animation

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New Series by Beavis Creator Lampoons Green Buttheads

' The Goode Family ' features clan trying a little too hard to stay eco-friendly

(Newser) - Goodbye Hank Hill, hello Gerald Goode. Beavis and Butthead creator Mike Judge's new animated series lampoons a vegan, hybrid-driving Midwestern family whose motto is: "What would Al Gore do?" The Goode Family sends up the greener-than-thou clan’s efforts to maintain an environmentally friendly, strictly PC lifestyle just for...

Critics Split on Battle for Terra
 Critics Split on Battle for Terra 
Movie Review
May 1, 2009 12:18 PM CDT

Critics Split on Battle for Terra

(Newser) - Battle for Terra has a nifty twist of a premise—it’s an alien movie in which humans are the evil invaders—but critics are split on how well it works. Here’s what they’re saying:
  • It’s a “work of art,” writes John Anderson in Variety,
...

Cartoons Could Help Diagnose Autism in Kids

Study finds differences in how autistic toddlers look at moving images

(Newser) - The way in which toddlers are drawn to animated movement may help facilitate the diagnosis of autism-spectrum disorders, reports the BBC. In the study, children who were developing normally focused on the half of a split-screen that featured an upright animation; children with signs of autism showed no preference between...

Monsters Looks Great, Lacks Oomph
 Monsters Looks 
 Great, Lacks Oomph 
movie review
Mar 27, 2009 8:21 AM CDT

Monsters Looks Great, Lacks Oomph

Dreamworks' 3-D stunner stuck with one-dimensional storyline

(Newser) - Monsters Vs. Aliens looks amazing on screen, but grownups may find the thin jokes and the storyline of Dreamworks' animated spoof of '50s flicks a little grating, say critics.
  • James Rocchi, Redbox: The movie "has amazing 3D, solid gags, wacky concepts and great animation; I just wish that at
...

Coraline Scares in Stunning 3-D
 Coraline Scares in Stunning 3-D 
MOVIE REVIEW
Feb 6, 2009 10:14 AM CST

Coraline Scares in Stunning 3-D

Dazzlingly creepy stop-motion animation conjures up children's worst fears

(Newser) - Coraline is an eerie marvel of stop-motion animation guaranteed to give little kids nightmares, say critics. The story of a young girl—voiced by Dakota Fanning—who stumbles into a strange parallel universe where life seems almost too good to be true is a "dazzling, delightfully dark children's movie,...

G Rating Not Safe for Kids Anymore

Realistic animations get away with violence

(Newser) - The G rating has devolved into ambiguity, providing parents little clue of what's in store for their kids, Emily Bazelon writes in Slate. Take The Tale of Despereaux about a bookish mouse's fairy tale rescue of a princess from rats. It was entertaining and age-appropriate as a kids' book, she...

Bolt Is Fetching Fun
 Bolt Is Fetching Fun 
MOVIE REVIEW
Nov 21, 2008 1:18 PM CST

Bolt Is Fetching Fun

Critics say frisky Disney animation is its best effort in years

(Newser) - Disney's latest animated movie may not win prizes for originality, but Bolt is barking up the right tree for family entertainment, say critics. John Travolta voices with "terrific tenderness" the super-powered pooch who's unaware that his life has been a canine Truman Show, writes Michael Rechtshaffen in the Hollywood ...

Audiences Flock to Madagascar
 Audiences Flock to Madagascar 
Nov 9, 2008 4:27 PM CST

Audiences Flock to Madagascar

Animated flick wins weekend box office

(Newser) - Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa had the year's best opening for an animated family flick, pulling in $63.5 million to win the weekend box office, Variety reports. R-rated gross-out comedy Role Models, meanwhile, surprised by taking second place with $19.3 million. The remaining top five: High School Musical 3:...

Madagascar Sequel Not Wildly Different
 Madagascar Sequel 
 Not Wildly Different 
MOVIE REVIEW
Nov 7, 2008 9:09 AM CST

Madagascar Sequel Not Wildly Different

(Newser) - Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa brings back the on-the-run New York menagerie, and DreamWorks hasn't monkeyed much with the first movie's winning, if slightly tired, formula, say critics. The celebrity-voiced animals' new adventure "is aimed mostly at children and should score a direct hit," Kirk Honeycutt writes in the...

