The 2nd Annual International Animated Film Festival "BIMINI," which took place April 1-4, 2004 in the city of Riga, Latvia, bestowed its top prize on LEGEND OF THE ORIGIN OF CRAWFISH by Valentin Olshvang.
HypeFest is now accepting entries to its annual film festival to be held in Hollywood July 23-25.
SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, takes a trip back in time to show the residents Bikini Bottom in prehistoric times in Nickelodeons SPOUNGEBOB GOES PREHISTORIC primetime special airing at 8-9:00 pm on March 5, 2004.
Canal+ has picked up Bardels award-winning holiday special, THE CHRISTMAS ORANGE special for its Christmas 2003 season to air in France, Monaco, Mauritius, Switzerland and Africa.
"THE CHRISTMAS ORANGE is exactly the kind of moral tale we like to have on Canal+", says Sandra Ouaiss, acquisition director of fiction & animation at Canal+ international acquisition.
Always out to save the world, now that flying triple treat, the Powerpuff Girls must also save Christmas everywhere in TWAS THE FIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, a 60-minute holiday special, which was released on DVD Oct. 7, 2003. The Powerpuff Girls holiday special debuts Dec. 12 at 9:00 pm on Cartoon Network.
Raven Moon Entertainment has announced it will launch a nationwide contest to promote it's GINA D'S CUDDLE BUG CHRISTMAS SPECIAL, which is scheduled to air Dec. 21, 2003 on PAX Television. The contest will give 20 kids a Free Christmas Cuddle Bug and one grand prize winner and their family a trip to Orlando, Florida to watch a filming of an episode of GINA D'S KIDS CLUB.
The WB offers scary-family-fun during its first-ever all-original Halloween themed programming lineup on October 24, 2003 (8:00-10:00 pm). The WB will kickoff the fright-night festivities with the second original primetime special for the network, A SCOOBY-DOO HALLOWEEN (8:00 pm), followed by BUGS BUNNY'S HOWL-OWEEN SPECIAL (8:30 pm) and the hilarious horrors in THE WB'S OUTRAGEOUS HALLOWEEN OUTTAKES (9:00-10:00 pm). On Oct. 25, Kids WB! Offers a holiday-themed episode of JACKIE CHAN ADVENTURES.
In response to reader demand, AWN is going to make it easier for you to get all your important MIPCOM news in one concise place. AWN will be publishing four special MIPCOM newsletters, in Acrobat format, that will be emailed to all subscribers of the Animation Flash and AWN Spotlight. The first edition will arrived Wednesday, September 24, 2003 and it will continue every Wednesday until October 8. We still want your news related to MIPCOM, so that you won't be left out. Send all information to editor@awn.com.
TV Land will replay its first computer-animated special, THE ALAN BRADY SHOW, Oct. 5, 2003 (10:30-11:00 PM, ET/PT), giving the cabler another chance to gauge audience response in determining the commercial viability of a potential series. THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW spin-off features Emmy Award-winner Carl Reiner reprising his caustic character in voice-over.
To commemorate the 75th anniversary of the "Popeye the Sailor Man" franchise in 2004, King Features Syndicate has christened production of a brand-new 3D computer-animated POPEYE TV and home entertainment special. Mainframe Entertainment will not only animate but, according to DAILY VARIETY, has secured international distribution rights in several markets, including TV rights in Canada and TV/DVD/VHS rights in the U.K. and Australia.
Sit back and get ready for 100 years of animation history in Bravos special THE ANIMATED CENTURY. Hosted by animated teacher Professor Elderberry and his student Horace, the show presents clips from the most important animated films of all time. The special delves into all forms of animation from cel to puppet to sand. Included in the special are works from Emile Reynaud, Winsor McCay, the Fleischer Bros., Walt Disney, Chuck Jones, Bob Clampett, Jiri Trnka, Raoul Servais, Yuri Norstein and many more.
In response to reader demand, AWN is going to make it easier for you to get all your important MIPCOM news in one concise place. AWN will be publishing four special MIPCOM newsletters, in Acrobat format, that will be emailed to all subscribers of the Animation Flash and AWN Spotlight. We're putting out a call for all your news related to MIPCOM, so that you won't be left out. The first edition will arrive Tuesday, September 23, 2003. Send all information to editor@awn.com.
To make it easier for you to get all your MIPCOM news in one concise place, AWN will be offering a special MIPCOM newsletter to subscribers of the Animation Flash and Animation Spotlight. Were putting out a call for all your news related to MIPCOM, so that we can include it. Send all information to editor@awn.com. If youre interested in advertising in this special picture enhanced newsletter e-mail sales@awn.com.
Alan Brady, the caustic TV host portrayed by Carl Reiner on THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW back in the '60s, returns in a new computer-animated special on TV Land, airing Aug. 17, 2003 (10:00-10:30 pm). THE ALAN BRADY SHOW marks TV Land's first original animated special in the network's seven-year history. Reiner, who reprises his character in voice-over, also wrote the special and serves as exec producer along with George Shapiro and Howard West of Shapiro/West Prods.
G4, the Comcast-owned TV network all about video games and the gamer lifestyle, will hold G-Phoria - the network's location-based and on-air mega-event at the Henry Fonda Theater in Hollywood, California.
