On Saturday, May 17th, from 1:00pm-6:00pm Van Eaton Galleries and Creative Talent Network are presenting the 2nd Annual Animation “Book Look” Festival! Among the many talented artists and authors participating are Toby Bluth, Willie Ito, Rik Maki, Chris Buck, Ron Lukas, and Don Peri. Best of all, you don’t have to live in Los Angeles to be a part of the experience. Animation Book Look is FREE and open to the public. For a list of authors and books visit our animationbooklook.com.

Van Eaton Galleries
13613 Ventura Blvd.
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423
(818) 788-2357

It’s official! The Indiana Jones director will next tackle the first chapter of the long-delayed Tintin trilogy. Production on the motion capture film is expected to wrap early next year.

Could Hanna Montana and Danny Zuko be recording a song together for Disney? Possibly according to John Travolta’s wife Kelly Preston who hinted to E! on Friday that “Johnny may sing with Miley.” The two stars are teaming up for the Mouse House’s November 26th CG release Bolt, in which John Travolta voices the canine title character and Miley Cyrus his human co-star Penny, which has many believe that this is likely the project they would record a duet for. Stay tooned for more info!

Fox’s Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who! reached the $150 million landmark at the U.S. box office this week, becoming the 25th highest grossing animated film of all time according to Box Office Mojo. The Blue Sky feature is also performing strongly overseas with a cumulative worldwide gross of $284 million to date which is still enough to qualify it as the #1 movie of 2008 for a few more hours until Iron Man takes the crown. Horton should pass the $287M worldwide gross of DreamWorks’ Bee Movie in the next week though, a feat all the more impressive since the Dr. Seuss adaptation reportedly cost half as much to make. Update: Iron Man flew past Horton over the weekend to become the highest grossing film of 2008.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian director Andrew Adamson, best known by animation fan as the helmer of Shrek and Shrek 2, talks to the New York Daily News about the use of computer animation in the upcoming Narnia sequel, comparing making a live-action movie versus an animated film like the difference between “running a sprint and a marathon - the intensity is the same, but the duration is different. In animation, you get a lot more chances; you can refine things over and over and over again.”

The L.A. Times reports that the Fox network has picked up two more animated comedies: The Cleveland Show, the much talked-about Family Guy spin-off centered on Peter Griffith’s accident-prone neighbor, Cleveland Brown; and Sit Down, Shut Up, about a group of mediocre high school teachers who work in a small Northeastern fishing town. Sit Down, Shut Up will feature the voices of Will Arnett, Maria Bamford, Jason Bateman, Will Forte, Tom Kenny, Regina King, Nick Kroll, Henry Winkler as well as the always hilarious Cheri Oteri.

For those who can’t wait, head over to The Orlando Sentinel for a detailed breakdown of Toy Story Mania, the new Walt Disney World 3-D attraction which won’t officially open until May 31st but can be previewed until tomorrow by annual pass holders. And fear not, the Sentinel loved it!

GhibliWorld has an exclusive interview with Oga Kazuo, Ghibli background artist known for his work in films such as My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Only Yesterday, Pom Poko and Whisper of the Heart. Oga also speaks about how digitalization has not affected him and why he prefers painting his backgrounds manually even today.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has announced the DVD and Blu-Ray releases of Marjane Satrapi’s Academy award nominated film Persepolis on June 24. The DVD coverart, which can be viewed at DVDEmpire, also suggests that the disc will feature English dub alongwith the original French language track. Extras on the disc will include, The Hidden side of Persepolis, Behind-the-Scenes of Persepolis, 2007 Cannes Film Festival Conference, Animated Scene Comparisons with commentary by Marjane Satrapi and more.

UPDATE: DVDActive has posted the details alongwith the official package artwork for the release.

Coming Soon! alerts fans that they can now create their very own robot from Wall•E by visiting Wall-E.com and clicking on the “BUILD-A-BOT” icon! This interactive feature lets users customize their own robot by choosing various body types, mobility function, colors and audio. Afterwards, users can test out their bots by playing various games. New robots and games will be launching on the site over the coming month.

THQ and DreamWorks have entered into an exclusive licensing agreement to produce video games based on the November 5, 2010 3D film MasterMind which is described in the recent joint press release as a “a satirical send-up of the superhero genre, built around the story of a super villain who must find a new motivation after accidentally killing his archrival, Uberman, in the opening scene of the movie.”

The Hollywood Reporter reveals that Sean Astin, Giovanni Ribisi, Ron Perlman and Anjelica Huston will lend their voices to Spirit of the Forest, an eco-fairy tale for Fantastic Films International and Spain-based Dygra Films (The Living Forest, Midsummer Dream). Astin and Ribisi play two gopher friends whose home is threatened when an evil businesswoman (Huston) plans to tear down their forest to build a highway. With the help of an old oak tree (Perlman), the animals and their friends fight back with a vengeance. A teaser site is already up for Spirit of the Forest, which will be released in theaters this September in Spain and next year in most international territories.

The theatrical trailer for Star Wars: The Clone Wars can now be viewed on the film’s official site. The new preview aired Thursday night at 7:58 P.M. on Cartoon Network, as well as several other Turner stations. Star Wars: The Clone Wars hits theaters on August 15th.

From over at the Animation Guild Blog comes word that DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda will open with a traditionally animated, hand-drawn scene, “and the DVD is going to have a bunch more of that older animation style that Jeffrey Katzenberg describes as being similar to a “‘nice, hand-written letter.’” For another example of hand-drawn animation in a recent CG feature check out this clip from Horton Hears A Who on YouTube. Thanks to “Dissapointed” from the Animated News and Views forums.

A new theatrical trailer for DreamWorks’ Kung Fu Panda has appeared online at Yahoo. For those wishing to experience the preview on the big screen, the trailer will be playing alongside Speed Racer, which opens this Friday. Kung Fu Panda hits theaters on June 6th.

A brand new teaser trailer for the upcoming CGI comedy Igor can be viewed at CanMag. The film focuses on a lab assistant who dreams of one day becoming a successful scientist. Igor opens in theaters on September 19th, 2008. Thanks to “CGIFanatic”: over at the Animated News & Views Forum for the heads up!

ComingSoon has in possession a new poster for the upcoming CGI flick, Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The official one-sheet features several characters from the movie, which will serve as a kick-start to a new animated series. Star Wars: The Clone Wars is due out in theaters on the 15th of August.

The fourth video in a series of vignettes for Disney/Pixar’s Wall•E can be viewed on MovieWeb. In the clip, the rusty robot encounters a pair of discarded headphones and curiously tries to discover what their purpose is. Wall•E hits theaters on June 27th.

According to Yahoo, Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane has just completed a new deal with 20th Century Fox that would make him the highest paid writer-producer currently working in television. The pact will keep MacFarlane at the studio through 2012, and is estimated to be worth over $100 million. “I get a lot of pleasure out of making shows. It’s a bonus to be getting paid well for it, and it’s a double bonus to be getting paid exorbitantly for it,” MacFarlane commented.

According to Screamscape, “The Ultimate Guide to Disney Theme Parks,” a three-foot high Wall•E audioanimatronic may be roaming the streets of Disney theme parks in Anaheim, CA, and Orlando, FL, soon. No word yet on if he will be helping out with park janitorial duties.