Sony Imageworks first 3D animated short, a 5 1/2 minute comedy titled THE CHUBBCHUBBS, is now playing in theaters before the feature film MEN IN BLACK II. Produced by Imageworks, and directed by Eric Armstrong, animation supervisor for STUART LITTLE 2, THE CHUBBCHUBBS features an alien hero named Meeper who valiantly tries to warn the patrons of the Ale-E-Inn of impending intergalactic danger. According to VARIETY, the short was never intended for the public and was made as an internal systems test. However, because of the positive response from Sony brass, it was attached to prints of MEN IN BLACK II, and will probably screen before STUART LITTLE 2 when it's released on July 19, 2002. In May 2002, Sony announced it was forming an all CG feature animation division, to be headed by former DreamWorks executives Sandra Rabins and Penney Finkelman Cox.
