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The Wexner Center in Columbus, Ohio has announced its 2016-17 Wexner Center Artist Residency Award recipients in performing arts and film/video. The recipients are Faye Driscoll (Performing Arts), John Canemaker (Film/Video), Kevin Jerome Everson (Film/Video), and Sam Green and Kronos Quartet (Film/Video). Selected by the center’s curators and director to fulfill the center’s role as a creative research laboratory for artists, the residency awards provide significant sums of money (from $25,000 to $100,000) and space — along with technical, intellectual and professional support — to develop new works on-site. Kelly Reichardt was the recipient of last year’s residency award, which she used […]...

Last weekend, the Portland-based stop motion company Laika debuted its fourth feature film, Kubo and the Two Strings, which opened in fourth place with $13.6 million. That tally is roughly on par with the company's first three films, Coraline ($16.8 million opening, $75.2 million domestic), ParaNorman ($14 million debut, $56 million domestic) and The Boxtrolls ($17.2 million first weekend, $50.8 million domestic). While these movies may not be box office hits, they have all been critical darlings, but don't expect the studio to turn their critical hits into sequels.

Laika was co-founded by Travis Knight, the son of Nike founder Phil Knight, who served as an animator and producer on the studio's first three films, before transitioning to direct Kubo and the Two Strings. While promoting Kubo, Travis Knight took part in an in-depth conversation about filmmaking in Los Angeles with filmmaker and historian John Canemaker, where he revealed that his studio will never make a sequel.

Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs is a true Hollywood classic. Released for the first time in December 1937. the first full-length Disney feature is a brilliant portrayal of the brothers Grimm’s chilling tale of an evil queen and the beautiful Snow White. The film reflects many of the social conditions of the time; the depression had just passed and songs such as “whistle while you work” were intended to promote a strong work ethic to the young children of America. The budget of the film was a staggering $500,000, around double the cost of an average film, yet the payoff was huge as this was the film that launched Disney’s decades-long domination of the animated features market.

Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs arrives on Blu-ray February 2nd in a new two disc set packaged in a slipcover that replicates the artwork beneath. This is not the first release of the film.

"To Save and Project: The 13th MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation" runs from November 4-25, 2015 and features 74 newly restored masterworks and rediscovers including films by Chantal Ackerman, Dario Argento, Samuel Fuller, Orson Welles and many more. Read More: 10 Rare Gems MoMA Just Saved from Obscurity Special guests for the series include Oja Kodar, Stefan Droessler, Guy Maddin, Chris Langdon, Academy Award–nominated filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako ("Timbuktu") and noted film historians John Canemaker, Tom Gunning and Eddie Muller. Maddin will introduce two films on the silent program including “Pan,” the 1922 film by Harald Schwenzen based on the novel by Knut Hamsun; and “Monsieur Don’t Care,” a 1924 comedy short starring Stan Laurel in his pre-Oliver Hardy days. Indiewire recently spoke to Maddin over the phone about why these two films matter to him and about the state of film preservation. Why these two films in particular? Although, I...

Read More: 5 Key Takeaways from the Documentary Film Preservation Summit Starting tomorrow, November 4, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City will revive some of cinema's long-buried treasures for To Save and Project: The 13th MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation. The three-week program is a landmark event for cinephiles, as numerous films will be receiving their first American screenings since their original release decades ago, while others, in new restored versions, will be shown for the first time in New York. Films selected include everything from silent film comedies to European feminist films, Iranian New Wave classics and Cuban documentaries, many of which have been impossible to screen in any capacity here in the United States. Guest speakers include Guy Maddin, Babette Mangolte, and noted film historians John Canemaker, Tom Gunning and Eddie Muller, among others. To Save and Project runs November 4-25 at MoMA. Visit the event website for more.

They Drew As They Pleased: The Hidden Art Of Disney’S Golden Age—The 1930s by Didier Ghez; foreword by Pete Docter (Chronicle Books) It’s no secret that some of the most beautiful artwork in the Disney archives was never seen by the moviegoing public. Walt was canny enough to hire great artists—including European refugees who resettled in Los Angeles in the 1930s—to provide “concept art” to inspire him and his team. Their work was first acknowledged in the 1940s when Disney himself commissioned a book of Albert Hurter’s work called He Drew as He Pleased. Animation historian John Canemaker picked up the baton with his 1996 volume Before the Animation Begins. Now, indefatigable...

