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Creo has announced the jury for the 2024 Sony Future Filmmaker Awards.

Director Justin Chadwick serves as chair for the second year in a row. He is joined on the jury by Michael Barker and Tom Bernard, co-founders and co-presidents of Sony Pictures Classics; cinematographer Rob Hardy ASC, Bsc; cinematographer Kate Reid Bsc; cinematographer Robert Primes ASC; and Australian filmmaker Unjoo Moon.

Chadwick said, “It is such a pleasure to return as Chair of this new prestigious panel of decorated creatives. Last year, we brought to the forefront 30 exceptionally talented filmmakers from across the world, each of whom had the unique chance to access the inner workings of the industry in Los Angeles, opening doors to career-launching opportunities. From my own experience, the art of the short film is by no means one to be underestimated, and I look forward to discovering more brilliant, talented individuals through this upcoming selection.”

In...

Disney has worked with many animators who have used their artistic talents to bring their animated characters to life. One of these is Andreas Deja, who was inspired to become an animator upon seeing late Silver Age movies like 101 Dalmatians and The Jungle Book. After graduating, he joined Disney in 1980 as the old guard was retiring, which saw Deja become a supervising animator for some of Disney's most iconic characters during their Renaissance. Though he no longer works at Disney, Deja is still involved in animation, be it through sharing his knowledge through books or producing his own short film, Mushka.

When Disney 2D animation legend Andreas Deja left the studio in 2013 after three decades — he’s best known for supervising such iconic ’90s villains as Gaston from “Beauty and the Beast,” Jafar from “Aladdin,” and Scar from “The Lion King” — he wanted to direct. Thus began a seven-year passion project to make his first short, “Mushka” (a Russian term of endearment for “sweetheart”), about a young girl who rescues the titular tiger cub in the forest and raises him.

Deja’s goal was to channel the look of the Disney films from the ’60s that he grew up with in Germany, particularly “The Jungle Book” — the first he experienced and his favorite — which made him want to become an animator.

Deja started thinking about returning to his first love — drawing animals — and the friendly dynamic between the innocent girl and the powerful tiger. It turned out to be a fitting...

Mushka is an animated short film that tells the story of a Ukrainian girl who raises a tiger cub and must protect him from those who want to harm him. The film uses hand-drawn 2D animation, a technique that is not commonly seen in today's animated films. The film features an original theme and song written by Richard Sherman, and the music was composed by Fabrizio Mancinelli, resulting in a collaboration between animation and music.

Mushka is an animated short film that follows a young Ukrainian girl, Sarah, who finds and raises a tiger cub, whom she names Mushka, in the 1970s. However, as her Mushka grows, Sarah discovers that it isn't safe anymore, with people planning to kill and sell his body. To protect him, Sarah must take Mushka back deep into the forest where she found him in the hopes that he will learn to live as a wild animal away from people.

The Old Young Crow took home the top prize at the 2023 Palm Springs International Shortfest on Sunday. The Japanese-United States short film follows an elderly Persian man recalling the lessons he learned from an elderly Japanese woman.

The best animated short award went to Lithuania’s Way Better, which centers on a man who’s expecting the worst but hoping for the best from his upcoming medical test results. He spends his time over the course of a week waiting in a limbo of his own creation, dreading things that haven’t happened yet.

Other top awards of the festival went to China’s Will You Look At Me for documentary short, France’s Sét Lam for live-action short over 15 minutes and Spain’s Mystic Tiger for live-action short 15 minutes and under. The top five films are now eligible to submit their shorts to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Oscar consideration.

Sometimes dreams do come true. When Disney legend Andreas Deja was 11 years old, “The Jungle Book” played at his hometown in Germany and after watching it, he was hooked. He remembers how it cast a spell on him and how he knew right there and then that he wanted to take part in the Disney magic.

With the help of his English teacher, he wrote to the Mouse House and to his surprise received a reply. Deja relates: “It basically said that if I was serious about the animation done at Disney, I first had to become an artist in my own right.”

From that day on, he began his deep dive into the world of animation, poring over magazines, newspapers and books and later enrolling in art school. While at school, he wrote to Eric Larson, one of the legendary Nine Old Men of Disney lore, who after looking...

Spain’s foremost animation film festival, Animayo Gran Canaria, awarded Oscar-qualifying honors to animation shorts “Our Uniform” by Iran’s Yegane Moghaddam and “Amarradas” by Spain’s Carmen Córdoba as it reported a 29% jump in attendance, the biggest ever in its 18-year history.

Sixty animation shorts were in contention, selected out of 2,000 entries from more than 80 countries. Disney animation legend Andreas Deja, who presented the Spanish premiere of his 2D animation short, “Mushka,” presided over the international jury. He also held a Master Class on his 30 years at Disney, delivered a keynote address on the making of “Mushka” and led a three-hour drawing class on animated villains. “The students made me feel like a rock star,” he told Variety. “What better thing to hear than that the films I worked on still impact many people to this day,” he mused.

