Toronto, Canada-based animation studio NELVANA Enterprises (Booth 1910) has reached a deal with cable and satellite channel TELETOON France giving the broadcaster 200 half-hours of animation programming per year from NELVANA.

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.

MTV brings five different animated shows to NATPE including their newest entry, “MTV Downtown,” a look at the lives of a group of diverse, multi-ethnic characters who live, work and play in the East Village of New York City. The cast centers on a pair of siblings who are polar opposites: older brother Alex is introverted and thoughtful, while teenage Chaka is wild and impulsive. Thirteen half-hour episodes of the show are being offered.

Kaleidoscope Media Group has entered a deal with Brilliant Digital Entertainment to distribute “Gravity Angels,” (viewable at http://www.multipathmovies.com) the Internet’s first full-length 3D computer animated movie. The two-hour sci-fi thriller, which will be offered at NATPE for domestic and international broadcast and home video rights, uses Brilliant’s proprietary production technology. Brilliant’s president Kevin Bermeister explains, “Our tools allow us to create scalable animation in one production process.

DIC is introducing three new half-hour series at NATPE: “Sabrina: The Animated Series,” “Sonic Underground” and “Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century.” Sabrina is based off the ABC TV series which was originally based on the Archie comic books. 65 episodes, scheduled to air in the U.S. on UPN’s Disney Afternoon and distributed by Buena Vista Television internationally, will feature the voice of Emily Hart as 12-year old Sabrina and Melissa Joan Hart as the voice of Sabrina’s two aunts.

This week's comic is a funny look at an extremely controversial issue. A new outrageous comic
by Bill Plympton can be found each Friday at his website.



For further collections of Bill's comics, read his brand new book: "We Eat
Tonight!" a new collection of Bill's print cartoons from major magazines,
some of which inspired the gags in his short films. These are all quick
one-panel bits of shocking hilarity. "We Eat Tonight!" is now available for

Animation World Network will be publishing a special NATPE edition of the
Animation Flash. Please send all your NATPE-related news and press releases
to awnflash@awn.com. Please put "NATPE News" in the subject area of your
e-mail.