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ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE - ISSUE 3.12 - March 1999
Television
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| Cartoon Network will premiere Mike, Lu & Og later this year. © Cartoon Network. |
Cartoon Network's Exciting `99. Cartoon Network has announced the
launch of three new animated series for the 1999 season - Courage, The
Cowardly Dog, Mike, Lu & Og, and I Am Weasel. Courage
is based on the 1995 Academy Award-nominated Cartoon Network short Chicken
From Outer Space, created, written and directed by John R. Dilworth. Thirteen
episodes, launching in November 1999, will chronicle the adventures of the
timid dog as he defends his elderly owners in the small town of Nowhere from
paranormal elements. Mike, Lu & Og, also with 13 episodes premiering
in November `99 and based off a short, is from creator Chuck Swenson, the
creative producer of Nickelodeon's Rugrats. The show follows a sophisticated
girl from New York named Mike who leaves home and ends up living on an island
with natives Lu and Og. Finally, I Am Weasel is a spin-off from David
Feiss' currently airing Cow And Chicken series. The show debuts in
June as an ongoing half-hour series following the exploits of the internationally
famous I.M. Weasel and his insanely jealous arch-nemesis I.R. Baboon. Alongside
the new series, the network will premiere more than 75 new episodes of renewed
original shows, including Powerpuff Girls, Ed, Edd N Eddy and
Space Ghost Coast To Coast, in 1999, and has 14 animated shorts in
development over the next two years.
Fall 1999 will also see Cartoon Network adding 214 classic Warner Bros. shorts
previously licensed by Nickelodeon to its existing library for a total of
680 Warner Bros. titles. In addition, the network has acquired 102 episodes
of Steven Spielberg Presents Tiny Toon Adventures.
AWN's Super Bowl Animation Guide. This year's Super Bowl football
weekend (January 30-31) turned out to be a big weekend for animation fans
as well. Here's a guide to what sort of TV animation aired before, during
and after the big game on Super Sunday:
* A four-hour long Sylvester Vs. Tweety marathon took place on Saturday,
January 30, 6-10 PM (ET/PT), and again on Sunday, January 31, 1-5 PM. This
parody-filled program was hosted by Jerry Glanville, Nick Buoniconti and Len
Dawson of HBO's Inside The NFL and featured narration from Harry Kalas
of NFL Films. The bird-and-cat duo faced off in a cartoon version of
the Super Bowl which included play-by-play commentary by veteran sportcasters
Pat Summerall and John Madden on two classic matchups (cartoons), Bad Ol'
Putty Tat and Tweety's S.O.S. The halftime show featured a behind-the-scenes
look at the mastermind behind the action, Tweety's coach and longtime companion,
Granny, narrated by CNNSI's Jim Huber with a special appearance from New York
Giants' 9-time all-pro linebacker Harry Carson. The program was set up just
like the real network football shows with lots of "swooshing graphics,"
reporters on location at tailgate parties, playbook anaylsis of the matches
and other goodies for football aficionados. In addition, the program featured
eighteen classic Sylvester and Tweety shorts.
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| © Cartoon Network. |
* The Super Bowl on the FOX network on Sunday, January 31 was in itself a
great place to see new animated commercials. Considering that the Bowl is
the most expensive time to air an ad on network TV, advertisers always put
their best foot forward. Budweiser aired new spots with the lizards who are
brought to life courtesy of Digital Domain and Stan Winston Studios. DreamWorks
SKG bought airtime in an unprecedented move to advertise the upcoming video
release of Antz, and M&M's candy introduced a new color - orange
- brought to life using digital animation.
* Super Bowl XXXIII was also unique in that for the first time ever, a live
computer-generated character entertained the Super Bowl stadium audience.
Real-time performance animation studio, MEDIALAB, teamed up with actor Harry
Shearer to bring a realistic, giant CG version of the "King of Talk,"
Larry King, to life on the Super Bowl Jumbotron during pre- and post- game
entertainment and commercial breaks. The real-time performance animation character
interviewed live guests including actress Tori Spelling and Fox Sports commentators
Terry Bradshaw and Howie Long among others. "MEDIALAB is thrilled to
be involved with Big Screen Network and the Super Bowl. We've experienced
tremendous success with our production technique for bringing to life virtual
characters on television shows and producing longform series such as Donkey
Kong Country," comments MEDIALAB VP, production and creative affairs,
Julian Corbett. "...We're taking live events to an unprecedented level."
