Search

Emma Berman was 11 years old and starting sixth grade at the Stratford School in San Francisco in the fall of 2019 when she heard that Pixar was casting a key role in its next animated feature, "Luca." The budding young actor was a huge Pixar fan and was already active in the San Francisco theater scene, including performing in American Conservatory Theater's "Christmas Carol" and in musicals with Bay Area Children's Theatre and 42nd Street Moon, and she was starting to gain attention for her voice-over work. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There's a recurring line in Pixar's exuberant new summer release "Luca" - "Silenzio, Bruno!" - that's sure to strike a chord with children who have ever experienced anxiety, not to mention adults who can relate to the discomfort of having anxious thoughts that keep them from embracing new experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In 2018, months after Kelly Marie Tran had appeared onscreen in the latest installment of the "Star Wars" franchise, she wrote an opinion piece for the New York Times. The piece was at once a raw account of the quiet racism she had internalized growing up in San Diego as a Vietnamese American - incidents mirrored by a wave of vitriolic online attacks directed at her amid her role in "The Last Jedi" - and also a fiery, aggrieved stand against being shaped by such ugly experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In 1932, cinema screens were glowing with a Betty Boop cartoon called "I'll Be Glad When You're Dead, You Rascal You." This animated dream of cannibalism debuted some of the first live-action footage ever of Louis Armstrong playing his trumpet, his crisp, quick solo rising to a clarion growl, his band bringing the swaggering swing that Betty starts moving her shoulders to. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Irish folklore and history get beautifully bound up in "Wolfwalkers," the finest achievement yet from Ireland's Cartoon Saloon. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A show about three cartoon bears caught up in episodic high jinks might serve as one of the only safe distractions from an increasingly maddening world. And it mostly does: In the universe of "We Bare Bears," the Emmy-nominated Cartoon Network show about three bear brothers - adoptees consisting of a grizzly, panda and polar bear - and their misadventures in the human world of San Francisco, trials big and small are always conquered in 11 minutes, give or take, often with a warm salve of chummy love. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Despite the way it's portrayed in his two latest Hulu shows, Nicholas Hoult doesn't have a grudge against the ruling class. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Three independent Bay Area animation companies - Baobab Studios, KuKu Studios and Tonko House - have come together to form the Bay Area Animation Alliance, founders from each of the studios announced Tuesday, June 9. The group will consist of local animation professionals and plans to host regular events covering a range of topics from education and craftsmanship to issues surrounding diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Like much of Pixar's work, the short animated film "Kitbull" is a tearjerker, using unlikely animal companionship to tell a larger story about compassion, friendship and redemption. It tells the tale of a lovable, skittish stray cat who, after a few false starts, helps a happy-go-lucky pit bull escape abusive ownership. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The stars of the popular Nickelodeon cartoon "SpongeBob SquarePants" left Bikini Bottom for the Castro Theatre to continue celebrating two decades of serving those wishing for nautical nonsense. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Former Pixar creative leader John Lasseter has been hired to lead Skydance Animation, officials confirmed Wednesday, Jan. 9, causing an immediate #MeToo movement uproar that overshadowed the industry announcement. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A shareholder suit accusing Walt Disney Co. directors of conspiring with other animation studios not to recruit each other's employees must be dismissed, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday, because there was no evidence that most of Disney's board was aware of any such plot. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull, who helped transform the animated movie business over three decades, will retire at the end of the year. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Pete Docter, the director of Pixar's "Up" and "Inside Out," is the new chief creative officer of the Emeryville studio, and "Frozen" director Jennifer Lee will have the same job at Walt Disney Animation Studios in Burbank, replacing John Lasseter, the Walt Disney Company announced Tuesday. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A high point of dry humor in "Early Man," and there are many, comes about halfway through - when a caveman grandfather figure with a bushy white mustache is recruited to a soccer team. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Rob Paulsen may not be recognized on the street as easily as Ryan Reynolds or Hugh Jackman, but the comic-con veteran and pop culture icon can certainly turn heads with his voice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Pixar chief creative officer and original animator John Lasseter has taken a six-month leave of absence, acknowledging "missteps" and "difficult conversations" related to his interactions with the Emeryville company's employees. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The GLAS Animation Festival takes place in Berkeley starting Thursday, March 2, and even if you think you're not interested, you are. In its second year, this is the most exciting new festival in the Bay Area, with work that is beautiful and nothing like anything most people have ever seen. It's poised to become an ongoing institution, the United States' sole international animation festival. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The 18th "Animation Show of Shows" doesn't have the strongest individual selections in the series' history. There's no entry from animation master Don Hertzfeldt this year, and the shorts are lacking in the comedy/humor subgenre. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

"Storks" has some telltale signs of a bad animated movie - the kind of film that doesn't aspire to be anything more than a 90-minute babysitter. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

"Zootopia" is an achievement in world building - it feels as if you could walk out of the movie theater and book a trip to a land where giraffes drink acacia smoothies and an Arctic shrew is the local Mafia don. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There's a touch of Pixar magic in every corner of the company's Emeryville headquarters. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