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Youngsters and oldsters alike…here is the reel deal: The New York International Children’s Film Festival (Nyicff) will be making its presence known in the upcoming days. On tap for the 18th annual event will be a noted variety of creative animated films and shorts for all ages to enjoy and relish. The New York International Children’s Film Festival promises to serve up an array of animated showcases that boasts all styles and formats that should prove imaginative and appealing to our past and present childhood memories.

Please note that the Nyicff will run its operation from February 27, 2015 to March 22, 2015. Additionally, the majority of these impressive feature-length and short films have experienced critical acclaim overseas. Therefore, the impact of the Nyicff’s cinematic selections should be rewarding for ardent fans of animated film fodder designed to capture the spirit of its enthusiastic viewers.

Among the films being displayed...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will present a 40th anniversary screening of “Young Frankenstein” with special guests Mel Brooks, Cloris Leachman, Teri Garr and executive producer Michael Gruskoff on Tuesday, September 9, at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. Film historian Leonard Maltin will introduce the comedy classic and host a live onstage discussion with Brooks, Leachman, Garr and Gruskoff.

“Young Frankenstein,” Brooks’s 1974 homage to the Golden Age of monster movies, features a large ensemble cast including Leachman, Garr, Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Marty Feldman, Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars and Gene Hackman. It earned Oscar® nominations for Adapted Screenplay (Wilder, Brooks) and Sound (Richard Portman, Gene Cantamessa).

Additional Academy events coming up in September at the Bing Theater in Los Angeles are listed below, with details at www.oscars.org/events:

“Let There Be Fright: William Castle Scare Classics”

The...

Walt Disney’s career was so varied, and his reach so great, that there may never be a shortage of material for authors and scholars to mine. Two recent books present fresh fodder that will be of interest to serious Disney buffs. The more elaborate of the two is a weighty coffee-table book called The Lost Notebook: Herman Schultheis and the Secrets of Walt Disney’s Movie Magic (Walt Disney Family Foundation/Weldon Owen Publishing), written by renowned animation specialist John Canemaker with a foreword by Pixar’s Pete Docter. Don’t feel funny if you’ve never heard of Herman Schultheis: he wasn’t one of Disney’s famous artists. In fact, it’s his obscurity that helps make...

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Cinema St. Louis introduces Sliff/Kids, the First Annual St. Louis International Children’s Film Festival, presented by Pnc Arts Alive. With a half-dozen presenting partners, Csl will offer film programs, camps, and a workshop as part of Sliff/Kids, which is held from July 26-Aug. 4, 2013. A total of 14 film programs will be screened on the fest’s two weekends (July 26-28 and Aug. 2-4) at Webster University, the St. Louis Public Library, the Missouri History Museum, Washington University, Lindenwood University, and the Wildey Theatre. With the participation of both Lindenwood and Webster universities, filmmaking camps on live action and animation will be held at the St. Louis Public Library’s Creative Experience on the fest’s weekdays (July 29-Aug. 2). And on Aug. 3, a full-day animation workshop will be held at the Saint Louis Art Museum. The Sliff/Kids film programs and camps will be offered free of charge; a...

Dean Tavoularis was the production designer on the one and only film I worked on, Farewell My Lovely. Aside from Dean, the entire crew from The Godfather was on this film, produced by Elliott Kastner (stepfather of Cassian Elwes and his illustrious brothers), associate produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, with a cameo of the new upcoming heartthrob Sylvester Stallone, and starring truly stellar actors Charlotte Rampling and Robert Mitchum. It's hard to believe that 1975 was 37 years ago!

And now, the 40th Telluride Film Festival (August 29 – September 2, 2013), presented by National Film Preserve Ltd., proudly announces Oscar-winning production designer Dean Tavoularis as its 2013 poster artist. Tavoularis will attend the 40th Telluride Film Festival over Labor Day weekend to present his poster design to the public and hold a poster signing for festival guests.

