November News Section

Wallace and Gromit Conquer America
by Mark Segall

New York City, October 22, 1996--In contrast to the gaudy surroundings of New York's Tavern on the Green restaurant in Central Park, British animation phenomenon Nick Park's entrance is anything but ostentatious. The press corps doesn't even notice the three-time Oscar winner bending down to open a black foam lined case to remove the plasticine figures of the buck-toothed, bald-headed Wallace and his long-suffering best friend Gromit the dog. When Wallace and Gromit's second half-hour adventure The Wrong Trousers aired on BBC2 Christmas day 1993, 3.3 million UK viewers tuned in. At Easter time those numbers more than doubled--something that just isn't supposed to happen on a repeat. Thirty-nine percent of all British screens were tuned to Park's animated comedy. On Christmas Eve 1995, the third Wallace and Gromit short, A Close Shave, pulled in 42% of the UK audience, beating out the year's biggest sports matches to become BBC2's most popular program of 1995.

Nick Park in his recent visit to New York promoting the CBS Fox video release of his academy award winning film A Close Shave.
Photo by Mark Segall

While Wallace and Gromit are superstars at home, they almost got lost in New York. The cabbie who brought Park to his hotel in a torrential downpour two nights earlier hurried away with the models still in the trunk. When this calamity made the TV news, he quickly returned them. To commemorate this miraculous rescue, today's publicity event kicks off with NYC's Taxi and Limousine Commissioner extolling cab drivers and welcoming Park on behalf of Mayor Giuliani. Nick displays the models to the press and thanks the driver for the return of his "babies." This photo op concluded, the CBS Fox Video publicity team swings into action, announcing the US home video release of all three half-hour Wallace and Gromit adventures, along with innumerable tie-ins. Storybooks, calendars, postcards, tee-shirts, balloons, jewelry, mugs, figurines, and refrigerator magnets are all mentioned. "Eventually there will be a Wallace and Gromit item in every American home," says CBS Fox President/CEO Sara Frayne. "You chuckle, but that's my dream."

The press is given a short history of Aardman Animations studio, where Nick started straight out of art school and where he has produced all his work. "Wallace & Gromit are akin to the crown jewels in Great Britain," says VP for Childrens Marketing, Andre Backer. "They've been visited by Queen Elizabeth. We're looking for the same popularity in the US." CBS/Fox's battle plan for conquering America: "We'll be going into over 100 markets, airing promos for the videos and the books on kids shows like Fox Kids Network. There'll be extensive advertising in Totally Kids, the Fox Kids Club magazine. There will be joint displays of the books and videos."

As cameras snap away, Nick Park squats down in a makeshift pen lined with pristine bales of hay to pet the heads of four or five spotless sheep. He's presented with a green sign that declares this to be "Nick Park." Park bears these photo ops with good grace but balks at being escorted to his next appearance in a motorcycle sidecar. He grabs a cab instead. The bike enthusiast who rounded up the vintage Harley (a close match to Gromit's cycle in A Close Shave) grumbles, "he chickened out on me!," then drives down Broadway to Times Square's Virgin Superstore alone.

The Virgin SuperStore burrows down under Times Square in a series of basements and sub-basements. Virgin sets Park up at a table two levels down, next to the video section and just in front of the in-store cafe. So many fans line up (over 200, by my count) that halfway through a guard announces there will be no more personal dedications--just straight signatures. Nick's arm is getting tired, but he keeps smiling.

Wallace and Gromit's chances of becoming household names in America? With CBS Fox behind them, pretty good. I'm already showing everybody my calendar and refrigerator magnet.

Medicine Wheel Animation Festival Issues Call For Films. The eighth annual edition of this touring festival of animation is open to US and Canadian independent filmmakers (born or residing). Films must be 16mm, under 25 minutes and may be from any year. There are entry fee. Medicine Wheel is a non-profit organization promoting animation as an art form. The Festival plays at colleges, museums, galleries and art theaters such as George Eastman House, in Rochester, New York and the Rhode Island School of Design. The organizers are looking for films that have beauty, innovation, content and experimentation. All proceeds go to the Filmmakers or to the Medicine Wheel Artists' Retreat. For entry forms, send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to: Medicine Wheel Animation Festival, PO Box 1088, Groton, MA 01450-3088. Phone and fax (508)-448-3717, email: Medwheel@tiac.net. Deadline: February 1, 1997.

