The fledgling Fox Family Channel has added ten new animated series to its kid and teen-targeted daytime lineup for the 1999-2000 season. The lineup represents a major investment from Fox Family in creating original and entertaining animated programming. Animation World Network spoke to Joel Andryc, Senior Vice President, Programming & Development about this lineup and how they're working to create a unique identity in the already overcrowded world of cable.

Interactive Television Entertainment has firmed deals with Columbia and Peru for the interactive television show "Hugo, the TV Troll." Hugo premiered in Columbia on Canal Capital in December '98, and in Peru in January '99. The show, which allows the TV audience to respond instantaneously to programming content by using their telephone touchpad, currently airs in over 20 countries.

GoodTimes Entertainment announced that "Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer, The Movie," made its Latin American debut this Christmas on Cinecanal and Sky. This marked Cinecanal's first acquisition of an independently-produced animated feature and was the first time Cinecanal ran two versions of a single animated feature: neutral Spanish dubbed version for children and the original, English-language version with Spanish subtitles for family audiences.

* Monday, January 25 - Thursday, January 29, 1999. New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.

Barcelona, Spain-based animation company D'Ocon Films Productions announces the launch of a co-production with Sony Wonder on “Myths&Legends,” a 13-episode series (with an option of a second set of 13), about two kids who discover a magic cavern which allows them to travel back through history. Their adventures take them to ancient Greece, the shores of Loch Ness and amongst the Knights of the Round Table; in each case making sure that good triumphs over evil.

Matt Stone and Trey Parker, creators of the phenomenally popular Comedy Central animated series “South Park,” will speak at NATPE. The informal talk, “Coffee With Trey Parker and Matt Stone,” takes place Wednesday, January 27, from 7:30 to 8:45 a.m. in Room 245.

Superfresh Productions (Booth 3331) brings with them "SpaceBuddies!," best described as "The X-Files" from the alien's point of view. The half-hour clay animated sitcom recalls the old serials of the 1950s, only this time the hero, Nanook, is a little chartreuse man from outer space. "SpaceBuddies!" aims to explain Earth's mysteries...from the alien autopsy video to the success of Celine Dion.

GLC Productions, a New York-based production/post-production company, debuts their maiden series venture at this year's show, “The Buddy System,” an animated “Seinfeld” meets “The Odd Couple.” The show, created by “Big Nate” syndicated cartoonist Lincoln Peirce, centers on the escapades of Buddy and Howie, a pair of sports-crazy twenty-something bachelors. Projected as a weekly half-hour 3D animated series, GLC has produced a 7-minute segment from the premiere viewable at NATPE.

Toronto, Canada-based Cambium Releasing has three new products - "Kit and Kaboodle" for the US and Latin American markets, "Littlest Angel's Easter," and "Infosaurus News Flash." "Kit and Kaboodle" (26 x 12 minutes) is from 1985 Academy Award-winning director Jon Minnis (Best Animated Short Film - “Charade”) and is a co-production between Cambium Film & Video Production and Cinegroup in Montreal. This pre-school series “not only entertains, but also teaches children about themselves and how to interact with one another,” says Cambium Senior VP Rita Carbone Fleury.

Four animated series are making their U.S. debuts at NATPE this year through Paris-based Canal+ Distribution/Canal+ Image International: “Fennec” (52 x 13 minutes), “Blazing Dragons” (26 x 13 minutes) created by “Monty Python’s” Terry Jones, “The Pirate Family” (26 x 26 minutes) and “Tristan & Isolde” (26 x 26 minutes). Canal+ is also offering the feature-length version of the animated feature, “Trouble with Sophie,” based on the famous children’s book by the Countess Segur.