This week's comic is about what appears to be a "normal" (?) businessman...

This week's AWN Animation Trivia Quiz features questions about Warner Bros...

The second of an eight part series of Estonian animation features more work
from legendary animator, Priit Parn. Volume 2 includes: "Triangle" (1982),
"Time Out" (1984), "1895" (Grand Prix, Zagreb 1996 and Best Design Award,
Ottawa 1996) and "The Night of The Carrots" (Grand Prize, Ottawa 1998).
This exclusive video is available in the US and Canada for $29.95 plus
shipping and handling.


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DENNIS KANG, a graduate of Robert Bateman Secondary School in Abbotsford,
Canada, has been awarded a $5,000 entrance scholarship by the CENTER FOR
DIGITAL IMAGING AND SOUND (CDIS). Kang will begin his post-secondary
studies this October in CDIS's full-time Character Animation Program.
Established in 1979, CDIS is one of Canada's oldest and most successful
private media arts colleges with graduates working world-wide in today's
most interesting fields.

Hollywood, California-based CLASS-KEY CHEW-PO COMMERCIALS has signed TOM
DECKER to direct spots for its commercial division. Decker is best known
for his direction of the on-going Chuck E. Cheese campaign. From 1994-1997
Decker was senior animator at Chuck Jones Productions where he worked on
theatrical shorts starring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and other classic
characters in such titles as SUPERIOR DUCK and FROM HARE TO ETERNITY.

Buena Vista Home Entertainment previously announced that the 60th
Anniversary Edition of Disney's classic PINOCCHIO would be the first Disney
animated feature to be released in the DVD format [Animation Flash
8/24/99]. Now they have announced that a new VHS edition of PINOCCHIO,
fully restored and THX-certified, will be available on the same day as the
DVD version, October 26, 1999 in the US. This version will include a
"Making of Pinocchio" bonus section, which will only be available on the

San Antonio, Texas-based NewTek, manufacturer of 3D animation and video
production products, has announced Video Toaster for Windows. The new Video
Toaster is the heir to the original Video Toaster for the Amiga, which
initiated the desktop video revolution in 1990. The Video Toaster offers
users a suite of tools for video creation including all the essential
components for video editing, compositing and 2D/3D animation. The
suggested retail price is $2995.00. The dual format NTSC and PAL solution
retails for $3495.00.

Santa Monica, California-based Station X Studios is licensing the
production version of its proprietary animation software tools, code named
"Project: messiah," as a commercial software product. The high-end
animation production software, developed to animate the studio's
forthcoming live-action/CGI feature film DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: THE MOVIE, can
be used on computers utilizing the Microsoft Windows NT operating system
with either Intel compatible or Alpha compatible processors. A Mac version

Sega DreamCast, the superconsole with a built-in 56K modem (for internet
game play) that will bring the most-advanced and realistic video gameplay
ever developed to consumers when it is launched on September 9, 1999, has
set a record with 300,000 pre-orders, surpassing the previous record of
100,000 held by Sony PlayStation. The new 128-bit, Internet-ready Sega
DreamCast is fifteen times more powerful than a Sony PlayStation, ten times
more powerful than a Nintendo 64 and has four times the graphics processing

MTV and sister Viacom unit Simon & Schuster Interactive are producing six
CD-ROM (for PC and Mac) and PlayStation entertainment titles for MTV's
DARIA over the next five years. The first title, DARIA'S SICK, SAD LIFE
PLANNER will ship this October for the PC. DARIA, which debuted in March of
1997, spun off Beavis and Butt-Head's only female "friend" into her own
show. The series is about Daria Morgendorffer, a smart and sardonic
teenager blessed with an uncanny ability to turn potential disaster to her

The September edition of Hollywood Shorts, a monthly short film series for
live-action and, occasionally, animation, takes place Sunday, September 12
at various venues throughout the Los Angeles area, and on the web. For more
information visit www.lalive.com/hollywoodshorts.

The 6th Multimedia International Market (MIM) takes place September 15-17
in Montreal, Canada. The tradeshow includes the International Golden MIMs
competition which will award prizes for the best CD-Rom, Web Sites and
Others (Business Solutions, Multimedia Software, Special Effects). For more
information Tel. (514) 288 3931, Fax: (514) 288 0641, or E-mail:
info@mim.qc.ca. Also visit www.mim.qc.ca.

