Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios / Studio Ghibli.

Fathers and sons – both onscreen and off – figure in Studio Ghibli’s Tales from Earthsea.  Onscreen, a teenage prince kills his royal dad and makes off with the man’s sword; offscreen, Goro Miyazaki, the son of Japan’s best-known animation director takes over a project his dad initiated but never found the time to direct. Wish fulfillment or mere coincidence? Does a sword equal a man’s career? You be the judge…

A Monster in Paris. All film images © 2011 EuropaCorp, Bibo Films, France 3 Cinema, Walking the Dog.

It’s baa-ack! The days are getting longer and warmer, but the real sign of spring’s incipient arrival is of the return of the New York International Children’s Film Festival. A Monster in Paris was the opening night feature, which festival director Eric Beckman first saw at  last year’s Toronto International Film Festival. Seems there’s a monster loose in Belle Époque Paris (duh) – but is he really a monster? The 3D CGI film is a charming piece of work with stylish character design and a sharp eye for getting its period details just right. (And be careful with those 3D glasses; bust them and the festival’s out $25.) It’s well-worth seeing for the mid-film fantasy dance number alone.

Pictured: Fátima Ptacek voices Dora in DORA THE EXPLORER on NICKELODEON. Photo: Nickelodeon ©2012 Viacom, International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Why do I always start salivating when I’m invited to an event in the Viacom building? Oh yeah, it’s because they always put out the nicest spreads - and whatever they’re promoting is usually pretty interesting too.

3D Filmgoers at the Be Film Festival

It may not get a fraction of the publicity showered on the high-profile Tribeca Film Festival, but in its seventh year the Be Film Festival has made a name for itself nonetheless. As so often happens when creative folks get together, Be Film is one of those things that spontaneously gives birth to itself and then grows and grows…

Ralph Bakshi

Cartoon rebel Ralph Bakshi was the guest of honor at Soho’s Animazing Gallery for the opening of “The Works” – not the creations of his decades in animation, but the collage paintings he’s dedicated himself to since turning his back on his former medium.

Nick’s The Last Airbender – the movie based on the channel’s long running animated adventure – won’t be out until July, but the toys are already in the pipeline, and the prototypes went on display for a select audience the week before the New York Toy Fair began on Valentine’s Day.

Lourdes Arocho shows off Aangs staff.

The voice of Po, Jack Black.

I walk in, keeping my fingers crossed; the first Panda is one of my favorite animated films of recent years – why mess with perfection? That movie seemed so complete, so self-contained, with Jack Black’s Po character fulfilling his destiny as the Dragon Warrior; how do you build on it without repeating yourself?  And a skeptic might uncharitably describe Antonio Banderas’ feline swashbuckler as a one-note character: can he carry an entire film on his furry shoulders?

Toy Story 3. © Disney/Pixar.

To quote a line from Toy Story 2’s ad campaign, the toys are back in town, and to paraphrase one from What’s New Pussycat, together again for the last time. And it looks like the real deal too: Pixar is bidding farewell to Woody and his pals. Frankly, I wish all my goodbyes were this sweet.

When it comes to animated features, Universal’s taken a different path than Disney or DreamWorks. Rather than produce animation in-house, the studio’s made the wise decision (for them at least) of acquiring or financing animated features from independent studios – no overhead, low risk. While The Tale of Desperaux was a mixed bag (let’s be honest, it was a bit of a mess – who the hell was that vegetable man, for one?), Despicable Me is a neat and snazzy treat. This time Universal has a definite contender for a Best Animated Feature Oscar nomination. (I think we all should just agree right now that Pixar will win again for Toy Story 3 and instead handicap which films will snag the other four slots.)

Image ©2012 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

Brave is a generational tale, the story of a young princess, a kick-ass Celt and wild child named Merida (voiced by Kellie Macdonald) who couldn’t be less interested in the life her royal mom Elinor (Emma Thompson) has mapped out for her.

This may be Pixar’s first female protagonist but Disney’s had no shortage of fairy tale heroines, from the demure Snow White to the determined Rapunzel in Tangled. It’s interesting how these gals become more assertive as the decades roll by, and they don’t come more headstrong than Merida.

Overall, Brave is an entertaining and even groundbreaking piece of work, both for its gutsy heroine and Pixar’s new ‘Presto’ animation system, responsible for Merida’s fiery red flowing locks.