Linda Jones and Craig Kausen, daughter and grandson of legendary animation director and artist, Chuck Jones, have donated the Chuck Jones lithograph, "The Scweam," to the Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway in response to the recent theft of Edvard Munch's "The Scream" this past week.
Atari is to developing DRAGONSHARD, a realtime strategy game based on the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS universe created by Wizards of the Coast. Under license from Hasbro Inc., DRAGONSHARD will be the first game set in the exciting new D&D(R) campaign setting, EBERRON, a cinematic and war-torn world of action, adventure and intrigue where fantasy meets magical technology.
DRAGONSHARD is scheduled to be available for PC in spring 2005.
The September issue of ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE will focus on education and training. We'll be looking into how well schools are preparing graduates to work at studios as employees, as well as film makers. What is available now in online education and training. What schools are offering instruction and options in non-entertainment fields of animation. Plus a look at some of the leading programs and schools in Europe. If you have any suggestions or informatioin for any of these topics, please send an e-mail to editor@awn.com.
Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the publication of the first PETER PAN book by James M. Barrie, Disada has been asked by the Venice Art Center in Florida, south of St. Petersburg, to curate a PETER PAN exhibition. It will consists of original items from the first release of the classic 1953 Walt Disney animated feature PETER PAN. Disada's large collection of animation includes more than 300 items from the 1953 release and the exhibition includes original artwork, various posters and publicity items, toys, publications, records and a grand variety of other items from 1953.
European visual effects society eDIT | VES, whose upcoming festival runs in Frankfurt, Germany from Sept. 26 28, 2004, has announced that it will be screenings animated features SHARK TALE and TERKEL IN TROUBLE.
ADV Films has announced a street date of Oct. 5, 2004 for the DVD of LADY DEATH: THE MOTION PICTURE ($29.98), the first animated feature produced by the companys original content division. Working closely with LADY DEATH creator Brian Pulido, first time director and conceptual designer Andrew Orjuela teamed with writer Carl Macek,(developer and story editor of the ROBOTECH series, and producer/director of the English language version of VAMPIRE HUNTER D) to bring the Chaos! Comics character to the screen. ALI composer Bill Brown provided the score.
ADV Films releases its Aug. 24, 2004 street dates. The titles include FARSCAPE: SEASON THREE BOX SET, GET BACKERS: G & B ON THE CASE, KNIGHTS OF THE ZODIAC: THE MASTER OF SANCTUARY, MEGAZONE 23: PART 3 and WEDDING PEACH: ANGEL BELL.
GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE director Sam Weisman has been tapped to direct WIDOW'S BROOM for Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies, reports THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. The film is based on a book by JUMANJI and POLAR EXPRESS scribe Chris Van Allsburg, who will be adapting his book for the screen. Van Allsburg's production firm Golden Mean will produce the film along with Radar Pictures. Golden Mean partner Bill Teitler will serve as producer. Karen Rosenfelt and Julia Pistor will shepard the project for Paramount and Nickelodeon respectively. The film will go into production early 2005.
Eidos, one of the world's leading publishers and developers of entertainment software, has secured the distribution rights to LEGO Star Wars with Giant Interactive Entertainment Ltd. for all countries except Japan. The game will be released in April 2005 for the PlayStation2, Xbox, PC and Game Boy Advance. LEGO STAR WARS combines two childhood favorites, LEGO and STAR WARS, to create an innovative, action/adventure title designed for young gamers.
Six new Maya Masters have been selected by Alias for 2004: Andrew Daffy, CGI supervisor formerly with Framestore CFC; Jeremy Gordon, president/ceo of San Francisco-based game development company Secret Level; Lee Griggs, product specialist at ART VPS; Derald Hunt, digital effects artist; Tom Kluyskens, CG supervisor; and Rene Morel, character modeler and texturer.
Despite having to be filmed twice and still turning out to be quite a mess, Warner Bros.' EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING had enough drawing power to win the weekend ended Aug. 22, 2004.
Dargaud Distribution, the sales arm of leading French producer Dargaud Marina, has signed a raft of sales for CHILDHOOD STORIES, eight animated television specials based upon popular childrens books. Broadcasters on board include Italys RAI 3, Teletoon in France, Spains TV3 and NRK Norway for this unique collection of films while Dargaud Distrib. is targeting further international sales at MIPCOM.
