Animation World News
by Wendy Jackson
Business:
Cloud 9 For Sale, Pulse Alums Get Jinx-ed, M.P.S.C. Surveys Industry, Bandai
Broadens Business, (Colossal) Turns The Page On Chapter 11, John K. Says
South Park Story Steals.
People: Musical Chairs, UK Council Commissions Creators.
In Passing: Evening of Remembrance, Mae Questel, Cameron Guess,
Lillian Bounds Disney.
Films: PDI Signs On For Shrek, De Nooijers Make Exit.
Visual Effects: FX Affects by Four Media Company, POP Studios,
Viewpoint Studios, Heck Yes! Productions, Engineering Animation (EAI).
Television: Fox Kids, Family Channel To Get [Very] Animated, Nick
Says "Oh Yeah!" to Shorts, CBS Re-Animates Its Saturday AM Line-Up!,
Convulsion-Causing Cartoons.
Home Video: Disney's February Flicks, David Hand's Animaland,
Another Beauty From Disney, CPM Ships 3 Anime Titles, Hallmark Joins
The Family.
Internet & Interactive: Absolut Adds 8 Animations, Quick Bytes
from BLITCOM LLC., Brilliant Digital Entertainment, Knowledge Adventure.
Commercials: Spotlight on J.J. Sedelmaier Productions, Tape House
Digital, Loconte Goldman Design, Aardman Animations, Lee Hunt Associates.
Technology: SGI, Microsoft Turn Up Heat On "Fahrenheit."
Education: `98 NATE Slate, Call for Entries, Cardiff Gets
Vital!, Aussie FX Fest, Computer Animation `98, Geneva, One Show, CSUN
Animation Festival, I.D. Seeks Interactive Innovators.
Events: Slamdance, Games And Animation Interact At MILIA, Southampton
Conference & Archive, Animated Christmas Screenings.
Awards: Jules Engel To Receive 'Friz' Award, Cinar Gets Parent's Choice.
Business
Cloud 9 For Sale. The private owners of Marina del Rey, California-based
Cloud 9 Interactive plan to sell the company and its' holdings. Company
co-founder, president and CEO Debra Streiker-Fine is in discussions with
five potential buyers, and says a recent evaluation assesses that the company
is worth $20 million. In September 1997, Cloud 9 formed a television production
division (AF 9/16/97), Cloud 9 Media, and announced a slate of several
projects in development, including animated series Zeroman (with
Leslie Nielsen and Amberwood Productions), I Can Be Three (with
Epoch Entertainment) and the development and licensing of original animated
characters from Cloud 9's interactive Learning Adventure CD-ROM
titles. It is not yet known what the fate of these projects will be.
Pulse Alums Get Jinx-ed. Former employees of Pulse Entertainment,
a game development company which recently formed P7, an alliance with 7th
Level Entertainment to focus on Internet-based interactive content, have
formed a new game development company called Jinx. Both P7 and publisher
Ripcord are minority shareholders in Jinx. Based in San Francisco and headed
by co-founders Vinny Carrella and Phill Simon, Jinx is continuing production
on Space Bunnies Must Die!, a game slated for release by Ripcord
Games in June. Jinx is also developing a sequel to the Pulse title, Bad
Mojo. "Pulse is going to concentrate on the burgeoning Internet
market and we wanted to stay focused on games," said Jinx president
and executive producer Phill Simon, "We've got some ideas for different
kinds of games which can be made faster and more cost-effectively."
M.P.S.C. Surveys Industry. The Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists Union
local 839 in Los Angeles released the results of its annual member survey.
39% of the Union's approximately 2,800 members replied to the survey, which
reveals some interesting, and sometimes amusing, information, such as:
16.9 % of Local 839 members are originally from outside of the U.S. . .
. 31.6% sometimes work non-union. . . . In the past year, 62.4% have worked
on animated features, 38.4% on television, 13.7% on direct-to-video and
7.8% on commercials. . . . 25% claim to be afflicted by "stress"
and 18% by "irreversible brain damage" as a work-related ailment.
. . . furthermore 54% do not know where their membership card is.
You can read the complete survey results within the January issue of The
Peg-Board on the Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists web site on Animation
World Network.
http://www.awn.com/MPSC839/839INDEX.HTM
Marlon Schulman, vice president
of Bandai Entertainment's new
Home Video division.
Photo courtesy of Bandai.
Bandai Broadens Business. Tokyo-based
Bandai Visual, a division of toy manufacturer Bandai, has launched a new
CGI production division called Digital Engine. The company has also launched
Bandai Entertainment Video, a U.S.-based division which will handle home
video distribution in North America. Marlon W. Schulman, formerly of Orion,
has been named vice president of the new distribution division. Two animated
feature films are already in production through Digital Engine in Japan.
The first project, slated for completion in 1999, is Steam Boy,
a science-fiction adventure set in 19th century England and directed by
Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira). The second feature, directed by Mamoru
Oshii (Ghost in the Shell), is tentatively titled G.R.M. and
scheduled for release in 2000. The films will be distributed theatrically
before their respective video releases. Additional theatrical and direct-to-video
content is also being produced by Bandai-owned traditional animation house
Sunrise Studio in Japan.
