The Producers Guild of America has announced the nominations for their annual awards. Bolt, Kung Fu Panda, and WALL-E will compete for the Producer of the Year Award in Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures.

The Associated Press reports that a 3D advertisement for DreamWork’s upcoming Monsters Vs Aliens will be aired during the Super Bowl. The 90-second sneak preview will have the largest audience of any 3D telecast, with Jeffery Katzenberg pegging it as “perhaps the biggest media-advertising event in history.” About 150 million pairs of 3D glasses will be given away at various Pepsi/SoBe Life Water displays around the country in preparation for the event, and a television ad promoting the sneak peak can be seen here. Monsters Vs Aliens opens in traditional as well as 3D-compatible theaters on March 27th, 2009.

Variety reports that Ari Folman’s animated war documentary Waltz with Bashir won the 43rd annual best picture prize from the National Society of Film Critics, edging out the runner-ups WALL-E and Happy-Go-Lucky.

Following-up on this story from Saturday where it was revealed that one of the names of a character in Pixar’s upcoming film Up was “Dug the Talking Dog”, here’s a reminder that you can actually see what he looks like in this Animated News post from July.

Several new images from the big screen adaption of Astro Boy can be viewed at Latino Review. Several characters shots are featured on the site, as well as a small handful of concept art. Astro Boy blasts into theaters on October 23rd, 2009.

PixarBlog shares some details on the new characters from Pixar’s forthcoming feature Up which includes the characters “Dug the talking dog”, a female bird named “Kevin” and “Muntz”, the likely villain.

Additionally, the Blogsite also shares a new still which appeared in Entertainment Weekly in their exclusive first look at 12 big movies coming in 2009.

Also posted on the site is the cover art for the Art of Up book which will be available from April 29. According to the ChronicleBooks, “The Art of Up contains more than 250 pieces of concept art developed for the feature, including storyboards, full-color pastels, digital and pencil sketches, character studies, color scripts, and more. Quotes from the director, artists, animators, and production team reveal the sky-high creativity that elevated this whimsical film to new heights.”

IMDB now lists some of the voice actors for the English version of Hayao Miyazaki’s film Ponyo on the Cliff. Nausicaa reports that it is likely from their ages that Noah Cyrus will be Ponyo, and Frankie Jonas will be Sosuke. Madison Davenport will be playing Kumiko, the only other child character in the film with dialogue. Produced by Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy, Ponyo on the Cliff is likely to see a North American release sometime in 2009.

OregonLive shares some artwork from Ari Folman’s acclaimed animated feature Waltz with Bashir. Based on Folman’s memoirs of the Lebanon War, Waltz with Bashir features artwork by award-winning Israeli illustrator and cartoonist Tomer Hanuka. David Polonsky has served as art director on the film.

Eartha Kitt, singer, dancer and actress, died of colon cancer on Thursday at 81, reports Big Cartoon Forum. Kitt, who successfully played Catwoman in the Batman television series in the 1960s, was also the voice of Yzma in Disney’s 2000 feature film The Emperor’s New Groove which won her an Annie for Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting by a Female Performer in an Animated Feature Production. She also played Yzma in the subsequent TV series The Emperor’s New School and also in the 2005 direct-to-video movie Kronk’s New Groove.

Variety reports that DreamWorks’ animated sequel Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa remained robust in the top weekend slot at the international box office with $31 million at 6,211 playdates in 58 markets, bringing its foreign take to $278 million. The Madagascar sequel has now become the eighth biggest foreign grosser of 2008, tying it with The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.

BBC and Variety report that Nick park’s Wallace and Gromit have topped the Christmas Day TV ratings with their latest adventure A Matter of Loaf and Death. The 30-minute show, which premniered on BBC1, secured the biggest Christmas Day TV audience for five years attracting a peak audience of 14.4 million. Wallace and Gromit enjoyed a festive double success as their last film The Curse of the Were-Rabbit also made it into the Christmas Day top 10, nabbing 7.2 million audience.

Creative Screenwriting Magazine has shared an exclusive podcast interview with Pixar director Andrew Stanton. In this over an hour long interview, Stanton shares his views on WALL-E, early shorts and commercials, and also his forthcoming film, John Carter of Mars. Thanks to PixarPlanet for sharing the link.

An exclusive screen shot from Disney/Pixar’s new film Up can be viewed at Empire Movie News. The still features the movie’s two protagonists amidst a South American backdrop. Up hits theaters on May 29, 2009.

DVDActive reports that Warner Home Video has announced Max Fleischer’s Superman for the 7th April. This release will feature all 17 theatrical shorts totalling 170 minutes, spread over two discs. Extras will include two retrospective featurettes, “The Man, The Myth Superman”, and “First Flight: The Fleischer Superman Series.”

Apple shares an exclusive trailer for the forthcoming animated fantasy-adventure 9 in various formats including HD. Produced by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov and directed by Shane Acker, 9 features the voices of Elijah Wood, John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly, Crispin Glover, Martin Landau and Christopher Plummer. 9 opens in theatres on 9-9-09.

A second trailer for the upcoming sc-fi comedy Monsters Vs Aliens can be found in HD as well as standard definition on MSN. The new DreamWorks film, which opens in theaters on March 27 of next year, features the voice talents of Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen, Hugh Laurie, Will Arnett, Kiefer Sutherland, and Stephen Colbert. Monsters Vs Aliens follows group of government employed creatures in their efforts to defeat an extra-terrestrial invasion.

COLLIDER has posted an exclusive video interview with Ari Folman, the man behind the acclaimed animated feature Waltz with Bashir, wherein he talks about his film, life and upcoming projects. In addition, the website also shares six clips from the film on the same page. Waltz with Bashir will see a limited theatrical run in US, starting December 25.

UltimateDisney reports that a two-disc set of Disney’s traditionally animated film Lilo & Stitch will resurface on March 24, 2009. Extras on this release will include Deleted Scenes, Music Videos by A*Teens and The Hawaiian Chorus, Lilo & Stitch Island Adventure Games, DisneyPedia: Hawaii, A Stitch in Time, and much more. Cover art for the dvd can be seen here.

MTV Movies Blog reports that Keanu Reeves is eager to bring the classic anime series Cowboy Bebop, to the big screen as a live-action movie. Reeves hopes to play Spike Spiegel, 27-year-old bounty hunter, who leaves Red Dragons, the Chinese Mafia group, and teams up with Jet Black to roam the solar system in search of bounty and adventure. The article suggests that the flick is currently being put together by the producer Erwin Stoff, who also set the film up at 20th Century Fox recently. Reeves adds, “We’ve got the rights, we’ve got a writer. He’s putting together a scene outline.”

Chicago Film Critics Association has named WALL-E the Best Picture of 2008. In addition to the top honor, the movie also won the awards for Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Score and Best Animated Film. The awards, voted on by the 55 members of the organization, covering print, radio, television and the Internet, were announced on December 19. Full list of winners can be seen here.