Veteran animation director Ralph Bakshi (LORD OF THE RINGS, HEAVY METAL, COOL WORLD) is joining forces with REN & STIMPY creator John Kricfalusi to produce a slate of low-budget animated features aimed at adults, according to VARIETY. Both animators are known for locking horns with studio and network execs while creating some of the most influential animation productions. Bakshi and Kricfalusi plan to make animated features, costing under $10M, that are an alternative to the family slates at the majors.

Popular comic book cat and animated TV star GARIFELD will display his CGI stripes in a new live-action motion picture Twentieth Century Fox plans to release in U.S. theaters December 19, 2003. Peter Hewitt directs the picture, which is adapted from the syndicated cartoon strip created by Jim Davis and read in 2,600 newspapers by 260 million readers around the globe. The story starts as Garfield’s owner, Jon, takes in sweet but dimwitted pooch Odie, turning Garfield’s perfect world upside down.

DAREDEVIL managed to cling onto its top box office position at theaters in North America for a second weekend (primary vfx by Rhythm & Hues, Pixel Magic and Digital Domain), holding off a challenge from DreamWork's school party film OLD SCHOOL. The Marvel Comics blind superhero flick pulled in an estimated gross of $18.9M, and moved its estimated 10-day cume to a healthy $70.3M.

Toy giant Mattel, Inc. has commissioned Vancouver-based Mainframe Entertainment to produce a series of animated videos based on Hot Wheels storylines and characters created by Starlight Runner Entertainment to promote the 35th anniversary of the toy car products. The CGI toons, HOT WHEELS HIGHWAY 35, will follow five Hot Wheels race teams as they compete across the challenging terrains of parallel universes thwarted by a cadre of villains.

The action/gadget packed SPY KIDS 2: THE ISLAND OF THE LOST DREAMS is now available on a collector's series DVD and VHS from Dimension Home Video. The action follows Carmen (Alexa Vega) and Juni (Daryl Sabara) after they saved their parents and have become full-fledged SPYkid operatives within the secret OSS. They embark on a mission to a mysterious island that has the effect of disabling their precious gadgets. Houses that contributed visual effects to the family movie include Cinesite, Digiscope, Hybride Technologies, Janimation, K.N.B.

Moviegoers lifted DAREDEVIL out of relative comic book hero obscurity as the Twentieth Century Fox theatrical release starring Ben Affleck took in $43.5M, the biggest haul ever for a movie opening over Presidents Day weekend. Based on the Marvel Comics blind superhero, the film easily surpassed the previous best of $20.3M for last year's JOHN Q and was the second-best February debut ever behind HANNIBAL two years ago at $58M. Rich Thorne supervised visual effects for Fox with work done primarily by Rhythm & Hues, Pixel Magic and Digital Domain.

JM Entertainment, based in Seoul, Korea and Glendale, California, has started production on its first 2D/3D animated feature film THE TOY WARRIOR. Hollywood TV animation writer Brian Swenlin wrote the script about the Land of Toys, an imaginative world ruled by the popular doll, Princess Sherbert. When a dark force threatens her toy kingdom, Jinoo, a trouble-making boy from the real world, must save the day. JM Entertainment president Ji-Moon (Jeff) Lim and Seoul Movie president Chang-Rok Jun are executive producers.

Banking on the success and visibility of THE JUNGLE BOOK and its many reissues over the past 35 years, Walt Disney tests the market for a new storyline and new songs featuring many of the same characters from the classic. THE JUNGLE BOOK 2 debuts Friday, February 14 in the U.S. Directed by Steve Trenbirth, produced by Christopher Chase and Mary Thorne, the original screenplay by Karl Geurs, picks up where man-cub Mowgli is torn between two words.

Canada's first full-length 3D animated feature film P3K, PINOCCHIO 3000, is currently in production in Montréal, and has recently added Malcolm McDowell, Howie Mandel and Whoopi Goldberg to its cast of voices. McDowell plays Mayor Scamboli, a technocratic megalomaniac who rules the megapolis of Scamboville with an iron fist. Mandel plays Spencer, Gepetto’s trusted cyborg-penguin assistant who helps him create Pinocchio, a very special robot equipped with a one-of-a-kind P3K processor that endows him with the lively imagination of a youngster.

Daredevil will battle it out with Spider-Man in the new Buena Vista Home Entertainment release, DAREDEVIL VS. SPIDER-MAN. Discover the origins of Daredevil plus catch the animated action as "The Man Without Fear" teams up with the webslinger to take down their supreme nemesis, the powerful Kingpin. DVD bonus features include "Stan Lee's Soapbox" with legendary comics creator Stan Lee, the 1966 episode "King Pinned," and a FANTASTIC FOUR bonus episode featuring Daredevil. Available now for $19.99 (DVD) and $14.99 (VHS), it runs approximately 80 minutes.

