News Section
Tuesday December 2, 1997
Volume 02, Issue 43
The Animation Flash Email Newsletter
an Animation World Network publication
****Industry News Headlines****
Business
1. KATZENBERG, DISNEY DISPUTE NEARS SETTLEMENT.
Visual Effects
2. FX AFFECTS.
Television
3. STEVEN SPIELBERG PRESENTSNICKELODEON?
4. CARTOON NET GREENLIGHTS ANTONUCCI & MCCRACKEN SERIES.
Commercials
5. SPOTLIGHT
Licensing
6. GET YOUR NICKELODEON KNICK-KNACKS HERE!
7. HARVEY'S HEAVY INTO LICENSING.
Call for Entries
8. COMPUTER ANIMATION CONFERENCE.
Awards
9. LEAF WINNERS.
10. LONDON ADVERTISING AWARDS.
****What's New on Animation World Network****
AWN GETS STRUCK BY TOON-O-MANIA!
The Tooniversal Company has recently opened it's Toon-O-Mania cartoon art
gallery in the Animation World Store. Sixteen new limited edition and original
pieces have just been added to the collection, including two original master
set-ups and cels from The Simpsons first appearance on The Tracy Ullman
Show! All of this artwork is rare, and in most cases there is only one piece
available, so get them while you can.
http://www.awn.com/awnstore
DECEMBER ISSUE OF ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE NOW ON-LINE!
In December we explore the expansive gaming world from cyberspace with online
gaming to what's happening in Russia and Australia. We also discover why
all of the newest games are available on Sony PlayStation and go to school
with "Gaming Tools: 101." Let's learn what they use and why ...
Doug TenNapel, visionary creator of The Neverhood, is interviewed
about using clay animation as his unique visual style for CD-ROM games.
Plus, listen up student readers!, we also cover "Getting a Job in Multimedia."
An included bonus article is an interview with Piotr Dumala and Jerzy Kucia
conducted during the Fantoche Festival in Baden, Switzerland. Films, festivals
and flight simulator games are reviewed as well.
http://www.awn.com/mag/issue2.9/2.9pages/2.9cover.html
CARTOON NETWORK "DIVE-IN THEATER" CONTEST WINNERS ANNOUNCED!
The results of Cartoon Network's October trivia contest are in. Following
are the names of those who won inflatable rafts in the shape of their favorite
"Dive-In Theater" characters: Anid Anidi, Kimberly Baird, Martin
Beaulieu, Darin DeWitt, Lamar Hunt, Rachel Levine, Linda Marie Lewallen,
Heather Remer, and Mike Rinaldi. AWN would like to thank Cartoon Network
for sponsoring this splashing event!
AWN AFFILIATE SITE UPDATES
More news and quicktime clips have been added to the QuickDraw Animation
Society Web site
http://www.awn.com/qas
****Industry News****
Business
1. KATZENBERG, DISNEY DISPUTE NEARS SETTLEMENT. Just a week before their
appointed Los Angeles Superior Court trial date of November 18, The Walt
Disney Company has agreed to an out-of-court settlement with former Disney
film division head Jeffrey Katzenberg. Katzenberg, who left Disney in 1994,
and went on to form DreamWorks SKG with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen,
filed a $250 million lawsuit against Disney in April 1996. In the lawsuit,
Katzenberg claims that, according to his contract, the company owes him
the said amount as a percentage of profits from all product "put into
distribution or production" during his ten years at Disney. Even though
he no longer works there, Katzenberg says that he should benefit from the
profits incurred from continued distribution of old product, one of Disney's
great strengths. The "partial settlement" recently agreed upon
does not mark the end of the dispute between the two parties, but it does
move the legal process forward, without trial, to the arbitration phase
in which it will be determined exactly how much Disney will hand over to
Katzenberg. This amount will be decided upon in private proceedings, the
terms of which, the parties have agreed, "will remain confidential."
Looking at the big picture, the settlement was probably the best move for
Disney, because it avoids the negative media attention that comes with a
trial of this nature. So, the next time you buy tickets to "The Little
Mermaid" re-release, or a limited edition home video of "The Lion
King," you can make an educated guess as to how much of your money
is headed for Katzenberg's pocket.
Visual Effects
2. FX AFFECTS.
Effects-driven movies have been doing well this month in U.S. theaters,
which will send a signal to the big studios to keep making them, and, in
turn, bring more work to effects studios. Disney's "FLUBBER,"
a live-action family flick with substantial use of computer generated characters
and effects, made its debut as the top-grossing film this past weekend (about
$36 million). Created by Disney-owned DREAMQUEST Images, the effects in
"Flubber" are used to bring life to the namesake elastic green
goo with personality, as well as flying sequences featuring Robin Williams'
robot companion, Weebo. DreamQuest's Douglas Smith ("Independence Day")
served as visual effects supervisor for both the CG and miniatures shots.
