A group of comic book classics have arrived on home video this week, including BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES, X-MEN: EVOLUTION and JUSTICE LEAGUE. The feature-length debut of JUSTICE LEAGUE has DVD Extras including special DVD-ROM features and is available on DVD for a suggested retail price of $19.98. Additionally, the Caped Crusader swoops onto shelves with four new DVDs, BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES -- THE LEGEND BEGINS, BATMAN & MR.
Each week, Animation World Magazine offers new articles, special features and theme-based coverage of the art, craft and industry of animation...
Washington, DC's Capital Children's Museum is looking for a VIDEO EDITING/DOCUMENTARY INTERN . . . Sunnyvale, California's Clay Pixel Studios is looking for a COMPUTER ANIMATION ENTREPRENEUR . . . Cornerstone Animation Inc. is looking for an EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT. . . Beit Shemesh, Israel's Digital Production Solutions is looking for a 3DSMAX ANIMATOR . . . Port Monmouth, New Jersey's Dream Balloon Productions, Inc. is looking for a 2D CHARACTER ANIMATOR and an ANIMATION BUDGET DIRECTOR . . . HyperGalaxy, Inc. is looking for a SALES REPRESENTATIVE . . .
Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists Local 839 IATSE has posted the April issue of their newsletter, THE PEG-BOARD, on their Website. In this month's issue...
The Toronto Animated Image Society (TAIS) has announced some upcoming workshops...
AWN's Upcoming Theatrical Releases database has been updated with links to new trailers for...
Visit all of AWN's Discussion Forums to stay in touch with the animation community! This week, hot forum discussions include the on-going debate about rotoscoping, MONSTERS, INC. vs. SHREK and information about copyrights and licensing. Over in Show and Tell, check out "Rebel Without A Claus," plus demo reels and portfolios posted by Forum users. Don't miss the Animation Flea Market, where you'll find a Lightwave 6.5/Aura 2.0 bundle with the 7.0 upgrade and an inside Lightwave 7.0 book for sale. Visit all of AWN's Forums.
This week's updates to the Calendar of Events include:
dhima Student Presentation and Open House: Friday, April 26, 2002, Santa Monica, California USA . . . New York Premiere of 3D Animated Feature Film: Wednesday, May 01, 2002, Brooklyn, New York USA . . . Toronto Online Film Festival: Monday, September 16 - Wednesday, September 18, 2002, Toronto, Ontario Canada . . . Max the Mutt Animation School - Open House: Saturday, April 27 - Sunday, April 28, 2002, Toronto, Ontario Canada.
Test your skills and challenge your brain with AWN's Animation Trivia Quiz. This week...
Now under Disney ownership, Fox Kids Europe (FKE) has announced that Buena Vista International Television (BVI-TV), a division of The Walt Disney Company, will service distribution for FKE's Saban library beginning May 1, 2002. The Saban library contains more than 6,300 episodes of children's programming including major franchises such as SPIDER-MAN, POWER RANGERS, X-MEN, DIGIMON, THE INCREDIBLE HULK and INSPECTOR GADGET. FKE owns the television rights in Europe and the Middle East to all children's programming in the Saban library.
Once again, a cast-off from The WB has found a home on Cartoon Network. First CN picked up BABY BLUES and now they've nabbed MISSION HILL, a series about the quirky inhabitants of the titular fictional neighborhood. The show will debut on Sunday, May 5, 2002 at 11:00 p.m. (ET/PT) during Adult Swim, Cartoon Network's block of animation aimed at adults 18-34. MISSION HILL originally aired on The WB in the U.S. during the 1999-2000 TV season. Cartoon Network has acquired all 13 episodes, seven of which have never been aired in the United States.
New York-based DMA Animation has again teamed with producers WGBH-TV (Boston, MA) and Sirius Thinking, Ltd. (New York, NY), to create ten new animated shorts for the PBS series BETWEEN THE LIONS. Eight of the two- to three-minute animations will be featured in the third season of half-hour episodes, scheduled to roll out nationally in September 2002, while the remaining two are planned for the 2003 season. BETWEEN THE LIONS is geared toward children four to seven years old and blends animation with puppets and live-action.
Paul Condolora has been named vice president and general manager, Cartoon Network New Media. In this capacity, he is responsible for Cartoon Network's rapidly growing U.S. interactive content initiatives, including the network's Internet sites, www.CartoonNetwork.com and www.adultswim.com, as well as working with Turner Network Sales on the expansion of network and character brands to emerging interactive technologies such as wireless, broadband and interactive television. Condolora previously served as vice president, business development and new products for Cartoon Network Online.
Seamus Blackley, co-creator of Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox, resigned Monday, April 22, 2002, less than a week after the company slashed prices on the game console in Europe and Australia. REUTERS reported Blackley intends to launch a new game-industry startup and says his resignation was not related to Xbox's sluggish sales. But just six weeks after its debut, Microsoft has reduced prices for the Xbox game console in Europe and Australia. Effective April 26, 2002, the Xbox will sell in Europe for 299 euros (US$266) or 199 pounds (US$288), and in Australia for A$399 (US$215).