(Colossal) Turns The Page On Chapter 11. San Francisco-based production
company (Colossal) Pictures, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
in May 1996, has agreed to a settlement offered by Cleveland, Ohio-based
company, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, for an undisclosed amount. Colossal
filed a lawsuit against The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in June 1997, alleging
breach of contract when the former client canceled a multimedia exhibit
project which the studio was producing. The incident is cited by Colossal
as a contributing factor in the company's bankruptcy. As stated in Colossal's
Bankruptcy Agreement, the money received from The Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame will be distributed to Colossal creditors on a percentage basis. While
the company publicized an "emergence from Chapter 11" in December,
several unsecured creditors, including three former sales representatives,
will be paid only 29% of the outstanding invoices. "Colossal has gotten
away with staying in business without paying their debt. I believe the
amount of money left over for the unsecured creditors, who will be paid
last, will be little to nothing," said former Colossal rep Mary Vandamme.
Though operating on a much smaller scale, Colossal has had a flow of commercial
work during the past 18 months in bankruptcy. In December, Colossal signed
with two new sales representative companies, Creative Management Partners
and Bill Rabin & Associates.
For the backstory on this ongoing saga, visit Karl Cohen's article, "(Colossal)
Pictures Proves There is Life After Chapter 11,"
in the May 1997 issue of Animation World Magazine.
A talking excrement in Spumco's
web cartoon,
The Goddamn George Liquor Show. © Spumco.
John K. Says South Park Story Steals.
December's debut of the South Park
Christmas special on Comedy Central may have insulted some conservative
viewers with its religious mockery and toilet humor, but it has animator/director
John Kricfalusi feeling that imitation may not be the best form of flattery.
Kricfalusi, who is best-known as the creator of the cartoon show Ren
& Stimpy, says that last week's South Park episode stole
characters and concepts from several of his original properties. The South
Park episode features a singing, dancing piece of human excrement as
a main character named "Mr. Hankey." Kricfalusi says he created
a similar talking poop character for Dark Horse Comics over four years
ago, called "Nutty the Friendly Dump," which is still unpublished,
but was pitched to many networks, including Comedy Central, as part of
The Goddamn George Liquor Show, which Kricfalusi's company Spumco
now broadcasts as an episodic show on the Internet. The web cartoon's first
episode, "The Babysitter," which premiered October 15, 1997 (http://www.spumco.com),
introduced an entire family of talking poop characters, one of which is
complete with a hat and white gloves, like South Park's Mr. Hankey.
Comedy Central says Kricfalusi's claims have "no merit," and
that neither of South Park's creator/directors Matt Stone and Trey
Parker have ever seen the Spumco web site. Additionally, Comedy Central
spokesperson Laura Nelson said that the Mr. Hankey character was created
25 years ago by Trey Parker's father, as a potty-training incentive for
the young boy. The South Park Christmas episode was watched by over
4 million viewers on Wednesday, earning Comedy Central a record-high 5.4
rating.
In an interview with AWM, Kricfalusi pointed out that an early Christmas
episode of Ren and Stimpy called "Son of Stimpy" depicted
a similarly characterized talking fart. He also added that the show uses
the line, "you sick little monkey," popularized on Ren and
Stimpy, and also feels that the Mr. Hankey concept draws from Ren
and Stimpy's pseudo-commercial "Log." "We basically
gave up on TV a couple of years ago because we couldn't get anyone to understand
our humor," Kricfalusi said, "I know what the audience wants,
but I can never figure out what the network wants. It's frustrating when
a big distribution network shows up with a bunch of your jokes in one episode."
Despite his obvious frustration, Kricfalusi admits, South Park is
"the funniest show on TV right now."
People
Musical Chairs
Saban Entertainment has named Jorge Ferreiro vice president
of licensing and merchandising, and Jamie Simons editorial director
of licensing and merchandising. . . . Anne Gates has been named
vice president of business planning for Disney Interactive. She
was previously vice president of finance for Disney Consumer Products.
. . . Metrolight Studios has hired Mark Rodahl as a senior
animator, Brian Samuels as a visual effects supervisor, Ron Simonson
a post-production supervisor and Jesse Silver, formerly of Warner
Bros. Feature Animation, as an art director. . . . Film critic and animation
historian Leonard Maltin has begun teaching the "Theatrical
Film Symposium" class at the University of Southern California (USC)
School of Cinema-Television . . . .Paris-based producer Gaumont
has named Thomas Kornfeld director of international sales. In this
role he will be responsible for the sale of television product to Asian
territories. He was previously manager of international sales for Gaumont,
handling territories in Eastern Europe and Africa. . . . Julie Haddon,
marketing director at the New York-based office of Blue Sky|VIFX, has moved
west to Palo Alto, California to take on a post as director of marketing
for Pacific Data Images (PDI). The computer animation studio, currently
in production on the DreamWorks animated feature Antz, also recently
hired Regina Wright as director of Human Resources. She was previously
director of Human Resources at 20th Century Fox.. . . . Atlanta-based Internet
and multimedia service company Crawford Intermedia has announced
the hires of Minsoo Pak (formerly director of multimedia at Ogilvy
& Mather) as creative director, Will Weyer as art director,
Karl Wattenburg as a designer and Laura Citron as production
manager. . . . NELVANA Communications, the Los Angeles-based programming
and merchandise licensing subsidiary of Canadian animation studio, NELVANA
Limited has hired Sidney A. Kaufman as executive vice president.
Kaufman was president and CEO of Total Licensing Services which he founded
in 1994. Working with NELVANA Communications president Toper Taylor,
Kaufman will oversee worldwide merchandise licensing for NELVANA
properties. . . . Visual effects producer Jenny Fulle has joined
Sony Pictures Imageworks as executive producer. She was most recently
an effects producer for DreamWorks and previously for Warner Digital. .
