Noble is responsible for the great backgrounds of the Road Runner cartoons,
DUCK DODGERS IN THE 24 1/2 CENTURY, DUCK AMUCK, WHAT'S OPERA, DOC?, etc.
(He is also credited as co-director with Chuck Jones on several late Warner
Bros. shorts, including the odd NOW HEAR THIS!) Between screenings of the
cartoons (the way they were meant to be seen...on the BIG SCREEN), Mr.
Noble will talk about his work and his approach to layout. The event takes
place Saturday, August 21 at The Grand Lake Theater at 3200 Grand Avenue in

Alias/Wavefront has announced Maya Paint Effects. Paint Effects is a tool
for the instantaneous creation and animation of organic and painterly
effects. Completely integrated inside of Maya, Paint Effects comes with a
myriad of editable pressure-sensitive preset brushes including: Effects
Brushes which can create complete environments with trees, grass, and
flowers, characters with realistic hair, eyebrows and beards, and special
effects such as lightning, clouds, rain, fire, fireworks, starfields and

Image Entertainment is releasing BOB CLAMPETT'S BEANY AND CECIL: THE
SPECIAL EDITION DVD on October 12, 1999 in the US. Created by Robert
Clampett, BEANY AND CECIL, about the adventures of a sea sick sea serpent
and his pal, Beany, began as a live broadcast puppet show, TIME FOR BEANY,
in the 1950s, before being re-done as an animated series in the early
1960s. There was also a brief revival for Saturday morning television in
the 1980s. The DVD will include a dozen of the original Beany and Cecil

John Libbey & Company Ltd. has published WALT DISNEY AND EUROPE by Robin
Allan. The work is a study of the way Europe and European culture
influenced Walt Disney and his artists in the making of the Disney animated
feature films from SNOW WHITE to THE JUNGLE BOOK. The book is 368 pages,
and lavishly illustrated in black and white and color with many
illustrations that have never been published. Paperback: ISBN
1-86462-041-2; £22.50; Hardback: ISBN 1-86462-040-4; £40.00. Robin Allan

The East Coast's largest film festival for young people seeks works for
ages 3-16. The festival takes place February 4-13, 2000 in New York City.
It accepts shorts, features, animation, documentary, narrative and
experimental film and video. To qualify, works must be completed no earlier
than July 1, 1997. Foreign language films must be dubbed or subtitled in
English. The festival is looking for passionate, creative, intelligent,
entertaining film and video for ages 3-16. The entry deadline is October 1,

Los Angeles' only resident Wayang Kulit shadow play ensemble
presents an episode of the Indian epic poem, THE MAHABARATA. The event is
free, and takes place Friday, August 20, 8 pm at Occidental College, Thorne
Hall Patio, 1600 Campus Road in Eagle Rock, California, USA. For more
information call (818) 768-7696.

(Colossal) Pictures will cease
operations on August 31, 1999 after 23 years in business. According to the
San Francisco-based production and design studio, the decision was made in
order to liquidate property and honor outstanding debts. (Colossal) has
filed for Chapter 11 protection before on May 30, 1996, and emerged from
bankruptcy on December 1, 1997. It enjoyed a successful year in 1998,
employing a lean work force. However, the beginning of this year saw a
downturn in revenue. Financially weakened by the bankruptcy, as (Colossal)

North Hollywood, California-based Film Roman has reported second quarter losses of $266,215, or 3 cents a share, which
is an improvement over the losses for the second quarter of 1998 of
$718,439, or 8 cents a share. Revenue for the first half of 1999 increased
by 58% to $27.5 million from last year's first half's $17.4 million. Film
Roman produces Fox's THE SIMPSONS and Warner Bros.' upcoming new series,
MISSION HILL (previously known as THE DOWNTOWNERS). In recent months, Film
Roman has been making significant strides to enter the original content

David Allen, one of a handful of truly great stop-motion animators, died of cancer on Monday, August 16. He
was 55. Allen's work in commercials includes animating the Swiss Miss and
early Pillsbury Doughboy in the 1960s, and his feature work includes
CAVEMAN (1981), Q-THE WINGED SERPENT (1982), WILLOW (1988) and FREAKED
(1993). For ten years he had been working on an independent project, a
feature called PRIMEVALS. (The film will be finished at Full Moon Studios
where the film was being animated before Allen's death.) Allen began his

John Kricfalusi, creator
of Nickelodeon's THE REN AND STIMPY SHOW, returns to television with two
long-awaited half-hour specials featuring Yogi Bear, Boo Boo, and their
nemesis, Ranger Smith. In BOO BOO RUNS WILD, Yogi's pal Boo Boo transforms
from a law-abiding cave dweller to Jellystone Park's greatest menace. Yogi
must save his buddy before Ranger Smith stops Boo Boo for good. A DAY IN
THE LIFE OF RANGER SMITH follows Ranger Smith on his daily routine as he
attempts to enforce ridiculous rules and regulations on Mother Nature.

