It was great seeing all the regular "Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2" in the 3-D double-feature, and in the trailer for "Toy Story 3". But, in case you didn't know, there's also a growing list of new big-name actors who will be lending their voices to NEW toys in "3" and many of them have previous Pixar experience.

That list includes Bonnie Hunt (Sally in "Cars), Jeff Garlin ("WALL-E") and Michael Keaton (Chick Hicks in "Cars" - he's playing Barbie's boyfriend Ken). Also new to the "Toy Story" voice cast: Whoopi Goldberg (was in "The Lion King") and Jodi Benson (the voice of Areil in "The Little Mermaid").

That's a impressive group joining Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, John Ratzenburger and all the regulars. "Toy Story 3" will hit theaters on June 18.

By the way, if you've been looking on this website and others for the new "Toy Story 3" trailer - no luck. The studio has decided not to release it to internet sites until after it's done running in theaters before the double-feature. That'll be Oct. 16th. We'll have it up then.  

After over a year in space, Buzz Lightyear in back on Earth. And just in time to see the release of the "Toy Story" / "Toy Story 2" double-feature in 3-D.

Buzz spent 15 months onboard the International Space Station, and he arrived back home on the Space Shuttle Discovery a few weeks ago. He was the guest of honor at a ticker-tape parade down Main Street U.S.A. at Walt Disney World on Friday, the same day "Toy Story 1 & 2" came out. Buzz's trip into space was  part of a NASA/Disney education program. Among those happy to see him return is actor Tim Allen, who does Buzz's voice in the movies.

No word if Woody has spent any time between movies in Texas or Wyoming. 

One of the biggest movies of the year may be a film that wasn't even on the 2009 schedule.

Sony Pictures Entertainment is reporting an "unprecedented number of sell-outs worldwide" for the first showings on "Michael Jackson's This Is It". There have been record-breaking sales of tickets for the film, which opens Oct. 28 (with previews shows on the 27th).

The movie is only scheduled to run for 2-weeks, but chances are it will stay in theaters much longer than that if the tickets remain hot. The studio is apparently planning on showing "This Is It" in IMAX format the first week only. I saw the trailer before "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" on Monday in an IMAX theater, but the trailer wasn't in IMAX.

According to a Sony news release, hundreds of U.S. shows sold out on the first day of ticket sales, and the studio is saying that no movie in history has generated more ticket sales around the world so far in advance of it release. More than $1 Million is tickets have been sold in Japan so far.

The film is a collection of songs, clips and interviews from the rehearsals that Jackson was doing in preparation for his concert tour that was scheduled to begin this summer. If you're planning on going, especially the first weekend, I suggest you get your tickets NOW.

The ratings have been released for three of the big family films coming-up in Nov. and Dec., and they're all PG.

"Disney's A Christmas Carol" (scary sequences and images), "Fantastic Mr. Fox" (action and a little smoking), and "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel" (some mild humor) all have been given PG ratings. I thought there was a small chance that "Fantastic Mr. Fox" might be PG-13, since the trailer does make it seem like it's a little more adult than your regular, animated kids film.

Also, the release date for "Puss In Boots", the "Shrek" spin-off, has been pushed-up. The film is now schedule to come out on Nov. 4, 2011. The previous date was March 30, 2012.

Back to "A Christmas Carol": Check-out my story on the train tour that's continuing around the country, promoting the film. And be sure to see the train and the preview clips from the film when the tour comes to your area. 

"Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" opened this past weekend with a strong $30.1 million. Sony Pictures Animation's first film - "Open Season" (2006) opened at $23M and "Surf's Up" made $18M in it's first weekend a year later. "Open Season" went on to make a total of $85M, while "Surf's Up" only earned $58M. "Cloudy" should top them both.

Let's take a look at how animated films have fared so far in the U.S. this year and compare them to the last two years:

2009: "Up" ($291.5M), "Monsters vs. Aliens ($198.4), "Ice Age 3" ($195), "Coraline" ($75.3), "Cloudy..." ($30.1), "9" ($22.8) and "Ponyo" ($14.6) have combined to make $827.7M.

2008 (which included "WALL-E" and "Kung Fu Panda"): $1.004Billion

2007 (which included "Shrek the Third" and "Ratatouille"): $1.131Billion

So, 2009 has some catching up to do. But with "Cloudy..." and the animated films still to some this year, including "Fantastic Mr. Fox" and "The Princess and the Frog", this should be another Billion Dollar Year.

It's official! "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" is the 3rd highest grossing foreign film in history. Not just the 3rd highest animated film, but the 3rd highest film overall, trailing only "Titanic" and "Lord of the Rings:The Return of the King".

