Animation Titbits: Croods Motion Poster, 'Art of' Books, Partysaurus Rex and Frankenweenie Short

DreamWorks have rolled out a cool new motion poster (in the vein of fellow Fox stablemate, The Wolverine) for their first release of 2013, The Croods. Based on the existing poster we'd already seen, this cool new motion one shows some of the gorgeous sceneries and animals we can expect to encounter come March next year. It's embedded above, but follow this link if that doesn't work - be sure to toggle the definition up to 1080p. Also, try downloading the DreamWorks Animation Augmented Reality app and scanning the poster with your smart phone or iPod Touch - it's pretty cool.

Speaking of the gorgeous sceneries and lush, vibrant colours of The Croods, Amazon are now listing The Art of The Croods for pre-order. Odds are, given that it's not out til February, you won't want to pre-order the book just yet (although it's sure to be a stunning one), but you can check out the (presumably temporary) cover art above. The Art of The Croods, by Noela Hueso, with foreword by Nicolas Cage, is published by Titan Books on 15th February, 2013 (UK; 12th in the US).

Speaking of 'Art of' books, Amazon are also listing The Art of Epic for pre-order too; by Tara Bennett and also published by Titan Books, due 26th April, 2013 (UK; 16th in the US). The cover here appears to be a final shot from the film, rather than actual production art. The Art of Monsters University is also up for pre-order as well.

US fans who checked out Finding Nemo 3D this past September were treated to the third Toy Story Toon, Partysaurus Rex (check out our review here, and our interview with the short's director, Mark Walsh, here). Audiences and critics loved it (well it is Toy Story after all), but were left bewildered as to when and where it'd show up on home video. It wasn't on the Pixar Short Films Collection: Volume 2, nor was it on the Finding Nemo Blu-ray release; we feared we may have to wait for Short Films Collection: Volume 3 or a Toy Story Toons Collection.However, fear no more, as (thanks to Pixar Talk) we now know where Partysaurus will show up next.

Monsters, Inc. 3D is in US cinemas now (check out our exclusive review of it here), we can expect the re-issue of the Blu-ray sometime thereafter (19th February, 2013 claims blu-ray.com) and - as you can see in the back cover shot above - it will be bringing Partysaurus Rex home with it! Aside from that, the nonus features seem pretty much the same as before. Monsters, Inc. 3D arrives in the UK on 18th January, 2013, so expect the Blu-ray to hit the UK sometime after that.

Lastly, with some more home video release news, Entertainment Weekly have got an exclusive clip from the brand new feature-based short, Captain Sparky vs. the Flying Saucers, that will appear on the Frankenweenie DVD and Blu-ray release - check it out here.

Frankenweenie hits DVD and Blu-ray in the US on 8th January, 2013, and arrives here in the UK on 11th February, 2013.