Animation World News
Films
Swan Princess Sequel.
Rich Animation's second "Swan Princess" feature film, The
Swan Princess: Escape From Castle Mountain opened July 18 at theaters
in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, through Legacy Releasing,
will function as an assist to the film's home video release. The 75 minute,
G-Rated film will be released on home video on September 2, by Warner Bros.
Family Entertainment. The original The Swan Princess was released
in 1994.
Mondo Plympton To Hit Theaters. Bill Plympton's latest animated
feature, an animated autobiography called Mondo Plympton, will open
in select U.S. movie theaters starting in August, following its recent
theatrical opening during Seattle's Masters of Animation conference in
July and festival premiere at the World Animation Celebration in March.
Mondo is a compilation of Plympton's classic shorts and excerpts,
packaged with new sequences depicting the artist as a cartoon character,
highlighting his career as a syndicated cartoonist and independent animator.
Included in the 80 minute program are the shorts How to Kiss, Nosehair,
and How to Make Love to a Woman, as well as some commercials which
never aired due to material that was "deemed offensive to sponsors."
In keeping with his independent spirit, Plympton, who entirely finances
and animates his films himself, is self-distributing Mondo Plympton,
for its theatrical run and videotape sales. "I'm a firm believer in
self-distribution," says Plympton, who learned a few hard lessons
when he distributed his first animated feature, The Tune, through
October Films and Orion Home Video in 1992. "Everybody got a piece
of the action, and I didn't get a dime," he recalls. Plympton's next
feature, I Married A Strange Person, is being completed now, and
should be ready to start a theatrical run in the fall. Plympton is also
completing a new short film called Sex and Violence, which will
be distributed through Manga Entertainment Short Films Division in a package
called General Chaos: Uncensored Animation, which is due to hit
theaters in the late fall.
For Mondo Plympton showdates, visit the Plymptoons web site in Animation
World Network's Animation Village.
http://www.awn.com/plympton/index.html
Eai Cutting Fx For Blade. Engineering Animation, Inc. (EAI)
has been selected by New Line Entertainment to develop CG visual effects
for the upcoming (early 1998) live-action film Blade, starring Wesley
Snipes. This is the first major motion picture assignment for EAI, a company
which has built its expertise creating computer generated animation for
scientific visualization and educational applications.
Blue Sky Makes A Simple Wish. Blue Sky Studios created the magic
visual effects for the live-action feature film, A Simple Wish,
which opened in U.S. theaters on July 11. The film is a Bubble Factory
and Universal Pictures production starring Mara Wilson (Matilda),
Martin Short and Kathleen Turner.
Dark Town In Development. Henry Selick, the director of The
Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach has
entered into a development deal with 20th Century Fox, on a project he
started when he optioned the Dark Town comic book back in April
(Animation Flash 5/06/97). The deal, confirmed last week, will fund development
of the property for a feature film concept, through Chris Columbus' company,
1492 Productions. Columbus, whose credits include directing Mrs. Doubtfire
and the two Home Alone feature films, is attached to the project
as producer. Selick is attached as both director and co-executive producer.
Sam Hamm (Batman) is both penning the screnplay and script, and
serving as co-executive producer with Selick. Kaja Blackley, the creator
of the original comic published by Mad Monkey Press, is involved in the
development of the initial outline for the project, a feature film combining
live action with dimensional (stop-motion) animation. The story depicts
a man who, while in a coma, becomes trapped in a fantasy world called Dark
Town. "We're keeping the kernel of the main idea, but a lot will be
added on top of the original story," Selick told AWM. "It has
had to be re-imagined to sell to Hollywood. It will be dark, yet comedic."
Sofian On Survivors. Philadelphia-based independent animator
Sheila Sofian recently received three grants to use towards the completion
of her animated film, Survivors, depicting the stories of abused
women. She recently resigned from her faculty position at The Institute
of the Arts in Philadelphia, in order to work on her filmmaking full time.
Sofian is working towards completion of the film by the Fall, for which
more than 10,000 drawings are currently being colored by a team of former
students with the support of the grant monies. The funding consists of
two $5,000 grants from Women in Film and the Pennsylvania Council on the
Arts, as well as a coveted $50,000 Pew Fellowship. Sofian's is one of only
twelve Pew Fellowships awarded to Pennsylvania artists; another of which
went to independent animator Paul Fierlinger (Drawn From Memory).
Animation World News is compiled daily for publication in the AWN Daily Flash, the weekly Animation Flash email newsletter, and monthly issues of Animation World Magazine.
Send your newsworthy items, press releases, and reels to:
Email: wendyj@awn.com
Fax: (213) 464-5914
Mail: Animation World Magazine
6525 Sunset Blvd. Garden Suite 10, Hollywood, CA 90028 USA
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