In response to overwhelming demand from STAR WARS fans, Lucasfilm Ltd. and 20th Century Fox Home Ent. will unveil 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. Making these DVDs truly special is the inclusion, as special bonus material, of the original versions of the movies as seen in theaters in 1977, 1980 and 1983, respectively.
Gaelle Denis' British short CITY PARADISE won Best Animation at the 37th Nashville Film Festival. Honorable mention in the toon category went to EMELIA THE FIVE YEAR OLD GOTH GIRL, by Derek Flood.
As for the Best College Student Animation, SHE SHE SHE SHE'S A BOMBSHELL, by Ben Levin took home the prize with Ramon Paris and Maria Castillos EL PAGUEY receiving an honorable mention.
Sony Computer Ent. America announced its lineup of new software titles due out this year for PSP and PlayStation 2.
Warner Bros. and Playtone have tapped Benicio Del Toro, Forest Whitaker, Michelle Williams, Catherine O'Hara, Tom Noonan and Michael Berry to voice the creatures in WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE, an adaptation of the Maurice Sendak childrens classic, reports VARIETY and confirmed by a WB spokesperson. Spike Jonze is directing the film, which will combine live-action, animation and puppetry.
New Line Cinema has officially greenlit RUSH HOUR 3 with stars Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan and director Brett Ratner returning. The film will start production this fall for a planned 2007 release.
Tucker and Chan will reprise their respective roles as LAPD detective James Carter and Chinese Chief Inspector Lee in the film, which will feature the action comedy duo traveling to Paris to battle a wing of the Chinese organized crime family, the Triads.
MTV Germany was able to air the controversial BBC cartoon series, POPETOWN, in Germany, despite the protests of the German Catholic Church, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.
In a last minute move Wednesday, May 3, 2006, the bishops from Pope Benedict XVI's home state of Bavaria filed an injunction against MTV Germany to stop the network from airing a single episode of the animated series, which features the good-hearted Father Nicholas and his trials with his boss a squat, obnoxious, gun-toting Pope.
Sony Pictures Imageworks will present a behind-the-scenes look at the technical artistry from MONSTER HOUSE and OPEN SEASON at fmx/06, the 11th International Conference on Animation, Effects, Realtime and Content, taking place May 3-6 in Stuttgart, Germany.
IDT Ent. has appointed Marc DeBevoise svp, business development & strategy and Paul Campbell has joined the company as svp, publicity and promotion. Both execs will be based at IDT Ent.s east coast headquarters in Newark, New Jersey.
DeBevoise will be responsible for the generation, evaluation and execution of business development and growth opportunities, especially related to emerging digital content and distribution platforms.
DreamWorks Animation will debut a new animated short film, FIRST FLIGHT, on May 19, 2006, exclusively in select New York and Los Angeles theaters, with the opening of the studio's upcoming animated comedy, OVER THE HEDGE.
Written and directed by Cameron Hood and Kyle Jefferson, FIRST FLIGHT is a computer-animated short film about a fastidiously organized businessman, whose perspective on life is forever changed through an unexpected encounter with a tiny fledgling bird.
DIC Ent. has created an in-house division to oversee all broadcast and new media advertising sales initiatives for the launch of the new childrens programming block, CBSs Saturday Morning Secret Slumber Party, premiering Sept. 16, 2006. This team of industry veterans and new media experts will implement the broad-line advertising strategy for the block, which integrates television, online and new media, offering advertisers the opportunity to effectively reach kids across all three platforms.
Polhemus has introduced the VisionTrack Desktop 300. Designed by ISCAN Inc. of Burlington, Massachusetts, the VisionTrak Desktop 300 is a remote binocular eye tracking system that is used to collect pupil size, eye movement parameters and eye point of regard data from human subjects.
NewTek has announced the addition of 3D Arsenal and the 3D Arsenal suite of products to the NewTek line. 3D Arsenal is a collection of content, plug-ins and training material that simplify the creation of custom motion graphics and logo animations for video editors. 3D Arsenal is based upon NewTeks Emmy Award-winning LightWave 3D software. 3D Arsenal ships with more than 750 pre-created scenes and templates. A content only version of 3D Arsenal is available to current LightWave owners.
AMERICAN DAD: VOLUME ONE recently bowed as a three-disc DVD collection (Fox Home Ent., $39.98), featuring the first 13 episodes of the new hit animated series from FAMILY GUY creator Seth MacFarlane.
