Moving up to 33rd, THE SIMPSONS secured a 5.5 rating/10 share. KING OF THE HILL was crowned in 60th place, garnering a 4 rating/8 share. Holding steady at 66th, FAMILY GUY grabbed a 3.7 rating/6 share. The traditionally high-ranking SIMPSONS Wednesday special only scored 76th place with a 3.4 rating/7 share. Jumping up a slot to finish 77th, FUTURAMA forged a 3.2 rating/6 share. The U.S. universe estimate used for calculating ratings for the broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, UPN, PAX and WB) is equal to 100% of all TV households.

Cartoon Network U.K. has acquired 26 episodes of X-MEN: EVOLUTION from Warner Bros. The Film Roman-produced series follows the exploits of the X-Men as teenagers. The series will hit U.K. airwaves in September. Finn Arnesen, VP of programming, development and acquisitions for Cartoon Network Europe, said, "This series will appeal to X-MEN fans as well as drawing in new viewers with the strong story lines and an updated take on the X-MEN franchise. X-MEN popularity is building; X-MEN The Movie came out last year, there's a second movie coming in 2002.

Neptuno Films is launching a new animated show, 2020. Aimed at 8 to 12 year olds, the show is centered on a middle-class family, The Campbells, who live in a futuristic city where synthetic food and clones are in fashion. Josep Viciana will direct with a team of comic book designers. Production will start in 2002. Viciana said, "We are very excited with the challenge ahead. We have been able to set up for this project one of the most talented teams in Spain ever.

U.K.-based kids animation producer Telemagination has cast the British comedy duo French and Saunders for the voices of the two main characters in their newest in-house animation series PONGWIFFY. The series was commissioned by U.K. broadcaster CITV. Targeted at 6 to 9 year olds, the series follows a group of dysfunctional witches. Dawn French (FRENCH AND SAUNDERS, THE VICAR OF DIBLEY) will voice Pongwiffy, a witch of dirty habits, while Jennifer Saunders (FRENCH AND SAUNDERS, ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS) will voice Sharkadder, Pongwiffy's obsessively vain best friend.

São Paulo, Brazil-based AD Studio has created the visual effects for latest music video from Brazilian band AD, entitled "Get Down." The video features an animated alien playing the role of lead singer, three robots hammering away on their musical instruments and over 13,200 dancing aliens. All the modeling, animation and rendering were done with Electric Image's Universe 3D animation system, utilizing some 3D party shaders and plug-ins and compositing separate rendering passes with Adobe After Effects.

With THE SIMPSONS still remaining the top dog, KING OF THE HILL jumps over FAMILY GUY to become the second rated primetime toon. Moving up from 44th to place 35th, THE SIMPSONS scored 5.5 rating/10 share. KING OF THE HILL finished in the 64th slot, garnering a 3.9 rating/7 share. Sliding into the 66th slot, FAMILY GUY grabbed a 3.8 rating/7 share. Meanwhile, FUTURAMA forged 3.3 rating/7 share in 78th place. The U.S. universe estimate used for calculating ratings for the broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, UPN, PAX and WB) is equal to 100% of all TV households.

Los Angeles-based Whamo Entertainment and Australia-based Burbank Animation Studios have announced the completion of their Halloween special, THE CANTERVILLE GHOST. The special is the tale of an American family that inherits an English castle, inhabited by the ghost of Simon de Canterville who tries to get rid of the family. The film is the sixth and last animated special from the Animated Classic Gold Collection 1. The other titles from the collection include EASTER IN BUNNYLAND, JOSEPH AND THE COAT OF MANY COLORS, ANNA & THE KING, SILENT NIGHT and D4: THE TROJAN DOG.

Phoenix-based animation house Rainbow Studios has digitally cloned and animated 3D dinosaurs for MPH Entertainment's upcoming A&E Network documentary special THE LOST DINOSAURS OF EGYPT. "We did a lot of things different on this project," said director Jim Milio of MPH Entertainment.

Rezn8, an award-winning design and communication company, has produced a graphic-intensive show open and complete graphics package for FLIPPED, a new reality-based television series on MTV. The package included the logo design, animated open, graphic bumpers and backgrounds for the show. The show opens with 30-seconds of show footage propelled at the viewer through a tunnel effect which concludes with the series logo emerging from the back of the tunnel flipping the positions of the two P's.

Broadcast design and visual effects firm Creative Bubble has created the title sequences and promos for Showtime's SNOW IN AUGUST and GOING TO CALIFORNIA. For the TV movie SNOW IN AUGUST, the promo features a young boy walking through a snowy landscape and through an iron gate. "The film deals with a young boy in the '40s who is in love with comics and comic book imagery," explained Showtime art director Damian Mager. "We decided to make his world much like that of a comic book." Creative Bubble designer Doug Dimon said, "The producers had selected the clip for the titles.

DECODE has sold 26 episodes of its newest series, THE BLOBHEADS, to Nickelodeon and France’s Canal J. The series is scheduled to premiere in 2002. For Nickelodeon, this deal marks the first program pre-sale across multiple territories in the U.K., Europe and Australia. Co-produced by DECODE and C.O.R.E. Digital Pictures, the series is aimed at 8-12 year olds and mixes live-action human characters with CGI aliens.

