U.S. manga publisher Tokyopop, in association with Disney Publishing Worldwide, will bring one of TV's hottest animated series to the world of graphic novels with the publication of an authentic DIGIMON manga. The DIGIMON animated series currently airs in the U.S. on the ABC Network, and follows seven ordinary kids who gain "digivices" that transport them into the Digital World. Once there, they make companions called Digimon, and must battle evil Digimon monsters.

Stating a continued commitment to diversify its animation production, independent animation company Film Roman, Inc. reported improved third quarter revenue results. According to the studio, revenue increased by 54% or $2 million, to $5.7 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2002, from $3.7 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2001. The revenue increase is attributed to the company delivering more fee-for-services episodes.

According to reports from Austrian news sources, a fresco of an animal that bears a striking resemblance to Mickey Mouse has been uncovered on the wall of a 700 year-old church in the Austrian city of Malta. The painting is in the Community Church in Malta, Carinthia and was discovered by art historian Eduard Mahlknecht. While Malta's government officials claim that this 14th century mouse could overturn Disney's copyright on the familiar rodent, Mahlknecht believes the similarity to Mickey is purely coincidental, and the figure most likely represents a weasel or a beaver.

Comic book publisher Marvel Enterprises, Inc. reported a 96% increase in third quarter net sales benefiting from a growing list of entertainment, publishing, toy and consumer products including summer blockbuster SPIDER-MAN. Results for the quarter ending September 30, 2002, reflected approximately $4 million in revenue and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) related to SPIDER-MAN which had been anticipated to be received in Q4 2002.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS has reported that SPIDER-MAN creator Stan Lee has filed a $10 million lawsuit against Marvel Entertainment, seeking 10% of the profits from the blockbuster franchise SPIDER-MAN. Lee, who has created a myriad of super hero characters for Marvel, including SPIDER-MAN, claims Marvel Entertainment signed a deal to give him 10% of any profits from his characters used in films and television shows. Although SPIDER-MAN has grossed over $800 million worldwide, Lee says he hasn't seen any money from his character's newfound global success.

Video game developer Vicarious Visions, Inc. has partnered with The Animation Academy of Burbank, California to develop new intellectual property and character brands, starting with a multi-platform video game set for release in 2003. Vicarious Visions is an independent game development studio whose recent titles include STAR WARS JEDI KNIGHT II: JEDI OUTCAST for Xbox and Gamecube, and the award winning CRASH BANDICOOT and TONY HAWK’S PRO SKATER series for Game Boy Advance.

Los Angeles-based design and production studio B1 Media continues to grow with the launch of a DVD pre-mastering arm to provide compression, authoring and quality control services. Heading up the pre-mastering department are pre-mastering director Steve Gustafson and business development director Steve Alvanos. Both Gustafson and Alvanos were most recently with Cinesite, where they launched that company’s pre-mastering arm. At Cinesite, Gustafson served as executive creative director of DVD and Alvanos was director of business development.

Mainframe Entertainment has established a global sales division and has named Joy Tashjian as vice president, worldwide sales and marketing. Tashjian will oversee the new division as the company expands its presence in the U.S. and strengthens its position in the global marketplace. She will also oversee the international distribution and will supervise the domestic sales for Mainframe's properties including TONY HAWK'S FEASTERS, DOT'S BOTS, BETTY BOOP, WUBBIES and SCARY GODMOTHER among others.

Creek & River America (C&R), a talent management company representing freelance creative artists and production and design firms, has opened its first North American office in New York. Creek & River America represents U.S.-based talent on behalf of its parent company, Tokyo-based Creek & River Co., Ltd., which currently represents more than 20,000 creative artists including directors, producers, cinematographers, animators, designers, illustrators, copywriters and photographers.

Yet another twist in the bitter battle for Winnie the Pooh royalties surfaced this week when Disney reportedly made an announcement that the granddaughter of Pooh creator A.A. Milne and the granddaughter of Pooh illustrator E. H. Shepard have decided to reclaim all rights to the characters. According to an AP report, Disney cited a clause in the 1998 Sonny Bono Copyright Extension Act that will allow the heirs to reclaim the international rights granted to Disney, as well as rights granted to Stephen Slesinger Inc. and grant all those rights exclusively to Disney starting in 2004.

