Animation Archives - Page 13 of 22

VOD Spotlight: “Hop” gives the Easter Bunny a son and a backstory

March 30, 2012 Meredith Ennis

For years the cotton-tailed bringer of colored eggs and candy languished as a second-rate legend, far behind the red-clad bringer of holiday toys, Santa. No more! The family film Hop — which seamlessly blends animation with live action — changes all that, giving the Easter Bunny a workshop, a charming mythology and a host of helpers covered with fur and feathers. The film explains that off the coast of South America, on the island of Rapa Nui — fondly known as Easter Island — the most magnificent candy factory in the world can be found under the giant stone heads. […]

Disney XD introduces Steven Weber and “Ultimate Spider-Man”

March 29, 2012 StayTuned Staff

Is your spider-sense tingling? If it is, it might be because of the arrival of Disney XD’s new Marvel Universe block. The lineup of the all-Marvel weekly event will feature new animated short-form series, the series return of The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and more, but at its center is the premiere of Ultimate Spider-Man. The animated series represents something of a new take on the web-slinger’s legend, as Steven Weber, who voices Norman Osborn in the series, relates. “Ultimate Spider-Man is the latest kind of incarnation of the Spider-Man ‘canon,’” Weber says. “There have been so many different versions […]

VOD Spotlight: The penguins return in “Happy Feet Two”

March 13, 2012 Meredith Ennis

It’s cold, really cold, and until recently, the Antarctic was the real final frontier on Earth. But as cameras became more forgiving of its harsh weather, documentary film crews began braving the elements and collecting dramatic footage of the frozen continent and its wildlife. This was one of the inspirations for Happy Feet and its sequel, Happy Feet Two. “We went for photo reality [with Happy Feet], as much as the technology and our skills allowed us to do at the time,” says director George Miller. “We based everything on the natural history of Antarctica: the behavior of the penguins; […]

“Simpsons” writer Michael Price talks about writing the show’s 500th episode

February 17, 2012 StayTuned Staff

Michael Price has been around for the 300th, 400th and now 500th episodes of The Simpsons. He even remembers the first gag he was assigned to write back in late 2001, which oddly enough was for the 300th episode — the one where Bart finds out he was once Baby Stink-Breath. It involved finding one of Bart’s old commercials on a taped episode of Perfect Strangers and finessing a “Don’t be ridiculous” reference into the script for authenticity. One of his more recent contributions will figure more prominently into the show’s already untouchable legacy. Price is the writer of the 500th […]

“Simpsons” executive producer Al Jean talks Episode 500, the show’s history, and more

February 17, 2012 Jeff Pfeiffer

This Sunday, Feb. 19, at 8pm ET/PT, The Simpsons will air its milestone 500th episode, “At Long Last Leave,” in which the Simpson family is evicted from Springfield and joins an off-the-grid community outside of town. But it doesn’t look as if The Simpsons will be evicted from the hearts and minds of millions of fans any time soon. The show’s recent deal with FOX means it will be going through at least Episode 559, and the series remains a Sunday-night staple for the network, even in the wake of cast renegotiations and almost blasphemous rumors of cancellation recently. Given […]

“Simpsons” by the hundreds: Looking back at the 100th, 200th, 300th and 400th episodes

February 16, 2012 StayTuned Staff

Five hundred couch gags, 500 chalkboard punishments, 500 Gracie Films logos appearing after the credits … The Simpsons has certainly surpassed any sensible estimation of success that would have come about at the show’s 1989 premiere. And as the 500th episode sets to debut on Sunday, it’s the perfect opportunity to look back at how it has celebrated its four other “hundredth” episodes. 100 — “Sweet Seymour Skinner’s Baadasssss Song” (April 28, 1994) Bart’s antics finally have some real-world consequences when his latest prank — unleashing Santa’s Little Helper into the air ducts of Springfield Elementary — gets Principal Skinner […]

The Hub to roll out “Transformers: Rescue Bots” on Saturday mornings

February 15, 2012 StayTuned Staff

Face it, the Transformers’ ability to convert into machines hasn’t always been featured that prominently. Optimus Prime turning into a semi-truck, or Megatron becoming a gun is more of an afterthought to the show-stopping scenes of the giant robots smashing each other into shrapnel. But Transformers: Rescue Bots takes a different approach, both in focus and in tone. Aimed squarely at the younger siblings of the kids devoted to the blockbuster Transformers films and the cartoon series Transformers Prime, Rescue Bots makes the machine form an integral part of the story. The narrower roster focuses on Heatwave (a fire truck), […]

“Simpsons” maestro Alf Clausen shares stories behind some of Springfield’s greatest hits

February 13, 2012 StayTuned Staff

By Stacey Harrison On The Simpsons, the characters never age and time pretty much stands still. But for Alf Clausen, all he has to do is look at his son to take in the true scope of the passage of time. “The thing that keeps coming back to me is the fact that my younger son was 11 when I started doing this show and he’s now 34,” he says. That’s 23 seasons of creating the music that has become an indelible component of The Simpsons legacy, a concept on everyone’s mind now as the show approaches its 500th episode, […]

“The Simpsons” at 500 — our favorite episodes

January 31, 2012 Jeff Pfeiffer

The Simpsons airs its 500th episode Feb. 19 at 8pm ET/PT on FOX, as part of its 23rd season (and it will be running through at least Season 25, and Episode No. 559). By now, its longevity, and the numbers and records it keeps racking up year after year, are no longer surprising. It’s become one of those things that is just always there. To an entire generation of viewers, it always has been there; and even to those of us who were around pre-Simpsons, it honestly has become hard to remember that long-ago period, when Homer and his family […]

FX’s “Unsupervised” finds humor in the children left behind

January 19, 2012 StayTuned Staff

By Stacey Harrison There is a lot of talk about how today’s kids are too protected, hampered in their path to maturity by so-called helicopter parents who hover around every second of their precious little ones’ lives, making sure they never feel a moment’s discomfort and that they know they are special. The characters in Unsupervised are not those kids. The animated FX comedy, which premieres tonight at 10:30, follows the exploits of Gary and Joel, two best friends who must forge through adolescence and the snake pit that is high-school society almost completely without parental guidance. Yet despite their […]