From the scores of animation shorts he watched as a juror,...

Animayo, Spain’s leading animation festival, is celebrating its 18th edition with the help of Disney legend Andreas Deja who will be presenting his independently-produced short, “Mushka.” “Having Deja choose Animayo to debut his film in Spain is the greatest honor,” said Damian Perea, founder-director of the festival, which unspools May 3-6 on the island of Gran Canaria.

A hand-drawn 2D animated story about an unlikely friendship between a young girl and a Siberian tiger in 1970s’ Soviet Union, “Mushka” is Deja’s directorial debut. His lauded Walt Disney Animation Studio credits include “The Lion King,” “Aladdin,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “Who Framed Roger Rabbit.”

Other notable Spanish premieres at Animayo include that of Jan Bubenicek and Denisa Grimmova’s “Even Mice Belong in Heaven,” about two mortal enemies, a mouse and a fox, who after an accident, find themselves in animal heaven.

Animayo will also treat attendees to...

Los Angeles, Feb. 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (Netflix Presents A Double Dare You! Film/A Shadowmachine Production in association with The Jim Henson Company) won the Best Feature honor at the 50th Annie Awards celebration Saturday night on the campus of UCLA. Pinocchio also won for Best Character Animation, Feature (Tucker Barrie), Best Direction, Feature (Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson), Best Music, Feature (Alexandre Desplat, Roeban Katz, Guillermo del Toro, Patrick McHale) and Best Production Design, Feature (Curt Enderle, Guy Davis).

Best Independent Feature was presented to Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (Marcel the Movie LLC) which also won for Best Voice Acting, Feature (Jenny Slate as the voice of Marcel) and Best Writing, Feature (Dean Fleischer Camp, Jenny Slate, Nick Paley, Elisabeth Holm).

Best Special Production was presented to The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse (A NoneMore and Bad Robot Production for Apple TV...

Aladdin's villainous Jafar is one of the most memorable parts of the animated classic, but as it turns out, he's essentially Disney's male version of Maleficent. Maleficent is often considered one of Disney's most evil villains, first appearing in 1959's Sleeping Beauty, then continuing to appear across various forms of Disney media, and later even getting her own live-action movie series, aptly titled Maleficent. Although there was a pretty big time gap between Sleeping Beauty and 1992's Aladdin, Jafar shares many traits with Maleficent, both on and under the surface.

Jafar's character design shares a lot with the design of Sleeping Beauty's Maleficent, so much so that it's impossible not to see it. Both characters are slender, wear flowing black robes, and carry a powerful magical staff, all of this being topped off with their iconic headpieces. While these similarities are interesting enough on their own, Jafar and...

Animated fantasy adventure will be sold by Gfm Animation.

Uncharted Territory has partnered with Germany’s Rise Pictures to produce Igraine The Brave, a 3D-animated adaptation of Cornelia Funke’s fantasy adventure novel.

Uncharted’s Volker Engel, who won the best visual effects Oscar in 1997 for his work on Independence Day, will direct the film with Germany’s Holger Tappe, whose credits include Monster Family and Animals United.

The screenplay has been written by Jane Ainscough while Disney veteran Andreas Deja, whose credits include The Lion King and Aladdin, will serve as an animation consultant.

World sales will be handled by London-based Gfm Animation.

Uncharted Territory and Rise Pictures have greenlit an animated film adaptation of Igraine the Brave, a children’s fantasy novel from bestselling author Cornelia Funke (Inkheart).

Holger Tappe (Animals United) will direct the movie together with Oscar-winning visual effects artist Volker Engel (Independence Day). Engel, Gesa Engel, and Lucia Scharbatke of Uncharted Territory will produce together with Ulrich Schwarz and Sven Pannicke of Rise Pictures. L.A.-based Robyn Klein and Jeremy Ross (the short film Oscar contender If Anything Happens I Love You) are on board as international co-production partners. Gfm Animation is handling world sales.

Andreas Deja, a supervising animator on The ...

Uncharted Territory and Rise Pictures have greenlit an animated film adaptation of Igraine the Brave, a children’s fantasy novel from bestselling author Cornelia Funke (Inkheart).

Holger Tappe (Animals United) will direct the movie together with Oscar-winning visual effects artist Volker Engel (Independence Day). Engel, Gesa Engel, and Lucia Scharbatke of Uncharted Territory will produce together with Ulrich Schwarz and Sven Pannicke of Rise Pictures. L.A.-based Robyn Klein and Jeremy Ross (the short film Oscar contender If Anything Happens I Love You) are on board as international co-production partners. Gfm Animation is handling world sales.

