Anim!Arte 2006 Brazilian Student Animation FestivalRio de Janeiro, BrazilNov. 17-24, 2006Deadline: Nov. 3, 2006
Anim!Arte 2005 celebrates the best in student animation from around the world. The best international animation done by a student (outside Brazil) will win the original Animarte´s Tropical Trophy. For more information, visit www.vouanimarte.com.br.
Apple announced the launch of the new iPod and ceo Steve Jobs revealed that full-length features from The Walt Disney Co. would soon be sold over the Internet, reports BLOOMBERG. New Disney releases would cost $14.99; catalog titles would be offered for $9.99.
The new iPod is available in a 30GB model at the new low price of $249 and an 80GB model, which holds up to 20,000 songs or 100 hours of video, for $349. Time Warner Inc.'s AOL unit and Web retailer Amazon.com Inc. previously announced deals with several studios to sell or rent features.
In response to overwhelming demand from STAR WARS fans, Lucasfilm Ltd. and 20th Century Fox Home Ent. have released individual two-disc DVD sets of STAR WARS: EPISODE IV A NEW HOPE, EPISODE V THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK and EPISODE VI RETURN OF THE JEDI ($29.98) on Sept. 12, 2006. Making these DVDs truly special, of course, is the inclusion, as special bonus material, of the original versions of the movies as seen in theaters in 1977, 1980 and 1983, respectively.
Jim Carrey, who played a live-action Grinch, returns to the world of Dr. Seuss as the lead voice actor in HORTON HEARS A WHO from Twentieth Century Fox Animation/Blue Sky Studios, reports USA TODAY and the trades. Meanwhile, Steve Carrell (THE OFFICE) will co-star as the diminutive mayor of Who-Ville.
Corus Ent. Inc. announced a new organizational structure for its television and content divisions. Corus Ent.s will focus on its kids portfolio highlighted by the integration of Nelvana Studios into the television division and the creation of Nelvana Enterprises, a separate business unit that will focus on leveraging Corus intellectual property internationally.
LucasArts and TT Games have shipped its hotly anticipated videogame, LEGO STAR WARS II: THE ORIGINAL TRILOGY, to retailers worldwide.
LEGO STAR WARS II combines the endless customization of LEGO play with a hilarious, tongue-in-cheek take on the epic story, characters and action from the classic STAR WARS: EPISODES IV, V and VI films. LEGO STAR WARS II is available on eight platforms, including the PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Game Boy Advance, PSP and Windows.
Walt Disney Pictures PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MANS CHEST officially crossed the $1 billion mark at the global box office on Friday, Sept. 8, thus becoming only the third film in history (behind TITANIC and THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING) to achieve this rare feat. DEAD MANS CHEST did it in nine weeks compared to 10 for THE RETURN OF THE KING. However, through the weekend ended Sept. 11, DEAD MANS CHEST has run its total to $1,004, 091,183, according to boxofficemojo.
Gnomon is now able to offer financial aid through Federal Student Aid. Students who are enrolled in the Certificate in High-end Computer Graphics Program on a full-time basis and are citizens of the U.S. may be eligible to receive Pell Grant and/or Stafford Loan financial assistance.
NVIDIA Corp. announced that its NVIDIA GoForce handheld graphics processing units (GPUs), are powering some of the world's first mobile TV production rollouts.
DVB-H, or Digital Video Broadcasting for handheld devices, delivers digital broadcast quality TV to your mobile phone. NVIDIA GoForce handheld GPUs provide hardware acceleration for Mobile TV, delivering higher quality visuals than devices using only software, and with less drain on the battery thanks to new power saving technologies employed by the GPU.
Screen Gems horror flick, THE COVENANT (with vfx from Luma), captured the top spot at the box office in a weak weekend for the period ended Sept. 10, 2006, with $8.8M. HOLLYWOODLAND, (with vfx by Mr. X) inspired by the mysterious death of actor George Reeves (TVs SUPERMAN), bowed in second, picking up $5.9M for Focus Features. INVINCIBLE, the previous leader, slipped to third, catching $5.6M and $45.5M for Buena Vista. THE PROTECTOR, from The Weinstein Co., debuting in fourth with $5M. Lionsgates CRANK followed in fifth with $4.9M and a cume of $19.9M.
Creator of long-running Japanese children's cartoon series OJARUMARU, Rin Inumaru, has apparently committed suicide by jumping off the roof of a 14-story apartment building in Tokyo, various news sources have reported. Police have informed the press that Inumaru left suicide notes to her mother, expressing trouble with her work.
