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* Thursday, January 18 Friday, January 19, 2001. New York, New York, U.S.A.

Film Roman has promoted Uriel Sigala to the position of chief technology officer. In his new post, he will be responsible for modernizing the company's technology so that it can be more efficient and cost-effective. Sigala is a five-year veteran of Film Roman as the head of the technology division, in which he helped establish Film Roman's entertainment Website Level13.net. Currently, he is spearheading the design and implementation of the forthcoming www.filmroman.com Website.

For the second straight weekend, HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS has captured the top spot at the U.S. box office. With the second highest all time five-day Thanksgiving holiday cume of US$73.8 million, THE GRINCH, with primary visual effects by Digital Domain, has nabbed an amazing $137.1 million in just ten days. Therefore, director M. Night Shyamalan's follow-up to last year's sleeper hit, THE SIXTH SENSE, UNBREAKABLE had to settle for a second place debut.

AWN's Web Animation Guide is the place for what's new on the Net. This week's edition collects what is new in Internet animation starting over the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday!

Get your Web Animation Guide here!

Also every week AWN's associate editor Rick DeMott highlights what he thinks is the top new toon in cyberspace in "Rick's Picks!"

Read Rick's Pick For Monday, November 27, 2000!

On September 4, the new afternoon Monday-Thursday line-up will be unveiled with a "POKEMON Top 15 Countdown," highlighting the most popular characters selected by viewers. The three series set for the Monday-Thursday schedule are POKEMON, HISTERIA! and THE SYLVESTER & TWEETY MYSTERIES. The fourth spot will rotate throughout the fall, with series such as THE ZETA PROJECT and X-MEN: EVOLUTION.

* Thursday, April 5 Sunday, April 8, 2001. Taos, New Mexico, U.S.A. Entry Deadline: January 5, 2001.

Warner Home Video (WHV) will release the documentary CHUCK JONES: EXTREMES AND IN-BETWEENS, A LIFE IN ANIMATION on November 21, 2000. Whoopi Goldberg, Matt Groening, Ron Howard, John Lasseter, Leonard Maltin, Steven Spielberg and Robin Williams are among the stars featured in the film. The flick features never-before-seen artwork and original pencil sketches from Jones' personal archive in addition to clips from such classic works as RABBIT OF SEVILLE, WHAT'S OPERA, DOC?, ONE FROGGY EVENING, DUCK AMUCK, HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS! and Academy Award winner THE DOT AND THE LINE.

ADV Films and DIC will release the first two compellations of the popular TV anime series SAILOR MOON on November 21, 2000. The series is the story of Serena, a junior high school student who discovers that she has mystical powers and must defend the world against Queen Beryl and the evils of the Negaverse. ADV Films has licensed the first 82 episodes of the series from DIC and will be releasing them periodically. "The Legend Begins" and "The Power of Friendship" will be the first two volumes released, containing four episodes each. The tapes will retail for US$12.98 each.

Aardman Animations and BBC Video have announced they will be releasing "The Incredible Adventures of Wallace & Gromit" featuring all three of the Wallace & Gromit shorts. A GRAND DAY OUT has Wallace and Gromit traveling to the moon in search of cheese. THE WRONG TROUSERS chronicles the mishaps that ensue when Wallace takes in a shifty penguin as a lodger. A CLOSE SHAVE uncovers how Wallace and Gromit unravel a countrywide sheep-rustling ring. The volume will retail for US$19.98. Note the shrewd timing of this video -- on the same day that Aardman's CHICKEN RUN is released in stores!

Stockholm animation studio Filmtecknarna F. Animation AB has just wrapped on a new 30-second commercial for McDonald´s. The spot features an animated prince, sleeping beauty and dragon. The commercial was directed by Filmtecknarna´s Jonas Dahlbeck, who has previously directed spots for Boddingtons, Sky and Cartoon Network. The 3D backgrounds were designed and produced by Boris Nawratil with Lars Ohlson producing. The ad was created for the British agency Leo Burnett.

PDI/DreamWorks (formerly PDI), the animation and visual effects arm of DreamWorks SKG, has named Teresa Cheng as head of production. Cheng will oversee all of the global production efforts for PDI/DreamWorks. Previously, she has served as production manager for the DreamWorks animated feature film, SPIRIT, currently in production. Prior to DreamWorks, Cheng served as visual effects producer for Warner Bros.' BATMAN AND ROBIN.