These days Harley Jessup is a production designer at Pixar, where his projects have included "Monsters Inc." and "Ratatouille." He is also an Oscar winner for his visual effects work on "Innerspace." [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Surrealist artist Salvador Dal� had a thing for movies. In 1929, he helped Luis Bu�uel make "Un Chien Andalou" - famous for the image of a razor blade slicing an eye - and he believed there were three great Surrealists in Hollywood: master of the spectacle Cecil B. DeMille, comedians the Marx Brothers and animator Walt Disney. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

"Cheatin'" isn't so much a story as it is a showcase for talented animator Bill Plympton, whose dialogue-free film about romance and jealousy both dazzles and fizzles. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Like everyone else at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts in the early 1980s, Gary Rydstrom wanted to be the next big director. But when a professor with close ties to George Lucas found Rydstrom a job in Lucas’ sound department in 1983, it was too big to consider passing up. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

“The Taking of Tiger Mountain”: Tsui Hark helped create modern Hong Kong cinema in the 1980s (“Zu: Warriors From the Magic Mountain,” “Peking Opera Blues”), and is adapting quite well to the special-effects epics that are captivating today’s Chinese moviegoers. “Tiger” is based on Qu Bo’s 1957 novel “Tracks in the Snowy Forest,” which is inspired by a real-life 1946 incident about a counterinsurgency team sent to ferret out a bandit (Tony Leung Ka-Fai) and his gang. Also starring Lin Gengxin and Zhang Hanyu, it opened in Hong Kong and China on Dec. 23, and the 4-Star is one of 20 theaters in North America to screen it. Starts Friday, Jan. 9, at the 4-Star, 2200 Clement St., S.F. (415) 666-3488. www.lntsf.com. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Among the animators who worked for Walt Disney, there emerged a select group, affectionately called the Nine Old Men, and chief among them was Marc Davis. Disney said of Davis: "Marc can do story, he can do character, he can animate, he can design shows for me. All I have to do is tell him what I want and it's there! He's my Renaissance man." [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

RATING: (ALERT VIEWER) [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Bruno Bozzetto was 15 years old when he created his first work of animation. He's 75 now, and he hasn't stopped yet. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

What:It's not enough that this year's J-Pop Summit Festival weekend will feature superstar Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, who will appear on the Union Square stage to take the Japantown-anchored festival citywide. Along with a Harajuku fashion event, a Pocky eating contest and a cosplay masquerade and treasure hunt, the festival will also celebrate its fifth anniversary by inaugurating the Japan Film Festival of San Francisco. Kyohei Sakaguchi, an architect and artist, will attend the U.S. premiere of "How to Build a Mobile House." Next Sunday he will build a mobile garden structure at Muji (540 Ninth St.), which will remain there until the end of August, when it will be auctioned, with proceeds going to a local green charity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

RATING: (POLITE APPLAUSE)Axe Cop: Preview 9:30 p.m. Sunday. Regular time slot, 11 p.m. July 27 on Fox. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

RATING: (ALERT VIEWER) [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

RATING: (ALERT VIEWER) [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

RATING: (POLITE APPLAUSE) [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

If the subject of her new book - a history of fashion - comes across as a tad ambitious, it shouldn't surprise anyone who really knows author Gladys Perint Palmer. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

RATING: (WILD APPLAUSE)Sanjay and Craig: 10:30 a.m. Saturday on Nickelodeon. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

RATING: (POLITE APPLAUSE) [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

RATING: (POLITE APPLAUSE) [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

RATING: (POLITE APPLAUSE)Dinosaur Train: Submarine Adventure: Animated special for kids. 10 a.m. Monday on KQED. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Google's latest biannual report on government information requests into its users, released this week, highlights for the first time how outdated privacy laws allow access to users' information with only a subpoena - not a warrant, the standard in almost all other searches. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

RATING: (ALERT VIEWER) [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

RATING: (ALERT VIEWER) [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

RATING: (POLITE APPLAUSE) [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

RATING: (POLITE APPLAUSE) [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

On this day as a phalanx of nosy journalists descends upon them in the Happiest Place on Earth, the two young stars of the new, full-length version of Tim Burton's "Frankenweenie" have just made each other's acquaintance. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Walt Disney was mad for the horned demons, dancing elephants and weird hybrid creatures of Heinrich Kley, the early 20th century German artist and illustrator whose exquisitely drawn, fantastical images fueled Disney's imagination and inspired some of the animated characters and scenes in "Fantasia" and other classic Disney films. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

"Madagascar 3": $460 million worldwide box office take since its release last month. "How to Train Your Dragon" (2010): $495 million gross. "Rise of the Guardians," starring Jack Frost, Tooth Fairy and Sandmanwith superpowers: November release and expected to be HUGE. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The vegetables were in the trash for a reason. Phil Tippett fished the once-edible (sweet potatoes? turnips?) out of a co-worker's garbage, intrigued by the otherworldly vine-like growths sprouting in several places. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]