Following our line of "What the heck are they doing", Disney has announced they will be closing down the ImageMovers Digital studios that they had opened 3 years ago. This studio only produced one film : the very recent "A Christmas Carol", who "only" generated 300M$ internationally (yes, nowadays, that's not enough...)

I have never been a real fan of Zemeckis' "undead/Resident Evil"-like characters, but it always seem a strange decision to close a studio after the release of only ONE film.
The studio will produce another film before it's closed though : Mars Needs Moms, which interestingly, will be directed by Simon Wells (who didn't direct an animated film since Balto and The Prince of Egypt)
 

Recently, quite a few new animated films have been released to DVD (including 3 hand-drawn ones - that's not going to happen every month!) :

- Curious George 2, a nice sequel to an overlooked animated film, and the last Universal direct-to-video animated film. Toonzone's review summarizes it very well :

Curious George 2 is a rarity: a technically accomplished hand-drawn animated movie for children that resolutely refuses to become "edgy" or "hip" or whatever it is that Hollywood types think they're doing when they fill kids movies with adult pop culture references and jokes about bodily functions.

- Studio Ghibli's Ponyo has also been released to DVD and Bluray. It may not have done very well in theaters, but it really deserved better : actually, I have to admit that this is my favorite among all of the Miyazaki's animated films. (I do not like all of them, but I LOVED Ponyo) If you've never seen one yet, then try and rent it!

Ponyo is delightful and adorable without being gag-inducing, and contains virtually nothing objectionable, so this is a perfect choice for not only the younger crowd but for older viewers as well who are weary of restless Hollywood movies where the only concern is getting from point A to point B, and want to soak in the gorgeous hand-drawn artwork while they're at it. Highly recommended.

- I should also mention that The Princess & The Frog is now available on DVD and Bluray in America (yes, already!) Be sure to get it, especially if you hadn't seen it in theaters (shame on you!)

The Princess and the Frog may have a few problems, but it stands as both a highly enjoyable film and a reminder of how great the traditionally-animated Disney musical comedy fairy tale can be.

  I recommend getting the .