Andreas Deja, a supervising animator on The ...

Uncharted Territory and Rise Pictures have joined forces to produce “Igraine the Brave,” a 3D-animated fantasy adventure based on the novel by bestselling author Cornelia Funke.

The story follows 12-year-old Igraine, the only one in her family who is not interested in magic, but is instead pursuing a headstrong plan to become a knight. Just when her brother accidentally turns their parents into pigs, their beloved home, Pimpernel Castle, is besieged by the knight Rowan Heartless and his master, Osmond the Greedy. They plan to steal her family’s singing books of magic to become all-powerful. It’s up to Igraine to save her family — even if it means facing giants and three-headed dragons.

“Igraine the Brave” will be produced by Uncharted Territory’s Volker Engel, Gesa Engel and Lucia Scharbatke, who are partnering with Rise Pictures’ Ulrich Schwarz and Sven Pannicke executive producing, with L.A.-based Robyn Klein and Jeremy Ross co-producing.

Twenty-five years ago -- November 25, 1992, to be exact -- in the city of Agrabah, a street rat, an outspoken princess and an eager-to-please genie were at the center of another groundbreaking animated musical from Walt Disney Pictures.

Telling the story of a young man who falls in love with a princess and befriends a genie as he aspires for something more in his life, Aladdin quickly became a touchstone in Disney’s canon of animated films. Following the romance-driven The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, the 1992 movie boasted a bigger sense of humor -- largely thanks to Robin Williams’ performance as Genie -- and more action.

Earning universal praise, Aladdin earned $217 million at the U.S. box office and maintains a 94 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But like its predecessors, the soundtrack, with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman, propelled it to awards success, winning it two Academy...

Move over, Aladdin: Star Wars filmmaker George Lucas and composer Danny Elfman are amongst eight new Disney Legends.

Disney chairman and CEO Bob Iger will host the D23 Expo 2015 awards ceremony in Anaheim on Friday, August 14, recognising some of Disney's remarkable contributors.

Lucas and Elfman will be honoured alongside All My Children star Susan Lucci and Disney animator Andreas Deja.

The work of George Bodenheimer, Eyvind Earle, Carson Van Osten and Julie Reihm Casaletto will also be celebrated at the event.

Iger said: "The Disney Legend Award is our highest honour, and we are incredibly proud to recognise these eight talented individuals who have contributed so much to the world of entertainment and the Disney legacy.

"Their vision and dedication to their work have brought joy to audiences around the globe and earned them a place in Disney history."

Past Disney Legends include Tim Allen, Robin Williams and Julie Andrews.

Star Wars creator George Lucas, composer Danny Elfman, All My Children star Susan Lucci, Disney Animator Andreas Deja and other beloved contributors to the Disney legacy will be named and honored as official Disney Legends during D23 Expo 2015 at 10 a.m. on Friday, August 14, in Hall D23 at the Anaheim Convention Center. The ceremony will be hosted by Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger, and will include special musical performances. There will be eight individuals in total introduced as Disney Legends next month.

The Disney Legends Awards program is a 28-year tradition of The Walt Disney Company, and the first Disney Legend was Fred MacMurray (The Shaggy Dog, The Absent-Minded Professor, The Happiest Millionaire), who was honored in 1987. The three-day Expo provides the opportunity for Disney fans to be a part of the memorable and prestigious event. Here's what Disney chairman and CEO Bob Iger had to say about the Disney Legends in a statement.

Disney today announced that Star Wars creator George Lucas, and a group of people with long ties to Disney and Disney-owned properties, will be named an honored as official Disney legends this year at the biannual D23 Expo in Anaheim. In addition to Lucas, honorees will include All My Children star Susan Lucci, Disney Animator Andreas Deja, and composer Danny Elfman. The ceremony will be held on the first day of the gathering of Disney fans, in Hall D23 of the Anaheim…...

Disney today announced that Star Wars creator George Lucas, and a group of people with long ties to Disney and Disney-owned properties, will be named an honored as official Disney legends this year at the biannual D23 Expo in Anaheim. In addition to Lucas, honorees will include All My Children star Susan Lucci, Disney Animator Andreas Deja, and composer Danny Elfman. The ceremony will be held on the first day of the gathering of Disney fans, in Hall D23 of the Anaheim…...

Last month, an incredible story hit the web about a young autistic child who was able to connect with his father because of a shared bond over Disney movies. The story went viral, but there was someone behind the scenes who is perhaps the reason it was ever written in the first place—Jonathan Freeman, a celebrated member of the Disney family who met the father and son after a performance in Broadway’s Mary Poppins.

While chatting with EW about his role in Disney’s latest Broadway outing Aladdin (in which he’ll reprise his original voice part as...

