Cartwrights back to Ponderosa

1999 marks the 40th anniversary of the longest running television series in history, "Bonanza," and New York-based Abrams/Gentile Entertainment is producing a new animated series based on the perennial Western. The show is a prequel of sorts taking place on the Ponderosa Ranch with a young Ben Cartwright and his teenage sons. Abrams/Gentile also presents numerous other new projects including:

"Open Call" (13 x 22 minutes): a comedy about two divorcees who become casting directors, as unqualified as they may be, in a unique blend of "real-time" animation and live-action.

Hammer Horror Films (13 x 22 minutes): Animated versions of horror films from the classic British film studio Hammer Films including such titles as "Horror of Dracula" and "Curse of the Werewolf."

"Benny & the Car-Toonz": A show for the "Blue's Clues" set of viewers about an ordinary kid, Benny, who is sucked into the world of TV and meets up with the wacky Car-Toonz. This edutainment entry combines live-action, puppetry and animation, and is distributed internationally by The Fremantle Corporation.

"Micronauts" (26 x 22 minutes): Based on the classic Marvel comic series, this is a co-production between Abrams/Gentile and Annex Entertainment with Kaleidoscope Media Group handling distribution. Combining traditional 2D and computer animation, the show takes viewers into a subatomic universe known as the Microverse.