Among the events at this year's ComicCon International, the country's
largest comic book convention, will be a celebration of the Animation
Renaissance which will include previews of upcoming animation from MTV
Animation, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, and more, as well as discussions
with the creators who are shaping the future of animation. Among the
scheduled guests are voice actress June Foray (ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE) and
BATMAN BEYOND series producer, Paul Dini. Chris Prynoski, creator of the

This year, SIGGRAPH '99, the International Conference on Computer Graphics
and Interactive Techniques, is being held in downtown Los Angeles at the
L.A. Convention Center. The conference program will include papers, panels,
courses, sketches, and applications. The event will also include an
animation festival; art gallery: technOasis; Emerging Technologies: The
Millennium Motel; Creative Applications Lab: The Digital Cafe; and The
Studio showcasing the latest implementations of technology. The Electronic

Warner Bros.' newly released shark thriller, DEEP BLUE SEA, with digital effects by ILM and Cinesite,
finished third, grossing an estimated $18.6 million at the U.S. weekend
boxoffice for a total of $24.7 million. DreamWorks SKG's THE HAUNTING, also
with digital effects by ILM, finished fourth, grossing an estimated $15.1
million for a total of $63.8 million; The Walt Disney Company's INSPECTOR
GADGET, with digital effects by DreamQuest, finished fifth, grossing an
estimated $14 million for a total of $47.7 million; Lucasfilm's STAR WARS

Nickelodeon's PHRED ON YOUR HEAD is a show in which Phred, an original
animated character who appears on the forehead of a different real kid
every day, and the kid whose forehead Phred appears on, introduce an
irreverent collection of classic segments from such educational shows as
SESAME STREET and THE ELECTRIC COMPANY, in addition to new material that is
educational and entertaining. Working from sketches provided by New
York-based Data Motion Arts (DMA), Possible Worlds and MTV Animation

J.J. Sedelmaier Productions has completed a third season of SATURDAY NIGHT
LIVE's TV FUNHOUSE. Segments included THE AMBIGUOUSLY GAY DUO in "Letters,"
in which the duo answered questions about their crime fighting techniques
and costumes, and "Boys," in which the duo's interest in crime fighting is
traced to their high school days.

New York City-based QUIET MAN has completed "Caterpillar," a :20 CGI show
open for the Sci-Fi Channel, a cable service. The spot features a robot
caterpillar who changes into a metallic spider. Todd Mueller directed.

The fifth annual Anima Mundi festival has had its run July 9-18 in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil. At this festival the audience is the jury, and they have
chosen:


Best Brazilian Film - DE JANELA PARA O CINEMA (RAINBOW'S END) by Quiá
Rodrigues.


Best Film of the Official Selection - GOGWANA by Deiniol Morris, UK.


Second Best Film of the Official Selection - AU BOUT DU MONDE (AT THE ENDS
OF THE EARTH) by Konstantin Bronzit, France.


Third Best Film of the Official Selection - RECI, RECI, RECI (WORDS, WORDS,

Toronto-based NELVANA has hired Cathy Laughton as managing director of its
London-based operations. Laughton will be responsible for the overall
management of the UK office. Her responsibilities include the acquisition
of new properties for production/licensing development, sales to the UK,
Germany, Scandinavia, and Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxemborg),
and securing co-production opportunities. Laughton joins Nelvana from the
Jim Henson Company where she served as director of international television
distribution.

Marvel Enterprises has hired Peter Cuneo as president and CEO. Cuneo was
CEO of Remington Products, president of the security hardware group of
Black and Decker, and president of Clairol's personal care division. Former
CEO Eric Ellenborgen resigned to head a media investment concern.

