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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]