Disney/Pixars CARS had plenty in the tank to outpace the competition in its second weekend at the box office. For the period ended June 18, CARS grabbed $33.7M, down 44%, for a cume of $117M. Following in the second through fourth spots were newcomers NACHO LIBRE, THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS: TOKYO DRIFT and THE LAKE HOUSE.
The Animation Guild celebrates the sixty-fifth anniversary of the 1941 Disney strike in the June issue of its newsletter, The Peg-Board...
Autodesk Inc. announced that its technology was used to create high-definition television (HDTV) content for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Autodesk solutions provide digital artists with the creative tools and processing power necessary to quickly and efficiently produce content containing the level of detail required for HDTV programming. Post-production facilities that relied on Autodesk technology include: Deep Blue Sea, Locomotion, METAphrenie, Method Studios and The Mill.
Each month, ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE focuses its attention on a particular theme.
Adult Swims first season of THE VENTURE BROS., a spoof of JONNY QUEST, from Noodlesoup Prods., is currently available on DVD (Warner Home Video, $29.98). All 13 episodes from Cartoon Network plus the pilot and Christmas are contained in this two-disc collectors edition featuring the adventures of dim-witted twins, Hank and Dean, who tag along with their scientist father and unsuccessfully try to combat oddball villains. The series offers the voice work of Patrick Warburton, who plays Brock Sampson, the family bodyguard.
Other extras include:
Test your skills and challenge your brain with AWN's Animation Trivia Quiz.
Steve Martin steps into the role of bumbling Inspector Clouseau made famous by the late Peter Sellers in this family-friendly remake of THE PINK PANTHER, which recently bowed on DVD (Sony Home Ent., $28.95). Say what you will about the success or failure of Martins wild and crazy interpretation, but the title sequence from Kurtz and Friends Animation is true to form. Judge for yourself, as the Animated Trip featurette covers the animated opening credits with interviews with director Bob Kurz, animator Eric Goldberg and editor Ken Smith.
This week in AWN's Forums, a debate has begun over why animators up and quit jobs. Theres a continuing thread on character animation in Flash. Others are talking about the continued string of Pixar success. Another member needs advice on ways to improve their drawing skills. A junior member wants some suggestions on building a portable animation studio. Theres also a thread over the poor treatment of the CHIPMUNK ADVENTURE DVD cover.
FUNimation Ent., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Navarre Corp. and the market share leader for home video sales of Japanese animation in the U.S., announced today (June 16, 2006) that the FUNimation Channel is now live in Los Angeles via digital broadcast on LA 18.3. The FUNimation Channel provides 24-hour digital programming featuring top anime brands in the U.S. to more than five million households in the Los Angeles area.
Wrapping up its run on June 17, 2006, the 17th Zagreb, World Festival of Animated Films, awarded its Grand Prix to Joanna Quinn's multiple-Annecy winner, DREAMS AND DESIRES FAMILY TIES. Her short was a two-time winner, also taking home the Jury International Film Critics prize. The top audience award went to PRO IVANA DURAKA, (IVAN THE FOOL) by Mikhail Aldashin and Oleg Uzhinov.
Below is a complete list of winners:
GRAND COMPETIONGrand Prix DREAMS AND DESIRES FAMILY TIES, by Joanna Quinn, U.K.
Golden Zagreb Award
Nick Jr.'s will "sneak peek" its newest preschool show, WOW! WOW! WUBBZY!, across several media platforms, beginning Tuesday, June 20, 2006. The 26-episode series premieres on Nick Jr. on Aug. 28.
Cartoon Network Enterprises (CNE, Cartoon Networks worldwide consumer products division) struck a long-term global partnership with the worlds leading toy company, Mattel Inc. for a multi-year, multi-property deal. The master toy license agreement covers original Cartoon Network properties for the 6-11 age group and also carries a first-look option on all newly created original series and programming.
Mississippi-based Maris, West & Baker is launching a new ad to teach children about the harmful effects of tobacco. "Candy Factory" is the latest :30 spot for the award-winning creative agency to begin airing this month throughout the state of Mississippi. "Candy Factory" is the second recent anti-tobacco spot that Maris, West & Baker has produced for its client, The Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi.
