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Disney fans and physical media collectors, rejoice! This November will see the release of a gargantuan 100-film Blu-ray collection called the Disney Legacy Animated Film Collection. The catch? It’ll cost you $1,499.96.

The boxed set officially releases on Nov. 14, but preorders are currently available exclusively at Walmart’s website.

Disney Legacy Animated Film Collection $1,499.96 Buy Now

The collection is packaged as a three-volume set, featuring animated films from Disney, Walt Disney Animation and Pixar. But unlike other behemoth boxed sets, this one isn’t filled with lame direct-to video snoozers but beloved titles that includes classics and recent favorites. For example, the long-running list includes all the “Toy Story” movies, both of “The Incredibles,” “The Black Cauldron,” “Frankenweenie” and “Robin Hood.” It even includes films as recent as this...

If you’re a Disney fan who wants each and every animated movie they’ve ever made in one place, then you’re in luck. The Walt Disney Company announced the Disney Legacy Animated Film Collection, which features 100 animated movies from Disney, Walt Disney Animation Studios, and Pixar on Blu-ray. Everything from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to Elemental is included, encompassing nearly one hundred years of storytelling.

Related Disney and Pixar’s Elemental comes to Disney+ on September 13th

The Disney Legacy Animated Film Collection is a self-standing, three-volume set that will be available for pre-order on September 19th, but only on Walmart.com. There will be a limited amount of sets available, so each will include a numbered certificate of authenticity. The set will also feature digital codes for each title, along with a collectible lithograph from Disney Animation’s all-new musical comedy Wish, and a collectible...

The Walt Disney Company is celebrating its 100th anniversary with a hefty new Blu-ray box set containing 100 of its best animated films.

Officially titled the Disney Legacy Animated Film Collection, the box set comes with three volumes that open up to feature the original theatrical artwork for each film. Additionally, the package offers digital codes to all 100 movies, a certificate of authenticity, a lithograph from the upcoming feature Wish, and a collectible set of crystal Mickey Mouse ears engraved with “Disney 100.”

Drawing films from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar, and the now-closed DisneyToon Studios, the collection offers a pretty comprehensive timeline of the company, founded in 1923. The box set features early classics like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan, 1990s renaissance films like Aladdin, The Lion King, and Toy Story, and more modern offerings — many of which got the direct-to-Disney+ treatment thanks to Covid — including Soul,...

Since the Writers Guild of American and Screen Actors Guild are both still on strike, this year's Destination D23 convention down in Orlando, Florida didn't really have much of anything to showcase. Sure, the studio showed some footage from Disney's upcoming animated movie "Wish," and they announced that "Haunted Mansion" would be hitting Disney+ in October. But there was one other announcement that might be intriguing for anyone who is both a Disney fan and a physical media collector.

This fall, the House of Mouse will be releasing the Disney Legacy Animated Film Collection, which collects 100 animated films from both Disney and Pixar, reaching as far back as "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and up through this summer's "Elemental" from Pixar. All of the movies come in a big three-volume set that unfolds in collectible storybooks. The Disney100 Blu-ray box set also includes the original theatrical poster art for every movie within the storybook,...

Disney is releasing a limited edition box set of 100 animated movies to celebrate their 100th anniversary, priced at $1,500. The box set includes classics like Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, as well as newer films like Encanto and Turning Red. While the price may seem steep, the box set comes with bonus collectibles and is a comprehensive collection that would be difficult and costly to build on one's own.

The price tag for Disney's new DVD collection set that contains 100 animated movies has been set at a hefty $1,500. With Disney's 100th anniversary set on October 16, the renowned company has been celebrating the milestone all through the year. The Disney theme parks began the official celebration by kicking off Disney 100 in January, a series of special events taking place in parks across the globe all year long. However, Disney will soon offer a way to bring part of the celebration into audiences' own homes.

Disney just announced the release of the Disney Legacy Animated Film Collection, featuring 100 animated films from Disney, Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar. It’s packaged together as a three-volume set that unfolds into your own storybook.

The set is festooned with original poster designs and comes with digital codes for every movie, alongside a lithograph from Disney’s upcoming feature “Wish,” a certificate of authenticity and crystal Mickey Mouse ears engraved with the “Disney 100” logo. The limited-edition collection will be available on Nov. 14, with pre-orders beginning on Walmart.com on Sept. 18. It has a retail price of $1,500.

What’s fascinating about the set is that it includes a wide array of classic Walt Disney Animation Studios features, along with beloved Pixar favorites and a smattering of films (many of them direct-to-video sequels to earlier masterworks) created by the since-shuttered DisneyToon Studios. That includes “Tinker Bell,” “Return to Neverland,” “The...

Exclusive: Deadline has learned that David Gordon Green is set to direct a movie at Disney Studios for Disney+ about Walt Disney’s journey to building Disneyland, the “Happiest Place on Earth.”

