Bolt Co-Director Chris Williams Joins Don Hall at Helm of Big Hero 6

Perhaps mirroring the production of their current mega-hit Frozen, The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Disney have added Chris Williams, who co-directed 2008's Bolt with Tangled's Byron Howard, as a director of their upcoming Marvel-adaptation Big Hero 6, alongside existing director Don Hall (Winnie the Pooh).

Pete Docter Talks Inside Out's Story and Animation

The Hollywood Reporter were on hand at this year's SIGGRAPH convention, and got a few words with Pixar director Pete Docter about his latest project, Inside Out. Set inside a young girl's mind and showing her emotions as actual characters, Docter described the project as "one of the most challenging stories I’ve ever had to put together."

Disney Planning Live-Action Jungle Book?

Just like the Kenneth Branagh-directed live-action Cinderella and the Angelina Jolie-starring Maleficent (and Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland before that), it looks like another beloved Disney animated classic is getting the live action treatment: a live action version another live action version of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book is apparently in the works.

Fox Announces Colossal List of Animated Releases Up to 2018 - What's the Fallout?

Fox are gearing up for war, it seems. After Disney's ambitious 2016 - 2018 release schedule a couple of weeks ago, the studio, which distributes both DreamWorks' and Blue Sky's films, have announced an equally competitive release schedule, directly plonking down on the release dates on a rather high-profile Pixar films.

DreamWorks' The Croods Pulled from China for Making Too Much Money

We here at A113Animation liked The Croods, it was fun, it was meaningful and it looked fan-bloody-tastic. Apparently the Chinese liked it too, so much in fact that the Chinese government didn't. The Hollywood Reporter says that government authorities pulled the animated family romp two weeks ahead of its previously scheduled end of the film's run.

Brad Bird on The Incredibles 2 and Star Wars: Episode VII

Brad Bird's a hot commodity right now. His consistent success is something very few directors who have directed four features can rival: all his films have been critical hits, and all except The Iron Giant have done admirably commercially too (and that was down to lax advertising). Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol proved he can direct live action as well as animation, and he's currently helming the secretive sci-fi flick Tomorrowland for Disney. As such, he was one of the top names bandied about when dream-directors were being postulated for Star Wars: Episode VII. That's not happening, but it can't stop us dreaming. The other Brad Bird project we've all been dreaming of for nigh-on nine years now, is The Incredibles 2. The director recently spoke to THR about both of those prospects.

Robert Downey, Jr.'s Marvel Contract's Up; Will He Sign a New One?

Since Iron Man 3 hit cinemas (read our A113 group review here), there has been speculation over Robert Downey, Jr.'s return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as his extensive contract with Marvel has now ran its course.

Byron Howard Directing Top-Secret New Disney Film; To Star Jason Bateman

The Hollywood Reporter claims that Byron Howard (Bolt, Tangled) is hard at work on a brand new, top-secret animated film for Disney. No details about the film are known at the time, other than the fact that, according to THR's sources, it's an "untitled animal comedy that does not yet have a release date," which Jason Bateman is in talks to lend his voice to.

Bateman, who has starred in films such as Juno and will next appear on Netflix's resurgence of Arrested Development, hasn't voiced a character in a feature animated film before - but certainly has the comic chops and inherent likeability to pull it off. Howard, likewise, would be facing firsts on the project, having not directed a feature solo before.

It's certainly an exciting prospect, and this - when slotted in with Frozen this winter, Big Hero 6 next year, a new Ron & John film on the horizon and a desired Wreck-It Ralph sequel - means Disney have got a hell of an exciting upcoming slate.

Oriental DreamWorks To Adapt The Tibet Code

The Hollywood Reporter says that DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg has announced plans for Oriental DreamWorks to adapt the immensely popular Chinese book series, The Tibet Code, with a view towards turning it into a franchise.

The series follows "the adventures a two men on the hunt for Buddhist treasures," so DreamWorks will presumably be hoping to evoke Indiana Jones comparisons; the books themselves have been several times compared to the Harry Potter series. The project is to be a collaboration between Oriental DreamWorks, China Film Group and The National Film Fund of China. The commercial potential of the films is huge, particularly so in China, with Katzenberg stating "Tibet Code has all the makings of a world-class, quality, blockbuster franchise."

Oriental DreamWorks is the animation powerhouse's Beijing-based satellite studio, which is currently working on Kung Fu Panda 3. Writing for Tibet Code is set to begin shortly.

Related news: Exciting New Additions to Kung Fu Panda 3 Voice Cast

Exciting New Additions to Kung Fu Panda 3 Voice Cast

The Hollywood Reporter says that Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Rebel Wilson (Pitch Perfect) and Mads Mikkelsen (Casino Royale) have all joined the cast of DreamWorks' martial arts-threequel in unspecified roles.

UPDATED: First Reviews for The Croods Surface

DreamWorks' first film of 2013, The Croods, opens a week yesterday, and, as such, reviews are slowly starting to roll out, and, while they're so far pretty good, they're not as good as we might have hoped.

UPDATED: The Simpsons Movie 2 Not Happening for "Maybe Another 10, 15 Years"

Fans of The Simpsons are bound to be a little disheartened by this news, but show creator Matt Groening and several-time director David Silverman have said that a sequel to 2007's hit movie adaptation, The Simpsons Movie, is not on the cards any time soon.