Tex Avery, The Great Animation Director Form The Golden Age Of The Hollywood Cartoon by John Canemaker Now Available. This illustrated coffee table book by animation historian and filmmaker John Canemaker contains an assemblage of Avery-related art work, including original storyboards, animation cels and character sketches. It covers Avery's period at MGM from1942-55, which includes some of the director's most famous films. The book is available from Turner Publishing at $34.95.

Will Vinton & TBWA Chait/Day Enjoy The Ride In New Toys Spot For Nissan. Will Vinton Studios has just completed Toys, a new 60-second commercial for TBWA Chait/Day and Nissan. The spot which combines stop-motion animation with live-action to punctuate Nissan's new tagline, "Enjoy the Ride." Directed by Mark Gustafson, the commercial uses specially-designed plastic featuring clay facial parts which were hand sculpted to produce the subtle facial expressions. According to Gustafson, "The animation was stylized because we wanted the dolls' movement to be as doll-like as possible. We were able to get maximum performance out of the characters with limited motion."

Allen Digs Ants At DreamWorks. Woody Allen will take a voice-over part in DreamWorks' new animated feature Ants. Allen will play "a character who becomes disenchanted with the day-to-day drudgery of the totalitarian ant world," according to the news release. The film is a collaboration between DreamWorks SKG Feature Animation and computer animation studio Pacific Data Images (40% owned by DreamWorks).

Early Kid Gets WB's Earthworm. In a move aimed at reducing the drain of kids viewing levels on Saturday morning, the WB Network is taking a tactical gamble by flip-flopping its schedule. The change, which started on October 19, is dubbed "Big Kids Go First" and puts "older-skewing superhero" programs Freakazoid and Earthworm Jimin the starting positions in the morning schedule, followed by Superman and Road Rovers. The plan reverses the usual practice of beginning Saturday morning schedules with "younger-skewing shows." This sort of change is likely being done in response to the widespread decline among US terrestrial broadcasters in their audience for children's programming, while the Nickelodeon cable network has dramatically increased its ratings in the same marketplace.

The Sixth Annual Environmental Media Awards Announced. Among this year's winners are: Rocko's Modern Life (Children's TV Program, Animated), The Simpsons: Lisa the Vegetarian (TV Episodic Comedy) and Ann Telnaes, North American Syndicate (Editorial Cartoonist). Major contributors for the event include DreamWorks, as well as other entertainment related companies, including Variety.

The following items are from AWM's October 7, 1996 Email News Flash:

Fox Kids Network To Go Independent With Saban: Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. is cutting its Fox Children's Network (FCN) loose as part of an agreement to place the operation into a jointly-held company with Saban Entertainment. FCN will continue to be under the direction of Margaret Loesch, who now have an equity position in the company; Loesch leadership has been thought responsible for the network's dominance in children's TV in the US, a position which has lately been whittled away by Nickelodeon, the Cartoon Network and the new WB Network. The move is essentially an expansion of last year's alliance between Fox and Saban to start a new series of children's networks around the world. The alliance gives FCN access to Saban's large library of animated and other TV shows (including Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and X-Men), including numerous titles made for the overseas market, which it is said to need in order to more effectively compete with the likes of Disney and Warner Bros. The move is also aimed at raising money for further expansion, possibly through a public stock offering. There was also speculation that the move may also be a sign that Murdoch is backing away from children's markets in the US in favor of news and talk shows.

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Quest Wins Cartoon d'Or At Connemara Cartoon Forum. The 1996 Cartoon d'Or Award presented at the 7th Cartoon Forum, held in Galway, Ireland, September 19-21, was given to the young German director Tyron Montgomery for his first film, Quest, a 11-1/2 minute short featuring a puppet made out of sand in pursuit of water ... The trophy was accompanied by a 35,000 ECU (US$43,750) prize that will allow Montgomery to start a more ambitious project, such as a feature film or a TV special.

Supported by the MEDIA Programme of the European Union, the Cartoon Forum gathered together some 500 participants, including 250 producers, 129 broadcasters and other investors to discuss 67 animation projects designed for television or theaters. (CARTOON's members include 304 companies from 18 countries.)

