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• The Voice of Mickey Mouse is Silenced

  Rest in peace, Mickey Mouse. No, the little animated Disney icon isn’t being killed off – but Wayne Allwine, the man who gave him his voice for the last 32 years, died Monday of complications from diabetes. He was 62. He was only the third person to voice Mickey, the other two being Walt Disney himself and Jimmy McDonald, who was Allwine’s mentor and chose him to continue the tradition. He can be heard on “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” daily on Disney Channel, along with his wife, Russi Taylor, who is the voice of Minnie. Yes, Mickey and Minnie were married in real life, for 20 years. Pretty much anything Mickey since 1977 had Allwine’s voice behind it, including the theme parks, movies, and TV shows. According to the Associated Press, “Roy E. Disney, director emeritus for The Walt Disney Co., said Allwine did more than give Mickey a voice. He "gave him a heart and soul as well." Read More... Posted May 21 2009, 02:01 PM by Amy Kuras with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: disney, cartoons, animation, mickey mouse, Wayne Allwine, Minnie Mouse, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, voices behind animated characters

• Slip Into Something Comfy With Franny's Feet

  Her feet were made for walking right out of the TV screen and into kid's hearts. Now Franny's Feet's on DVD, a celebration of the first season of the PBS Kids show here in America.  Babble gives you a look-see at which episodes made the Franny's Feet DVD cut and why it's worth walking over to the store to pick them up for your kids:  Read More... Posted Mar 12 2009, 03:01 PM by JeanneSager with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: tv, PBS, animation, Imagination, creativity, Jeanne Sager, review, cartoon, Sprout, family entertainment, Franny's feet, kid's show

• "You Won't Remember This Either"

  I loved this animated short film father, Jeff Scher made as a "portrait" of his toddler.   It is his second one of this type.  The first was called "You Won't Remember This" and was for his first son.  This, for his second son, is called "You Won't Remember This Either." Says the artist: "The word “toddler” Read More... Posted Jan 08 2009, 08:41 PM by Shannon LC Cate with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: animation, toddlers, Shannon LC Cate

• Disney movie to feature black princess

  This would belong in the "who cares" pile except that this is the first time that Disney has had an African-American princess in one of their films. Read More... Posted Oct 10 2008, 03:00 PM by Brett Singer with | with 6 comment(s) Filed under: entertainment, Movies, disney, cartoons, animation, films, film, movie, princess, Brett Singer, african american, the princess and the frog, disney movies

• RetroFitted: Papa Smurf, Can You Hear Me?

  It was virtually impossible to escape from childhood in the 1980s without owning at least one Smurf-related product. The Smurfs were EVERYWHERE. Although Papa Smurf and his posse of blue gnomes were first born in a Belgian comic strip back in the 1950s, they reached the zenith of their powers in the 1980s, when an NBC cartoon series and a never-ending parade of figurines, plush toys and other merchandise made them the most ubiquitous tiny creatures since the Munchkins.  Despite the fact that they used the word "smurf" so frequently that you kinda wanted to smurf every last one of them where the smurf doesn't smurf, these diminutive, super-happy characters were enormously popular. And apparently Columbia Pictures thinks they can be again. Read More... Posted Jun 12 2008, 10:28 AM by Jen Chaney with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: Movies, animation, film, RetroFitted, Smurfette, Columbia Pictures, Smurfs

• What Are Your Favorite Animated Flicks?

  Ask any three people what the "greatest" anything is and you'll typically get three different answers. (Except for "Greatest Live Action Network Television Series Superhero Spoof ", which is clearly this.) AMCTV asked three artists from DC Comics "What's the Greatest Animated Film?" They picked theirs, but what are yours? Read More... Posted Mar 29 2008, 12:00 PM by Brett Singer with | with 5 comment(s) Filed under: charlie brown, television, tv, cartoons, animation, film, Bambi, iron giant, hobbit, fantastic four, monsters inc, brad bird, animated movies, incredibles, ralph bakshi

• Are Japanese Cartoons Better?

