New this week: Maureen Furniss reviews five short films fresh from the festival circuit, Jean Detheux explores how venturing beyond this "given" opens up an entire new realm of paradoxes, dilemmas and ultimately success, Don Duga returns to Annecy with his trusty sketchbook in hand and more...
In this issue Paul Feldman details 25 years of Spike and Mike's Festival of Animation, Fred Patten discusses innovative animation techniques and Jerry Beck finds there is a lot to like about LILO & STITCH, Rick DeMott visits with Sony Pictures Imageworks to uncover SPIDER-MAN's visual effects magic and more...
San Francisco, California's Academy of Art College is looking for an ANIMATION/VFX INSTRUCTOR . . . Angry Chicken Productions is looking for a TRADITIONAL ANIMATOR . . . Artifact Entertainment is looking for a MAYA ANIMATOR . . . Boomba is looking for a STORYBOARD ARTIST . . . Clay Pixel Studios - USA is looking for a DIRECTOR - 3D ANIMATION, a FINANCE CONTROLLER/CFO, a PRODUCER - 3D ANIMATION and a SALESPERSON - 3D SERVICES . . . Glendale, California's DreamWorks Animation is looking for a 3D/2D CHARACTER LIGHTER . . . Mumbai, India's Famous Cine Labs & Studios Ltd.
On Wednesday, July 17, 2002 at 7:00 pm, ASIFA-Hollywood presents "Walt Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST - Eleven Years Later." BEAUTY & THE BEAST animator Tom Sito and a panel of veteran Disney artists will be assembled to recall the stories behind the creation of the only animated feature to be nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award. Among those tentatively scheduled to join Tom are director Gary Trousedale, Jim Hillin (CG supervisor, ballroom sequence), Nik Ranieri (creator of Lumiere) and Rick Familoe (animator of Lefou).
Disney has already announced plans to capitalize on the success of its 2D animated summer hit LILO & STITCH with a direct-to-video sequel and a television series. Thomas Schumacher, head of Disney Feature Animation, made the announcement. The video sequel, currently entitled STITCH! -- THE MOVIE, is slated for release in 2003 and will serve as a bridge between the feature film and the television series, currently under development with the working title of STITCH! -- THE TV SERIES, and set to launch on Disney Channel in fall 2003. In STITCH!
DreamWorks Pictures has enlisted Jim Carrey and Garry Shandling to voice the main characters in its upcoming 3D animated comedy OVER THE HEDGE, based on the comic strip by Michael Fry and T Lewis. OVER THE HEDGE, slated for release in 2005, will be the second computer animated project to be produced entirely at DreamWorks animation studio in Glendale, following the comedy SHARKSLAYER, which is currently in production. Produced by Bonnie Arnold (TOY STORY, TARZAN), OVER THE HEDGE follows the adventures of mischievous raccoon R.J.
Blender, the free 3D software package that had been available through Dutch company Not a Number (NaN) until March 2002, when the company declared bankruptcy, is now making a comeback, thanks to Blender creator Ton Roosendaal. Roosendaal founded NaN in June of 1998, and the company offered the Blender Creator animation software free through their Website. Since the demise of NaN, Roosendaal has been working with shareholders to come up with a possible way to make Blender available to the 3D community as an open source development project.
Venice, California-based Digital Domain, the visual effects company responsible for digital effects in recent blockbusters like THE TIME MACHINE, LORD OF THE RINGS, X-MEN and ARMAGEDDON, will announce a new software venture at SIGGRAPH 2002. According to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, Digital Domain will be offering a public version of its proprietary compositing tool, Nuke. Digital Domain hopes to compete with Shake, the popular compositing software owned by Apple.
Kaydara Inc. will be providing free training sessions at SIGGRAPH 2002 for their real-time animation software package Motionbuilder. The training sessions can accommodate up to 30 people at a time, and will be held every hour on the hour, from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm on Monday, July 22, 2002 at the Bonham Exchange, located at 411 Bonham Street in San Antonio. At the end of the day, Kaydara will unveil the most recent version of the software, Motionbuilder 4.0. For more information about Kaydara, including a SIGGRAPH calendar of events, visit www.kaydara.com.
Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy! John Kricfalusi's revolutionary animated series THE REN & STIMPY SHOW is back with six new original episodes. Cable network The New TNN (part of the MTV Networks family) has signed Kricfalusi to produce new original episodes of THE REN & STIMPY SHOW to air as part of TNN's new primetime adult animation block, scheduled to launch in the spring of 2003. The six new episodes will be presented in addition to all 52 episodes of the original series.
If you live or are going to be in the Los Angeles area between August 1, 2002 and October 6, 2002, be sure to stop by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Gallery for the exhibit "Oscars in Animation 7 Decades of Animation Art." Culled primarily from the private collection of Mike Glad and the Glad Family Trust, this comprehensive exhibition displays rare and original animation art from every year since 1933 to the present, all of it from Oscar-nominated or winning films.
The crew at guru animation studio in Toronto was recently presented a Silver Promax/BDA award for their work on 3 of 15 "very, very short films" for Canada's YTV network. Begun in July 2001, the spots were commissioned for YTV's 2001 fall branding campaign. The 3 1/2 second spots feature various characters, each of whom convey an abstract emotion, a weird concept or just a simple visceral pleasure.