The Special Edition 2-disc DVD release of Osamu Tezukas METROPOLIS is now in stores. Based on the classic manga by Osamu Tezuka and directed by Rintaro (X, GALAXY EXPRESS 999), METROPOLIS features a newly subtitled version of the film along with the dubbed version. Other features include: new fold-out packaging with outer sleeve, widescreen and full screen presentations, "The Making of Osamu Tezukas Metropolis" and "Interview with Rintaro Katsushiro" featurettes, animation comparisons and more. Suggested retail price: DVD $27.95.
The 9th BAF! Bradford Animation Festival, Bradford, UK.
Thursday, November 14 - Saturday, November 16, 2002.
Entry Deadline: Friday, July 26, 2002.
Graphics studio and publisher Marlin Studios released PEOPLE N MOTION, two new libraries in its series of texture libraries created for use by 2D and 3D graphics artists. The texture maps can be used in any 3D program that makes use of animated textures, and can be composited onto backgrounds in 2D programs. No special software is required beyond the user's particular 2D or 3D program. Each PEOPLE N MOTION library has a set of sequential animation files that allows the graphics user to create the illusion of moving or standing people.
Moondance International Film Festival, Boulder, Colorado USA.
Friday, May 16 - Sunday, May 18, 2003.
Entry Deadline: Tuesday, October 01, 2002.
The 6th Pulcinella Awards were presented in Positano, Italy, April 22, 2002 at Cartoons on the Bay, the international festival and conference on television animation. 38 programs were in competition for this year's awards. The international jury was made up of Bob Balser (president of Cartoon, Belgium), Eve Baron (head of the childrens department, France 3, France), Bill Kroyer (senior animation director at Rhythm & Hues, USA), Phillippe Jacot (director of children's programming UBE, Switzerland) and Gianfranco Noferi (director of RAI, Italy).
Disney/Pixar's MONSTERS, INC., has usurped SHREK to become the second highest grossing animated film of all-time (behind only Disney's THE LION KING). The film has earned $504 million to date, comprised of $253 million in domestic box office receipts and $251.2 million in international box office receipts, where it has set records in Japan ($59.1 million, the most successful U.S. animated film ever), England ($53 million), Mexico ($20.1 million) and Spain ($13.5 million). Commenting on the announcement, Dick Cook, chairman of The Walt Disney Studios, said, "MONSTERS, INC.
European animation studio Varga, which owns the Hungarian TV, video and DVD rights for the animated MR. BEAN, has concluded a deal with RTL Klub Hungary to air the 52 x 11-minute series, making it the first country to air the series outside the UK. MR. BEAN premiered in Hungary on April 6, 2002 and will air weekly. Varga has over 420 crew working on the animated MR. BEAN, making it one of the largest animation series currently in production in Europe. Vargas Alexei Alexeev is the series director for the Tiger Aspect, Richard Purdum and Varga co-production.
Entertainment publisher TDK Mediactive, Inc. and Mattel, Inc. are releasing video games based on the 1980s animated series ROBOTECH. In ROBOTECH: BATTLECRY for the PlayStation2, Xbox and GameCube, and ROBOTECH: THE MACROSS SAGA for Game Boy Advance the player pilots the Veritech Fighter, a giant transformable mechanized robot that can convert into a jet fighter, a 40-foot tall humanoid robot and a combination of both. Each transformation mode offers new movement options, special abilities or weapons.
Adobe Photoshop 7.0, the latest version of Adobe's image-editing software, is now available. Major enhancements to the new version include the File Browser, an image organization tool that allows users to browse image thumbnails, quickly rotate, sort, rank and batch rename images as well as view EXIF (Exchangeable Image File) information from digital cameras. The new Healing Brush feature simplifies the photo retouching process by allowing users to remove flaws while preserving the shading, lighting and texture of the original image.
The Gnomon Workshop has released new titles in their training video series and cut prices on existing video titles. Video titles previously priced at US $69 are now US $59 and many of the Workshop's titles are available for purchase in discounted bundles. In addition, the Workshop is scheduled to release four new titles on April 30, 2002 in response to customer demand. "We've gotten so many requests for tapes on Character Skinning. It was time," said Alex Alvarez, director of the Gnomon Workshop, who also developed and teaches the material on the new videos.
Coming on the heels of an announcement that the latest Disney/Pixar collaboration, MONSTERS, INC., has become the second highest grossing animated film of all-time, the two companies have announced their next three films. First up is FINDING NEMO. Set in Australia's Great Barrier Reef, the film follows two fish, a father and his son Nemo, who become separated undersea. FINDING NEMO is set for release in summer 2003, and is written and directed by Andrew Stanton, co-director and co-screenwriter of A BUG'S LIFE. It stars the voice talent of Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres and Willem Dafoe.
