New York University hosts a symposium on The National Film Board of Canadain honor of the NFB's 60th anniversary. The event takes place Thursday,November 11 - Sunday, November 14 in New York, New York, USA. For moreinformation Tel. (212) 596-1660.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presents the National FilmBoard of Canada's 60th Anniversary Animation Celebration. The Academy islocated at 8949 Wilshire Blvd. The event takes place Thursday, November 18,8 pm. Beverly Hills, California, USA. For more information Tel. (310)247-3000.
The 2nd Annual Worldfest-Flagstaff International Film Festival. Worldfest,which has been held in Houston for 32 years and additionally in Charleston,South Carolina for five years, takes place in Flagstaff, Arizona, thefestival's second appearance there. The festival's focus is on independentworks that have not yet been picked up for distribution. The widecompetition program features eight animation categories and several others,which may accept animated works, such as "computer generated/mixed media."
The 22nd Cinanima International Animated Film Festival. Since 1977,Cinanima has been promoting the international art of animation in Espinho,a city located on the Northern coast of Portugal. The events takes placeMonday, November 8 - Sunday, November 14 in Esphino, Portugal. For moreinformation contact: Cinanima, Apartado 743, Rua 62-251, 4501 EspinhoCodex, Portugal; Tel. + (351) 2 734-4611, 734-1621; Fax: + (351) 2734-6015; or E-mail: cinanima@mail.telepac.pt. Also visitwww.awn.com/cinanima.
The Walt Disney Company and the Hong Kong SAR Government have reached anagreement for a proposed Hong Kong Disneyland, a theme park development tobe built as the anchor of a tourism center on Lantau Island. Overlookingthe water at Penny's Bay, and on a main transit route from the new HongKong International Airport, the project will make Lantau Island aworld-class tourist destination and take advantage of the location's easyaccess by rail, highway and ferry to attract guests to the Park. Currently
Imagine Entertainment, a film and television production company formed in1986 by producer Brian Grazer and director Ron Howard, and DreamWorks SKG,which was formed by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen,are joining forces to create a new internet entertainment company calledPOP.com. The new company is an equal partnership, to be funded by VulcanVentures, Inc., the investment organization of DreamWorks investor Paul G.Allen. Launching in Spring 2000, POP.com is an independent digital
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.
Fox has removed Saban Entertainment's SPIDER-MAN UNLIMITED, the futuristicSpider-Man series, and Columbia/TriStar Television's BIG GUY AND RUSTY THEBOY ROBOT, which was based on the Frank Miller/Geoff Darrow comic bookabout a little Astro Boy-like robot and his Gigantor-like pal, from the FOXKids line-up. Both series debuted in September. They have been replaced bySaban Entertainment's THE AVENGERS, and additional time slots for BKN(Bohbot Kids Network)'s MONSTER RANCHER and Toei Animation Co.'s DIGIMON:DIGITAL MONSTERS.
The annual Best Of Banff Television Festival is a traveling showcasefeaturing highlights of the 20th Banff Television Festival, which tookplace June 13 - 19 in Banff, Canada. The program will make its Ottawa,Canada stop at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Hull on November 17,1999. S4C/BBC's GOGS: GOGWANA, winner of this year's Banff's Best AnimationProgram Award, and NFB of Canada/Channel Four's SNOW CAT, a nominee forBest Animation Program at Banff, will be the featured animated programs.
The 1999 ASIFA-East animation art fund raiser auction takes place onFriday, November 12, 1999. Films will be shown from Cartoon Network, KarenAqua, Nickelodeon's BLUE'S CLUES, Bill Plympton, J.J. SedelmaierProductions, Academy Award Winning Blue Sky Studios (BUNNY), and manyothers. After the films are shown, artwork or items relating to the filmswill be auctioned and all the money will go to benefit ASIFA-East, the EastCoast chapter of the international animation society. The auction takes
The Women In Animation Shorts Fest 2 is a showcase for short animatedfilms made by WIA members and other filmmakers from around the world. Thisevening's program includes LIFE, the hilarious new animated jam sessionfrom Mo Willems and 32 other animators from New York, including TissaDavid, George Griffin, Yvette Kaplan, Candy Kugel and Bill Plympton.Admission is FREE and open to the public. The event takes place Friday,November 12, 1999 at 7:00 pm at Santa Monica College, Academy of
Toronto-based Canuck Creations Inc. is in the final stages of productionon THE PRODIGAL SON, a futuristic look at an ancient Bible story. Canuckproduced the short from conceptual design to final color, combining 2D and3D elements. The 24-minute film will be the main attraction for the youthpavilion at World Expo 2000, which will take place in Germany. Otherfeatures Canuck has worked on include THE STORY OF JOSEPH, the DreamWorksdirect-to-video sequel to the animated feature, THE PRINCE OF EGYPT,
London-based HRA has completed "Eddie Spaghetti," a :30 for Heinzspaghetti and agency Leo Burnett, Chicago. The spot depicts the journey ofa piece of spaghetti from plate to boy's mouth, inside of which a party isin progress. The ad, directed by Kim Burdon, features 3D computeranimation, traditional cel animation, live-action, and puppetry.
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
North Hollywood, California-based Film Roman has begun production on THE OBLONGS, a television series that will be distributed by Warner Bros. Television on The WB Network for the 2000 season. THE OBLONGS is the second animated prime-time series, after Howard Stern's DOOMSDAY for UPN, that Film Roman has added for the 2000 television season.
Heikki Jokinen relates the current feature animation scene in Europe, from distribution problems to help from Cartoon.
The Moondance International Film Festival has announced the selection ofthe quarter-finalists for its first competition, Moondance 2000. Thefestival takes place in Boulder, Colorado, January 14-16, 2000 as part ofthe Sundance Film Festival. Entries were welcome from women screenwritersand film-makers from any country. For more information e-mail:mermaid7cs@aol.com; or write: Moondance International Film Festival, 970Ninth Street, Boulder, CO 80302, USA. The following films arequarter-finalists in the animation film category:
Andy Klein traveled to the magical little village of Genzano for this quaint and intimate animation festival.
The Animation Writers Caucus of the Writers Guild of America, a group ofanimation writers represented by The Writers Guild, presented its SecondAnnual Animation Writing Award to Paul Dini at its annual meeting onWednesday, October 20. Dini is currently writing and producing BATMANBEY0ND for the Kids WB Network. "He's a very talented writer who has alwaysturned out interesting, exciting material," said Craig Miller, the Caucuschair. "His work on BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES and BATMAN BEYOND has
At 91, Joe Grant is the only artist to have worked on both Fantasia and Fantasia 2000. Mike Lyons catches up with this special working Joe.
The fourth stamp in the Looney Tunes series, which will be releasedsometime next year by the US Postal Service, will feature two characterscreated by Chuck Jones for Warner Bros., Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner.The Bugs Bunny stamp began the series in 1997, followed by the Sylvesterand Tweety stamp in 1998 and the Daffy Duck stamp in 1999. The lucklessgenius inventor, Wile E. Coyote, and his speedy nemesis, the Road Runner,have appeared together in more than forty cartoons since their debut film,FAST AND FURRY-OUS, was released in 1949.
Courage the Cowardly Dog premieres this month on the Cartoon Network. Bob Miller interviews John R. Dilworth, the show's creator, on taking the award winning short to series.
Animated features are struggling to break into the mainstream and away from the "kids only" label. Andrew Osmond surveys the prospect of feature cartoons growing up, and the issues surrounding this transformation.
Fred Patten reviews this beautiful text that goes behind the scenes of Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke.
A hopeful sign...
