Boomerang has announced its fall 2003 line-up of classic cartoons. Properties added include THE FLINTSTONES and THE JETSONS, which are leaving Cartoon Network altogether. The new line-up marks a 44% change from last year.
Participation in the Cartoon Forum continues to swell with 800 professionals attending the four-day event Sept. 17-21, 2003 in Varese, Italy from 14 European countries, including two new UE member countries, Poland and Slovakia. Some 315 producers will be looking for the best financing while 108 broadcasters and 154 investors are looking for the best programs, with 285 million euros to be negotiated. They will see presentations for 82 animated series or TV specials, comprising 503 hours of animation.
Five European short films have been selected to compete for the 13th Cartoon d'Or award to be handed out at the awards ceremony September 20 2003 at Cartoon Forum, which takes place Sept. 17-20 in Varese, Italy.
The films were chosen by a jury from a field of 25 projects that won prizes at Cartoon's partner European festivals (Annecy, Bristol, Brussels, Espinho, Fredrikstad, Genzano di Roma and Utrecht). Jury members were Mark Baker, Jannik Hatrup, Corinne Jenart and Antonio Zurera.
The U.K.s Toonami channel, dedicated to action/adventure/anime animation, has landed STAR WARS: CLONE WARS. The new 2D series from Lucasfilm and Cartoon Network Studios chronicles the adventures of the STAR WARS heroes during the events that directly follow EPISODE II. The third Cartoon Network channel in Europe, Toonami, started broadcasting on September 8, 2003 and will begin airing CLONES on November 10. Cartoon Network will debut the new show in the U.S. on November 7. SAMURAI JACK and DEXTER'S LABORATORY creator Genndy Tartakovsky is the lead animator on the series.
ARTOONIC, a new Italian 3D series pilot about an inept polar bear's attempts to catch a baby seal in the glaciers, will participate in Cartoon Forum 2003 (Sept. 17-21 in Verese, Italy). The 13x5 series, an Inarc Progetti srl production that's created and directed by Daniele Bigi (creator of the short NMA and a collaborator on ROBOTA) and produced by Alfio Balsamo and Gaby Kiss-Maerth, will utilize traditional cartoon techniques and without any dialogue. Animation and rendering are being done in Maya and modeling is being performed in LightWave 3D.
CODENAME: KIDS NEXT DOOR, an original Cartoon Network animated action-comedy series will premiere on Cartoon Network Latin America on Sept. 5, 2003 at 7:00 pm CODENAME: KIDS NEXT DOOR follows the escapades of five eager, yet bumbling, 10-year-olds as they fight against the forces of tyrannical adults.
This 7 day festival of cartoon animation and comics is held in Beijing in August, 2003 and includes movies, TV, digital and computer animation, books, VCD/DVD, online works and programs, cartoon art, creation, technology and performance, live shows and related comic, video and audio games and products.
Finn Arnesen has been promoted from programming development chief of Cartoon Network Europe to head program production for Cartoon Network International with responsibility for all areas outside the U.S. The CN exec will be kept exceptionally busy with Cartoon Networks recent commitment of more than $500 million over five years (2003-2007) to produce original animated programming.
John S. Friend has been named svp of the newly created Cartoon Network Enterprises. In his new role, he will supervise the domestic and international sales and marketing teams. His duties also will include support to AOL Time Warner companies that represent Cartoon Network business interests, including Warner Bros. Consumer Products, Warner Home Video, Warner Bros. International Television and Warner Music Group. Moreover, he will work closely with the network's ad sales division to maximize promotional licensing opportunities.
Cartoon Networks premiere telecast of TEEN TITANS on Saturday, July 19, 2003 at 9:00 pm earned the cable network record ratings. The program stands as the most-watched Cartoon Network premiere ever with boys 6-11. Additionally, the Sunday replay at 10:00 pm ranked as the most-watched program in its timeslot on ad-supported basic cable with kids 6-11, kids 2-11, boys 6-11 and boys 2-11.
In the first of a two-part interview, Joe Strike reveals how Fred Seibert came to revive television animation in the 1990s, helping Hanna-Barbera and Nickelodeon give birth to a slew of original hits.
Iain Harvey reports on Europe's 2003 Cartoon Movie, covering the hot properties and how the event has progressed in five years to support European animated film producers.
The CNX daytime anime programming block, Toonami, has become so popular in Europe that the third kid's animation channel from the Cartoon Network stable will be rebranding under that name in September 2003.
