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It wasn't a phone call that Roger Deakins had ever expected to receive. This acclaimed English cinematographer -- best known for his Oscar-nominated work for the Coen brothers and Sam Mendes -- had strictly been working the live-action side of the street. But when Pixar Animation Studios reached...

"Discover a new world with Epic the Movie by Blue Sky Studios , a brand-new 3D animated film from the people who brought you Ice Age ." That's the message that the folks who work in promotions at 20th Century Fox have been hammering home for the past few weeks. As they try & make sure...

As the staff cuts at DreamWorks Animation and Walt Disney Studios prove, bigger is no longer thought of as better in Hollywood. The suits are now angling after a far more efficient business plan. Tinsel Town 2.0, if you will. A place where smaller teams follow shorter production schedules and work within...

Huffington Post -- "The Croods" directors reveal how DreamWorks Animation's caveman comic-adventure evolved You'd think given the sophisticated sorts of folks who annually attend the Berlin Film Festival that this wouldn't be the sort of crowd which would enthusiastically embrace...

Greetings from the 110th edition of the American International Toy Fair . A trade show that Nancy and I love to attend because -- to be blunt -- it usually gives you lots of opportunities to learn about movies & TV shows that are still months ... Photo by Nancy Stadler ... if not years away from...

Francis T. sent me this e-mail yesterday: I know that you mostly write about Disney. But my eight year old has recently discovered the Dreamworks animation movies and is now completely obsessed with Shrek . We're headed to Orlando next month. So I was wondering if you had any recommendations about...

Pussy cat, pussy cat, where have you been? My apologies for JHM basically being on hold these past few days. But I've been out in Southern California since Saturday morning working. Pussy cat, pussy cat, what did you do there? Copyright DreamWorks Animation LLC. All rights reserved Len Testa and...

Last Tuesday morning, I spent a hour or so wandering around the campus of USC 's School of Cinematic Arts . Where -- I'm being serious here -- I actually received this celebrity-filled set of directions from an undergrad there: Photo by Jim Hill "The complex you're looking is right across...

Hollywood is mourning the loss today of Ernest Borgnine , that stocky, gap-toothed Academy Award-winner who made us cry with his heartfelt portrayal of a lonely butcher from the Bronx in Paddy Chayefsky's 1955 drama, "Marty." Not to mention making us laugh when he played that lovable rogue...

For the past three days, the story that's been dominating entertainment news is Rich Ross' removal as Chairman of Walt Disney Studios . Now most of these articles seem to lay the blame for Ross' exit on " John Carter " 's box office . And while it's true that this Andrew...

How can you resist a face like this? Copyright DreamWorks Animation, L.L.C. All rights reserved American moviegoers clearly couldn't. Which is why - for two weekends in a row - DreamWorks Animation 's " Puss in Boots " was No. 1 at the box office . Given that "Puss" has -...

There are those who say disparaging things about Comic-Con International . Who will tell you that this 4 ½ day-long pop culture event has just gotten just too big & too crowded. Which makes it kind of impossible to enjoy. Well, while I have to admit that - no matter where you go inside of...

Greetings from the Licensing International Expo . Which -- this year -- is being held at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas. Photo by Jim Hill This is where the various studios -- in order to impress would-be licensees -- annually put on elaborate displays for their upcoming TV shows &...

Given that he's the star of a soon-to-be-released high profile sequel, Po has been popping up in all sorts of interesting places over the past few months. To be specific, far out at sea ... Beginning in December 2010, characters from DreamWorks Animation films began appearing on four Royal Caribbean...

Here's an interesting bit of trivia for you film history buff out there. Grim Natwick - the animation legend who many in the industry credit with making the title character in Disney's " Snow White " seem so lifelike ... Snow White and Forest Animals Special Set-up from "Snow White...

I'm sure that you're already familiar with that Audio Animatronic version of Abraham Lincoln which appears in The Hall of Presidents at WDW 's Magic Kingdom . Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved And maybe you've seen that cool, new NextGen version of Honest Abe which...

So how did the directors of " Toy Story 3 " and " How to Train Your Dragon " react to their respective films being nominated for the Academy Award in the Animated Feature Film category? Leave it to Lee Unkrich to use his moment in the spotlight to acknowledge the competition as well...

Yesterday, Jeff posted a not-so-Holly-Jolly comment in response to Monday's "On Stranger Tides" article . If i had a dollar for everytime Jim promised to do a story or complete a series of stories I would be one rich guy. Okay, fine. So I'm the prince of procrastination. To be fair...

It's kind of ironic that - everywhere you look this week - there seem to be a story or some photo essay related to the "Back to the Future" 25th Anniversary trilogy Blu-ray . Lea Thompson, Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd at this week's party for the release of the Blu-ray version...

Good Lord?! Is it really just 10 days ‘til Comic-Con officially gets underway? The folks at Comic-Con International have finally posted all four days of programming for this year’s event. And given the huge number of Disney-related panels that are being presented this year … Well, San Diego is the place...