* Celebrity Deathmatch Deathbowl '99 took place on MTV during halftime
of the real Super Bowl. Immediately following the 2nd quarter of the big game,
MTV aired their Deathbowl. The first fantasy match was a "Battle of the
Bulges" as Dolly Parton took on Jennifer Lopez. Then came the main match
with MTV's fantasy version of Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield in a no-holds-barred
clay-animated fight. This special was a preview to the premiere of Celebrity
Deathmatch's second season which started on MTV on February 4, 1999, at
its regular timeslot, Thursday evenings at 10 PM (ET/PT).
* Immediately following Super Bowl coverage on FOX there was a sneak preview
of Seth MacFarlane's Family Guy,
a new half-hour animated TV series produced by Film Roman.
Kids WB! Picks Pokémon. Beginning in February, Kids WB! Saturday
morning line-up started airing the hit Japanese animated series, Pokémon,
a cartoon which gained infamy in late '97 when hundreds of young Japanese
viewers simultaneously suffered seizures while watching an episode that featured
a high-contrast flash sequence [AF 12/23/97]. While the series currently completes
its first season in first-run syndication, Kids WB! will premiere twelve all
new episodes of Pokémon, which will join the series syndication
package of 52 episodes for the completion of the '98-'99 season. Then, in
fall '99, Pokémon will join the Kids WB! line-up exclusively
with 52 all-new episodes airing Monday through Saturday. The show was originally
produced by Shogakukan Productions in Japan but is distributed in the U.S.
by 4Kids Entertainment. 4Kids' production arm adapted the series for U.S.
viewers by incorporating new music, voices and scripting. The show is currently
the #1 rated syndicated kids' program in the U.S as well as a popular video
game for Game Boy.
HBO Family Channel Arrives. HBO Family, a new 24-hour commercial-free
channel dedicated exclusively to family programming, launched February 1.
The channel is teaming up with producers like Nelvana, Cinar, S4C and Hit
Entertainment to deliver original animated programming. Among the new animated
series premiering are George and Martha, The Adventures of Paddington
Bear and Anthony Ant, as well as a new mixed-media pre-school series
from Curious Pictures, A Little Curious.
In addition, a variety of original specials will have a "sneak preview"
on HBO Family Channel before they premiere on the main HBO channel.
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| An Off-Beats Valentine's Special aired on Nickelodeon. © Nickelodeon/Curious Pictures. |
Valentine's Day Animation Guide. Valentine's Day weekend, February
12-14, animation lovebirds could have watched a couple of Valentine-themed
specials on Nickelodeon and ABC. Nickelodeon aired An Off-Beats Valentine's
Special on February 12 at 8:00 p.m. and the 14th at 1:00 p.m. (ET/PT).
Based on The Off-Beats, a series of shorts created at Curious Pictures
by Mo Willems, which appear on Nickelodeon's animated sketch comedy show KaBlam!,
the special features four adorably hapless kids who are tormented by the Populars.
"We've had the same team of independent animators and voiceover kids
for the past four years, so everyone really understood their characters and
was ready to jam," says director Willems about this first Off-Beats
half-hour special. ABC offered the world premiere of Winnie The Pooh, A
Valentine For You on Saturday, February 13 at 8:00 p.m. (ET/PT). In addition,
three DISNEY'S Mouseworks cartoons had their broadcast premiere in
the half-hour that followed the Pooh special. The cartoons, Pluto Gets
The Paper: Bubble Gum, Mickey's New Car and Maestro Minnie:
William Tell Overture were accompanied by the Winnie the Pooh cartoon
GroundPiglet Day, an animated short about Groundhog's Day.
Meet Mo! Mo Willems led "A
Conversation with: Arlene Sherman and Abby Terkuhle" in the September
1997 issue of Animation World Magazine. Read what CTW and MTV's top
execs, along with Mo, had to say about independents working in America.