Pixar Animation Studios announced the largest quarterly profit in the company's history with the financial results for its fiscal third quarter of 2002 and for the nine months ended September 28, 2002. For the quarter, Pixar earned $46.9 million or $0.87 per diluted share, compared to earnings of $6.2 million, or $0.12 per diluted share, achieved in the year-ago quarter. Revenues for the quarter were $102.5 million, as compared to $11.3 million in the year-ago quarter. These results were largely driven by better than expected sales of the MONSTERS, INC.

Corus Entertainment's Nelvana put the wrap on MIPCOM 2002 with a number of new sales and renewals for its kids' brands and programs. BEYBLADE continued to be a popular property for the company and was snapped up by the UK's terrestrial broadcaster Five TV (formerly Channel 5), which licensed 51 episodes of the series for debut in November 2002. BEYBLADE currently airs in the UK on Cartoon Network UK. Nelvana also completed video and DVD deals for BEYBLADE and MEDABOTS in the UK with Contender Entertainment Group, which set the titles for a release date of December 2, 2002.

In announcing its fourth quarter and August 31, 2002 year-end results, Corus Entertainment Inc. revealed it has taken a CAD$200 million (approx. US$128 million) write-down of its investment in Nelvana. Nelvana is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Corus Entertainment. The company took the write-down because of the slowdown in the production and distribution industry over the past year. The write-down includes $40 million (US$25.6 million) from Nelvana's library and $160 million (US$102 million) for goodwill and other intangibles.

Latin American distribution specialist Salsa Entertainment returned from MIPCOM 2002 with a slate of program sales for the Latin American region. The Salsa Entertainment catalogue features award-winning products from well known international producers and distributors including TV-Loonland, Scholastic Entertainment, Decode Entertainment and The Jim Henson Company.

Cartoon Network has added Hungarian and Romanian to its language services making it available in no less than eleven languages in Europe. Starting out as a pan-European channel in 1993, Cartoon Network now has seven dedicated regional channels in Europe, the Middle East and Africa where it can be enjoyed in English, Danish, Dutch, French, Hungarian, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Spanish and Swedish.

The long-running litigation over WINNIE THE POOH royalties took a startling turn as accountants hired by the court to audit Disney's records were officially fired on October 25, 2002. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Ernest M. Hiroshige had determined that the accountants were biased in favor of Disney and their auditing methods unreliable. He has ordered that a new independent accounting firm be hired.

peppermint, the worldwide distribution company that has recently undergone a management buy out from Germany's Helkon Media AG, has signed a deal with Spanish production and distribution company BRB to distribute over 230 hours of programming to all Asian territories. peppermint, who will also handle Australia and New Zealand for BRB, will have exclusive distribution rights for 20 different series, each consisting of 26 x 26-minute episodes, plus 14 related features each with a running time of 75 minutes.

IMAX Corporation has announced that it will be bringing large format theaters to South America. Four IMAX theatres will open, to be located in Chile and Ecuador. "IMAX's entry into South America with these four new theatres is an exciting moment for our company and is really only the beginning for us in a market that we believe can support many more IMAX theatres in many countries," said Richard L. Gelfond and Bradley J. Wechsler, co-CEOs and co-chairmen, IMAX Corporation.

Cinar's library of over 2,200 half-hours of family programming will soon be traveling to new territories thanks to a distribution agreement with VGI Entertainment Ltd., a UK-based distribution company. Under the terms of the deal, VGI will distribute Cinar titles such as CAILLOU, ARTHUR, MONA THE VAMPIRE and THE BUSY WORLD OF RICHARD SCARY in sub-Saharan Africa. "We are very pleased to add VGI's expertise and knowledge to the Cinar team," said Louis Fournier, head of distribution for Cinar. "We are confident that our fascinating cast of characters will find a welcome home in Africa.

ELECTRONIC MEDIA ONLINE is reporting that U.S. broadcast network UPN will be dropping Disney's two-hour animated block beginning in 2003, opting instead to give the time slots back to stations. The kids' block airs weekdays on various UPN affiliates and features such series as DIGIMON and DISNEY'S RECESS. Disney has been programming the block since 1999. The two-hour slot will likely be handed back to affiliates for syndicated or local programming, effectively removing at least one network from the broadcast 'toon wars.