Ivor Wood, the animator who worked on some of the best-loved children's television programs, including THE MAGIC ROUNDABOUT, THE WOMBLES, PADDINGTON and POSTMAN PAT, has died in London, reports THE TIMES. He was 72 years old.
With George Lucas rejecting the last script from Frank Darabont, Lucas and director Steven Spielberg have hired CATCH ME IF YOU CAN/THE TERMINAL scribe Jeff Nathanson to take a crack at penning the fourth installment of INDIANA JONES, reports VARIETY.
When word leaked to us that the shuttered Walt Disney Animation (Japan) studio was reopening with most of the former Disney animators and staff as The Answer Studio, VFXWORLD immediately tried to secure an interview with president Motoyoshi Tokunaga. The former vp/gm of the Disney studio in Tokyo politely asked us to be patient.
Looking for something cool to do this Halloween weekend?
Advanstar Communications has announced the addition of Warren Kornblum, the former chief marketing officer at Toys "R" Us, and current ceo of Shadow Ent. Group and Shadow Branding, to its list of keynote speakers at the Licensing International Networking Conference Link. This executive-level conference for the licensing industry will bring together top licensors, licensees, retailers, licensing agents, marketers and the media from Nov. 2-4, 2004, at the Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Miami, Florida.
MULAN returns to DVD on Oct. 26, 2004 (Walt Disney Home Ent. $29.99), in a colorful special edition featuring deleted scenes (including more ambitious alternate openings), the never-before-heard song Keep Em Guessing (sung by composer Matthew Wilder), new games and activities, a new music video with Jackie Chan and Disneys new EasyFind menus for quick navigation.
Picture Mill introduces the unexpected world of Japanese horror with a sequence steeped in blood and fear for director Takashi Shimizus American debut, THE GRUDGE, the unexpected horror hit from Columbia Pictures and Sam Raimis Ghost House.
The Visual Effects Society (VES) is the recipient of a $46,000 donation from founder Tom Atkins family to honor pioneers in the field of visual effects. Five funds will be established to finance awards and scholarships and be known as the:
* Peter Ellenshaw Fund, in the amount of $10,000* Albert Whitlock Fund, in the amount of $10,000* Linwood Dunn Fund, in the amount of $10,000* Douglas Trumbull Fund, in the amount of $10,000* Tom Atkin Founders Award Fund, in the amount of $6,000
Eovia Corp., developer and publisher of leading 3D animation, modeling and rendering software, has begun shipping its international English edition of Carrara 4, the powerful, approachable, complete 3D solution. Available in two versions, Standard and Pro, Carrara 4 is a major upgrade to an already high-quality 3D animation and design tool. Carrara 4 Standard is the ideal choice as an affordable and approachable entry into 3D.
Ad agency GSD&M recently turned to Ring of Fire and Lost Planet editor Paul Martinez for a dynamic campaign for the U.S. Air Force. The four spots target driven youth with appropriately compelling symbols.
Maxon and ArchVision announced the immediate availability of an RPC plug-in for Cinema 4D R9. Now Cinema 4D users can take advantage of the amazing content found in the ArchVision object libraries. RPC (Rich Photorealistic Content) libraries of people, trees, cars and more enable Cinema 4D users to add photorealistic content to their scenes faster than ever before.
Corel Painter IX, the powerful Natural-Media painting and illustration software, is currently available across North America, the U.K. and Australia.
Indie animator Mitch Butler did a short animation in two days for NIGHTLINE, which aired Oct. 22, 2004, at 11:30 pm on ABC and will be shown again sometime this week on ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT WITH PETER JENNINGS. It shows little cartoon voters running around being influenced by campaign workers.
Ive been lucky enough to do a number of character animations for ABC WORLD NEWS TONIGHT and NIGHTLINE this year, said Butler. Animation for journalism is really an interesting area, a bit of the SCHOOL HOUSE ROCK approach.
Audrey Steele has been promoted from vp to svp, sales research and marketing for FOX Broadcasting Co., responsible for marketing FOXs sales and programming strategy to the advertising community through development of sales positioning, materials and primary research.
Audrey is a creative researcher, a gifted presenter, a skilled administrator and a pleasure to work with, said Jon Nesvig, president of sales for the network, to whom she will report. We are pleased to be able to further recognize her contributions to FOX's sales efforts.
Sprint and Turner Broadcasting System Inc. announced today (Oct. 26, 2004) the launch of two additional multimedia channels - Cartoon Network Mobile and Adult Swim Mobile, which will provide streaming video and audio content for Sprint PCS Vision Multimedia Services.