. . Charles Gibson, co-founder of ten-year-old, L.A.-based effects/animation
house Rhythm & Hues, has left the company to pursue freelance
work. . . . Jenny Bright was promoted to executive producer at 525
Post Production. She has been a visual effects producer with the
Los Angeles-based company since 1994. . . . Leslie M. Levine has
been named licensing consultant for Hearst Entertainment's merchandise
and licensing division, which was recently relocated from New York to Los
Angeles. Levine was most recently vice president at Playmates Toys. . .
.
UK Council Commissions Creators. The Arts Council of England has
doled out commissions to five artists, as part of their Channel Four-sponsored
"Animate!" program which commissions innovative and experimental
animation for television. Production budgets ranging from U.K. £12,000
to £25,000 were awarded to Paul Bush for a project titled Nursery
Poetry, Jo Ann Kaplan for An Anatomy of Melancholy, Oliver Harrison
for Love is All, John Parry for Salvage and Tim Macmillan
for Ferment. Since launching in 1990, Animate! has supported 35
projects including Karen Kelly's Stressed, Run Wrake's Juke Box,
William Latham's Biogenesis, Kayla Parker's Cage of Flame
and Tim Webb's 15th February.
In Passing...
Evening of Remembrance. On Saturday, February 7, at 7:00 p.m. the Motion
Picture Screen Cartoonists Local 839, ASIFA-Hollywood and Women In Animation
will present the third annual "Evening of Remembrance," honoring
members of the animation community who passed away in 1997. This year's
event will be held at the Hollywood Heritage Museum at the DeMille Barn,
2100 North Highland Ave (across from the Hollywood Bowl) in Hollywood.
Free parking is available by entering on Odin Street. If you would like
to speak for any of the following honorees, or if you know of someone who
is not listed who passed away in 1997, contact M.P.S.C. at mpsc839@primenet.com
or (818) 766-7151. Honorees are: Marie Cornell, Phyllis Craig, Lillian
Disney, John Gentilella, Stan Green, John Guerin, Cameron Guess, Jerry
Hathcock, Les Kline, Charlotte Levitow, Frank Little, Harry Love, Dick
Lucas, Virginia McColley, Don Messick, Milt Neil, Zoë Parker, Jack
Parr, Jane Phillippi, Frances Ross, Don Selders, Jerry Smith, Bruce Strock,
Fred Stuhr, Dick Thomas and Beverly Ware.
Mae Questel, best known as the voice of cartoon characters Betty Boop
and Olive Oyl died on January 4, 1998 at her home in Manhattan, New York.
She was 89. Questel was born in 1909 in the Bronx, New York. At age 17
she started her career in entertainment as a vaudeville performer. Then
New York-based animator Max Fleischer discovered Questel in her capacity
as an impersonator of Helen Kane, and signed her as the giddy, childish
voice of his emerging character Betty Boop. One of the first Betty Boop
cartoons, Stopping the Show drew from Questel's stage experience,
depicting Betty as a vaudeville impersonator of popular performers such
as Maurice Chevalier. In all, she performed Betty Boop's voice in more
than 100 cartoon shorts produced between 1931 and 1939. In the Popeye cartoons,
which started at Fleischer Studios in 1933, Questel performed the voice
of Olive Oyl, and when the Popeye shorts were produced by Famous Studios
from 1942 to 1957, she voiced most of the studios' female characters, including
Little Audrey. On occasion, she even filled in for Jack Mercer as the voice
of Popeye! In 1988, Questel performed the voice of Betty Boop in Who
Framed Roger Rabbit? Also, on the screen, she acted in numerous live
action films in the 1960s-80s, including in the role of Woody Allen's mother
in New York Stories (1989).
The March 1998 issue of Animation World Magazine will include a
feature article about Mae Questel, written by Andrew Lederer.
Cameron Guess died on December 12, 1997 at his home in Winter Springs,
Florida. He was 61. An animator and producer, Guess worked at the National
Film Board of Canada (NFBC) from the late 1950s until 1963. There, he worked
on the animated short The Great Toy Robbery directed by Jeff Hale
and written by Derek Lamb. After receiving a large inheritance, Guess relocated
to San Francisco, where he founded the now defunct animation company, Cameron
Guess & Associates in 1964. He was joined by Jeff Hale, Derek Lamb
and animator Barrie Nelson. The company produced two animated shorts, The
Well (1965) and The Shepherd (1967), the latter of which was
nominated for an Academy Award. When the theatrical cartoons industry declined
in the mid sixties, Guess moved to Florida, where he is survived by his
wife and one daughter.
Lillian Bounds Disney, widow of Walt Disney, died on Tuesday, December
16, 1997 at her home in West Los Angeles. She was 98 years old. Walt Disney
died almost 31 years ago to the day (December 15, 1966). Lillian Bounds
came to Los Angeles and got a job as a cel painter at Walt Disney's fledgling
studio in 1923. Approximately two years later, Lillian and Walt were married
on July 13, 1925, near her birthplace in Lewiston, Idaho. It is believed
that Lillian suggested the name "Mickey" for Walt Disney's character
originally named "Mortimer Mouse." Since Walt's death, Lillian
has been active in charitable activities, and in 1987 she made a landmark
gift of U.S. $50 million to the Music Center of Los Angeles County, to
build the Walt Disney Concert Hall which is set to open in 2001 in downtown
Los Angeles. She has also made many donations to Cal Arts animation program.
Lillian is survived by one daughter (Roy Disney is the son of Walt's brother),
as well as ten grandchildren and thirteen great grandchildren.
