Search form

1998: A Year to Remember

Amid Amidi relates the highlights and landmarks that helpedmake 1998 an animated year to remember.

Unless you've been asleep for most of the year, it's hard to miss how pivotal and important a year 1998 was to the animation world. What you'll find below is not a comprehensive listing of all the news, but rather the highlights and landmarks that helped make this an animated year to remember.

Manga

Manga Disarms General Chaos

© Manga U.S. anime distributor Manga Entertainment made a bold move this year by introducing General Chaos, a compilation of animated shorts meant to compete with the long-running Spike & Mike animation festivals. However, the touring film program proved unsuccessful, shutting down in the same year it started and leaving the door wide open for © Manga U.S. anime distributor Manga Entertainment made a bold move this year by introducing General Chaos, a compilation of animated shorts meant to compete with the long-running Spike & Mike animation festivals. However, the touring film program proved unsuccessful, shutting down in the same year it started and leaving the door wide open for Spike & Mike to continue their reign. [1/27/98]

Universal Forays Into Features

Universal Pictures announced their entry into the animation world by forming Universal Pictures Animation and Visual Effects, co-headed by John Swallow and Doug Wood. Their first project is an all-CGI Frankenstein animated feature. [2/03/98]

© Disney. All Rights Reserved.

Disney Opens Animal Kingdom

Disney's new 500-acre theme park, Animal Kingdom, opened in Orlando, Florida on April 22. Many of the attractions utilize state-of-the-art technology and animation such as "It's Tough to be a Bug" and "Countdown to Extinction," while a number of the stage shows are based on animated features like The Lion King, Pocohontas and Jungle

Tags