in order to learn something new and to do it. The studio closed down and then what’s interesting is the next day [after] that the studio closed down, I got a call from the producer of Ferdinand, John Davis who told me, “Look, I have this project that I think is perfect for you. It’s live-action, but has some animation. What do you think?” So when I read the script I thought that if I wanted to try to experiment with live-action this would be the perfect one because I’ll be able to to play around with something that I’m used to and at the same time learn to do a new challenge. I love this story. It was about drawing — drawing your life. That’s what I did for 30 years. Drawing my life in animation.
52nd Annie Awards ‘Call For Entries’ Begin Today!
July 22nd, 2024 Jerry Beck ASIFA-Hollywood today announced its Call for Entries for the 52nd Annie Awards set for Saturday, February 8, 2025 at UCLA’s Royce Hall. Honoring excellence in the field of animation, the 52nd Annie Awards cover 37 categories including Animated Feature, Animated Feature-Independent, TV/Media Production, Sponsored Production, Short Subject, and Student Films, along with Achievement and Honorary awards.
To review this year’s rules and submit your projects, please visit https://www.annieawards.org. Entries submitted for consideration will be from animated productions that were released in the United States between January 1, 2024, and December 31, 2024. Exceptions, which can submit with or without a U.S. release are short subjects, special projects, sponsored productions, student films and films in competition from Annie Award qualifying festivals.
INTERVIEW: “Primos” Is For The Whole Family
July 22nd, 2024 Jackson Murphy Natasha Kline is the talented creator of the new Disney animated series Primos, which is inspired by her childhood growing up in Los Angeles. Tater, who’s about to turn 10, has a memorable summer at home with her 12 cousins. Primos premieres this Thursday July 25th at 8pm on Disney Channel and Friday July 26th on Disney+. (This interview was edited for length and clarity.)
Jackson Murphy: This is your passion project. This is inspired by your true life story. How does it feel at this point to get your show, your passion project, on the air?
Natasha Kline: Oh my gosh, it’s been really surreal. It’s been a long time coming. I’ve been wanting to make this show since I was a little kid. So it’s a dream come true. Disney making dreams come true. (laughs)
MeTV Toons Panel at Comic Con July 26th; “Bugs Bunny Bash” airs on July 27th
July 18th, 2024 Jerry Beck MeTV Toons is set to make its San Diego Comic-Con debut on Friday, July 26th, 2024. Bob Bergen, the celebrated animation voice actor and the official voice of MeTV Toons, will be joined by animation historian Jerry Beck, 2x Emmy-Award winning voice actor Eric Bauza, plus renowned voice actors Jeff Bergman and Candi Milo, and Weigel Broadcasting’s Vice Chairman Neal Sabin in a lively conversation, moderated Variety’s Michael Schneider.
The panel will explore, discuss and celebrate some of the greatest classic animation series and characters, now featured on their new TV home, MeTV Toons, which launched on June 25. Attendees will get an exclusive first look at the network’s plans to celebrate Bugs Bunny’s 84th birthday on Saturday, July 27, and receive a collectable MeTV Toons giveaway item. Be there, Friday, July 26 from 1-2 pm at San Diego Convention Center, Ballroom 6A (111 W. Harbor Dr., San Diego 92101). More info CLICK HERE.
INTERVIEW: Aaron Ehasz and Justin Richmond: Beating the Odds
July 17th, 2024 W.R. Miller With the narrative portion of The Dragon Prince drawing to a close, Aaron Ehasz and Justin Richmond reflect on their achievement. After all, it’s rare for a made-for-streaming series to last seven seasons, with untapped potential for more. What are the odds of that happening, and how did the Wonderstorm producers beat those odds?
“In the days of network TV, something got put on for a couple of seasons, and if it did well and caught fire, they gave it more and more seasons—seven, eight or nine seasons. Those days are gone,” Ehasz says. “In the modern mediascape, most series are going to be for one, two, or three seasons maximum. The viewing pattern is not that it builds steam over time and then grows, which was when you have these weekly shows. They start to build an audience, they build an audience, and now it’s worth doing more and more and more seasons. Well, that’s not really how it’s working with streaming.
