Broderbund has released TOTALLY MAD, a seven CD-ROM compendium that
documents the history of MAD MAGAZINE. Included are the entire run of
issues up to 1998 from almost 50 years of MAD's history, along with video
clips of staff and artists, songs and animated cartoons from the current
syndicated TV show including Spy vs. Spy and 14 animated marginals drawn by
Sergio Aragones. Back issues can be browsed page by page, or searched for
articles on specific topics. This is a collector's dream. Requires Windows
95/98. Retail price is US$69.95.

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOLLYWOOD has appointed BRIAN COMPTON Senior Vice
President, Chief Financial Officer. Compton will be responsible for
financial reporting and budgeting, planning and implementation of operating
budgets, and direction of the financial management organizations of both
Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Studios CityWalk. Previously, Mr.
Compton served as Director of Operations, Finance for Coach Leatherware, a
division of Sara Lee Corporation. He has held key financial posts with

Santa Barbara, California-based SANTA BARBARA STUDIOS, a visual effects
company that produces CGI for motion picture, commercial, television and
special venue markets, has hired PETE TRAVERS as CGI supervisor and VIVIEN
MINTON as sales and marketing manager. Travers is returning to the studio
where he previously worked on AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN PARIS, after which he
left to form his own company, ShadowCaster, through which he worked as
computer graphics supervisor for Oscar winner WHAT DREAMS MAY COME. Minton

Kid Rhino's BATMAN BEYOND soundtrack on CD and cassette was released on
August 31, 1999 in the US. BATMAN BEYOND is a popular series that is set
fifty years in the future, taking place after Warners' previous Batman
series, THE ADVENTURES OF BATMAN AND ROBIN. The album includes twenty
tracks. Also, the inlay and CD booklet include comments about the
soundtrack music by Bruce Timm, the series' producer, and artwork from the
series' opening sequence. The CD will retail for US$13.98, and the cassette

At the 53rd Edinburgh International Film Festival, which ran August 15-29,
The 10th Post Office McLaren Award for the Best British Animation was won
by Tim Hope for THE WOLFMAN. The award is named in honor of the great
Scottish experimental animator, Norman McLaren. The competition was judged
by a panel of six previous winners of the McLaren Award, including Ged
Haney, Phil Mulloy, Tim Webb and Sue MacLoughlin. Animation Director Bob
Godfrey accepted the award and a check on behalf of the winner from the

The Center for Digital Imaging and Sound (CDIS) is a leader in technical
arts education based in Burnaby, B.C., Canada. CDIS is growing rapidly and
currently seeking applications for instructors in 2D and 3D Graphics, 3D
Special FX, Film/Video FX, Computer and Classical Animation, Film/Video
Production, Art and Design (Practical and Theory), Interactive Media (Web
and CD), Web Design/Development, Internet Applications, Programming for Web
and Game Applications, Game Design, and Audio Production and Theory. Job

The Archives provide a fast, easy to navigate search tool that puts the
depth and breadth of our editorial content right at your fingertips...

The 2D Computer Animation Workshop column debuts, plus another Pam Thompson "Career Coach" column are in the Student Corner this week...

The 5th Cartoombria International Animation Festival will happen in
Perugia, Italy, December 2-5, 1999. Although there will be no competitive
section, the artistic committee of the festival has put together a number
of retrospectives, exhibits, workshops, screenings, premieres and artist
tributes. The festival will provide an international forum for a wide range
of animation including feature films, TV serials, animated drawings, logos
and advertising spots, and experimental videos made by international

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.


View this item

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.