Robert Downey Jr in "Peabody and Sherman" Movie

Entertainment Weekly is reporting that DreamWorks Animation is operational on "Peabody and Sherman," a movie base on the old "Rocky and Bullwinkle" show about a genius dog Mr Peabody and a boy named Sherman.

Robert Downey Jr (Iron Man) has signed on to voice Mr. Peabody, who travels from side to side time to find out implausibly things about history's greatest figures. A script has already been written by Jeffrey Ventimilia and Joshua Sternin (Yogi Bear), who bare that the movie will focus not only on the time-traveling, but also on the origins of the characters.

"Mr. Peabody is this genetic irregularity," said director Rob Minkoff (The Lion King). "He does have brothers and sisters, all of them non-speaking, no super-smart dogs. He's an outcast, but has overcome it by being so great at so many things."

Minkoff added that the movie will be fully computer animated (not a mix of live-action/animation) and in 3D.

The voices of Peabody and Sherman were provided by Bill Scott and Walter Tetley, respectively.

Charlie Brown’s Christmas Tales – DVD Review

A Charlie Brown Christmas became an instant holiday clip when it first aired in 1965 as the Peanuts animated tale reminds people that it’s time to move furnishings around to make space for the tree. Over the decades the special that rails against the commercialization of Christmas has become a fatality of networks adding more commercials to its half hour slot.

The suits originally carved out seconds until they butchered the gang singing, “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.” Fans weren’t happy at this shortened tradition. A solution was found in 2002 when they created Charlie Brown’s Christmas Tales to pad out an hour slot.

The new special compiles five cartoons based on original newspaper flooring done by Charles Schulz. “Happy Holidays From Snoopy” has the dog get a gig as a sidewalk Santa. He doesn’t put up with bad-tempered from the kids who didn’t get their gifts. Instead of ringing a bell, he plays the accordion. “Yuletide Greetings from Linus” comprises his letter to Santa Claus that attempts to avoid absolute asking for presents.

“Season’s Greetings from Sally” takes off with her giving everyone paper airplanes as their present. Later she messes up by writing to Samantha Claus. “Peace on Earth from Lucy” lets her unload on Linus when he writes her letter to Santa. She doesn’t take his submissions kindly. “Christmas from Charlie Brown” wraps up with Sally and Charlie getting ready for the big day. Sally wants to leave frozen broccoli under the tree for Santa. She does see Santa.

Ironically Charlie Brown’s Christmas Tales became a victim of network slashing this holiday season. ABC halved the show in order to cram in their “Prep & Landing: Operation Secret Santa” short. Thus in a strange twist, the only way to view the complete special is to buy the DVD. Charlie Brown’s Christmas Tales was originally a bonus feature on the I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown DVD, but was left off the recent Deluxe Edition release. This is the best place to get the complete special. Nobody wants to make it easy to enjoy Snoopy as Santa.

Fox Orders Animated ‘Napoleon Dynamite’ Show

Fox has picked up 6 episodes of the animated version of 2004′s most quoted movie, Napoleon Dynamite. Deadline has the deets.

The original cast of Napoleon Dynamite led by Jon Heder is back to voice the animated series, which goes after the misadventures of an awkward high school teenager and his quirky friends as they move violently to navigate life in rural Idaho. The film’s writers Jared Hess, who also directed it, and Jerusha Hess wrote the adaptation with The Simpsons veteran Mike Scully.

Seems like the perfect movie to turn animated bearing in mind the film itself is insanely over the top. I always understood the llama for a pet and awkward teenage boy very much in need of psychological counseling, but side ponytails? C’mon, no one wears those anymore!

SpongeBob SquarePants Changed for Ninth Season

SpongeBob SquarePants has been rehabilitated for a ninth season, Nickelodeon proclaimed Monday.

Nick ordered a 26-episode season, which will shove the hit children's cartoon over the 200-episode mark.

"SpongeBob's success in reaching over 200 episodes is a evidence to creator Stephen Hillenburg's vision, comedic deep feeling and his dynamic, lovable characters," Brown Johnson, Nickelodeon's animation president, said in a statement. "The series now joins the club of modern classic Nicktoons that have hit this benchmark, so we're very proud."

