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Toy Story 3 gets warm reception at ShoWest

The public got its first opportunity to sneak a peek at an unfinished version of Toy Story 3 which is not due out in theatres until June 18th. Pixar's 10th film is being described as having all the hallmarks we have come to expect from the studio -- "it's consistently funny, exciting and moving, sometimes all three at the same time."

You can find the full spoiler-free review on ComingSoon.net.

Tale of a Tangled title

If you missed the buzz, Disney's upcoming fairytale feature has been renamed from Rapunzel to Tangled and apparently this isn't sitting well with some fans. While Disney executives are saying it's a move to broaden the film's audience, others are saying that perhaps after last year's Princess and the Frog, (which only grossed $222 mil compared to Up's $700 mil), that the studio has concluded that too much "girlie" in a title can hurt ticket sales. For more on this twisty debate, check out this article in the L.A. Times.

Personally I was rather partial to the previous working title of Rapunzel Unbraided, but that's just me. Tangled arrives in theatres November 24, 2010.

A Tribute to Joe Ranft

Today would've been the 50th birthday of Joe Ranft, the talented Disney/Pixar storyboard artist and occasional voice actor who brought us such memorable characters as Heimlich the caterpillar and Wheezy the Penguin. Ranft died almost five years ago in a car accident.

This week, some Disney staff members in Burbank who had known and worked with him came together to pay tribute. Below is short presentation—appropriately in animatic form—created by John Musker. It's a touching tribute to someone much loved by the animation community who was taken too soon.

And the Oscar goes to...

While I certainly think Up is a very good film and definitely Oscar-worthy, I can't help but feel that it's a bit of a shame in a year with so many great contenders that the most easily predicted choice is the one that won out in the Best Animated Feature category. Not that I would ever wish Pixar ill, but after winning for the third year in a row, one has to wonder what it would take to beat them at this point. That said, there were definitely a number of great animated films on that nominees list and I encourage everyone to check those out as well if you haven't already.

Also congrats to Logorama for winning the Best Animated Short Film category. I've included a trailer for that short below.

The Oscars are coming! The Oscars are coming!

Not to be confused with "the sky is falling! the sky is falling!", the Oscars do in fact arrive this Sunday, March the 7th. The Academy has increased the number of nominations in a few different categories. Best Picture now has 10 nominees and Best Animated Feature Film has grown from three to five. To refresh all our memories, the nominees are...

• Coraline


• The Fantastic Mr. Fox


• The Princess and the Frog


• The Secret of Kells


• Up

Lineboil provides an excellent visual summation of this category which concludes with the prediction that Up is likely to walk away with this category. I tend to agree with that although I think it's great to finally see some variety here with representation for 2D and stop-motion animation in this category. Note that Up has also been nominated in the "Best Picture" category--the first time that has happened since Beauty and the Beast.

Last but certainly not least, here are the nominations for Best Animated Short Film...

• French Roast


• Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty


• The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)


• Logorama


• A Matter of Loaf and Death

Bring on the Dragon-Viking Games!

Promoting its upcoming movie, How to Train Your Dragon, Dreamworks has been airing Olympic themed vignettes on NBC. The movie arrives in theatres on March 26th, but in the meantime you can find all the Dragon-Viking Games videos on YouTube.