As a student, Dean Tavoularis studied painting and architecture at different art schools and went on to work at Disney Studios as an in-betweener in the animation department where he worked on the 1955 film Lady and the Tramp. He then transitioned to the live-action department where he worked on the 1954 film 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. His career as a production designer began in 1967 when filmmaker Arthur Penn asked him to lead the artistic direction for Bonny And Clyde. Three years later, he and Penn teamed up again on Little Big Man. He began working with Francis Ford Coppola in 1972 on The Godfather, which was the beginning of much collaboration including the latter two films in The Godfather trilogy and Apocalypse Now.

Tavoularis has spent the last ten years focusing on his work as a painter. His return to film came in 2012 when he was the production designer on Roman Polanski’s Carnage. He has worked on over thirty films spanning four decades, landing five Academy-Award nominations and one win for The Godfather Part II. Tavoularis lives in Paris and Los Angeles with his wife, actress Aurore Clément.

“We are thrilled Dean agreed to do the poster art for the 40th anniversary,” said Executive Director Julie Huntsinger. “The 40th edition will be a remarkable celebration of Tff’s past and present, and Dean’s work with Telluride is a wonderful parallel. He was a part of Telluride in its very early years when he designed a poster for a Tff celebration called the ‘Spirit of Zoetrope.’ We are excited to have him back and to present his vision for this special year. ”

Tavoularis remarks, “When I was asked by Tom Luddy and Julie Huntsinger if I would design the poster for the 40th Telluride Film Festival, I was first flattered and then thoughtful of being part of the Telluride film history. In my own way I pondered Telluride’s past and in fact all film festivals. Like the word implies, a festival is a fair; people gathering to show their films. It just as well could be their tomatoes. It’s an exchange. I wanted a poster that was simple and joyful, that looked homemade with pure colors in shapes that symbolize a 1:85 screen and an audience. One cannot exist without the other. I am very happy to be a small part of Telluride’s history.”

Dean Tavoularis joins a prestigious list of artists who have shared their talents with Telluride Film Festival. Past poster artists include Ed Ruscha, John Mansfield, Julian Schnabel, Dottie Attie, Doug and Mike Starn, David Lance Goines, Chuck Jones, David Salle, Alexis Smith, Jim Dine, Seymour Chwast, Frederic Amat, Francesco Clemente, Dave McKean, Gary Larson, Chip Kidd, John Canemaker, Mark Stock, Laurie Anderson, William Wegman, Ralph Eggleston, Maira Kalman and Dave Eggers.

To view and download the 40th Telluride Film Festival poster art, visit: here.

40th Telluride Film Festival posters will be available for purchase throughout the five-day Festival or by visiting the Tff website at www.telluridefilmfestival.org.

40th Telluride Film Festival passes are now available here.

40th Anniversary of the Telluride Film Festival

Telluride Film Festival is celebrating its 40th Anniversary August 29 – September 2, 2013. To commemorate this special occasion an additional day has been added to the usual four-day Festival, making room for a five-day bounty of special programming and festivities. Passes are now available for purchase here.

About Telluride Film Festival

The prestigious Telluride Film Festival ranks among the world’s best film festivals and is an annual gathering for film industry insiders, cinema enthusiasts, filmmakers and critics. Tff is considered a major launching ground for the fall season’s most talked-about films. Founded in 1974, Telluride Film Festival, presented in the beautiful mountain town of Telluride, Colorado, is a four-day international educational event celebrating the art of film. Telluride Film Festival’s long-standing commitment is to join filmmakers and film connoisseurs together to experience great cinema. The exciting schedule, kept secret until Opening Day, consists of over two dozen filmmakers presenting their newest works, special Guest Director programs, three major Tributes to guest artists, special events and remarkable treasures from the past. Telluride Film Festival is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit educational program. Festival headquarters are in Berkeley, CA.

