NPAR 2000 is the first international
symposium dedicated to non-photorealistic animation and rendering,
including cartoon animation systems and techniques. It takes place at the
International Animated Film Festival of Annecy, France, July 5-9, 2000 in
conjunction with ACM/SIGGRAPH and Eurographics. The symposium will bring
together researchers and practitioners from academia and industry, showcase
cutting-edge research in non-photorealistic animation and rendering systems
and techniques, and present examples of these techniques in original

VirtualMagic ASIA, the collaboration of VirtualMagic Animation and
ImagineAsia Studio for 2D digital ink, paint and compositing, is looking
for talented USAnimation Compositors for project work at their digital
animation facility in Manila, Philippines. The start date is mid October,
1999 or before. See VirtualMagic on the web and contact them at:


info@virtualmagicusa.com

Special information about film submissions for all SAFO '99 entrants...

Once again, Bill Plympton has updated his appearances page. In the next
months, "I Married a Strange Person" will be appearing in various festivals
and other events in the US, Germany, Finland and Ukraine. Bill will also be
attending the events in the US and Germany.


Check out Bill's appearance schedule.

Check out the latest Quickdraw Animation Society animator profiles...

This week's updates to the Calendar of Events includes the following
festivals: Imagina 2000 in France, Stuttgart in Germany, PISAF in South
Korea; Plus the first International Symposium On Non-Photorealistic
Animation and Rendering in France. The Calendar of Upcoming Events is a
constantly changing reference source for what's happening around the World
of Animation. Use it to stay abreast of animation related activities across
the globe. If you know of animation related events that we don't have

This week's comic is about taking a refreshing break in the country...

This week's AWN Animation Trivia Quiz features questions about unusual animation techniques and inventions such as the pinboard...

Sci-Fi Station's Limited Edition "Robby the Robot" toy is an incredibly detailed original design by Osaka Tin Toy Institute...

Now available in the AWN Store is a 70 minute collection of shorts by
award-wining Estonian animator Priit Parn. Since making his first film, "Is
the Earth Round" (1977), animator, illustrator, and artist Priit Parn has
evolved into one of the most influential animation artists in the world.
His films are routinely invited to animation festivals where they have won
several major awards. Included in volume 1 of an extensive series examining
the history of Estonian animation are: "And Plays Tricks" (1979), "Some

Buena Vista's supernatural thriller THE SIXTH SENSE, with visual effects by
DreamQuest, finished first at the US weekend boxoffice for the fourth
consecutive week, grossing an estimated $20.1 million, for a total of
$138.9 million. No other animation related film finished in the top ten.
Newly released Universal's DUDLEY DO-RIGHT, a live-action film which stars
Brendan Fraser, and is based on the series about a Canadian Mountie from
Jay Ward and Bill Scott's early 1960s THE ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE SHOW,
finished eleventh, grossing $3 million.

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences awarded the Emmy in the category
for outstanding animated programs up to an hour in length to Fox's KING OF
THE HILL ("And They Call It Bobby Love"). In winning its first Emmy in this
category, KING OF THE HILL beat out fellow Fox toons THE SIMPSONS, FUTURAMA
and THE PJS as well as Cartoon Network's THE POWERPUFF GIRLS. HBO's TODD
MCFARLANE'S SPAWN took the honor for outstanding animated program over an
hour. UPN's DILBERT won the award for main title design. The Emmy for

Several movie critics have said that while Universal's new live-action
Dudley Do-Right, which opened in the US on Friday, August 27, misses the
mark, the new cartoon by Universal Cartoon Studios which is playing with
the film, FRACTURED FAIRY TALES: THE PHOX, THE LOX AND THE BOX, is a
winner. The cartoon is based on a script by Bill Scott, who wrote most of
the episodes of the Fractured Fairy Tales series which was originally part
of NBC's early 1960s The Rocky And Bullwinkle Show. It was animated for

On Friday, September 3 a cartoon by Adam Sandler will premiere on
www.adamsandler.com, the official Adam Sandler website. Little is known
about the film, and Sandler's website refers to it only as a "surprise,"
but the title is said to be THE PEEPER. Adam Sandler was a cast member of
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE from 1991-1995, and star of recent hits such as BIG
DADDY and THE WATERBOY. He has also had several hit comedy albums such as
"They're All Gonna Laugh at You." His best known song is "The Hanukkah
Song."

WARREN LITTLEFIELD, president of the Littlefield company, and CRAIG HUNEGS,
Executive Vice President at Warner Bros. Television, will join the
ATOMFILMS advisory board. Littlefield, former President of NBC
Entertainment, and Hunegs will act as advisors in the areas of content
programming for the AtomFilms web site as well as for its distribution and
syndication sites. They will also offer advice on building strong
relationships with traditional media companies for broader distribution.

New York City-based QUIET MAN has completed "Giant Boy," a :30 spot for
Fritos Racerz, a race-car shaped snack food. In the spot, a NASCAR race car
driver wakens from a dream just before he and his car are eaten by a boy.
Johnnie Semerad directed the visual effects, and Philana Dias was the
Flame/Effects artist. Richard Sears directed the spot for New York and
Hollywood-based production company HKM Productions for New York-based
agency BBDO.

The United States Army will give the University of Southern California $45
million over the next five years to establish a research center to develop
advanced military simulations. The center will use film students and video
game designers to create realistic training simulations using virtual
reality technology and artificial intelligence. This effort is part of the
Army's plan to create higher quality training using more realistic war-type
exercises.

San Francisco, California-based Macromedia, Inc. has announced that its
Flash Player, which enables internet browsers to play web animations, will
be available free on September 1, 1999 for Linux, Sun Microsystems, Inc.'s
Solaris, and Silicon Graphics Inc.'s Irix platforms. Flash is the standard
for creating high-impact, vector-based Web sites that deliver motion,
sound, interactivity, and graphics. Flash Player versions for UNIX will be
available for download at no charge from the Macromedia Web site.

MARCI SELSBERG has returned to WILL VINTON STUDIOS, a Portland,
Oregon-based production company, as their east coast producer. Selsberg was
most recently the president and executive producer of her own small
business, Peek-A-Boo Productions which represented animation production
companies such as Curious Pictures.

Patty Wooton has resigned as vice president, head of production at PaloAlto-based PDI (PACIFIC DATA IMAGES). Wooton was recently producer with Brad Lewis and Aron Warner on ANTZ.