After 3 days of negotiation, 19 projects (87 hours of animation, with budgets totaling over 53.6 million ECU [$67 million]) received the necessary guarantees to secure short term financing and some of which will go into production in the next 6 months: La Vache (UK, 13 x l0'), Hospital (UK, 13 x 26'), The First Snow of Winter (UK, 1 x 26'), Steam Rail (Italy, 26 x 26'), Max & Moritz (Germany, 39 x 7'), Séléna et Coeurdor (Germany, 26 x 5'), Bemmi Bommerland (Germany, 13 x 5'), Eugenio (France, l x 26'), Tim Techno (UK, 13 x 22'), A la Recherche du Père Noël (Belgium, l x 52'), Pense Bêtes (France, 52 x 6'30"), Patrouille 03 (France, 26 x 24'), Perry and Nick, the Alien Dogs (Germany, 26 x 26'), The Rabbit Rovers (Germany, 26 x l2') Varnii Roop (UK, 13 x 11'), L'Enfant au Grelot (France, 1 x 26'), Tom & Sheenah (France, 26 x 26'), Henrietta, Hippo Tales (UK, 24 x 5'), and Les Mémoires extraordinaires de la Sorcière Camomille (France, 52 x 6').

Twenty-one projects received sufficient interest to indicate that they will "secure the financing in the average term." These projects represent 117 hours of animation and budgets totaling over 71.1 million ECU [about $88.9 million].

The Forum also saw the premiere of La Freccia Azzurra, a new animated feature from Italy's La Lanterna Magica and directed by Enzo D'Alo. (The film, it was noted, received aid for development 1992-93 CARTOON Forums.)

The 8th Cartoon Forum is scheduled to be held in Arles, France, from September 17-21, 1997. For further information please contact CARTOON, Boulevard Lambermont, 418 - 1030 Brussels, Belgium. Telephone: (32) (2) 245 12 00. Fax: (32) (2) 245 46 89.

Kurosawa & Pioneer Join Perfect World To Do Animation. Pioneer, the giant Japanese electronics firm, and Kurosawa Enterprises USA, a Los Angeles-based production company associated with ace Japanese director Akira Kurosawa, have launched a new animation venture with Perfect World Entertainment, a newly formed corporation. It plans to produce animated feature films using Japanese animation and direction, combined with North American and European artists, writers and properties. The new company's vice president of development, Randy Lofficier, noted that, "Pioneer will be a controlling partner in Perfect World, as well as being artistically involved with every phase of production, from development to distribution."

Perfect World has already developing several projects, with each partner contributing from one-third to one-half of the $10 to $15 million budgets. Overseeing the venture's operations are Taro Maki (producer of the popular direct-to-video anime feature, Tenchi Muyo), executive producer of Pioneer's Film Business Division, who will be in charge of production, Tak W. Abe, president of Kurosawa Enterprises USA, who will coordinate activities between Los Angeles and Tokyo, and Ms. Lofficier (formerly vice president of Starwatcher, a comic book and animation talent agency).

The most unusual aspect of the deal is the involvement of Akira Kurosawa, whose live-action films such as Rashomon and Seven Samurai, are often included on lists of the greatest films of all times. Tak W. Abe, who has been with Kurosawa for 16 years, has previously worked extensively on Japanese animated features and television productions.

HBO Creates New Animation Division. Home Box Office (HBO), the US cable network, has announced the formation of HBO Animation, which will be a division of HBO Original Programming, which will create animated programming for HBO and other broadcast and cable networks. The division's first two projects, both slated to debut with six episodes on HBO in 1997, are Spawn, an adaptation of Todd McFarlane's comic book originally created in 1992, and Spicy City, a "contemporary" adaptation of pulp magazine fare from the 1930s and 1940s, is being created by veteran animator Ralph Bakshi (Fritz the Cat). Spawn will closely follow the story lines and use the same characters as the original comic book, which involves a hired killer who dies in a fire, then makes a deal with the devil to return to his mortal state. Spicy City, which will be an anthology series, will cover such genres as science fiction, horror and film noir, and is said to explore such themes as cyberspace, DNA cloning and virtual sex machines.

Despite its penchant for adult programming like its Real Sex documentary series, original animation on HBO has usually been family fare. Chris Albrecht, president, HBO Original Programming, stated that, "HBO Animation will explore the largely untapped field of adult-oriented animation, allowing offbeat creative talents the kind of unrestrictive freedom that's rare on television." The new division was founded by Carmi Zlotnik, vice president of Original Programming, Production and Creative Affairs, and will be based at HBO's Los Angeles offices.

(In this regard, it should be noted that Ralph Bakshi, who animation has not been evident since the failure of his last feature, Cool World, recently made several short films for the Cartoon Network's World Premiere Toon series. However, the films apparently proved to be unsuitable for the family-oriented network. It is unlikely that Bakshi will have the same problem with HBO.)

