Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup, the pint-sized crime-fighting stars ofCartoon Network's THE POWERPUFF GIRLS, created by Craig McCracken, willhost a Teen People Online chat session on AOL on Thursday, November 4 at 7pm ET.
Larry Shapiro, executive vice president of business development andoperations for Disney's Buena Vista Internet Group (BVIG), has beenappointed to the COPA Commission on Child Online Protection. COPA is taskedwith identifying and studying technological or other methods to reduce andrestrict access to harmful material for minors on the Internet. "Since itsinception with Disney Online, Buena Vista Internet Group has been committedto providing trusted environments and entertaining destinations online. We
Simon & Schuster Interactive has released a MISS SPIDER'S TEA PARTY CD-ROM.Based on the best-selling MISS SPIDER'S TEA PARTY children's books by DavidKirk, the CD-ROM recreates the spectacular, colorful imagery that hasthrilled children and critics alike. The CD-ROM allows children to assistMiss Spider in throwing a tea party through eight fun games that providevaluable learning experiences. The activities are designed to help kidsincrease color, sound, and shape identification, enhance coordination and
Viacom's MTV Networks Online has announced the formation of NickelodeonOnline, a new Internet-only company that combines several already existingNickelodeon Web sites, as well as some new sites. Leading the new companyis Nickelodeon veteran Taran Swan, who has been named senior-vice presidentof the new company. Swan will report directly to Fred Seibert, president ofMTV Networks Online and Chairman of Nickelodeon Online. Prior toNickelodeon Online, Swan was the General Manager for Nickelodeon Latin
A Web site for FANTASIA/2000 launched on Friday, October 22. The siteexplores various aspects of the creation of the film -- the art, musicand technology -- through virtual visits to Roy Disney's office, ananimator's work station and a scoring stage. The site will feature sneakpreview clips from the film, interviews with the artistic and musicaltalents as well as games and activities. The site will also provide acomplete listing of IMAX theatres around the world that will be debuting
The Harvey Entertainment Company, which owns the rights to such charactersas Casper the Friendly Ghost and Richie Rich, has announced an agreementwith Spumco Inc. (the company founded in 1989 by John Kricfalusi to makeTHE REN & STIMPY SHOW for Nickelodeon) to produce cartoons createdspecifically for the Internet based upon classic Harvey characters. Thecartoons will run from two to seven minutes in length utilizing newstorylines written for Harvey characters such as Spooky, Little Audrey,
Last week we announced that Warner Bros. Online and Brilliant DigitalEntertainment were joining up to create Multipath Movie Channel, a 3-Danimation channel, and that SUPERMAN: THE MENACE OF METALLO would be itsfirst online offering. Well, SUPERMAN 1: THE MENACE OF METALLO is alsobeing released on November 2, 1999 as a multi-path interactive DVDadventure. In the game, Superman flies to the planet Cadmus in search of astolen top-secret piece of technology, where he finds Metallo, a robot with
Burlington, Massachusetts-based NewKidCo International Inc., a children'sgame publisher, and Disney Interactive have entered into a multi-yearagreement to develop and publish console video games featuring popularDisney properties. Through the deal, NewKidCo has obtained the rights topublish interactive adventures for various video game platforms, includingPlayStation, Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color. As part of the agreement, thefirst title targeted for release will be DISNEY'S ANIMATED STORYBOOK:
Seattle, Washington-based Honkworm International has secured a content development,production, and distribution agreement with web animator, Camp Chaos, thefirst such alliance Honkworm has completed. "We are excited to work evencloser with Camp Chaos and broaden our already existing relationship," saysHonkworm COO, Dan Pepper. "As we ramp up production, we're continuing tolook for more partners like this to add to our portfolio." Theco-production structure with Camp Chaos will likely be repeated in future
Warner Bros. Online, a division of Time Warner Entertainment Company, and Brilliant Digital Entertainment, an Internet content and tools developer, have announced the formation of a co-production and Internet distribution relationship to launch a co-branded 3-D animation channel, the MULTIPATH MOVIE CHANNEL, on Time Warner's Entertaindom Web site at www.Entertaindom.com.
Joseph Szadkowski reports on Sega's new Dreamcast system, the latest technology to hit the gaming world and put Sega back on top.
San Francisco-based Protozoa, with DotComix, the animation portal atwww.dotcomix.com, has produced a 3D animated rock video for Internetbroadcast with Garry Trudeau and his JT Thudpucker character from theDOONESBURY comic strip for NetAid, a UN sponsored global crusade againstpoverty. The video features JT singing a NetAid anthem, and debuts onWednesday, September 29 at www.doonesbury.com. Trudeau has integrated thepremiere of the Internet video within the plot of his daily Doonesbury
Bothel, Washington-based Humongous Entertainment, creators of children'ssoftware, and Nickelodeon are releasing BLUE'S TREASURE HUNT, a Blue'sClues CD-ROM learning adventure for preschoolers. Based on Nickelodeon'sprimetime special that aired in March 1999, BLUE'S TREASURE HUNT followsBLUE'S ABC TIME ACTIVITIES, BLUE'S BIRTHDAY and BLUE'S 123 TIME ACTIVITIES.In BLUE'S TREASURE HUNT, kids aged three to six team up with Steve and hisBlue's Clues pals to help search for the treasure chest that holds the keys
Lucas Learning Ltd. has released STAR WARS: PIT DROIDS, a STAR WARS EPISODEONE-based puzzle game. Players must direct an endless row of pit droidstoward appropriate goals, and prevent them from falling off the edge of theworld. Players can play the puzzles at random, or work from location tolocation to achieve a high score. There are eight game levels, six gameenvironments, and more than 300 puzzles. The game is compatible with bothPC and Mac, and has a retail price of US$29.99.