Trailer for Angry Birds Toons Series; Starts Next Month

A little later than originally planned, but Rovio's Angry Birds animated series is finally taking flight; a weekly Angry Birds Toons animated series will launch on the weekend beginning 16th March.

The series, as of yet, has no TV airing deal in the US or the UK, so will air online - not a bad thing given the billion views Rovio's YouTube videos have already amassed in total. The game-turned-series' blog broke the news, giving a brief synopsis too:

"Angry Birds Toons is an all-new animated series that throws the doors to Piggy Island wide open! For the first time ever, you can get up close and personal with your favorite characters. Join us every week starting the weekend of March 16th for a brand new episode featuring the latest adventures of the birds and pigs!"

This is presumably stage one in preparing audiences for the Angry Birds feature film coming in just three years. We'll keep you informed.

Via THR.

Brave Wins Big at VES Awards

At yesterday's 11th annual Visual Effects Society Awards, Pixar's Brave got some much deserved awards recognition, taking four of the prestigious awards home from the ceremony at the Beverly Hilton.

Wreck-It Ralph Wins Producers Guild Award

Walt Disney Animation Studios' 52nd feature film, Wreck-It Ralph, is picking up a lot of steam heading into the Oscars next month. The retro-gaming homage, directed by The Simpsons' Rich Moore, took home the animation prize at yesterday's 24th Annual Producers Guild Awards, beating out Brave, Frankenweenie, ParaNorman and Rise of the Guardians.

This is a very prestigious honour for Ralph to collect so close to the Oscars and in such a close competition, and it's noteworthy that it just beat out three of the four films it'll be squaring off against for the Academy Award in February (AMPAS nominated Aardman's The Pirates! instead of Guardians). The award was given to producer Clark Spencer.

Congrats to the Wreck-It Ralph crew on scooping such a major award and commiserations to the other talented teams.

The main prize however, The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures, went to Ben Affleck's awards favourite, Argo, beating out a lot of the same films it'll face at the Oscars. TV winners included Homeland and Modern Family.

Via The Hollywood Reporter.

Related posts: Oscars 2013: Munir's Best Animated Feature Predictions

UPDATED: J.J. Abrams Set to Direct Star Wars: Episode VII

It's a day, it seems, of loosely-based-to-animation news, but this is too exciting a story to not post about. Months after the galaxy-shaking news that Disney had acquired Lucasfilm and were working on a new Star Wars trilogy, and endless speculation about who would direct the first instalment in said trilogy, we now know that J.J. Abrams is near to reaching a deal to helm Star Wars: Episode VII!

The Good Dinosaur's Box Office Returns May Have Just Shrank

The future is going to be absolutely prehistoric! 2014 is set to be the year of the dinosaurs again.

In great news for Jurassic Park fans (well, unless they were particularly put off by 3) and presumably nerve-shredding news for Disney execs, Universal have officially given Jurassic Park 4 a release date: 13th June, 2014. That release date is just over a fortnight after that of Pixar's dino-film, The Good Dinosaur (due 30th May, 2014).

Hotel Transylvania 2 Officially in the Works - Due 2015

In a move that won't please the critics, but will satisfy kids and other fans alike - and probably already has Sony execs drooling - The Hollywood Reporter tells us that Sony Pictures Animation are officially working on Hotel Transylvania 2.

The project, which is very early on in development, is tentatively scheduled for a 25th September, 2015 release. Considering that the first film took seven years to make, three is a significant improvement! That said, it took Hotel Transylvania a long time to find Genndy Tartakovsky as its director, and 2's going to be without the Dexter's Lab creator. Tartakovsky is working on Popeye (now due on 26th September, 2014) for Sony at the moment, so Hotel T 2 will have to find a new director.

Hotel Transylvania's been a big hit for the studio (its highest grossing fully-animated film in fact - although it bows to CG/live-action mash-up The Smurfs' $563.7 million gross), having taken about $253.6 million worldwide, so, a sequel makes sense. The first film was good enough, I'm not overly-eager to see a second, but so long as it replicates the original's formula of light-hearted gags and unpretentiousness, it should be fun.

Related posts:

• Hotel Transylvania Review - Frightfully Frivolous But Fairly Fun
• Sony to Release Hotel Transylvania Short Goodnight, Mr. Foot
• Interview: Pete Oswald, Vis. Dev. Artist on Hotel Transylvania and ParaNorman

Wreck-It Ralph's Out Now in the US - What Are the Critics Saying?

Us unlucky blighters elsewhere in the world will have to suffer through months of rave reviews, but, as of today, American audiences can check out Walt Disney Animation Studios' 52nd animated feature film, Wreck-It Ralph, in cinemas! The film which takes place inside the world of arcade video-games, and is directed by Simpsons veteran Rich Moore, has been the most hotly anticipated animated film of the year, and, judging by reviews, it's been worth the wait.

Andy Serkis to Direct Mo-Cap Version of Animal Farm

Serkis at the premiere of Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

The Hollywood Reporter today broke the exciting news that motion-capture actor extraordinaire, Andy Serkis, best known for his role as Gollum in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy (and subsequent The Hobbit trilogy - which he also acted as second-unit director on) is set to make his directorial debut on a motion-capture adaptation of George Orwell's Animal Farm!