About Our Sponsors

Telluride Film Festival is supported by Land Rover North America, Turner Classic Movies, Ernst & Young, Film Finances, Audible.com, Telluride Mountain Village Owners Association, Universal Studios, Meyer Sound, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Bombardier Business Aircraft, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, Américas Film Conservancy, Telluride Foundation, Pine Ridge Vineyards, The London Hotel Group, UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, Dolby, Telluride Alpine Lodging, Crumpler, ShopKeep Pos, The Hollywood Reporter, Boston Light and Sound, among others.

Courtesy of The Hubley Studio, I

The husband-and-wife team of John and Faith Hubley, who brought a humanistic perspective and a distinctly modern style to postwar American animation, will be honored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Friday, September 14, at 7:30 p.m. at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. Oscar®-winning animator and renowned animation historian John Canemaker will host this in-depth look at these two iconoclastic artists.

The films the Hubleys made, together and independently, earned seven Academy Award® nominations and two Oscars®. The Hubleys took home Oscars for “The Hole” (Cartoon Short Subject, 1962) and “Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass Double Feature” (Cartoon Short Subject, 1966) and were nominated for “Windy Day” (Cartoon Short Subject, 1968), “Of Men and Demons” (Cartoon Short Subject, 1969), “Voyage to Next” (Animated Short Film, 1974) and “The Doonesbury Special” (Animated Short Film, 1977, with Garry Trudeau). John Hubley also earned an...

Beverly Hills, CA – The husband-and-wife team of John and Faith Hubley, who brought a humanistic perspective and a distinctly modern style to postwar American animation, will be honored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Friday, September 14, at 7:30 p.m. at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. Oscar®-winning animator and renowned animation historian John Canemaker will host this in-depth look at these two iconoclastic artists.

The films the Hubleys made, together and independently, earned seven Academy Award® nominations and two Oscars®. The Hubleys took home Oscars for “The Hole” and “Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass Double Feature” and were nominated for “Windy Day”, “Of Men and Demons”, “Voyage to Next” and “The Doonesbury Special”. John Hubley also earned an Oscar for “Moonbird”, and Faith served as producer on the film.

At the time of their marriage in 1955, John Hubley had been in the industry for 20 years, first at Disney, then Columbia/Screen Gems, and later as creative director and production chief at Upa. Faith Elliott had worked in Hollywood since the early 1940s as a music and film editor and script supervisor at Columbia and Republic Pictures. After John’s careers in Hollywood were derailed by the blacklist, they decided to marry and relocated to New York and embarked on a personal and professional partnership that revolutionized independent animation and influenced a generation of filmmakers.

The Hubleys resolutely maintained their artistic freedom, taking on commercial projects in order to fund their personal films. They tackled controversial themes such as environmental pollution, race relations, war and overpopulation, as well as celebrated the joy of children at play and young people in love. Following John’s death in 1977, Faith continued making films until her death in 2001.

Canemaker will showcase four of John Hubley’s Upa shorts and a selection of TV commercials; Faith’s favorite of her solo shorts; and six shorts produced by John and Faith Hubley together, including a newly discovered fragment of animation from Façade, William Walton’s musical setting of poems by Edith Sitwell.

Tickets for “An Academy Salute to John and Faith Hubley” will go on sale Monday, July 30. Tickets are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with valid ID. They may be purchased online at Oscars.org, by mail, or in person at the Academy during regular business hours or, depending on availability, on the night of the program when the doors open at 6:30 p.m. The Samuel Goldwyn Theater is located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. For more information, call (310) 247-3600 or visit Oscars.org.

The Telluride Film Festival chose Dave Eggers as the poster artist for their 39th edition. Feast your eyes on the goods. The writer-editor-publisher-philanthropist will attend the festival (running August 31-September 3), where a reception will be held in his honor. Eggers says he was thrilled to be asked to design the poster; “I decided to make the poster look a bit like the national parks posters from back in the day, and to go with a light, almost washed-out palette. That’s how I think of Colorado in the summer: sun-drenched and with incredible color combinations. From there, it just seemed appropriate to have a bear filming an elk.” Eggers joins the ranks of past poster artists Ed Ruscha, John Mansfield, Julian Schnabel, Dottie Attie, Doug and Mike Starn, David Lance Goines, Chuck Jones, David Salle, Alexis Smith, Jim Dine, Seymour Chwast, Frederic Amat, Francesco Clemente, Dave McKean, Gary Larson, Chip Kidd,...