The news comes days before Gordon’s Halloween Kills opens, the sequel to the highest-grossing Halloween movie of all time It was released in 2018 and racked up $255.6 million.

Evan Spiliotopoulos, who has a history writing on such Disney projects as The Jungle Book 2, Pooh’s Heffalump Movie, Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure and the $1.26 billion-grossing live-action reboot of Beauty and the Beast, is set to write. Cavalry Media and producer Jason Reed spent a year developing the pitch before bringing it to Disney.

Spiliotopoulos’ credits also include the 2012’s Snow White and the Huntsmen, which grossed nearly $400M worldwide; the $245M WW-grossing Hercules; and this year’s Snake Eyes and The Unholy.

Allison Erlikhman will oversee for Disney Studios.

Disney is now so known for market dominance and popular culture ubiquity that it’s easy to forget how bad Disney’s box office fortunes were when outgoing CEO Bob Iger took charge in 2005. In the final years of Michael Eisner’s tenure atop Disney in the early 2000s, the studio had its box office hits. Pixar, still rising to power as the top animation studio in the world, was pumping out hits like “Finding Nemo” and “The Incredibles.” And Walt Disney Pictures made live-action hits like “Pirates of the Caribbean” — despite Eisner’s initial resistance to make that film. Touchstone Pictures was also producing more mature films that found widespread success like M. Night Shyamalan’s “Signs.” But for every one of those hits, there were also plenty of misses. Walt Disney Animation Studios flopped with films like “Treasure Planet” and “Home on the Range,” and the live-action division...

Netflix is moving forward with Bright 2, bringing aboard Evan Spiliotopoulos to write the script, taking over for original Bright writer Max Landis. Original Bright director David Ayer is returning to the helm, with Will Smith and Joel Edgerton expected to reprise their roles as Daryl Ward and Nick Jakoby, respectively. Netflix has yet to announce a production start date, or a release date for this sequel, but it will mark the first sequel for any of the streaming service's original movies.

Sources say that Max Landis, who wrote the original Bright, will not be involved with Bright 2. The writer reportedly had creative differences with returning director David Ayer, which lead to the writer parting ways on the sequel. Max Landis was paid a whopping sum for his original Bright script, reportedly between $3 million and $4 million, which was part of a package that Netflix paid $90 million for, beating out...

What to watch in the post-holiday doldrums of January? Coming to Netflix streaming next month are the Ben Stiller comedies "Meet the Parents," "Meet the Fockers," and "Along Came Polly" as well as "Intolerable Cruelty" and "The Ladykillers" from the Coen Brothers.

Also check out the new "we faked the moon landing" comedy "Moonwalkers," starring Rupert Grint and Ron Perlman, the Chelsea Handler special "Chelsea Does," and, of course, "Sharknado 3."

New on Netflix in January 2016

Available Jan. 1, 2016

"2 Fast 2 Furious" (2003)

"Along Came Polly" (2004)

"American Girl: Grace Stirs up Success" (2015)

"Angry Birds Toons:" Season 1

"Bring It On: Fight to the Finish" (2009)

"Bring It On: In It to Win It" (2007)

"Catwoman" (2004)

"The Celebrity Plastic Surgeons of Beverly Hills:" Season 1

"Constantine" (2005)

"Forensic Files: Collection 2"

"Friday Night Tykes:" Season 1-2

"The Good Road" (2013)

"House of Wax" (2005)

"How to Change the World" (2015)

"Ice Age 2: The Meltdown" (2006)

"Intolerable Cruelty" (2003)

"Journey to Le Mans" (2014)

"Loins...

Update: Ouija is back from the dead. Michael Bay is still producing and the first actor was cast today. In the story, a gruop of teens try to contact their dead friend with a Ouija board but contact a very, very evil spirit. "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" star Daren Kagasoff will play Trevor, who doesn't think trying to connect with the dead friend's spirit is a good idea. Juliet Snowden and Stiles White wrote and will co-direct, they co-wrote The Possession and the Nicolas Cage movie Knowing.

***

Aug. 25, 2011 - Ouija has been scrapped by Universal, allowing producer Michael Bay to shop the film elsewhere. Fandango reports that he already took it to Paramount (where he's made over $1 billion this year alone with Transformers 3) and they said no. In this case, we can safely assume that it supersucks because Paramount definitely owes Bay one. Universal's original multipicture deal...

