From Up on Poppy Hill Review: A Grown-Up Twist on a Coming-of-Age Story

*This review is mostly spoiler free, but proceed with caution.*

Studio Ghibli has been known for its amazing imagery and intricate storytelling, incorporating everything from the supernatural (Kiki's Delivery Service), to the futuristically natural (Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind), to the anachronistically wonderful (Castle in the Sky). However, every once in a while they do something a little different. Similar in tone and approach as Only Yesterday, From Up on Poppy Hill is a rarity in the the world of animated films. It attempts to balance a coming-of-age romance story, with the pivotal self discovery of our two protagonists.

New Monsters University Clip Shows Mike and Sulley's "First Morning"

Pixar's Monsters University advertising is quickly ramping up to the studio's usual frenzied peaks; a couple of days ago we got a new mini-trailer for the film and late yesterday we got one of the first official clips from the film.

"First Morning" shows Mike and Sulley's... well, their first morning, in the house of their fraternity, Oozma Kappa, it seems. It shows the perfectly-timed shedding joke we've seen in previous trailers, and gives us a little glimpse at the pre-Inc. relationship between Billy Crystal's Mike Wazowski and John Goodman's Sulley.

The animation is as stunning and the comedy as golden as we've come to expect from Pixar and their previous Monsters film. Monsters U, directed by Dan Scanlon and produced by Kori Rae, hits US cinemas on 21st June, and UK ones on 12th July.

Simpsons Writer and Clone Wars Producer Join Angry Birds

Rovio have announced that Jon Vitti, whose previous credits include The Simpsons and The Office, will pen the screenplay for their upcoming animated Angry Birds movie. Vitti, a Harvard graduate, won an Emmy for his work on King of the Hill, as well writing a couple of episodes of The US Office and being one of eleven credited writers for The Simpsons Movie. Worryingly though, he also co-wrote the Alvin and the Chipmunks film.

Leaked Frozen Images Seem to Confirm Character Designs

Internet leakers continue to provide a better marketing campaign for Frozen than Disney. Today, images surfaced online which seem to confirm the designs of the film's central sisters, Anna and Elsa, that we glimpsed in the fake posters released a few months back.

New Star Wars TV Series, Rebels, Coming 2014

Disney have caught a lot of flack on a lot of things since their $4.05 billion acquisition of Lucasfilm back in October: layoffs at ILM, shuttering LucasArts, and, most recently, cancelling Star Wars: The Clone Wars, after a five series run on Cartoon Network. Not that this should be a surprise, but an acquisition by Disney definitely doesn't mean there will be less animation coming from the franchise; in fact, a new TV series, Star Wars Rebels, was announced only a few days ago.