Carl Reiner, John Hubley, Hope Lange, Oscar 1959 John Hubley, considered one of animation’s most innovative and influential designer-directors, will have his life and art celebrated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Monday Nights with Oscar screening series. A special evening featuring rarely seen John Hubley movies will be held on Monday, October 10, at 7 p.m. at the Academy Theater at Lighthouse International in New York City. The event will be hosted by Academy Award-winning animator John Canemaker (The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation). He'll be joined onstage by one of Hubley's daughters, filmmaker Emily Hubley, and animator Michael Sporn. From the Academy's press release: Hubley (1914 – 1977) is known primarily for two decades of film collaborations with his wife, Faith Elliott Hubley. The couple, who opened their studio in 1955, focused a number of their animated films on such subjects as the creative process, the Cold War and overpopulation.

Pictured: The Hole, 1962. Courtesy of AMPAS

Beverly Hills, CA . The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Monday Nights with Oscar®screening series will celebrate the life and art of John Hubley, one of animation.s most innovative and influential designer-directors, with a special evening featuring rarely seen films, on Monday, October 10, at 7 p.m. at the Academy Theater at Lighthouse International in New York City. The event will be hosted by Academy Award®-winning animator John Canemaker (“The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation”), who will be joined onstage by one of Hubley’s daughters, filmmaker Emily Hubley, and animator Michael Sporn.

Hubley (1914 . 1977) is known primarily for two decades of film collaborations with his wife, Faith Elliott Hubley. The couple, who opened their studio in 1955, focused a number of their animated films on such subjects as the creative process, the Cold War and overpopulation. The resulting innovative work garnered many awards,...

Andreas Deja is one of the stars of Disney animation. Having worked for the company for nearly thirty years, he has worked on a huge number of their most incredible works, and is responsible for animating many of their iconic characters, including Roger in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Scar in The Lion King and Tigger in Winnie The Pooh, which is released this week.

Deja recently spoke with HeyUGuys to discuss his career to date, his work on Winnie The Pooh and the unique techniques Disney use in developing and animating a story.

———–

On his early career at Disney, and their technique of assigning one animator per character

Your career at Disney started with The Black Cauldron, didn’t it?

It was my first assignment. They had just finished Fox and the Hound, so I was not involved with that, and I jumped right on to Black Cauldron.

You were doing you own character there,...

#Gift It seems almost pointless reviewing Disney's classic reissues on Blu-ray because the films themselves are familiar and the Hi-Def restoration work is guaranteed to impress. The personnel behind the HD remastering of releases of classic animated films from the Disney vault have established a standard of excellence that they are sure to meet with every new release. It is intriguing to think that movies such as Fantasia and the previously released Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs probably look better now than they ever have before. Today's audiences have the privilege of seeing them looking more pristine and sounding clearer than audiences contemporary with their original release could have imagined possible.

Given the superlatives above, it goes without saying that both Fantasia and Fantasia 2000 look fabulous. This can be expected from the latter because it was made relatively recently. The restoration work on Fantasia is all the more...

DVD Review

Walt & El Grupo

Directed by: Theodore Thomas

Cast: Walt Disney, John Canemaker

Running Time: 1 hr 45 min

Rating: PG

Due Out: November 30, 2010

Plot: In 1941, Walt Disney was asked by the Us Government to go to South America and win the hearts and minds of it’s people, many of whom were sympathetic with the Nazi party. So he collected a group of artists from his studio (the “El Grupo” of the title) and journeyed south to do just that.

Who’S It For? History buffs, fans of Disney history.

Movie:

Using archival footage and interviews with those who were there and their family and friends, Thomas reconstructs Disney’s trip through South America in 1941. According to those in the film, the trip was of great importance to winning the hearts of minds of the people, but unfortunately, it seems to have been a pretty dry trip. Disney and his artists went to Brazil,...

by John Canemaker (Disney Editions) In "Two Guys Named Joe", his tenth book, animation scholar John Canemaker has produced an exceptional dual biography of two men who made their mark on the world of animation. They were a generation apart, yet they managed to briefly cross paths. Joe Grant was an integral part of the Walt Disney studio during its greatest period of creativity in the 1930s and ′40s, then returned in the 1980s and remained active until his death at the age of 99 in 2005. Joe Ranft studied at Cal Arts, along with John Lasseter and Brad Bird,…...