Briefly: In 2009 Universal and Atari partnered [1] to begin the process of developing a movie based on Asteroids, one of the very earliest classic arcade video games. (Or, more properly, Universal won an auction to the rights and Atari took the studio's money.) There is no story in the game at all -- players control a small ship that has to blast its way to safety (which never comes) through a field of giant asteroids. Appropriately for a big sci-fi film with little story, Roland Emmerich was loosely attached [2] to Asteroids for a while, but ultimately passed [3] and decided to make Singularity for Sony instead. But Universal is going forward with the movie, and has just hired Evan Spiliotopoulos (Pooh's Heffalump Movie, Battle for Terra, and perhaps most crucial, some work on Snow White and the Huntsman and Wanted 2) to write a new draft. All we've got with respect to...

Friday Update: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 decimated the midnight opening record last night, raking in $43.5 million at 3,800 locations. That alone would equal the 13th highest-grossing opening day ever. The previous midnight record holder was The Twilight Saga: Eclipse with $30 million at around 4,000 locations, followed by The Twilight Saga: New Moon with $26.3 million at 3,514 locations. The last Potter, Deathly Hallows Part 1, conjured a $24 million midnight start at 3,700 locations, while Half-Blood Prince logged $22.2 million at 3,003 locations and The Dark Knight nabbed $18.5 million at 3,040 locations. Deathly Hallows Part 2 more than quadrupled 2011's previous midnight best The Hangover Part II, which drew $10.4 million at 2,600 locations. Thursday Forecast: Finally, the drawn-out battle between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort comes to an end with the launch of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. The wizard wunderkind's last stand will play out on over 11,000 screens at 4,375 locations, marking not only the series' broadest...

Review of Winnie the Pooh. Beautiful hand-drawn animation and sweet storytelling bring back Pooh in wonderful fashion. New Pooh pays homage to A.A. Milne. Directors Stephen Anderson (Meet the Robinsons) and Don Hall (The Princess and the Frog) replace high-tech bells and whistles with hand- drawn, 2-D animation, sweet storytelling inspired by A.A. Milne's books and lovely songs by She & Him duo Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward for Winnie the Pooh, Disney's first hand-drawn animated film since 2009's The Princess and the Frog and the first Pooh feature to come out of the Walt Disney Animation Studios in 30 years (The Tigger Movie (2000), Piglet's Big Movie (2003) and Pooh's Heffalump Movie (2005) were made by Disney's home video division). The difference in artistic care shows from the first frame. Based on three A.A. Milne stories from the '20s, Winnie the Pooh, featuring the bear with the red shirt that barely covers his belly,...

Review of Winnie the Pooh. Beautiful hand-drawn animation and sweet storytelling bring back Pooh in wonderful fashion. New Pooh pays homage to A.A. Milne. Directors Stephen Anderson (Meet the Robinsons) and Don Hall (The Princess and the Frog) replace high-tech bells and whistles with hand- drawn, 2-D animation, sweet storytelling inspired by A.A. Milne's books and lovely songs by She & Him duo Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward for Winnie the Pooh, Disney's first hand-drawn animated film since 2009's The Princess and the Frog and the first Pooh feature to come out of the Walt Disney Animation Studios in 30 years (The Tigger Movie (2000), Piglet's Big Movie (2003) and Pooh's Heffalump Movie (2005) were made by Disney's home video division). The difference in artistic care shows from the first frame. Based on three A.A. Milne stories from the '20s, Winnie the Pooh, featuring the bear with the red shirt that barely covers his belly,...

Review of Winnie the Pooh. Beautiful hand-drawn animation and sweet storytelling bring back Pooh in wonderful fashion. New Pooh pays homage to A.A. Milne. Directors Stephen Anderson (Meet the Robinsons) and Don Hall (The Princess and the Frog) replace high-tech bells and whistles with hand- drawn, 2-D animation, sweet storytelling inspired by A.A. Milne's books and lovely songs by She & Him duo Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward for Winnie the Pooh, Disney's first hand-drawn animated film since 2009's The Princess and the Frog and the first Pooh feature to come out of the Walt Disney Animation Studios in 30 years (The Tigger Movie (2000), Piglet's Big Movie (2003) and Pooh's Heffalump Movie (2005) were made by Disney's home video division). The difference in artistic care shows from the first frame. Based on three A.A. Milne stories from the '20s, Winnie the Pooh, featuring the bear with the red shirt that barely covers his belly,...

Summer's true heavy hitters, Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, arrive in July. They were the frontrunners from the outset, and, since no May or June release has yet to hit $250 million, they have retained that status. The five top-grossing months ever are the last five Julys, and July 2010 holds the record with $1.32 billion. With Harry Potter, Transformers, the big screen debut of Captain America and a handful of other broadly appealing movies, July 2011 has an excellent shot at breaking that record.July 1Though Transformers: Dark of the Moon hits theaters on June 29, it's classified as a July release based on its first weekend. The last Transformers movie earned $402.1 million two years ago, though it established a reputation as a lousy movie (even director Michael Bay has frequently acknowledged that it's lacking). In this way, at least, Dark of the Moon is facing an uphill battle.