SpongeBob has been the No.1 animated series with kids aged 2-to-11 for the last 10 years. The Nov. 11 special, Mystery with a Twistery, drew 6.6 million viewers, and was the 2010's top animated telecast in that similar demographic. The show's next special, Legends of Bikini Bottom, will open Jan. 28.

The ninth season is lined up to begin airing in 2012.

‘Young Justice’ Gets Premiere Date, New Trailer

A new trailer for ‘Young Justice’ Cartoon Network’s ‘Justice League Unlimited’ successor has debuted alongside the statement that the show will premiere this January.

Those of you waiting tolerantly for DC’s latest animation adaptation won’t have to wait much longer. After an hour-long sneak peak in November, Cartoon Network will debut Young Justice in its regular slot on Friday, January 7th at 7 PM. The channel’s been running a short trailer to get fans keyed up, and it has a few new tidbits to tide you over until the first show.


The junior superheroes are effective under the Justice League, functioning as a farm team and taking covert assignments from Batman. At the end of the sneak peak, the team included Robin, Kid Flash, a newly-cloned Superboy, Aqualad and Miss Martian. Speedy was seen briefly, but elected not to link the Justice League or the younger spin-off. Red Tornado serves as a live-in chaperone while Black Canary trains the youngsters in the arts of superhero chop-sockey.

You can check out the new trailer here:

As a big fan of Bruce Timm’s DCAU, I’m keyed up to see a good successor to Justice League. Young Justice looks to keep the kid-pleasing yet adult-friendly formula going, without resorting to the goofy, anime-inspired antics of Teen Titans. The addition of voice acting veterans like Alan Tudyk, Phil LaMarr and Khary Payton means that the action should be topped with some excellence acting by cartoon standards, at least.

Young Justice will air Fridays at 7:00 on Cartoon Network starting January 7th.

New Spider-Man Cartoon Will astonish As Much As ’90s Batman

There’s been a lot of expectation surrounding Marvel TV’s upcoming Ultimate Spider-Man animated series, with comics and animation vets Paul Dini and Man of Action running the show. According to Dini, that excitement will pay off with the show itself.

As an aside during an interview with Newsarama, Dini said, Having a great time on Ultimate Spider-Man and I’m working with a few old friends from the Batman days on that. Coming up with a look for the Spider-Man show, I think it’s really going to take people by shock. It’s going to take people by surprise as much as the Batman show in the early ‘90s took comic fans by astonish. And yet at the same time it feels very right and it looks very right.

With a tease like that, I’m even more inquisitive about the series now. The visuals of the ’90s Batman revolutionized superhero cartoons and had a huge effect on television animation in general, and I can’t even picture what kind of thing would have as big an impact today, especially in a world filled with such visually-impressive, stylistically-led shows as Symbiotic Titan, Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends or even Batman: The Brave and The Bold. What could this show end up looking like…?

'Toy Story 3' highest grosser of 2010

London, Dec 30 (IANS) Filmmaker Lee Unkrich's animated film 'Toy Story 3' has been named the highest coarse film of 2010, after making $1.1 billion at the international box office.

Director Tim Burton's 'Alice in Wonderland' came second in this year's list by raking in $1 billion worldwide, in spite of being panned by critics.

Christopher Nolan's 'Inception' starring Leonardo DiCaprio came third after earning $825.4 million followed by 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One' at $824.1 million.

'Shrek Forever After' wrapped up the top five with an earnings of $739.8 million.

2010's highest grossing films at the international box office:

1. 'Toy Story 3', $1.1 billion
2. 'Alice in Wonderland', $1 billion
3. 'Inception', $825.4
4. 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows', Part 1. $824.1
5. 'Shrek Forever After': $739.8 million
6. 'Twilight Saga: Eclipse', $693.5 million
7. 'Iron Man 2', $582.2 million
8. 'Despicable Me', $539.9 million
9. 'How to Train Your Dragon', $494.9 worldwide
10. 'Clash of the Titans', $493.2 million worldwide

Top 5 cartoons animation of the year 2010

Before Brad Bird became one of the brain trust deities at Pixar, he made a little movie called The Iron Giant that served as his request for Most Crazy Talented Storywriter in the animated realm.

