The Cartoon Link Fest

On Thursday night, because it's late and I'm out of ideas, a festival of linkage!

Time-Warner revives a Golden Oldie:

Cartoon Network has commissioned a new version of the 1980s animated series "ThunderCats" from Warner Bros. Animation.

The update will combine swords and science with high-stakes battles as good and evil clash for the Stones of Power. The announcement comes on the heels of the news that Cartoon Network will develop another iconic action title, "Green Lantern."

Various studios seem to be doing more cgi shows. Nice to see WBA is going in a different direction ...

Charles Solomon recounts the Annecy Animation festival's 50-year history:

In 1985, the festival expanded to include a film market, or MIFA (Marché International du Film d'Animation), where producers, studios, networks and distributors met to negotiate properties and rights. Some artists complained that the addition of the MIFA shifted the focus from the art of animation to the entertainment business, though the market quickly became an important forum, and was expanded to include a job fair in 1987.

The festival switched from a biennial to an annual event in 1998, reflecting the growing importance of MIFA, a worldwide expansion in animation production and a greater emphasis on features, rather than short films.

"The difference between animation in 1960 and animation today is comparable to the gap between the Stone Age man and an astronaut landing on the moon," observes fest director Serge Bromberg, who celebrates Annecy's golden anniversary with special events and surprises each day of the fest. "Over 50 years, what has remained is the same appetite, enthusiasm and curiosity for all styles, techniques and landscapes of animation. When I look back at a festival that was born the same year I was, I realize that animation lovers have remained the same. The secret of success is to last long enough." ...

And the Independent tells of the current French edition.

Two feature-length Films from Japan have been selected to compete in the Feature Films category at that upcoming Annecy International Animated Film Festival. ...

Seven films will be competing in the Feature Films category, with the Japanese titles Summer Wars and One Piece Film: Strong World ....

It underperformed on its opening weekend, yet dropped less than any other Top Ten feature its second weekend. And now this:

The big green guy wasn't much of a sprinter, but his marathon form looks sharp.

DreamWorks Animation's "Shrek Forever After," ... is expected to three-peat atop the domestic box office with $25 million-$30 million this weekend. The PG-rated film underperformed expectations with a $70 million bow two sessions ago but held strong during its holiday-stretched sophomore session and faces relatively light competition this frame despite four wide openers. ..

We end on a happy note: the Number One priority of jolly old Diz Co:

Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) expects retailers to sell $2.4 billion in "Toy Story 3" merchandise this fiscal year, potentially the company's biggest licensing windfall from a single film ....

Borrowing a page from its "Cars" franchise, executives said they planned to make as many as four short "Toy Story" cartoons per year for television and online, keeping the brand alive ....

Add On: Shannen Doherty's web cartoon launched yesterday. (Apparently the shannster is a veteran cartoon voice actor, having worked on The Secret of NIMH, made back when I was a tot ...)

"... I was kind of happy to be approached to tackle something on the Web. Then I read it and I was dying of laughter in the car — someone else was driving and I was dying of laughter reading the script. It’s crazy. It’s as over the top as it gets. I had no idea how it was going to look. None. I went in to lay down my two voices, and it was just a blast ..."

Enjoy your Friday.