After McG was announced as the director of Platinum Dunes' Ouija, I'd wager just about everyone on the face of the planet let out a collective groan - Universal replaced Brett Ratner on The Wolfman after a huge online outcry, maybe we can pull it off again? Word now comes that Evan Spiliotopoulos has been brought in to work on the script, which was written by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz (Tron: Legacy, Lost). The curious thing about this is that aside from some trashy looking Dtv and Made-For-tv films, Spiliotopoulos is known for working on high-profile Dtv animated flicks, such as The Lion King 1 1/2, The Jungle Book 2, and Pooh's Heffalump Movie. In his defense, he worked on scripts for Wanted 2 and Agnes Quill, though it remains to be seen how good those ended up being. Regardless, we'll all see how it turns out next November.

Universal's Ouija , seems to have found a new writer in Evan Spiliotopolous, Variety reports. The original draft of the film was written by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz ("Lost," Tron: Legacy ) and aims to turn the famous Hasbro board game into a feature film with the supernatural board opening the gateway to a family-friendly adventure. Spiliotopolous is best known for his work with direct-to-video projects from Walt Disney Pictures, including Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure and Pooh's Heffalump Movie . McG is still rumored to be directing the project and the release is still targeting a November 9th release.

Nov 22, 2010

I have fond memories of the Winnie the Pooh movies; although I haven't seen recent entries such as The Tigger Movie (2000), Piglet's Big Movie (2003), or Pooh's Heffalump Movie (2005), I'd look forward to seeing this movie, mostly because the trailer's sweet music and somber dialog suggests a soothing poignancy that would not only be instructional for children, but comforting to adults.

Although I'm glad that Disney kept the Pooh franchise in traditional animation, I have to say that I'm disappointed with the film's look. I miss the grainier, fuller, warmer era of ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com...

When the second part of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows opens next year on July 15, is there any other movie that dares to compete against it? Disney thinks Winnie the Pooh is up for the challenge, despite the poor box office for 2005's Pooh's Heffalump Movie (only $18 million domestically). Disney has embarked on a brave new strategy: adapting five previously unadapted stories from the original A.A. Milne books that ultimately revolves around the Hundred Acre Wood gang trying to save Christopher Robin; returning to the classic, hand-drawn animation-style of the early Pooh movies, and releasing the movie in (the now-retro) 2-D. Disney has premiered their crazy strategy in the first trailer for the movie, and the results show that Disney's strategy might be crazy enough to work.

Next Showing:

Link | Posted 11/13/2010 by Ryan

Jim Cummings | Peter Cullen | Don Hall | Craig Ferguson | Stephen J Anderson | Winnie the Pooh...

I had no idea that Disney was putting out a new Winnie the Pooh movie until a few images hit the web just yesterday, but what surprised me most was the fact that they are doing this as a traditional 2-D animated movie. No CG? Are they crazy??! Of course, it's absolutely the right way to go, and now that the first trailer has arrived online, it looks pretty solid. They seem to be going for a more classical, old school look, which goes hand in hand with the fact that they are essentially "rebooting" the franchise. Unlike the little-seen 2005 film Pooh's Heffalump Movie, this is going back to the original books by A. A. Milne and drawing from five previously unadapted stories. I grew up on Winnie the Pooh, but the series has been run into the ground over the years with tons of mediocre direct-to-dvd releases, making it...

Late this afternoon, Warner Bros. Pictures unveiled a set of noteworthy additions to their 2011 release schedule, while Walt Disney Pictures also chimed in, assigning dates to two new animated movies. Unknown White Male has been scheduled for Jan. 7, 2011. Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra (Orphan), the movie stars Liam Neeson as a doctor who wakes up after a car accident to find that his wife (January Jones) no longer recognizes him and another man (Aidan Quinn) has assumed his identity. Also featuring Diane Kruger, Unknown White Male currently shares the Jan. 7 date with the Untitled Ashton Kutcher/Natalie Portman Project. Directed by Mikael Hafstrom (1408) and starring Anthony Hopkins, Warner Bros. supernatural drama The Rite debuts Jan. 28, 2011. Allegedly inspired by true events, the movie finds a disillusioned American seminary student attending exorcism school at the Vatican, battling demonic forces in the process. Warner Bros. previously had The Factory, a thriller featuring John Cusack,...

After claiming that "Wanted 2" is still happening although Angelina Jolie has left the project, Mark Millar has explained what filmmakers will do to cover the absence of the leading lady. Speaking to MTV at 2010 South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive, Film and Music Festival, the co-creator for "Wanted" comic book said there is a plan to introduce other fraternities of assassins.

"What they're talking about is just moving on with the story and doing it properly," he shared. "Just bringing in another cool character as this world opens up with all the different fraternities out there all across the world."

