Unacceptable! 'Adventure Time' Will End in 2018

Not long after we found out that Regular Show would be ending, it has been announced that the hugely successful Adventure Time is also going to be coming to a close. Cartoon Network's flagship series has been running since 2010 and has been popular with audiences and critics alike, bagging six Emmys and even a Peabody Award. Fans can take some comfort that the end is still some way off though, as the series will air two more full seasons, before wrapping up after season 9 in 2018,

This will give the show-runners plenty of time to finish the story properly, tie up loose ends and hopefully give the series the send-off it deserves. The remaining seasons will also apparently contain special episodes and mini-series (in the vein of Stakes).

Disney and Jon Favreau 'Reimagining' The Lion King

From Alice in Wonderland to Pete's Dragon, Disney's recent plundering of their classic back-catalogue has been going full steam ahead for some time now. So, in news that has been inevitable for a while, Disney's remake train has finally arrived at the beloved 1994 classic The Lion King. Following, the huge box-office and critical success of his adaptation of The Jungle Book earlier this year, director Jon Favreau has now signed up to helm this latest 'reimagining'.

Noticeably (despite what you may read elsewhere) neither Disney or Favreau are describing this film as 'live-action'.  In interviews Favreau was not shy in admitting that his Jungle Book was pretty much an animated film, with Mowgli being the only truly live-action element in the film. In this case-assuming that the remake is faithful to the source -the cast will feature no human characters at all. The new Lion King will therefore be a straight-up animated film. Just one that will use the latest CGI technology to bring it to life.

'In This Corner Of The World' English Trailer Released.

In This Corner Of The World is a highly anticipated anime feature from Sunao Katabuchi,- director of Mai Mai Miracle and  assistant director of Kiki's Delivery Service. Adapted from a manga by Fumiyo Kouno,  it follows a young girl named Suzu in war-torn Japan, who moves to the small town of Kure in Hiroshima to live with her husband's family. The film has recently screened in Japan to considerable acclaim, and now UK company Animatsu (who obtained global rights to the film earlier this year) have released the first English trailer for the film.

On the strength of this trailer, this is looking to be rather special. The film is brought to life with beautiful pastel-style visuals, with sumptuous looking backgrounds. The trailer does an impressive job of contrasting the bucolic ideal of rural/small-town Japanese life  and the harsh realities of war.

The AFA Podcast Episode 54

And we're back with another AFA Podcast! Having taken last week off and with some exciting things coming up we decided to have a quieter catch-up episode this week. So join Chris, Rachael and Dan as we catch up with the latest news and discuss some of the latest animation that we've been watching!

First we talk about the upcoming ANNY Best Of Fest, then preview the Manchester Animation Festival (0:05) and   Milo Murphy's Law (0:12) Then it's on to the newest Moana Trailer (0;18) and the announcement of more One Punch Man (0:37) Then we round up What We've Been Watching (0:44) which this week includes South Park, Digimon Tri, Pokemon Generations and Transformers The Movie.

OIAF Announces 2016 Prize Winners

This year's Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) was a particularly significant one. 2016 marked the 40th iteration of the festival, so this year's event featured a celebration of the past. As usual though it also celebrated animation's present (and future) and screened work from some of the world's most foremost animated talents, both established and up-and-coming. The festival received a total of 2311 entries from 86 countries this year, of which just 7 features and 80 shorts were selected to compete for the top prizes. On September 24th, the OIAF announced this year's prize winners.

Web Animation Watch: 'Broken', 'Pokemon Generations' and more

Advances in technology and the spread of the internet has made it easier than ever for animators to get their stuff out there. This also means it's easier than ever for the good stuff to get lost in the crowd. How do you know what's worth watching? That's where we come in! Welcome back to Web Animation Watch.

'Manchester Animation Festival' Returns This November

Last year saw the inaugural Manchester Animation Festival take place to considerable success. After such an auspicious debut, it seemed more than  likely it would be back and sure enough it was announced the event would return on November 15th-17th 2016. With this year's festival approaching fast, the organizers have now revealed the line-up for 2016. It will again take place at HOME, in the First Street complex of Manchester, England.

MAF will shine the spotlight on British animation studio Aardman, who are celebrating their 40th anniversary this year. Founders Peter Lord and David Sproxton will be attending, and The festival will be awarding them the Fellowship Award as well as dedicating an evening's programming to their past works.