Films
PDI Signs On For Shrek. DreamWorks has confirmed it will contract
Pacific Data Images (PDI) to animate their planned feature film, Shrek,
set for release in 2000. Palo Alto, California-based PDI is currently in
production on DreamWorks' Antz, a partial CG feature slated for
release in 1999. The film, based on a children's book by William Steig,
has been in development for longer than usual as DreamWorks reportedly
looked for another production studio to complete the animation, while PDI
was busy with Antz. DreamWorks owns 40% of PDI.
A disturbing image from Paul
and Menno de Nooijer's
Exit. © Paul and Menno de Nooijer.
De Nooijers Make Exit. Paul and Menno De Nooijer, the Dutch father and son animation
directing team who have created over half a dozen animated shorts such
as "At One View" and 1995:1995 have completed their first
feature film, EXIT. EXIT premiered at the Dutch Film Festival
and will be screened in coming months at film festivals in Portugal, France
and Germany. The 80 minute live-action film features roughly 10 minutes
of animation. It was conceived four years ago as a fully-animated work,
but the economics of time caused the project to evolve in the direction
of live-action. "So many animators are moving into live-action features,
especially in Europe," said Paul DeNooijer, "The market for short
films is decreasing, and there are more opportunities to sell a feature
film."
Visual Effects
FX Affects
Four Media Company, the Burbank-based company which co-owns Medialab
Studio L.A, has signed a deal with Visualize, Inc. to acquire POP Studios,
a Venice, California-based company which offers digital production services
including visual effects and animation. POP will become a wholly-owned
subsidiary of Four Media Company, retain its present management and continue
to operate under the POP name. The acquisition is expected to be complete
by January 31, 1998. . . . Boston-based broadcast design firm Viewpoint
Studios and Seattle-based stop-motion and motion control studio Heck
Yes! Productions (formerly Stratos Pictures) have formed an alliance
through which they will pool resources and collaborate on some commercial
projects. The companies are already working on research and development
for future projects, and are jointly bidding on several broadcast and cable
jobs. . . . Engineering Animation (EAI) created 3-D computer
animated effects for Fleet Command, a two-hour special about military
training for the Discovery Channel. . . .
Television
Saban's Adventures of Oliver Twist
will be included
in the lineup for the new Fox Family Channel.
© Saban.
Fox Kids, Family Channel To Get [Very] Animated. News Corp./Saban co-venture Fox Kids Worldwide has revealed
its programming plans for its newly-acquired cable network, The Fox Family
Channel. The Fox Family Channel will launch on August 15, 1998 with a kids'
daytime schedule that includes 50% original, first-run programming. Following
the lead of competitor's success with program packaging, Fox Family Channel
will debut with a slate of four themed, "branded" daytime blocks.
"Morning Scramble" for kids of all ages, will include the animated
series Wowser (Saban), Bit the Cupid (Saban), Little Mouse
on the Prairie (Saban), Eek!Stravaganza (Nelvana), All Dogs
Go to Heaven (MGM Animation) and the live-action series Pee-Wee's
Playhouse. The second block, "The Captain's Treasure House,"
is aimed at pre-schoolers with animated shows like The Magic Adventures
of Mumfie (Britt Allcroft Productions) and Tabaluga (EM-TV).
Tic Tac Toons, an all-animation block, will feature Bobby's World
(Film Roman), Saban's Adventures of Oliver Twist (Saban), Heathcliff
(Saban), The Real Ghostbusters (Columbia Tri-Star), and Classic
Harvey Toons (Harvey Entertainment). The last kids block of the day
before family-oriented prime-time programming starts is The Basement,
which will premiere the animated series Bad Dog (Saban), Monster
Farm (Saban), Water Melon (Saban) and Badaboom, (in development
at Saban) a compilation of outrageous animation.
The Fox Family Channel will reach 74 million homes at its' launch, which
News Corp. President & COO/Fox Group Chairman Peter Chernin said,
"will be one of the largest debuts in the history of television."
He added, "This, combined with the 98 percent reach of U.S. households
with Fox Kids Network, gives us an unparalleled programming, promotional
and distribution platform."
Fox also announced its 1998-99 schedule for Fox Kids Network, including
eight new animated series coming in fall 1998. New to the Fox Kids Saturday
morning lineup will be Mr. Potato Head (in development at Saban)
Woody Woodpecker (the new show from Universal Cartoon Studios),
Godzilla (Columbia Tri-Star), Mad Jack (Saban) Silver Surfer
(Saban) and Captain America (Saban). New to weekday afternoons
will be Scholastic's The Magic School Bus (Scholastic/Nelvana),
Spy Dogs (Saban) and Oggy and the Cockroaches (Gaumont) which
will be combined with "Space Goofs" (also Gaumont) as The
Space Goofs and Oggy Show. Current shows being renewed for 1998-99
include Steven Spielberg Presents Toonsylvania (DreamWorks), Life
With Louie (Hyperion), Spider-Man (Saban), Ned's Newt (Nelvana)
and Sam & Max (Nelvana).
Max and His Special Problem by Dave Wasson, one of
Nickelodeon's Oh Yeah! Cartoon!s. © Nickelodeon.