"They killed off the most recognizable character, but I thought it was great to do that," he further praised the filmmakers for the idea. Adding that this scoop is the latest update he heard from "Wanted 2" development, Millar noted, "This could change at any moment, but the last I heard two weeks ago,...

Despite featuring Leonardo DiCaprio's full range of 'mental anguish' faces, Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island doesn't look bad. So why is the trailer so … iffy?

Though it would seem wrong to start a trailer column without the trailer in question, this is one week in which it would be tempting to do so. It isn't that it's a bad trailer – it's just that even the most casual cinema attendee has probably seen it three times.

While the more regular film fan might have seen it anywhere up to eleventy-jillion times, since they've been trailing it since June, 1576. Or, more accurately, June last year. But as it was reasonably high-profile all that time (the film was supposed to be released at the end of last year), it felt like longer.

Still, for those who might have miraculously managed to avoid it up to this point, this is the trailer:

This...

Talks about "Wanted (2008)" sequel have begun since 2008, not long after the first film gained much success in box office. Though so, the project has not shown its shape yet. Met by IGN, creator of "Wanted" comic books Mark Millar has informed that the upcoming film indeed makes some progress since the script is almost ready.

Not only saying the movie is going to have a "good script", but also Millar believes that the shooting will be kicked off soon. He additionally revealed the plot of "Wanted 2" will fall immediately after the end of the first film and bring the idea of other five fraternities of assassins around the world with James McAvoy's character, Wesley, being hunted by other assassins.

McAvoy has been said to return to "Wanted 2" while Timur Bekmambetov, who has been attached to the upcoming project, has previously uttered his idea to bring Angelina Jolie...

I guess we won't see Moby Dick anytime soon. Russian director Timur Bekmambetov spoke to the Russian outlet Ria Novosti (translated via Russia-ic) recently and told them that he's starting prep on Wanted 2 soon. "In July we will start preparation for the film. I think in the late autumn or winter shooting will be performed," he says. "The shooting will take place in America, India and Russia." We last heard about the sequel back in April when it was announced that Pooh's Heffalump Movie writer Evan Spiliotopoulos had been hired to write a script based off of a story by Wanted writer Chris Morgan. Apparently Bekmambetov said that he will bring back Angelina Jolie, which doesn't make sense considering what happened in Wanted. He also wants to bring back the character named The Exterminator played by Russian actor Konstantin Khabenskiy (he was the guy who ran the healing room...

At the Licensing International Expo in Las Vegas, Disney announced a new "Winnie the Pooh" hand-drawn animated theatrical release. The studio has a set a tentative Spring 2011 release date, which is six years after "Pooh's Heffalump Movie" was largely panned by critics while earning just $18 million at the domestic box office. Pooh, though, is the world's second-biggest licensed character franchise behind Mickey Mouse, hence, a renewed focus on the property that will include merchandise and books.

It's so hard to get behind Disney and their treatment of Winnie the Pooh. I've always enjoyed their The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, even if it did steer away from A.A. Milne's original illustrations. It's sweet, and it kept the book's conversation between Pooh and Christopher Robin about growing up. That scene can melt even the hardest and blackest heart.

But they have sold him out shamefully since then. They've slapped him on every single item of merchandise they could (he's the world's second-largest licensed character franchise -- he falls behind Mickey Mouse), churned out bad stories like Pooh's Heffalump Movie, and treated the A.A. Milne estate horribly. No money goes towards maintaining England's 100 Aker Wood or Pooh Corner, an act that has left a lot of really bad blood. (By the way, if you are ever in England, go down to east Sussex. You can play...

The Hollywood Reporter confirmed Monday that Disney will produce a new, hand-drawn feature based on A.A. Milne's beloved Winnie the Pooh characters.  This announcement comes only four years after Disney released Pooh's Heffalump Movie, which grossed only $18 million domestically and was almost universally panned by critics.

Despite the 2005 movie's lack of success, Disney consumer products chairman Andy Mooney said the studio will move forward undeterred, since Pooh represents the second-biggest licensed character franchise in the world behind ... you guessed it ... Mickey Mouse.

Disney plans to release the untitled project sometime in the spring of 2011. No decisions were announced regarding actors, directors, or writers. There are also no details about the narrative.

Next Showing:

Link | Posted 6/2/2009 by Rich Z

Winnie the Pooh | Pooh's Heffalump Movie...

Here's your dose of film news for June 2, 2009:

• Walt Disney is gearing up to develop another big-screen Winnie the Pooh adventure. It will be a hand-drawn animated flock in the tradition of 2005's "Pooh's Heffalump Movie," which only grossed $18 million domestically. The Hollywood Reporter says Disney plans to release the film in 2011.

• According to Deadline Hollywood Daily, Oscar winner Javier Bardem may play the villain in Oliver Stone's "Wall Street 2." Michael Douglas and Shia Labeouf are also on-board. Douglas is back as Gekko, and Dhd says Labeouf will play a "Wall Street trader who's engaged to be married to Gekko's estranged daughter."