Black Logic has created the special effects and graphics for the 30-second ZOOG MOVIE opening. The project was completed for ad agency PMcD Design and client The Disney Channel. The spot opens with several bouncing kids descending from a dark-blue sky. The perspective then widens to reveal a neon green trampoline that spells out "Zoog." As the children continue to flip, a filmstrip takes the viewer on a roller coaster ride through the air. "ZOOG is a main title animation disguised as a ride film," said John Mabey, head of CGI at Black Logic.

In its regular Sunday time slot, THE SIMPSONS placed 44th with a 4.8 rating/9 share. The special Wednesday 8 pm airing of THE SIMSONS finished in the 57th slot with a 4.3 rating/8 share. At #72, Fox's FAMILY GUY fashioned a 3.8 rating/6 share. KING OF THE HILL hiked in at #87 with a 3 rating/6 share. Closing out the primetime toon chart, FUTURAMA finished in 93rd place, taking home a 2.7 rating/6 share. The U.S. universe estimate used for calculating ratings for the broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, UPN, PAX and WB) is equal to 100% of all TV households.

At The Post, a digital effects studio formed by artist Wayne Shepherd, has created the music video for Aerosmith's song "Fly Away From Here." The Aerosmith project came to the company via noted visual effects supervisor Chris Watts. The video features 195 effects and CG shots, which were created in Henry. "This project was easily the most complex of my career and one of the most rewarding," said Shepherd. "With the computer animation and effects teams under one roof, we were able to deliver this effects-intensive music video in an incredibly short time frame.

Showtime Networks has greenlit a new series from MGM, entitled, JEREMIAH, based on Platinum Studios' award-winning graphic novel series by Belgian author Hermann Huppen. The show will star Luke Perry (BEVERLY HILLS, 90210) and Malcolm-Jamal Warner (MALCOLM & EDDIE). The 20-episode series, set to debut in early 2002, is being produced by Jeremiah Productions Inc. in association with Lion's Gate Television and Platinum Studios and will be distributed by MGM Worldwide Television Distribution. J. Michael Straczynski (BABYLON 5) will serve as showrunner and executive producer for the series.

Nickelodeon has renewed five first season shows including AS TOLD BY GINGER (20 EPISODES), THE FAIRLY ODDPARENTS (14), INVADER ZIM (20) and PELSWICK (13). In addition, Nelvana-produced MAGGIE AND THE FEROCIOUS BEAST has also been renewed for 13 episodes. AS TOLD BY GINGER, produced by Klasky Csupo, follows 12-year-old Ginger Foutley as she crosses the shaky bridge between childhood and adolescence. THE FAIRLY ODDPARENTS follows 10-year-old Timmy Turner and his fairly odd fairy godparents.

Nickelodeon has licensed the international distribution rights to the Nick series, THE FAIRLY ODD PARENTS to Nelvana. In addition, Nick has renewed Nelvana-produced shows, MAGGIE AND THE FEROCIOUS BEAST and PELSWICK. In addition, Nickelodeon has agreed to co-produce a minimum of one new series with Nelvana. THE FAIRLY ODD PARENTS follows Timmy Turner and his two bungling fairy godparents. Michael Hirsh, co-chief executive officer of Nelvana, said, "Nickelodeon's programming has terrific youth appeal around the world.

Jumping up to the 40th spot, THE SIMPSONS scored a 5.4 rating/10 share. This is .5 better than it captured last week. The special Tuesday night airing of THE SIMPSONS grabbed a 4 rating/7 share for 69th place. Dropping from 57th to finish in 73rd, FAMILY GUY fashioned a 3.8 rating/6 share. In 77th place, KING OF THE HILL hitched a 3.6 rating/7 share. FUTURAMA racked in a 2.9 rating/6 share in 88th place. The U.S. universe estimate used for calculating ratings for the broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, UPN, PAX and WB) is equal to 100% of all TV households.

TV-Loonland has made several key sales to Kinderkanal, Germany’s free children's television channel. CRAMP TWINS, THREE FRIENDS AND JERRY and YVON OF THE YUKON will premiere on Kinderkanal in November 2001. Directed by Becky Bristow and based on the graphic comic novels by Brian Wood, CRAMP TWINS is a story of two 10-year-old twins Wayne and Lucien Cramp, who are completely unalike. The series is a TV-Loonland, Sunbow Entertainment and Cartoon Network U.K co-production. THREE FRIENDS AND JERRY follows four ten-year-old boys as they struggle to get through adolescence.

Gary Selvaggio, the creator of the U.K. hit animated series BUTT-UGLY MARTIANS, has entered a deal with the Krislin Company to develop and produce animated series. Previously, Selvaggio has served as creative director at both DIC Entertainment and MWS Films. He also helped develop and produce TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES. Selvaggio said, "Having the whole facility placed at my disposal simply to create new toys and TV shows is fantastic. It's something that's never happened before, certainly not at MGM Animation, MWS Films nor DIC.