Nick Says "Oh Yeah!" to Shorts. Nickelodeon will premiere its new series of animated
shorts in July, with the first of 13 half-hour episodes comprised of new,
seven-minute cartoons. The series titled Oh Yeah! Cartoons! is being
created and produced by Fred Seibert, the former head of Hanna-Barbera
Cartoons and a key player behind the development of the What A Cartoon!
shorts for Cartoon Network. The shorts are being directed by 17 different
creators: Mike Bell, Bob Boyle, Bill Burnett, Greg Emison, John Eng, Butch
Hartman, Larry Huber, Alex Kirwan, Seth MacFarlane, Zac Moncrief, Carlos
Ramos, Rob Renzetti, Miles Thompson, Byron Vaughns, Pat Ventura, Vincent
Waller and Dave Wasson.
CBS Re-Animates Its Saturday AM Line-Up! CBS Television, which pulled
out of animation programming with its' live-action-filled Saturday morning
slate for the 1997/98 season, has announced a bold move to return to animated
programming. The network has signed an unprecedented, two-year deal with
Canadian animation producer NELVANA Limited, wherein NELVANA will produce
six animated series for CBS' Saturday morning block starting in fall 1998.
CBS' Saturday morning block has received consistently low ratings as a
result of competition from cable outlets such as Nickelodeon and Cartoon
Network, and from studio-affiliated networks such as ABC /Disney and Fox
Kids/Saban. "With this schedule, we are renewing our commitment to
programming that meets the dual challenge of meeting the FCC educational
requirements and capturing the interest of children," said Lucy Johnson,
senior vice president of Daytime/Children's Programming and Special Projects
at CBS. It is rare for a network to buy a whole block of programming from
one supplier, especially from an international one. Toper Taylor, president
of NELVANA Communications, said that this precedent-setting deal could
up the ante for American independent producers who have traditionally supplied
networks with programming. "This is an enormous step for international
independent companies to get a foothold in the international marketplace."
All six shows will meet FCC educational requirements, and are being co-financed
by Nelvana's multiple international co-production partners. Franklin,
(7:00) which follows the adventures of a cherubic turtle, is based
on a series of books by Paulette Bourgeois and currently airs on The Family
Channel in Canada. Anatole, (7:30) the story of a Parisian mouse
and his family, is based on a book series by Eve Titus, and will teach
kids about diversity. The Dumb Bunnies, (8:00) based on Dav Pikey's
book series, is a comedy about a family of naive rabbits, that will teach
kids about logical reasoning. From the Files of the Flying Rhinoceros,
(11:00) based on books by Ray Nelson and Douglas Kelly, will be produced
in association with Big Daddy Productions. Guardians of the Legend
(11:30) is an action series about mythological stories, based on the Myth
Men book series by Laura Geringer. The one show not based on books
is Birdz, (8:30) a comedy about a family of birds.
Convulsion-Causing Cartoons. On December 16, 1997 in Japan, hundreds
of people, mostly children, simultaneously suffered seizures while watching
an episode of the animated series Pokemon (Pocket Monsters).
The highest-rated show in its weekly 6:30 p.m. time slot, Pokemon is
watched by millions of children on the television network TV Tokyo. Japanese
media reported more than 700 viewers experienced convulsions, vomiting,
fainting and other symptoms which seem to have been triggered by a scene
about 20 minutes into the half-hour episode in which a character's eyes
flashed repeatedly and a bright red explosion filled the screen. The phenomenon
medically referred to as "television epilepsy" or "photosensitive
epilepsy" can be caused by strobes or flashing lights and has been
attributed to similar reactions to some video game graphics. The series
Pokemon is based on a Nintendo Game Boy video game called Pocket
Monsters. Nintendo, aware of previous epileptic reactions to video
games, issues a health warning on all of its software. Broadcaster TV Tokyo
offered an on-air apology and issued a health warning for the series, and
is studying other episodes as a precaution. "Pokemon" show producers
Shogakukan Production Co. were surprised by the incident because similar
effects have been used in previous episodes, without this viewer reaction.
Investigations into the incident are being conducted by Tokyo Police, The
Health and Welfare Ministry, The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications
and a panel of experts assigned by TV Tokyo.
Home Video
Mickey Loves Minnie. © Disney.
Disney's February Flicks.
Walt Disney Home Video will release several animated films on home video
in February, 1998. Hercules will be available on February 3 for
$26.99. On February 6, a collection of five Valentine's Day-themed titles
will be released, comprised of re-packaged shorts and TV series episodes:
Winnie the Pooh Un-Valentine's Day (30 minutes, $14.99), Mickey
Loves Minnie (25 minutes, $9.99), Disney's Love Tales (25 minutes,
$9.99), Aladdin & Jasmine's Moonlight Magic (45 minutes, $9.99)
and Disney's Sweetheart Stories (23 minutes, $9.99).
David Hand's Animaland,
coming to video
in 1998 from Just For Kids Home Video.
© Just For Kids Home Video.
David Hand's Animaland, a video collection of nine animated shorts produced in
the 1940s, will be released in April 1998 in the U.S. by Just For Kids
Home Video. The films, Ginger Nutt's Christmas Circus, Ginger Nutt's
Forest Dragon, Ginger Nutt's Bee Bother, It's A Lovely Day, The House Cat,
The Australian Platypus, The Cuckoo and The Ostrich and the Lion
were produced by David Hand, who became one of Walt Disney's first
staff animators in 1930, working on films such as Snow White, Bambi
and several Silly Symphonies shorts. In 1944, he left Disney and moved
to England where he established GB Animation, where he produced the Animaland
and Musical Paintbox series for J. Arthur Rank. The films were recently
restored and released by an Italian company, Alfadedis in 1996. In 1992,
Streamline Pictures released a video (now out of print) containing four
of the shorts, but Just For Kids' forthcoming release will be the first
complete set of Animaland titles to be released on home video in
the U.S.