Moviegoers opted for comedy at this weekend's U.S. box office, with HOW TO LOSE A GUY IN 10 DAYS, visual effects by Pixel Magic, debuting at number one with $23.7M. Cinesite and Effects Assoc. in the U.K. did visual effects for SHANGHAI KNIGHTS, which debuted at No. 2 with $19.6M. CHICAGO, with visual effects from Toybox and Film Effects Inc., moved up to third place, taking in $10.7 to bring its total to $63.8M, while THE RECRUIT, featuring effects by Pacific Title, dropped to fourth place with $9.2M and a cume of $29.8.

Richard Bazley, a lead animator on the animated features HERCULES, POCOHONTAS, OSMOSIS JONES and IRON GIANT, among others, has come on board as director of BA20's 78 x 7-minute Flash animation series RIP, THE ANGRIEST PIG IN THE WORLD. Created by cyberpunk author Steve Aylett, and produced by BA20 Entertainment, the series is described as "Tex Avery doing Beavis & Butthead." Bazley's company Bazley Films will produce the show in the U.K.

French animation studio Action Synthèse is currently in production on the upcoming CG feature THE MAGIC ROUNDABOUT, using SOFTIMAGE|XSI to animate this remake of the '60s children's cult television series. THE MAGIC ROUNDABOUT will star Australian pop star Kylie Minogue as Florence and fellow singer Robbie Williams as the world-weary dog Dougal, along with ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS star Joanna Lumley as Ermintrude the cow.

Warner Bros. Pictures has subcontracted Cinesite Europe with all the model unit construction and miniature photography for the third HARRY POTTER film: HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN. Construction work will begin immediately on the models of Hogwarts, Privet Drive, a huge marble staircase and other significant structures within the film. The model building will continue until May 2003 at the Shepperton Studios workshops, with photography scheduled to begin in early June.

Abi Feijó, former ASIFA International president and founder of animation studio Filmógrafo, is appealing for the animation community's help. Casa de Animação, a 1500 square meter facility located in the Portuguese city of Porto, that encompasses a theatre, a space for exhibitions, a library/video library, an archive, a production studio, a training studio, a cafeteria and a small gift shop, is currently facing some adversities due to a breach of agreements by Portuguese officials.

Three new films took the top three spots at this weekend's U.S. box office, with the action film THE RECRUIT debuting at number one with $16.5M. Right on THE RECRUIT's heels is FINAL DESTINATION 2, with visual effects by Pixel Magic. The thriller sequel arrived in second place on its debut with $16.2M. In third place was DreamWorks' motorcycle racing flick BIKER BOYZ, with primary visual effects by R!OT, earning $10.1M. KANGAROO JACK is still proving popular at the box office, slipping just two spots to fourth place.

USA TODAY brings us the news that Robert De Niro has come on board DreamWorks' upcoming animated feature SHARKSLAYER to voice Don Lino, the "Godfather" of all sharks, replacing THE SOPRANOS' James Gandolfini. De Niro joins Will Smith (ALI, MEN IN BLACK) who voices Oscar, a young fish that is found at the scene of the crime when the son of Don Lino gets killed. Oscar takes advantage of this opportunity to play the hero, but soon finds that there are serious consequences to his posing as the great Sharkslayer.

After previously announcing that the short film FINAL FLIGHT OF THE OSIRIS, directed by Square USA, will have its theatrical premiere with the feature film DREAMCATCHER, Warner Home Video and Village Roadshow Pictures have now announced the DVD release date for THE ANIMATRIX. The nine animated episodes that make up THE ANIMATRIX (including FINAL FLIGHT OF THE OSIRIS) will be released worldwide on DVD and videocassette on June 3, 2003.

Brooklyn, New York-based animation company Charged Productions has teamed with Nickelodeon to produce a studio ID to introduce Nickelodeon's latest feature film, THE WILD THORNBERRYS MOVIE. The 15-second ID, "Dog Nose," features the antics of a 3-foot tall puppy puppet filmed in stop-motion. The seeking snout of the animated pup sniffs the camera, until the Nickelodeon Movies logo is revealed. The ID ends with the playful pooch licking the lens. The spot is also being used as a channel identification logo on-air.

Attention Academy Members! Completed Oscar nomination ballots must be returned to PricewaterhouseCoopers by 5:00 pm on Wednesday, January 29, 2003. Ballots received after the 5:00 pm deadline are ineligible. All eligible members of the Academy may cast their vote in the Best Picture category, while Academy members in 12 branches will nominate achievements in up to 22 categories. Films submitted in the Animated Feature and Foreign Language Film categories are screened and selected by special voting groups of Academy members.