Hogarth befriends an alien robot during a time when Sputnik sounded the first rounds of the Cold War, and Iron Giant tells their story with that political scenery in mind, padding it with tropes from 1950s Sci-Fi fare.

 Woody and Buzz returned four years after the original Toy Story and actually managed to top that work of art with their continued adventures. Here the gang has some time to themselves when their owner Andy heads off to summer camp, but they must soon contend with the final fanboy, a man-child voiced by Wayne Knight who wants Woody for his collection of rare toys.

One of Pixar's very finest labors to date is The Incredibles. By 2004, superhero movies had become big business, raking in hundreds of millions of dollars at a time.

Unlike most, The Incredibles wasn't based on a preexisting comic book series. Even so, it captured everything that made those classic Silver Age superhero stories great. Like the unbelievable Four, the Incredibles are less a superhero team and more a slightly dysfunctional family of super-powered do-gooders.

At the heart of most Pixar films is the theme of isolation. WALL-E, the animation studio's crowning achievement, is a breathtaking meditation on loneliness and the re-enforcement that every sentient being contains an unbeatable desire to connect with someone else.

Watch the video below to see the number one cartoon

Wacky viral video maker forced to charge for services

Animation website Xtranormal whose cartoon-making tools have spawned viral videos of cuddly puppies debating such topics as quantitative reduction and the iPhone in stilted monotones is no longer offering free, unlimited use of its tools.

The change reflects the higher costs of running Xtranormal as the site's commonly grew.

More than 2 million people now use its easy moviemaking tools, up from about 500,000 in June. According to Xtranormal, those users have in print about 9.3 million videos so far. Some of the videos have received thousands or even millions of views, further boosting Xtranormal's fame and usage.

Then, as now, the videos don't comprise ads beyond an "Xtranormal" logo in the bottom left corner, and any characters and sets you buy are yours to use in other movies.

Users who signed up for the site before Thursday and already paid for characters or sets will be able to publish videos using those items for free until Feb. 1.


Bruno Langlais, Xtranormal's vice president of marketing, said the company had to inflict the new charges so it can become profitable quickly. Xtranormal expects to turn a profit for the first time in the first half of 2011.

The latest change could backfire, though, if current users those who boosted the site's fame through their videos become incensed by the change and stop using it.

Langlais doesn't believe this will happen: He said Xtranormal polled users before making the change and found them helpful.

He also pointed out that Xtranormal has revamped its online video-making tool to showcase more of the options users have when creating cartoons and, perhaps, entice them to buy more characters and sets.

(Mr) Bean counters

The excruciating attention to detail needed to create even the broadest slapstick comedy has been revealed in a court case involving Mr Bean.

Legal wranglings between the animators who worked on the cartoon version of the character and production company Tiger Aspect disclose that more than 16,000 emails were exchanged over what might appear to be relatively minor changes in the shows.

It had been claimed that the requests from Tiger Aspect, which was set up by Mr Bean’s creator Rowan Atkinson, caused the budget for the 52 episodes to overrun by £4million.

According to today’s Sunday Times, areas for debate included whether:

    * Mr Bean’s chair at the hairdresser should be lower than the mirror
    * His ‘shushing’ one of the Queen’s corgis should be more forceful
    * A stray leaf fell on the right part of his nose
    * His spaceship’s legs should fold up or retract.
    * Enough light was coming from an open fridge door
    * The angle of a chair leg created the right comic effect.

Andras Erkel, the head of animation studio Varga, said: ‘I still regard Rowan as a comic genius. but animation is better suited to simplification than complexity.

Peter Bennett-Jones, chairman of Tiger Aspect, and Atkinson’s agent, said: ‘have known Rowan Atkinson for 25 years. He is a stickler like all people who are really brilliant at their job.’ But he insisted: ‘I have never met anyone more reasonable in understanding processes.’