For more information, read Giannalberto Bendazzi's review
of the Animaland films, published in the
January 1997 issue of Animation World Magazine.
Another Beauty From Disney. Walt Disney Home Video will release a second
direct-to-video title based on the theatrical feature, Beauty and the
Beast. Belle's Magical World, a 70-minute animated video comprised
of three "storybook chapter" episodes, will be available for
$22.99 in U.S. stores on January 13, 1998.
CPM Ships 3 Anime Titles. Central Park Media released three Japanese
anime titles on home video on January 6, 1998. Legend of Lemnear (45
minutes) is an action-adventure film based on a popular manga comics series
which CPM is releasing concurrently with the video. Peacock King-Spirit
Warrior: Festival of the Ogres' Revival is a 55 minute title in the
mystical/fantasy Peacock King series. Black Jack-Clinical Chart
5 is a 50 minute adventure title in Tezuka Productions' Black Jack
series. All three titles are dubbed in English and available for $19.99
each.
Hallmark Joins The Family. Family Home Entertainment (FHE), a subsidiary
of Live Entertainment, has signed a deal with Hallmark Home Entertainment
to distribute Hallmark home video product in the U.S. The partnership will
effectively merge part of Hallmark Home Entertainment into FHE. The animated
product that this deal brings together includes HHE's new "Crayola
Presents Animated Tales" line and FHE's Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
and other Rankin/Bass holiday specials. As part of the deal, Hallmark
Home Entertainment (HHE) president Steve Beeks will become president of
Live Home Entertainment and HHE senior vice president Glenn Ross will join
Live as president of Family Home Entertainment and executive vice president
of Home Entertainment. Hallmark Home Entertainment will remain a separate
company handling its own marketing, merchandising, manufacturing, promotion
and publicity.
Internet & Interactive
Absolut Adds 8 Animations. Absolut Vodka will add eight new animated
films to the 23 films already available on its "Absolut Panushka"
web site at www.absolutvodka.com. The eight new ten-second experimental
mini-films will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival next week. Added
to the site's roster of 23 filmmakers are Tânia C. Cançado
(Brazil), Nedeljko Dragic (Yugoslavia), James Duesing (US), Caroline Leaf
(US), Jan Lenica (Poland), Alexander Marinov (Bulgaria), Ishu Patel (India)
and Erica Russell (UK). In addition, the web site features new animated
directory pages by the likes of Eric Patric (US), Pawel Borowski (Poland),
Kirsten Winter (Germany), Yuriko Senoo (Japan), Alexander Gajic (Czech
Republic) and Enes Krluc (Bosnia). The site is curated by Christine Panushka
(USC) and features a history of experimental animation by Dr. William Moritz.
Quick Bytes
BLITCOM LLC., a company established in August 1997 by Mark Pesce and
Jan Mallis, has launched The Blitcom Channel (http://www.blitcom.net),
a new network for VRML programming on the World Wide Web. The advertising-supported
entertainment service will offer users content delivered through Netscape
Netcaster, Marimba Castanet Transmitter and Cosmo Player technology. .
. .Brilliant Digital Entertainment has formed a license agreement
with DC Comics wherein they will develop interactive content based on comic
super hero characters. The first co-production will be Superman Multipath
Movie, to be released in 1998. Brilliant Digital Entertainment's line
of Multipath Movies are 3-D, interactive animated stories (like a cross
between a movie and a video game)which will be released on CD-ROM and the
Internet beginning in January. . . . Superman is also featured in a new
CD-ROM game from Knowledge Adventure called Superman Activity
Center. Aimed at kids ages 5-10, the title features games and puzzles
that focus on problem-solving skills. Superman Activity Center is
available in hybrid Windows/Macintosh format for $20.00. . . .
Commercials
Commercial Studios! What animated spots have you worked on? Send your
press releases and production updates to SPOTLIGHT at editor@awn.com or
by fax to (213) 464-5914.
Spotlight
J.J. Sedelmaier Productions and Tape
House Digital's Heartburn.
Photo courtesy of J.J. Sedelmaier Productions.
New York-based J.J. Sedelmaier Productions created
a 30 second animated commercial for Alabama Power, through the agency Shepardson
Stern & Kaminsky. The spot, titled Power Lines, uses a simple
black line to illustrate the danger of electrical lines. J.J. Sedelmaier
served as director and designer, Tom Yohe Jr. as art director and John
Paratore, Katie Sheehan and Mike Wetterhahn as additional animators. .
. .J.J. Sedelmaier Productions and Tape House Digital collaborated
on Heartburn, an animated commercial for a heartburn medicine called
Prilosec. Based on illustrations by C.F. Payne, the 30 second spot features
cel animation by J.J. Sedelmaier and computer animation by Tape House Digital
(visual effects director: Michael Suissa) . . . . Loconte Goldman Design
created a broadcast design package of main title treatments for KTLA Los
Angeles News, using AVID and Henry to composite animated text and graphics
on top of live-action film. . . . Aardman Animations, innovators
of the clay animation style popularized in the Wallace and Gromit short
films, created a commercial for the U.S. restaurant chain Burger King.
The 30-second clay-animated spot, directed by Steve Box, promotes the food
chain's french fries with characters created specifically for the campaign
(not Wallace and Gromit!). . . . Lee Hunt Associates created 27
id spots for The Disney Channel's three daily program blocks: Little
Kids, Kids and Kids & Family. The ten-second spots combine
live-action and animation in scenarios such as a family entering an animated
world after riding bikes over a Disney Channel logo painted on the street.
