BMG Video's Cabbage Patch Kids series
of stop-motion
specials. © Original Appalachian Artworks and BMG Video.
Cabbage Patch Comeback. Xavier
Roberts' collectible plush dolls are starring in a stop-motion animated
theatrical feature now playing until the end of August in 130 General Cinemas
movie theaters across the U.S. The Cabbage Patch Kids Film Festival
is actually a compilation of three half hour shorts created by Famous Flying
Films in London, for Original Appalachian Artworks, the creators of the
original Cabbage Patch dolls which hit a peak of popularity in the early
1980s. These little known films rival the production quality of stop-motion
features such as James and the Giant Peach, with puppets created
by expert British modelmakers, Mackinnon & Saunders, and expressive,
near-perfect animation directed by Famous Flying Films' Mark Waring. This,
along with clever, thoughtful writing by Lorraine Brunning and non-insulting
musical ditties by Dave Cooke have talk show host Rosie O'Donnell voluntarily
promoting the tapes on the air. On September 30, the most recent of the
half hour shorts, entitled Screen Test, will be released for the
first time on home video by BMG. The other two titles, The New Kid
and The Clubhouse, were released by BMG last year. Titles are available
retail for $12.98 each (U.S. distribution only).
Warner Digs Into Library For X-Mas Video Line. Warner Home Video
is planning to release a huge collection of Christmas-themed home videos
in September. . Of the 29 videos in the line, more than half are animated
or contain animated segments. All of the material is being culled from
the massive Time-Warner library of shorts, television shows and specials.
Expanded in last year's Time-Warner/Turner merger, includes characters
such as Scooby Doo and Fred Flintstone in the same family as Daffy Duck
and Bugs Bunny . Among the titles in the line are: A Flintstone Christmas,
Flintstone's Christmas Carol, Christmas In Bedrock, A Pinky & The Brain
Christmas, It's A Wonderful Tiny Toons Christmas Special, A Nutcracker
Scoob, Animaniacs: Helloo, Holidays, Ace Ventura the Reindeer Hunter, Daffy
Duck's Thanks For Giving, Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July, Bugs
Bunny's Thanksgiving Diet, Looney Christmas Tales and Frosty's Winter
Wonderland, among others. Ranging in price from $9.95 to $14.95, the
whole collection will become available on September 30, a full 84 shopping
days before Christmas!
Todd
McFarlane's Spawn, the home video,
features extended
"director's cuts" not included in the TV series. © HBO Video.
Spawn Lands
On Video. Spawn seems to be everywhere
these days...Todd McFarlane's franchise has been exploited in a comic book
(90 million sold), a toy line, a feature film, video games, an animated
series, and now, on home video, in Todd McFarlane's Spawn, a 147
minute video available in stores staring August 5. A collection of "director's
cuts" from HBO Animation's animated series is being sold as a $22.97
Collector's Edition for mature audiences, while a PG-13 version which ties
in with the toy line is available for $19.94. To promote the August 5 video
release, McFarlane will be making appearances and doing a book-signings.
McFarlane's company, TMP Inc., is also participating in "The Warped
Tour," a 29-city U.S. extreme sports and alternative music event.
Manga To Release First Korean Title. Manga Entertainment, distributor
of Japanese anime (and soon to be distributor of animated shorts!), will
release Armageddon, its first Korean anime release, on home video
September 23. Created by director/producer Hyunse Lee and Daewoo Electronics,
Armageddon features a style and action storyline similar to much
of the Japanese anime films. The 90 minute Armageddon will be available
exclusively in an English dubbed version, for $19.95.
Animation World News is compiled daily for publication in the AWN Daily Flash, the weekly Animation Flash email newsletter, and monthly issues of Animation World Magazine.
Send your newsworthy items, press releases, and reels to:
Email: wendyj@awn.com
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