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AWN Headline News

Headline News

J.J. Sedelmaier Swings With The Golf Gods

J.J. Sedelmaier has taken the wacky sensibility of the SNL TV Funhouse spots (AMBIGUOUSLY GAY DUO and X-PRESIDENTS among others) and hit the links. In a cross-media marketing campaign for golf footwear and accessories company Footjoy, J.J. Sedelmaier Productions, via agency Arnold Worldwide in Boston, has created the "Golf Gods," who will be featured in four 30-second animated commercials as well as print ads, posters and on the Footjoy Website.

International Headline News

4Kids Entertainment Signs New Licensees For Cubix

4Kids Entertainment International has signed a number of new licensees for its Japan-acquired CGI-animated series CUBIX ROBOTS FOR EVERYONE led by master toy licensee Trendmasters, with a collectible action toy line featuring interactive cards. The Character Group has been named the U.K. distributor and will be showcasing the line at the International Toy Fair in London in January 2002. Other licenses signed for the international market include 3DO (videogames) and Scholastic (publishing). CUBIX premiered in the U.S. August 2001 on Kids' WB! The show will debut in the U.K.

Headline News

Disney’s Classic Treasures Crosses The Alps

Disneys Classic Treasures Crosses The Alps. Buena Vista International Television has added Austrian terrestrial broadcaster ORF and Telepool Zurich in Switzerland to its list of licensees for the "Classic Treasures" package of Disney and Disney/Pixar films. For the first time, viewers in these territories will be able to watch popular animated films on terrestrial television. The package includes A BUG'S LIFE, MULAN, HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, TOY STORY and TOY STORY 2.

Animated Headline News

Tape House Toons Creates Sabrina The Animated Witch

Tape House Toons has completed 16-seconds of animation that transforms Melissa Joan Hart of The WB! television program SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH into an animated character. In the episode, which airs February 1, 2002 at 8:00 pm, a hex is put on Sabrina and she is turned into an animated character who careens around the live-action set until the hex is removed and she returns to normal. Don McGrath co-directed and animated the sequences. Richard Codor did character design, storyboarding and co-directed, and David Lipson was executive producer.

Animation Headline News

This Week At Animation World Magazine

Each week, Animation World Magazine offers new articles, specialfeatures and theme-based coverage of the art, craft and industry ofanimation. New this week:

- No LAAF-ing MatterMartin "Dr. Toon" Goodman takes on LAAFs, or Live-Action Animated Features, with a vengeance. How come Hollywood insists on making these flops!?

- Lille, France: Hotbed of the North

Animation Headline News

Job Opportunities For Animators, Agents, Programmers, Instructors And More

Ridgecrest, California's Cerro Coso Community College is looking for a DIGITAL ANIMATION INSTRUCTOR . . . Fullerton, California's College of the Visual Arts is looking for an ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ART - ENTERTAINMENT ART/ANIMATION . . . Cyberploc Studio is looking for a MAYA CHARACTER ANIMATOR and a MAYA MODELER . . . Winter Park, Florida's Full Sail Real World Education is looking for a COMPUTER ANIMATION LAB INSTRUCTOR . . . Boston, Massachusetts' Gibbs Boston is looking for a MAYA/AFTER EFFECTS INSTRUCTOR . . .

Events Headline News

New Additions To AWN's Calendar Of Events

This week's updates to the Calendar of Events include: Third Annual Scandinavian Film Festival: Friday, February 01 - Sunday, February 03, 2002, Beverly Hills, California USA . . . Tom Yakutis Services and Wake: Wednesday, February 06, 2002, Los Angeles, CA USA . . . Portland SIGGRAPH Organizational Meeting: Wednesday, February 06, 2002, Portland, Oregon USA . . . Toy Manufacturers of America International Toy Fair: Sunday, February 10 - Thursday, February 14, 2002, New York, New York USA . . .

Headline News

Treasure Planet Goes Large Format

Disney is becoming a giant screen fan. After the success of FANTASIA 2000 ($60.5M) and the favorable box office numbers received by the recent release of the large format BEAUTY AND THE BEAST ($12.5M and counting) is it any wonder? Now Walt Disney Pictures has decided to release its upcoming holiday animated feature TREASURE PLANET simultaneously in 35mm venues as well as in large format cinemas. This is the first time a major studio feature has been specifically formatted for both 35mm and the giant screen to receive a same day-and-date release.

Headline News

Britney Travels Through Time For Pepsi

New York-based production company Dogmatic has created six Webisodes based on the new 90-second Pepsi campaign "Now and Then" that premieres during the Super Bowl on February 3, 2002. For the new campaign, singer Britney Spears travels back through stylized musical time inspired by Pepsi jingles from the last five decades. In the original Webisodes, Dogmatic used Flash animation to frame live-action behind-the-scenes and rehearsal footage and carry Britney from one era to the next via a Pepsi time-travel machine.