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment has official announced the full specs for its upcoming Blu-ray and DVD release of Fantasia. The former, which dates from 1940, has become one of Disney's most admired classics. If the quality of remastering for a hi-def release is anything like that of Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs, animation fans are in for a visual and auditory treat.

The Blu-ray edition of The Fantasia and Fantasia 2000: 2-Movie Collection Special Edition will be a 4-disc release that includes both the original film and its turn-of-the-millennium follow-up. Like the original, Fantasia 2000 is a lively mix of classical music and animated imagery. The 'cast' includes a host of famous names, including Steve Martin, Bette Midler, James Earl Jones, Penn and Teller, Angela Lansbury, Itzhak Perlman and Quincy Jones.

Among the special features on the Blu-ray will be the Academy Award® nominated short Destino.

Sort of a truncated link list this week. That’s because a) well, that’s just all the links I could find; and b) I had to compile this a few days early since I went to Comic Con on Saturday. Still much to enjoy, though:

Jeff Krulik is the world’s greatest documentary filmmaker and slowly but surely the world is starting to catch up. The Washington City Paper has a wonderful profile/interview with Krulik about his latest project, Heavy Metal Picnic. Plus, read about his recent screening adventures in Texas, where he and Chuck Statler were guests of the Alamo Draft House. Engadget reports that the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens is getting a $67 million makeover, but even more exciting is that in the new facility they will screen a specially commissioned animated video by Martha Colburn called Dolls vs. Dictators based on her photos...

The National Film School has announced actor Ciarán Hinds (The Eclipse, There will be Blood, Munich) will host the 3rd Nfs Lecture at the Iadt campus in Dun Laoghaire. Current visiting fellow John Canemaker will also host an industry event in Dublin's Lighthouse cinema. Hinds will be interviewed by Rebecca Roper on Tuesday 17 November. The Ifta winning actor will discuss his career paying particular emphasis on acting for the screen (TV and cinema) and the professional life of a freelance actor, such as agents, reading scripts, career choices, and working with first-time directors.

DVD Playhouse—October 2009

By

Allen Gardner

The Wizard Of Oz 70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’S Edition (Warner Bros.) A true highlight in digital restoration technology, Warner Bros. restoration of the 1939 classic is cause for celebration. The Technicolor of the late ‘30s looks as though it was shot yesterday, and is especially stunning on Blu-ray, which was produced by scanning each of the film’s original Technicolor camera negatives using 8K resolution. From this scan, a final “capture” master was created in 4K, yielding twice the resolution seen in the master utilized for the film’s previous DVD release. Judy Garland’s Dorothy is charming as ever, and the entire cast: Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley and Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch, are all stellar. Four disc set bonuses include: Sing-along track; Documentaries and featurettes; Two 1914 silent films produced by Oz author L. Frank Baum, based on his stories...

Chicago – Every Disney catalog Blu-Ray that has been released to date has been a must-own HD title. “Sleeping Beauty” may still be the most complete and beautifully designed Blu-Ray ever and “Pinocchio” is not too far behind. To no one’s surprise, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” doesn’t break the pattern, even if it’s not quite the ‘game-changing’ release that its Disney HD predecessors arguably were.

Blu-Ray Rating: 5.0/5.0

The Blu-Ray/DVD combo release may not be a game-changer but the film itself undeniably was. Any list of the most influential films of all time that doesn’t include “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” is simply incomplete. “Snow White” was the first feature-length animated film ever made and it launched the Disney brand. If it had failed, as most insiders thought it would, there probably would be no Disney. Imagine a world without the films that the...