The 48-year-old cartoonist leapt from the roof on Sept. 10, 2006, landing on the roof of a five-story building below. She died of her injury shortly after the fall.
Centive announced that its viral marketing campaign BicBac (www.centive.com/bicbac) has been named a finalist for the Creative Media Awards presented by MEDIA MAGAZINE.
The Lafayette Public Library has added animated versions of classic childrens books to its website www.lafayette.lib.la.us, reports THE DAILY ADVERTISER. This new feature, called Tumble Books, includes sound, music and narration added to read-along text.
HIT Ent. is expanding with a new office servicing the Asia Pacific region in Hong Kong. HITs Asia Pacific licensing, TV sales and distribution will be handled out of Hong Kong, enabling the company to work more closely with its broadcasting partners, licensees and licensing agents.
The Hong Kong office will service Australia, Korea, South East Asia and India. HIT already operates an office in Japan.
Animator Jan Svochak died of lung cancer Sept. 6, 2006, in Florida at the age of 80. J. J. Sedelmaier (J.J. Sedelmaier Prods.) relates, "Most people know Jan's work from the years he put in on the Hawaiian Punch campaign. He was the head animator from the '60s up to the early '90s.
The latest Acrobat edition of Animation World Magazine is now available. Its free for a limited time only! This months issue tackles the topic of comics, comic strips and illustrations. Jim Korkis uncovers the secret life of animators, who in lean times or more prosperous times have all worked in the world of comicbooks. Korkis also speaks with Floyd Gottfredson, who brought Mickey Mouse to the world via daily comic strips. Joe Strike looks into the art and artists behind classic and contemporary movie posters.
Test your skills and challenge your brain with AWN's Animation Trivia Quiz. Check out the latest installment from quizmaster Karl Staven, an accomplished independent animator and head of the Animation Department at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Anime cartoon emotional conventions are a little different than some that we are used to in U.S. animation and comics. We will describe drawn anime visual shortcuts, all you have to do is match it to the emotion that it is associated with.
This week in AWN's Forums, there is a thread asking for examples of good and bad acting in animation.
THE LITTLE MERMAID, which launched Disneys animation rebirth in 1989, made its digital debut last night (Sept. 7, 2006) at Hollywoods legendary El Capitan Theatre. The special limited engagement runs through Sept. 24, celebrating the Oct. 3 release of the special edition DVD from Walt Disney Home Ent.
Midway Games Inc. announced the development of THE GRIM ADVENTURES OF BILLY & MANDY for the Nintendo Wii. Gamers can play as one of 15 characters from one of Cartoon Networks top-rated shows in the adventure/fighting game, which is also scheduled to be available for the PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy Advance this holiday season.
Turner Broadcasting System Inc. announced that programming downloads of original episodes from Cartoon Network and Adult Swim are now available on Amazon.coms new digital video download service, Amazon Unbox. The new content features such favorites as Cartoon Networks FOSTERS HOME FOR IMAGINARY FRIENDS and Adult Swims AQUA TEEN HUNGER FORCE. Amazon.com has been offering Cartoon Network and Adult Swim content via DVD as well.
Available download content from Cartoon Network and Adult Swim will include the following:* JOHNNY BRAVO
Shorts Intl, the programming and distribution arm of leading short films specialists Brit Shorts, announced that a special collection of 10 animated films from the world's hottest independent animators are available for purchase on the iTunes Music Store (www.itunes.com).
Pileated Pictures announced that it recently wrapped production of a dozen animated episodes to support the launch of Trivial Pursuit DVD for Kids. The team at Pileated handled all aspects of production for Parker Brothers, owned by Hasbro, including animation, design, voice-over production, video post work and DVD authoring.
The ninth season of the popular POKÉMON series POKÉMON: BATTLE FRONTIER will air exclusively on Cartoon Network, part of Cartoon Networks Saturday morning lineup of comedic and action-adventure programming. The new season kicks off on Saturday, Sept. 9, at 9:00 am (ET, PT) with a special one-hour episode. The series will air regularly on Saturday mornings at 9:30 am (ET, PT).
Immersive community sites Urbanics.com and Ikoncity.com have pitted their gamers against each other in a battle for bragging rights as well as cool prizes. Members of the two sites can sign up to participate in the competition at www.ikoncity.com/battlezone10/. Top scorer will win an Urbaniacs t-shirt and the top will earn bonus Urbos, which can be used on the site to pimp out your custom Urbaniacs character.