. . . The number two film this weekend, also a debut, was Fox's "ALIEN:
RESURRECTION," which took in about $27 million in box office receipts.
The fourth film in the "Alien" series, "Resurrection"
features the first fully computer-generated alien, created by BLUE SKY |
VIFX. This task was particularly challenging because the alien is covered
in a viscous slime which has a reflective surface. To make this look realistic,
Blue Sky | VIFX animators and technicians had to apply detailed lighting
information from the live-action shoot to the computer-generated scenes
before compositing. Working mainly in Blue Sky's New York facility, Erik
Henry was visual effects supervisor, Mitch Kopelman was digital effects
supervisor, Christopher Scollard was digital effects producer and Jan Carlée
was computer animation director. . . .
Television
3. STEVEN SPIELBERG PRESENTSNICKELODEON? DreamWorks Television Animation
has entered a non-exclusive, co-production deal with Nickelodeon to develop
several animated action/adventure series to air on the Nickelodeon cable
network. Action/adventure is a departure from Nickelodeon's staple family-oriented
animated fare such as "Rugrats" which appeals to younger children.
DreamWorks founding partner Steven Spielberg will executive produce the
new series', as he has on signature "Steven Spielberg Presents"
Warner Bros. shows such as "Animaniacs" and "Tiny Toons."
He said, "We are extremely pleased to be in business with Nickelodeon.
They have always pushed the envelopeand I am really looking forward to working
with them on stretching the boundaries of the animated action/adventure
genre." DreamWorks' first animated series, "Steven Spielberg Presents
Toonsylvania," is slated to debut on Fox Kids Network in January and
Kids WB! in March 1998.
4. CARTOON NET GREENLIGHTS ANTONUCCI & MCCRACKEN SERIES. Cartoon Network
has announced their latest lineup of new and acquired programs for fall
1998. Among the ten series being added to the slate are two new, original
series: "Ed, Edd `n' Eddy," created by Danny Antonucci ("Lupo
the Butcher"), and "The Powerpuff Girls," created by Craig
McCracken, which will be the fourth series to emerge from the World Premiere
Toons series of shorts. "Ed, Edd & Eddy" tells the story of
three suburban kids facing the throes of puberty, and will be produced by
Antonucci and his Vancouver, Canada-based company, a.k.a. Cartoon. "The
Powerpuff Girls" will be produced by Hanna-Barbera, like the three
other series developed out of the World Premiere Toons pilot shorts: "Dexter's
Laboratory," "Cow & Chicken" and "Johnny Bravo."
In addition to the two new series, Cartoon Network has also selected eight
existing series from the library of sister company, Warner Bros.: "Batman,"
"Beetlejuice," "Alvin and the Chipmunks," "The
Fantastic Voyage of Sinbad," "The All New Gumby," "Road
Rovers," "Super Friends" and "Waynehead." In addition,
Cartoon Network has acquired several animated features from Universal, including
"Balto," "Fievel Goes West" and the "Land Before
Time" package.
Commercials
5. SPOTLIGHT
Dilbert, the comic strip character created by Scott Adams, has yet to be
an animated series, but in a new commercial campaign for retail chain Office
Depot, the shy, disgruntled office worker is claiming more than his 30 seconds
of TV fame. The first two spots in the U.S. $30 million campaign (Wyse Advertising,
Cleveland) were created by San Francisco-based (COLOSSAL) PICTURES and resident
director Chuck Gammage. Four more spots are in production at the studio,
and additional commercial projects featuring Dilbert are in development.
. . . . London-based ULI MEYER ANIMATION created a spot for Johnson &
Johnson Consumer Products' Reach brand toothbrush, called "Mr. Reach,"
depicting 2-D animation of "the evil Plaque Man" invading an animated
character's mouth . . . . Watertown, Massachusetts-based FABLEVISION ANIMATION
STUDIOS is working on animation sequences for The Pleasant Company's live-action
series based on "American Girl Magazine.". . . . Atlanta, Georgia-based
MINDFLEX INTERACTIVE & ENTERTAINMENT is creating animation sequences
for "Salsa," a live-action puppet series produced by PeachStar
Educational Services for distribution directly to schools through the Satellite
Network . . . .