How do you review a landmark film? I don’t mean ‘classic’ like, say, Army of Darkness or Bullitt. No, I’m referring to films that pioneered cinema and have had dozens upon dozens of great things already chronicled about them. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs carried impact when it first debuted in 1937, namely because it was the first animated feature film and it didn’t topple over like many nay-sayers predicted. Instead, like all films that stand with the weight of the critical world against them, Walt Disney’s first animated feature made a huge splash that forever changed the landscape of cinema. It’s a safe bet that without this picture, we would not be enjoying any Pixar films and would be left without the prospect of future Disney classics.

But again the question for one comes back to, what can be said that hasn’t already been boasted about this film?...

By Christopher Stipp

The Archives, Right Here

I was able to sit down for a couple of years and pump out a book. It’s got little to do with movies. Download and read “Thank You, Goodnight” right Here for free.

Check out my new column, This Week In Trailers, at SlashFilm.com and follow me on Twitter under the name: Stipp

A Serious Man - Screening

Live in the southwest? Want to see the latest Cohen yarn? Don’t want to pay a dime to see it? You’re in luck as I have passes to giveaway to see A Serious Man, the Cohen’s latest, this upcoming Tuesday night, 7 p.m., at the Harkins Fashion Square theater.

Shoot me a note at Christopher_Stipp@yahoo.com for your chance to win.

For those living in a cave needing some background on the film:

A Serious Man is the...

Critics, animation historians and Disney lovers alike shower Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs with praise for being “the film that started it all”. It deserves its accolades because, unless you’re going to be a Steamboat Willy stickler, it’s the one that put Walt Disney on the map. The rich colors and the fairytale-simple story make it an engaging tale that children and adults alike can watch over and over. Revisiting it years later, after being spoiled with Disney’s current Pixar run or the beautifully drawn 2D films of the 90s like Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast, Snow White retains all its magic and surprises you with how dark some of its imagery actually is.

Snow White and Sleeping Beauty always stood out amongst the other films in Disney’s repertoire. When Snow White debuted in 1937, it was followed by Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, Bambi, Cinderella and...

Blu-Ray Review

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs – DVD & Blu-Ray: Diamond Edition

Directed by: David Hand

Cast: Adriana Caselotti, Roy Atwell, Lucille La Verne

Running Time: 1 hr 25 mins

Rating: G

Due Out: October 6, 2009

Click Here to Buy Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs & Save $15

Plot: The classic Grimm fairytale about a princess who finds haven from her evil stepmother in the warm hospitality of seven dwarfs, each with their own personality.

Who’S It For? The film is for anyone who has ever been a child. The re-release of this particular movie is for those who want a slightly snazzier version of it, or didn’t get a VHS copy when it was last released in 2001.

Movie:

Heigh-ho comes marching the classic animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, freeing itself from the infamous Disney vault for a limited time. Partly re-released to remind us why hand-drawn animation is...

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is 72-years-old and it is coming home in a bright and shiny Blu-ray high-definition transfer that is simply a must own for any fan of 2-D animation and a requirement for any Disney buff. This is the third classic Disney feature to hit Blu-ray along with Sleeping Beauty and Pinocchio and like those two it is simply beautiful. The package includes a two-disc Blu-ray Diamond Edition release and also includes a single disc DVD for those that may be looking to adopt Blu-ray in the future or may want the DVD edition to keep the kids entertained in the car. Disney is also doing something a little different with this release and making it available in both Blu-ray and DVD style packaging supposedly so it will fit in better with the rest of your collection. I guess that would make sense if you didn't own any other Blu-rays,...

“Artists don’t need criticism. Artists need love.”—Chuck Jones

Turner Classic Movies (TCM) and filmmakers Peggy Stern and John Canemaker—who earned Oscars® for the animated short The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation—have collected the memories of one of Hollywood’s greatest animators in a unique, half-hour film entitled Chuck Jones: Memories of Childhood. This film, which combines an interview with the legendary animator with newly created animated segments, premieres on TCM Tuesday, March 24, at 5Pm (Pt), followed by a selection of his films (complete schedule below).

Simple and sweet, the Stern/Canemaker documentary sketches the mirthful soul of a man who has delighted children and the spirit of children within adults for decades. Commencing with childhood reminisces of orchestrating nature off a seaside boardwalk, Jones pinpoints where the concept of the Acme Company came from, how a stray cat named Johnson taught him about the individuality of cats,...