Four new releases failed to attack the MEN IN BLACK's box office hold. Despite a 50% drop from last weekend's monstrous box office, MEN IN BLACK II is still number one, earning $25M and breaking the $100M mark after just 8 days. The film, with primary visual effects by ILM, has earned $133.3M since its July 4 debut. DreamWorks' THE ROAD TO PERDITION, debuted in second place with $22.1M. In third was the dragonslaying thriller REIGN OF FIRE, with visual effects by The Secret Lab, which brought in $16M, and HALLOWEEN: RESURRECTION managed to scare up $12.3M for fourth place.
On July 9, 2002 children's television producer Nelvana laid off 65 staff in its production department across all positions. According to a Nelvana spokesperson, the move was part of a strategic reorganization of the department to shift towards a team-based production unit with a smaller full-time staff, allowing the incorporation of more contract positions. Some of those laid off were given call-back dates for employment on future Nelvana projects. Nelvana is owned by Corus Entertainment, a Canadian-based media and entertainment company.
Italy's Ubik VFX Studio recently completed animation and visual effects for the new Maxibon Motta commercial, directed by Dario Piana and produced by FilmMaster and the Red Cell Agency. The spot opens with a live-action scene on a sunny and crowded beach on a hot summer's day. A space ship appears and a friendly alien with two mouths appears, which he uses to eat a Maxibon ice cream sandwich, before returning to outer space. The model artists and animators at Ubik VFX developed the concept, design and model of the alien and spaceship.
Infogrames, Inc. has signed a deal with producers C-2 Pictures and Intermedia to develop and distribute video games based on the third film in the TERMINATOR series, TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES, scheduled to be in theaters summer 2003. Through the agreement, Infogrames has secured the exclusive interactive rights for video games based on the property for all home video game consoles and the personal computer. Infogrames also secured the exclusive first option for interactive rights to any TERMINATOR 4 film through the deal, subject to certain conditions.
Holland Animation Film Festival.
Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Wednesday, November 13 - Sunday, November 17, 2002.
Entry Deadline: Thursday, August 01, 2002.
Maryland-based game development company Firaxis Games has licensed the NetImmerse 3D graphics engine and toolkit from software developer NDL to use on multiple future titles. Firaxis was founded in 1996 by veteran gaming executive Jeff Briggs and designer Sid Meier. The company selected the NetImmerse engine after extensively researching many different options, according to Mike Gibson, director of development for Firaxis.
Bionatics has released its plant simulation and animation plug-in natFX v1.5 for 3ds max, and will present it at SIGGRAPH 2002 (Booth #20106). natFX v1.5 now supports 3ds max's native wind features, and offers increased control and quality of textures with new Texture Manager function, adjustable level of detail of both 3D and 2D elements and greater export flexibility. natFX v1.5 for 3ds max is available with a minimum package of 10 plants and will be offered at a retail price of US$990. For more information visit www.bionatics.com.
Indian animation company 2nz recently created a "Jungle Safari" for Cheetos. Produced by Raj Kaushal of Fuel Productions through Hindustan Thomson Associates (the Indian affiliate of J. Walter Thomson worldwide), this 20-second live-action/animation spot opens on two kids sitting in the jungle enjoying a pack of Cheetos. They begin assembling 3D animals using the promotional "buildables" that are given free as part of Cheetos' latest promo offer. The plastic koala the boy is building comes to life via animation, and the kids are soon surrounded by the animals they have created.
Scooby-Doo scares up some spooks on the small screen in a new 15-second television spot produced by Blur Studio. Conceived by advertising agency G&M Plumbing, the spot promotes the release of the new PlayStation 2 video game SCOOBY-DOO: NIGHT OF 100 FRIGHTS. Like the game, the commercial is modeled after the SCOOBY-DOO television series rather than the recent feature film adaptation, although both transform the cel animated pooch into the world of 3D. The spot opens on a gabled mansion, shrouded in fog, its windows glowing with an eerie amber light.
Palos Verdes, California's Animation Design Center is looking for a BACKGROUND DESIGN INSTRUCTOR and a PROP DESIGN INSTRUCTOR . . . New York, New York's Bunko Studios, Inc. is looking for an ANIMATION/DESIGN INTERN . . . Sydney, Australia's Cape Productions is looking for DIRECTOR(S) OF ANIMATION . . . ComCore Services is looking for an VIDEO GAME ANIMATION ARTIST and a VIDEO GAME DESIGNER . . . Barcelona, Spain's Emotion Studio is looking for a CHARACTER ANIMATOR . . . Mumbai, India's Levioza Graphics is looking for a CARTOON ANIMATOR . . .
The July 29, 2002 issue of TV Guide magazine proclaims Gene Deitch's character Tom Terrific to be among the "50 Greatest TV Characters Of All Time!"...
This week, hot forum discussions include THE POWERPUFF GIRLS movie, remembering legendary animator Ward Kimball, and masters programs for traditional animation and more...
AWN's Upcoming Theatrical Releases database has been updated with a link to the trailer for Nickelodeon's upcoming feature film THE WILD THORNBERRYS MOVIE and more...
