GhibliWorld brings an English summary of an interview with Hayao Miyazaki by Robert Whiting, a sport journalist who has been living in Japan for a long time. Miyazaki talks about his childhood life during wartime, Studio Ghibli, and more. In addition, the site also reports that the Japanese box-office collections for Hayao Miyazaki’s latest feature Ponyo on the Cliff has exceeded 10 billion yen. Other Ghibli films which reached this mark were Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle and Princess Mononoke.

Yahoo!Movies reports that Miyazaki has captured the hearts of Japanese movie goers again with his latest offering Ponyo on the Cliff, which has become one of the most popular Japanese movies in its home market in its first month of release.

Upcomingpixar reports that unlike Pixar’s previous barebone releases of Cars and Ratatouille, WALL•E would be receiving 4 home video releases. The first being a single disc DVD which will include a directors commentary, Presto & BURN•E, deleted scenes, a sound design featurette, and ‘WALL•E‘s Tour of the Universe’. Additionally there will be a three disc DVD release with all of the above features, plus additional deleted scenes, making of featurettes, BnL shorts, The Pixar Story documentary, ‘WALL•E‘s Treasures and Trinkets’, the ‘Lots of Bots’ storybook, and more. The site also reports that there will also be two Blu-ray releases with the above features besides Disney File, plus Cine-Explore, BURN•E picture-in-picture, Axiom Arcade, Geek Track and the BD Live feature. The most complete release is said to be the 3 disc WALL•E Blu-ray, which will include all of the above plus a DisneyFile digital copy. WALL•E is expected to be out on home video on November 18.

Serbian Director Aleksa Gajic has announced that work on Technotise - Edith and I has been completed after its three year production, with a premiere planned for November 2008. The CGI film, shaded to approximate the look of traditional animation, is the first such feature film to be made in Serbia. Artwork, sound bites including score cues, and a trailer which shows off this impressive achievement can be seen at the film’s official website.

UpcomingPixar reports that Walt Disney Home Entertainment has announced the release of Wall-E on DVD and Blu-ray on November 18. The Blu-ray will be a two disc release, one disc being the feature presentation and special features, and the second being a digital copy of the film. More details on the specific content and special features for each release are expected on August 22.

What it would look like if some of our favorite superheroes and villains were to show up in random episodes of The Simpsons? Cinematical points to Springfield Punx Blog, where they Simpsonize a number of our most beloved fictional characters in movies and TV, including the Batman and Joker.

In a rare occurrence, two animated films open on the same day. First up is Warner Bros.’ Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The film opens in 3,452 theatres according to Box Office Mojo. Critics say the force is not strong with this one — it scores 18% on the Tomatometer, and an abysmal 5% counting just the cream of the crop critics. Newsday pretty much sums up the consensus saying “the Lucas universe once held a special magic, but The Clone Wars makes that feel like a long time ago in a theater far, far away”. Box Office Prophets projects a respectable 2nd place finish with $20.9 million.

Also opening, in a more limited release of 452 theatres, is Fly Me To the Moon from nWave Pictures. Critics did not think the film was out of this world — it received 15% on the Tomatometer, with a perfect 0% from the top critics. Critics agreed that while the 3D effects may be good, the story and the animation dragged this film back down to Earth. Because of its limited opening the film is not projected to make the top ten at the box office.

GhibliWorld takes a closer look at the upcoming book The Art of Ponyo on the Cliff, based on Hayao Miyazaki’s film of the same name. The book, which contains a variety of sketches, storyboards, background information, and cel reproductions with backgrounds, hits stands in Japan on August 2.

UltimateDisney reports that the upcoming Platinum Edition blu-ray release of Sleeping Beauty will now carry 3 discs, two the previously announced Blu-ray presentation and third being a bonus standard DVD of the film. Sleeping Beauty Platinum Edition will be in stores on October 8.