  We just recently received a screener of the Japanese cartoon Pucca (newly available on DVD), about a little girl with superhuman strength and a love of noodles, who's in love with a boy ninja-in-training. It's all very nonsensical and fun, in that distinctively adorable Japanese way. Which got us thinking about all the Japanese animation we've watched in our lifetime: Pokemon, Transformers, Totoro, not to mention some anime of a distinctly not-for-kids variety... So what's the deal? Do Americans only see the good stuff, or do the Japanese just do it better? Thoughts? — Gwynne Watkins Posted Mar 04 2008, 01:40 PM by editors with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: tv, cartoons, animation, japanese, pucca

• YouTube Goodness: In Soviet Russia, Winnie the Pooh visits YOU

  The crude, hand-drawn animation of this Soviet-era cartoon looks more like Connie the Cow than the glossy stylings of Disney. Pooh himself is brown and frankly, kind of rude. But even without the subtitles, there's no doubt that Vinni Puh Goes Visiting is the classic tale of a visiting bear who eats so much that he gets stuck in the door when he leaves. My four-and-a-half-year-old caught on the minute she saw Vinni and his friend Piglet, and though she can't read well enough to follow the subtitles, she offered her own running translation as we watched. She'd also like to note that bears don't really speak Russian, they speak Growl. I'd like to note that "Vinni Puh" would be a great name for a band. While I work on that, please enjoy:   (via quixoticals)  Posted May 03 2007, 08:28 AM by Patti with | with no comments Filed under: youtube, disney, cartoons, animation, Russia, Winnie the Pooh, vinni puh, soviet union

• And You Thought Watching the Teletubbies Made You Feel Like You Were On Drugs

  While we are a pro-TV household, let’s face it: most kid shows are crap. Oh, the children love their Dora, and god bless television for giving me time to do important things like floss without interruption, but I abhor so much of what is out there. All those insipid storylines, and the morals… After ten minutes of the Berenstain Bears I’m ready to tell my daughter that sharing is bad and lying is just fine as long as she doesn’t get caught. It’s enough to make you want to send them outside to play. I suspect Judy from Bunny Ears TV may have felt the same way in her life. Or maybe she just wants to share these interesting animated shows from different countries with the rest of us. Either way, I spent a good twenty minutes of “work” time watching the trippy and amusing little features. (The violin-playing rams in the intro are really cute.) The animation is charming, and the site is updated every Wednesday with new programs. Plus there’s something about features from around the world that has an educational ring to it. Don’t foreign things always seem more artsy? Look, it’s my responsibility as a mom to expose my child to culture. Anyway, these shows are seriously good, and fun for both kids and adults. Some of the characters are actually grumpy enough for all of us to relate to (Munk and Lemmy is now my favorite program.) So make the popcorn, gather around the computer monitor, and get snuggly. Posted May 01 2007, 12:01 PM by Kelly Mills with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: animation, children's television, Bunny Ears TV

• Disney Going Retro with Hand-Drawn Animation

  Read More... Posted Feb 09 2007, 06:39 PM by Karen Murphy with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: children, disney, animation, films, Fantasia, Toy Story

• Kim Possible Returns to Disney Channel in February

  Last year, I had the pleasure of interviewing Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle, the creators of the Disney Channel animated series Kim Possible, about the show's upcoming fourth season. This year, I have the pleasure of waiting just a few more weeks for the long-awaited, never-supposed-to-exist fourth season of KP to hit the air. Yes, I know. I'm too old to be addicted to my kids' cartoons. Sorry, Charlie, but you can't take the animation geek out of me just because I'm a dad. Just the opposite: with all the cartoons my kids watch, I've developed an intimate knowledge of which shows are enjoyable for the married-with-children crowd, and which ones are so crappy that I won't even let the toddler watch them. Kim Possible falls into the former category. Kids shows have vastly improved in quality since I watched Saturday morning cartoons. And in everything from voice talent to dialog to animation quality, KP shows it. Read More... Posted Jan 25 2007, 06:39 PM by thezeroboss with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: television, tv, cartoons, animation, disney channel, bob schooley, mark mccorkle, kim possible

• "Ellen's Acres" Debuts on Cartoon Network

  "Ellen's Acres", which premiered earlier this month on Cartoon Network, is described by its producers as "Eloise At The Plaza, set in a motel". The premise should certainly be ripe for the type of imagination-driven stories that have made Eloise a favorite for decades: five-year-old Ellen's hipster parents decide to drop out of the Los Angeles rat race to run a Nevada motel in the middle of the desert. While her parents run their new business and give her as much attention as they can spare, Ellen entertains herself by spinning vivid stories that also feature the motel's staff and guests. Read More... Posted Jan 25 2007, 08:41 AM by Patti with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: websites, cartoons, animation, ellen's acres, cartoon network