Mickey & Friends Release First Single From Upcoming Album “A Whole New Sound”
July 15th, 2024 Lauren Ashton “A Whole New Sound” is an upcoming album from Mickey & Friends that will feature covers of beloved Disney classics. Some iconic alternative, rock, and pop-punk bands have contributed their work to the project. In honor of The Lion King having its 30th anniversary, Disney released the first single from the album: Simple Plan’s rendition of “Can You Feel The Love Tonight.”
First Look At “Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie”
July 11th, 2024 Lauren Ashton When all of Bikini Bottom is suddenly scooped out of the sea, Sandy Cheeks and her best friend SpongeBob SquarePants embark on a mission to Texas to save the town and its inhabitants from a terrible scheme. Sue Nahmee (played by Wanda Sykes) is leading this villainous plot and wants those living in Bikini Bottom turned into “Sea Pals”: a line of manufactured toys. The only ones who can save the day are Sandy and SpongeBob. With Liza Johnson as the director, “Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie” will be the first installment of two films coming to Netflix from the SpongeBob SquarePants franchise.
INTERVIEW: The Next Life Of “Exploding Kittens”
July 10th, 2024 Jackson Murphy Phenomenon card game Exploding Kittens is now an adult animated comedy series, premiering this Friday July 12th on Netflix. This Animation Scoop Q&A is with showrunners and creators Matthew Inman and Shane Kosakowski. (The interview was edited for length and clarity.)
Jackson Murphy: Matt, you co-created the card game and now, about a decade later, it’s a television show. You have had quite the decade.
Matthew Inman: I’ve been a cartoonist for a long time and I always assumed that my comics and books would have become a show rather than a card game because it’s such not a path. Typically you don’t see “Uno: The Movie”, you know what I mean? So yeah, I didn’t expect “Exploding Kittens” to go here, but it did, and I’m happy with how it turned out.
TRAILER: Hulu’s “Futurama” Debuts New Trailer Ahead Of 12th Season
July 8th, 2024 Lauren Ashton The 12th Season of Futurama will premiere on Hulu on Monday, July 29th. Here’s the trailer:
REVIEW: “Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle”
July 2nd, 2024 Charles Solomon As athletes prepare for the Paris Olympics, the Japanese men’s volleyball team is enjoying an unprecedented popularity, thanks in part to an animated feature. One of the big hits of 2024, Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle (produced by Production I.G. and airing on Crunchyroll) has helped fuel a surge in interest in volleyball in Japan. Volleyball has long been popular in Japan, but people there are watching and playing in increasing numbers, from high school kids to housewives. Numerous articles about the trend have appeared in the Japanese press.
TRAILER: DreamWorks’ “The Wild Robot”
July 1st, 2024 Lauren Ashton DreamWorks Animation has released a new trailer for the studio’s upcoming feature, The Wild Robot. Based on Peter Brown’s #1 New York Times bestseller, The Wild Robot is an epic story of “a bond like no other”.
INTERVIEW: The Dish On “Sausage Party: Foodtopia”
July 1st, 2024 Jackson Murphy This Thursday July 4th, you might have some hamburgers and hot dogs to celebrate Independence Day. And then next Thursday July 11th, you can watch them come alive on Prime Video in Sausage Party: Foodtopia, the adult animated comedy series follow-up to the hit 2016 movie. Stars Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Michael Cera and Edward Norton return, along with the film’s co-writers, Ariel Shaffir and Kyle Hunter. They serve as co-creators, showrunners and EPs of Foodtopia and join me for this Animation Scoop Q&A. (This interview was edited for length and clarity.)
Jackson Murphy: Congratulations on this. I’ve seen the first couple episodes. It’s as wild as the movie was, so you guys have done it.
Kyle Hunter: That’s the bar. That’s the bar we’re trying to hit.
