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Walt Disney Co. Latin America has hired Marcos Rosset as managing director, Brazil. He will head all of the company's businesses in the territory, including the Portuguese language Disney Channel that debuts on April 5, 2001. For the past 15 years, Rosset served as managing director of CIC Video, a co-venture between Paramount Pictures and Universal Pictures. There he oversaw all retail businesses, including interactive consumer products and rental/sell-through video.

Visionary Media will offer 26 half-hour TV episodes of WHIRLGIRL, the Flash-animated Internet series, via Catherine Branscome of Branscome International. "WHIRLGIRL has been recreated for TV with more animation and greater frame rates than are seen online via FlashCast, a proprietary process developed in-house by Visionary," explained Visionary Media acting CEO Buzz Potamkin.

CartoonNetwork.com has announced that they have signed John Kricfalusi to a six short deal. Characters featured in his Web Premiere Toons will include the Jetsons, Yogi Bear and Fred and Barney of THE FLINTSTONES. John K's Spumco Inc. will produce the shorts. John Kricfalusi, creator and producer of THE REN & STIMPY SHOW, started his career at Hanna-Barbera. The first toon is scheduled to go live sometime in May. "John is considered one of the top creative forces in animation - online and on television," said Sam Register, senior vice president and creative director of Cartoon Network Online.

HANNIBAL held strong at the international box office with debuts of TRAFFIC topping charts in Australia and Italy. In France, however, HANNIBAL fended off the premiere of TRAFFIC, taking the top slot with a gross of US$3.17 million and raising its cume to $9.4 million. In second, TRAFFIC smuggled in $2.48 million. VERTICAL LIMIT climbed into the sixth spot, grossing $807,368, thus lifting its French total to $5.15 million. In the U.K., HANNIBAL hatched another $2.52 million in first, elevating its cume to $26.1 million.

Norma Macmillan, the voice of UNDERDOG's Sweet Polly Purebread, has passed away. She suffered a heart attack and died Friday afternoon at her home in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She was 79. Macmillian also provided voices for Goo and other characters on THE GUMBY SHOW, Davey's sister Sally on DAVEY & GOLIATH and Kokette on MEAN MOE. During John F. Kennedy's presidency, Macmillan contributed voices to the popular Kennedy family parody album, THE FIRST FAMILY. She also appeared in such live-action features as HEAD OVER HEALS and BIG BULLY.

Threshold Entertainment, a multimedia and intellectual property management company, announced that Dimension Films has acquired the project DUKE NUKEM: THE MOVIE. The film will be produced by Larry Kasanoff (TRUE LIES, MORTAL KOMBAT) and Threshold Entertainment. Based on the US$1 billion gaming franchise by 3-D Realms, NUKEM follows the politically incorrect title character as he travels into space to intercept an alien ship on a collision course for Earth.

* Saturday, April 21 Thursday, April 26, 2001. Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A.

The NAB Marketplace and Conference showcases the world of TV and Web convergence. The event allows people in the technology, television and Internet industry to meet and work out deals. The expo starts on April 23 with over 1,500 companies exhibiting. The conference will focus on the hot topics of combining the worlds of TV with the Internet. For more information contact NAB at: (202) 429-5419; or Web: www.nab.org.

* Wednesday, April 25, 2001. Burbank, California, U.S.A.

* Saturday, September 1 Thursday, September 6, 2001. Linz, Austria.

Entry Deadline: April 7, 2001

On Sunday Fox aired a rerun of THE SIMPSONS, which placed #34 for the week, pulling in a 7.7 rating/12 share. KING OF THE HILL climbed into 62nd place with a 5.6 rating/9 share. Fox aired two special episodes of THE SIMPSONS on Wednesday from 9 10 pm. The 9:30 pm broadcast finished 65th with a 5.4 rating/9 share and the 9 pm broadcast placed 71st with a 5 rating/8 share. FUTURAMA fashioned a 4.5 rating/8 share in the 76th slot. At 109th, THE PJS hocked a 1.5 rating/3 share.

* Friday, April 20 - Saturday, April 21, 2001. Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

* Tuesday, June 26 Sunday, July 1, 2001. Melbourne, Australia.

Entry Deadline: April 30, 2001