San Francisco-based (COLOSSAL) PICTURES has created a hand-drawn 2D :30
animated spot for Old Navy Tie-dye shirts that is done in a retro-style.
George Evelyn directed "Pool Party," which features a pastiche of early
1930s rubber-hose style animation, and is especially reminiscent of Ub
Iwerks and color Van Beuren shorts. The spot opens with a black and white
scene of children and animals moping around a deflated backyard pool, and
begins to change to color when two kids arrive wearing Old Navy Tie-dye

Los Angeles-based Class-Key Chew-Po Commercials has created a series of
"Agent M" spots for McDonald's. Directed by Walter Santucci (EVIL CAT), the
2D animated spots feature two characters, Agent M and his partner Sidecat.
Their goal is to find and acquaint the public with the great food bargains
at McDonald's. Agent M, voiced by Adam West (BATMAN), is a detective with
the cool confidence of James Bond, but with the clumsiness of Inspector
Clouseau. Sidecat, voiced by Taurean Blacque (HILL ST. BLUES), saves the
day when his boss screws up.

eToys Inc., an Internet retailer of children's products, reports that Darth
Maul tops their list of most popular action figure characters. Samuel L.
Jackson's Mace Windu, despite limited screen time, is number two. The least
popular action figure characters at eToys are Senator Palpatine and the
Naboo space craft pilot Ric Olie. Hasbro paid $590 million, and gave George
Lucas a 7.4% stake in the company, for the licensing rights to STAR WARS
EPISODES ONE, TWO, and THREE.


Top Ten Action Figure Characters at eToys

IN SEARCH OF THE MIGHTY REPTAR, an audio adventure based on THE RUGRATS,
the Nickelodeon TV series, will be released by Nickelodeon and Kid Rhino on
July 20th. The release contains two separate stories, "Reptar On Ice" and
"Journey To The Center Of The Basement." "Reptar On Ice" takes the Rugrats
on a quest to meet Reptar, the giant lizard beloved by Tommy Pickles and
his pals, at the Reptar on Ice Show. "Journey To The Center Of The
Basement" tells how the Rugrats summon up their courage to rescue baby

Red Storm, which has been broadening the boundaries of computer gaming with
products like Tom Clancy's RAINBOW SIX, has reached an agreement with
Bohbot Kids Network (BKN), a New York-based syndication network
specializing in children's programming, to produce a series of games based
on BKN's series ROSWELL CONSPIRACIES: ALIENS, MYTHS & LEGENDS, a new show
which will begin airing in the spring of 2000 and already has a two-year
air commitment. The show is a creation of Allen Bohbot, Chairman and CEO of

A building at 2449 Charlotte St. on Hospital Hill, former home of the
Kansas City Slide Co., where A. Vern Cauger hired Disney in 1920, was
bought last year by the University of Missouri-Kansas City, which plans to
demolish the site to make way for a life-sciences facility and parking lot.
Disney worked for more than two years at the Charlotte address, helping
produce slides and one-minute films shown as advertisements in movie
theaters. He worked alongside other Kansas City artists who, like him,

The 26th annual Daytime Emmy Awards were announced on May 21st at New
York's Madison Square Garden Theatre. ARTHUR won Outstanding Children's
Animated Program; Rob Paulsen, the voice of "Pinky" on STEVEN SPIELBERG
PRESENTS: PINKY AND THE BRAIN, won for Outstanding Performer in an Animated
Series; PINKY AND THE BRAIN won for Outstanding Special Class/Animated
Program; VOLTRON won for Outstanding Sound Editing; THE NEW BATMAN/SUPERMAN
ADVENTURES won for Outstanding Sound Mixing - Special Class; STEVEN

A collection that includes several Felix the Cat films, as well as more than 1,500 16mm and 35mm silent films and a vast archive of stills, large-format celebrity portraits, clippings and other memorabilia from Hollywood's Silent Movie Theater will be offered at auction by Butterfield & Butterfield in Los Angeles, California, USA May 23 and 24, 1999. For more information contact Butterfield & Butterfield, Los Angeles, Michael Schwartz, (323) 850-7500 ext. 295; or Levi Morgan, (323) 850-7500 ext. 216; or (415) 861-7500 ext. 348.

LucasFilm and 20th Century Fox’s visual effects-driven STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE took in $61.8 million gross over the three-day weekend. Its five-day total of $102.7 million since its Wednesday debut broke the previous five-day record of $92.7 million set in 1997 by THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK, but its three-day weekend gross failed to challenge the $72.1 million record still held by THE LOST WORLD.

*Wednesday, May 19th - Friday, May 21st. Los Angeles, California, USA.


Highlights of the 1999 Conference and Film Festival of the Large Format
Cinema Association include a tribute to large format film pioneer Lester
Novros, the Large Format Film Festival, Large Format animated films, panel
discussions about theater operations and industry business, sessions
exploring production and post production technology, and a screening of
LAWRENCE OF ARABIA. For more information contact LFCA at (310) 823-4901.

Two years of our Desert Island series and over 60 new articles and affiliate web site links have been added to the Student Corner this week...

This week's update to the Calendar of Events includes six new animation-related affairs...

This week's comic is about the circle of life -- through hair growth!

This week's special features in AWN's ever expanding store: Sally Cruikshank's long awaited video "Face Like A Frog"...

This issue #40 is Animato!'s special 15th Anniversary issue with 144 bound
pages. Featured articles include: Gerry Anderson, The McKimson Brothers,
Cartoon Network, Warner Bros., Jay Ward Voices, Flip the Frog, Bartlett,
Rose, Quakenbush, Fogel, Simensky, Tartakovsky, McCracken, Mulan, a huge
Anime section and more. There's just too much to list everything! Order
your copy in AWN's Newsstand, where you can subscribe to your favorite
animation publications directly from the Internet 24 hours a day! Already

NELVANA LIMITED, Canada's largest animation studio and international
producer of quality programming, has exciting opportunities in their 3-D
division. They are currently looking to fill the following positions:
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR (5 positions) with experience using Maya, Wavefront or
Softimage and proficiency in Unix and Unix scripting; CG MODELER (3
positions) with proficiency in Nurbs and polygonal modeling using Maya,
Wavefront or Softimage with previous animation production experience.

The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is looking for
part-time ANIMATION INSTRUCTORS to teach both computer and traditional studio animation courses...

Artist, painter, sculptor, writer, photographer, designer and director,
this prolific Polish creator has authored more than thirty short films...

TRON, Disney's innovative computer-animated feature, is set to return to the big screen for a special one-week limited engagement (May 14-20) at the Disney-owned Pacific El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California, USA with a new 70mm print. A special panel discussion on May 14 and 15 will feature several filmmakers involved with the 1982 production including director Steven Lisberger, visual effects supervisors Harrison Ellenshaw and Richard Taylor, and computer-image choreographer Bill Kroyer (who went on to direct TECHNOLOGICAL THREAT and FERNGULLY: THE LAST RAINFOREST).

As expected, STAR WARS: EPISODE 1 - THE PHANTOM MENACE set a record for
single day gross on Wednesday with $28.5 million, breaking the previous
record of $26.1 million set by THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK in 1997 on the
Sunday during the three day Memorial Day weekend. The previous record for a
Wednesday opening was $17.4 million, set by INDEPENDENCE DAY in July 1996.
Despite reaching a new record, the film failed to fulfill early predictions
which were in the range of $30 to $40 million and were based on early