Cartoon Network Mobile and Adult Swim Mobile will be available on Channels 10 and 11, respectively, and each will cost $3.95 a month for Sprint PCS Vision customers. Cartoon Network joins sister network CNN (Channel 2) as a multimedia channel on the Sprint PCS Vision Multimedia Service.
NEON GENESIS EVANGELION topped the NEWTYPE USA readers list of top anime of all time. The publication ran a three-month open ballot to celebrate its second year of publication.
Coming in at No. 2 with more than 11,700 votes cast was COWBOY BEBOP, a perennial favorite that combines Western themes with sci-fi motifs and jazzy music. And the third favorite anime of all time: INUYASHA, the long-running adventure starring a modern schoolgirl and a feudal half-demon dog boy. Rounding out the top five are RUROUNI KENSHIN and TRIGUN.
Black Maria Film and Video FestivalOver 50 Cities, USAJanuary 4 June 29, 2005Deadline: November 20, 2004
PROMAX&BDA has announced the 2004 PROMAX&BDA Home Entertainment Award winners, honoring the best work and creative skills of marketing professionals in the home entertainment sector.
"PROMAX&BDA is pleased to honor these executives for their stellar efforts and creative vision in marketing Home Entertainment, one of the largest segments in the entertainment industry," said Jim Chabin, ceo of PROMAX&BDA. "Each year, we take great pride in recognizing the best marketing, promotion and creative experts that continue to steer Home Entertainment to new heights."
EXPOSÉ 3World Wide WebAugust 2005Deadline: February 28, 2005
Ballistic Publishing and CGNetworks have announced EXPOSÉ 3, the third in its series of critically acclaimed EXPOSÉ digital art books celebrating the creative talents of digital artists worldwide. Images can be created in any 3D or digital illustration application. Photoshop and digitally manipulated photography is also welcome. We are interested in digitally-created fine art, whether it be 2D or 3D, for commercial use, or personal satisfaction.
Geneon Ent. will be releasing the highly anticipated anime feature APPLESEED to the theaters in the U.S. Opening Jan. 14, 2005, in select cities, the film is based on the manga story by Masamune Shirow (GHOST IN THE SHELL) and directed by Shinji Aramaki (BUBBLEGUM CRISIS). APPLESEED features a groundbreaking animation style, "3D Live Anime," utilizing motion capture animation techniques. The film was released theatrically in Japan earlier this year.
Universal Studios Home Ent. announced that VAN HELSING scared up sales of more than four million combined DVD and VHS units in the first six days of release for a total consumer spree of $65 million.
USHE is poised for a record-breaking fourth quarter with a release schedule representing 36% of the domestic box office of all feature titles being released during that period.
The Learning Annex is hosting a panel discussion about pitching your ideas to the studios. Topics will include: the state of the animation industry today; where the jobs are - in movies, TV, direct-to-video; hand-drawn animation vs. CGI; and development: how to go from concept to cartoon. Following the discussion will be a Q&A session.
Confirmed panelists to date include:* Jeff Howard (moderator): director of creative affairs, DisneyToon Studios. * Saul Blinkoff and Elliot Bour: directors, DisneyToon Studios.
TOM AND JERRY SPOTLIGHT COLLECTION THE PREMIERE VOLUME (Warner Home Video, $26.99) streets Oct. 26, 2004, with 40 of their very best cartoons from 43-56 in the two-disc set, including all of their Oscar winners and three CinemaScope entries. However, be forewarned: three of the shorts on disc one are edited: THE MILKY WAIF, THE TRUCE HURTS and THE LITTLE ORPHAN. WHV said the snafu was unintentional and will be putting out replacement discs very soon at no extra cost. Details to come.
Hanna-Barberas WACKY RACES may have been short-lived from 68-69 cancelled due to protests about excessive violence in childrens programming, of all things yet it still managed to capture the imagination of Saturday morning viewers with its humorous satire of THE GREAT RACE and THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES. Now all 34 episodes can be found on the three-disc DVD set (Warner Home Video, $34.98), which streets Oct. 26, 2004.
Bruce Willis is set to replace Jim Carrey as the con-artist raccoon R.J. in DreamWorks' OVER THE HEDGE, which is scheduled to arrive in theaters May 19, 2006. The animated comedy is based on Michael Fry and T. Lewis comic strip. Garry Shandling will voice the pessimistic turtle Verne. The film will follow R.J.s exploitative plans after his woodland neighborhood begins to be encroached upon by a development.
