The Art of The Wind Rises Book Coming Very Soon

Since it was announced that The Wind Rises would be Hayao Miyazaki's final film, I have been anticipating the release of the art book. Viz Media announced last week, via the Anime News Network, that they would be publishing The Art of The Wind Rises on 8th April - which is just days away - for the price of $34.00 USD/$39.99 CAN.

Upcoming UK Disney Blu-ray Details

©Disney

We in the UK often get a raw deal of things, Disney are a particularly nefarious culprit of giving us films late. One such area is that we get Disney Blu-rays at times completely independent to the US, sometimes this is good (we got Cinderella and Peter Pan early), but sometimes it isn't (we still haven't got the Finding Nemo Blu-ray, and the bonus features we get on our BD releases are always slim pickings). However, once in a while there's a ray of light in the dark, stormy night; for instance, we've got a succulent slew of Disney Blu-ray releases coming up in the next month.

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.

Brave Blu-ray and DVD Gets a UK Release Date

Wow, well this is much quicker than I'd imagined! Although Brave's still out in cinemas here in the UK, it'll arrive on home media formats on 26th November, only 13 days after the US release. I didn't think it'd arrive here until January at least, so this is pretty cool - that and getting Pixar Short Films Collection: Volume 2 this month almost makes up for the 2 month wait for Brave in cinemas over here... almost.

The release will include director's commentary, an alternate opening, La Luna, an all new short-film The Legend of Mor'du, the actual feature film and more! You'll need to check out the Blu-ray to get the bulk of the bonus features though - although you should be doing so anyway; imagine how fantastic Brave's going to look in HD!

Great Blu-ray and DVD release dates for UK animation fans to pen into their diaries include:

• Pixar Short Films Collection: Volume 2 - Listed a month earlier than the US, on 15th October, on HMV, but only a day before its 13th November US release on Amazon.co.uk
• Peter Pan - 5th November
  
• Dr Seuss' The Lorax - 19th November
• Arthur Christmas (finally!) - 19th November
• Brave - 26th November
  

You can pre-order Pixar's latest from Amazon.co.uk below.

101 Dalmatians is out on Blu-ray!

Walt Disney's 17th animated feature film, and one of my absolute favourites, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, is out of the Disney Vault! Not only is there no longer moratorium on it, but 101 is also now in glorious high-definition. The classic tale of Pongo, Perdita and their century-and-one of pups is out on Blu-ray for the first time today - and also re-released, with a whole host of special features, on DVD.

While it is a UK release, the good news for US and other worldwide fans is that it's listed on Amazon as being region free! I assume this isn't a mistake, and, while there'll be some hefty postage and packaging costs, it's a great addition to anyone's Disney collection.

With Cinderella and The Aristocats also recently released (and listed as region free too!), and the Pixar Short Films Collection: Volume 2 due out in just over a month here in the UK, it's certainly a good time to be a Disney fan. Now if they'd only get round to releasing Jungle Book on Blu-ray...

You can buy 101 Dalmatians on Blu Ray and DVD from HMV, or, slightly cheaper, from Amazon.

Pixar Short Films Volume 2 Due on 15th October in the UK

Well this kind of makes up for the huge delay for getting Brave in cinemas over here...

UK retail sites, including Sainsbury's, HMV and Amazon.co.uk, are listing the Pixar Short Films Collection: Volume 2 for release on 15th October - almost a month before its US release date. The follow up to the original Short Films Collection, which will include short films from 2007's Your Friend the Rat to 2011's La Luna, as well as student films from John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Pete Docter, is due for release on DVD and Blu-ray in the US on 13th November.

Related news: Curious: Pixar Shorts Mini Collection and Cinderella's Out on Blu-ray - A Sneak Peak at Special Features

And be sure to vote in our polls, to the right, and on Facebook, for the second round of our "A113 Ten Years" voting!

Cinderella's Out on Blu-ray - A Sneak Peak at Special Features

Cinderella's been released from the Disney vault, in high-definition, on Blu-ray, as well as on DVD, and is accompanied by an assortment of exciting new special features. Walt Disney Studios UK's YouTube channel has released some clips from some of these special features.

   

Included amongst the special features are a recently discovered alternate opening (above, left), an intro by Dianne Disney Miller (above, right), a look at the film's iconic castle and a few very interesting mini-videos, called "The Real Fairy Godmother".

These videos tell the story of Disney artist, Ken O'Connor, and his kind-hearted wife, Mary Alice O'Connor, who served as the inspiration for the Fairy Godmother. You can check out one part of the featurette above, and the rest ("Opposites Attract", "Creating The Coach" and "Drawing From Her Spirit") on YouTube.

The wealth of engrossing, never-before-seen special features, the gorgeous visuals and timeless stories make these Blu-ray Disney classics a great buy! Cinderella will be released on Blu-ray in the US on 2nd October, and those of us in the UK can get it right now!

And be sure to vote in our polls, to the right, and on Facebook, for the second round of our "A113 Ten Years" voting!

Pixar Short Films Volume 2 Due on 13th November

It's a good time to be an American Pixar fan. With Finding Nemo 3D and Monsters, Inc. 3D due in cinemas later this year, Brave due on DVD and Blu-ray and Nemo due on Blu-ray for the first time, there was already a lot of Pixar goodies to enjoy - and now there's one more. Pixar Short Films Collection: Volume 2, which we saw hints at a while back (originating in our interview with La Luna director Enrico Casarosa), has now been officially dated for a (US) release date of 13th November.

This'll be a particularly grand day for US fans, as Brave is due for home video release that same day! Stitch Kingdom tells us that the Blu-ray collection is now available to pre-order on Amazon. The collection will include shorts from where the first collection left off, from Your Friend the Rat up, at least, until this year's La Luna. We can also glean from the cover-art (above) that the set will include the Toy Story Toons - or at least Hawaiian Vacation. No word on whether it'll include Partysaurus Rex, and we'll have to wait for an official announcement to get the full break down of shorts included.

Exciting news, also, though, is that the collection will include student films by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Pete Docter! Included, at least, are John Lasseter's Nitemare and The Lady and the Lamp; Stitch Kingdom detail even more too. The collection will also contain special features looking at how some of the Pixar talent got their start in animation.

Exciting news indeed and a must for any Pixar fan! No word on a UK release date though.

Pixar Head Honcho John Lasseter on Vanity Fair New Establishment List

John Lasseter, the creative genius behind Pixar and Disney Animation Studios, has been honoured by Vanity Fair as one of the most influential people in the world. The Pixar CCO is ranked at number 8 on the Vanity Fair New Establishment List, one above Lady GaGa.

Sharing the top ten spots with Lasseter are Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerbeg (#1), Google co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin (#2) and representetives of Amazon (#3),  Apple (#4), Twitter (#5) and more.

Ranked above such huge public figures as J.K. Rowling and Tim Burton, this is certainly a huge honour for the director of Toy Story.

Via The Pixar Blog and The Pixar Times.