Leading independent animation house Film Roman announced five new half-hour, animated properties at MIP on Monday, April 2, 2001. The new series include John Waters' PATENT LEATHER DREAMHOUSE, Norman Lear's 'TIL THE FAT LADY SINGS, HAIRBALLS, ZIPPY THE PINHEAD and TRIPPING THE RIFT. According to Peter Schankowitz, president of programming and development, "Our MIP slate reflects Film Roman's ability to partner with well known talent like John Waters and Norman Lear, as well as to develop our own properties in-house.

IMagicTV, a provider of software products that allow telephone companies and other service providers to deliver multi-channel television and interactive media services, announced on Tuesday, April 3, 2001, that it has entered into a syndication agreement with AtomShockwave Corp. Under this agreement, AtomShockwave's film and animation brand, AtomFilms, will license and manage short film content for iMagicTV, providing customers with new short film titles each month, each with a 60-day licensing window.

John Kricfalusi's WEEKEND PUSSY HUNT is just one of many Webisodes scheduled to be shown this coming Sunday, April 15, on the premier of MTV DOWNLOADED. Hosted by Gimpy, one of the stars of the upcoming MTV animation series UNDERGRADS, MTV DOWNLOADED will showcase a number of Webtoons, including Joe Cartoon's SUPERFLY II, Aardman Animations' ANGRY KID, Mondo Media's HAPPY TREE FRIENDS and HEAVY METAL GUY, BullsEyeart's MISS MUFFY and Film Roman's HAIRBALLS. Following the 9 pm (ET/PT) premier, viewers will be able to log-on to mtv.com to watch, review and rate each complete Webisode.

Cartoon Network plans to clean out their vaults and uncork a two-day, 20-hour "The Best We GoT" new and classic cartoon marathon on April 14 and 15, 2001. The marathon will showcase the best classic cartoons on Saturday, April 14, while on Sunday, April 15, the best cartoons from Cartoon Network's acclaimed original animation series will air. "The Best We GoT" will air from 12-10 p.m. (ET, PT) each day. More than 110 cartoons from Cartoon Network's vast archives of more than 8,000 animated titles will air.

TV-Loonland's CONNIE THE COW (52 x 7, produced by Spain’s Neptuno) has been sold to Disney U.K. for a spring 2002 delivery. After creating quite a buzz at MIPCOM Junior 2000, Munich's TV-Loonland announced at MIP TV that it had sold the pre-school animated series relating the experiences of a curious calf named Connie to Disney's U.K. arm. TV-Loonland has also had Disney success with their live-action series IN A HEARTBEAT.

Fox Kids Network announced on March 28 their lineup of new and returning series to their Saturday morning and weekday afternoon programming schedule.

Emmy Award winning cartoon series THE POWERPUFF GIRLS is now brought to life for deaf and hard of hearing viewers of Cartoon Network U.K. thanks to acclaimed deaf signer, Nikki Stratton. On Monday, March 26, the network announced that THE POWERPUFF GIRLS with deaf signing will be shown on Sundays at 9:30 am and everyday at 12:30 am. The signed version of ED EDD N EDDY is shown everyday at 12:00 am and on Sundays at 8:30 am and is the country's first regular, signed cartoon service. The success of that effort paved the way for this latest effort with THE POWERPUFF GIRLS.

Nickelodeon, one of the leading entertainment brands for kids worldwide, is expanding its reach into China as of May 1, 2001. After visiting Beijing for four days and meeting with China's president Jiang Zemin and other industry officials, Bill Roedy, president MTV Networks International, and Frank Brown, president MTV Networks Asia, made the announcement.

Sesame Workshop's TINY PLANETS is in final negotiations to be aired on Italy's largest commercial broadcaster Mediatrade's channels. TINY PLANETS is a CGI animated educational comic adventure series for 3 to 5 year olds. A co-production with Pepper's Ghost Productions, the show follows Bing and Bong as they explore the worlds of their solar system such as the planets of light and color, sound, technology, stuff, self and nature through a space aged couch.

Fox Family Channel announced on March 28 the addition of three new animated series to their 2001-2002 daytime programming lineup.