Denmark-based A. FILM has rapped on a 35-second commercial for Kellogg's

Cereal. The spot was directed by Craig Frank and produced for the Leo

Burnett agency. The classic 2D animation spot launches a new image campaign

introducing Kellogg's Town, where 8 popular Kellogg's figures like

Cornelius, Tony the Tiger, Coco, Chocos, Loopy, Snap, Crackle and Pop live.

The spot will air in Sweden, Denmark, and Finland.

Animha Productions, a unique association of professionals dedicated to

independent film production and animation workshops, is working on a peace

film project created by Prakash Moorthy in India and Animha's Dave

Brunskill in England. The film will include single drawings and paintings

done by 5-7 year-old children from around the world, and all children are

invited to participate. The subject is "a mother sending her child to

school." Drawings should reflect the national identity of the child, using

- FIGURE CONSTRUCTION, a brand new Vilppu video


Prestigious life drawing instructor Glenn Vilppu is offering a new video

tape of his classes. Vilppu said: "Figure Construction is a class room

demonstration of basic figure construction. This tape, I feel, is one of

the best examples that I have done so far on basic construction." His

material is being used worldwide in courses for animation students. The

Expand Images and Ellipse Programme, France's two leading television

production companies, announced on February 10, 2000 plans to merge. The

new studio, entitled Expand, will have an approximate revenue for 2000 of

FRF1.4 billion (US$210.2 million). The deal will enable both parties to

increase their international content output for the expanding European

market. As part of the deal, CANAL+ Images and Finexpand signed an

agreement solidifying their relationship as shareholders in the new studio.

Bill Plympton has updated his

appearances page.

In March, "Surprise Cinema"

will be appearing in various festivals and other events in the US, Canada,

Belgium, Germany and Australia. Bill will be appearing at the Zagreb World

Festival of Animated Films in Zagreb, Croatia, June 12-25, 2000.

* Thursday, March 16 - Tuesday, March 21, 2000. Stuttgart, Germany.



The 10th International Trickfilm Festival will present the best animated

productions from the past two years. More than 500 films will be screened

at the festival. The Best of Animation includes a selection of the most

interesting films in the history of artistic, animated film. Young

Animation is a competition featuring animated film schools and colleges.

The festival will also present the International Panorama, Tricks for Kids,

* Thursday, April 6 - Sunday, April 9, 2000. Brisbane, Australia.



The Third Brisbane International Animation Festival represents Australia in

an international animation festival alliance with Ottawa, Holland, Fantoche

and Anima Mundi. It is Australia's only festival dedicated exclusively to

animation in all o

Vitoria, Spain-based Mb Producciones is reaping a huge success from its new

animated series MIMI AND MR. BOBO. Since its debut on TVE, the average

share the series has received is 25.8. The show airs Saturday at 9 am and

re-runs at 8:30 am on Sundays. Mb Producciones is currently in negotiation

to create merchandise for the program with several well-known Spanish toy

and book companies. The company is also in the developing stage of a

feature based on the characters of the MIMI AND MR. BOBO series.

Montreal-based CineGroupe and Saban International Paris will co-produce a

new half-hour series entitled WUNSCHPUNCH. The show will be based on the

novel by Michael Ende, whose previous novel, THE NEVER ENDING STORY was

made into a live-action feature. Radio Canada will broadcast the series in

Canada and TF1 will air it in France. Hubert Gariepy and Bruno Bianchi will

produce the series and Philippe Amador will direct.

