Disney Interactive and Pixar Animation Studios have announced their newest kids CD-ROM title, Disney/Pixar's JESSIE'S WILD WEST RODEO. The new interactive 3D game takes players on a Wild West adventure with their favorite TOY STORY 2 characters. Kids can earn badges and Critter Awards as they participate in three different rodeo events, each with ten different levels. Players can even download game characters as screen savers.
IMAX Corporation has announced that Steve Oedekerk's original animated film, SANTA VS. THE SNOWMAN, will be reformatted into IMAX 3D and anchor a special IMAX holiday film program launching in November 2002. Produced by Oedekerk's O Entertainment, animated by DNA productions with additional footage being animated by Omation, a division of O Entertainment, the film features the voices of Oedekerk, Emmy Award-winning comic Jonathan Winters, Ben Stein and Victoria Jackson. SANTA VS.
Hoping that the worlds television audience pays more attention than the movie-going audience has, the folks controlling the rights to L. Ron Hubbard's novel BATTLEFIELD EARTH are bringing the epic science fiction adventure to TV. Hollywood-based Author Services, Inc. (ASI), international representatives for all L.
* Thursday, June 14, 2001, Santa Monica, California, U.S.A.
The Art Institute of Los Angeles is holding an exhibition of its winter 2001 graduate portfolios. Artwork from approximately 40 soon-to-be graduates in the design, and media art departments will be on display at The Museum of Flying, 2772 Donald Douglas Loop North, Santa Monica, California, on Thursday, June 14, 2001, from 11 am to 2 pm For more information: Tel.: (310) 7524700; or Web: www.artinstitutes.edu.
* Friday, June 8 Thursday, June 14, 2001, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.
* Wednesday June 13, 2001, Hollywood, California, U.S.A.
On Wednesday June 13, 2001 at 6:30 pm, Women In Animation Los Angeles will present "Networking, Creating Relationships That Work!" at Klasky-Csupos Hollywood studio. The event is hosted by Kelly Ellezy, co-owner of Red Gypsy Animation visual effects studio, and Pamela Thompson, a career coach. The event is free for WIA/LA members; $10 donation for non-members. For more information: Tel.: (310) 535-3838.
* Thursday, June 14, 2001, Portland, Oregon, U.S.A.
The Art Institute of Portland will be having a Graduate Portfolio Review on June 14, 2001 from 4 to 8 pm. The school is located at Parkside Center, Suite 150, 2020 SW 4th Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97201. Works on display will include computer animation, graphic design, multimedia/Web design, interior design and apparel design. For more information: Tel.: (503) 944-6651.
Character and visual effects company AurenyA, in association with Fusion Media Group, is creating the cinema title piece for Bruce Willis new production studio, Cheyenne Enterprises LLC. The nearly completed piece has grown to over 150 layers of visual effects, creating a hyper-realistic final product. Using Alias|Wavefronts Maya 3.0, visual effects supervisor Eric Tang and technical director Ron Miller used AurenyAs proprietary character animation software technology, Gesture, in order to model and animate characters with enhanced efficiency and precision.
Ring of Fire completed three 30-second spots, "High Noon," "Day of the Dumpsters" and "Fashion Show, for a Unisys campaign. Ring of Fires gear of tools included: Quantel Henry, Discreet Logic Inferno, Maya, Commotion and Adobe After Effects. "'Day of the Dumpsters' required a wide range of visual effects," remarked Ring of Fire senior post-production producer Casey Conroy. "One of our challenges was to create a CGI building that would sit in the middle of a lone desert landscape.
Creative firm ViewPoint Studios created the new open and program package for Discovery Wings Channels, EXTREME AIR. ViewPoint Studios designer/art director Michael MacKenzie said, Discovery Wings Channel supplied us with some truly amazing footage.
The 3DO Company has announced the signing of a development agreement with renowned Santa Monica based entertainment company, Pandemic Studios, the developer of Battlezone II and Dark Reign 2. The first as-yet-unnamed project is scheduled for release in early 2002. According to Pandemics president Josh Resnick, the deal will allow his company to expand their development base across multiple gaming platforms and reach 3DOs mass consumer market. Trip Hawkins, 3DOs chairman and CEO, commented, "We are thrilled to be working with Pandemic on new and exciting projects.
LEGAL ACTION COMICS, a 256-page paperback featuring comic strips by over seventy of the world's top cartooning talents, will make its debut at Comic-Con International in July 19 - 22, 2001. Contributors include the legendary Robert Crumb, Pulitzer prize winner Art Spiegelman, Robert Williams, Kim Deitch, Mary Fleener, Gary Panter, Spain Rodriguez, Jay Lynch, Tony Millionaire, Kaz, Julie Doucet and dozens of other renowned cartoonists.
Following the companys new development strategy, cHmAn, a Web entertainment company based in Lille, France, has changed its name to TeamcHmAn. While continuing to develop original content for the Web, TeamcHmAn will expand its activities to the production of video games. cHmAn has established itself as a top provider of interactive content with BANJA.com, a game where the level of teamwork players get from each other directly influences their opportunities to gain access to new features. BANJA episode #6 beta version is now online in French and English.