• Playboy model Angelina Leigh has joined the cast of Greg Lamberson's upcoming sequel "Slime City Massacre," which will head into principal photography next month. Leigh is set to play Honey, a prostitute trying to survive Scm's post apocalyptic environment. Debbie Rochon. Lee Perkins, Brooke Lewis and Kealan Patrick Burke co-star.

Our favorite rumbly tumbly, climbing a hunny tree Pooh Bear will be headed back to theaters in 2011. In spite of the dismal box office returns for Pooh's last outing, 2005's Pooh's Heffalump Movie, Disney has decided to revisit the hundred acre wood once again--and in 2D, no less--according to Empire Online. 2D is without a doubt the best way to go creatively for a Pooh flick, as any parent or child who has witnessed the utterly creepy new computer animated series on the Disney channel is likely to agree. Somehow Pooh's old fashioned spirit and muted pastel color scheme just doesn't mesh well with newfangled technology. Last year's dismal-looking The Tale Of Despereaux had the same problem. But Disney will need to find a way to get butts in seats somehow, and Pooh as is just doesn't seem to be doing it. Although Pooh bear is the second largest character...

Hooray? Disney is moving forward on developing a new hand-drawn animated Winnie the Pooh movie that will play in theaters. The new movie is tentatively slated for release in spring of 2011 and will come some six years after Pooh's Heffalump Movie played in theaters and made a measly $18 million total. Pooh is the world's second-largest licensed character franchise behind Mickey Mouse, according to Disney, and a renewed focus on that property will include merchandise and books, which is part of the announcement planned for the Licensing International Expo this week. Will we get to see plenty more of Tigger, I hope? Last night I polled my Twitter followers to see whether it was worth writing up this news about Pooh returning to the big screen or not. I got enough enthusiastic responses that I decided to write something up. Not much more is known about the production right now, ...

Disney is moving on a new Winnie the Pooh hand-drawn animated theatrical release, and it's also creating two primetime TV specials starring "Handy Manny."

The announcements are planned for Tuesday at the Licensing International Expo in Las Vegas, where execs also will discuss plans to pump more enthusiasm into the world's largest licensed character franchise: Mickey Mouse.

That effort, said consumer products chairman Andy Mooney, could include classic footage of an animated Mickey mashed up with contemporary Disney properties, with the resulting creations running on the Disney Channel.

"Through extensive research with kids, we found they actually love the original Mickey Mouse property," Mooney said.

As for Pooh, the movie's planned release for spring 2011 will come six years after "Pooh's Heffalump Movie" was largely panned by critics while earning just $18 million at the domestic boxoffice.

Pooh, though, is the world's second-biggest licensed character franchise behind Mickey Mouse, according to Mooney,...

Eagle eyed readers of last Saturday's "The Second Edition" will have spotted the report that "Pooh's Heffalump Movie" writer Evan Spiliotopoulos had been signed up as screenwriter on Wanted 2, the sequel to last year's graphic novel adaptation starring Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman and James McAvoy.

I must admit that I was more than a little surprised to find out that a writer from a family animation background had been signed up for what should be a violent action pic.

Wanted creator and and producer Mark Millar has finally commented on the press coverage on his own message boards, defending Spiliotopoulos:

"This guy is supposed to be really good. He did a Great action script recently (on an unproduced movie) and that’s what got him this gig."As for past speculation on who might or might not return, Millar also took the time to rebuff all rumours:

"It’s just...

While many were surprised by the picking up of "Pooh's Heffalump Movie" co-writer Evan Spiliotopoulos as "Wanted 2" scribe, creator Mark Millar thinks that Spiliotopoulos is the perfect man for the job. The comic book writer has come in defense of Spiliotopoulos, writing in his Millar World forum, "Never listen to any commentators as they never know anything about who's coming back, etc."

"It's just speculation and 99% of the time these guys don't have access to the people who know," he continued blasting the negative comments of the newly-appointed writer. "Wanted 2 is being made in a very tight circle at the moment. As a producer on the thing, I'm excited. I know who's in it and after doing 342 million at the box office we have series money to spend on everything from cast to crew to script."

Millar, in the end, explained what is really behind the hiring of Spiliotopoulos.

Last week it was announced that Evan Spiliotopoulos has been hired to write the "Wanted" sequel for Universal Pictures. That decision seemed a bit strange, since the man is responsible for co-writing two Winnie the Poof movies, "Pooh's Heffalump Movie" and its DVD Halloween spin-off. Now, Mark Millar, creator of the "Wanted" graphic novel, posted some comments on his message board to defend Spiliotopoulos. "This guy is supposed to be really good. He did a Great action script recently (on an unproduced movie) and that's what got him this gig," he said. Regarding the sequel: "Never listen to any commentators as they never know anything about who's coming back, etc. It's just speculation and 99% of the time these guys don't have access to the people who know. 'Wanted 2' is being made in a very tight circle at the moment. As a producer on the thing, I'm excited.

