Continuing to expand and broaden the scope of his companies’ services, Harley’s House founder Harley Rinzler, has acquired the Los Angeles computer animation, design and visual effects production studio Click 3x. Rinzler has retained the key members of Click 3x, Los Angeles’ creative and production staff, including visual effects supervisor Craig Price who will serve as creative director. Rinzler will operate the visual effects and animation service as an independent entity under the name Playground.

Iwerks Entertainment Inc. and SimEx Inc. announced that both companies have signed an agreement and plan of merger. The agreement provides that SimEx will acquire Iwerks in exchange for cash consideration of approximately US $0.63 per share of Iwerks common stock. The transaction is subject to shareholder approval and other customary closing conditions. If the two companies combine, it is expected that Iwerks will retain its brand name and identity and will continue operations in Burbank, California under the existing Iwerks management team.

JAKKS Pacific Inc. has signed a master toy licensing agreement with Twentieth Century Fox Licensing and Merchandising for the studio's 2002 animated epic ICE AGE. Capitalizing on the film's three main characters -- an acerbic woolly mammoth named Manfred (voiced by Ray Romano), an un-socialized giant sloth named Sid (voiced by John Leguizamo), and a scheming saber-toothed tiger named Diego (voiced by Denis Leary) -- JAKKS Pacific's Flying Colors division will create a full line of toys and merchandise for the digitally animated feature.

Industry professionals Maurice Kimball and Briar Lee Mitchell have co-founded Pasadena, California-based Digital Ink Illustration (Dii), a digital background paintings company. Services will include conceptual design and layout for animation or live-action, digital color comps/color keys and fully rendered digital files for animation and live-action backgrounds, overlays, underlays, flattened or layered files. Cedric Tomacruz has been named art director for the new firm.

A Munich court has dismissed one of the first lawsuits seeking damages from German mega-firm EM.TV. The case, filed by private shareholders, demanded compensation for losses after EM.TV dramatically revised its projected figures in December, revealing debts of DM2.6 billion (US$1.21 billion). Upon the news EM.TV's shares dropped over 90%. The suit claimed that EM.TV withheld relevant financial information from shareholders and did not provide a fair warning about the state of the firm.

Microsoft has announced that it will delay the launch of its next-generation console Xbox in Japan until 2002. Xbox will still release 800,000 units in North America on November 8. The Japan launch will now coincide with the launch in Europe. Japan represents one third of the US$20 billion videogame market. Insiders say the delay is due to difficulties in developing games for the Japanese market, which favors simulation and role-playing games, as well as problems ensuring that all tech components work together correctly. Xbox will sell for US$299 in North America.

Racing Champions Ertl has announced it will be releasing a collection of SCOOBY-DOO-themed toy cars. The first release will be 1:64-scale die-cast cars, featuring characters and logos from the series. Ten cars will be introduced including a Scooby-Doo '68 Camaro, a Fred '80 Ford Bronco, a Dracula '63 Corvette, a Wolfman '40 Ford Pick-Up, a Creeper '49 Mercury, a Ghost Clown '75 Chevy Van, a Zombie '56 Chevy Nomad, a Velma '67 Chevy Chevelle, a Daphne '68 Ford Mustang and a Shaggy '96 Dodge Ram. They will sell for US$1.49 each.

The Writers Guild of America, west (WGAw), representing theatrical and television writers, has filed its third unfair labor practice charge in two months against Nickelodeon Animation Studios, Inc. (a Viacom subsidiary) for allegedly retaliating against employees of animated series who are seeking union representation and coverage by the guild's contract (MBA). The latest charge asserts that Nickelodeon illegally reduced the benefits of writers on the television show JIMMY NEUTRON, BOY GENIUS in retaliation for their activities in seeking WGAw representation.

Nintendo has announced that it plans to delay the launch of its next-generation console GameCube, which gives Microsoft's Xbox a two-week leg-up on the highly coveted holiday buying season. GameCube will be released on November 18, where as Xbox is scheduled to launch on November 8, 2000. Nintendo says the move is to meet consumer demand and avoid glitches like Sony had with PlayStation 2 last year. "The change really was to make sure we avoided somebody else's misstep," said Peter Main, vice president of sales and marketing for Nintendo of America.

