Variety on Animation

Today's Daily Variety has a slew of articles on animation, including a pretty good one on hand-drawn features. . .

Additional articles are on the resurgence of big studio interest in shorts, the economics of lower budget features, the interplay between Sony Imageworks and SPA, a concise piece on Mo-Cap logistics, some notes on the Happy Feet production, a short bit on Pixar's story process, techniques for creating CG hair and eyes, why you won't see Studio Ghibli's Earthsea soon, and a new Nick series.

I haven't read all the pieces yet, but most seem better written than the usual mainstream reporting on animation (though I'm a little skeptical of some of the conclusions in the article on "Budget toons") and seem worth checking out.