* Wednesday, March 1, 2000. Hollywood, California, U.S.A.





In celebration of the 125th anniversary of J. Stuart Blackton, The Silent

Society of Hollywood Heritage, Inc. and the International Animated Film

Society, ASIFA-Hollywood, are presenting a program highlighting this motion

picture and animation pioneer. A diverse sampling of works by the medium's

first director-producer-animator and actor will be featured, all drawn from

The kid flick SNOW DAY, with special effects by Curious Pictures, settled

at third place for a second straight week at the U.S. box office. The

Paramount-produced flick grossed US$14.8 million over the President's Day

holiday weekend, bringing its cume to $31.5 million. USA Films release

PITCH BLACK finished at #4. Yet another ALIENS-esque sci-fi flick, PITCH

BLACK grossed $14 million. THE TIGGER MOVIE finished the weekend in fifth

place, making $10.5 million, bringing its cume to $22.3 million. Even

The SAVANNAH COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN, located in historic Savannah,

Georgia, USA, is seeking candidates with college-level teaching experience

for the position of PROFESSOR OF COMPUTER ART to teach beginning and

advanced level courses in Stop-Motion and Clay Animation. The successful

candidate should have professional experience as an

animator/director/designer, and familiarity with a wide range of

fabrication materials, techniques and styles, including armatures and

Two years ago, following the theatrical release of "Anastasia," Fox was

expanding its commitment to animation. Fox Family Films, one of Twentieth

Century Fox's four film divisions, was being renamed Fox Animation Studios,

to reflect the division's new plan to focus solely on animated feature

films, including stop-motion, mixed media (live-action mix) and digital

production. Several animated projects were on the development slate then,

including "Dark Town" with Henry Selick, "Santa Calls" with Blue Sky|VIFX,

* Saturday, February 26, 2000. Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.





Women In Animation, Inc. will be holding their annual meeting with guest

speaker Lynda Weinman of lynda.com. The meeting introduces members and

anyone interest in WIA with what has happened in the past year and what

exciting events and activities are on the way in 2000. Weinman, a pioneer

of graphic and animation on the MAC, will bring to the event her knowledge

* Tuesday, February 22, 2000. Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.





Come hear from the team of Fox's FUTURAMA at the AFI's Writers' POV. In

past years, AFI has featured the writing teams from THE SIMPSONS and KING

OF THE HILL, who gave a Writers POV on the making of an animated series.

Continuing this popular topic, AFI has invited the FUTURAMA team to

participate in this question & answer event. Guests will include: executive

producer David X. Cohen, and writers Ken Keeler, Eric Horsted, Lewis

Rumored since last fall, Walt Disney Animation Canada Inc. announced

Monday, February 14, 2000 it will close the doors of its animation studios

in Canada by the spring. Opened in 1996, the Toronto and Vancouver branches

of Walt Disney were created to produce primarily direct-to-home video films

in connection with Walt Disney Television Animation. The company slowly

started winding down production last fall and will completely close around

When the day broke on February 15, 2000, an old man wasn't humdrum about

joining a list of Oscar nominees that included three misses and my

grandmother who irons shirts! The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and

Sciences has released its list of nominations for this year's Oscar

competition. In the category of animated short films the nominees are:

Aardman Animations' Peter Peaks' HUMDRUM; Torril Cove's MY GRANDMOTHER

IRONED THE KING'S SHIRTS; Alexander Petrov's oil paint on glass in IMAX

CINAR ENTERTAINMENT has filled the newly created seat of president with

PETER MOSS. In his position effective March 1, Moss will focus on

developing CINAR's entertainment business in North America, Latin America

and Asia. Before joining CINAR, Moss served as programming and production

VP for YTV, Canada's youth network. Moss has regularly worked in pre-school

programming with the Children's Television Network and the CBC.

