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How will Jar Jar look when he is 8 stories tall? This question will be answered on November 1, 2002, when a large-format version of STAR WARS: EPISODE II "ATTACK OF THE CLONES" debuts in IMAX theatres in the United States and Canada. The film will be digitally re-mastered using the proprietary IMAX DMR (Digital Re-mastering) technology, which allows live-action motion pictures to be inexpensively converted into the 15/70 format for presentation on the giant IMAX screen, while maintaining and even enhancing the conventional image resolution.

September 14, 2002 marks the premiere of kid-friendly programming on most network and some cable stations. The Kids' WB will kick off the season with a "Scoob-Tacular-Saturday Sweepstakes," which offers kids the chance to win one of thousands of prizes throughout the morning. The network will introduce three new series to the fall schedule: the all-new WHAT'S NEW SCOOBY-DOO?, the buddy-cop comedy OZZY & DRIX and the new Mexican wrestling comedy ¡MUCHA LUCHA!, which had an early sneak-peek debut on Saturday, August 17. Kids' WB!

Barrie Usher, president and CEO of Canadian children's entertainment company Cinar, has submitted his resignation effective September 15, 2002. George Rossi, senior vice president and CFO, will replace him in the interim until a new president and CEO is appointed. Cinar is emerging from a series of financial scandals that began in 1999, stemming from illegally obtained Canadian tax credits, non-approved investments in offshore accounts and the misappropriation of funds by senior executives.

DIC Entertainment announced today that they have signed Nancy Bassett to head up all of their licensing and merchandising sales initiatives worldwide. Bassett comes to DIC from Viacom Consumer Products where she was the vice president of worldwide sales for Paramount Pictures' licensing division. During Bassett's tenure with Viacom she served as the general manager of Viacom Consumer Products Canada and as managing director of Hamilton Projects. Bassett also held executive positions at Alliance Atlantis Entertainment and Sega of Canada.

Michael Dudok De Wit's short film FATHER AND DAUGHTER continued its winning streak at the 2002 edition of the Hiroshima Animation Festival. Winning both the Grand Prize and the Audience Prize, Dudok De Wit can now add Hiroshima to the slew of honors he has received for his film, including the 2001 Annecy Grand Prix, the 2000 Academy Award for Best Animated Short, Grand Prize at Zagreb 2002, the 2001 Cartoon D'or and many others. Below you will find a full list of winners:

Grand Prix

FATHER AND DAUGHTER by Michael Dudok De Wit (The Netherlands)

BOXX Technologies has announced that its R and H series of high-performance 3DBOXX workstations and its RenderBOXX rendering systems now feature the AMD Athlon MP processor 2200+ with QuantiSpeed architecture and Smart MP technology. BOXX stated that the 3DBOXX and RenderBOXX series featuring the new AMD Athlon MP processor provides optimal performance for compute-intensive applications such as 3D modeling, CAD, animation and digital video editing. "Our customers are eager for processing power and continually driven by deadlines," said Rick Krause, president and CEO of BOXX.

Mike and Sully will get a new look when U.S.-based manga publisher Tokyopop releases a graphic novel based on the Disney/Pixar property MONSTERS, INC. The 104-page paperback manga version of the hit CG-animated film, which features collectible stickers of the entire monster cast, will hit the shelves of bookstores and comic book retailers in October 2002, just after the film's North American DVD/VHS release.

Television executive John Bullivant has launched Kickback Media, a new executive production and development outfit. According to Bullivant, the aim of Kickback is to create, develop and finance character and design-based intellectual properties. The television activities will focus predominantly on the children's market and will include both animation and live-action content.

The latest network series refugee to join cable's Cartoon Network is Matt Groening's FUTURAMA. Twentieth Television and Cartoon Network have entered into an agreement for the exclusive cable rights of all 72 episodes of FUTURAMA to begin airing January 2003, during Cartoon Networks late night adult animation block Adult Swim. FUTURAMA chronicles the adventures of Philip J. Fry, a pizza delivery boy who was accidentally frozen on New Years Eve in 1999 while on the job.

Visit all of AWN's Discussion Forums to stay in touch with the animation community! This week, hot forum discussions include the best stop-motion capture devices and all-time favorite animators. In The Animator's Desktop, Tony White has posted lessons #12 and #13 of his "Making Things Move Well" series, both focusing on Eye Movement (no pun intended). Over in Show and Tell, check out the kids of "Xero High" and animated and experimental shorts at yourshortz.com. Don't miss The Animation Flea Market, where users can post items wanted or for sale.

OLLIVERS ADVENTURES, a new 13 x 30-minute animated series from Collideascope Digital Productions will have its Canadian premiere starting Saturday, September 7, 2002 at 8:00 am ET/PT on Canadian broadcaster TELETOON. The series is a spin-off of Collideascopes Gemini Award-winning animated shorts, OLLIES UNDER THE BED ADVENTURES.