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| Dick and Paula will chat it up on FX. © FX Network. |
Dick And Paula On FX. Cable network FX has ordered 13 episodes of
their first-ever animated comedy series, The Dick And Paula Celebrity Special,
produced by Tom Snyder Productions. The show, set to premiere in spring `99,
will use a derivation of Snyder Productions' trademark computer-generated
process, "SquiggleVision." The weekly half-hour series is about
the behind-the-scenes goings on of a husband-and-wife talk show team (Dick
and Paula). They interview contemporary stars, fictionalized characters and
major historical figures. Snyder comments on this unique show, "Dick
And Paula establishes a new genre of animation. I am very excited about
this project because the material for the show is unlimited. It is the kind
of series that will always be fresh and the humor quotient is limitless."
Tom Snyder Productions also produces such animated series as Dr. Katz:
Professional Therapist (Comedy Central), Squigglevision (ABC) and
the upcoming UPN series, Home Movies.
UPN Digs Dilbert. UPN has renewed the animated comedy, Dilbert,
for a second season of 22 episodes to air in the 1999/2000 television season.
In the three episodes that have aired so far, Dilbert has been UPN's
top new comedy this season in household ratings and all key adult and male
demographics. "This pickup order rewards the ratings' promise Dilbert
has shown, with strong demographics and a bull's-eye for our target of young
male viewers," stated Tom Nunan, UPN Entertainment President.
TV Ratings Tidbits. Nickelodeon received their highest Nielsen ratings
ever on January 18 with the premiere of a new half-hour Rugrats episode
in primetime. The show garnered a 13.8 rating and 35 share among kids 2-11,
representing one-third of all 2-11 year-olds watching TV between 8:00 and
8:30 p.m. that evening. The record-breaking number was the climax of an all-day
Rugrats marathon during Martin Luther King Day. . . . The animated
feature Princess Mononoke, Japan's highest-grossing feature of all-time,
had an amazing television debut in Japan on January 22. Airing on Nippon Television
Network (NTV), the Hayao Miyazaki film brought in a 35.1 rating, the eighth
highest ranking in Japanese television history for movie broadcast ratings
and the highest rating for a broadcast movie in 15 years. . . . In the show's
first outing on Monday, January 25, Dilbert delivered UPN's highest-rated
telecast of a comedy in adults 18-49 (3.3 rating/9 share) and 18-34 (3.7/11).
The show's performance among total viewers (4.2/6) more than tripled UPN's
season averages in the 8:00 p.m. Monday time slot and was UPN's best household
rating for a comedy since a February '97 airing of Moesha.
TV Tidbits. Brand-new episodes of The Lion King's Timon & Pumbaa,
inspired by the 1994 Disney theatrical feature, are currently airing exclusively
on Toon Disney, the Disney Channel's all-animation network. The series airs
Sunday-Thursday at 7:30 p.m. (ET/PT). . . . The second season of MTV's Celebrity
Deathmatch starts Thursday, February 4th at 10:00 p.m. (ET/PT). The clay-rendered
matches for the season opener are Ice Cube vs. Ice-T, Robert DeNiro vs. Al
Pacino and the Backstreet Boys vs. the Beastie Boys. Upcoming matches in the
second season include "Battle of the Teen Scream Queens," "Battle
of the Bonds" and a match with the cast of Friends, along with
"Deathmatch Fashion Show," where clay supermodels fashion the latest
in Deathmatch body armor and weapons. The series is produced by John Lynn
with Eric Fogel as the creator and co-executive producer, and Abby Terkuhle
serving as executive producer. . . . Kids WB! has ordered 13 additional episodes
of the futuristic Batman Beyond, which debuted in January to strong
ratings in both its primetime preview and regular Saturday morning slot. The
new episodes will be ready for the 1999-2000 season. . . . The Disney Channel
presented two original animated programs in honor of Black History Month.
The animated featurette John Henry retells the tall-tale legend of
an African-American whose super-human strength helped build America's railroads.