. . .
Technology
SGI, Microsoft Turn Up Heat On "Fahrenheit." Following their
recent announcement of a plan to co-produce graphics software (AF 12/16/97),
Microsoft and Silicon graphics have further defined their joint venture,
code-named "Fahrenheit." The Fahrenheit project will create a
suite of application programming interfaces (APIs) for Microsoft's DirectX
multimedia architecture on the Windows operating system as well as the
Silicon Graphics UNIX-based platform. (An API is a common interface which
enables developers to maximize acceleration capabilities of a computer.)
The Fahrenheit APIs will be developed in conjunction with software and
hardware development partners, including Intel Corp., makers of the Pentium
processor. The Fahrenheit architecture will be the basis for third-party
graphics and visualization applications including Internet, games, business,
digital content creation, CAD/CAM, medical and scientific applications.
During the development of the Fahrenheit project, Microsoft and Silicon
Graphics have also agreed to work together in support of the development
of Windows-based graphics applications for professionals through the OpenGL
APIs and the development of Windows-based graphics applications for consumers
through the Direct3D API. They will deliver new APIs, DDKs and Software
Development Kits (SDKs) in phases over the next two and a half years.
Education
`98 NATE Slate. The New Animation Technology Conference & Exposition
(NATE), an event launched at the World Animation Celebration (WAC) in 1997,
has lined up its slate of classes for the second edition, to be held February
17-20 during WAC in Pasadena, California. The event will offer more than
72 classes, including a special keynote speech by Pixar's chief technology
officer and executive vice president Ed Catmull. Instructors from companies
including Blue Sky|VIFX, Cinesite, DreamWorks, Digital Domain and Klasky
Csupo will teach classes on using animation software such as ElectricImage,
Animo, Toonz, Softimage, 3D StudioMax, Photoshop, PowerAnimator, After
Effects, Maya, Hash Animation:Master, LightWave 3D and Fractal Painter.
For registration information, visit http://www.etshows.com.
Call for Entries
Cardiff Gets Vital! The International Animation Festival Cardiff has
been given a new name and design in preparation for the next edition, June
23-28, 1998. The festival now known as Vital! International Animation Festival
Cardiff is accepting film entries until the end of February. For entry
forms and additional information, call Nina Caton at (44) 171 494-0506.
Read a review
of the 1996 Cardiff International Animation Festival,
in the July 1996 issue of Animation World Magazine.
Also look for our Cardiff `98 review in the August 1998 issue.
Aussie FX Fest. The Australian Effects and Animation Festival (AEAF),
presented by Digital Media World (the same organization that put on November's
LEAF in London) is accepting entries until January 23, 1998. The competition
awards excellence in special effects and animation in the following categories:
feature film, short film, titles/idents, commercials, simulation, education/training
and student work. Winners will be announced during AEAF, March 18-20, 1998
in Sydney, Australia.
For information, visit http://www.dmw.com.au
Computer Animation `98, Geneva. The eleventh annual Computer Animation
Film Festival and Conference will take place in Geneva, Switzerland in
September 1998. Entries of computer animated films are being accepted until
February 28, 1998. This event is held in partnership with the Computer
Animation `98 Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 8-10, 1998.
For information and entry forms, contact computer.animation@cui.unige.ch
One Show. The One Club for Art & Copy, a New York organization,
is accepting entries for its annual One Show advertising competition until
January 30, 1998. Categories in which animated productions could be entered
include Television Commercial, Television Campaign and Multi-Media Campaign.
Entry fees range from U.S. $90.00 to $300.00. For information and entry
forms, visit http://www.oneclub.com
CSUN Animation Festival. Vidimation, an Associated Students organization
of California State University Northridge (CSUN) is accepting entries for
The California Sun International Animation Festival until March 1, 1998.
The program will be selected by a panel of industry animators, and awards
include cash prizes. The per-film entry fee is $25.00 The event will take
place in May 1998 at California State University Northridge. For information
and entry forms, visit http://www.csun.edu/~jpr45052/anifest
I.D. Seeks Interactive Innovators. I.D. Magazine is accepting entries
for its annual Interactive Media Design Review until January 5, 1998 (postmark).
Categories include entertainment/games, web sites, advertising/promotions
and student work. 1997 winners include The Neverhood's debut game, The
Neverhood, the Hotwired web site and Disktractions, a CD-ROM
project by two students at the Royal College of Art in London. Entry fees
range from $40 to $75 per entry. For entry forms and more information,
call (212) 447-1400 or visit http://www.idonline.com
Events
Steve Dovas' Call Me Fishmael
will be screened at the
1998 Slamdance festival. © Steve Dovas.
Slamdance, the
film festival which began in 1995 as a concurrent alternative to the elitism
of the Sundance Film Festival, will take place January 16-23, 1998 in Park
City, Utah. While the festival does not yet include an animation category,
there will be two films screened this year that will be of interest to
animation fans: Call Me Fishmael, a 3 minute animated short by New
Yorker Steven Dovas, about a writer pitching his "big Hollywood script."
Also, while Trey Parker's second film, Orgazmo, is screening across
town at Sundance, the South Park co-creator's first feature Cannibal,
a musical based on a true story, will be screened at Slamdance. For screening
times and festival information, visit http://www.slamdance.com
Games And Animation Interact At MILIA. MILIA, Europe's market for
interactive multimedia, will present a conference called "Towards
the convergence of animation and video games" during the second and
third days of its annual event in Cannes, France, February 7-11, 1998.