The new operation will be supervised by Catherine Winder (former producer of Aeon Flux), vice president, HBO Animation, who will oversee all the day-to-day creative and operational facets of the division. "We are taking a theatrical approach to television production," Winder says, with an emphasis on originality, quality and detail."

The division will also be available on a service basis for third-party projects. As with its in-house projects, outside productions to be produced by HBO Animation will include both family and prime time programming. In addition, Eric Radomski (producer-director on Batman:The Animated Series), the division's supervising director, has been given a development deal enabling him to create and work on original properties, including an anthology series dealing with dysfunctional relationships. HBO Animation is also working on two other possible series, including a comedy and a political satire. Budgets for these projects seem to be on the high end, in the $600,000-$700,000 per episode range, which is considerably higher than most Saturday morning series.

Cats Feature Project Gets New Life. The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical play, for which Universal Pictures bought the screen rights a number of years ago for Steven Spielberg's London-based Amblimation unit, is now scheduled to be done by Universal itself. The studio has commissioned Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow to redo the script that playwright Tom Stoppard wrote in 1994. Cohen and Sokolow are best known for their Oscar-nominated screenplay for Toy Story. The film will be produced by Webber's Really Useful Film Co. with Universal, with ex-Amblimation directors Phil Nibbelink (American Tail: Fievel Goes West) and Dick Zondag (Balto) are set to direct.

Amblimation had set up a separate company, City Feature Animation, to handle the production on Cats, and it was even rumored that Spielberg was thinking of using it to make his animation directing debut. The project was nominally kept alive when Amblimation moved from London to the Los Angeles area, before Spielberg's operations were merged into DreamWorks SKG.

3DO Switches Drops Hardware To Focus On Software. The Redwood City, California-based video game company says it intends to sell part or all of its hardware business by year's end and eliminate 150 jobs from its 450 person staff. Chairman and chief executive officer Trip Hawkins will also hand over operating control to 3DO president Hugh Martin. The company's focus will now shift to Internet and computer games. Its first Internet game, Meridian 59, will be launched this month.

Alliance Communications Reduces Stake In Reboot Producer: Toronto-based Alliance, at its annual meeting last month that Vancouver-based Mainframe Entertainment paid it C$8.6 million (US$6.3 million) to buy back some of its shares. This reduces Alliance's stake in the computer animation house to 15% from the 33% stake it acquired 2 years ago. This is on top of a US$5.5 million buyout in July, which means Alliance has not only recouped its investment in Mainframe, but has turned a handsome profit as well.

Semi-Original Version Of Disney's Three Little Pigs Now On Video Walt Disney Home Video last month released Three Little Pigs, featuring three Academy Award winning cartoons in its "Favorite Stories" series. The cassette features pristine copies of Three Little Pigs (Bert Gillett, 1933) and its two sequels, The Big Bad Wolf (1934) and Three Little Wolves (1936), all with their original titles, though (as noted below) not always with the original soundtracks.

Bert Gillett's Three Little Pigs (Disney, 1933) in which the Big Bad Wolf disguises himself as a Jewish Fuller Brush Man, a scene later reanimated for the film's 1948 reissue.

The huge success of Three Little Pigs, with its enormously popular theme song, "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?," was such that it said to have led Disney to go ahead with plans to make animated features. (The film made more money than many live-action features.) It also spawned some controversy for the scene when the Big Bad Wolf disguises himself as a Jewish Fuller Brush Man when he comes knocking on the house of the third little pig, complete with stereotypical clothes and a heavy accent. Disney later reanimated the peddler section for the 1948 reissue and it was the version that has been in circulation ever since. However, for the current release, Disney has gone back and used the original picture material for this sequence, though the soundtrack seems to be from the reissue (and is thus a bit out of synch). It is not clear why this version was released, and one wonders if there will be any sort of reaction from Jewish groups this time around. However, most viewers, ignorant of stereotypes gone by, may not realize what they are seeing. In any case, for film historians at least, it is an unexpected surprise. The tape is available in the US for $12.99.

Armored Trooper Votoms Stage 2: Kummen Jungle Wars On Video. Volumes 1-5 of the science-fiction adventure will be released to the American home video market by Central Park Media on December 3. The series is centered on Armored Trooper pilot Chirico Cuvie, who is on the run from a conspiracy and his own army. Each tape, which is subtitled in English is available at $24.95 each, or $99.95 for the "Collector's Set."