• Sealing Hand-Drawn Animation's Fate: Nibbelink's "Romeo & Juliet"

  Former Disney animator Phil Nibbelink's latest project is a true labor of love based on the greatest love story in Western literature: Romeo and Juliet. Nibbelink hand-drew every image in a tablet computer, using Flash to animate it. It began limited release last fall in the Los Angeles area and will be making its way into other California theaters soon, and he hopes it will make its way to everyone. Cold Hard Flash discusses the 112,000 drawings and the eventual completion and release of the film with Nibbelink, who used his own four children as an in-house test audience. My kids and I just gathered 'round the laptop and enjoyed the film's trailer--it's a big hit in my dining room, and we're eagerly anticipating the full 77-minute film. What do you think?   Posted Jan 18 2007, 04:41 PM by Patti with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: youtube, animation, romeo and juliet: sealed with a kiss, phil nibbelink

• See a Boob or Be One? Are Family Friendly Films Tolerant?

  Is Hollywood liberal enough? A Washington Post article about a spate of "faith and family" films raises questions about whether family friendly really means intolerant. At first, it didn't seem so bad. Turns out the producer behind slasher-flasher flicks "Scream" and "Scary Movie" had a change of heart once he had kids. "What used to be defined as 'teenage' -- 13 to 18 -- all of a sudden became 12 to 18, and all of a sudden that became 11, then 10, then 9, and then these types of genre films were being seen by 8-year-old kids," the producer, Cary Granat, said. OK, good, no boobs and bludgeons for 8 year olds. I'm with you. But his remedy? He teamed with billionaire gay-bashing, evolution-hating, FCC indecency zealot Philip Anschutz to form Walden Media. In an appeal to religious audiences, the producers brought the Jesus Lion to Mainstreet U.S.A. in the form of "Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," along with other films like "Charlotte's Web" and "Because of Winn-Dixie." But Philip Anschutz? Who funded an anti-gay amendment in Colorado? Who funded the "think tank" behind Intelligent Design? This guy is making movies? Reading the article, I wondered what would become of Hollywood -- would it remain a liberal bastion? Or would it sell out the "arts" (yes, I saw "Saw"; sue me) to appease the far right? After all, some movies have already been edited to win a conservative seal of approval from the Dove Foundation. Anschutz wasn't interviewed for the article, but he was quoted from a speech. "Why can't movies return to being something that we can go and see with our children and our grandchildren without being embarrassed or on the edge of our seats? I don't think they understand the market and the mood of a large segment of the movie-going audience today." As much as don't like him, I admit he has a point. I don't want to take my daughter to a movie and cringe when the leading lady starts grinding on the leading man -- even if they are animated. Then again, I don't want to take her to a movie where large segments of her community are portrayed as anything less than normal because of who they are or what they believe. In my book, seeing a little boob is better than being one. Posted Jan 04 2007, 10:45 AM by Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) with | with no comments Filed under: entertainment, Movies, activities, Family Fun, religion, animation, ethics

• Australian Animation Saved My Babies!

  Sometimes, during the long holiday breaks, my parenting fails me. And then a few days later--well, I don't want to scare you, but this really happens sometimes--Tivo fails me. But as hard as that truth may be for you to bear, there is one universal truth that might help you get over it: the Internet never fails. And today, the Internet brought me World Tales, and brothers and sisters, I am here to testify. A project from Australian media companies SBS Digital and Film Victoria, World Tales is a collection of short animated films by several different artists, featuring interpretations of classic fairy tales from around the world, including Donna Kendrigan's Uroshima Taro, pictured at right. Created with the objective of celebrating Australia's diverse culture, these stories are universal in their appeal and endless in their artistic variety. Along with animation, World Tales includes text-based stories, games, super-cool interview features with the animators, and educator resources to help you make your cartoon watching a little less of a veg-out. Internet, I love you. (via Metafilter)   Posted Jan 03 2007, 09:00 AM by Patti with | with no comments Filed under: activities, cartoons, animation, internet