A couple of days ago we reported on Universal's choice to hire a writer named Evan Spiliotopoulos to work on the script for Wanted 2. However, Spiliotopoulos's only past writing credits include such Disney classics as Pooh's Heffalump Movie and The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning. Everyone I know has made fun of Evan for this, even though I try to remind people that he's probably just a writer working in Disney for the moment, but capable of so much more. Well, Wanted creator Mark Millar chimed in via his own forums today and states exactly what always I thought about Spiliotopoulos - he's got more in him. "Never listen to any commentators as they never know anything about who's coming back, etc. It's just speculation and 99% of the time these guys don't have access to the people who know. Wanted 2 is being made in a very tight circle at ...

Last week, it was announced that Evan Spiliotopoulos has been hired to write the script for Universal's Wanted 2 , based on a story by Chris Morgan. There was some negative feedback as Spiliotopoulos is credited as co-writer of Pooh's Heffalump Movie and its DVD Halloween spin-off. But Mark Millar, creator of the graphic novel and producer on the sequel, says that's not why he was brought on board. "Never listen to any commentators as they never know anything about who's coming back, etc. It's just speculation and 99% of the time these guys don't have access to the people who know. 'Wanted 2' is being made in a very tight circle at the moment," Millar said on his message board . "As a producer on the thing, I'm excited. I know who's in it and after doing 342...

Last Friday we reported that Evan Spiliotopoulos, co-writer of Pooh's Heffalump Movie and its DVD Halloween spin-off, had been hired to write Universal's action sequel Wanted 2, based on a story by Chris Morgan.

This led to some negative chatter on the Interwebs, with people disparaging the idea of a "children's" writer taking on Wanted 2. So, Mark Millar, creator of the "Wanted" graphic novel and producer on the sequel, has come to Spiliotopoulos' defense.

"This guy is supposed to be really good. He did a Great action script recently (on an unproduced movie) and that's what got him this gig," Millar said on his message board.

About the project, Millar also said: "Never listen to any commentators as they never know anything about who's coming back, etc. It's just speculation and 99% of the time these guys don't have access to the people who know. 'Wanted 2' is...

Here's your dose of film news for April 20, 2009:

• Screenwriter Evan Spiliotopoulos, whose credits include "Pooh's Heffalump Movie," is set to write "Wanted 2" from a story by Chris Morgan. Considering most characters died in the first film, it will be tough to put together an intriguing story, which will focus on main character Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy). Timur Bekmambetov may return to direct the sequel. (The Hollywood Reporter)

• According to the guys at ShockTillYouDrop, Lionsgate is not interested in developing a sequel to Patrick Lussier's recent box office success "My Bloody Valentine 3-D." This is quite surprising, considering the film grossed $51 million domestically. In the end, not moving forward with a sequel may actually be the best decision.

• Toby Kebbell, who starred as the hilarious Johnny Quid in "RocknRolla," has joined the cast of Jon Turteltaub's upcoming adventure "The Sorcerer’s Apprentice," which is currently shooting. The...

Well what a week! We've had updates on Flash Gordon, the Final Harry Potter trailer and Wolverine "Got Milk!"

But I'm not here to talk about that stuff, we're here to check out the news that didn't make my front page this week. Admittedly there's some good stuff, but time constraints mean that I have to draw the line somewhere. Anyway, check out the week in summery, with The Second Edition below:

#1 - X-Men: First Class

First up - are you ready for another X-Men franchise? That was the question on everyone's lips when producer Laura Shuler-Donner announced her plans to turn "X-men: First Class" into a franchise in it's own right. And I like her train of thought:

"It is the first class of Xavier's school, way back when, so it's young Scott, young Jean, young Beast, and that'll be really fun."We already know that "young Scott" makes...

Evan Spiliotopoulos, co-writer of "Pooh's Heffalump Movie" and its DVD Halloween spin-off, has been hired to write Universal's action sequel "Wanted 2," based on a story by Chris Morgan. Like the original 2008 film, the in-development sequel is based on the comic series created by Mark Millar and Jg Jones. Marc E. Platt and Jim Lemley are producing with Timur Bekmambetov, who directed the first film and is attached to helm the sequel. At this point, it is not known whether James McAvoy will return, but producers recently revealed that they are trying to get him back. The original "Wanted" earned $134 million domestically and $207 million internationally. Overall, the movie earned over $341 million and only on a $75 million budget. Click here to read our "Wanted" review.

We have slipped into an alternate universe.