Women In Animation Writers Roundtable. Have voice-over artists read your
script and give you feedback. You must call and schedule your script to
have it read. The event takes place at the Klasky Csupo studio at 1258 N.
Highland Ave. in Hollywood, California, USA on Thursday, August 26, 7-9 pm.
For more information contact Sybil Baker by E-mail: scrybble@juno.com, or
Tel. (626) 798-1523.


The Women In Animation Production Group meets the 1st Monday of each month

A newly restored 35mm print of YELLOW SUBMARINE featuring The Beatles will
be shown at theaters across the USA. The film will be showing at the
following theaters: The Egyptian in Seattle, September 1-16; Brattle
Theater in Boston, September 1-9; Landmark's Nuart Theater in Los Angeles,
September 3-9; The Castro Theatre in San Francisco, September 3-15; The
Uptown in Minneapolis, September 3-9; The Union in New York, September
10-17; The Music Box in Chicago, September 10-16; The Hillcrest in San

The 1999 Golden Marble Awards show and conference program is a multi-track
large-scale event aimed at professionals who are marketing, promoting and
advertising to kids. The conference content will be streamed along three
thematic 'tracks': Focus on the Teen Market; Advertising & Promoting to
Kids; and Licensing, Merchandising and Retailing to Kids. The event takes
place Wednesday, September 8-Thursday, September 9 in New York, New York,
USA. For more information contact: Brunico Communications Inc., 366

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS has appointed WILLIAM A. SUTMAN as senior vice president
and chief financial officer. Sutman will be responsible for overseeing all
worldwide financial activities for the Universal Studios Group. Sutman most
recently served as chief financial officer for Universal Pictures. Sutman
joined Universal in January 1997 from Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, where he
served for three years as vice president of auditing.

San Francisco-based Wild Brain, Inc. has joined with Munich-based EM.TV &
Merchandising to co-produce POOCHINI'S YARD, a 26-episode series based on
Wild Brain's short, A DOG CARTOON. Wild Brain will manage all creative
aspects of the series which begins production this summer. Distribution
rights are planned to be split between domestic for Wild Brain, and
international for EM.TV. Wild Brain's credits include FERNGULLY 2: THE
MAGICAL RESCUE, and current productions THE ADVENTURES OF ROCKY &

Tony Caio of New York City-based DMA has designed a new program ID and
title sequence for The Food Network's "Hot Off the Grill with Bobby Flay."
In the ID, a Bobby Flay caricature appears in black tie, and juggles a
cocktail shaker, slab of steak, shrimp, and a pickle. Stylized stars dance
in the background. Dancing pieces of food spin across the screen and circle
onto plates, as the show's logo comes back into view, pulsating in a
painterly fashion.

Toronto-based TOPIX/MAD DOG has completed the computer animated :15
"Explosion" promoting Russell Stover's Pecan Delights. In the spot, which
was created with Softimage and Flame, little chocolate men explode the
candies to find the pecan treats inside. Livio Passera and Mark Ainslie
directed the animation. Toronto-based Generator Productions shot the
live-action footage.

It was another rough weekend for Warner Bros.' THE IRON GIANT at the US
boxoffice. Directed by Brad Bird, the film finished tenth, grossing an
estimated $3.8 million for a total of $12.6 million. Other animation
related films in the top ten: Buena Vista's supernatural thriller THE SIXTH
SENSE, with visual effects by DreamQuest, finished first again, grossing an
estimated $26.1 million, which is actually more than last week's $25.8
million, for a total of $70 million; Warner Bros.' shark thriller, DEEP

A major fire has gutted the Ottawa Animation Festival office and put the
office completely out of commission. "It looks like a war zone," says Chris
Robinson, Festival Director. "Fortunately, no one was hurt in the fire, but
virtually the entire contents of the office have been destroyed. I believe
that we can salvage some things. Fortunately we
have insurance...however, a number of animation cels, our animation
video/film library, and all sorts of priceless archival materials are

DAVID MCFARLAND has been named to the newly created position of vice
president of Affiliate Sales for FOX FAMILY CHANNELS. McFarland will
oversee all aspects of affiliate advertising sales and play an integral
role in developing strategic direction for Fox Family Channels'
distribution efforts. McFarland joins Fox from Comedy Central where he
served as director of Affiliate Advertising Sales. Previously he served as
regional sales manager for Cox Communications where he was responsible for
selling cable advertising.