Animate Your Linkomatic

Now with Artsy Add On!

Henry Selick talks of a Nightmare B4 Christmas sequel:

“A few years back, Disney spoke to me and the sad thing was at the time, they said, ‘If we do a sequel, it will have to be CG.’ I was really disappointed. I asked why and they didn’t think stop-motion was a viable way to make movies. I don’t think they would say that now and I don’t think Tim would allow a CG sequel ...

When Disney XD thinks teenage boys, it must be thinking this:

Cartoon Network said Monday it would carry a second season of "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" from LucasFilm Animation. The new season will begin in the fall.

The computer-animated series has been a ratings blockbuster for the cable channel ...

Then there is new media, with all that portends for the animation community:

Marvel Entertainment announced this week at the Digital Media Panel at New York Comic Con that it is to begin selling motion comics via Apple's iTunes Store.

Called In-Motion comic books, Marvel is currently working with legendary artist Neal Adams and Continuity Studios to develop the series of graphic novels ...

"It's more than just taking the images and moving them around the screen. There's a new storytelling language that's emerging every time we work on it and we're really excited for where that takes us," [says Comic-book writer Brian Michael Bendis] ...

Warners Animation biggie Bruce Timm sings the praises of Wonder Woman director/designer/board artist Lauren Montgomery:

“Lauren really took the lead on the design of Wonder Woman herself, and I think she came up with a very unique approach. It's not like anything you've seen from the comics, though we did look at a lot of the comics for inspiration. We liked the George Perez version and Adam Hughes' version, and all points in between" ...

Jenny Lerew's Blackwing Diaries features Shane Prigmore's artwok for Coraline (and since this is the little girl's first full week of release, why not link to it?)

And ASIFA Hollywood's Animation Archives shares the contents of its Coraline mystery box. (One of many.) ...

The President of Pixar and Disney Animation Studios won the first Oscar of the season (like you didn't know already):

[Ed} Catmull was the first person to get an Oscar this year, presented at the motion picture academy's recent Scientific and Technical Awards ceremony.

Catmull says technology is central to the movie industry, which was born in a technological revolution.

"And we forget that because it happened a while ago, and so we don't think of it as technology," said Ed Catmull. "But the creation of film and then of color, sound, each one of them opened the doors to new things. And we don't leave them behind. We add them to our tools. But the fact that we bring in something new inspires directors and writers and creators to be able to make new kinds of stories."

Animated features keep on trucking in foreign lands (which is why they keep getting produced):

Disney’s “Bolt” fetched $9.6 million at 3,150 in 31 territories, including a $3.9 million launch in France, for a $111 million foreign cume midway through its international run ... U posted a first-place $1.3 million launch for “Coraline” in Mexico, including a record $400,000 at 60 3-D venues ...

Add On: We offer this artwork from Hampa Studios, because what the Linkomatic needs on a Friday morning is a little extra eye candy.

And so forth and so on. May your weekend be shiny and bright.