Editorial: It's time for Verna Felton to become a Disney Legend

The Disney Legends Awards was created in 1987 as a form of recognition to individuals that have made a great contribution to the Walt Disney Company. From animators to imagineers to actors and musicians, the Legends award has been given to a wide array of people that have worked at the company since its inception in the 1920s. Nowadays, the award is given bi-annually at the D23 Expo with Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Clyde Geronimi and Whoopi Goldberg among the latest people to receive the award.

Meet the Robinsons 10th Anniversary: How it changed and brought new life to Walt Disney Animation Studios

Today marks the 10th anniversary of Disney Animation's 47th film - Meet the Robinsons - a film that may not be well-remembered or universally beloved but that nonetheless, ushered a new golden age of animated features at WDAS and deserves to be remembered, re-watched and discovered by audiences around the world.

Inside Out First Impressions: A New Era for Pixar.

Pixar's 15th feature film is coming next summer and last week we got our first glimpse of the film, via a very good teaser trailer. Aside from making us remember all the good emotions that the Pixar films have helped us experience throughout the years, the teaser also shows us the main protagonists of the new film - with charming results.

Animation Turnaround #1: Shrek (2001)

Welcome to Animation Turnarounds, a new section where I will review animated films that, for one reason or another, represented a change of direction for their respective animation studios and the industry in general. Unlike the Disney Retrospectives, these reviews won't be in chronological order and will feature a variety of films from different studios and nationalities. So, join me in celebrating these films that have made a dent in the animation industry, starting right now with Shrek:

DisneyToon Studios' Future: What Options Does it Have?

Earlier this week, reports surfaced that there were going to be some layoffs at DisneyToon Studios, the studio responsible for the Tinker Bell and Planes series. The reason? There wasn't an specific one but it's not too hard to see why the layoffs occurred. The Tinker Bell series is done, with Legend of the Neverbeast being its last instalment, and the second film in the Planes franchise, Fire and Rescue, didn't do nearly as well as the first did last year. With the home media market shrinking every year, there are not many options for a studio that has specialized in producing home video products since its inception.

Studio Ghibli's Future: What's Next for the Revered Studio?

After all the craziness that rose up recently over the alleged closure of Studio Ghibli, I was going to write an editorial mourning its closing and celebrating its legacy. Fortunately, those reports have been debunked and Studio Ghibli is still open, albeit not quite as we knew it. A restructuring is imminent and the prospect of closing down its production team is not far fetched. So now that the three people who have managed the studio for 29 years (Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata and Toshio Suzuki) have retired, what's next for the celebrated studio? And what can they do to avoid shutting down? We'll take a look at how things have been running and how the studio can improve those things and re-emerge as a stronger studio, ready to look into the future and continuing to provide audiences with stellar motion pictures.

The Pixar Secret We Never Heard Of

Will you spot the hidden reference?

In the last few days, an online buzz has caught our attention. According to this Huffington Post article, there's a hidden reference to a certain A113 in nearly every Pixar movie. 

At A113Animation we love that sort of stuff, and, learning about that story, we immediately saw its potential; obviously we had no clue there was this recurring A113 Easter egg in the Pixar films, or what it referenced.

But we thought it would be interesting to share our reaction to this brand new discovery.

Editorial: In Animation, Anonymity is the Brand that Sells

"From the creators of:" Disney and Pixar are big selling points, but the directors rarely get a mention
in animated film marketing. As opposed to what we see in live-action.

When you hear about an animated film, you don't hear who's directing it but rather the name of the studio that's doing it. Disney, Pixar, DreamWorks, Blue Sky, among others, are studios that sell their films through the power of their respective brands but who rarely name the human talent behind the projects. For the record, I don't condemn that practice as people have come to expect a certain level of excellence when they hear a new film is coming from Pixar or Disney, but I think that this  kind of anonymity has contributed to the general disregard that animated films are an "easy" thing to do; leading to not taking the people behind them seriously.