The Toonami concept began as a programming block on Cartoon Network and was then expanded into the daytime hours on CNX. Shows like DRAGONBALL Z and X-MEN: EVOLUTION have consistently been amongst the highest rated cartoons with boys 10 to 15, the target audience for the new channel.
CARTOON presents Cartoon Masters: Finance. The theme of the event is
Cyborg 009 will join Cartoon Network's "Toonami" line-up on Monday, June 30, 2003, airing weekdays at 6:00 pm. Combining elements of JAMES BOND movies and ASTRO BOY, CYBORG 009 follows the adventures of a world-class sprinter who, after being seriously injured, is kidnapped by the Black Ghost, a villain plotting to take over the world. The athlete is rescued by a kind-hearted professor, who turns him into the ninth series of cyborg warriors that were originally designed as "super soldiers" to help carry out the plot to conquer the world, but are now dedicated to stopping them.
Family programming veteran Bob Higgins has been appointed svp, programming and development for Cartoon Network's kids businesses. The former Sony Pictures Family Entertainment exec will manage Cartoon Network's development, production and programming departments, plus oversee new original animated series, shorts, features and specials created in the network's Burbank studio and with various external production partners. He will also supervise acquisitions of off-net kids' programming, including anime and theatricals from domestic and international sources for Cartoon Network, U.S.
Casino of Doom's Flash-animated CRAZY PETE'S has been licensed for use as interstitial programming by the Fuse network. The cartoon started airing in May 2003 on the cable channel and is also featured on the Fuse's Website (www.fuse.tv) as part of its WTF series of "viral video" clips.
Does an animated star like Johnny Bravo flub a line? What happens when an anvil does not fall the right way? Cartoon Network digs through the archives of animated outtakes for a one-hour special that delivers some goofy goof-ups during CARTOON NETWORK BLOOPERS AND OTHER EMBARRASSING MOMENTS, airing Friday, June 6, 2003 at 7:00 pm (ET/PT). We're not talking bad paint jobs and characters floating off their baseline, but hilarious mess-ups like live-action pros do. Tom Kinney, the animated voice of SpongeBob SquarePants and The Mayor in THE POWERPUFF GIRLS, hosts the special. Included will be the funniest blown lines, a cavalcade of mishaps starring Wile E. Coyote and shots to the groin. Among the stars contributing outtakes are Ed, Edd and Eddy, The Flintstones, Samurai Jack, Foghorn Leghorn and The Jetsons. For more on Cartoon Networking programming go to CartoonNetwork.com (AOL Keyword: Cartoon Network).
The 14th Cartoon Forum will take place from September 17-20, 2003 in Varese (Lombardy, Italy). This coproduction forum is presented by CARTOON, with the support of MEDIA Programme of the European Union,. To help European animation programs get financing.
Cartoon Network hopes to make Memorial Day Weekend in the U.S. memorable for Powerpuff Girl fans with the television debut of THE POWERPUFF GIRLS MOVIE, the first feature film based on the series. Townsville's being overrun by bad people so Professor Utonium heads to his lab and invents three perfect little girls with incredible powers. But Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup have a lot to learn about being superheroes. Cartoon Network will run THE POWERPUFF GIRLS MOVIE at 8:00 pm (ET/PT) each night for four consecutive evenings, Friday, May 23-Monday, May 26, 2003.
Cartoon Future - Cartoon Master La Coru
Cartoon Creativity - Cartoon Master in Erfurt Subject: Creating animation for a worldwide audience.
Cartoon Network is adding 3D animated series, SITTING DUCKS and PECOLA, to air weekday mornings, starting April 21, 2003. "PECOLA and SITTING DUCKS are both whimsical and sweet series that feature popular CGI animation. We think they'll be perfect additions to our weekday morning line-up," said Jim Samples, gm/vp of Cartoon Network.
Turner Broadcasting's European channels received 14 PROMAX awards while the BBC channels took 20 at the PROMAX&BDA Europe: COLOGNE 03 competition in Germany April 3-4 2003.
CARTOON MOVIE, the only event dedicated to promoting European animated feature films, has nearly doubled in size in its five-year history. CARTOON MOVIE started on a positive note when organisers revealed that 1/3 of the projects presented last year are now in production with the required participants and funding. Started in 1998 with 255 professionals, the fifth edition of CARTOON MOVIE closed March 15, 2003 at Babelsberg Studios, in Potsdam, Germany with 461 attending, amongst them were 51 distributors and 61 investors.