Tiger Aspect has begun production on the childrens animated series CHARLIE AND LOLA, commissioned by the BBC.
Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) Europe has promoted Finn Arnesen to the joint roles of svp of Original Animation and Acquisitions for Cartoon Network, Boomerang and Toonami throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) as well as international head of Program Production with responsibility for all areas outside the U.S.
Telefilm Canada will sponsor the International Tête-à-Tête at the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF), a series of one-on-one meetings designed to foster co-production activity and international sales. In association with the festivals Trade Forum, this initiative offers the occasion for Canadian industry players to discuss projects face to face with international producers, distributors and sales agents during private half-hour meetings.
DIC Ent. (DIC) has announced the continued expansion of the STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE publishing program in 2004 with new licensees, as well as augmented programs with existing licensees scheduled for 2005.
Target Entertainment Ltd. expands is rights management business, appointing John Eastaff to the newly created position of director of marketing and brand licensing. He will head up Targets licensing, home entertainment and marketing activity as well as oversee the branding of the companys expanding slate of properties. He will also identify opportunities for newly acquired properties across various genres, which will be a key role as the company expands its rights management business.
Animation production company Red Kite makes its foray into theatrical-release animation, launching Red Kite Films with a major new feature-length film NOCTURNA. The film is a collaboration with Filmax Animation (Spain) and Animakids (France), set for theatrical release at Christmas 2006.
The Iranian animation film THE HOLE by Vahid Nasirian and produced by the Experimental and Documentary Film Center took home the second prize in the international competition section at the 19th Odense International Film Festival, which was held from August 4-9, 2004 in Denmark. The juvenile jury gave its prize to LOVE TRICYCLE by Andrew Goode (Australia).
ADV Films, the #1 producer-distributor of anime in the U.S., has announced its slate of releases for Aug. 17, 2004. Titles include NURSE WITCH KOMUGI: A VACCINE FOR HUMANITY! Volume 1, EL PARAÍSO DE HELLO KITTY: KITTY LINDA and MUTANT X: SEASON 2, DISCS 5-6 as well as a new AniMini collection.
THE NINE DOG CHRISTMAS SPECIAL, produced by Earthworks Entertainment, will have its Christmas 2004 premiere on the Disney Channels in Germany, Italy and in all of Asia, with further international TV deals expected shortly and a deal for the U.S. market is in the works.
NINE DOG CHRISTMAS stars nine extraordinary stray dogs who overcome tremendous odds to help Santa bring the spirit of Christmas to children all over the world when the reindeer flu threatens to ground Santa's sleigh. James Earl Jones narrates the family musical adventure story.
Twentieth Century Fox has teamed with the U.S.'s leading wireless carriers to create a wireless campaign for the studio's ALIEN VS. PREDATOR. All of the major U.S. carriers are joining Fox to bring users contents, promotions and contests.
By texting "AVP" to 20369 (20FOX), people can access the following:* An AVP Trivia Game* Downloadable wallpapers and ringtones, including the iconic Alien "snarl" and Predator "growl"
Foxs ALIEN VS. PREDATOR (with vfx by The Moving Picture Co., Cinesite (Europe), Double Negative and Framestore CFC) blew away the competition over the weekend ended Aug. 15, 2004.
Atari Inc. is collaborating with best-selling author Dale Brown and Eugen Systems on ACT OF WAR: DIRECT ACTION, scheduled to be released in spring 2005. The upcoming near-future, geopolitical techno-thriller is being developed by Eugen Systems with a storyline and game universe created in cooperation with Brown, 15-time New York Times best-selling author and expert on U.S. military, global conflict and future military technology.
Mac gamers can now get in on the SPIDER-MAN 2 fun as thanks to Aspyr Media, Inc. now shipping SPIDER-MAN 2: THE GAME, FOR MACINTOSH. Licensed by Activision, SPIDER-MAN 2: THE GAME, FOR MACINTOSH was developed by Ryan C. Gordon, who has previously worked with Aspyr Media on SHREK 2: THE GAME.