Licensing
6. GET YOUR NICKELODEON KNICK-KNACKS HERE! Viacom Retail Group opened
its first two Nickelodeon retail stores last week in Minneapolis, Minnesota
and Long Island, New York. A third location will open on December 8 in Schaumberg,
Illinois, and additional stores are planned for 1998. Viacom, Nickelodeon's
parent company, first entered the retail scene earlier this year with the
Chicago launch of the first Viacom store, similar to Warner Bros.' and Disney's
studio stores. The Nickelodeon stores strengthen Viacom's position in the
lucrative merchandise marketplace, and offer a niche-marketplace for Nickelodeon's
growing line of products, such as plush toys, figurines and clothing. Out
of the more than 2,000 branded products, 75 percent of the merchandise carried
will be available exclusively in the Nickelodeon stores, allowing the company
to "experiment" with and test new consumer products before offering
national licenses. Complete with tilted walls, purple ceilings and even
a special bed with cubbies for kids to hide their stuff in, the stores are
developed with "a single goal in mind," said Viacom Retail Group
president Tom Haas, "to create an official Nickelodeon headquarters
that serves as the only place kids can get the complete Nickelodeon experience."
7. HARVEY'S HEAVY INTO LICENSING. Since regaining the rights from Universal
in May, Harvey Entertainment is pulling out all the stops to license their
proprietary comic and cartoon characters such as Casper, Richie Rich, Wendy
the Witch and Baby Huey, in all forms of media. In the past seven months,
the company has secured 100 licensees, for everything from soap to sleepwear.
One of the more collectible products in the works is a CD box-set of music
from the original cartoons, which is being published by Edel America Records.
Last month, Harvey opened a U.S. $10 million, 75,000 square-foot family
entertainment center in Jakarta, Indonesia. In 1998, Harvey plans to appoint
20 new international licensing agents worldwide. "The Harvey Classic
Characters are ideally positioned today to benefit from merchandising opportunities
created by heightened worldwide interest in the `retro' `50s, `60s and `70s,"
said Harvey chairman and CEO Jeffrey A. Montgomery of the company's strategy.
New animated productions featuring Harvey characters include two more direct-to-video
titles slated for a fall 1998 release: "Casper meets Wendy" and
"Richie Rich's Christmas Wish."
Call for Entries
8. COMPUTER ANIMATION CONFERENCE. The Computer Graphics Society (CGS) and
the IEEE Computer Society in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has put out a call
for papers to be presented at the 11th annual Conference on Computer Animation
at the Center for Human Modeling and Simulation (HMS) at the University
of Pennsylvania, June 8-10, 1998. Academic papers on the following topics
of research are being sought: motion control; animation for scientific visualization;
keyframe techniques; animation in engineering; motion capture; motion blur
and temporal antialiasing; robotics and animation; physics and animation;
virtual humans and avatars; behavioral animation; virtual collaborative
environments (VCE); real-time simulation; virtual reality; medical applications;
sound and speech synchronization; and physics-based animation. The submission
deadline for unpublished papers (up to 20 pages) is February 3, 1998, and
authors will be notified by March 15. For detailed submission and conference
information, contact the University of Pennsylvania's Department of Computer
and Information Science at dnm@central.cis.upenn.edu
Awards
9. LEAF WINNERS. The London Effects and Animation Festival (LEAF), which
took place in November as part of Digital Media World in London, presented
awards in eight categories. The jury, comprised of Bill Boffin of The University
of Bradford (U.K.), Jerry Hibbert of Hibbert Ralph Animation (U.K.), Phil
Hurrell and Terry Hytlon of SVC Television (U.K.), Christina Pishirus of
Televisual Magazine (U.K.), Ian Rosenbloom of BBC Open University (U.K.),
and Dave Throssel of The Mill (U.K.) acknowledged the following films as
"the best in computer generated animation and visual effects from around
the world."
Feature Film: Industrial Light and Magic (U.S.) for "Men in Black."
Commercial: Industrial Light and Magic (U.S.) for Canada Dry "Domino."
Education and Training: BBC Horizon (U.K.) for "Walking With Dinosaurs."
Short Film: Ronin Animation (U.S.) for "Ahoy, The Movie."
Music Video: SVC Television and The Framestore (U.K.) for Alisha's Attic:
"Indestructible."
Titles, Idents & Stings: Garner MacLennan Design (Australia) for "Arena."
Simulation: Ex Machina (France) for "Mad Racers."
Student Work: Julien Villanueva and Yann Blondel for "Ziride."
The 1998 LEAF will take place next November 17-19. For information and entry
forms, contact Digital Media International in London at Tel: (44) 181 995
3632 or Fax: (44) 181 995 3633
10. LONDON ADVERTISING AWARDS. The London International Advertising Awards
(LIAA) took place recently in London. The global competition awarded commercials
in 143 categories, including three for animation:
Animation-Cel: Wild Brain (U.S.) for Mainstay Mutual Funds' "UpDownUp."
Animation-Computer: Pytka (U.S.) for HBO's "Chimps."
Animation-Stop Frame: Will Vinton Studios (U.S.) for Nissan's "Toys."
__________________________________
Industry news written and compiled by Wendy Jackson.
__________________________________
Copyright 1997 Animation World Network. No part of this periodical may be
reproduced without the written consent of Animation World Network.
_________________________________
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