AWN Headline News
Nick Orders Two New Series and Renews Two
Nickelodeon has ordered two new animated series, THE XS, a stylish series about a crime-fighting family who must thwart the forces of evil while still functioning as an average suburban family, and CATSCRATCH, featuring three fumbling felines who carry on in a world of humans. In addition, hit Nicktoon DANNY PHANTOM has been picked up for a second season of 20 episodes, bringing the total episode order to 40 and tween favorite MY LIFE AS A TEENAGE ROBOT has been picked up for an additional 14 episodes, bringing its total number of episodes picked up to 40.
ATI, Softimage to Offer Cost-Effective 3D Graphics Solution
ATI Technologies and Avid Technology/Softimage Co. unveiled a complete graphics hardware and software solution for 3D artists and students. Both companies are now offering SOFTIMAGE|XSI Foundation software with the FireGL T2-128 AGP 8X workstation graphics accelerator in a single cost-effective package for $599.
Extended, Unrated King Arthur on DVD
KING ARTHUR: THE EXTENDED UNRATED DIRECTOR'S CUT bowed on DVD (Buena Vista Home Ent., $24.99) Dec. 21, 2005. From producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Antoine Fuqua, KING ARTHUR has been called BRAVEHEART light, with reluctant Roman leader (Clive Owen) having to go against the invading Saxons in England before he can peacefully return to Rome. A red-hot Guinevere (Keira Knightley), stripped down to S&M leather garb, adds to the revisionist fun. VFX were done by Cinesite (Europe).
Blur's Two New Animated Shorts Oscar Short-Listed
Blur Studio has produced two new 3D-animated shorts, IN THE ROUGH and GOPHER BROKE, that are currently short-listed for Academy Award consideration as Best Animated Short Film and are being submitted to leading international film and animation festivals.
Cachuela Takes Director of Story Post at Vinton
Vinton Studios has named Mike Cachuela director of story for feature films, reports HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. Cachuela has been a longtime collaborator with Vintons stop-motion master Henry Selick. Cachuela was storyboard artist on Wes Anderson's THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU for which Selick did the stop-motion animation.
"Having someone of Mike's caliber join our feature film division is testimony to our commitment to make Vinton Studios a major producer of full-length animated feature films for the global market," Vinton Studios ceo Jeff Farnath said.
Intuition & S2 Intl. Team on New Ocelot Toon
Intuition and S2 Intl. have struck a project-by-project production alliance, reports VARIETY. The duo will first team on KIRIKOU AND THE SORCERESS director Michel Ocelots new animated feature, AZUR ET ASMAR.
Argentinean Animated Hit Spawns Franchise
Spurred by the box office success of the first animated PATORUZITO film, Jorge Rodriguez of Red Lojo Ent. has announced plans to exploit the franchise in features, television and merchandising, reports VARIETY. The story follows a boy who fights to claim the title of cacique (chief) of his tribe in Patagonia. A new studio will launch in April to handle the animation on the property.
HB Primetime Favs Top Cat & The Flintstones on DVD
Need last minute holiday gift shopping ideas? Then check out Warner Bros. Home Videos recent releases, TOP CAT: THE COMPLETE SERIES; THE FLINTSTONES: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON, as well as THE MAN CALLED FLINTSTONE, THE FIRST FULL-LENGTH TUNE-FULL ADVENTURE, now available in stores.
AOL Launches Princess Natasha Online Comic & Game
America Online's kids KOL service, in partnership with Animation Collective, has launched an original online comicbook series and game based on its PRINCESS NATASHA animated Webisode series. Each full-length comicbook, posted each week exclusively at AOL Keyword: Princess Natasha, will follow storylines from the first PRINCESS NATASHA season and the upcoming new season featuring 10 Webisodes. The game sends Natasha on yet another secret mission as she fights for justice against the evil Lubek.
7th Annual Independent Games Festival Names Finalists
The Independent Games Festival has announced the finalists in the seventh annual Independent Games Festival (IGF) competition. Selected by a panel of industry professionals, game development teams will compete for more than $40,000 in cash prizes. Finalists will exhibit their titles at the Game Developers Conference, March 7-11, 2005 in San Francisco and winners will be announced at the Game Developers Choice Awards Ceremony March 9.
The 10 games selected for the "Open" category are (in alphabetical order):* ALIEN HOMINID by The Behemoth (San Diego, California)
Exent Launches Animated TumbleBooks
Exent has launched TumbleBooks, a collection of animated, talking picture books that teach kids the joy of reading in an easy-to-use format, through its Games-on-Demand services. The books are created by taking existing picture books licensed from leading children's book publishers, and then adding animation, sound, music and narration to produce an electronic picture book.