Electronic Arts Signs Agreement With Blizzard. San Mateo, California-based Electronic Arts, a leading interactive software company, announced it has entered into an exclusive worldwide agreement with Blizzard Entertainment of Irvine, California, to develop, publish and distribute their best-selling Warcraft II and upcoming Diablo titles for "next generation videogame systems." Under the agreement, Electronic Arts gains exclusive development and publishing rights to the console versions of these popular strategy and role-playing games, as well as gaining exclusive distribution rights.

In related news, Electronic Arts has released Andretti Racing 97 for the Sony Playstation platform. The game features interviews with racing legend Mario Andretti and his sons Michael and Jeff, along with a "head-to-head" racing in both Indy and Stock car competitions on 16 different courses. It carries a suggested retail price of $59.95.

Midland Opens New Offices In Berkeley. Midland Productions, makers of the Imax ridefilm, Fun House Express (which featured stop-motion animation), has moved from Richmond, California, to new quarters in nearby Berkeley. The new facility boasts new digital capabilities, which Midland vice president Yas Takata says will "greatly expands our storytelling capabilities and what we can offer our clients. We're pleased that the Midland toolbox now includes live action, miniatures and computer-generated images (CGI) for all film and video formats." The company's digital-animation team is presently at work on an independent production slated for release in mid-1997. The company was founded in 1986 and entered the simulation and special-venue fields in 1988. It also creates special effects for commercials and feature films.

Mca Gets International Rights To Rocky & His Friends: MCA TV International acquired 10-year foreign TV distribution rights to the classic TV show. The estate of Jay Ward, the Rocky producer who died in 1989, signed with MCA its agreement with Disney for similar rights expired. For MCA, the 1960s-vintage show provides library animation, which is in short supply. Jim McNamara, president of MCA Worldwide Television Distribution, said the property will be a priority at the MIPCOM TV program market that starts Oct. 7 in Cannes.

Canemaker's Felix In Paperback. John Canemaker's Felix: The Twisted Tale of the World's Most Famous Cat has just been issued in paperback. The book tells the story of Otto Messmer, the man behind the creation of Felix back in 1919 and who drew him for over three decades, and of his boss, Pat Sullivan, who took credit for the character who became the first animated cartoon superstar. Canemaker, an animator and animation historian, heads New York University's animation program and is the author of Winsor McCay: His Art and Life and Before Animation Begins.

Whole Toon Catalog Returns. The 12th edition of the catalog of "over 27,000 foreign, classic American, silent, documentary, fine arts and animation videos" has just been issued by Chicago-based Facets Video. The direct mail retailer of videos, laserdiscs and books, founded eight years ago by Seattle's Doug Ranney, closed down last year and its status was unclear until Facets stepped in. Copies of Whole Toon Catalog #12 are available free by calling Facets at 1-800-331-6197, writing Facets Video at 1517 W. Fullerton Ave., Chicago, IL 60614, by fax at 1-312-929-5437, email at sales@facets.org. You can also check their Web page on AWN at http://www.awn.com/whole-toon.

Wendy's Fast Food Quest. The new Warner Bros. animated feature, The Quest for Camelot, due for release in fall 1997, is apparently scheduled to sign on Wendy's as its fast food partner for North America. Warners started negotiating with the fast food chain when talks with Burger King (considered a more desirable partner) broke down. (Burger King eventually signed on with 20th Century-Fox's Anastasia, which is due to be released at the same time.) Such deals, which provide considerable promotion and up front money, are considered essential these days for big budget animated films.

The following items are from AWM's October 21, 1996 Email News Flash:

Ottawa 96 Award Winners:

Grand Prize for Best film: Bird In The Window by Igor Kovalyov, (Klasky-Csupo productions) USA.

Grand Prize for Best Television Production: Treehouse Of Horror VI: Homer 3D by Tim Johnson, USA.

Category A: Best production under 10 minutes in length that is not classified in categories C to H: Joe's Apartment: Funky Towel by Chris Wedge, USA. Special Mention went to: Da Da by Piet Kroon, The Netherlands and Combination Skin by Anthony Hodgeson, UK.

Category B: Best production between 10 and 30 minutes in length that is not classified in categories C to H: The End Of The World In Four Seasons by Paul Driessen, Canada.

Category C: The National Film Board Prize for best first film: The Saint Inspector by Mike Booth, UK. Special Mention went to Estorio Do Gato E Da Luna (Tale About The Cat And The Moon) by Pedro Serrazina, Portugal and Lazarus by Vanessa B. Cruz, USA.