Atkinson – who no longer owns a stake in Tiger Aspect – once said of comedy: ‘You know instinctively that a certain length of pause is funny, whereas a longer or shorter pause isn’t. You can’t script, “He looks puzzled for seven seconds”, so there was a lot of work.’

Disney's Tron Animated Series

BoxOfficeMagazine has recently spoken with Adam Horowitz a writer and producer of the TV show Lost. He has also scripted Tron Legacy and is one of the developer’s of the new Tron Uprising cartoon that will show up on Disney XD. The voice cast includes Elijah Wood, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Mandy Moore, Paul Reubens, Nate Corddry and Lance Henriksen, with Bruce Boxleitner reprising his Tron character. Also Variety's previous report that Wood's character would be called "Beck" and will lead a revolution inside the Grid's computer world. It will be a 10 episode's and that the show will not then be released till the summer of 2012.

Horowitz Furher said:

"that the events of the show will take place in between the events of Tron and Tron: Legacy.”This animated show will take place from when Flynn is in a safe house. It's from when Clu takes over the grid to before when Sam comes in. So if you were wondering what was the grid like before that, and then watch the show."

Contempo Technologies PVT Ltd - Cartoon Day Celebration

Contempo Technologies PVT LTD a leading SEO company with fullest of professional as well as amusing aspects has started its celebration to end off the year 2010 and to welcome 2011 with great cheers.

Contempo Technologies PVT LTD celebrates every occasion in a distinctive manner.  As the celebration for Chris Mom-Chris Child game is going to end and the celebration for New Year are on process they have begun the Cartoon Day Celebration for the year 2011.


Though it is a celebration they always take everything as competition, they’ve been split into ten teams. The employees have been given liberty to use the resources to make their best of everything. So they are preparing for their cartoons and cartoon sketching.

The celebration is going to be held on January 9th Sunday in Contempo Technologies PVT LTD from 5pm to 9pm. They have also planned for many cultural performances. The local TV channels are forecasting the Cartoon Day celebration in Contempo Technologies PVT LTD. Three Chief guests have been invited. Best three cartoons are going to be established in top magazines.

The employees of Contempo Technologies PVT LTD are fervently waiting for the cartoon day celebration.

Animation Auteur to Speak in Birmingham

Birmingham welcomes designer of Bob the Builder and creator of popular children’s cartoon Frankenstein's Cat, Curtis Jobling this coming January to share tips on how animators and designers can stay alive in the daunting world of freelancing.

Curtis Jobling: Breaking into Animation, Armed with a Crayon! Is free to attend, includes drinks and takes place at 7pm, 13th January 2011 at The Studio, Birmingham.

The talk is organised by animator networking group Animation Forum West Midlands and BSeen, an entrepreneurship programme for Birmingham-based, final year students and alumnae.

The Animation Designer will also be on hand to give insights into some of the best-loved animated children's characters.

“The event is open to animators and designers of all levels, along with anyone else who’s interested,” says Animation Forum WM project manager David Allen. “We’ll provide free drinks and refreshments, a Q&A with the Warrington-based, Animation Designer and a chance to meet and chat with fellow animators.”

New ‘Smurfs’ Poster Debuts

Where the smurf are we? Right here on Oh, The Scandal! feasting your eyes on the just-released poster for the 3D CGI/live-action hybrid The Smurfs.

Directed by Raja Gosnell, the flick features the dulcet tones of Neil Patrick Harris, Jayma Mays, Sofia Vergara, Hank Azaria, Anton Yelchin, Jonathan Winters, Katy Perry and Alan Cumming.

The Smurfs is scheduled to hit theatres on August 21, 2011.
Also check out the teaser trailer below.

'Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol'

"Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol," the first animated yuletide special, premiered on NBC in 1962 and introduced a lot of youngsters to Charles Dickens' beloved "A Christmas Carol." Featuring a musical score by Broadway composers Jule Styne and Bob Merrill, and a masterful turn as the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge by the nearsighted cartoon character Quincy Magoo, the hourlong special quickly became a perennial on NBC during the 1960s and has lived on in syndication and DVD.

