Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures – The Complete Series is available on DVD today. We don’t highlight much animation aimed at kids on this site, but it’s a safe argument that Mighty Mouse wasn’t. While Mighty Mouse was first introduced in 1942, it was revived several times, and most recently by Ralph Bakshi (Fritz the Cat). Beyond that, the crew Bakshi assembled included some young artists that went on to define the animation industry – like John Kricfalusi (The Ren and Stimpy Show), Bruce Timm (Batman: The Animated Series) and Andrew Stanton (Wall-E). Here’s a low-quality version of the title sequence:

RottenTomatoes.com has wrapped up the decade with a categorical review of the best films, using atypical categories like Best Remake and Best Directorial Debut. In their Best of the Decade piece, Animated films stood out proudly, taking the top spot in two categories and placing high in others. Here’s how it sorted out:

BEST SUPERHERO MOVIE
The Incredibles (first place)

BEST DIRECTORIAL DEBUT
Finding Nemo (4th place for Andrew Stanton)
Chicken Run (5th place for Nick Park and Peter Lord)

BEST CHILDREN’S BOOK ADAPTATION
Fantastic Mr. Fox (1st place)
Coraline (2nd place)
Shrek (3rd place)

In a reader poll on the last page, The Incredibles also holds the top spot as best of the best.

After Kung Fu Panda swept the Annies in January, Disney-Pixar’s WALL·E took the award for Best animated feature film of the year at the 81st Academy Awards. It wasn’t a real surprise, as WALL·E has been a critical darling all year. In his restrained acceptance speech, director/producer Andrew Stanton said “It’s been such an inspiration to spend time with a character who so tenaciously struggles to find the beauty in everything that he sees. It’s a noble aspiration to have at times like these.” Right you are, Andrew. Here’s a 4-minute featurette of WALL·E you might not have seen:

And a big congrats to Pixar artist Jay Shuster, my childhood pal, who was one of the designers of WALL·E himself.

I kinda thought Pete Docter (Up) should have gotten a shout out – as I think he was the originator of the concept for WALL·E. Eh – you’ve got :45 seconds, so I supposed it’s no surprise.

Disney releases the Wall-E DVD tomorrow, and aside from deleted scenes and a viewing of Presto, you’ll be treated to Burn-E, a new CGI-animated short. The 7-minute film tells the story of a repair robot named Burn-E, who is sent out to fix a broken light on the Axiom. His adventures take place during the timeline of the original Andrew Stanton film, but this short was directed by Angus MacLane. Watch the short below, and then go read an interview with MacLane over at movieweb.com.

The final Wall-E trailer has arrive, but you’ll have to wait until June 27th to see the full film, which was directed by Andrew Stanton.