Mid-Week Links

The halfway point of the workweek, so here's some newer linkage.

This might be another reason DreamWorks Animation overshot its profit estimates.

The DreamWorks Animation hit "How To Train Your Dragon" topped the national home video sales charts for a second consecutive week on Wednesday, and was also the No. 1 renter in its first full week in stores. ...

Warner Bros. plans to mine its cartoon library in new and exciting ways.

Warner Bros. is intent on reestablishing the Looney Tunes brand in the marketplace. These efforts include theatrical shorts, a show on Cartoon Network, a live-action/CGI Bugs Bunny movie, and a seemingly ill-advised Mike Myers-voiced Pepé Le Pew film. The latest project is also the most tangential, in that borrows from the Looney Tunes universe without featuring any of the, you know, characters. ...

Sundaily.com recalls the beginnings of Cartoon Network way back in the early nineties:

Before Cartoon Network was launched in 1994 ... it had formed an advisory board ... which featured some of the luminaries in the cartoon industry including producers like William Hanna and Joseph Barbera to work out what makes good cartoon. ...

"They figured that the best way to make their cartoons was to make shorts. In the past, they were making these seven-minute shorts and you could test characters, figure out if they play well and check the audience’s reaction." ...

Speaking of DreamWorks, Jarett Wieselman of the New York Post shares his opinion and video clips for DWA's next feature release:

Animated movies that don't include the words "from Disney/Pixar" tend to leave me cold -- no one else seems capable of replicating their ability to mesh jokes for every age with a story for every age. But Paramount seems to have cracked the code with next month's "Megamind."

It's not only DreamWorks Animation stock that is going up.

Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) closed yesterday at $35.96. So far the stock has hit a 52-week low of $27.01 and 52-week high of $37.98. Walt Disney stock has been showing support around 34.66 and resistance in the 36.62 range. Technical indicators for the stock are Bullish and S&P gives DIS a positive 4 STAR (out of 5) buy rating. ...

Fox has hired James Cameron to make more animated movies with tall blue people.

James Cameron has committed to making two sequels to his record-breaking 3D epic "Avatar" for Fox. The movies are scheduled for release in late 2014 and 2015, which means he won't direct other features for the next three or four years. ...