But the special encountered a few challenges that could have turned this "Christmas Carol" into a humbug instead of a delicious serving of "razzleberry dressing" and "Woofle jelly cake."

"Lee wanted Robert Goulet to sing all of Jim Backus' parts," Van Citters says. "Somehow Jim must have persuaded him he could pull it off. I don't think it would have worked with Goulet. There would be a real audience disconnect."

Mr. Magoo was created by UPA animation studio and made his debut in "Ragtime Bear" in 1949. Two of the shorts starring the little, wealthy retiree who refused to admit he needed glasses won Academy Awards: 1955's "When Magoo Flew" and 1956's "Magoo's Puddle Jumper." He even starred in a feature-length film, 1959's "1001 Arabian Nights."

But in 1960, UPA changed hands. Because the theatrical market for animated shorts had run dry, they began making cartoons for television.

It was Orgel's idea to put Magoo and UPA's other famous character, Gerald McBoing-Boing — as Tiny Tim — into a musical version of the Dickens classic, Van Citters explains. "It seemed like an odd thing, but he probably saw Lionel Bart's "Oliver!' on stage, and that was the first time they put music and lyrics together to Dickens."

Van Citters says that it is the score that really makes the special soar. And so do the performers, including such Broadway vets as Jack Cassidy and Jane Kean. Among the gems are the lively "The Lord's Bright Blessing," the poignant "Alone in the World" and the haunting tune of lost love, "Winter Was Warm."

‘Yogi Bear’: Unbearable | 1 star

Parents wearied by malls and crowds and hopeless of the adult fare at the multiplex will take their children to see “Yogi Bear.”

“I loved Yogi when I was a kid,” they’ll think. And when it’s over, having left their popcorn bags and a few IQ points in the theater, they’ll marvel at how quickly a beloved childhood memory can be shattered.

Which brings up the question: For what audience was this pessimistic, crushingly witless film made, exactly?

Not for parents who grew up with “Yogi” on TV, because as “Scooby-Doo” showed us, turning a cartoon into a live-action film is intrinsically wrong. You can’t make cartoons work in the real world. They have their own rules and environments. A movie like “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” knew this and played with the self-importance. “Yogi Bear” is far, far too stupid to care.

There’s a plot, but so what? Dan Aykroyd and Justin Timberlake voice Yogi and his young sidekick, Boo Boo. Anna Faris is the romantic interest, proving that it’s time for her to shoot her agent once again. Seeing her wasted is yet another reason to hate this steaming heap.

Want a great gift idea for the kids? Here’s a surefire hit: Don’t take them to “Yogi Bear.”

Sintel DVDs have shipped with film, commentaries, and Blender tutorials

Well, even though it’s much longer than initially planned, the film is still very short just under 15 minutes. I don’t want to give away spoilers, though you may have heard them by now. But the film is moving to a far greater degree than the artsy and solid Elephants Dream or the cartoon humor of Big Buck Bunny. Not yet “high art”, perhaps, but entertaining and connecting. The characters are much more attractive than in the previous films. It seems to me that the Blender Institute is successfully learning how to produce better films.

I really enjoyed it, and I had to right away watch it several times to be grateful for the detail. Of course, the technical know-how of the modeling and animation is the real value of the show, and there is some amazing stuff here. Perhaps most on display is the particle-based hair modeling, which looks really good. I understand that it’s still not fairly where the developers want it to be, but as a viewer, I found it fairly impressive even as it is.

If I noticed anything that was unsatisfactory, it was probably the water effects. At a couple of points in the film, there is water in a urn, and the shape is wrong, as if the thickness and the optical properties of the water were wrong. But it’s a very minor subject, considering the number of things they got right.

