The Global Gaming League (GGL), the leader in competitive videogaming entertainment, announced a strategic partnership with ClanBase.com, Europe's leading competition organizer for online gamers. The partnership will see the two companies working together to take competitive online videogaming to the next level by combining their respective communities and talents. Together, they form the world's largest online gaming community with more than a million players from 190 countries around the world.

Chinese Internet cartoonist Zhu Zhiqiang has won a court battle against the U.S. footwear and apparel maker Nike Inc. over the company's use of his "Little Match Man" illustration, reports the ASSOCIATED PRESS. Zhu had sought $240,000 in compensation, but a Beijing court only granted him $36,000 in compensation and forced Nike to issue a public apology to Zhu, the CHINA DAILY newspaper said.

"I got what I wanted - confirmation on my copyright over my stickman," Zhu said.

A 5,000-year-old animated piece on an earthen goblet was found in Burnt City in Sistan-Baluchistan province, southeastern Iran, reports IRANIAN.WS. On this ancient piece, the artist portrayed a goat jumping toward a tree to eat leaves.

The earthenware found in Burnt City, one of the most developed of ancient civilizations, show the images of goat and fish more than any other subject.

The devastating tsunami caused by an earthquake Dec. 26, 2004, off Sumatra, 1,620 kilometers northwest of Jakarta, traveled at an average speed of 700 kph across the Indian Ocean – as fast as a jetliner – according to the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, it was reported by THE DAILY YOMIURI.

Last week, Disney shareholder Frank Wierenga put forth a proposal to the board of directors of the Walt Disney Co. to open a seat on the board to a member of the Disney family. Roy Disney responded with gratitude, but declined the proposal on behalf of the Disneys. Below is Roy Disney’s response to the proposal.

U.K.-based Shorts International, the short film distribution arm of Britshorts Ltd., has become the exclusive distributor for the entire short film library of American Vantage/Hypnotic. American Vantage/Hypnotic, a subsidiary of American Vantage Media Corp., has one of the largest high-quality short film and animation libraries in the world. The combined entity gives Shorts Int’l the largest short film distribution capability across the globe.

Red Star Studio has opened its doors in Sheffield. The new company will produce high-end digital effects and animation aimed at independent film and television. Situated in the burgeoning film community of Sheffield in the north of England and with a base in London, Red Star has been founded by the award-winning duo Benjamin Smith and Jan Rogowski. Their previous credits include Chris Morris' BAFTA award-winning 35mm short film MY WRONGS 8245-8249 AND 117, for which they created all the visual effects.

The recent vote by DPS Film Roman employees to join The Animation Guild made its annual holiday party merrier for all as animators toasted in their many new brethren on Dec. 10, 2004, at the Pickwick Garden Center in Burbank, California.

Thomson has acquired The Moving Picture Co. (MPC) from British broadcaster, ITV, for £52.7 million (€76 million). MPC, which is located in the Soho district of London and employs around 400 people, is an industry-leading provider of vfx and post-production services to both the feature film and commercial advertising industries.

In order to increase its network and cable programming portfolio, The Jim Henson Co. has hired Eric Poticha as vp of Television and Halle Stanford as head of children's television. Poticha will develop new comedy and drama series, miniseries and features for television as well as develop future Muppet projects to be produced by Henson for The Walt Disney Co. Stanford will lead development and production of all preschool and children's programming for both television and direct-to-video projects in animated and live-action formats.

Palisades Toys has confirmed the acquisition of its newest action figure license – Sesame Street. Beginning in 2005, fans can expect to see action figures based on many of the characters that have appeared on SESAME STREET throughout its historic 35-year run.

The high-def DVD war just got more interesting, as The Walt Disney Co. announced its non-exclusive support of the Blue-ray Disc format embraced by Sony and manufactured by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. This comes on the heels of last week’s announcement that Toshiba Corp. is getting support from Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios, Warner Bros. and New Line for its rival next-generation DVD format, HD DVD.

McDonald’s has its Hamburglar character, Burger King seems to think it has a rash of its own thieves or “spongenappers” and is offering a reward of Burger Bucks good for a one-year's supply of original Whopper sandwiches for information leading to the safe return of missing SpongeBob SquarePants inflatables. The gigantic blow-up figures began popping up on tops of Burger King restaurants on Nov. 11, 2004 and have been recently disappearing from their lofty perches.

In a letter sent to the Disney board on Dec. 3, 2004, dissident shareholder leaders Roy Disney and Stanley Gold announced they will not present an alternate slate of directors at Disney's annual meeting next year. This year the pair led a 45% vote of no confidence in Michael Eisner that led to his resignation as chairman. Eisner has since announced he will retire at the end of his contract in 2006. Disney and Gold have threatened to issue an alternate slate of directors, fearing Eisner would be replaced by deputy Robert Iger, who they do not support.

Japanese console giant Nintendo plans to create an internal animation studio focused on animated feature production, according to a report in Japanese business publication NIKKEI JOURNAL.

This follows on the heels of a proposal by former company president Hiroshi Yamauchi, who suggested that the firm should create an animated film based on works from the famous Ogura Hyakunin Isshu collection of classic Japanese poetry. Yamauchi, still an adviser to the company and a significant shareholder, proposed the new venture at Nintendo's management event in Kyodo in October.

French producer/distributor Moonscoop has signed a major deal with FUNimation Productions Ltd., the brand management company behind the wildly successful DRAGON BALL Z franchise, making the company the exclusive licensing agent for CODE LYOKO in the U.S. The far-reaching deal also makes FUNimation the exclusive home video distributor to CODE LYOKO for the U.S. and English-speaking Canada.

AP reports that Japanese electronics maker Toshiba Corp. is getting support from Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios, Warner Bros. and its sister studio New Line for its next-generation DVD format, HD DVD, to be launched at the end of 2005 in players, recorders and other products.

Wild Brain Inc., a leading producer of animated entertainment, announced Nov. 29, 2004, its closing of $30 million in funding led by Valence Capital Management as well as the company’s existing investors, including Syntek Capital AG. In conjunction with the financing, Wild Brain adds two new members to the company's board of directors, including Roy Thiele-Sardiña, managing director, Valence Capital LLC and James A. Caccavo, managing partner, Valence Capital Management.

Midway Games Inc. announced Nov. 29, 2004, it has acquired privately-held Paradox Development, the studio now developing Midway's upcoming videogame, MORTAL KOMBAT: SHAOLIN MONKS, via an all-stock transaction for 333,334 Midway common shares. This acquisition further strengthens the Midway's internal development capabilities.

In its new COST ALLOCATION REPORT, TrendWatch Inc. details how U.S. studios allocate costs when adding new capabilities to their operations.

"Today's studios are facing difficult decisions on how they invest in talent, technology and physical facilities," said Jim Whittington, TrendWatch founding partner. "Given the importance that studios and their clients place on their capabilities and their people, understanding how costs are allocated for return on investment (ROI) is crucial for studios and the suppliers that sell to them."