Category D: Children's animated productions that are not part of a made-for-television: Katten Mons (Mons The Cat) by Pjotr Sapegin, Norway.

Category E: Educational productions: No prize awarded

Category F: Promotional works such as commercials, public service announcements, opening titles, etc. produced for film or television: Intermax by Cordell Barker, Canada. Special Mention went to Bell Atlantic Big Deal by Carlos Saldanha, USA and M-ID: Taku-Overdrive (Karate Boy) by Isao Nishigouri, Japan.

Category G: Animated productions especially produced for television, and which are not part of a series: A Close Shave by Nick Park, UK.

Category H: Animated productions especially produced for television, and which are part of a series: No prize awarded

CRAFT PRIZES:

Special Prize for Animation: Gagarin by Alexij Kharitidi, Russia.

Special Prize for Design: 1895 by Priit Parn & Janno Poldma, Estonia and Yellow Shoes by Alice Stevens, UK.

Music/Sound Award: Normand Roger for The End Of The World In Four Seasons, Canada.

Best Computer Animation: Bell Atlantic Big Deal by Carlos Saldanha, USA.

MEDIA PRIZES:

Special Prize for Drawn Animation: The Wind Subsides by Vuk Jevremovic, Germany.

Special Prize for Unusual Technique: Jumping Joan by Petra Freeman, UK.

The Public Prize: Hilary by Anthony Hodgeson, UK.

The Norman McLaren Heritage Award: Louise Beaudet.

The Gordon Bruce Award for Humor: Gagarin by Alexij Kharitidi, Russia.

UNICEF Prize for best representation of a vision of children in a healthy and environmentally safe world: Goldtooth by Derek Lamb & Kaj Pindal, Canada.

Viacom Canada Prize for best Canadian production: La Chasse Galerie (Flying Canoe) by Robert Doucet, Canada.

Zack Schwartz Award for Best Story: Hilary by Anthony Hodgeson, UK.

Chromocolour Prize for Best Student Film: Hilary by Anthony Hodgeson, UK.

Special Jury Prize: Aardman Animations.

Writers Form Wolfmill Entertainment. Craig Miller and Marv Wolfman have joined together to develop and produce live-action and animated television programming aimed at the children's and young adult market. Wolfmill already has deals in place for three series: Pocket Dragon Adventures debuting internationally fall of 1997, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, based on the comic book by Wally Wood in the 60s, and A Man Called Ax, also based on a comic book by Wolfman and artist Shawn McManus.

Toronto's Catapult Productions Monster By Mistake To Air On Canada's YTV. The Halloween TV special will air on Canada's YTV on Saturday, October 26, at 5:30 PM. The story concerns an 8 year old boy who gets mixed up in a magic spell and becomes a monster at inopportune times. His big sister and the ghost of a jazz musician try to help him out of his predicament. The show is the first effort of Toronto's Catapult Productions. Partnered with Cambium Film and Video for the project, the two companies hope to sell a series based on the special. The entire show was done using Prisms software and Silicon Graphics hardware.

Nickelodeon Clicks With Kids. Nickelodeon continued its yearlong gains in viewership among kids ages 2-11 in the opening round of the new season last month with another 12% increase in viewership, giving Nickelodeon control of 56% of that audience, while the networks and syndicators lost 23% of their market share, according to Neilson Media Research figures provided by Nickelodeon.

Casper Special Halloween Episode To Air On Fox Kids Network. Now in its second season on Fox Kids Network, Casper haunts the airwaves with a special Halloween episode to air Saturday, October 26, 1996 at 8 a.m. PT/9 a.m. ET. The half-hour special will follow the adventures of Casper, Kat, Stretch, Stinkie, Spooky, and Poil in three stories, The Tricks A Treat, Spooky & Poil Meet the Monsters and Thirteen Ways To Scare a Fleshie. The Universal Studios Monsters, including Dracula, Frankenstein, The Creature from the Black Lagoon and the Mummy join in the ghostly exploits with the gang at Whipstaff Manor.

Activision Enters Distribution Deal With Parsoft Interactive. Activision has aquired worldwide Windows 95 rights to three of Parsoft's flight combat simulation games. The company expects to ship the first title, A-10 Cuba! (sequel to A-10 Attack!), by the Christmas holiday season. The other two games, tentatively titled A-10 Gulf! and Dogfight, are slated for release in 1997. All three games will ofer single and multi-player modes and will allow gamers head-to-head via modem or against their friends over local area networks.

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