20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA, Disney's first live-action star vehicle (Kirk Douglas, James Mason and Peter Lorre), is available on DVD in a lavish two-disc special edition ($29.99 suggested retail price from Buena Vista Home Entertainment).
Minnetonka-Minnesota based TV and film production/distributor/acquisition company Tremendous! Entertainment, Inc. will attend the Los Angeles Screenings for the first time this year, offering international buyers a peek at the newest Garfield 25th anniversary special. GARFIELD'S WORLD EGO TOUR celebrates the fat cat's 25th birthday in a live-action prime-time special. It chronicles the lasagna-loving feline as he visits his millions of fans around the globe.
The American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood will present the 1st Festival of Japanese Anime from May 2-14, 2003. It features a cross-section of the newest and most challenging work from Japan, including the U.S. premieres of THE CAT RETURNS, the mondo-insane TAMALA2010 A PUNK CAT IN SPACE, the lovely fable PRINCESS ARETE, the long-awaited three-part anthology film MEMORIES, and Miramax Films POKÉMON 5, plus sneak previews of as-yet-unreleased episodes from cult-hit series including CRUSH GEAR TURBO, AURA BATTLER DUNBINE, BRIGADOON, SCRYED, PLEASE, TEACHER, YOURE UNDER ARREST, DNA2, READ OR DIE, RAHXEPHON, PARASITE DOLLS and a very special sneak peak at THE MATRIX-inspired THE ANIMATRIX, with all nine episodes shown for the first time.
Vancouver-based Mainframe Entertainment, Inc., a leading creator of computer animation, has digitized the last pixel on it's first one-hour primetime special, SCARY GODMOTHER HALLOWEEN SPOOKTAKULAR, scheduled to air on Canada's YTV network this coming Halloween, October 31, 2003. Mainframe CEO, Rick Mischel, said this is the first time an animation company has made a television special using feature-film quality SOFTIMAGEXSI software. The show is based on the popular comics and children's books by the award-winning artist and writer, Jill Thompson, who also served as the art director.
While most of Nelvana's computer animated programs have been done with the assistance of outside studios, the Toronto-based production house, which is part of Corus Entertainment, turned out an entire 3D CGI one-hour special, ç, completely in-house, now airing on Nickelodeon. It premiered in primetime March 31 with rebroadcasts on April 1 and 14 at noon. The studio is becoming increasingly more self-contained, under the direction CGI pioneer and production chief Scott Dwyer. Based upon the best-selling book series by acclaimed children's author, David Kirk, MISS SPIDER stars Brooke Shields as the voice of a full-grown spider who discovers she doesn't know everything there is to know about being a terrific mom. Having been adopted herself when she was young, Miss Spider's lessons multiply when she and her young ones try to reunite an abandoned chicken egg with its mother. Nelvana used primarily Maya and combustion to create the rich, colorful natural environments and soft characters. The Nelvana production in association with Callaway & Kirk was exec. produced by Michael Hirsh, Dyer, Kirk, Nicholas Callaway and Nadine va der Velde. Pam Lehn served as supervising producer and Susie Grondin was producer. Mike Fallows directed the script by van der Velde while Mike Shiell was animation director. While animation remained at Nelvana, voice recording was done in Canada and the U.S. Tony Jay as the voice of the evil Spiderus was recorded at Voice Trax West in Los Angeles. Shields and Rick Moranis (the voice of her husband Holley) were recorded at Magno Sound in New York City. The majority of the voices were recorded at Studio 306 in Toronto under the direction of Jessie Thomson. Nelvana also produced in-house the ROLIE POLIE OLIE: GREAT DEFENDER OF FUN special last year that aired on Disney in the U.S. and CBC in Canada. MISS SPIDER'S SUNNY PATCH KIDS will air later this year on TELETOON in Canada. The special is sponsored by U.S. retailer Target, which just launched a lifestyle brand for children called Sunny Patch, in stores across America featuring images of Miss Spider and friends on clothing, garden tools and home décor.
On February 4, 2003 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm, Imagina is organizing a presentation of the effects from HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS, with two of the key special effects facilities that worked on the film.
THE WALKING WITH DINOSAURS specials are back on the BBC, with the premiere of THE GIANT CLAW and LAND OF GIANTS over the holiday season. For the first time in the WALKING WITH series, the special effects on display include the integration of a human being into the prehistoric landscape. Zoologist Nigel Marvin, who hosts both shows, travels back in time to ancient Earth in search of a variety of dinosaurs.
Animated Christmas specials haven't always been synonymous with the season, it just feels that way. Martin Dr. Toon Goodman discusses their history and the uneasy balance they strike when trying to depict the "true" meaning of the season.
U.S. broadcaster NBC has acquired A FREEZERBURNT CHRISTMAS, a new stop-motion animated special, and plans to air it in prime time this holiday season. SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE cast members Chris Parnell, Darrell Hammond and Horatio Sanz lend their voices to this half-hour special from Wreckless Abandon Studios and distributor Broadway Video Enterprises. When a shy, down on his luck character named Freezerburn stumbles upon an evil toy magnate planning to take down Santa Claus, he summons his gang of quirky pals to warn Santa and save Christmas.
Two blockbuster special editions are available on DVD November 26, 2002 and both feature some innovative CG animation.
