Dumbo Flies on DVD in Big Top Edition
Disneys beloved DUMBO from 1941 has been beautifully remastered on DVD for this BIG TOP EDITION (Walt Disney Home Ent., $29.99) that streets June 6, 2006.
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NOGGIN Bonds With Dads Throughout Father’s Day
NOGGIN will honor dad on Fathers Day with themed episodes from the networks preschool lineup. On Sunday, June 18, beginning at 6:30 am (ET), fans can join the characters of OOBI, CONNIE THE COW, MIFFY AND FRIENDS, LITTLE BEAR and FRANKLIN, as they pay tribute to dad.
* 6:30 am CONNIE THE COW Connie & Her FatherConnie's mummy tells her that theyre going to have a surprise party for her daddys birthday. With help from her friends, Connie gets everything ready to make her daddy's celebration a very special one.
Spider Riders To Make U.S. Broadcast Debut On KIDS’ WB!
Coliseum, the action-adventure brand of Cookie Jar Ent. Inc., will make its U.S. debut of the series, SPIDER RIDERS, on KIDS WB! on Saturday, June 17, 2006, at 10:30 am (ET/PT). SPIDER RIDERS is a co-production between Cookie Jar and leading Japanese advertising agency, Yomiko, together with celebrated Japanese animation studio, Bee Train, known for its popular cult series, HACK//SIGN. SPIDER RIDERS is Coliseums largest production since the companys inception in 2004.
Weinsteins Draw Swords With Live-Action Mulan
The Weinstein Co. is in final talks on a three-picture deal with MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA star Ziyi Zhang, which includes a live-action version of MULAN, VARIETY reports. The second film in the deal would be a remake of Akira Kurosawa's 1954 classic, THE SEVEN SAMURAI.
CAEAA Announces the Opening for Award Submissions
Canadian Awards for the Electronic and Animated Arts Richmond, British Columbia, Canada September 14, 2006Deadline: July 14, 2006
Lionsgate Drops Marvel’s Black Widow
Lionsgate has dropped the development on a live-action feature film version of Marvel Comics' BLACK WIDOW, reports IGN FILMFORCE. Insiders say the studio balked on the project after poor box office results for other recent female-driven action films like ULTRAVIOLET and AEON FLUX.
Writer/director David Hayter said, "Marvel and I then spoke to a few other financing entities, but I never felt comfortable that we had found a place that was willing to take the movie, and the character, seriously."
Miami Short Film Fest Wants Your Toons
Miami International Short Film Festival 2006Miami, Florida, USANovember 27 December 2, 2006Deadline: September 26, 2006
Odd Todd Webtoon Lands Deal at Paramount
Paramount Pictures has optioned the pitch ODD TODD, based on the Webtoon created by Todd Rosenberg, according to VARIETY. Jonathan Kesselman (THE HEBREW HAMMER) is attached to direct.
Rosenberg independently produced the Web series and later adapted it for Comedy Central's broadband website. He will write the screenplay, which will follow the title character as he locks himself out of his apartment on the very day his unemployment checks run out.
ODD TODD will be among the first films developed by the Comedy Central Films banner. Mike Karz will produce.
Monster Sells I’m an Animal for Nickelodeon UK
Monster Distributes just sold its new animated series, IM AN ANIMAL, from Oscar-nominated Brown Bag Films to Nickelodeon UK. Produced with the support of RTE and the Irish Film Board, the series has already been sold to Rai Italy, TV Ontario, Knowledge Network Canada, Cartoon Network Australia, Cable TV Hong Kong, Sanctuary UK, Hungama TV Indonesia, Malaysia and India and Al Sayyar in the Middle East.
IM AN ANIMAL was one of the top programs at MIPCOM Jr. last year, and will have all 52x2 episodes completed this month.
In Television, Television | Headline News | Special Events: MIPCOM | Geographic Region: All, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America
FUNimation Awarded Full Metal Panic
FUNimation Ent., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Navarre Corp., has been awarded FULL METAL PANIC: THE SECOND RAID by Kadokawa Pictures USA. FULL METAL PANIC: THE SECOND RAID is the third season in this popular anime series. FUNimation has scheduled Oct. 3, 2006 as the street date for the first DVD.
In Anime, Home Entertainment, Anime, Home Entertainment | Headline News | Geographic Region: All, Asia, North America
Tom Goes to the Mayor Returns to Adult Swim With Guest Stars
TOM GOES TO THE MAYOR makes its basic cable homecoming with a new season on Adult Swim this June. The small-town politics, poor decision making, delusional thinking and curious guest stars that have become the Adult Swim shows hallmark started up again on June 4, 2006, at 12:30 am.
TurboSquid & ILL Clan Forge Machinima Cartoon Series Partnership
Animation studio ILL Clan and 3D objects provider TurboSquid have partnered up to present TRASH TALK, which employs the use of machinima in the production of the latest talk show host to grace computer and iPod screens. This animated 3D game character wannabe named ILL Will, a cross between Jay Leno and Duke Nukem, reports on the latest gaming news and talks trash each week on the Internet with his sidekick, a missile named Mal Content.