There’s also just a lot in this film. Due to the use of mosaics with lots of different 3D environments, this short film has an awful lot of distinct settings, which must have required a lot of modeling.
The first two disks contain the movie and special features in NTSC and PAL formats, in that order; the third disk is a DVD-ROM with “Extras,” especially tutorials; and the fourth contains the actual Blender file data used to create the film

Scorching animation more than just kid's play

Highlighting the creativity and possible of original Web programming, Miss Puff's Goldfish Bowl is an animated work that breaks new ground with its adult-themed content.

It has created a buzz on the Internet and generated 4.5 million views since it was on the loose three months ago.

Like Old Boys, the show is part of the 11 Degrees New Media Project series co-produced by Youku.com and China Film Group Corp (CFGC).

Centering on a love affair between the eponymous heroines, Miss Puff, a Beijing girl with a sleek figure, the show is "gelivable (awesome) because of its sexy scenes", says Pi San, the director of Miss Puff, and a lead the way of online cartoons.

"I don't think animation is a child-specific product," Pi says. "The cartoon art form can swathe many subjects, it doesn't always have to deal with innocent relationships between kids.

"Like Miss Puff, animations can also depict grown-up lifestyles, love and fantasy."

"As long as my works hold no unlawful content, I can dig up more adult subjects - and the Web is a perfect platform to do this," he says.

Jin Lu, distribution manager for the 11 Degrees New Media Project series, says the reason why Youku invested money in such an animated work is to enrich the genre and broaden the plea of Web-original shows.

'Firebreather'

Few things disrupt a homecoming dance like the influx of two ill-tempered, 120-foot fire-breathing dragons.

On the other hand, it's kind of fun to watch the responses of the attendees, as long as you're not on the hook for a couple of hundred bucks on that rental tux or shiny gown.

"Firebreather," a new animated movie, tells the tale of Duncan, who would be a normal high school student, your basic new hot guy on campus, if it weren't for the fact his mother once saved the world from an attack of these dragons - Kaiju - and his father is one of them.

Don't ask how that happened. Please, don't ask.

Duncan just wants to be a normal kid and he looks normal enough so he could pull it off, except for a few genetic markers he inherited from his father. At lunch, for example, instead of pizza and an energy drink, he eats a plate of coal.

That's to feed his inner firebreather. It still tends to draw gazes in the cafeteria.

Duncan soon runs into bigger evils, though, like an epic showdown between humans and Kaiju, who it turns out have been living in caves under the Earth's crust for millions of years and see humans as intruders who are ruining the planet's quality of life.

Humans, naturally, feel the same way about Kaiju, what with the firebreathing and the aptitude to crush several humans at a time just by stepping on them.

Duncan, with a foot in both worlds, unavoidably gets drawn into this dispute, and at the most inconvenient moment.

In the bigger picture, "Firebreather" seems to be aimed at approximately the same age group, though not all the same individuals, who enjoyed the somewhat less violent "High School Musical" series.

There's no explicit performance or language, and while the Kaiju create a high sense of danger, there's nothing graphic in the results.

The dialogue includes a few puberty-level jokes and a few pure budding-romance exchanges, seemingly inserted just to make things interesting for someone other than 10-year-old boys.

In general, it succeeds. Unless you're stuck with a badly singed corsage.

Stop, Diego, Stop: Cartoon doll gets man carpool path ticket

To be clear, State Patrol troopers say, kids do count for the carpool lane tally. Just not fake one.
On Thursday, the State Patrol detailed a stop in which a man late for work put his daughter's doll in the front passenger seat and tried to glide by in the carpool lane.

The doll was Diego, cousin of Dora the Explorer.

Diego got his own show, a spinoff of the Nickelodeon pre-school-age series, in 2005: "Go Diego, Go."

Luckily for him, fake kids don't get tickets from troopers.

The incident happened Nov. 29 on the northbound state Route 167 ramp to northbound Interstate 405. The driver was one of 21 people stopped for carpool lane violations that dawn.

"As cars moved past in the HOV lane the trooper observed a vehicle whose passenger had enormous unblinking eyes," Trooper Julie Startup said in a statement. "Realizing it was a doll in the front seat the vehicle was stopped."

But at least the driver was careful with his daughter's doll. Diego was wearing his seatbelt.