The 25th anniversary of Who Framed Roger Rabbit? was celebrated at San Diego Comic-Con 2013 with a panel featuring producer Don Hahn, voice of Roger Rabbit Charles Fleischer, animator Andreas Deja and more. Check out the full video from this exciting Q&A.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit? was released June 21st, 1988 and stars Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd, Joanna Cassidy, Charles Fleischer, Stubby Kaye, Alan Tilvern, Richard LeParmentier, Lou Hirsch. The film is directed by Robert Zemeckis.

Comic-Con has released the full schedule of all the events that will take place over the course of its four days, which you can see for yourself here. For your convention convenience, we’ve collected all of best movie-related panels, programs, Q&As, screenings, and dog-and-pony shows below, including ones involving anticipated upcoming releases like Ender's Game, Divergent, Gravity, and The World’s End. Check them out and mark your calendars. San Diego Comic-Con runs July 17-21. For the full list of TV highlights, check out our list on Inside TV.

Thursday, July 18

Thurs., 10:30am-11:30am, Room 6A,...

Friday’s Comic-Con schedule has landed! And it’s totally packed with action, from Simon Pegg’s latest The World’s End panel to a special Veronica Mars presentation.

In case you missed it, click here to see Thursday’s schedule and below you’ll see Friday’s TV and movie highlights. For more info and the complete schedule head over to the official Comic-Con site.

10:00am-11:00am, Indigo Ballroom, Hilton San Diego Bayfront, Cartoon Network: Regular Show: Care to join the not so regular cast and crew for an eventful hour of over the top regular?...

Robert Zemeckis and Roger Rabbit, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, 1988. © Walt Disney Studios

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will present a new digital restoration of “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” in celebration of the film’s 25th anniversary on Thursday, April 4, at 7:30 p.m. at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. The evening will feature a post-screening onstage discussion with director Robert Zemeckis and members of the cast and crew, including actress Joanna Cassidy, voice actor Charles Fleischer, supervising animator Andreas Deja, screenwriter Peter S. Seaman and associate producers Don Hahn and Steve Starkey. The panel will be moderated by director Rich Moore, who received an Oscar® nomination for Animated Feature Film for “Wreck-It Ralph” this past year.

A masterful blend of live-action filmmaking and classic animation, “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” boldly announced the rebirth of the Disney animation studio. The film endures as an inventive tribute...

Roger Rabbit: Zemeckis' classic blend of animation and live action will have a 25th anniversary screening at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater in April Upon its release in 1988, Who Framed Roger Rabbit was called a landmark mix of animation and live action; the Robert Zemeckis-directed movie also marked the beginning of the renaissance of the Walt Disney Animation Studios, which had hit rock bottom in the '80s after decades of steady decline. In celebration of the film’s 25th anniversary, the Academy will present a new digital restoration at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 4, at its Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. (Pictured above: a youthful-looking Zemeckis and pal Roger Rabbit.) Zemeckis, who has since made his mark in performance capture animation features (for instance, 2004's The Polar Express, with Tom Hanks and 2007's Beowulf, with Angelina Jolie), will be present for a post-screening onstage chat about his movie.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will present a new digital restoration of “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” in celebration of the film’s 25th anniversary on Thursday, April 4, at 7:30 p.m. at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. The evening will feature a post-screening onstage discussion with director Robert Zemeckis and members of the cast and crew, including actress Joanna Cassidy, voice actor Charles Fleischer, supervising animator Andreas Deja, screenwriter Peter S. Seaman and associate producers Don Hahn and Steve Starkey. The panel will be moderated by director Rich Moore, who received an Oscar® nomination for Animated Feature Film for “Wreck-It Ralph” this past year. A masterful blend of live-action filmmaking and classic animation, “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” boldly announced the rebirth of the Disney animation studio. The film endures as an inventive tribute to animation’s golden age that also set a new standard for what the medium could achieve.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will present the 1959 animated classic “Sleeping Beauty” as the second film in its series “The Last 70mm Film Festival” on Monday, July 16, at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy.s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. The film will be introduced by animator Andreas Deja (.Winnie the Pooh,. .The Princess and the Frog.) and character designer Mike Giaimo (.FernGully: The Last Rainforest,. .Pocahontas.).

Directed by Clyde Geronimi, “Sleeping Beauty” earned an Academy Award® nomination for Music . Scoring of a Musical Picture (George Bruns). It is the last fairy tale produced by Walt Disney (after his death, the studio did not return to the genre for feature-length films until 1989.s .The Little Mermaid.). It is also the first animated film in the Technirama widescreen process.

The 70mm short “Williamsburg: The Story of a Patriot” (1957) will be screened before the feature at 7 p.m.