A graceful, gliding four wheel drive made of ice was needed for Toyota Prados latest television commercial, ICE SCULPTURES, directed by Bruce Hunt through @radical.media.
Autodesk Inc. honored the winners of the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition, which took place April 27-29 in Atlanta, Georgia. Autodesk sponsors two design contests as part of the FIRST competition: The Autodesk Inventor Award and The Autodesk Visualization Award. Robert "Buzz" Kross, vp of Autodesk's Manufacturing Solutions division, presented the awards and prizes to six winning teams at this year's event.
For the first quarter of 2006, DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. reported total revenue of $60.1 million and net income of approximately $12.3 million, or $0.12 per share on a fully diluted basis, driven primarily by the home entertainment sales of MADAGASCAR. However, this compares to revenue of $167 million and net income of $45.7 million, or $0.44 per share on a fully diluted basis for the same period in 2005. The company ended the period with $505.5 million of cash and cash equivalents.
The 32nd Annual Saturn Awards were presented at a gala affair in Universal City, California on May 2, 2006. The event attracted many of the top producers, directors and actors working in genre entertainment. BATMAN BEGINS and KING KONG each received three Saturn Awards while STAR WARS: EPISODE III REVENGE OF THE SITH, SIN CITY and THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH & THE WARDROBE each received two Saturn Awards.
Alliance Atlantis International Content Distribution announced that agreements have been reached in Canada with Adorable Kids Inc. to develop sleepwear and underwear and Calego Intl to develop a line of bags, backpacks and other accessories, for its preschool stop-motion animated property, LUNAR JIM.
Last year Light House Media Centre in Wolverhampton launched an Animation Bursary Scheme Animated Shorts to nurture and support up and coming animators in the West Midlands region. This year, with the support of Screen West Midlands, the scheme will run again between July and October 2006. Animated Shorts provides production resources, skills development and mentoring for three talented animators from the region.
Ubisoft announced its lineup of titles for the 2006 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) May 10-12, 2006, at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Ubisoft will showcase its titles at booth #924 in the South Hall.
Last weeks NAB, as always, provided a good opportunity to see some of the latest hardware and software innovations in action, and a precursor to more goodies on the horizon at SIGGRAPH in Boston later this summer. You can read the highlights in VFXWORLDS overview at the end of this week. Meanwhile, managing editor Rick DeMott reviews the latest version of FrameForge 3D previs software. And, with Fridays opening of M:I III, Alain Bielik uncovers ILMs challenging CG work on the Tom Cruise action/adventure directed by ALIAS J.J. Abrams.
Electronic Arts has marked the release of BLACK & WHITE 2: BATTLE OF THE GODS and 2006 FIFA WORLD CUP.
Developed by UK-based Lionhead Studios, BLACK & WHITE 2: BATTLE OF THE GODS has begun to ship to retail outlets and the EA downloader at www.downloader.ea.com.
The first half of the 10th season of SOUTH PARK culminates with Cartman's mom realizing she has lost control of her son in an all-new episode titled, "TSST!" premiering Wednesday, May 3, 2006, at 10 p.m. on Comedy Central.
The Dog Whisperer, Cesar Millan, takes on his biggest challenge to date when he signs on to discipline Eric Cartman. Cesar may have encountered his biggest challenge, because Cartman isn't going down without a fight.
Geneon Ent. has released VIEWTIFUL JOE VOLUME TWO, STARSHIP OPERATORS VOLUME THREE, SAIYUKI RELOAD GUNLOCK VOLUME ONE and KANNAZUKI NO MIKO SOLAR PRINCESS VOLUME ONE on DVD.
Based on Capcoms wildly popular videogame franchise, the vibrant and fun combination of Japanese and American comic-style character design has ranked #1 in its Saturday timeslot for kids 6-11 and boys 9-14 on Kids WB! since its November sweeps week debut. Featuring character profiles and conceptual images, the VIEWTIFUL JOE VOLUME TWO DVD will sell for $19.98.
Vivendi Universal Games announced on May 1, 2006, its new name, Vivendi Games "VG). The name change follows the parent company's announcement on April 20 that Vivendi Universal has become Vivendi. Under its new name, Vivendi Games will compete in all areas of the videogames industry, developing and publishing the highest quality franchises for all gamers.