Walt Disney International Europe and Buena Vista Internet Group (BVIG) have
promoted Andrew Barron to executive vice president of new media and
business development for Walt Disney International Europe; and Chafic Najia
to senior vice president and managing director of Buena Vista Internet
Group Europe. Barron joined WDTV-I in 1995 as director of business
development. Since then he has been responsible for identifying and
negotiating several Disney Channel agreements, as well as equity

THE IRON GIANT will be honored Saturday morning at 10:30 am at Mann's
Chinese Theater in Hollywood when a supersized footprint (12' by 6') will
be presented by the filmmakers and stars in the forecourt of the historic
theater. (Because of prior commitments, the Giant will be unable to
attend.) Johnny Grant, the honorary mayor of Hollywood, will emcee the
event. Cast and crew will attend the film's premiere following the
presentation of the footprint. Among those in attendance will be the

Walt Disney's animated feature, TARZAN, will become the first-ever major
feature release to be produced, mastered, and exhibited digitally when it
opens today, Friday, July 30 at the following theaters: AMC's Pleasure
Island multiplex at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, AMC's Media
Center North 6 in Burbank, California, and the Edwards Irvine Spectrum in
Irvine, California. According to Bob Lambert, senior vice president of new
technology and new media for The Walt Disney Company, "TARZAN was the ideal

Disney is releasing three original made-for-video titles. MADELINE: LOST IN PARIS will appear on August 3. Featuring the voice talents of Jason Alexander, Lauren Bacall, and Christopher Plummer, the story is based on characters that first appeared in the Madeline book series by Ludwig Bemelmans. In LOST IN PARIS, Madeline and her eleven school friends get immersed in an evil plot to steal Madeline's inheritance. BELLE'S TALES OF FRIENDSHIP and HERCULES: ZERO TO HERO will both be released on August 17.

On September 14, Kid Rhino will release the soundtrack album for the upcoming feature length Scooby-Doo video, SCOOBY-DOO! AND THE WITCH'S GHOST, which is scheduled for release on October 5. In SCOOBY-DOO! AND THE WITCH'S GHOST, Scooby and Mystery Inc. travel to a small New England town to learn why it's being spooked by witches' ghosts. Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Machine will appear in the flesh at the Rhino Retrofest, August 13 to 15, at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California, USA. Suggested retail price for the CD is US$13.98 and US$9.98 for the cassette.

SGI has begun volume shipments of the Silicon Graphics 1600SW digital flat panel monitor for Apple Macintosh computers. The monitor is bundled with the new Macintosh version of the Number Nine Revolution IV-FP graphics accelerator in the Apple Macintosh version of the Digital Flat Panel Solution Pack. The graphics card provides the digital display interface, and features 32MB of graphics memory. The monitor features a 19-inch CRT-equivalent, 17.3 inch 1600 x 1024 pixel screen. It offers three times the brightness and five times the contrast of a comparably-sized CRT, with no flicker.

The Welsh Animation Group, an association of Welsh animators created to develop an international animated film festival in Wales, has published the first issue of their newsletter, WAG NEWSLETTER. This new group centered in Cardiff has emerged for a number of reasons. Siriol’s Robin Lyons first discussed, “The need for a lobbying pressure group and, just as importantly a forum for animators,” as stated in the publication’s editorial written by Dave Berry.

The 26th International Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive
Techniques, is taking place in Los Angeles, August 8-13, 1999. AWN is
participating in the SIGGRAPH '99 Electronic Schoolhouse, a new program
providing educators and students with an environment in which they can
explore and learn the many ways in which computer graphics are taught and
used in the classroom. The Electronic Library, as both a meeting place and
a resource space, offers attendees reference material and resources other

Clare Kitson, the person behind Channel 4 television's remarkable animation
programming, is leaving the animation industry. Clare did an exceptional
job, and deserves to leave her post with gratitude and appreciation from
those she has worked with for the last twelve years. Therefore, Animation
World Network is publishing a tribute to Clare in the September '99 issue
of Animation World Magazine, which will focus on television. Our tribute to
Clare will be presented in tandem with a historical article on animation at

The Ottawa International Animation Festival has announced the selections
for the official competition of the 1999 Ottawa International Student
Animation Festival...

Check out a clip from MTV's newest animated series, "MTV Downtown", which premieres Tuesday,
August 3, 1999 at 10:30 PM (ET/PT), and air regularly on Tuesday nights...