In what many saw as a shock, veteran Disney animator Glen Keane, one of the so-called celebrity animators from Disney’s “Second Renaissance” in the early 1990s, designing and animating immortal characters like Ariel from “The Little Mermaid,” the Beast from “Beauty and the Beast,” and Aladdin from “Aladdin,” left the studio on Friday. Keane had been with the studio for almost thirty-seven years (he briefly departed from the studio to do freelance work but was still contracted almost exclusively for Disney). In his letter of resignation (posted at Cartoon Brew), Keane said, “I am convinced that animation really is the ultimate art form of our time with endless new territories to explore. I can’t resist its siren call to step out and discover them.”

Keane is the son of Bil Keane, creator of “The Family Circus” cartoon strip. Keane joined Disney in 1974 after leaving Cal Arts, and was mentored by Ollie Johnston,...

Jennifer Yuh Nelson's "Kung Fu Panda 2" dominated the Annie Awards nominations, but the International Animated Film Society decided to give its highest honor -- the Best Animated Feature award -- to Gore Verbinski's "Rango." Both films are from DreamWorks Animation and they still have to duke it out at the upcoming Oscars in the Best Animated Feature Film category.

Besides the Best Animated trophy, "Rango" also collected awards for Best Editing and Writing. But Nelson, the first woman to direct a feature film animation from a major Hollywood production company, won the Directing in a Feature Production award! Yay! (Check out my interview with Jennifer Yuh Nelson for "Kung Fu Panda 2" right here)

The Annie Awards winners were announced yesterday at the UCLA Royce Hall in Los Angeles.

Here's the complete list of winners (highlighted) and nominees of the 39th Annual Annie Awards (to see winners/nominees of other award-giving bodies,...

Gore Verbinski's Rango, voiced by Johnny Depp Production Categories Best Animated Feature A Cat in Paris Arrugas (Wrinkles) Arthur Christmas Cars 2 Chico & Rita Kung Fu Panda 2 Puss in Boots * Rango Rio The Adventures of Tintin Best Animated Special Production Adventure Time: Thank You Batman: Year One Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas * Kung Fu Panda: Secret of the Masters Prey 2 Star Tours Best Animated Short Subject * Adam and Dog I Tawt I Taw A Puddy Tat La Luna (Notes on) Biology Paths of Hate Sunday The Ballad of Nessie The Girl and the Fox Wild Life and Studio Gds Individual Achievement Categories Animated Effects in an Animated Production Can Yuksel, Puss In Boots Chase Cooper, Rango Dan Lund, Winnie The Pooh Dave Tidgewell, Kung Fu Panda 2 Eric Froemling, Cars 2 Jason Mayer, Kung Fu Panda 2 Joel Aron, Star Wars: The Clone Wars Jon Reisch,...

They were Skittles. I remember this part distinctly. I was in the front row of the theater on Friday, June 24, 1994, throwing Skittles at the big screen with the other kids I was seeing The Lion King with. I know that my parents weren’t there with me; I was misbehaving, sure, but my parents were responsible enough that, had they been with me, I’d have been in my seat like a good boy. (Of course, for this specific movie, they weren’t responsible enough to be in the theater, instead letting me see the movie with a couple of friends, one of whom was a bit older. But that’s neither here nor there.) Yes, for some odd reason, the first time I saw The Lion King, it did not hold my attention as it should have. I also have a specific memory of thinking to myself after leaving the movie,...

Carlos Saldanha's Rio Production Categories Best Animated Feature A Cat in Paris – Folimage Arrugas (Wrinkles) – Perro Verde Films, S.L. Arthur Christmas – Sony Pictures Animation, Aardman Animations Cars 2 – Pixar Animation Studios Chico & Rita – Chico & Rita Distribution Limited Kung Fu Panda 2 – DreamWorks Animation Puss In Boots – DreamWorks Animation Rango – Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies present A Blind Wink/Gk Films Production Rio – Blue Sky Studios The Adventures of Tintin – Amblin Entertainment, Wingnut Films and Kennedy/Marshall Best Animated Special Production Adventure Time: Thank You – Cartoon Network Studios Batman: Year One – Warner Bros. Animation Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas – Blue Sky Studios Kung Fu Panda – Secrets of the Masters – DreamWorks Animation Prey 2 – Blur Studio Star Tours – Industrial Light & Magic Best Animated Short Subject Adam and Dog – Lodge Films I Tawt I Taw A Puddy Tat – Warner Bros. Animation La Luna – Pixar Animation Studios (Notes on) Biology – Ornana...

I'm a huge fan of animation, animated films are getting better and better. Not only is the look and animation getting ridiculously awesome, but I find that many of these animated films actually have incredibly good stories. Not all of them are good though, for example, Cars 2 and Rio sucked. It will be interesting to see who ends up taking home the awards this year. Out of the movies on the list that I've seen and liked we have Puss in Boots, Rango and Kung Fu Panda 2. I guess it's no surprises that Kung Fu Panda 2 is leading the nominations with 9. Check out the list and let us know what your favorite animated movies of the year are!

