J.J. SEDELMAIER PRODUCTIONS, with J.J. Sedelmaier serving as director, hasproduced a second Milton Bradley/Parker Brothers "Family Game Night"30-second spot. The commercial features classic board games like Monopoly,Clue, and Scrabble. This incarnation is entitled "Special Night" andfeatures the same child-like crayon style from the previous Milton Bradleyspot.
THE MILL, a London-based post house, recently finished up a new Daewoo carspot. The 30-second commercial, entitled "Aerial Fantasy," is directed byDaniel Barber of Rose Hackney Barber and produced by Duckworth Finn GrubbWaters. The Mill's Flame artist Jason Watts set the piece to a base-boomingmix of rock and rap music. The spot features the new Daewoo "Lanos"thrashing the world's largest skateboarding half pipe. The spot will airaround Europe in November and arrive in England come January 2000.
On November 11, 1999, the Hollywood Reporter reported that Columbiapictures has garnered the rights to Marvel Comics' DOCTOR STRANGE: MASTEROF THE MYSTIC ARTS. Don Murphy of Columbia-based Angry Films will producethe potentially live-action feature. The Strange flick joins SPIDER-MAN asthe second Marvel property in development at Columbia. Other comic-bookinspired project currently coming to life at Angry Films include ASTROBOYand PARASYTE.
Production has started up on NUTTY II: THE KLUMPS, the sequel to the $270million hit THE NUTTY PROFESSOR. Eddie Murphy will return to the role ofProfessor Sherman Klump in the Universal Pictures' and ImagineEntertainment flick. Singer and actress Janet Jackson co-stars in the film,which is produced by Brian Grazer (LIAR LIAR, BOWFINGER) and directed byPeter Segal (TOMMY BOY). Tom Shadyac, Murphy, Karen Kehela and James D.Brubaker are the executive producers, and the screenplay is scribed by
In deal between Midway Games Inc. and shockwave.com, the companies willbring classic Midway arcade games to the Net. Using Shockmachine, a virtualdevice, players will be able to download, save and play full-screen,Shockwave versions of games like: Defender, Joust, Spy Hunter, Moon Patroland Marble Madness. The games will remain exclusively on shockwave.com forthree months then they will also be available on Midway's home site andother major Web sites. The partnership will allow each company to link to
Watch for Hidden Evil Trekers! Activision, Inc. will beam Captain Picardand crew into stores the week of November 22, 1999 with their new releaseSTAR TREK: HIDDEN EVIL. The new game takes place nine months after thefeature film STAR TREK: INSURRECTION, featuring story driven missions thatwarp players into an adventure of combat, stealth and exploration. AsEnsign Sovok, a young officer serving on board the Enterprise, game-playerswill battle the Romulans to save the Ba'ku planet.
Eidos Interactive, an interactive software company, will release their hitgame, LEGACY OF KAIN: SOUL REAVER, for Sega Dreamcast. The game wasreleased for PlayStation and PC in August and has appeared on the cover ofevery major U.S. electronic gaming industry magazine. "The ongoing successand industry praise for Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver coupled with theimpressive sales figures of Sega Dreamcast make this a great fit," said RobDyer, President, Eidos Interactive. The action adventure game allows
* Cartoon Noir Screening. New York, New York, USA. December 3, 1999.