The special airing on February 2 at 7 p.m. (ET/PT) and again on February 13
at 10 a.m. (ET/PT) is produced by Rabbit Ears Productions and features narration
by Denzel Washington and music by B.B. King. Additionally, Koi & the
Kola Nuts, also produced by Rabbit Ears Productions, premieres on February
10 at 7 p.m. (ET/PT). This humorous African folktale is narrated by Whoopi
Goldberg. . . . The hit Japanese show Pokémon, currently in
syndication in the U.S. and exclusively on Kids WB! next season, has been
sold to Televisa (Mexico) and Record-TV (Brazil). Both networks will premiere
the show in April/May as a five-day-a-week program. The show has also been
sold to numerous other Latin American broadcasters including Magic TV and
Channel 11 (Argentina), Etcetera and Chilevision Channel 6 (Chile), Caracol
(Colombia), Telecorporation (El Salvador), Televicentro (Honduras), Frecuencia
Latina (Peru) and Venevision (Venezuela). . . . CBS has renewed three NELVANA
children's series and placed 13-episode orders for three new series to debut
this fall. Returning this fall for a second season are Anatole, Flying
Rhino Junior High and Mythic Warriors: Guardians Of The Legend.
The new NELVANA series, all of which are designed to meet the FCC mandate,
are Blaster, Rescue Heros and The New Tales From The Cryptkeeper.
The three NELVANA series that CBS cancelled are Birdz, Franklin
and Dumb Bunnies. . . . Buena Vista International Television (BVI-TV)
has signed a first-time volume agreement with NELVANA Enterprises (Paris)
to air their programs on Disney Channel in Spain and Italy. BVI-TV will have
first rights to NELVANA's production slate for Spain and Italy, acquiring
between two and four new series a year. Disney Channel currently plans to
air the following NEVLANA titles: Ned's Newt (Spain), Franklin
(Italy, Spain), Stickin' Around (Italy, Spain), Sam And Max
(Spain), Little Bear (Italy), Jake And The Kid (Italy), Birdz
(Spain) and Rupert (Spain). As part of a separate pan-European agreement,
BVI has also acquired NELVANA's Rolie, Polie, Olie. . . . Todd MacFarlane,
creator of the comic book and late-night HBO animated series, Spawn,
revealed he was the anonymous person that bought baseball star Mark McGwire's
70th home run ball at a recent auction for over $3 million dollars. MacFarlane,
who has had a lifelong love of the game, said that he will have the ball mounted
in a glass case and tour the country speaking to kid groups about baseball.
. . . Disney's Hercules had its world television premiere on Saturday,
February 27th, on the Disney Channel at 7 p.m. (ET/PT). . . . The third season
of Daria launched on MTV on Wednesday, February 17th at 10 p.m. (ET/PT)
with an episode called "The Musical" about a deadly hurricane that
is approaching Daria's town, Lawndale. . . . Comedy Central has purchased
the rights to re-run all the episodes of USA Network's Duckman. No
air dates have been set yet. The network also re-aired The Tick after
it had run its course on Fox Kids Network. . . . On Sunday, February 21, Cartoon
Network presented Alvin And The Chipmunks Greatest Hits, an 8-hour
marathon from 12-8 p.m. (ET/PT) featuring 32 "hot" tunes from the
1980s. The programming stint will feature sixteen half-hour episodes along
with a live-action dance party with Alvin groupees dancing to the high-pitched
music. Among the songs that will be played include: "Beat It," "Born
to be Wild," "Ghostbusters," "The Heat is On," "Twist
and Shout," "I Love L.A.," "Celebration," "On
the Road Again," "Bad to the Bone" and 23 others. . . . Cartoon
Network's afternoon programming block "Toonami" started airing the
CG-animated show, ReBoot, as part of its daily Monday-Friday line-up,
from 4:30 - 5:00 p.m., starting March 15. The show, which was the first entirely
computer-generated cartoon, is produced by Vancouver, Canada-based Mainframe
Entertainment.
Read Animation World Magazine's NATPE Special.
Note: Readers may contact any Animation World Magazine contributor by sending an e-mail to editor@awn.com.