Production Categories

Best Animated Feature

A Cat in Paris – Folimage Arrugas (Wrinkles) - Perro Verde Films, S.L. Arthur Christmas – Sony Pictures Animation, Aardman Animations Cars 2 – Pixar Animation...

"Kung Fu Panda 2" dominated the nominations for the 39th Annual Annie Awards. Given by the International Animated Film Society, the DreamWorks Animation sequel received 12 nods including Best Animated Feature. "Puss in Boots" and "Rango" each took nine noms. Pixar's "Cars 2" received seven nominations, while Disney's "Winnie the Pooh" took eight nods but was oddly missing in the Best Animated Feature category.

Winners of the 2011 Annie Awards will be announced on Saturday, Feb. 4.

Here's the complete list of nominees of the 39th Annual Annie Awards:

Production Categories

Best Animated Feature

A Cat in Paris . Folimage

Arrugas (Wrinkles) - Perro Verde Films, S.L.

Arthur Christmas . Sony Pictures Animation, Aardman Animations

Cars 2 . Pixar Animation Studios

Chico & Rita . Chico & Rita Distribution Limited

Kung Fu Panda 2 . DreamWorks Animation

Puss In Boots . DreamWorks Animation

Rango . Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies present A Blind Wink/Gk Films Production

Rio . Blue Sky Studios

Tintin . Amblin Entertainment,...

I don't put much stock in the Annie Awards and neither does Disney after withdrawing from the International Animated Film Society, Asifa-Hollywood back in 2010. I have personally never found them to be a good judge of quality and as such don't pay them any particular attention, though I will pass along the information as they have announced their 2011 nominees with Dreamworks' Kung Fu Panda 2 leading the way with 12 nominations, followed by Puss in Boots and Rango each with nine. Of course, while Disney has withdrawn from the Annies that doesn't mean they aren't considered for the awards as Cars 2, Gnomeo and Juliet and Winnie the Pooh are among the nominees. Last year How to Train Your Dragon reigned supreme over Toy Story 3 and I wouldn't be surprised to see Kung Fu Panda 2 take home plenty of hardware, following in the footsteps of its predecessor, which beat out...

Always one of my favorites from Disney, Dumbo has been released as a special 70th Anniversary issue Blu-Ray and DVD. One of the truly magical efforts in the Disney collection, the courageous little elephant has stolen the hearts of viewers since it was first released.

The story itself hardly needs any introduction at this point (though even fans may be surprised when forced to recall that the feature is only 64 minutes long), but the amazing restoration and reissue deserves its own fanfare.

Going back to the original nitrate negative, the film has been restored to its original splendor, and the Blu-Ray looks far better than one could hope, especially considering the original process, and how long ago this was. It's a wonder to behold, and filled to bursting with an amazing palette that really shows off how it was meant to look.

Much like the recent release of Bambi, the...

Your Weekly Source for the Newest Releases to Blu-Ray Tuesday, September 20th, 2011

Boccaccio ’70 (1962)

Synopsis: Four legendary filmmakers direct some of Europe’s biggest stars in Boccaccio ’70, a landmark anthology film. Mario Monicelli (Big Deal on Madonna Street), Federico Fellini (8½), Luchino Visconti (The Leopard) and Vittorio De Sica (Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow) direct Sophia Loren, Anita Ekberg, Romy Schneider and more through four stories of unashamed eros. Modeled on Boccaccio’s Decameron, they are comic moral tales about the hypocrisies surrounding sex in 1960s Italy. Monicelli’s “Renzo e Luciana” (cut out of the original American release) is a frothy tale of young love and office politics in the big city. Fellini’s notorious “Le tentazioni del dottor Antonio” features Ekberg as a busty model in a milk advertisement whose image begins to haunt an aging prude. Visconti’s “Il Lavoro” stars Romy Schneider as a trophy wife enduring her husband’s very public affairs,...

Children from the Los Angeles After School Enrichment program pose with actor Robert Guillaume at “The Lion King” Los Angeles 3D Premiere at the El Capitan Theatre on August 27, 2011 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/WireImage)

In Theaters September 16th and homes October 4th

Hollywood, CA – Saturday, August 27, 2011 . The Lion King.s voice talent Robert Guillaume (Rafiki), Moira Kelly (Adult Nala), Jim Cummings (Ed) and Niketa Calame (Young Nala) were joined by legendary Disney producer Don Hahn, co-directors Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, animators Tony Bancroft, Mark Henn, and Andreas Deja, to celebrate the Premiere of The Lion King 3D at the historic El Capitan Theatre. They were joined by a variety of guests including Julie Bowen (Modern Family), Melora Hardin (The Office), Melissa Joan Hart, Ali Landry, Gilles Marini, Antonio Sabato Jr., Rick Schroeder, Monet Mazur, Rj Mitte (Breaking Bad), Shaunie O.Neal, Adam Irigoyen (Disney Channel...