Headline News

February’s New DVD Releases: Sequel-mania!

Hopefully, youve already picked up your copies of TRON and ATLANTIS that were released on DVD in January. Sequel-mania is the theme of Februarys new animation releases. Enough said.

February 5, 2002

ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN 2/THE SECRET OF NIMH 2

Headline News

Storyboard Artist Tom Yakutis Dies

Storyboard artist and former Local 839 IATSE president Tom Yakutis died January 25, 2002 after a long illness. Yakutis began his career at Disney in 1956 and worked for Larry Harmon, Art Scott, UPA, TV Spots, DePatie-Freleng, Hanna-Barbera, Filmation, Warner Bros., Marvel and Universal before retiring in 1994. He was elected to several Local 839 Executive Boards in the '60s and '70s, and served as president from 1982 to 1983. There will be a memorial service and traditional Catholic High Mass (in Lithuanian) held February 6, 2002 at 11 am at St. Casimir Church, 2718 St.

Animation Headline News

Tiger Aspect Creates Animation Division

U.K. independent Tiger Aspect Productions (TAP) has created a new animation division and upped Claudia Lloyd, former creative director of comedy and entertainment at Tiger Aspect, to head of animation. With the creation of an animation division, TAP is pursuing an active animation development slate. Currently, producer Chris Skala is developing EARTH KID, a series to be co-produced with Cartoon Pizza for the 6-12 year old age group. Lloyd would like TAP to produce only two or three mainstream or childrens and family specials or series per year.

Entertainment Headline News

Disney Interactive Picks Plaid Banana

Disney Interactive has launched a new publishing label called Plaid Banana Entertainment to create a complete line of software in the kid's adventure genre. Disney is teaming with Hulabee Entertainment, a digital media company established by Humongous Entertainment co-founders Shelley Day and Ron Gilbert. Under the agreement, Disney Interactive will handle all marketing and distribution for Plaid Banana Entertainment titles.

Headline News

Oscar-Winning Animator Ernie Pintoff Passes

Oscar-winning animator Ernest Pintoff died Saturday, January 12, 2002 from complications related to a stroke. He was 70. Pintoff helped to define a new look for animation in the 1950's through his work at UPA and Terrytoons. While at UPA he worked on THE GERALD MCBOING BOING SHOW, the first animated program made especially for network television. Gene Deitch brought him to Terrytoons in 1957, where Pintoff created FLEBUS.

Production Headline News

Production To Begin On Lady Death

ADV Films is bringing Chaos! Comics' LADY DEATH to life. Artists at SunMin Image Pictures in Asia under the supervision of director Young H. Sang will be animating the digital feature, based on Brian Pulido's original story. Set in 15th century Sweden, a wrongly accused young woman named Hope is sent to Hell where she is transformed into Lady Death and forced to battle Lucifer in his own domain. Executive producer and ADV co-founder John Ledford hopes to create a new production model with LADY DEATH that redefines the relationship between Asian animation studios and Western creators.

Universal Headline News

Butt-Ugly’s Got Game

Under the terms of a recently announced worldwide licensing, Vivendi Universal Publishing's Knowledge Adventure studio will develop and publish BUTT-UGLY MARTIANS interactive entertainment products for the PC/Mac, console, handheld, PDA, wireless and Internet platforms beginning in fall 2002. The products will be distributed worldwide by Vivendi Universal Games.

Visual Headline News

Discreet Upgrades Visual Effects Systems

Discreet is now shipping inferno 4.6, flame 7.6 and flint 7.6, the latest version upgrades to its visual effects system software. The new releases of Discreets inferno, flame and flint software comprise more than 100 new features and enhancements, focusing on product design, workflow, performance and extending the range and depth of their toolsets. inferno and flame now have new modes for color correction and other options in the Color Warper tool. The Modular Keyer rendering performance has also been optimized along with other key feature improvements.

Disney Headline News

Disney’s Animated Classics On The Big Screen At LACMA

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) kicks off its celebration of 100 years of Disney on Friday, February 1, 2002 with a screening of SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS, the one that started it all. On Saturday, February 3, 2002 at 5 pm, noted animation historian John Canemaker will be at LACMA presenting "The Nine Old Men," highlights of the work created by the now-legendary group of artists that joined the Disney studio in the 1930s and remained there over many decades. Mr. Canemaker will also be available to sign copies of his new book WALT DISNEY'S NINE OLD MEN.

Headline News

Simpsons Go Heavy Metal

Toy producer Rocket USA has teamed with Twentieth Century Fox Licensing & Merchandising and Matt Groening to make a line of tin toys, games and collectibles based on THE SIMPSONS. The toy producer will introduce the line with an 8-1/2" tin walking wind-up version of Homer Simpson. The figure comes in collectible packaging and will carry a suggested retail price of $24.95.

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