I’m still cautious about falling for Tangled (in theaters November 24, 2010), what with the director change, the name change and the general goofiness of the whole thing. Not that I don’t like goofy, but it all feels a bit like an after school special to me. However, the Walt Disney Animation team sure know how to dress up a feature. It looks familiar, while quite stunning all at the same time. Painterly, but full of the depth that you can only get with CG.

In this featurette below, titled A Tangled World: Creating the Look, we hear from directors Bryon Howard and Nathan Greno, production designer Doug Rogers, art director Dave Goetz and visual development artist Victoria Ying.

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, which I expected to be a much bigger hit than it was, hits the DVD shelves today, and to commemorate this moment, let’s take a look at how the animation team destroyed stuff.

Fellow NYer’s, Max Porter and Ru Kuwahata, a dynamic duo of the NY animation scene, have shared with us and the rest of the online world their latest short, Something Left, Something Taken, a dark comedy inspired by a trip to San Franciso, which was in production for about 2 years and 3 months, in between commissioned work and done at night and on weekends.

I had the pleasure of seeing it several times already, and I can’t say enough good things about it. The style is fresh, the animation is amazing and full of clever subtleties. But I think what gets me excited the most is getting to see all the making of material on their blog. They’re certainly not shy with their creative process and it’s shows just how much pride and enthusiasm they have for even for the tiniest details.

The film has already received a number of achievements, and I am sure will continue to do so in the coming months, so check their site for updates, as well as the full list of credits for the film. Also check out some of their other work, including Electric Car which recently took home a 3rd place award at the ASIFA East International Film Festival. Congrats Max and Ru!

There’s hundreds of new toys in Toy Story 3, and in this featurette below, we meet some of the actors who have stepped into their animated shoes. The film is in theaters this Friday!

If you didn’t have enough reason to be excited about Toy Story 3 (arriving on June 18th), the addition of Day & Night to the front of the screening should take care of that. It’s Teddy Newton’s crafty new short, that layers two sets of animation upon eachother, but it looks like he’s made it work. Here’s 2-minute behind-the-scenes featurette that includes some clips from the production.

We’re less than a month away from the release of Toy Story 3, which opens on June 18th. Here’s a series of interviews with director Lee Unkrich and producer Darla Anderson, in which they answer questions from the fans.

Here’s a 3-minute behind-the-scenes featurette that opens up the plot of Toy Story 3 just a little more. The focus is also on Michael Keaton, who voices Ken, Barbie’s “accessory.” The film is in theaters on June 18th.