A rat could emerge as the big cheese at this year's Annie Awards.

Pixar's Ratatouille leads the pack in the International Animated Film Society (ASIFA-Hollywood) competition field with 13 feature nominations, including best animated feature as well as individual nominations for directing, writing, character animation, animated effects (two nominations), production design, storyboarding, character design, character animation, music and voice acting (three nominations).

Sony's Surf's Up followed, riding a wave of interest to earn 10 feature nominations for feature, animated effects, animation production artists, character animation (two nominations), character design and directing.

Rounding out the best animated feature category are DreamWorks Animation's Bee Movie, Sony Pictures Classics' Persepolis and Fox's The Simpsons Movie.

Parmount/Warner Bros.' closely watched Beowulf earned one nomination, in the category of production design.

The nominees for directing in an animated feature are Brad Bird for Ratatouille, Ash Brannon and Chris Buck for Surf's Up, Chris Miller and Raman Hui for DreamWorks Animation's Shrek the Third, Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi for Persepolis and David Silverman for The Simpsons Movie.

In television, Nickelodeon's El Tigre leads the pack with four nominations -- for best animated television production for children as well as individual nominations for character animation, character design and music.

The best animated television production nominees are Creative Comforts America from Aardman Animations, Jane and the Dragon from Weta Prods. and Nelvana, Kim Possible from Walt Disney Television Animation as well as Moral Orel and Robot Chicken Star Wars from ShadowMachine.

The Annie Awards honor overall excellence as well as individual achievement in 25 categories covering film, television, commercials, video games and short subjects.

The Winsor McCay Award for career contributions to the art of animation will be presented to John Canemaker, Glen Keane and John Kricfalusi. The June Foray Award for significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation will be presented to Jerry Beck; the Ub Iwerks Award for technical achievement award will be bestowed on Jonathan Gay, Gary Grossman and Robert Tatsumi; and a Special Achievement Annie Award will go to Edward R. Leonard.

Certificates of merits will be awarded to Marcus Adams, Jo Jo Batista, Steve Gattuso, Jon Reeves, Gemma Ross and Woodbury University.

The 35th annual Annie Awards will be presented Feb. 8 at UCLA's Royce Hall in Westwood.

2007 ANNIE AWARD NOMINATIONS BY CATEGORY FOLLOWS:

PRODUCTION CATEGORIES

Best Animated Feature

Bee Movie - DreamWorks Animation

Persepolis - Sony Pictures Classics

Ratatouille - Pixar Animation Studios

Surf's Up - Sony Pictures Animation

The Simpsons Movie - Twentieth Century Fox

Best Home Entertainment Production

Doctor Strange - MLG Productions

Futurama Bender's Big Score - The Curiosity Company in association with 20th Century Fox Television

Best Animated Short Subject

Everything Will Be OK - Bitter Films

How to Hook Up Your Home Theater - Walt Disney Feature Animation

Shorty McShorts' Shorts Mascot Prep - Walt Disney Television Animation

The Chestnut Tree - Picnic Pictures

Your Friend the Rat - Pixar Animation Studios

Best Animated Television Commercial

CVS Watering Can - Acme Filmworks

Esurance Homeowners - Wild Brain

Idaho Lottery: Twister - Acme Filmworks

Oregon Lottery Alaska - Laika/house

Power Shares Escape Average - Acme Filmworks

Best Animated Television Production

Jane and the Dragon - Weta Productions Limited & Nelvana Limited

Creative Comforts America - Aardman Animations

Moral Orel - ShadowMachine

Robot Chicken Star Wars- ShadowMachine

Kim Possible - Walt Disney Television Animation

Best Animated Television Production for Children

Chowder - Cartoon Network Studios

El Tigre - Nickelodeon

Little Einsteins - Disney Channel

Peep and the Big Wide World - Discovery Kids

The Backyardigans - Nickelodeon

Best Animated Video Game

Avatar: The Last Airbender The Burning Earth - THQ, Inc.

Bee Movie Game - Activision

Ratatouille - THQ, Inc.

Transformers: The Game - Blur Studios...