“Animation Fascination” Episode 71: DreamWorks’ Dragons – Roundtable

Listen Now!!

In this bewilderbeast-sized episode Marc is joined by Tom Fonss, Jessica Wersky, and the prodigal son himself Matt Quest.

Matt catches us up on what he’s been up to for the past six months as Tom and Jessica assist Marc in our How to Train Your Dragon 2 roundtable discussion. Special guests Jessie Forer and Jennifer Harlow hop on to talk about their favorite parts of the film and share some insight into their work on it as well.

Also Discussed: a whole gaggle of Blu-ray, DVD, and book reviews about – Doctor Who, Transformers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ernest and Celestine, Alexander, and The Nutty Professor.

(Recorded on June 15th, 17th, & 22nd, 2014) 

“Animation Fascination” Episode 61: AF News – Week of February 9th, 2014

Listen Now!!

Everything is Awesome!

In this bricktastic episode Marc and Stanford discuss The LEGO Movie and share your input on the film as well. We also talk about ideas for the already in the works sequel to the film and how well it did at the box office this past weekend. In addition, Stanford interviews Floyd Norman in celebration of The Jungle Book coming to Blu-ray this week.

Also Discussed: Arthur Rankin Jr.’s passing, a recap of the Annie Awards winners, a live-action/CG Rescue Rangers film, Pixar’s Party Central preview, the trailer for Postman Pat, and the voice cast for Sausage Party.

(Recorded on 02/10/14)

‘Ernest and Celestine’ Begins U.S. Distribution

After playing the film festival circuit, the highly acclaimed hand-drawn 2D animated feature Ernest & Celestine is beginning its first-run distribution in U.S. theaters this month. The film will debut in Los Angeles on February 28 and in New York City on March 14 with a national expansion to follow in the upcoming weeks.

“Animation Fascination” Episode 58: Farhan Qureshi – Visual Effects Artist

Listen Now!!

In this special episode, Stanford and Marc interview visual effects artist Farhan Qureshi. He’s worked on everything from the Harry Potter films, to Batman Begins, and of course Aardman’s The Pirates: Band of Misfits.

Also Discussed: Farhan’s short films Digitopia: Discover Me, NitroDust and his book VFX and CG Survival Guide for Producers and Filmmakers, as well as the Oscar nominations for animation.

(Recorded on 01/19/14)

2014 Oscar Nominations Announced

The nominees were announced today for the 2014 Academy Awards. In the animation categories, five feature films and five short films were nominated (see below). Also, two songs from animated films have been nominated in the Original Song category: “Happy” from Despicable Me 2 and “Let It Go” from Frozen. And Pixar Animation Studios was snubbed again by not receiving any nominations for the great Monsters University and their beautiful short film The Blue Umbrella.  Here are the animation nominees…

2014 Animated Feature Film Guide

Coming to a theater near you in 2014—lots of animated films! 2014 looks to be a great year for animated motion pictures. Here is Animation Fascination’s guide to all of the new animated movies scheduled to be released in theaters this year.

19 Films Submitted for Best Animated Film Oscar Race

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (The Oscars) recently released the names of the 19 films that are vying for this year’s Best Animated Feature Film award. 

“Animation Fascination” Episode 31: Halloween Special 2012

Listen Now!!

Boo! In this spooktacular episode Marc and Matt are joined by guest host Tim Buel (FirstShowing.net‘s “The Golden Briefcase”) to become a part of the Midnight Society. We discuss our favorite Halloween films and television series to watch this time of year, while also sharing memories from our childhood. All this plus much, much more…

Happy Halloween! Remember, we scare because we care.