DreamWorks Animation Traditionally-Animated Films: What Went Wrong?

DreamWorks Animation is a studio that has positioned itself as one of the leading studios in the animation industry. In recent years it has a achieved a certain level of excellence with great films such as Kung Fu Panda and How To Train Your Dragon. Their CG films are very popular, with many of them becoming franchises and spanning many sequels. But, what many people have forgotten, is that in their early years, they also released a bunch of hand-drawn animated films that have now fallen into obscurity. The question is, what happened? Are these films very bad and deserve to be forgotten? Or, are they underrated films deserving a second chance? Well let's take a look at each film and the circumstances surrounding their releases. Unlike the Disney Retrospective, nostalgia won't play a part in any of these films as I remembered very little of them (and in the case of Sinbad, had never seen it before) so I re-watched all of them with fresh eyes. The meaning of theis article is not to provide a definite answer for the question in the headline, but just to give some context and try to make some guesses as to why that happened.

Note: Only the theatrical traditionally animated films are taken into account so Joseph: King of Dreams is not included.

A Plea for The Wind Rises to Win the Oscar

With the Oscars right around the corner, we are all being bogged down with promotional petitions and stunts on who should win Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director and on and on. Some of these promotional petitions may be re-releases, special Q&A screenings, or even sing-along versions of the films. And while I'm sure most people regard the Oscars as the ultimate authority on what merits recognition in the world of motion pictures, there has been more than one occasion where the Oscar has been awarded to what can only be regarded as the most popular film of the year, rather than the best film in the category. Unfortunately, I fear this may be another such year where the film that merits the award for Best Animated Feature will be cast aside for the more popular film of the nominations.

Why I Stopped Caring About Award Shows

By now, you've already learned that Monsters University was not nominated in the Best Animated Feature category for the Academy Awards. And that the same thing happened for the Golden Globes. Judging by the reactions I saw on twitter among animation fans, I would say there's a very good chance you are angry about this. Well, I'm not. Because I stopped caring about award shows. It wasn't always like that; there was a time when I cared about the Oscars and the Golden Globes. That wasn't so long ago, but it's now a thing of the past. No, it's not a sad story.

New Tintin in 2052. No, Not the Peter Jackson Movie.

Tintin's final appearance in the unfinished Tintin and Alph-Art.

All my Tintinophile life I've been thinking that there was never going to be any new Tintin album. Ever. And I was okay with that. How couldn't I be? I was born two years after Hergé's death, and there was never a doubt in my mind that The Adventures of Tintin were over for good.
So I never asked myself: do I want another Tintin album?
That changed this past Monday, when a Nick Rodwell (head of Moulinsart, the society which owns all Tintin rights) interview was published in Le Monde and Le Soir. In that interview, for the first time ever, Nick Rodwell evokes the possibility of a new Tintin album. In 2052.

Do I want it? How could I not want a new Tintin story, being the huge Tintin fan that I am? I always want more Tintin. More Tintin is good, right? Despite Hergé's wish that there shouldn't be any new comic book featuring the Belgian reporter after his death, I can't help but want more.
So why am I not excited by this news? Why a new Tintin story in 2052? Why this announcement now? Those are three different questions, and each one of them deserves a specific answer.

90 Years, An Infinite Legacy: Disney Turns 90 Today

90 years ago today, on 16th October, 1923, Walt and Roy Disney founded the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio. From that day onwards, the landscape of animation changed forever. Alice Comedies, Mickey Mouse, Snow White, all the way through to Toy Story, Tangled and modern greats like that; join us in a look back at the unparalleled legacy of The Walt Disney Company.

A Short Note to Hayao Miyazaki Upon his Retirement

Dearest Miyazaki,

I never thought I would have to write these words, as I ignored the fact that the day would come when we would hear that you were stepping out of our worlds, and receding into your own. But the time has finally arrived, and though I recognize your reasons as good, solid reasons, I still feel a bit empty at the news of your retirement. I, like many of your fans, have spent many a night cuddled in blankets holding a cat, a stuffed Totoro, or a loved one watching your wonderful fables imagining a cross between our worlds.

