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ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE - ISSUE 5.02 - MAY 2000
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Internet & InteractiveShockwave Shocked By South Park Creators’ Short. Trey Parker and Matt Stone, creators of South Park, have shocked Shockwave.com with the first of their 39 shorts for the Netcaster. As part of a US$2 million pact, the new toon by Parker and Stone has a level of crude and gross humor described as higher than the South Park feature! The duo of doo-doo jokes have now left the Shockwave.com executives twiddling their thumbs nervously contemplating what to do next. As part of the agreement, the South Park creators have complete artistic control and ownership of the content they create for Shockwave.com. Therefore, the Netcaster may not have any authority to edit the shorts before they air them. Therefore, Shockwave.com officials are mulling over the idea of creating a pay-per-view system to keep the cartoon away from youngsters. However, the Netcaster is still worried that even broadcasting a pay-per-view unedited version would present ample breeding ground for conservative critics to complain that the entertainment site is part of the increased filth available on the Internet. The deal with the wildmen of animation mandates Shockwave to air whatever Parker and Stone create. Therefore, the partnership with the twisted twosome has parked Shockwave.com between a stone and a hard place.
Shockwave Clinches Deal With David Lynch. Shockwave announced it has finalized a deal with director, writer and producer David Lynch to develop a series of animated shorts exclusively for the Netcaster. Like pacts with Stan Lee and the South Park creators, Lynch will hold complete artistic control and ownership of the characters and properties he creates. "The Internet is our future and shockwave.com is a very important part of it," said David Lynch. "David Lynch is amazing. The Internet is a perfect new medium for him," said Rob Burgess, chairman of shockwave.com. "We're thrilled to have him developing programs for the audience of shockwave.com." Lynch has garnered a cult-like following from his off-beat, Oscar-nominated films like The Elephant Man and Blue Velvet, and Golden Globe winning and Emmy award-nominated TV series Twin Peaks. Joe Cartoon Caps Cybersquatter. On March 24, 2000, Joe Cartoon Co., the producers of popular Web toons Frog In A Blender and Lemmings, was awarded a preliminary injunction against John Zuccarini for cybersquatting. The court order bars Zuccarini from using or endorsing the use of the domain names joescartoon.com, joecarton.com, joescartons.com, joescartoons.com, cartoonjoe.com and any other derivative of Joe Cartoon Co.’s joecartoon.com URL. This case is one of the first lawsuits filed under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act of 1999, which outlaws the use of confusingly similar domain names in order to misdirect traffic from one site to another location. As reported earlier [AF 2/8/00], the court case was filed in early February 2000 with the United States District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Titan A.E. Touches Down On PlayStation. Based on the forthcoming release of 20th Century Fox's futuristic animated feature film, Titan A.E., Fox Interactive announced its plans to develop the Titan A.E. game for PlayStation. Fox Interactive is banking on the sci-fi feel of the film to translate easily to the gaming world. "We're raising the level of excitement for the film and inviting fans to embark on their own Titan adventures through the game," said Dave Shaw, executive director of Worldwide Brand Marketing. "Titan A.E. is a perfect example of using state-of-the-art filmed animation and blending it with high-resolution computer graphics to create an interactive experience that will not only mirror, but continue the theatrical experience." The game is scheduled for a fall release and is being developed by U.K.-based Interactive Studios. The Titan A.E. game will feature two different modes of play -- third person action/adventure and a flying game. Players will be able to choose to be one of two main characters, Cale or Akima, as they solve puzzles, pilot ships, avoid capture and use instinct to defeat the evil Drej aliens. Similar to the film, the goal of the game is to find the lost spaceship, Titan, and save the human race. Titan A.E. the movie, featuring the voices of Matt Damon, Janeane Garofalo, Bill Pullman and John Leguizamo, comes to U.S. theatres on June 16, 2000.
Aardman’s Angry On AtomFilms. Aardman Animations will be releasing Darren Walsh’s Angry Kid on the Internet at AtomFilms. The first 60-second episode of Angry Kid will be available for download midnight on Sunday, May 7, 2000 at a specially developed Angry Kid spotlight on the AtomFilms site at www.angrykid.com. "We believe the Internet could very well prove to be one of the most exciting platforms for entertainment distribution," said Dave Sproxton, co-founder and managing director of Aardman. "And we're delighted to be working with AtomFilms again to bring this to the web audience worldwide." Michael Comish, managing director, AtomFilms Europe said, "The work we are doing with Aardman shows what the Internet can offer in terms of an entertainment experience in the future. TV and cinemas limit when and how you watch quality entertainment. The Internet is overcoming these obstacles. By releasing this primarily over the Internet, a potential audience of hundreds of millions of people across the world can enjoy each of Aardman's Angry Kid episodes the moment they are released." The remaining 24 episodes will go live at regular intervals over the forthcoming weeks. Each of the 25 episodes will be downloadable as a Quicktime Movie. |
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