Talkshow host Kelly Ripa is the latest to join the star-studded cast of DELGO, the independently produced computer-animated feature from Atlanta, Georgia-based Fathom Studios. Ripa (LIVE WITH REGIS AND KELLY, HOPE AND FAITH) is providing the voice of Princess Kyla's handmaiden. The fantasy adventure is set in a divided land where a troubled youth and some unlikely friends must save the world from itself.

With FINDING NEMO overtaking THE LION KING as the box office leader in animation, Buena Vista Home Entertainment has announced that the Disney/Pixar blockbuster will debut on DVD on Nov. 4, 2003. The two-disc Collector's Edition ($29.99) will feature a new original short film, EXPLORING THE REEF WITH JEAN-MICHEL COUSTEAU, the classic Pixar short, KNICKKNACK, and the following extras:
– Filmmakers' visual commentary (including deleted scenes and recording sessions).

Out of nowhere, SPY KIDS 3D: GAME OVER topped the box office charts for the weekend ending July 27, 2003, bringing in $33.4M for Miramax's Dimension Films, with VFX by Hybride Technologies and The Orphanage. Meanwhile, even though Disney/Pixar's FINDING NEMO reeled in $4.4M in the eighth spot, it topped $313M as this year's best grosser, good enough to break the LION KING's record as the all-time animation king. However, if you count the recent IMAX reissue, THE LION KING technically has earned a total of $328.5M.

PIGLET'S BIG MOVIE (Buena Vista Home Entertainment, $29.99) hits the DVD shelves July 29, 2003 featuring extra goodies such as PIGLET'S BIG BOOK OF MEMORIES (find Piglet's lost drawings) and THE WORLD ACCORDING TO PIGLET (a 3D book of memories filled with favorite "Pigletisms"). The movie provides the lovable pink fellow with his first starring role (voiced by John Fiedler in his 35th year doing the cherished role). PIGLET was directed by Francis Glebas (FANTASIA 2000's "Pomp & Circumstance"), produced by Disney Toon Studios and animated by Walt Disney Animation Japan.

Hybride used a range of Softimage systems to create animation and effects for the box-office topper SPY KIDS 3D: GAME OVER. The 100-person team at Hybride relied on the SOFTIMAGE|XSI product, SOFTIMAGE|XSI Batch and SOFTIMAGE|XSI BatchServe.

TroubleMaker Studios and Janimation animators used AMD processors with hardware support from BOXX and NVIDIA, as well as software from Microsoft and Softimage on SPY KIDS 3D: GAME OVER. The third installment of Robert Rodriguez' highly successful family franchise features stereoscopic elements enhanced with 3D glasses.

Paramount's LARA CROFT TOMB RAIDER: THE CRADLE OF LIFE (with VFX by Cinesite (Europe) Ltd., Double Negative and the Moving Picture Co.) will open July 25, 2003 against Universal's SEABISCUIT (with VFX by Pixel Playground Inc., Sony Pictures Imageworks and The Orphanage).

Blur Studio, whose acclaimed AUNT LUISA short will screen at the SIGGRAPH Conference (July 29-31, 2003), is producing a 7-minute sci-fi adventure as a change of pace. The untitled computer-animated project, directed by Blur co-founder/creative director Tim Miller, is about a fisherman in the far future that catches more than he bargained for.

In a deal stemming from connections made at the Annecy International Animation Festival, Monster Distributes has acquired the rights to Adam Elliot’s HARVIE KRUMPET. Monster now holds the international distribution rights for the 23-minute stop-motion film.

Sydney, Australia-based animation studio Mad Cow Pictures announced it is providing pre-production and production design, effects and support for the upcoming feature version of CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG. The film is being produced by Scholastic Entertainment, Big Red Dog Productions and Starburst Studios. Mad Cow’s co-owner Steve Trenbirth will serve as the unit director.

Burt Reynolds is the latest addition to the star-studded cast of DELGO, the independently produced computer-animated feature from Atlanta, Georgia-based Fathom Studios. The Oscar-nominated actor said in a release, "I am very proud to be a part of the first animated film being produced in my home state of Georgia."

Burt Reynolds (BOOGIE NIGHTS, SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT) is providing the voice of Delgo's boisterous father. The fantasy adventure is set in a divided land where a troubled youth and some unlikely friends must save the world from itself.

R!OT Santa Monica created a massive and richly detailed digital replica of 19th Century London as part of its VFX package for Fox's new THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN. The R!OT team also concocted a roomful of missile silos inside a giant submarine, impaled a man on a rhinoceros horn and came up with a unique way of visualizing the voices on an old phonograph recording.

Darkwoods Prod., the production house of SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION director Frank Darabont, has signed on with Himani Original Prod. to develop a CG-animated feature film, animated TV series, comic books and video games based on Bernie Wrightson's (SWAMP THING) comic book character Captain Sternn. The character originally appeared in HEAVY METAL MAGAZINE and made an appearance in the 1981 animated cult flick HEAVY METAL. Also attached to the project are writer David J. Schow (THE CROW) and Himani president/founder Kevin Kutchaver (HERCULES, XENA) as director of animation.

DKP Effects recently partnered with Rhino Home Video and Warner Strategic Marketing to bring a new interactivity to the booming DVD format: DVDn. The first title, SCOURGE OF WORLDS: A DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ADVENTURE ($24.95), released earlier this summer, is intended to be a true hybrid of features and gaming.

With a one-two punch of his own, producer Jerry Bruckheimer ruled the weekend box office like no other producer before him, with BAD BOYS II debuting impressively at an estimated $46.7M and PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL hauling in a hefty $33.2M in its sophomore turn. At least for the moment, the curse of the summer sequel has been given a respite.

After the dismal box office performance of SINBAD: LEGEND OF THE SEVEN SEAS ($23.4 M since July 2, 2003), DreamWorks animation head Ann Daly proclaimed in the NEW YORK TIMES that the studio will no longer be making traditionally-drawn features. Co-founder and animation guru Jeffrey Katzenberg added that the 2D art form sadly may be obsolete as a result of changing technology.

With PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK already past $85M after one week of release, Disney has acted quickly in setting course on a sequel with all of the main participants, including Johnny Depp, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, and confirmed by a Walt Disney Co. spokesperson. No story has been conjured, but writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio are said to be huddling with the studio.

R!OT Santa Monica produced more than a dozen complex VFX shots for Warner Bros. TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES (produced by C2/Intermedia), including several highly detailed 3D digital matte paintings. Specializing in creating realistic virtual environments, artists from the studio's feature film unit created a remote desert military facility, a cavernous elevator shaft, a warehouse filled with robotic weapons, aerial scenes and other hard to replicate locations.

The wait is over: Warner Home Video is finally releasing the first of its LOONEY TUNES DVD box sets on Oct. 28, 2003. The digitally remastered, four-disc set, titled THE LOONEY TUNES GOLDEN COLLECTION ($64.92) contains 56 classic toons devoted to BUGS BUNNY (disc one), PORKY PIG and DAFFY DUCK (disc two), plus two survey discs that are billed as PREMIERE COLLECTION VOL. ONE and TWO.

Proxima, an Italian digital effects partner of famed Cinecittà Studios in Rome, has been handed a large portion of the VFX work on EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING, the prequel to the legendary horror film that Warner Bros. will release February 6, 2004. The Paul Schrader film was shot at Cinecittà and Proxima is part of Cinecittà Digital Village, which is quickly becoming one of the most important digital arenas in Europe.