Guest Editorial: Is Disney Animated Princess Marketing Sexist?

Disney's next princess movie, Frozen. Note the lack of focus on, y'know, the
princesses.

This is a guest post by Morgan Stradling, of The Rotoscopers.

It seems every time a new Disney animated princess film rolls around nowadays that people pick up their pitch forks and begin chanting the war cry that Disney is sexist. That “they’ve forgotten their core audience,” “they are catering to the boys,” and have ignored the women.

Hayao Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli and War

If you are an avid Studio Ghibli watcher, you know that many of Hayao Miyazaki's films incorporate some of the toughest themes to be covered by animated films. Studio Ghibli doesn't just do coming-of-age stories (Kiki's Delivery Service, My Neighbor Totoro), or romance based stories (Only Yesterday, Whisper of the Heart) they also do fantastical moral stories (Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle). But the biggest theme Studio Ghibli covers is the theme of the morality of war and violence (or lack thereof). From Miyazaki's pre-Studio Ghibli days, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, to his most noted, Princess Mononoke, and even his most recent, The Wind Rises, Hayao Miyazaki chooses to highlight humanity in the midst of violent turmoil, and war. But the reasons the studio chooses to do so can be more striking than the films themselves.

Field Report: Tintin and Hergé in Brussels

Introduction
As a huge Tintin fan, I felt it was my duty to go back to Brussels, visit some of the places featured in the books and see the Hergé Museum. Why go back? Well, I already went to Brussels, but not as a Tintin fan. I always liked it, but was not a Tintinophile forever. Interestingly enough, I believe I became a Tintinophile on the way back from my first Brussels trip, as a teenager. That's when I read the unfinished book Tintin and Alph-Art for the first time, and became interested in the Belgian reporter again.
Therefore, this trip was a first for me. It was the first time I went to Brussels as a Tintinophile. As I'm sure there are other Tintinophiles out there who can't go to Belgium, I'll share what kind of experience it is to be there, as a fan of Tintin. So, get ready to go on an adventure, as I guide you through the streets of Brussels!

Editorial: Thank You, Mr. Lasseter. Or, An Analysis of Walt Disney Animation Studios' Spectacular Comeback (2007-2012 and Beyond)

With Disney's Frozen just around the corner, I think it's time to look back and see the slow-but-sure comeback of Walt Disney Animation Studios since John Lasseter took over. With the Disney Company owning some of the most influential brands in the world (Pixar, Lucasfilm, Marvel), the Disney Animation Studios sometimes gets lost amidst its more media-frenzy-inducing siblings. Nonetheless, since Walt founded it back in 1923, the Animation Studio has been, and continues to be, the cornerstone of the Disney company (even if sometimes that's not apparent).

The Top 5 Animated Films to Watch for in 2014

Just over half the way into 2013, it may seem a little premature to start looking forward to next year. And that would be true, if next year weren't looking so damn appetising. Sequels, adaptations and original concepts populate an increasingly more exciting 2014, and here are A113Animation's top 5 animated films to keep your eyes on.

Big Hero 6 Not Released in the UK Until 2015? Or, Why Disney Still Hates Non-Americans

Yes, this is another international staggered release dates rant. If there's one thing that boils my bacon, when it comes to film studios, it's when films are released several months after their initial North American premieres over here in the UK. While writing a post about animated releases in 2014 (watch out for that in the next couple of days), I logged onto fiilmdates.co.uk to check when Walt Disney Animation Studios' Marvel adaptation, Big Hero 6, was due over here in good ole Blighty. And I was very much not pleased with what I found: the film isn't even due here next year; much like the God-awful situation with Wreck-It Ralph last year, it's not arriving until 15th February, 2015!