MIP INTERACTIVE INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT will debut the week of September 20, 1999 atwww.mipinteractive.com. The Spotlight will be bi-monthly and the on linesession will last one business week. Each Spotlight will explore specificprogram genres or territories with articles, executive viewpoints,programming highlights, special e-mail sections, bulletin boards,statistics and logistics, reviews and interviews, and more. The firstSpotlight will feature "The Science of Programming Children's Blocks."
According to Reuters, Patrick Naughton, 34, of Seattle, Washington,executive vice president of products at Infoseek Corp., the Internet mediasite which is part of Disney's Go Network, was arrested on Thursday,September 16, 1999 on the Santa Monica Pier, an amusement park area in WestLos Angeles. The arrest came after he met a female FBI agent who hadarranged to meet him there, according to Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for theU.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles. He is charged with interstate travel
A website devoted to Walt Disney has been launched atdisney.go.com/disneyatoz/waltdisney/home.html. The site coversDisney's entire career, and features clips from Disney's animated andlive-action films, as well as family photos and home movies.
San Francisco, California-based Mondo Media, Inc. has announced a one-year deal with Netscape Communications, a subsidiary of America Online, Inc., to provide Netscape's Netcenter Web site with two weekly animated shows which will be presented under the banner of MONDO MINI SHOWS. LIKE, NEWS is written and directed by Don Asmussen, a regular cartoonist for TIME and GEORGE magazines, and features a sarcastic teenager with a nose ring who "interviews" newsmakers such as Saddam Hussein and Al Gore.
Tens of thousands of gameboys in the US and Canada flocked to retail outlets early on the morning of Thursday, September 9 as the Sega Dreamcast videogame console was made available for the first time in North America. As Sega expected, sales for the console during the first 24-hours set a new record for biggest 24-hours in entertainment retail sales with a total of $97,904,618.09 (about 500,000 players at a retail price of $199). The previous record was held by STAR WARS: THE PHANTOM MENACE, with its $28 million boxoffice on its first day of release in May 1999.
The Harvey Entertainment Company has selected New York-based Xceed, Inc., amarketing and communications company that specializes in interactiveservices, to develop a family oriented portal to exploit Harvey's brands onthe Web. Harvey Entertainment owns the rights to an extensive list ofwell-known cartoon characters, including Casper, the Friendly Ghost, RichieRich, Baby Huey, Wendy the Witch and Hot Stuff. Potential programming forthe portal include Harvey's classic animation library, stories from Harvey
New York-based studioNEXT.com Corporation and Voyager Entertainment, Inc.have announced a partnership to bring the Japanese television series, STARBLAZERS, to the Internet. The series first appeared on US television in1979, and lasted for three seasons. The story of STAR BLAZERS is about agroup of heroic voyagers who, in order to save Earth from invasion, journeyon the starship Argo to battle the diabolical forces of Gamilon, the evilstellar empire. "There has been further interest to bring back STAR BLAZERS
The first episode ofSATURDAY NIGHT FRED, a CartoonNetwork.com Web Premiere Toon, debuted onAugust 30, 1999. The cartoon features clips from the 1963 season of THEFLINTSTONES that have been re-edited, with new voice-overs, to create newstories featuring Fred, Barney, and the rest of the Flintstones cast fromthat year. Viewers can either download the show as a QuickTime file, orview it as a streaming file. In both cases, it is possible to interact withthe show by replying to questions whose answers determine the direction the
Broderbund has released TOTALLY MAD, a seven CD-ROM compendium thatdocuments the history of MAD MAGAZINE. Included are the entire run ofissues up to 1998 from almost 50 years of MAD's history, along with videoclips of staff and artists, songs and animated cartoons from the currentsyndicated TV show including Spy vs. Spy and 14 animated marginals drawn bySergio Aragones. Back issues can be browsed page by page, or searched forarticles on specific topics. This is a collector's dream. Requires Windows95/98. Retail price is US$69.95.
Sega DreamCast, the superconsole with a built-in 56K modem (for internetgame play) that will bring the most-advanced and realistic video gameplayever developed to consumers when it is launched on September 9, 1999, hasset a record with 300,000 pre-orders, surpassing the previous record of100,000 held by Sony PlayStation. The new 128-bit, Internet-ready SegaDreamCast is fifteen times more powerful than a Sony PlayStation, ten timesmore powerful than a Nintendo 64 and has four times the graphics processing
MTV and sister Viacom unit Simon & Schuster Interactive are producing sixCD-ROM (for PC and Mac) and PlayStation entertainment titles for MTV'sDARIA over the next five years. The first title, DARIA'S SICK, SAD LIFEPLANNER will ship this October for the PC. DARIA, which debuted in March of1997, spun off Beavis and Butt-Head's only female "friend" into her ownshow. The series is about Daria Morgendorffer, a smart and sardonicteenager blessed with an uncanny ability to turn potential disaster to her
