AWN Headline News
Joe Barbera Directs New Tom and Jerry Theatrical Short
Legendary animator Joe Barbera just directed a brand new TOM AND JERRY theatrical short that will make its world television premiere on Cartoon Network Jan. 27, 2006, at 9:00 pm. The seven-minute cartoon, THE KARATEGUARD, produced by Warner Bros. Animation, has already been submitted for a 2006 Academy Award nomination in the animated short film category, and is the 162nd theatrical short in the 66-year career of the Academy Award-winning cat and mouse duo.
Academy Announces Scientific and Technical Achievements
Pixar's Ed Catmull is among the recipients of Technical Achievement Certificates, which will be handed out among the 17 achievements to be honored at the Academy's annual Scientific and Technical Awards dinner on The Beverly Hilton Feb. 18, 2006.
He shares the honor for his original concept with Tony DeRose and Jos Stam for their scientific and practical implementation of subdivision surfaces as a modeling technique in motion picture production.
Subdivision surfaces has become a preferred modeling primitive for many types of motion picture computer graphics.
Wacom Offers New Intuos3 12x19 Pen Tablet
Wacom Technology Corp.s new Intuos3 12x19 pen tablet is specifically designed for photographers, designers, artists and engineers that use multiple large monitors or large widescreen displays such as the 30 Apple Cinema HD display. Like the recently introduced Intuos3 6x11, the Intuos3 12x19 features an active area with an aspect ratio that is a great match to the screen aspect ratio of either a widescreen display or standard displays used together. This provides optimal pen control and efficient use of the entire tablet.
Alienware Now Offers New AMD Athlon 64 FX-60 Dual-Core Processor
Alienware is now featuring the new AMD Athlon 64 FX-60 dual-core processor on both the Aurora ALX and Aurora 7500 desktop platforms.
Former DreamWorks Artist Ittina Strives to Bring High-Quality Animation to India
Manu Ittina, who has worked on such films as SHREK 2 and MADAGASCAR, has set up his Ittina Studios in Bangalore, India, with the hopes of bringing high-quality animation to India.
However, he knows the feat will be difficult, because 95% of the work being done in India is outsourced work. Under quick deadlines, studios are forced to produce up to 12 seconds of animation per day, compared to major U.S. studios like Pixar and DreamWorks that produce three to five seconds per week.
Comedy Central Sets 2006 Slate for MotherLoad Broadband Channel
Comedy Central is taking original broadband programming to new heights with its development slate for early 2006, which includes an extensive lineup of original programming including animation, live-action narratives, topical stand-up performance and sketch comedies.
Comedy Central MotherLoad, which launched Nov. 1, 2005, is one of the first network broadband channels to premiere original series. To view Comedy Central MotherLoad, log on to www.comedycentral.com/motherload.
Greg Gilhooly New Cookie Jar VP Business & Legal Affairs
Greg Gilhooly joins Cookie Jar Ent. Inc. as vp, business and legal affairs. Based in the companys Toronto head office, his responsibilities will support Cookie Jars dynamic growth as the company continues to introduce several new shows a year, expands its entertainment operations globally and solidifies its new business initiatives.
Imagina 2006 Conference Schedule Announced
Imagina 2006, to be held Feb. 1-3 in Monte Carlo, Monaco, has released details of its conference schedule.
Feb. 1* 2:00 pm 3:30 pmKeynote: Ken Perlin (professor, Information Science department), Media Research Laboratory, New York UniversityTHE ILLUSION OF LIFE - REVISITEDProcedural animation has reached a degree of verisimilitude, which enables an interactive virtual actor to express emotions. Videogames are thus gaining access to a type of narration that was previously limited to the cinema.
* 3:45 pm 4:45 pm
Goblet of Fire Sets IMAX Box Office Record
HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE: THE IMAX EXPERIENCE is now IMAX's highest grossing digitally re-mastered 2-D release. With total grosses of more than $16 million on 89 IMAX screens worldwide, it passes the record set by BATMAN BEGINS: THE IMAX EXPERIENCE, which grossed $15.9 million last year.
‘Pro Booleans’ Announced for 3ds Max Subscribers
Autodesk is will soon be offering an exclusive new 3ds Max subscription service called Pro Booleans, which delivers expanded flexibility for the installed modeling tools in 3ds Max.
Google to Launch Video Marketplace
At the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Google Inc. announced the planned opening of the Google Video Store, the first open video marketplace enabling consumers to buy and rent a wide range of video content from a major television network, a professional sports league, cable programmers, independent producers and filmmakers.
