Glendale, California-based Galaxy Digimation has created a thirty-minute
animated newscast for Universal Studios' The Amazing Adventures of
Spider-Man ride in Orlando, Florida. The Spider-Man ride integrates
roller-coaster thrills, realistic motion simulation, and stereographic 3D
computer-generated effects while immersing riders in a story that
transforms them into active photojournalists. Galaxy Digimation's newscast
plays on monitors while riders wait in line inside the newsroom of The

Studio City, California-based Phil Roman Entertainment Company has
announced that it is co-producing THE GAUDINS: A CHRISTMAS SPECIAL with
Barcelona, Spain-based ABCN Concept. S.L. The 22-minute animated special
will use designs inspired by early twentieth century Spanish architect
Antonio Gaudi. According to Phil Roman, the show will create a whimsical,
fantasy world for family audiences. The show will be available Christmas
2000, but has yet to be picked up. As previously reported, Phil Roman

Montreal, Canada-based Motion International has started production on
MARSUPILAMI, a 26 episode, half-hour animated television series based on a
comic strip by Belgium artist Andrè Franquin. French producer Marathon is
co-producing, and the series will be aired by Tele-Quebec, as well as
other, as yet undetermined, international broadcasters. Marsupilami is a
funny animal-type character with yellow fur, black spots and many talents.
He first appeared in 1952 in SPIROU MAGAZINE, a Belgian comic book. A

On October 29 and 30 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, Wayne Gilbert, Kyle Clark,
and Mike Ford, who work as animators for feature film projects at
Industrial Light + Magic, will be giving seminars on classical and computer
animation principles. The three animators have started their own
corporation, Animation Foundation and Anamie, providing consulting,
training and seminars for corporate and academic clients. This event is
coordinated by The Florida Center for Electronic Communication, The Fort

Lucas Learning Ltd. has released STAR WARS: PIT DROIDS, a STAR WARS EPISODE
ONE-based puzzle game. Players must direct an endless row of pit droids
toward appropriate goals, and prevent them from falling off the edge of the
world. Players can play the puzzles at random, or work from location to
location to achieve a high score. There are eight game levels, six game
environments, and more than 300 puzzles. The game is compatible with both
PC and Mac, and has a retail price of US$29.99.

The third annual British Animation Awards is calling for entries from UK
animators. The awards will be announced on Thursday, March 9, 2000.
Deadline for entries is December 1, 1999. For more information Tel. 0171
383 4387; or Fax 0171 388 3782.

Antran Manoogian, President of the International Animated
Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood, has announced the nominees for the 27th Annual Annie Awards...

Educators and School Administrators - don't miss out! If your school or educational program wasn't included in AWN's Winter 1999 directory, or if you want to update the information that did get published, production on AWN's Winter 2000 directory is now underway...

AWN is proud to host Ottawa's brand new web site. Festival Director, Chris Robinson comments, "We wanted to create a site that would be easier to navigate and one that would serve as an archive of sorts. Most festival websites are disposable. They serve their purpose and vanish into the Internet vacuum.

This week's AWN Animation Trivia Quiz features questions about masters of animation...

This week's comic is about the dangers of horseback riding...

Now available in the AWN Store is a rare collection of animation artwork from the 1930s....

This is a big week for the Student Corner. We've got the next installment of our 2D Computer Animation Workshop column, more animation lessons from the Toon Institute, new Clip Picks, plus more than 200 new links to articles from Animation World Magazine!

Animation legend Chuck Jones celebrated his birthday on Tuesday, September 21. He is one of our few remaining links to animation’s Golden Era...

Antran Manoogian, President of the International Animated
Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood, has announced the nominees for the 27th Annual Annie Awards, ASIFA-Hollywood’s honoring of the best in animation. THE IRON GIANT leads the list of nominees with fifteen nominations, including best feature. The final winners will be presented with their awards at the Annie Awards Ceremony to be held at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, California on Saturday, November 6, at 7 pm. For more information about the event and tickets call (818) 842-8330.

WARNER BROS. TELEVSION ANIMATION has promoted LINDA STEINER from vice president of development to senior vice president of creative affairs and CHRISTOPHER KEENAN from vice president of programming to vice president of creative affairs. Steiner and Keenan will oversee the development of cartoon series, shorts and direct-to-video projects.

CHERYL MILLS, Deputy White House Counsel, will join OXYGEN MEDIA, Geraldine Laybourne's media company founded to provide content for women, as senior vice president of corporate policy and public programming. In her new post, Cheryl Mills will address women's access to and participation in civic, political and public policy issues that affect their lives. She will oversee Oxygen's philanthropic activities, its grass roots initiatives and will work with Sarah Bartlett, Oxygen's Editor-in-Chief, to develop its legal and political programming.

Iran-based SABA Animation Company has released an 85-minute animated film, THE PASSENGER OF STORY LAND. The film is a re-edited version of a six part, thirty-minute television series, and uses live-action, puppet animation and CGI to tell the story of a puppet who escapes from a film studio. The puppet befriends a boy whose father is a reporter who is covering the film from which the puppet escaped. The boy and puppet try to discover the end of the film, until they finally decide to write the ending themselves. The film was directed by Yosof Babareza.

Twentieth Century Fox has announced that X-MEN, the live-action film adaptation of the Marvel comic books about mutant superheroes which promises to be visual effects heavy, will be released on June 30, 2000. UNCANNY X-MEN #1, by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, appeared in 1963, but the series was not popular until it was revamped by Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum in 1975. Since then it has spawned many spinoffs, and is probably the most popular US comic book series of the last twenty years.

Channel Four has bought the broadcast rights to London, UK-based Link Entertainment's GRABBIT THE RABBIT, a clay-animated series of thirteen eight-minute episodes. The episodes are based on fables from around the world including those of Jean de la Fontaine and Joel Chandler Harris. (Disney adapted some of Harris' Brer Rabbit stories in SONG OF THE SOUTH.)