Doodlez Wins Toon Gemini
Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television handed out its Gemini awards for television on Dec. 13, 2004. DOODLEZ took home the Best Animated Series prize. Producer Gretha Rose was present the award,
MTV Int’l & MTV 2 Airs Happy Tree Friends Holiday Special
MTV International and is making the holidays merrier by airing a HAPPY TREE FRIENDS half-hour holiday special produced by Mondo Media Productions. HAPPY TREE FRIENDS WINTER BREAK is running exclusively on 15 participating MTV Intl channels from Dec. 10-30, 2004. MTV 2 (U.S.) just came on board to air the holiday special six times, commencing Dec. 24.
This Week’s Animation Trivia Quiz for Dec. 20, 2004
AWN Discussion Forums - What's New? for Dec. 20, 2004
This week in AWN's Forums, the big question is where is 2D headed? A member wants some advice on authoring DVDs. A senior member wants to know why Santa doesnt have a pet. Another member wants peoples opinions on what masterclasses to take. A junior member wants advice on starting an independent animation studio. Additionally, theres a thread regarding the possibilities of broadcast quality Flash animation. Other thread ask software and school questions.
Stanley Cheung to Head The Walt Disney Co. China
Stanley Cheung has been named md, The Walt Disney Co. (China), responsible for driving the company's strategy, coordinating all of Disney's business efforts in China, including overseeing Disney's global brands in the market, expanding existing businesses and seeking out new business opportunities.
Disney will now have its existing businesses in China managed locally, with all business segments reporting into Cheung, as well as their respective business units. Based in Shanghai, Cheung assumes his new post on Jan. 1, 2005.
Vanguard’s Valiant to Fly April 15 on a Wing and Prayer
In the latest jostling for prime release dates, Disney confirmed that VALIANT, the initial 3D-animated outing from Ealing Studio-based Vanguard Animation in the U.K. (the studios heir apparent to Pixar?) will fly in U.S. theaters on April 15, 2005. With Disneys own CHICKEN LITTLE now flying the coop in November, this highly anticipated story of a World War II carrier pigeon should fill the bill nicely.
Lemony Snicket is No Unfortunate Opening
Paramounts LEMONY SNICKETS A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATELY EVENTS, with Oscar-contending vfx by ILM, finished first in its opening weekend with $30M for the period ended Dec. 19, 2004. Warner Bros. OCEANS TWELVE dropped to second with $18.1M for a two-weeks bounty worth $68.5M. Sonys SPANGLISH debuted in third with $8.8M.
Discreet Technology Embraced by Holiday Films
What do a disfigured musical genius, aviation pioneer Howard Hughes and a resurrected vampire have in common? This holiday season, their stories are being told using digital content creation tools from Discreet.
Rupert Gavin to Chair Contender Entertainment Group
Rupert Gavin has been appointed non-executive chairman of the Contender Entertainment Group (CEG), one of the U.K.s fastest growing entertainment companies. Gavin will be assisting CEG to double its market share of the U.K. DVD market and expand its wholly owned IP base.
New Gnomon Instructors for Maya Fast Track Program
Gnomon School of Visual Effects has revamped its lineup of teachers for the Maya Fast Track Program. Eric Hanson (THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW), award-winning digital artist Meats Meier, Sean Mills (SMALLVILLE) and Joshua Reiss (HOLLOW MAN) have joined long-time instructors Alex Alvarez (Gnomon founder) and Darrin Krumweide on the Fast Track roster. The Maya Fast Track Program is a nine-week immersion in Alias Maya and how it is used in a 3D production pipeline. The winter term program runs from Jan. 17 through March 18, 2005.
Academy Announces 2006 Oscar Date
The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has selected March 5, as the date for the 78th Academy Awards in 2006, Academy president Frank Pierson announced. The show will fall a week later in the calendar than in 2004 and 2005.
Friedman 3D Starts New Semester Jan. 10
Friedman 3D starts its new semester of high-end, low-cost CG training on Jan. 10, 2005. The semester runs until June 24, 2005. The Maya CG course runs from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm Monday through Friday for 20 weeks. The course is taught by David Gottlieb, a Maya animator formerly with Walt Disney Co. Subjects covered will be: modeling, texturing, rigging, character animation, lighting and effects. Morning lectures will cover intro to basic subjects and occur daily from 9:00 to 11:00 am and labs from 12:00 to 2:40 pm.
Tronic Studio in First Museum Show
The Knoxville Museum of Art will present Design Lab: Tronic Studio, featuring the New York City multimedia design firm Tronic Studio whose clients have included MTV, Nike, Wired, Fuse Network, Fine Living and Diesel Denim to name a few. Tronic Studio blends architecture with art, video production and interface design. The exhibition, on display at the Knoxville Museum of Art Jan. 14 to March 27, 2005, is the firm's first solo museum exhibition.