Joe Cartoon Company has filed a lawsuit against two entities, John

Zuccarini and Cupcake City, for the violation of the newly enacted

Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act. The lawsuit is one of the first

cases filed under the anticybersquatting statute in the U.S. The act

outlaws the unauthorized use of an Internet domain name that is

"confusingly similar" to another name, for the purpose of intercepting

users of the pre-existing domain. Filed with United States District Court,

The Harvey Entertainment Company and PG Capital, an apparel industry

investment company, have finalized a joint venture for a new apparel

company, Harvey Fashion LLC. The new company will be responsible for

manufacturing, selling and marketing a complete apparel collection, based

on the popular Harvey Classic Character library. Paul Guez will serve as

chairman of the board and CEO. The creation of Harvey Fashion LLC replaces

and extends the scope of an earlier Harvey apparel venture planned with

RING OF FIRE made the crippled walk in Nuveen & Co.'s Super Bowl spot.

Andrew Douglas of SATELLITE was brought in to direct the futuristic spot

where paralyzed actor Christopher Reeve walks to a podium to receive an

award. The super feet was done for Minneapolis, Minnesota-based ad agency

Fallon McElligott. Ring of Fire's founder, Jerry Spivack, served as

creative director and visual effects supervisor for the commercial. Ring of

Fire isn't new to creating outstanding Super Bowl spots, their 1999

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.

* Friday, March 10 - Friday, March 17, 2000. Santa Clarita, California, U.S.A.





The Santa Clarita International Film Festival is strictly dedicated to

family entertainment. It includes a film and screenplay competition,

student filmmaker award, as well as panel discussions. Co-sponsored by

FOCUS Institute of Film, the winning screenplay will be mentored and

developed for future production with a later-announced studio. For more

* Saturday, March 18, 2000. San Francisco, California, U.S.A.

* Sunday, April 9 - Sunday, April 16, 2000. Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.





Comic book fans can hobnob with the best in the business on a 7 day/7 night

cruise benefiting the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, a non-profit

organization protecting the First Amendment rights of the comics community.

The "Making WAVES" cruise will stop at three Mexican ports -- Puerto

Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas and Mazatlan. The event will feature week-long

* Sunday, February 13, 2000 - Thursday, February 17, 2000. New York, New

York, U.S.A.



The American International Toy Fair, one of the world's leading toy trade

shows, features over 1,800 exhibitors and highlights the newest and most

exciting toys on the market. Toy Manufacturers of America, Inc., the

industry trade association, brings the 97th annual event to several

showrooms all across the Manhattan area. Three new showplaces have joined

* Friday, February 18, 2000. New York, New York, U.S.A.



Cinema Village, the city's venue for alternative animation, will be

presenting the U.S. theatrical premiere of KIRIKOU AND THE SORCERESS from

French filmmaker Michel Ocelot. Based on a West African legend, this film

follows a miraculous infant who singlehandedly saves his small village from

a sultry yet evil wizard. Featuring an original score by Senegalese music

artist Youssou N'Dour, KIRIKOU AND THE SORCERESS offers a unique spin: an

* Wednesday, March 1, 2000. Burbank, California, U.S.A.



Ideas, new properties and pitching will be the topic of discussion at this

month's Women In Animation Production Management Group Meeting (PMG). The

event will be held at Nickelodeon in Burbank at 7 pm. Monthly meetings will

be on the 1st Wednesday of each month at Nickelodeon. To attend please RSVP

to Kellie-Bea Cooper at (818) 623-0020 or E-mail:

kellie-bea@kellie-bea.com. For more information on WIA events please visit

*Saturday, March 4, 2000. New York, New York, U.S.A.



The School of Visual Arts will feature a workshop entitled "Art of

Directing 3D Computer Animation" taught by Isaac Victor Kerlow, director of

digital talent at Walt Disney. The SVA alumni will lead the one-day event

explaining the day-to-day processes of art directing 3D computer animation

productions. In addition, Kerlow will discuss the various markets for 3D

computer animation such as TV, interactive and the Web. The class will be