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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: animation

animation stories: 23 news summaries

1 - 20 of 23 Stories | 1 2 Next >>

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MOVIE REVIEW

 Motion-Capture 
 Christmas Carol 
 Hits Wrong Notes 

Spirit's there, but critics split on wow-factor of evolving tech

Nov 6, 09 1:30 PM CST
(Newser) - Most critics express a hearty "humbug" for Robert Zemeckis' motion-capture version of A Christmas Carol, starring Jim Carrey. A sampling:
  • "It's a heartwarmer that doesn't have much of a heart itself," Michael O'Sullivan writes in the Washington Post, "populated by figures that are halfway between
... More »

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film • animation • movie review • Charles Dickens • Jim Carrey • motion capture • Robert Zemeckis

movie review

 9's Visuals a Perfect 10 

Film tells of burlap robot battling through frightening world

Sep 9, 09 9:59 AM CDT
(Newser) - The creepy tale of 9, which depicts a burlap-bodied robot’s (Elijah Wood) quest for his origins while battling bad guys in a post-apocalyptic world, looks incredible—but its script leaves something to be desired.
  • “Long on imaginative design but less substantial in narrative, this dreary story of
... More »

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film • animation • movie review • animated movie

Movie Review

 Miyazaki Makes 
 Magic Again 
 in Ponyo 


Aug 14, 09 1:33 PM CDT
(Newser) - Hayao Miyazaki has done it again with Ponyo, an animated re-imagining of the Little Mermaid story. Here’s what critics are saying:  
  • Ponyo is, in a word, "magical," writes Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times, a “poetic, visually breathtaking work by the greatest of
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
animation • movie review • Hayao Miyazaki

 Family Guy 
 Baby Stewie 
 Is Gay: Creator 

Explains why he wants to take over the world, MacFarlane says

Aug 13, 09 9:30 AM CDT
(Newser) - Baby Stewie was this close to coming out as gay in an episode of Family Guy, but creator Seth MacFarlane says he decided “to keep it vague” because “he’s a 1-year-old,” the New York Daily News reports. “Ultimately, Stewie will be gay... More »

MORE ABOUT:
entertainment • animation • Fox • Seth MacFarlane • Family Guy • homosexual • gay

TV review

 Goode Family Not Great 

A few good jokes, but show's aim seems off

May 27, 09 9:02 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Goode Family, an animated series about an eco-obsessed, passionately politically correct family that airs tonight on ABC, is fairly funny, but leaves reviewers scratching their heads:
  • It “feels aggressively off-kilter with the current mood, as if it had been incubated in the early to mid-’90s,”
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
television • animation • reviews • TV series • Mike Judge • television review

New Series by Beavis Creator Lampoons Green Buttheads

'The Goode Family' features clan trying a little too hard to stay eco-friendly

May 22, 09 3:23 AM CDT
(Newser) - Goodbye Hank Hill, hello Gerald Goode. Beavis and Butthead creator Mike Judge's new animated series lampoons a vegan, hybrid-driving Midwestern family whose motto is: "What would Al Gore do?" The Goode Family sends up the greener-than-thou clan’s efforts to maintain an environmentally friendly, strictly PC lifestyle just for... More »

MORE ABOUT:
animation • cartoon • TV series • Beavis and Butthead • Jay-ZTV • Mike Judge • The Goode Family

Movie Review

 Critics Split on Battle for Terra 


May 1, 09 12:18 PM CDT
(Newser) - Battle for Terra has a nifty twist of a premise—it’s an alien movie in which humans are the evil invaders—but critics are split on how well it works. Here’s what they’re saying:
  • It’s a “work of art,” writes John Anderson
... More »

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entertainment • animation • movie review • science fiction • Battle for Terra

Cartoons Could Help Diagnose Autism in Kids

Study finds differences in how autistic toddlers look at moving images

Mar 30, 09 10:18 AM CDT
(Newser) - The way in which toddlers are drawn to animated movement may help facilitate the diagnosis of autism-spectrum disorders, reports the BBC. In the study, children who were developing normally focused on the half of a split-screen that featured an upright animation; children with signs of autism showed no preference between... More »

MORE ABOUT:
autism • animation • psychology • scientific study

movie review

 Monsters Looks 
 Great, Lacks Oomph 

Dreamworks' 3-D stunner stuck with one-dimensional storyline

Mar 27, 09 8:21 AM CDT
(Newser) - Monsters Vs. Aliens looks amazing on screen, but grownups may find the thin jokes and the storyline of Dreamworks' animated spoof of '50s flicks a little grating, say critics.
  • James Rocchi, Redbox: The movie "has amazing 3D, solid gags, wacky concepts and great animation; I just wish that
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
animation • movie review • DreamWorks • Reese Witherspoon • movies • animated movie

MOVIE REVIEW

 Coraline Scares in Stunning 3-D 

Dazzlingly creepy stop-motion animation conjures up children's worst fears

Feb 6, 09 10:14 AM CST
(Newser) - Coraline is an eerie marvel of stop-motion animation guaranteed to give little kids nightmares, say critics. The story of a young girl—voiced by Dakota Fanning—who stumbles into a strange parallel universe where life seems almost too good to be true is a "dazzling, delightfully dark children's movie,... More »

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animation • movie review • movies • animated movie • Dakota Fanning

