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ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE - ISSUE 5.02 - MAY 2000
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Business Mounties’ CINAR Findings Filed. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) filed their first documents in the CINAR Corp. tax fraud case. According to the report CINAR received at least CA$7.8 million (US$5.4 million) in Quebec provincial tax credits by allegedly placing false Canadian names on scripts written by U.S. writers to receive tax credits. In the report, RCMP says that several executives, including former co-CEO and co-founder Ronald Weinberg, asked former CINAR employee Thomas Lapierre to create subcontracts that would be used to pay U.S. scribes. In turn, Lapierre’s name appeared in the credits of shows written by U.S. writers which included Are You Afraid Of The Dark?, Chris Cross, The Busy World Of Richard Scarry and The Country Mouse And The City Mouse Adventures. For instance, a subcontract was drafted for 12 episodes of SCARRY for U.S. writers Don Rifkin and Gary Cohen. In turn, Rifkin and Cohen’s names did not appear on documented credits given to tax officials and funders. A spokesman for CINAR said the company has not been contacted by police regarding these new events. In regards to the rumors that CINAR will sell off its assets to other Canadian firms, the spokesman said new management was not brought in to sell the company, but to fix it.
Stan Lee Creating Batman & Superman Comics. An event has happened that comic book fans have been debating over late night games of Dungeons and Dragons for decades -- What would Batman be like if Stan Lee created him? DC Comics announced the teaming of living legend Stan Lee, the co-creator of Spider-man, the Hulk and the X-Men and founder of Stan Lee Media, with longstanding rival DC Comics to present Lee's alternative interpretation of such super-heroes as Batman and Superman. The series of comic books, Just Imagine Stan Lee Creating, gives Lee the freedom to start the lives of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and other DC stars over from birth. The series will feature some of the top artistic talent in the industry including: John Buscema, longtime collaborator with Lee on The Silver Surfer and artist of The Avengers, Fantastic Four and Conan The Barbarian; Dave Gibbons, illustrator of the Hugo Award-winning Watchmen; Joe Kubert, illustrator of Tarzan and founder of the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art; Jim Lee, artist of the best-selling comic book X-Men #1; Bruce Timm, producer of the Emmy Award-winning Batman and Superman animated television series; and others. For years, Lee created classic comic titles with Marvel comics, DC’s chief competitor, until 2000 when he launched his first new title in 20 years on the Internet. "During all the years I've been with Marvel, it was always fun to imagine how I might have written the DC characters. Now, it's really great to have the chance to re-approach the DC Universe and tackle the storytelling and characterization in my own style," said Lee. "The chance to work with people I've admired for years and the chance to create stories with characters that I've enjoyed for years was an offer I could not resist." The series will be presented as twelve issues, beginning in late 2000 and later collected into trade book editions. Each issue will reveal an alternative version of a DC hero according to Lee and a collaborating artist, beginning with Just Imagine Stan Lee With John Buscema Creating Superman. Other characters scheduled for the series include Batman, Wonder Woman, the Sandman and the Justice League of America. An interesting note is that Michael Uslan, the principal of Branded Entertainment, a film and television company, initiated the project. Uslan also served as the executive producer on the feature films Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Forever and Batman And Robin. The film possibilities for this venture will have fans buzzing for years to come.
GT Interactive Gobbles Humongous’ Assets. GT Interactive Software Corp. announced that in an effort to boost its Humongous Entertainment children's software division, it would fold the company's existing operations into the GT Interactive arm. The New York-based gaming company will adopt a unified corporate direction, similar to that of GT Interactive's majority owner Infogrames Entertainment. Infogrames hopes that the new arrangement will increase shareholder value and produce a re-energized company. GT Interactive also announced that Humongous Entertainment's current president and CEO Shelley Day and creative director Ron Gilbert will leave their management positions to pursue a new Internet venture. The company said it would release the specifics of the new venture at a later date. Day will continue on in her current role through June 2000 at which time the company's management transition is expected to be complete. "Humongous Entertainment is one of the preeminent brands in children's entertainment and has been ever since its inception in 1992. This is directly related to the business and creative decisions of the company's two dynamic founders," said Bruno Bonnell, chairman and CEO, GT Interactive and Infogrames Entertainment. "Our decision to more tightly integrate Humongous Entertainment into the GT Interactive family will continue to strengthen our position as a leading publisher of children's entertainment products both in the United States and abroad." The Humongous Entertainment library includes Putt-Putt, Freddi Fish, Pajama Sam, SPY Fox and more. Other internal development studios which GT Interactive controls include SingleTrac, WizardWorks, Oddworld, Legend Entertainment and Reflections. |
Note: Readers may contact any Animation World Magazine contributor by sending an e-mail to editor@awn.com.
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