This feature-length compilation of animated short films features works from the American and European artists. Featured in CARTOONNOIR is: APE, Julie Zammarchi's darkly comic critique of monogamy, meateating, and the daily pattern of human brutality; ALTAIR, Lewis Klahr'scollagist elegy on New York nightlife; CLUB OF THE DISCARDED, Jiri Barta'stale of a family of discarded mannequins who enjoy a quiet life in an
A sad cloud has eclipsed the world of animation since the passing ofbeloved voice-over actress, Mary Kay Bergman. She recently has provided thevoice for Daphne Blake in the two most recent Scooby-Doo direct-to-videoflicks; Batgirl/Barbara Gordon in "Batman: Subzero"; the "official" voicefor Disney's Snow White; and all but one of the female voices on ComedyCentral's "South Park." Many questions surrounding the details of herpassing have surfaced since fans have logged onto her Web site which only
The Academy Award-nominated, animated short film, LUXO JR., will accompanyTOY STORY 2 for its Thanksgiving release. Directed by John Lasseter (TOYSTORY, A BUG'S LIFE), LUXO JR. debuted at SIGGRAPH in 1986 to wide praiseof its integration of classic character design with a new level of visualrealism. "LUXO JR. was the first computer animated film where the story andcharacters were more important to audiences than the fact that it was madewith a computer," said Lasseter, Pixar's Executive Vice President,
Big news from the next-generation entertainment industry! AtomFilms hasacquired PixelWave, a leader in online content development andentertainment technologies. The acquisition has spurred AtomFilms to makeplans to form "Atom Studios," a next-generation entertainment studio. Thenew company will focus on the creation of new original Macromedia Flash andstreaming media animated series and integrating content in both onlineadvertising and sponsorship opportunities. "PixelWave delivers an important
On November 10, 1999, Nickelodeon Online announced the premiere of a newNickelodeon channel on Apple's QuickTime TV (QTV), a leader on the Internetfor web-based video and audio. Nickelodeon's QTV channel will bring tocomputers around the world clips from Nickelodeon's new television shows,links to nick.com and nickjr.com, and other interactive items of kids.Also, the new NickTime TV will feature programming from Nickelodeon GAS,the first streaming sports network for kids. "QTV is the perfect network
Starting on Monday, November 15, 1999, Walt Disney Co. must stop using thegreen traffic light-type emblem for its Go.com Web sites. U.S. DistrictCourt Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr. ruled that the logo used by Disney is toosimilar to the one used by the GoTo.com search engine. In December 1997,GoTo.com began using the logo of a green circle on a yellow backgroundwith the letters "GoTo" in white. Almost two years later, Disney beganusing a logo of a green traffic light in a yellow case with "Go" written in
Customers who choose LightWave between now and the release of version 6will receive free upgrades from the current version (version 5.6).LightWave 6-- which is due for release later this year -- is said to be themost significant upgrade to the popular program in its long history as oneof the leading tools for visual effects and digital image creation.LightWave [6] is also the only 3D software system to run on MAC, WindowsNT, Alpha and Silicon Graphics systems. Version 5.6 is available now at a
Will the power of Pokemon ever stop? U.S. fans of the animated seriesproved this weekend that they had to catch all of POKEMON: THE FIRST MOVIE.After setting the record for the biggest Wednesday opening of all time foran animated film, the Pikachu vehicle grossed an estimated $52.1 millionover a 5-day period, squishing the non-summer record of $45.7 million setby A BUG'S LIFE. The much anticipated new film from Kevin Smith, DOGMA,with visual effects by Station X Studios, bucked controversy and finished
In a far distant future, awould-be master race seeks to dominate the galaxy. Against these mercilessAfressians, mankind has just one hope: the mysterious female warrior knownas Emeraldas. This is the story behind the Houston, Texas-based ADV FilmsNovember 23, 1999 release of QUEEN EMERALDAS on DVD. The US$29.98 QUEENEMERALDAS DVD will be in English and Japanese with English subtitles. Alsofrom ADV the following VHS tapes will all be released on January 25, 2000:The war against Genom escalates as the Knight Sabers find themselves forced
Disney Interactive, ESPN andKonami have announced that they will produce a full line-up of ESPN sportstitles for video game consoles and personal computers. The multi-platformsports brand will combine the full power of ESPN, a leading provider ofsports programming, ESPN Magazine and ESPN.com, with Konami's expertise intechnology and game development. Approximately 10 titles are expected tolaunch in 2000. The first titles, MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL and NBA BASKETBALL,both for Sega Dreamcast, and MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER on Sony PlayStation, will
Emerging from the jungles in January 2000, Activision, Inc., in collaboration with Disney Interactive, Inc.,will release Disney's TARZAN for Nintendo 64. This release will coincidewith the video release of the Disney summer blockbuster. Players will beable to surf the trees and swing from vines either as Tarzan, Jane, Terk orTantor. As you progress through 13-levels of game play, you can help save afamily of apes from the evil clutches of Sabor the leopard or Clayton thehunter.
