Animation News Links

The animated feature titled Avatar II happening in '17:

Director James Cameron said Wednesday that writing three "Avatar" sequels is such a complex job he's delaying the first new film a year and it will now be released in late 2017. ...

No tall blue people animated feature for another two years. ...

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Re The Simpsons' C. Hebdo tribute:

"Simpsons" executive producer Al Jean said the idea started last Thursday when one of the show’s original producers, James L. Brooks, suggested making a statement in defense of free speech.

“We looked online and saw the ‘Je Suis Charlie’ posters and thought the ideal person to hold the flag would be Maggie, who doesn’t speak,” Jean said.

Longtime director David Silverman was in charge of crafting the image. ...

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What to expect with Toy Story 4:

"Toy Story 4" is pencilled in for 2017, with John Lasseter and company getting very excited about the story they've dreamt up, ... a love story. Just like "Toy Story 3's" prison break, that means a genre that we haven't really seen the series tackle before. That could mean that Barbie and Ken are back, or that we're going to see a "Before Midnight" style drop-in on Mrs Potato Head, but perhaps "Toy Story That Time Forgot" points elsewhere.

(Rashida Jones of Parks and Recreation is one of the writers on TS4.)

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Lastly, movies are moving:

... Disney has pushed the release of its Jon Favreau-helmed redo of "The Jungle Book" out of 2015. The 3D pic with an all-star voice cast including Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba and Johansson had been set for October 9 but now will open April 15, 2016. It trades dates with "The Finest Hours", the Chris Pine-Casey Affleck-Eric Bana ocean-rescue tale, which now will arrive October 9.

The moves put the 3D "Ghost In The Shell" into an as-yet-unoccupied slot and pits "Pete’s Dragon" against the Lionsgate comedy "Bad Grandpa", Sony’s raunchy toon "Sausage Party" and Universal’s thriller "Spectral". The live-action/VFX "Jungle Book" will face off with Universal sequel "The Best Man Wedding" and Sony’s kids-book adaptation "Goosebumps". ...

You will note that there are a LOT of animated (or partial animated) features bumping other animated features.