In the spring, Fox Kids Europe will launch a local TV affiliate in Italy

and initiate a fully localized Web site to coincide. The new channel will

be distributed by cable and direct satellite to about 400,000 subscribers

via the Stream pay television system. The channel will broadcast entirely

in Italian 15 hours a day with such well-known shows as X-MEN, MIGHTY

MORPHAN POWER RANGERS and INSPECTOR GADGET. The scheduled launch date for

the new net will be April 1, 2000. Following the Italian launch, Fox Kids

STARDUST ENTERTAINMENT FILMPRODUKTION is a studio located in

Berlin-Potsdam, Germany, specializing in computer animation (3D) and visual

effects. The CGI studio is equipped with the most advanced wireless

motion-capture system by Motion Analysis. In addition to its staff of 50

CGI professionals from 15 different countries, currently based at the

studio in Germany, Stardust Entertainment is cooperating with CGI studios

in Romania, Italy, Spain, Belgium and Asia. Currently in production on a 26

The 19th Brussels Cartoon and Animated Film Festival will take place

February 28-March 11, 2000. 128 films have been selected for the official

competition, 119 shorts and 9 features, representing 22 countries. The list

of all selected films is available on-line. In addition to the feature

program, the festival will present six international programs of short

films, two international programs of student films, and two programs of

Belgian films. The retrospectives include: "Humour? Humour!," an anthology

* Wednesday, March 8 - Sunday, March 12, 2000. Tampere, Finland.





As the biggest short film event in Northern Europe, the Tampere

International Short Film Festival features 80 screenings, a film market and

seminars. 16mm and 35mm films under 30 minutes, completed after January 1,

1998, are accepted for competition. Awards available include Grand Prize,

Special Prize of the Jury, Best Animation, and an Audience Award. Last

* Thursday, March 9, 2000. London, U.K.





The 3rd annual British Animation Awards will include the following: Best

Film Under Seven Minutes, Best Longer Short Film, Best TV and Film

Graphics, Best Film at the Cutting Edge, Mari Kuttna Award for Best

Directorial Debut, Best Direction of an Animated Commercial, Best

Animation/Craft in a Commercial, Best Adult Series, Best TV Children's

Special, Best Children's Series, Best Pre-School Series, Children's Choice

Walt Disney and Pixar have yet another trophy on their mantle, this time

it's the grand prix at Imagina 2000. The computer conference and festival,

which started in Monaco on January 31 and then continued in Paris on

February 2, finishing Friday, February 4, is often referred to as the

European equivalent to SIGGRAPH. The events in Monaco included the "Prix

Pixel-INA" awards competition, the Innovation Space, and various

conferences and panel discussions such as "2D/3D Animation," a discussion

* Sunday, February 20 - Wednesday, February 23, 2000. Monte-Carlo, Monaco.





Created in 1979, the Monte-Carlo Television Market was established as a

companion to the world renowned Monte-Carlo International Television

Festival. Today, the Television Market ranks as one of the top program

markets in the world. In 1999, the Market had 487 registered buyers and

1,920 participants on hand. For 2000, two new events have been added to the

* Monday, February 28 - Saturday, March 11, 2000. Brussels, Belgium.





Each year the Brussels Cartoon and Animated Film Festival programs the

"crème de la crème" in international animation. It is one of the top

festivals on the international cartoon and computer generated images

circuit. It features 150 to 200 films, plus premieres, original

retrospectives, exhibitions, "making of" programs and invites a host of

Husband of the late Mary Kay Bergman, Dino Andrade, has put out a call to

SOUTH PARK and Mary Kay Bergman fans to write to the Academy of Motion

Picture Arts and Sciences in an effort to have Mrs. Bergman included in the

"In Memoriam" segment of the 2000 Oscar ceremony. Typically, the Academy

only honors higher profile talent who have passed away in the past year. As

reported [AF 11/23/99], Mrs. Bergman took her own life on November 11, 1999

For the first time, Zagreb studio's library was offered for international

distribution at NATPE a year ago. The library offered all of Zagreb's

award-winning short films, including the works of such masters as Zlatko

Grgic ("Devil's Work") and Dusan Vukotic (his short "Ersatz" was the first

non-U.S. animated film to receive an Academy Award). Since then, Rembrandt

Films and Image Entertainment have released on video five hours of

animation from Zagreb Film. This is just another distribution deal, and

The Walt Disney Company has announced its financial results for its

operations excluding its Internet business, GO.com. Disney pro forma

diluted earnings per share excluding GO.com were $0.25 for the quarter

ended December 31, 1999, a 9% increase over the prior year. Disney revenues

increased 5% to $6.8 billion and operating income increased 8% to $1.1

billion. Excluding the retained interest in GO.com, net income increased 7%

to $515 million. Broadcasting results for the quarter were driven up by