The Moondance International Film Festival has announced the finalists for its first competition, Moondance2000. The festival takes place in Boulder, Colorado, January 14-16, 2000 aspart of the Sundance Film Festival. Entries from female screenwriters andfilm-makers from any country were welcomed to the competition. For moreinformation e-mail: mermaid7cs@aol.com(link sends e-mail); or write: Moondance InternationalFilm Festival, 970 Ninth Street, Boulder, CO 80302, USA.
The following films are finalists in the animation film category:
The International Cartoons &Animation Center's SALAM AND THE GOLDEN QUEEN has won the Hollywood FilmAdvisory Board's "Award of Excellence" and the Dove Foundation's "Dove Sealof Approval." In the film, Salam and the Knights of Virtue are shrunk tothe size of bees. Through their adventures in a beehive, they must learnthe value of cooperation and communication in order to return to the humanworld. The film is produced in six languages including English, French,Arabic, Turkish, Malay, and Urdu. Directed by Ammed Jamal Abdelhafiz, the
Playmates Toys has acquired the licenseto create action figures based on the animated series THE SIMPSONS. Therewill be eight initial figures, including Homer, Bart, Lisa, Grandpa,Krusty, Mr. Burns, Moe, and Barney, which will all be part of the World OfSpringfield Intelli-Tronic line. Each figure will feature the voice of thecast member who plays the character on the show. There are also plans forthree dioramas, including The Simpsons' living room, Homer's work station
Ontario, Canada-based Sheridan College, one of the leading animation programs in North America, is expanding its facilities with the latest animation equipment including new computers, software, cameras and pencil test systems. For pencil tests, Sheridan has purchased six Video LunchBoxes. Created two years ago by Oregon-based Animation Toolworks, the Video LunchBox captures still images from a video camera and plays back this sequence of images at the same rate as film images or television video.
Imagina 2000 with FIFI (Festival International du Film de l'Internet) have opened their competition for animation created specifically for the Internet. The FIFI is the first festival dedicated to films made for the Web. As the major European meeting point for digital image professionals, Imagina 2000 will provide a solid forum for launching this joint competition. The deadline for submissions is December 15, 1999 and all entries must be accessible through a URL only. The award will be presented during the Imagina 2000 ceremony in Monaco (January 31 to February 2, 2000).
Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis' short film, "When The Day Breaks" won theGrand Prize (Goldene Taube) at the 42nd International Leipzig Festival forDocumentary & Animated Films (Germany). This recent award is just anotheraccolade in "When The Day Breaks'" dazzling international career, whichstarted with the Palme d'Or for best short film at the 52nd CannesInternational Film Festival in Cannes, France, last June. "When The DayBreaks" also won the coveted Grand Prix for best animated short film at
The 42nd International LeipzigFestival for Documentary & Animated Films took place in Leipzig, Germanyfrom October 26 - October 31, 1999. 49 films from 13 counties were shown incompetition this year. The jury was comprised of Jayne Pilling (GreatBritain), Silke Parzich (Germany), and Andrei Zolotouchin (Russia). Thefollowing awards were presented:
Goldene Taube, WHEN THE DAYS BREAKS by Wendy Tilby and Amanda Frobis,Canada, 1999.
Silberne Taube, PINOCCHIO by Gianluci Toccafondo, Italy, 1999 and NIGHT OF