GhibliWorld brings an English summary of a radio interview with Mamoru Oshii, director of Ghost in the Shell wherein Oshii shares his thoughts on Hayao Miyazaki’s latest feature film Ponyo on the Cliff and also talks about his long friendship with Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki.

With its seven burning questions about the upcoming animated feature Star Wars: The Clone Wars, TheDeadBolt analyzes if fans of the Star Wars movies will find enough drama to keep them engaged in the Clone Wars movie. Star Wars: The Clone Wars opens in theatres on August 15.

RottenTomatoes shares an exclusive video on director Henry Selick’s latest stop-motion project Coraline, featuring clips, behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with the cast and crew, including Selick, novelist Neil Gaiman, and Ian McShane. The movie, which tells the tale of a young girl named Coraline and her descent into a fantastical alternate reality, will be out in theaters February 2009.

Three of the founders of Animated News & Views recently returned from California where they all met up for the very first time at Comic-Con International 2008. You can read their accounts of the meet-up, the convention itself, and their vacation-in-a-vacation at Disneyland in their report — filled with a ton of photos — over at Animated Views. (Pictured: James R Whitson, Ben Simon, and Randall Cyrenne in line at Comic-Con)

Clay Kaytis’ formidable Animation Podcast website returns after a several month hiatus with Part One of an interview with Eric Goldberg discussing his career from making flip books at the age of 6 through to getting hired at Disney to animate the Genie in Aladdin, with stops at Richard Williams’ and his own studio along the way.

With a surprisingly minimalistic front page that ties into the company’s past and future, Walt Disney Animation Studios launches its brand new website. The About Us section delves into the studio’s history and discusses what it’s like to work at the studio now. The Projects section showcases the title treatments for their next several feature films as well as for the three shorts put into production since John Lasseter became head of the studio, while the Careers section features some concept art from Bolt.

Apple has made available a new trailer for Lucasfilms’ upcoming animated flick Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Directed by Dave Filoni, Star Wars: The Clone Wars opens in theatres on August 15.

In addition, DVDTimes shares two online featurettes on the film.

MTV.com has posted an interview with Pete Docter, director of Pixar’s Upcoming film wherein he describes his new film as a ‘coming of old age’ story. Pixar’s Up, which will be presented in 3-D, is scheduled for a May 2009 release.

As reported by Animation Insider the longtime Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie will soon be starring in their own claymation program as part of Sesame Street’s 39th season on television. The educational intent behind the program, made up of five-minute segments, will be to take children beyond counting to building math and computational skills. “According to Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind the memorable brand, research shows that while all young children have knowledge about everyday arithmetic, language skills can be a barrier for them to explain their mathematical thinking. It is here where Sesame Street looks to become a bridge for youth suffering from a mathematical language deficit, establishing strong mathematical reasoning skills, in a variety of easy to understand formats, for its viewers.”

HollywoodReporter has posted an interview with James Cameron, director of the upcoming sci-fi epic Avatar. The article suggest that Cameron expects Avatar to be about 60% CG animation, based on characters created using a newly developed performance capture-based process, and 40% live action, with a lot of VFX in the imagery. Avatar is slated to open on Dec 18, 2009.

DVDActive reports that Fox Home Entertainment has announced Futurama: Bender’s Game for release on the 4th November. Extras on the disc will include commentary by Matt Groening, David X. Cohen, Billy West, John DiMaggio, Tress MacNeille, Michael Rowe, Claudia Katz and Dwayne Carey-Hill, featurettes (Dungeons & Dragons & Futurama, 3D Models With Animator Discussion, How To Draw “Futurama” In 83 Easy Steps), Storyboard Animatic: Bender’s Game Part One, outtakes, and more. A Blu-ray release will also arrive day and date.

The Guardian online has run an obituary tribute to Pauline Baynes, the “witty and inventive children’s book illustrator” who drew for JRR Tolkien and in all seven of CS Lewis’ Chronicles Of Narnia books, who died on August 1 aged 85.