IDT Media is expanding its animation business, offering its services to toy companies to create low-cost 3D series for television or home video. IDT's production subsidiary Digital Production Solutions (DPS) and its Global Animation Studio plan to provide high-quality 3D animation solutions at a lower cost for toy manufacturers.

Profits are down but theme park attendance is up, as The Walt Disney Company reported earnings for the quarter ended December 31, 2002. Net income in the quarter was $256 million, or 13 cents per share, compared with net income of $438 million, or 21 cents, in the same quarter last year. These figures included an after-tax charge of $83 million, or 4 cents per share, for investments in aircraft leveraged leases with United Airlines.

The fur continues to fly in the Winnie the Pooh royalties case, as The Walt Disney Company has now asked a Superior Court judge to dismiss the nearly twelve year-old lawsuit. According to an AP report, Disney accused Stephen Slesinger Inc., the company that owns the Winnie the Pooh merchandising rights, of "pervasive misconduct and illegal activities," including stealing documents by rifling through Disney's garbage. Disney also said the company destroyed potential evidence in the case.

Target Distribution has changed its name to Target Entertainment to better reflect the company's growth from a distribution to a rights management outfit. Target has also completed a move into parent company CSS Stellar's offices in Covent Garden, London, as well as opening a U.S. base in CSS Stellar's New York offices. Overseeing the new venture is Ellen Lovejoy, who joins Target as president, Americas and Australia/New Zealand.

German entertainment company EM.TV & Merchandising AG is close to paying off half of its so-called "Junior loan," allowing its previously announced sale intention of half of the Muppets stake to continue. The consortium banks of EM.TV have decided to extend the term for repayment of the remainder of the "Junior loan" by three months, until the end of April 2003. The "Junior loan" financed EM.TV’s 50% acquisition of its interest in the Junior TV joint venture with the failed Kirch Media Group.

VirtualMagic Animation, the North Hollywood-based digital ink, paint and compositing company and former production division of USAnimation, is on the block. According to president Don Spielvogel, the company is being put up for sale by its investors as a result of the changing dynamics of the cartoon animation business in the U.S., as well as the wishes of its non-animation industry investors to move on.

According to the latest sales figures from market information company The NPD Group, total U.S. retail sales of video game hardware, software and accessories in 2002 grew 10% from the previous year. The video game industry generated $10.3 billion in sales, surpassing the previous record high of $9.4 billion in 2001. The NPD Group credits the healthy increase in sales to the success of key properties such as: GRAND THEFT AUTO: VICE CITY, MADDEN NFL 2003, SUPER MARIO SUNSHINE, SPIDER-MAN: THE MOVIE, HALO and TOM CLANCY'S SPLINTER CELL.

Discreet has entered into an exclusive development and distribution partnership with New Orleans-based Turbo Squid, Inc., the world's premier marketplace for online digital assets. Turbo Squid will act as the worldwide developer, publisher and distributor for the Discreet Certified 3ds max Plug-in Program. Working together, Discreet and Turbo Squid will carefully select plug-ins that bring compelling value to 3ds max artists.

Kim Mitzo Thompson and Karen Mitzo Hilderbrand, the founders of Twin Sisters Productions, Inc., have repurchased from CINAR Corporation the company they founded. The deal was concluded on January 13, 2003 for US$1.5 million. The sale also settled the outstanding litigation claims against CINAR by Twin Sisters.

Former Nelvana executive Toper Taylor has formed ToperTaylor.com, a Los Angeles-based marketing firm specializing in all areas of kids and family entertainment.

New York's Abandon Entertainment is making inroads in the Japanese market with the help of agency Creek & River. Abandon has teamed with Creek & River to gain direct access to unique and untapped Japanese properties across television, comic books, anime and games. The company, which includes Abandon Television, Abandon Internet Group and Collision Entertainment, hopes to access properties that have the potential to be exploited internationally across multiple distribution platforms.

Raven Moon Entertainment, Inc., a producer of children’s programming based in Orlando, Florida, plans to spin off Raven Moon Home Video Products LLC into a separate publicly traded corporation. Pending shareholder approval, the spin-off would take place by the end of April 2003. The proposed spin-off is expected to reduce Raven Moon Entertainment's debt by approximately $1,000,000.

The Walt Disney Company can rest easy for another twenty years as the Supreme Court has upheld a 1998 Congressional Act extending existing copyrights. On Wednesday, January 15, 2003, the justices voted 7-2 to uphold the Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA), a 1998 law that extended millions of existing copyrights by an additional 20 years.

Creative edit house Northern Lights Post has launched a visual effects design division, which will be headed by effects artist/designer Tera Petersen. Petersen's experience includes CG/design work on commercials for Pepsi, Doritos 3D and Fruitopia, among others. "This is a natural progression for Northern Lights," said Northern Lights co-founder/editor David Gioiella.

In an effort to strategically streamline and organize its children's television animation programming, production and distribution under one business unit, Disney has moved Television Animation into the Disney Channel Worldwide division with former Television Animation executive vice president Barry Blumberg replacing David Stainton as president, Walt Disney Television Animation.

Illuminati Entertainment, a new management and production company focusing on clients with backgrounds in comic books and video games, has been founded by producer Ford Lytle Gilmore, former vice president of development at Goodman/Rosen Productions. In addition to representing its roster of clients and their properties, the company's mandate is to build new brands and franchises that can crossover into comics, games and toys.

Toronto-based independent animation company Cuppa Coffee is not for sale. Owner Adam Shaheen reportedly turned down a US$38 million offer from a U.S. and Japan-based broadcast consortium. According to a statement released by Cuppa Coffee, the consortium offered Shaheen a deal which involved expanding the Toronto facility and opening a second studio in Tokyo that would create series animation exclusively for the Asian market. Shaheen responded saying, although the offer was flattering, he was never seriously interested.

All the speculation that the Muppets might join Mickey Mouse as part of the Disney family seems to have been for naught, as German entertainment company EM.TV and Merchandising AG announced that it has completed a letter of intent with a U.S. investment group for the partial sale of The Jim Henson Company, Inc. (JHC). EM.TV acquired 100 percent of Jim Henson in 2000 and then put the company on the block in 2001.

The U.K. MEDIA Desk is now offering U.K. industry professionals the opportunity to apply for development funding for long fiction, documentary, animation and multimedia projects. The MEDIA Plus program, based in Brussels, is calling U.K. production companies to apply for development funding for their projects throughout the first six months of 2003. The funding covers single projects and slate funding. The final date for submissions is June 16, 2003. In 2002, £1.6 million was awarded to U.K.

David Pritchard, former CEO and president of Film Roman, has launched Fat Rock Entertainment, a new venture dedicated to producing and distributing family-friendly films. Fat Rock has licensed multiple properties from Hasbro, including MY LITTLE PONY and SUPER SOAKERS, upon which it will build its first slate of films. The first of the films is expected to debut in theatres in July 2003. The G-rated films will be in the $5-10 million budget range and will be a combination of live-action and digital animation.