OPINION



 G Rating 
 Not Safe 
 for Kids 
 Anymore 

Realistic animations get away with violence

Jan 1, 09 5:42 AM CST
(Newser) - The G rating has devolved into ambiguity, providing parents little clue of what's in store for their kids, Emily Bazelon writes in Slate. Take The Tale of Despereaux about a bookish mouse's fairy tale rescue of a princess from rats. It was entertaining and age-appropriate as a kids' book, she... More »

MORE ABOUT:
film • MPAA • children • animation • violence • movie ratings • G rated films

MOVIE REVIEW

 Bolt Is Fetching Fun 

Critics say frisky Disney animation is its best effort in years

Nov 21, 08 1:18 PM CST
(Newser) - Disney's latest animated movie may not win prizes for originality, but Bolt is barking up the right tree for family entertainment, say critics. John Travolta voices with "terrific tenderness" the super-powered pooch who's unaware that his life has been a canine Truman Show, writes Michael Rechtshaffen in the Hollywood ... More »

MORE ABOUT:
John Travolta • Pixar • Disney • animation • movie review • Miley Cyrus • movies • animated movie

 Audiences Flock to Madagascar 

Animated flick wins weekend box office

Nov 9, 08 4:27 PM CST
(Newser) - Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa had the year's best opening for an animated family flick, pulling in $63.5 million to win the weekend box office, Variety reports. R-rated gross-out comedy Role Models, meanwhile, surprised by taking second place with $19.3 million. The remaining top five: High School Musical 3:... More »

MORE ABOUT:
animation • DreamWorks • box office • Paramount • movies • animated movie • Zack and Miri Make a Porno • Changeling • High School Musical 3 • Role Models

MOVIE REVIEW

 Madagascar Sequel 
 Not Wildly Different 


Nov 7, 08 9:09 AM CST
(Newser) - Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa brings back the on-the-run New York menagerie, and DreamWorks hasn't monkeyed much with the first movie's winning, if slightly tired, formula, say critics. The celebrity-voiced animals' new adventure "is aimed mostly at children and should score a direct hit," Kirk Honeycutt writes in the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
animation • movie review • DreamWorks • Ben Stiller • Chris Rock • movies • animated movie • David Schwimmer

movie review

 Pixar's Wall-E Proves Its Mettle 

Robot love story wins rave reviews from critics

Jun 27, 08 9:38 AM CDT
(Newser) - Stunning animation, an endearing love story, and a compelling look at mankind’s future make Pixar’s Wall-E one of the best films of the year, critics agree. “This is getting to sound like a broken record: Pixar Animation Studios has just topped itself. Again,” Kirk Honeycutt writes... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Pixar • animation • movie review • apocalypse

movie review

 Kung Fu Panda Kicks Butt 

Old story becomes a fun journey in fast-paced martial arts animation 

Jun 6, 08 9:10 AM CDT
(Newser) - Dreamworks' animal extravaganza Kung Fu Panda isn't packed full of surprises, the critics say, but top-notch visual and voice acting lift it above the standard animal adventure fare. Jack Black gives the lead character, a pudgy panda who dreams of becoming a martial arts master, a "slightly abashed suburban-couch-potato... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Angelina Jolie • animation • movie review • DreamWorks • Jackie Chan • Dustin Hoffman • Jack Black • kung fu • Lucy Liu • animated movie

movie review

 Waltz Explodes at Cannes 

After lousy 'Blindness' opening, Bashir shakes up festival

May 16, 08 2:10 PM CDT
(Newser) - Now that's more like it. After a typically lousy opening—allegorical disaster Blindness—the Cannes Film Festival shook things up yesterday with Waltz with Bashir, a ferocious animated documentary from Israel recounting the 1982 massacre at Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. It’s “stunning,” writes Manhola... More »

MORE ABOUT:
film • Cannes Film Festival • animation • movie review • documentary

OBIT

Pioneering Disney Animator Dead at 95

Bambi's creator Johnston was last of   Disney's 'Nine Old Men'

Apr 16, 08 2:40 AM CDT
(Newser) - The last surviving member of Disney's legendary "Nine Old Men," who pioneered character animation, has died at the age of 95, the Los Angeles Times reports. Ollie Johnston's many creations, often in collaboration with Frank Thomas, included sequences and characters in Pinocchio, the Jungle Book, Bambi, Sleeping Beauty,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
obituary • Disney • animation • Bambi • Walt Disney • Frank Thomas

 Cartman's Evil Is His Appeal 

Foul-mouthed fat kid ranks 10th in all-time list of cartoon characters

Apr 6, 08 12:16 PM CDT
(Newser) - Eric Cartman—the foul-mouthed fat kid in the "South Park" foursome of misfit boys—has ridden his ability to do the unthinkable to No. 10 on TV Guide's top 50 cartoon characters of all time. What's the appeal, exactly, of a malicious, mean, lying, selfish 8-year-old? "I'd say... More »

MORE ABOUT:
cable TV • animation • cartoon • South Park • Trey Parker • Matt Stone • cartoon characters • Bart Simpson • Lisa Simpson • Beavis and Butthead

 Radiohead to Fans:
 Get Animated 

Band offers $10K, Cartoon Network exposure for music video

Mar 20, 08 3:18 PM CDT
(Newser) - Radiohead is breaking new ground again—this time asking fans to make an animated video for any song on its pay-what-you-want In Rainbows album. The band itself will choose the grand-prize winner, who’ll get $10,000 to animate a full-length version. Would-be competitors have until April 27 to submit... More »

MORE ABOUT:
music industry • contest • animation • music videos • Radiohead • Nine Inch Nails • In Rainbows • Aniboom.com

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