With Disney Animated classic Dumbo coming up on its 70th anniversary, the House that Mickey built has been hard at work remastering the film for a hi-def video and audio release. On September 20, 2011, you can get your hands on Dumbo: 70th Anniversary Edition, a 2 Disc package Blu-ray and DVD Combo pack, that contains the typical Disney heaping helping of special features.

Bonus Features:

DVD:

· Deleted Scene – “The Mouse’s Tale”

· Deleted Song – “Are You a Man or a Mouse?”

· Taking Flight: The Making of Dumbo – A journey back to the origins of the film as everybody’s favorite baby elephant takes wing.

· The Magic Of Dumbo: A Ride of Passage – Witness the excitement and magic of Disneyland’s most popular ride through the eyes of a child.

· Audio Commentary with Pete Docter, Paula Sigman and Andreas Deja

· Sound Design Excerpt from The Reluctant Dragon

· Original Walt Disney Television Introduction

Blu-ray:...

Ten years ago Dumbo got a 60th Anniversary DVD release, and now, wouldn't you know, it's time for its 70th Anniversary. What's different 10 years later? Blu-ray. As you might expect, Disney is putting out a special 70th Anniversary Edition, remastered in high-def, for special Blu-ray, DVD, and combo pack editions. Personally, Dumbo and Robin Hood are those two unsung champions in the Disney vault that no one seems to give proper tribute to. It's nice to see Dumbo finally making his HD debut on September 20th. To fill you in on the details, we've got a special release trailer, the special features details, and the packaging art - just hit the jump to check them out.

If by some chance you're not familiar with the tale of Dumbo, here's the official synopsis:

The inspirational tale of Dumbo, the courageous baby elephant who uses his sensational ears to soar to fame...

The release of Fantasia/Fantasia 2000 was right about Dumbo coming to Blu-ray this year. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment has scheduled the Dumbo 70th Anniversary Edition for release on Sept. 20 on DVD and high-definition Blu-ray.

The Oscar-winning (best music score) animated movie is perhaps one of Disney’s sweetest films, telling the story of a baby elephant in a circus who’s ridiculed because of his incredibly large ears. He’s sent to be a part of the clown acts, but with his only friend, Timothy Q. Mouse, Dumbo proves he’s quite amazing.

Unlike today’s animated films, Dumbo didn’t have a hugely famous voice cast, but the movie is filled with Disney’s usual memorable characters, including those wonderful crows singing “When I See an Elephant Fly.” (Scroll down for a great clip.) Released in 1941, Dumbo was the studio’s fourth animated movie.

For this new disc release,...

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.

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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,...

In mid-March we showed you three new stills that Disney sent us from Walt Disney Animation Studios. .The Ballad Of Nessie,. an animated short appearing exclusively with the upcoming Winnie The Pooh. Today we have some new photos, along with some concept art, visual development paintings and character designs sketched for the film.

The Ballad Of Nessie and Winnie The Pooh will open in theaters in select international markets in Spring 2011; the U.S. release date is July 15, 2011. Be sure to check out Winnie The Pooh.s Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/WinniethePooh

About The Short

Set in the .bonny blue highlands. of Scotland, .The Ballad of Nessie. is a whimsical and colorful tall tale about the friendly Loch Ness monster, Nessie, and how she and her best friend MacQuack the rubber duck came to live in the moor they now call home. Setting the adventure into motion is...

Here are some new photos and concept art from the upcoming hand-drawn short film The Ballad of Nessie from Walt Disney Animation. The short was directed by Stevie Wermers-Skelton and Kevin Deters (the team behind How to Hook Up Your Home Theater and Prep and Landing). The score is from Ratatouille's Michael Giacchino and Scottish comedian Billy Connolly did the narration. The animation ws supervised by Andreas Deja, Mark Henn, Randy Haycock, Dale Baer and Ruben A. Aquino.The short will be attached to Winnie the Pooh beginning July 15th 2011. Click on the images below to check them out in hi-res:

Official Plot synopsis:

Set in the ‘bonny blue highlands’ of Scotland, The Ballad of Nessie is a whimsical and colorful tall tale about the friendly Loch Ness monster, Nessie, and how she (and her best friend, the rubber duck MacQuack) came to live in the moor they now call home.