A link between Wicked and Wanted I can get. They may not be the same sort of cinematic beast, but they both have their appeal. However, if you take that Oz-filled family adventure and young it up a whole bunch, and turn it into the tale of a bear who loves honey, the link is lost. The Hollywood Reporter posts that Wanted 2 has found a screenwriter to whip up all that trajectory-bending action -- Pooh's Heffalump Movie scribe Evan Spiliotopoulos.

That's not all he's written. There's also The Jungle Book 2, The Lion King 1 1/2, Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers, The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning, and Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure. Okay, he also has a few crappy films that came with the deluge of family fare, and a pen in Terra, but how did this guy get picked?

He must have...

There are a few good nuggets of news worth reporting today, but they're a bit small, so I thought I'd throw them together in one article. First up, Universal has hired a new writer for Wanted 2, the sequel to Timur Bekmambetov's summer hit from last year. Unfortunately, it's not anyone you might know. Evan Spiliotopoulos, co-writer of "Pooh's Heffalump Movie" and its spinoff, has been hired to write a script based on a story by Chris Morgan. In other news, Fox Searchlight has acquired the screen rights to Nice, a book by Jen Sacks, which will be developed and produced by Reese Witherspoon for her to eventually star in. Nice is about a magazine writer who accidentally kills her boyfriend. She finds a way to get rid of the body and discovers that killing boyfriends is easier than breaking up with them. The project was originally setup at...

Evan Spiliotopoulos, co-writer of Pooh's Heffalump Movie and its DVD Halloween spin-off, has been hired to write Universal's action sequel Wanted 2 , based on a story by Chris Morgan. Like the original 2008 film, the in-development sequel is based on the comic series created by Mark Millar and J.G. Jones. Marc E. Platt and Jim Lemley are producing with Timur Bekmambetov, who directed the first film and is attached to helm the sequel. Morgan co-wrote the first film with Michael Brandt and Derek Haas.

Universal is moving ahead at Universal after the original film's co-writer Chris Morgan submitted a story treatment. Now the studio has formally hired a screenwriter to flesh out the concept and they found a writer in the oddest place: Pooh's Heffalump Movie. Uni has hired Evan Spiliotopoulos whose writing credits to date include the aforementioned Heffalump movie, it's Halloween-inspired sequel, Lion King 1 1/2 and The Little Mermaid 3. Spiliotopoulos came to the recognition of Universal...

Photo: Universal Pictures and Walt Disney This is such a small story it hardly warrants its own post, but when you get such an unlikely scenario as this it makes for interesting reading as The Hollywood Reporter reports Evan Spiliotopoulos, co-writer of Pooh's Heffalump Movie and its DVD Halloween spin-off, is writing the script for Wanted 2. Come on, that has to give you at least a moment of pause even though it really doesn't mean much. Spiliotopoulos' resume is filled with Disney features including Heffalump as well as The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning, Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure and Tinker Bell: A Midsummer Storm. However, looking back in time it appears he did write a couple of violent TV actioners as well as co-writer credits on the 2002 direct-to-dvd feature Bare Witness, which was rated R for strong sexual content, some language and violence. So, he isn't all puffy...

Wanted 2 could be a bit Pooh.At least, that’s the obvious conclusion to draw from today’s news that Universal has hired Evan Spiliotopoulos, whose biggest credit to date is, erm, Pooh's Heffalump Movie, to write the sequel to last summer’s demented action blockbuster.Now, we’re guessing that Spiliotopoulos is a much better writer than his CV suggests. And we suspect that he won’t be introducing bears who like honey and strange creatures whose tops are made out of rubber, and bottoms are made out of string to the movie, which will likely follow James McAvoy’s ace assassin, Wesley Gibson, as he copes with the fallout from the previous movie’s destruction of The Fraternity. But this is still a choice right out of leftfield.Perhaps, though, he’ll find a way to wedge Angelina Jolie’s foxy Fox back in there… despite, y’know,...

Sequel to "Wanted (2008)", "Wanted 2", is moving forward with a new writer on board. In an interesting update about the in-development project, it is reported that Evan Spiliotopoulos, the co-writer of "Pooh's Heffalump Movie" and its DVD Halloween spin-off, has been tapped to pen the screenplay of the sequel.

While the original "Wanted" adaptation was written by writers Michael Brandt and Derek Haas, it appears that Universal opted to go strictly with Spiliotopoulos for "Wanted 2". Spiliotopoulos, who also penned the script for Lionsgate Films' "Battle for Terra", is expected to develop the script which is based on a story by Chris Morgan.

"Wanted 2" will be produced by Marc E. Platt and Jim Lemley with Universal production executive Jeff Kirschenbaum overseeing the project. Director Timur Bekmambetov, who helmed the first film, is attached to direct this sequel. It is not known if James McAvoy will return to reprise his role as Wesley Gibson,...