Written by steet :

That's a long news, so be sure to click "Read more"!

Universal released its first CGI film this month, and it's...a huge success. Despicable Me is probably the biggest surprise this year, as it generated 118M$ in only two weeks (yes, more than Princess & The Frog during its whole lifespan), while it was produced (in France) for a very small 60M$ budget.

It seems nowadays every company is doing better than Disney...the complete opposite of what happened in the 80-90s, when every animated film would fail, one after the other, when there wasn't written "Disney" on it. Any logic about that? A big part of the success of that film, though, is due to the fact the trailer was shown along with Toy Story 3. (obviously, that helps!)
Anyway, this means you will see : two Despicable Me sequels, a TV series, at least 2 or 3 direct-to-video sequels, and a dozen more CGI films from Universal during this decade. (I'm such an oracle!) After all, they needed a new money-maker franchise to exploit to the very end, now that Land Before Time, An American Tail and Balto are officially "dead" to them.

Dreamworks is also doing fine, with the new Shrek 4 and the previously released How To Train Your Dragon, with a third (yes, THIRD!!!) CGI film planned this year being "Mega Mind". I can't tell you how much I enjoy all these success stories, while I absolutely dislike the CGI films, especially the ones produced by Dreamworks : this only encourages them to make more and more of the same, again and again. (sigh)

Now, what about Disney? While Pixar is doing wonderful with Toy Story 3, and has more sequels planned (Cars 2, Monsters Inc 2, and rumors about A Bug's Life 2 too), Disney is currently making a direct-to-video film based on a...Pixar film.
It's a spin-off of Cars, named "Planes" (how original!)  Mmm, Disney making Pixar stuff...this mean the opposite will also happen, right? RIGHT??

This is made by Disney Toon Studios, the studio behind the new "Tinker" direct-to-video CGI films. (and many of the best DTV sequels from Disney, including Bambi 2 and The Lion King 1 1/2 - but they've stopped 2D animation)

Talking about Tinker, Disney also plans to make a live action Tinker film based on the famous character. Talk about franchises...

And don't forget the two new Tron sequels to the original (and failure) 1982 film, who has gradually gained popularity over the years.

The best news coming from the Disney studios, though, is that a new 2D animated film project has FINALLY been green-lighted for pre-production!  This means that, after the July 2011 new "Winnie the pooh", the next 2D film will not appear before 2013 or 2014 (at least) Huge gap...But still comforting to know they still have some plans for traditional animation.

There's finally a trailer of the winter release, Tangled :

I think the trailer clearly aims at gaining an audience more close to Shrek, than The Princess & The Frog "classic" approach. I like the style of the film though (clearly the best graphics I have seen for a CGI film!), but can't say more with it.
 

A couture company, has started a brand of clothes, named "Dope Tales"...Remind you of something?

I have to say these Disney Ducktales-based tee shirts and caps are very "class"! A shame they're expensive. Very good idea nonetheless. Is it me, or are we FINALLY seeing more and more things based on the Disney Afternoon shows?
 

Talking about it, Jymn Magon, the creator of such TV series as Gummi Bears, Tale Spin, Goof Troop, Duck Tales, ..., who also happen to contribute on Animation Source, will be doing webinars on "how to create hit shows" : creating appealing characters, developing scripts, targeting an audience...
If you want to go into the animation / TV business, or just want to ask him questions on these popular shows, you'll get more information here.