[1] Walt Disney Animation has released new photos and concept art from their new hand-drawn short film The Ballad of Nessie, which will be attached to Winnie the Pooh beginning July 15th 2011. Hit the jump to see the new art and remember to click on the images to see them in high resolution. [gallery order="Desc" columns="2" orderby="ID"] The short was directed by Stevie Wermers-Skelton and Kevin Deters (the team behind How to Hook Up Your Home Theater and Prep and Landing). Michael Giacchino (Ratatouille) provided the score, while Scottish comedian Billy Connolly did the narration. Andreas Deja, Mark Henn, Randy Haycock, Dale Baer and Ruben A. Aquino supervised the animation. Official Plot synopsis: Set in the ‘bonny blue highlands’ of Scotland, The Ballad of Nessie is a whimsical and colorful tall tale about the friendly Loch Ness monster, Nessie, and how she (and her best friend, the rubber duck MacQuack) came to live in the moor they now call home.

Walt Disney Pictures has unveiled the first images from there upcoming animated short film The Ballad of Nessie. The images include some concept art and well as two official stills from the film, which is set to show before Winnie The Pooh on July 15th. 

Here's the full story breakdown and synopsis:

Set in the "bonny blue highlands" of Scotland, The Ballad of Nessie is a whimsical and colorful tall tale about the friendly Loch Ness monster, Nessie, and how she and her best friend MacQuack the rubber duck came to live in the moor they now call home. Setting the adventure into motion is a greedy land developer named MacFroogle, who decides to build a mini-golf empire on top of Nessie's home. 

Directed by the Emmy® Award-winning team of Stevie Wermers-Skelton and Kevin Deters (Prep & Landing, and the 2007 Goofy short How to Hook Up Your Home Theater), The Ballad of Nessie...

When Disney releases its new Winnie the Pooh animated movie this summer, playing in front of it will be a short cartoon. The studio has just announced to the public that we can expect to see The Ballad of Nessie playing ahead of the longer film.

Directed by Stevie Wermers-Skelton and Kevin Deters (who also made the Prep & Landing 'toon short) and narrated by Scottish comedian Billy Connolly, The Ballad of Nessie will show us how the young Loch Ness monster and her best friend MacQuack found their way to the Scottish lake that they now live in. The short will be presented in the same traditional cel animation style as the Winnie the Pooh feature. Michael Giacchino (Oscar-winning composer for Up) is writing the score for the short film; Dorothy McKim and Tamara Boutcher (Dinosaur) are producing; and animation on Nessie is being supervised by five of Disney's top talents,...

Walt Disney Pictures has presented us with three new images for the animated short The Ballad of Nessie. The traditionally hand-drawn animated short will make its theatrical debut before this summer’s Winnie the Pooh on July 15th. As some of you may know, I am just a sucker for Disney animated films, especially the traditionally hand drawn ones, so this little opening film has made me quite excited.

The screenplay, written by Stevie Wemers=Skelton and Regina Conroy, is based on the origin of the Loch Ness Monster, named Nessie, and is directed by Wemers-Skelton and Kevin Deters.

The Ballad of Nessie has already premiered at Anima the International Animation Film Festival of Brussels, on March 5. At according to one screener the film is nothing short of spectacular (please forgive the shoddy grammar as this was translated from Dutch to English on Google translator),

The movie is not spectacular,...

Here is our first look at images from Disney's short film, The Ballad of Nessie. This traditionally animated short film is set to premiere before Winnie the Pooh, which arrives in theaters on July 15.

Official synopsis:

Set in the “bonny blue highlands” of Scotland, “The Ballad of Nessie” is a whimsical and colorful tall tale about the friendly Loch Ness monster, Nessie, and how she and her best friend MacQuack the rubber duck came to live in the moor they now call home. Setting the adventure into motion is a greedy land developer named MacFroogle, who decides to build a mini-golf empire on top of Nessie’s home.

Directed by the Emmy® Award-winning team of Stevie Wermers-Skelton and Kevin Deters (“Prep & Landing,” and the 2007 Goofy short “How to Hook Up Your Home Theater”), “The Ballad of Nessie” is animated in classic Disney hand-drawn style. Written by Wermers-Skelton, Deters and Regina Conroy,...

We don’t see many hand-drawn films anymore now that computers can do all of our work for us. Heck, computers can even make an entire movie look as though it was hand-drawn. Disney has been slowly bringing back these films, and has now released a few stills from their newest venture The Ballad of Nessie. This short was directed by Stevie Wermers-Skelton and Kevin Deters and follows the story of the infamous Loch Ness Monster and MacQuack, his rubber duck friend, as they try to stop greedy land developer MacFroogle from building a mini-mini golf empire on their land.

The new short will play before Disney’s Winnie the Pooh, which is set for theaters July 15, 2011. Check out the images for The Ballad of Nessie after the jump.

Check out the synopsis for the film below.

Set in the “bonny blue highlands” of Scotland, “The Ballad of Nessie” is...