Pixar's Wall-E Proves Its Mettle
 Pixar's Wall-E Proves Its Mettle 
movie review
Jun 27, 2008 9:38 AM CDT

Pixar's Wall-E Proves Its Mettle

Robot love story wins rave reviews from critics

(Newser) - Stunning animation, an endearing love story, and a compelling look at mankind’s future make Pixar’s Wall-E one of the best films of the year, critics agree. “This is getting to sound like a broken record: Pixar Animation Studios has just topped itself. Again,” Kirk Honeycutt writes...

Kung Fu Panda Kicks Butt
 Kung Fu Panda Kicks Butt 
movie review
Jun 6, 2008 9:10 AM CDT

Kung Fu Panda Kicks Butt

Old story becomes a fun journey in fast-paced martial arts animation

(Newser) - Dreamworks' animal extravaganza Kung Fu Panda isn't packed full of surprises, the critics say, but top-notch visual and voice acting lift it above the standard animal adventure fare. Jack Black gives the lead character, a pudgy panda who dreams of becoming a martial arts master, a "slightly abashed suburban-couch-potato...

Waltz Explodes at Cannes
 Waltz Explodes at Cannes 
movie review
May 16, 2008 2:10 PM CDT

Waltz Explodes at Cannes

After lousy 'Blindness' opening, Bashir shakes up festival

(Newser) - Now that's more like it. After a typically lousy opening—allegorical disaster Blindness—the Cannes Film Festival shook things up yesterday with Waltz with Bashir, a ferocious animated documentary from Israel recounting the 1982 massacre at Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. It’s “stunning,” writes Manhola Dargis in...

Pioneering Disney Animator Dead at 95
Pioneering Disney Animator Dead at 95
OBIT
Apr 16, 2008 2:40 AM CDT

Pioneering Disney Animator Dead at 95

Bambi's creator Johnston was last of Disney's 'Nine Old Men'

(Newser) - The last surviving member of Disney's legendary "Nine Old Men," who pioneered character animation, has died at the age of 95, the Los Angeles Times reports. Ollie Johnston's many creations, often in collaboration with Frank Thomas, included sequences and characters in Pinocchio, the Jungle Book, Bambi, Sleeping Beauty,...

Cartman's Evil Is His Appeal
 Cartman's Evil Is His Appeal 
Apr 6, 2008 12:16 PM CDT

Cartman's Evil Is His Appeal

Foul-mouthed fat kid ranks 10th in all-time list of cartoon characters

(Newser) - Eric Cartman—the foul-mouthed fat kid in the "South Park" foursome of misfit boys—has ridden his ability to do the unthinkable to No. 10 on TV Guide's top 50 cartoon characters of all time. What's the appeal, exactly, of a malicious, mean, lying, selfish 8-year-old? "I'd say...

Radiohead to Fans: Get Animated

Band offers $10K, Cartoon Network exposure for music video

(Newser) - Radiohead is breaking new ground again—this time asking fans to make an animated video for any song on its pay-what-you-want In Rainbows album. The band itself will choose the grand-prize winner, who’ll get $10,000 to animate a full-length version. Would-be competitors have until April 27 to submit...

Smurftastic Comeback in Works
Smurftastic Comeback in Works
Feb 21, 2008 3:14 PM CST

Smurftastic Comeback in Works

Movie, DVD releases aim to bring blue elves to new generation

(Newser) - At age 50, and after a decade in exile, the Smurfs are planning a comeback, NPR reports, with the original series coming out on DVD and a 3-D movie expected next year. Though today’s kids have more sophisticated options than watching the repair of mushroom houses, “the Smurf...

Buzz Uneven for Bee Movie
Buzz Uneven for Bee Movie
Nov 2, 2007 9:10 AM CDT

Buzz Uneven for Bee Movie

Critics divided by Seinfeld's animated debut

(Newser) - Jerry Seinfeld uses “every stupid bee joke that he and his cronies could cook up” in Bee Movie, Joe Morgenstern of the Wall Street Journal says, and USA Today's Claudia Puig calls the animated feature “so unfunny it almost stings.” But Newsday finds Barry B. Benson’s...

Disney's Rat Trounces 'Die Hard'
Disney's Rat Trounces 'Die Hard'
Jul 2, 2007 7:56 AM CDT

Disney's Rat Trounces 'Die Hard'

'Ratatouille' is weekend box office champ, with $47M to 'Die Hard's' $33M

(Newser) - "Ratatouille," Disney's critically hailed animated flick about a gourmet rat, dominated the box office in its opening weekend, scoring $47.2M to the latest Bruce Willis vehicle's $33.15 million.  Also bested was religious-themed romp "Evan Almighty." 

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