Nicolas Coppermann to Head Télé Images
General secretary/deputy program director in charge of drama production at M6, Nicolas Coppermann, will soon take over as head of Télé Images. Coppermann will team with Pascal Breton (Marathon), Vincent Chalvon Demersay (Marathon Media) and Denis Mermet (Adventure Line Prods.), who joined forces in January 2006 with the fusion of the temporarily named Finhera group, currently presided over by Pascal Breton.
Vue 5 xStream Pre-Release Available for LightWave and Cinema 4D
e-on software announced the pre-release of two new versions of its xStream suite of plug-ins: xStream for LightWave and xStream for Cinema 4D.
Vue 5 xStream is a suite of plug-ins that enables the seamless integration of Vue environments into the industry's leading 3D applications. Versions of xStream were already available for Autodesk 3ds Max and Maya. As of June 1, versions of xStream for Newtek LightWave and Maxon Cinema 4D are also available. xStream for SOFTIMAGE|XSI is still under development.
Warner Set to Distribute Popeye on DVD in 2007
The Popeye logjam is over. Warner Home Video (WHV) has reached an agreement with Heart Ent. and King Features Syndicate to be the exclusive worldwide DVD distributors of the classic Popeye theatrical animated shorts and the Popeye made-for-TV animated shorts.
Alienware's New Limited-Edition Superman Systems Take Flight
Alienware celebrates June 28 release of Warner Bros. Pictures' SUPERMAN RETURNS with individually-numbered desktop and notebook systems inspired by DC Comics' iconic superhero, Superman. The desktop and notebook systems showcase masterful artwork of the Man of Steel on the outer cases. Alienware's Area-51 Superman Edition desktop and Area-51 SUPERMAN RETURNS Edition notebook come with a certificate of authenticity. Each system also includes a specially-designed Superman desktop theme by The Skins Factory utilizing Stardock's Theme Manager software.
Iridas’ FrameCycler Standardized at ILM
Iridas announced that Industrial Light & Magic has purchased universal site licenses of FrameCycler Professional 3.5 for its facility in the Letterman Center in San Francisco, Lucasfilm Animation in Singapore and the Skywalker Ranch in San Rafael. Now artists at all three locations will have immediate access to uncompressed frame-based playback for review and analysis of their work on every workstation.
In Technology, Visual Effects, Technology, Visual Effects | Headline News | Geographic Region: All, Asia, Europe
Pee-wee’s Playhouse Makes TV Return on Adult Swim
PEE-WEES PLAYHOUSE, the winner of 22 Emmy Awards, returns to TV, joining the Adult Swim lineup beginning Monday, July 10. The acclaimed series, which has been largely absent from the airwaves for nearly 15 years, stars Paul Reubens as his alter-ego Pee-wee Herman, and features a rich cast of characters who drop by the place where anything can happen.
Toon Boom Animation Acquires Pegs
Emmy award-winning Toon Boom Animation Inc. announced that it has signed a definitive agreement with Pegsn Co, a privately held developer of 2D bitmap animation technology.
"Toon Booms software solutions are recognized as the market leading technology in the animation industry and the integration of Pegs technology in Toon Booms portfolio will enable the company to continue delivering quality, efficiency and reliability to the animation community - for all animation styles, formats and users," said Joan Vogelesang, president/ceo at Toon Boom.
Rob Zombie to Helm Halloween Re-imagining
Dimension Films has announced that they will make a new HALLOWEEN movie with Rob Zombie (THE DEVIL'S REJECTS, HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES) writing, directing and serving as a producer. Malek Akkad of Trancas Intl Films (HALLOWEEN H20: 20 YEARS LATER) will produce along with Andy Gould of Vision Ent. Group (THE DEVIL'S REJECTS, HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES). Zombie will also serve as music supervisor. Miramax Films will co-finance the development with Dimension Films.
WB Builds Casey Affleck’s Ark
Warner Bros. has acquired the animated family script, AARDVARK ART'S ARK, from Casey Affleck, who is set will exec produce, reports VARIETY. The story centers on the adventures of an animal family aboard Noah's Ark. Afflecks previous screenwriting credit was with Matt Damon on Gus Van Sants GERRY.
American Dad Gets 22 More Episodes
Fox has greenlit 22 additional episodes of AMERICAN DAD, extending the shows run through the 2007-08 TV season, reports the trades. In the fall, the series will move to the coveted timeslot following THE SIMPSONS.
"It's definitely a good show of faith," said exec producer Mike Barker. "From a writing standpoint, we feel there's certainly a lot of things left to explore in our characters. We never realized there'd be so many layers to a right-wing, conservative father.
Autodesk Certifies ATI’s FireGL Workstation Graphics Accelerators
ATI Technologies Inc. announced that its FireGL workstation graphics boards have been certified for Autodesk Inc.'s full range of design software solutions. ATI's entire top-to-bottom line of FireGL graphics boards complement Autodesk's media and entertainment, design and manufacturing products by helping industry professionals more accurately and more efficiently visualize digital models to design better products while speeding time to market.
CG Pioneer Bill Kovacs Passes Away
Bill Kovacs, who co-founded Wavefront Technologies, earned a 1997 Academy Award for science and engineering innovations and who worked as a programmer on TRON, passed away last Tuesday at his home in Camarillo, California. Kovacs, who was 56, died of a stroke in his sleep brought on by a cerebral hemorrhage.