Studio B Productions has launched a new television commercial production department. The Vancouver-based animation firm specializes in traditional 2D and 3D animation techniques. Michael van den Bos will serve as the head of the new commercial department. Prior to working with Studio B, van den Bos was producer at International Rocketship and worked with clients such as Levi’s, Nintendo and Nickelodeon. In addition to in-house directors, Marv Newland and Dieter Mueller of International Rocketship will be working as freelancers for the Studio B commercial department.

Random House Inc. and Classic Media Inc. have purchased, through a bankruptcy court auction, the assets of children's book publisher Golden Books Family Entertainment Inc. for US$84.4 million and the assumption of most of its debt. Industry sources estimate Golden Books' debt is close to $50 million. The Golden Books portfolio features over 500,000 titles including characters like Pat the Bunny and Poky Little Puppy, a vast comic book collection and 3,000 movies, television specials and cartoons.

Due to its increasing debt, the International Museum of Cartoon Art will be leaving Mizner Park in Boca Raton, Florida. Its US$3.8 million building will be put up for sale to pay off the museum's $2 million debt and preserve its collection of more than 200,000 pieces of comic strips, editorial cartoons and other works. The museum is looking into several locations for a new home, including New York and Connecticut, where it was originally founded in 1972 by BEETLE BAILEY creator Mort Walker.

Oakland, California-based technology company Digital Element, with the help of NewTek and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under the auspices of the Department of Energy's Nuclear Cities Initiative, has been working to open up "Closed Cities" in Russia. These cities do not appear on maps and up to now have been strictly military R&D and production sites. Digital Element trainers and engineers have helped form new Russian software development teams in Snezhinsk and other closed cities to help the towns integrate into the Western market.

Brilliant Digital Entertainment Inc., a leading developer of 3D technologies for the Internet, reported their financial statement for the second quarter ended June 30, 2001. The firm posted that their net revenues rose 162% to US$652,000 over $249,000 from last year. Revenues for the six months ended June 30, 2001 were $1,042,000 compared to $436,000 for the same six-month period in 2000. Brilliant Digital reported a net loss of $1,219,000, or $0.08 per share, for the second quarter ended June 30, 2001, compared to a net loss of $4,452,000, or $0.30 per share for the second quarter of 2000.

Film Roman Inc. has reported that revenue increased by 19% to $9.4 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2001, over $7.9 million for the same period last year. Net loss attributable to common stock for the second quarter of 2001 was $1,293,641, or $0.15 per share, compared with a net loss attributable to common stock of $800,260, or $0.09 per share, for the second quarter of 2000.

Cinar Corporation has released a letter to shareholders providing its financial information for the six-month period ended May 31, 2001. President and chief executive officer Barrie Usher stressed in the opening of the letter that the report is unaudited because "current senior management cannot presently provide the required assurances with respect to financial periods prior to its appointment." The troubled firm had some positive developments in the past six months, including the okay by Telefilm Canada, a Canadian government funding organization, to develop official co-productions.

Pixar Animation Studios announced their financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2001. For the quarter, Pixar posted earnings of US$8.8 million, or $0.17 per diluted share. These results compare to earnings of $8 million, or $0.16 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Revenues for the quarter were $16.7 million, compared to $18.3 million in the year-ago quarter. Pixar also announced that it is raising projections for 2001 from the previous range of $0.40 to $0.55, to a new range of $0.50 to $0.58.

A court issued an injunction in favor of 20th Century Fox against Marvel, Tribune and Fireworks, preventing them from violating Fox's rights in its X-MEN movie. Moreover, the court also held that Fox can go to trial to recover monetary damages from Marvel and Tribune's use of MUTANT X as the title of their new television series, as well as a permanent injunction on the title of the series.

Cartoon Network is launching a multi-media advertising campaign in Europe featuring The Powerpuff Girls' arch-enemy Mojo Jojo and his plan to bankrupt the Euro by introducing his own currency "The Mojo." Viewers of Cartoon Network's channels in Denmark, France, Italy, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the U.K. will see bulletins informing them of Mojo Jojo's replacement of real money with "Mojos." Viewers will be encouraged to log onto local CartoonNetwork.com Websites to help the Powerpuff Girls stop Mojo Jojo from ruining the European economy.

TechnologyHelp, Inc. has completed a second round of funding and officially changed its name to Cinemetrix. The new round of financing came from Vanguard Atlantic, a New York-based venture capital firm. Terms of that transaction were not disclosed. George Gagliardi, president and chief executive officer, said, "We are now positioned to expand the sales and marketing of our technology and know-how to clients who understand the power of professionally produced TV-quality presentations.