Get ready for ROBOT CHICKEN, an ambitious sketch comedy series done completely in stop-motion, debuting Feb. 20, 2005, at 11:30 pm on Cartoon Networks Adult Swim. Creators actor/producer Seth Green and Matthew Senreich spare no one and run through many toys as they bring slightly mean-spirited pop-culture parodies to life in the 15-minute weekly series.
Nickelodeons new Asian-inspired Nicktoons series, AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER, premieres with a one-hour special on Feb. 21, 2005 at 7:00 pm, featuring Aang (Zachery Tyler), a fun-loving 12-year-old who must forgo a normal life as the Avatar in order to master his latent powers over the four elements to restore world order. Following the special broadcast, the Avatar series will air in its regular time period, Fridays at 8:00 pm.
JAKKS Pacific Inc. introduces the GAMEKEY expansion pack, the new next-generation innovation for its award-winning plug-it-in and play TV Games product line. GAMEKEY expansion pack offers users the opportunity to add extra games made specifically for their favorite TV Games controllers.
Nickelodeon is hosting the free, traveling exhibit "La Casa de Dora," a 10-city mall tour allowing kids to experience first-hand the interactive, bilingual home of DORA THE EXPLORER. "La Casa de Dora" kicks off Feb. 19, 2005, in Denver and will travel to 10 markets around the country, including Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Phoenix, Albuquerque and San Francisco.
Bandai America Inc. will unveil its new portfolio of brands at the 2005 American International TOYFAIR in New York City on Feb. 20-23, 2005. The company announced that it is expanding its business by growing its current slate of core brands, which includes powerhouses POWER RANGERS and TEEN TITANS for boys, and STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE and TAMAGOTCHI CONNECTION for girls. In addition, Bandai America will unveil a new toy property based on the television series created by sister company Bandai Ent., titled D.I.C.E. (DNA Integrated Cybernetic Enterprises).
4Kids Ent. Inc. and Subway Restaurants have joined forces to launch a national promotion featuring the TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES. The seven-week promotion began Feb. 7, 2005 and continues through March 27, 2005, at participating Subway locations in the U.S. and Canada, while supplies last.
Warner Bros. has secured the screen rights to Welsh author Jenny Nimmos MIDNIGHT FOR CHARLIE BONE and the four additional books in the fantasy series, reports VARIETY. WB-based Thunder Roads Basil Iwanyk and Alysia Cotter will produce. Neil Alsip will adapt the books. WB execs Lynn Harris and Geoff Shaevitz will oversee the project for the studio.
SMPTE Seminar 2005, presented in cooperation with the Entertainment Technology Center at USC and USC School of Cinema-Television, has been rescheduled for March 4-5, 2005. Originally the event was to run in December 2004, but was postponed due to the logistics of the holidays.
Columbia-based Escape Artists has hired I, ROBOT director Alex Proyas to helm the supernatural thriller, KNOWING, reports HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. Originally DONNIE DARKO director Richard Kelly was attracted to direct and Proyas will film off Kellys rewrite of Ryne Pearsons original screenplay. Steve Tisch, Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal and David Alper are set to produce.
Disney Animation has secured the rights to Dave Barry and Ridley Pearsons bestselling children's book PETER AND THE STARCATCHERS with the intent to turn it into a CGI feature, reports VARIETY.
The loose prequel to PETER PAN follows 8-year-old Peter, shipmate Molly and a group of orphaned boy on the ship Never Land as they attempt to recover a trunk of magical starstuff, before the pirate Black Stache gets him hands on it.
Disney Editions published the book in August 2004.
BOXX Technologies has introduced the BOXX 7300 series of workstations featuring dual AMD Opteron processors and NVIDIA nForce Professional Media and Communications Processors (MCPs). BOXX 7300 workstations support the upcoming release of Microsoft Windows XP x64, which will provide the ability to run 32- and 64-bit applications simultaneously, taking digital creativity to new levels.