The Women In Animation Writers Group presents guest speaker Lydia Marano,
whose credits include GARGOYLES, SPIDER-MAN, PHANTOM 2040, CONAN AND THE
YOUNG WARRIORS, and RESCUE RANGERS. The event takes place Thursday,
September 9, 7:30 pm. at Saban Entertainment, 10960 Wilshire Blvd. at the
corner of Midvale in Westwood, California, USA. The admission fee is $5.00.
RSVP: Karla Parker at karlaparker@earthlink.net, or Jean Wright
at (818) 360-8321.

Sony Pictures Entertainment
has formalized the name of its newest business unit, Sony Pictures Family
Entertainment Group (SPFE), and appointed Gary Hirsch as senior vice
president and general manager of the division. Reporting to Sander
Schwartz, president of the relatively new division, Hirsch will oversee new
business development opportunities for the division and its day-to-day
operations, including business affairs, human resources, studio operations,
production and marketing. Hirsch comes to Sony's SPFE from Columbia

Cartoon Network has promoted James Porges to vice president of off-channel commerce. Porges will manage the business
development of consumer products and off-channel presence of all Cartoon
Network-branded multi-character efforts, including publishing, music, home
video, and theme parks. He will also manage all original Cartoon Network
characters such as The Powerpuff Girls and Johnny Bravo. Prior to becoming
director of brand management, Porges was director of Cartoon Network Clubs
at Turner Home Entertainment.

Lucasfilm's STAR WARS EPISODE ONE:
THE PHANTOM MENACE passed the $300 million mark in overseas boxoffice,
making it the eleventh most successful film of all time outside of North
America. It opened last week in Switzerland with $1.1 million, the
fourth-biggest opening there. In three regions where it was in its second
week of release, it took in $7.5 million in Germany for a total of $24.7
million; $2.7 million in Spain for a total of $10.9 million; and $893,000
in Sweden for a total of $3.1 million. The film's total gross from 27

New York-based Kino on Video is releasing
two Brothers Quay videos. THE BROTHERS QUAY COLLECTION: TEN ASTONISHING
SHORT FILMS 1984-1993 includes THE CABINET OF JAN SVANKMAJER, THE EPIC OF
GILGAMESH OR THIS UNNAMEABLE LITTLE BROOM, STREET OF CROCODILES, REHEARSALS
FOR EXTINCT ANATOMIES, DRAMOLET (STILLE NACHT I), THE COMB (FROM THE
MUSEUMS OF SLEEP), DE ARTIFICALI PERSPECTIVA OR ANAMORPHOSIS, ARE WE STILL
MARRIED? (STILLE NACHT II), TALES FROM THE VIENNA WOODS (STILLE NACHT III),

San Francisco, California-based Macromedia, Inc. has announced Macromedia Flash
Writer, a free downloadable plug-in for Adobe Illustrator, which will
enable Illustrator users to save their artwork natively to the Flash Player
file format (SWF). Illustrator users will now be able to deploy their
artwork to the Web immediately without having to reformat it as a bitmapped
file. Flash is the industry standard for high-impact, vector-based Web
sites that deliver motion, sound, interactivity and graphics. Flash Writer

New York-based MTV Networks Online, a unit of Viacom
Inc., has formed MTV Interactive (MTVi), a new Internet-only music company,
which will include music super-brands vh1.com, mtv.com and sonicnet.com.
Nicholas Butterworth, former president of SonicNet, was named president and
CEO of MTVi, and will report directly to Fred Seibert, president of MTV
Networks Online and Chairman of MTVi. "We think there is great value in
forming a company that includes three of the Internet's best music sites,"

Magicians Penn & Teller will
guest star on the September 10th episode of SHO.com's WHIRLGIRL, Showtime's
animated online series about a sexy, 21st century cyber-heroine. "We saw
Penn & Teller's wise-guy approach to magic and their cult-like appeal as a
perfect fit for the WhirlGirl audience," says WHIRLGIRL creator David
Williams of New York-based Visionary Media, producer of the series.
"Besides, who else but Penn & Teller could pull off the
'Throwing-Knives-at-a-Super-Heroine-On-A-Roulette-Wheel' stunt?" The