A survey of 100,000 U.S. members of Casino Fortune, the oldest online casino, revealed Homer Simpson as the Craziest TV Dad. Sixty-seven wild TV fathers, nearly all from sitcoms, were nominated, and 20 of those were voted onto the Craziest TV Dad list.
Post Logic N.Y. has signed well-known commercial colorist Milan Boncich. Boncich has worked with some of the most prominent directors and dps in the worlds of advertising, film and visual effects. He was the longtime senior colorist at Tape House Editorial until 2002 when he joined Moving Images.
The addition of Boncich to Post Logic N.Y.s talent roster reinforces the companys ongoing commitment to the commercial market and its intention to compete for that business at the highest levels.
Rainmaker Ltd. Partnership (Rainmaker) completed 170 CG shots on the new Fox release, GARFIELD: A TAIL OF TWO KITTIES. Full CG face replacements were completed on the film's new character, Winston the bulldog, and on eight other talking animals. Completing the task in just eight weeks, the Rainmaker team was led by visual effects supervisor Charlene Eberle and visual effects producer Jinnie Pak.
Target Ent. has germinated a batch of new licensing deals for Chapman Ent.s preschool property, FIFI AND THE FLOWERTOTS.
Although the property was only launched at the UK Brand Licensing Show in October 2004, the licensing team at Target has already amassed 34 separate agreements for the U.K., in addition to the master toy, publishing and home entertainment deals already done by Chapman Ent.
Boomstone Ent. Inc. is in production on a new childrens all Canadian animated project, LITTLE MELODY, featuring the musical adventures of Little Melody, her magical flute, Toot, and best friend and narrator Mrs Quill, a friendly Bluebird voiced by Margot Kidder (SUPERMAN, SMALLVILLE). Little Melody is slated for fall 2007 release.
Image College of Arts, Animation and Technology (ICAT), a division of Chennai-based Image Infotainment Limited, will launch a three-year full-time program in digital media, which includes animation, visual effects, game design or game development, reports THE BUSINSS STANDARD.
Philip Thomas, manager (admissions) of ICAT, said that the digital media industry across the world was in need of more fusion artists, those who combine artistic and technical skills.
Baggy Shorts, a dedicated portfolio of directors with digital production skills and a satellite of Qi Commercials, and Disqo, a division of Golden Square Post Prod., have formed an affiliation with the aim of offering creative and production expertise in the digital arena.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006, marked the close of another exceptional Banff World Television Festival, with more than 1,450 delegates in attendance, and a combined 1,700 delegates taking in both the television festival and its sister-event, nextMEDIAThe Future of Digital Content. With jam-packed panel and session rooms and a whirl of special events, the festival generated the signing and greenlighting of new deals, as well as the opportunity for delegates to turn their project ideas into reality.
The Creative Talent Network and Van Eaton Galleries will present SCRIBBLIN ON SCRAP WITH RIK MAKI an exhibition and sale of original art by one of the most prolific and influential artists working in feature animated films, including THE LION KING, HERCULES, A BUGS LIFE, FINDING NEMO and TREASURE PLANET.
The National Cartoonists Society announced the winners of the 2006 Reuben Awards, including the selections for the Reuben Award for Cartoonist of the Year, at a black tie dinner on May 27, in Chicago. For the animation world, awarded Nick Parks WALLACE & GROMIT: CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT the prize for feature animation. For TV animation, David Silverman won for his work on THE SIMPSONS.
For the first time, award-winning filmmaker David B. Levy has collected the insights of more than 100 professionals from the top of the animation industry into a new book titled, YOUR CAREER IN ANIMATION: HOW TO SURVIVE AND THRIVE, which tackles the most crucial issues that animation artists face today.
Paramount Pictures and Steven Spielberg are developing a space travel tale about a group of explorers who travel through a wormhole into another dimension, reports VARIETY. Spielberg plans to direct with Lynda Obst producing.
Based in real science, the plot will be based on a treatment by Kip S. Thorne, a Caltech physicist who's an expert on relativity. Thorne is most famous for his controversial theory that wormholes not only exist, but can be accessed and used as portals for time travel.