3D software developer MAXON has released the first update to its award-winning flagship tool CINEMA 4D R 9. Containing more than 50 new features and many more enhancements, the R9.1 update focuses on data exchange, n-gons, the interface and the material system. The update is freely downloadable from www.maxon.net.
MGM Home Entertainment Group, a unit of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. has promoted Ian Sutherland from svp to evp, international theatrical distribution and marketing.
"Ian has done important work overseeing our overseas distribution and marketing efforts in conjunction with our partner, Twentieth Century Fox Intl," said David Bishop, president of the group. "This well deserved promotion recognizes that work."
Microsoft Corp. announced today (Feb.17, 2005) that it will voluntarily replace the power cords on 14.1 million Xbox consoles worldwide as a precautionary measure and out of concern for consumer safety.
It was SPIDER-MAN 2 and THE AVIATOR running neck and neck for the most awards, taking three each, at the 3rd Annual VES Awards Wednesday night, Feb. 16, 2005, but it was HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN that pulled out with the top honor for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects Driven Motion Picture at a black-tie gala at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles.
The latest Acrobat edition of Animation World Magazine is now online! This issue tackles TV animation. Karen Raugust delves into how more animation producers are going after the faith-based market. Joe Strike tales a look at the new moves in adult animation. And Chris Panzner looks at the innovative new series DELTA STATE.
The judging is over in AWNs latest Character Design Contest. To celebrate Valentines Day, the contest centered on the classic Romeo and Juliet scenario - We revisit the classic theme of forbidden love! Two lovers, either from different families, different clans, different races, even different planets, tempt fate to be together. History says their love is tragically doomed...but maybe, just this once, the fates will be bested!
The entries were judged by Larry Lauria, our long-time Animation Café moderator, distinguished animator and educator.
IN VIVO: A WINDOW ON DIVERSITYAichi, JapanMarch 4, 2005Deadline: March 4, 2005
Rushes Soho Shorts Festival 2005London, U.K.July 30 - August 5, 2005Deadline: May 6, 2005
When the VES announced that it was bestowing its first George Méliés Pioneer Award on the late Bob Abel, Ellen Wolff, one of VFXWORLDs regular contributors, expressed an interest in writing a remembrance of this frustrated magician turned vfx pioneer. Ellen, who knew Abel quite well and wrote his speeches and SIGGRAPH presentations, wanted to let us know what Bob wouldve thought of such an honor.
Bing Gordon, cco/evp and early employee of Electronic Arts the worlds leading videogame publisher, was named the first holder of the Electronic Arts endowed faculty chair at the USC School of Cinema-Television, a rotating position that will be held for one to two years by leading figures in interactive entertainment that will join the Schools faculty as visiting professors.
High school seniors interested in education to enter the animation or videogame development industries are invited to apply for scholarships from The Art institute of California - San Francisco (www.aicasf.aii.edu). The scholarships, ranging between $5,000 and $25,000, may be applied toward tuition in the schools bachelors degree programs in Media Arts & Animation, Game Art & Design, Visual & Game Programming.
The Houdini family of 3D programs from Side Effects Software played a key role in several of the nominees at the 3rd Annual VES Awards, Feb.
fmx, a key event in animation, visual effects, games and other 3D content, celebrates its 10th anniversary this year (April 27-30 in Stuttgart, Germany) by continuing to offer a holistic, cinematic and integrated approach to the booming CGI industry. You can see the changes in CGI reflected in the new design for the fmx/05 logo and trailer, based on the clip, Timeless, by Filmakademie graduate student Linus Ewers.
Alias announced the worldwide availability of Maya 6.5, which has been equipped to handle larger datasets by a dual approach; speed improvements in critical parts of the workflow and new tools for efficiently managing very large datasets. Absolute speed improvements have been dramatic in many cases, as Maya performs more efficiently in relation to larger scene sizes. For example, UV manipulations have been benchmarked as being more than 100 times faster in Maya 6.5 compared to Maya 6.