This is amazing, especially considering it didn't do that well in the U.S. But overseas it's been a HUGE hit: #1 in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Russia, Mexico and Brazil.

Why? I'm not sure. I liked "Ice Age 3" more than most U.S. critics, and think it's actually better than the first two. But why it's become such a hit in the rest of the world is a mystery. 

What isn't a mystery is the whether or not they'll be an "Ice Age 4". After making over $862 million worldwide (and still counting), there's no doubt that Fox and Blue Sky will be putting Scrat, Sid and Manny back to work.

Also, I've got some Smurf news: Sony has announced that they're pushing the release date for "The Smurfs" to July 29, 2011. It was originally supposed to be the studio's 2010 holiday film. This move breaks-up some of the log-jam of family films scheduled for release on 12/17/10, though "Yogi Bear", "The Green Hornet" and "Tron:Legacy" are all still set to come-out on that date.  

I saw a preview of "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" Saturday. I can't publish my full review on the website until Friday morning (studio rules), but I can tell you that the movie is great: funny, sweet and amazing looking in IMAX 3-D. It's going to be a big hit.

Sony Pictures Animation (along with Columbia Pictures) is on an amazing roll, and now has to be considered the 2nd best producer of quality animated films (behind only Disney/Pixar). First "Open Season" (2006), then "Surf's Up" (2007), then "Open Season 2" (2008-direct to DVD) and now "Cloudy". All with great stories, loads of laughs and stunning animation. 

I'm glad I visited the Sony Studios in Culver City, Ca. during my trip to Hollywood last month. It's great to think that I was on the same site where these amazing films are being made.

Next-up for Sony Pictures Animation: "Hotel Transylvania" and "The Smurf Movie". I can't wait.

Now, let me get this straight - Ellen DeGeneres is the new judge on "American Idol"? I've never heard he say anything mean to anyone on her talk show and now she's going to have to criticize bad singers? Even Paula said some tough things to contestants ever once in awhile.

And how is Simon going to attack Ellen? She's one of the few people in the industry who has the power and the $$$ that he does.

I look forward to seeing the first night of the new season.

Speaking of "looking forward", here's a quick look at some of the top animated films in store for 2010:

"Hoodwinked Too: Hood vs. Evil" - Jan 15. This is the sequel to the first film I reviewed as a professional critic.

"How to Train Your Dragon" - March 26. This is based on the popular kids book.

"Shrek Forever After" - May 21. Hopefully it'll be better than the "Third".

"Toy Story 3" - June 18. In 3-D.

"Despicable Me" - July 9. Steve Carell leads the voice cast.

Man, I'm really excited about next year, but, hey, there's still plenty of family films to come out during the final months of 2009 before we look to 2010.  

The Summer Family Film season is over. It wasn't the greatest by any means.

Before we dive into Fall '09 (which begins Wednesday with the release of "9"), here are my award winners for the Summer:

Worst Box Office Hit: "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen". Made $400M, LOUDLY!

Best Box Office Flop: "Bandslam". Made less than $10M, but better than most of the hits.

Most Forgettable Blockbuster: "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian". When? Who? Why?

Biggest Economic Disaster: "Land of the Lost". Cost well over $100, made less than half of that.

Worst Movie to see on an Empty Stomach: "Julie and Julia". Great performances, better looking food.

Worst Movie to see on a Full Stomach: "Shorts". Gross, painful to watch and also my most film of the summer.

Best Family Film of the Summer: "Up". Funny, sweet, sad and exciting. Everything a Summer movie should be.

Best best for the fall: "9", "Cloudy w/a Chance of Meatballs" and "Where the Wild Things Are."

Not long ago in this space I mentioned that "Yogi Bear" and "The Smurfs" are scheduled to be released on the same day - Dec. 17, 2010. These, obviously, are two kids/family films that I'll be seeing and reviewing.

Well, things have now gotten even more interesting for that day. "Tron: Legacy", the update of the Disney Sci-Fi classic (starring Jeff Bridges) and "The Green Hornet" (with Seth Rogan) are now also set to come out that same day.

One of the studios involved in this log-jam has to move it's film. "The Green Hornet" could go to Dec. 10 to face "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader". Dec. 3 would be a good day for one of the cartoon adaptions, or maybe Thanksgiving. That would leave only two of the original four to open on the 17th.

As for the following week, Jack Black's "Gulliver's Travels" will hit theaters and Disney's animated "Rapunzel" is scheduled, right now, simply as a holiday release, so that's going to be placed in one of these weeks.

Let's just hope it's not Dec. 17.

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