Animation World News:Television
MTV Goes Downtown.
MTV Animation has given the green light to the new series, Downtown,
an animated take on urban life, based on interviews with real people. The
13 episode series, created by in-house director Chris Prynowski, set to
air in 1998, follows the adventures of a diverse and multi-racial cast
of characters who live in and pass through a Greenwich Village neighborhood
in Manhattan. Though the concept is similar to a series of interstitials
which have been airing on MTV this month, Downtown is an original
series which will be created using traditional 2-D animation, digital ink
& paint, and watercolor backgrounds--as is used for series such as
Beavis & Butt-head. This new series means new
hires for MTV Animation, so visit Animation World
Network's Career Connections section for information about applying for the available
positions.
JP Kids To Create Kimmy's World. New York-based multi-media
company, JP Kids, is joining forces with actress/comedienne Kim Coles,
to develop an animated series called Kimmy's World. Conceived in
the tradition of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, the property features
characters created and voiced by Kim Coles herself, who stars on the live-action
television series, Living Single.
The Online Adventures of Ozzie
the Elf.
© 1997 Will Vinton Studios.
DNA And Vinton Making X-Mas Specials For ABC. Production is underway on two half-hour, animated Christmas
specials for ABC, which are set to air on ABC network in the U.S. in December.
Texas-based DNA Productions is writing and producing Santa vs. The Snowman,
based on an idea by executive producer and writer-director-comic Steve
Oedekirk, who most recently presented a partially real-time animated special
on NBC. Santa vs. The Snowman is being created entirely in 3-D computer
animation with Newtek's Lightwave 3D software. Portland, Oregon-based Will
Vinton Studios is in production on a special titled, The Online Adventures
of Ozzie the Elf. Written, directed and produced by Will Vinton Studios,
the story is inspired by Santa's Home Page, a web site launched
last Christmas by America Online's Greenhouse Networks. The special is
being produced by Vinton Studios for ABC in association with AOL and the
late Brandon Tartikoff's Beale Company. Ozzie is being produced
entirely in stop-motion puppet animation at Will Vinton Studios, directed
by Dave Bleiman and Ken Pontac of Danger Productions, creators of the ABC
stop-motion series, Bump in the Night. Air dates for Santa vs.
The Snowman and The Online Adventures of Ozzie the Elf have
yet to be determined by ABC, though they may air as a program package.
Film Roman, Tooniverse Co-Production. Film Roman, producers of The
Simpsons, and King of the Hill, has signed a co-production deal
with Korea's cable network, Tooniverse, to create a new half-hour animated
series called Mulk & Swank. The new series will be based on
(you guessed it) Mulk and Swank, two characters from a kids' sing-along
video popular in Korea. The two companies plan to ultimately market, distribute
and license the property worldwide, with Tooniverse handling Asian territories,
and Film Roman handling the rest of the globe.
© Film Roman.
UPN Gives Back The Blues.
Due to a change in prime-time strategy, UPN has canceled its' plan to produce
Film Roman's proprietary property, The Blues Brothers: The Animated
Series. This announcement comes on the heels of a renewed commitment
to the property after a hiatus in its' development (Animation World News,
October 1997). Addressing the financial implications of UPN's decision,
Film Roman's recently-appointed president and CEO David Pritchard issued
a statement: "UPN has compensated us for a portion of the costs associated
with the production of the show, but we expect to take a write-off in the
third quarter of approximately $2 million associated with the decision."
A Film Roman spokesperson said that the company "strongly believes
in the property," and will be shopping the show to other networks.
Nelvana, CTW Partner On Problem 13. Children's Television
Workshop (CTW), producers of Sesame Street, and other educational
kids programming, are partnering with Toronto-based Nelvana to produce
Problem 13, an educational animated series about math. CTW will
complete most of the research and development, while Nelvana will collaborate
on development and do all production of the series' 13 half-hour episodes.
Distribution rights will be divided between the two companies, with CTW
handling the U.S., Latin America and Asia, and Nelvana handling Canada,
Europe, Africa and the Middle East territories. The series was presented
at the international television market MIPCOM, last month in Cannes, however
specific sales have yet to be released.
JP Kids Takes Yahooligans! To TV. New York-based multi-media
company, JP Kids is developing and pitching an animated series in association
with Internet developer Yahoo. Titled Yahooligans!, the series concept
is based on Yahoo's web site of the same name which is an Internet navigational
guide for kids. Though no pilot has been produced yet, JP Kids is working
with San Francisco-based Protozoa to develop it in motion-capture animation
format. This type of program indicates the start of a promising new trend:
that of Internet-originated characters being developed for television properties,
rather than the other way around. Targeted at the 8-12 age group, Yahooligans!
is a character-driven, action-adventure show set in "21st Century
Cyberspace," featuring a cast of avatar kids created by a 12-year-old
boy. No pre-sales of the show have been announced.
Canal + Adds Kids +. European media company, CANAL + Distribution
is launching a new youth programming and animation division called KIDS
+, which will be headed up by Merry Mullings, a veteran television sales
executive who joined CANAL + in 1990. The KIDS + division will handle the
international sales of audio-visual rights and marketing strategies for
CANAL +'s catalog of over 800 hours of children's programming. CANAL +,
which adds 60 to 70 hours of new children's programming to its library
each year, will launch five new animation programs at MIPCOM next week.
They include the animated series Bob Morane, Witch World, and Fennec,
and two features based on The Brave Little Toaster.
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
Fax: (213) 464-5914
Mail: Animation World Magazine
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