Animation & Cartoons

Ken Tucker reviews the new Wallace and Gromit animated film.

Saturday Night Live cartoonist Robert Smigel. He’s created such popular segments as The Ambiguously Gay Duo, and Fun with Real Audio. Smigel is no stranger to SNL or comedy TV. He was a writer for Saturday Night Live from 1985-93.

Film critic John Powers reviews "Antz," the new animation film by Disney's Dreamworks.

Critic Ken Tucker reviews the new animated film "The Iron Giant" from Warner Bros.

Director/producer Nick Park is the academy award- winning creator of the much-loved animated British characters Wallace & Gromit. Director/producer Peter Lord is Chairman and co-founder of the clay animation studios Aardman, where PARK created his short films featuring Wallace & Gromit (“A Grand Day Out,” “The Wrong Trousers” and “A Close Shave.”) They’ve just collaborated on their first full-length feature film, “Chicken Run” an animated escape film with chickens as the escapers.

Film critic Henry Sheehan reviews “The Emperor’s New Groove,” an animated feature from Disney.

Film critic Henry Sheehan reviews Monkey Bones the new part animated/part live-action film starring Brendan Fraiser.

John Lithgow is one of the stars of the animated hit movie, Shrek. His comedy TV series Third Rock From the Sun just finished its run on NBC. Lithgow also writes children's books. He's just published the book Marsupial Sue (Simon and Schuster), and he has released a new CD of music for children called Farkle and Friends (Watershed Records). Lithgow is currently performing his children's material live in concert.

John Lasseter, Executive Vice President of Creative for Pixar, Inc. Lasseter was one of the founding members of the computer animated filmmaking company. He served as Director and Animator of the feature films Toy Story, Toy Story 2 and A Bugs Life. He was also Executive Producer of Monsters, Inc. Toy Story was the first computer-animated feature film. Lasseter also directed a number of shorts for Pixar, including Tin Toy, Reds Dream and Luxo, Jr. Tin Toy won an Oscar in 1988 for Best Animated Short Film.

Adults who like to watch cartoons are tuning into the late-night block on the Cartoon Network to watch the Japanese adventure series Cowboy Bebop. Critic Milo Miles says there are lots of reasons to like the show.

John Lasseter, Executive Vice President of Creative for Pixar, Inc. Lasseter was one of the founding members of the computer-animated filmmaking company. He served as director and animator of the feature films Toy Story, Toy Story 2 and A Bug's Life. Lasseter also directed a number of shorts for Pixar, including Tin Toy, Red's Dream and Luxo, Jr. Lasseter joined Lucas film's Computer Division in 1984, and then helped create Pixar in 1986. He previously worked as an animator for Walt Disney. This interview first aired February 27, 2002.

He created model-animation and composite-cinematography techniques. His trademark Dynamation method made possible a whole genre of science fiction and fantasy films. His work include The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, Jason and the Argonauts and Clash of the Titans.

Film critic David Edelstein reviews Finding Nemo and The Triplets of Belleville — both nominated for an Academy Award for best animated feature film.

Music critic Milo Miles looks the 1971 animated feature The Point. Pop musician Harry Nilsson wrote the story and the songs. It's just been released on DVD (BMG).

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews music from the film The Triplets of Belleville, now on DVD.

Film critic David Edelstein reviews the new Pixar animated film The Incredibles. Voiced by Craig T. Nelson and Holly Hunter, among others, the comic film tracks a family of superheroes who must abandon a quiet life in the suburbs to fight evil.

Critic David Edelstein reviews The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, now in theaters. He calls the TV cartoon that spawned the animated film "a joyful spasm of whacked-out surrealism," but says the film has a much more straightforward plot and some pedestrian characters.

He directs and provides voices for the new series Robot Chicken on Cartoon Network, which he describes as "SNL meets The Nightmare Before Christmas." It's a fast-paced, irreverent stop-action animated variety show.

We talk with Brad Bird, who wrote and directed the Academy Award-winning film The Incredibles, about a suburban family with superpowers. The mix of average characters and extraordinary abilities has turned the animated characters into celebrities.

Comic Tom Kenny is the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants, Nickelodeon's animated star of television and lately the movies, too. The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie is now out on DVD. Originally broadcast on Nov. 16, 2004.