Warner Bros. Turns To Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are
Warner Bros. has snatched up the rights to WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE, which was in turnaround at Universal, according to VARIETY. Warner wants to put the Spike Jonze-directed, Dave Eggers-written adaptation of Maurice Sendak's classic children's book into production later this year. Playtone's Tom Hanks and Gary GGoetzman will produce with Sendak and John Carls.
Nintendo's Electroplankton Turns Music Novices Into Mixing Maestros
Nintendo's new musical experience ELECTROPLANKTON has launched exclusively for Nintendo DS, letting users score music by using the touch screen or speaking into the microphone. Sounds can be sampled, manipulated, changed and rearranged to help even novices create engrossing beats and harmonies.
Marvel Axes Toy Biz, Moves to Hasbro
Hasbro Inc. and Marvel Ent. Inc. announced a license under which Marvel has granted Hasbro toy and game rights to its superhero universe that includes franchises such as SPIDER-MAN, FANTASTIC FOUR, X-MEN and CAPTAIN AMERICA. Through the agreement, Hasbro has obtained the rights to develop products based on Marvel's globally-known universe of more than 5,000 characters in a wide range of toy and game categories including action figures, role play and preschool toys, board games and puzzles.
A Hostel Takeover at the Box Office
Horror ruled the box office once again with the debut of Lionsgates HOSTEL (with vfx by Precinct 13 Ent.), which captured $19.5M for the weekend ended Jan. 8, 2005.
Dinosaur Among First Buena Vista Home Ent. Blu-ray DVDs
Buena Vista Home Ent. (BVHE) announced that it will begin releasing titles beginning summer of 2006 on the Blu-ray Disc format in conjunction with the hardware manufacturer's release of Blu-ray Disc products. Titles will include Walt Disney Pictures DINOSAUR; Quentin Tarantino's KILL BILL: VOL. 1; HERO; DARK WATER; LADDER 49; THE BROTHERS GRIMM; THE GREAT RAID; ARMAGEDDON, directed by Michael Bay and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer; Kevin Smith's JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK; and the documentary EVEREST narrated by Liam Neeson.
This Week’s Animation Trivia Quiz for January 9, 2005
AWN Discussion Forums - What's New? for January 9, 2005
This week in AWN's Forums, a vet of the entertainment industry wants to make a move into the animation and visual effects fields and needs some advice.
VES Doles Out 4th Annual Awards Nods
The Visual Effects Society (VES) announced the nominees for the 4th Annual VES Awards recognizing outstanding visual effects in 20 categories of film, television, commercials, music videos and games.
Ballance and Messana Rejoin NewTek
Don Ballance and Ralph Messana have rejoined NewTek. They have spent the last two years developing and promoting the 3D Arsenal suite of software tools, a companion to LightWave 3D. 3D Arsenal is designed to make the creation of motion graphics quick and easy for video producers and editors not already versed in 3D animation.
Incredibles DVD Wins Top DEG Honors
DEG: The Digital Ent. Group, which held its annual reception at CES 2006 in Las Vegas, honored THE INCREDIBLES: COLLECTORS EDITION (Buena Vista Home Ent.) as the Theatrical DVD Title of the Year.
Other winners included KING KONG: COLLECTORS EDITION (Warner Home Video) for Catalog; LOST: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON (Buena Vista Home Ent.) for TV; and the animated FAMILY GUY PRESENTS: STEWIE GRIFFIN, THE UNTOLD STORY (Twentieth Century Fox Home Ent.) for Direct to DVD.
Night Watch Invades U.S. on Feb. 17
With the popular Russian sci-fi thriller, NIGHT WATCH (NOCHNOI DOZOR), set to platform Feb. 17 in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco from Fox Searchlight Pictures, the second part of the trilogy, DAY WATCH, has just shattered box office records in Moscow. Fox Searchlight will release DAY WATCH theatrically later in 2006. The third part, DAWN WATCH, is currently in pre-production.
DAY WATCH premiered in Moscow on Jan. 1 with the biggest opening day gross ever at $2.1M. The three-day cume was $7.8M. DAY WATCH is now approaching a record $30M.
VFX Continues to Dominate Domestic Box Office
The final box office numbers for 2005 are in and, not surprisingly, seven of the top 10 finishers were vfx-intensive blockbusters. Foxs STAR WARS: EPISODE III REVENGE OF THE SITH led the way with $380.2M. Following in second, third and fourth place were Warner Bros. HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE with $278.6M, Paramounts WAR OF THE WORLDS with $234.2M and Buena Vistas THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE with $232.1M.
The Wild Trailer Debuts On Starz Jan. 9
The world television premiere of the trailer for Walt Disney Pictures THE WILD will escape onto Starz screens Jan. 9, 2006. Starz Ent. Group (SEG) partners once again with Walt Disney Pictures to bring the 1:40 teaser trailer to its flagship channel.