Ten animation projects will be presented to interactive publishers at MILIA.
The objective of these networking sessions and forums is to bring together
publishers, producers and developers of interactive products to promote
partnerships. For information about this partnership program, visit Frederique
Doumic's article, "MIPCOM
Meets MILIA" in the December issue of Animation
World Magazine. For MILIA registration information, visit the MILIA
web site, accessible through Animation World Network's Calendar of Events section.
Southampton Conference & Archive. The Southampton Institute
in England is organizing a new academic animation conference (April 6-8,
1998) and opening The Southampton Institute International Animation Research
Archive (SIIARA). An exhibit of production artwork from the Halas and Batchelor
collection, including art from the 1954 animated feature film Animal
Farm has been donated to SIIARA by the family of the late John Halas
and will be showcased to the public at Southampton Institute's Millais
Gallery, March 19-April 17, 1998. The conference in April will include
several screenings and presentations about Halas & Batchelor, by Stan
Hayward, Pat Raine Webb and Vivien Halas. Additional topics will be presented
by Gunnar Strom (early animated commercials), Mike Jones (early computer
animation), Nick Phillips (Bob Godfrey), Ron Geesin (animation and sound)
Robin Allan (19th century illustrators and early Disney) and Jilly Maclaren
(Internet and diagrammatic animation). For more information, contact john.southall@solent.ac.uk
Animated Christmas Screenings. On December 27 and 28, 1997 and on
January 1 and 2, 1998, The American Museum of the Moving Image (MOMI) in
New York presentedWishing You An Animated Christmas, a series of
classic seasonal animated film screenings. Included in the program are
Harman-Ising's 1939 Peace on Earth directed by Hugh Harman; TVC's
1982 special The Snowman directed by John Coates; Soyuzmultfilm's
1957 feature The Snow Queen produced by Lev Atamanov; R.O. Blechman's
1958 Cinemascope short Juggler of Our Lady, based on the recently
re-released 1952 book and produced by CBS/Terrytoons and Simple Gifts,
Blechman's 1977 PBS animated special which launched the director's production
company The Ink Tank.
Awards
Jules Engel To Receive 'Friz' Award. Jules Engel, the founding director
of the California Institute of the Arts Experimental Animation Program,
will receive the "Friz" lifetime achievement award for animation
at the 1998 Santa Clarita International Film Festival. Jules Engel began
his career in the late 1940s at Walt Disney Studios where he was first
recognized for his work on the Chinese and Russian dance sequences in Fantasia.
Later, he was one of the original members of the studio United Productions
of America (UPA), and with the late Robert ("Bobe") Cannon, developed
such cartoons as Gerald Mc Boing Boing, Madeline and Mr. Magoo.
Engel has been a member of the Cal Arts School of Film and Video since
1970 and he has served on the executive board of the Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences for the past 30 years. Past recipients of the
"Friz" award have been its' namesake Friz Freleng (1995), Stanley
Kramer and Joseph Barbera (1996) and Robert Wise and Marc Davis (1997).
Engel will be honored at the fourth annual awards banquet on Friday, February
13 at the Odyssey restaurant in Santa Clarita. A retrospective of Jules
Engel's work will be screened at the festival, as will other animated programs
and shorts. For information about the dinner or the festival, call (805)
257 3131.
Cinar Gets Parent's Choice. The Parent's Choice Foundation, a non-profit
organization which offers reports on children's educational materials,
has bestowed several honors to Montreal-based programming producer, Cinar
Films. Awards went to four of Cinar's programs, including two animated
series based on children's books: Arthur (produced with WGBH Boston)
and The Busy World of Richard Scarry. Parent's Choice president
Diana Green acknowledged, "It is rare that we honor one company four
times in the same year."
Wendy Jackson is Associate Editor of Animation World Magazine.
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Links
<"(Colossal) Pictures Proves There is Life After Chapter 11">
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http://www.awn.com/magazines/animation-world-magazineissue1.4/articles/swain1.4.html
<"MIPCOM Meets MILIA">
http://www.awn.com/magazines/animation-world-magazineissue2.9/2.9pages/2.9doumicmilia.html
<Calendar of Events>
http://www.awn.com/awneng/village/calendar.html
<review of the Animaland films, >
http://www.awn.com/magazines/animation-world-magazineissue1.10/articles/bendazzi.anima1.10.html
Images/Captions
Business
01 Marlon Schulman, vice president of Bandai Entertainment's new
Home Video division. Photo courtesy of Bandai.
02 A talking excrement in Spumco's
web cartoon, The Goddamn George Liquor Show. © Spumco.
Films
03 A disturbing image from Paul and Menno de Nooijer's Exit.
© Paul and Menno de Nooijer.
Television
04 Saban's Adventures of
Oliver Twist will be included
in the lineup for the new Fox Family Channel. © Saban.
05 Max and His Special Problem
by Dave Wasson, one of Nickelodeon's Oh Yeah! Cartoon!s. ©
Nickelodeon.
Home Video
06 Mickey Loves Minnie.
© Disney.
07 David Hand's Animaland, coming to video
in 1998 from Just For Kids Home Video. © Just For Kids Home Video.
Commercials
08 J.J. Sedelmaier Productions
and Tape House Digital's Heartburn. Photo courtesy of J.J. Sedelmaier
Productions.
Events
09 Steve Dovas' Call Me
Fishmael will be screened at the 1998 Slamdance festival. © Steve
Dovas .
Note: Readers may contact any Animation World Magazine contributor
by sending an email to editor@awn.com.
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