PROTEST, created by S.D. Katz, won the 2001 Charles Samu Award, an animation award that recognizes quality work made on substantive issues. Charles Samu, who was a key player in creating the Zagreb Animation Festival in the 70s, was a builder of cultural bridges for friendship and understanding through the universal language of animation. The Leo Dratfield Endowment at International Film Seminars, in association with ASIFA-EAST, has honored his memory each year following his death in 1988.
On May 24, 2001, Fox Interactive announced the appointment of Michael R. Heilemann as director of technology. Heilemann will report to Michael Pole, senior vice president of product development, and will direct Fox Interactive's software development efforts and technical research and development. Additionally, Heilemann will oversee the company's relationships with its hardware partners Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony. Heilemann comes to Fox Interactive from Electronic Arts Canada, where he was a senior software engineer.
Animator Michel Gagné will be releasing the first issue of ZED, his new comic series, this coming September. ZED is an ongoing comic book story featuring an alien on an intergalactic adventure full of twist and turns. "This is an all-age book, but it has a strong edge to it. Without taking myself too seriously, I want to make this an epic, and run the full gamut of emotions," says Gagné.
As part of a stated goal to offer the most powerful console, PC and online gaming experiences, Microsoft has unveiled a series of new action-adventure, strategy, sports, sci-fi, fantasy and simulation games for Xbox, the PC and Zone.com. "We're committed to creating world-class PC and Xbox video game system games that excite the imaginations of all game players," said Ed Fries, vice president of the games division at Microsoft.
Activision has announced the release of two new Marvel superhero titles for the Game Boy Color. SPIDER-MAN 2: THE SINISTER SIX and X-MEN: WOLVERINES RAGE, both carrying a suggested retail price of $29.99, have already begun shipping to stores in North America. SPIDER-MAN 2: THE SINISTER SIX and X-MEN: WOLVERINE'S RAGE feature the same superhero action that turned these Marvel characters into legends," said Larry Goldberg, executive vice president, Activision Worldwide Studios.
Following on the success of Boomerang in the U.K., Cartoon Network will launch a similar programming block in Spain on June 2, 2001. Cartoon Networks Spanish channel will begin airing Boomerangs four-and-a-half-hour of classic cartoons every Saturday and Sunday. The block will include PIXIE AND DIXIE, ATOM ANT, HONG KONG PHOOEY, HUCKLEBERRY HOUND and YOGI BEAR. Turner Broadcasting launched the Spanish service of Cartoon Network in 2000.
The 28th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards were presented on May 18, 2001 by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Emmy Awards are presented to daytime television programs that are broadcast nationally between the hours of 2 a.m. and 6 p.m.
In association with the International Critic's Week at the Cannes Film Festival, monsieurcinema.com awarded the first award for Best Web Film at Cannes 2001. The seven films in competition were: CUB by Steve Whitehouse, Canada; GOTCHAAA! by Eric Gosselet and Fabien Brandily, France; IN A GROVE by Hiroyuki Watanabe, Japan; LE SECRET MINCEUR by Stéphane Ricard, France; MARCELLE (episode Les Plaisirs De La Route) by Guillaume Joire, France; THE BIRTH OF STAINBOY by Tim Burton, USA; and THE SVUOTCHER by Flavio Della Rocca and Mattia Pasquini, Italy.
New Yorks Quiet Man recently created visual effects for three 30-second spots for Mike's Hard Lemonade. In each spot, the victim either a lumberjack, a distracted marine biologist or an unfastened construction worker enjoys recovering from a serious accident with a mug of Mike's Hard Lemonade. "There is a great deal of humor in the inappropriate," says Quiet Man creative director and founder Johnnie Semerad about the Monty Python-esque storylines behind the three spots.
Creative firm ViewPoint Studios announced the completion of a promotional campaign for the Court TV series, FORENSIC FILES. The campaign highlights the fascinating investigative process and intriguing stories of forensic specialists. To effectively convey how the science and technology used by forensic specialists works to uncover the truth surrounding crimes, ViewPoint Studio chose to show how an ordinary object could actually be a crucial piece of evidence. They used everyday objects such as a piece of gum, a cigarette butt, a hair and a fly as their focal points.
DMA Animation created the broadcast design package for the Lifetime Network's new television franchise, DANCESPORT CHAMPIONSHIPS. The DanceSport event took place in Monaco, where the world's best dancers met for this international competition. DMA designed a rhythmic flowing show open to highlight the beauty and motion of the dancers. DMA's design package included an open, bumpers and lower thirds along with other ancillary graphic elements, using a combination of live action footage and CGI ribbons. DMA Animation designs for television, film, the Internet and new media.
Exploding into the top spot at the box office this Memorial Day weekend was Buena Vistas PEARL HARBOR, which made a triumphant nationwide debut, grossing $75.1 million. The 3-hour, action-packed movie is set during the time of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, where two friends (Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett) are caught up in the events that draw the United States into World War II. DreamWorks' CG-animated film SHREK more than withstood the heavy bombardment, slipping down one notch from first to second with $54.2 million during its second weekend.
