AWN Headline News

Sony's US$100 million plus grossing film STUART LITTLE couldn't hold off

the live-action comedy NEXT FRIDAY at the U.S. box office thus slipping to

second place. The mega-mouse flick, with primary visual effects by Sony

Pictures Imageworks, additional animation by CFX and Rhythm & Hues, and

miniatures by Thunderstone, grossed US$9.7 million bringing its grand total

to $106.8 million. THE GREEN MILE, with primary visual effects by ILM,

Rhythm & Hues, POP and Matte World Digital, fell to 5th place grossing $7.6

* Wednesday, January 26, 2000. Toronto, Canada.

TAIS, the Toronto Animated Image Society, will present "Creating Appealing

Cartoon Characters" with Peter Emslie. In the evening's presentation, the

long-time Disney animator will explain his personal theory on what makes

for good cartoon character design, by referring to videotape and sketching

on the spot to illustrate various points. Since 1979, Emslie has spent much

of his time drawing for the Walt Disney Company. On staff for 10 years and

Imagine Television, the makers of THE PJS, is leaving Disney for its new

home at Fox. The three-year collaboration between the small screen arm of

production house Imagine Entertainment and 20th Century Fox Television will

take effect at the end of April 2000. Worth up to $30 million, the deal

also includes a two-year option extension. Imagine TV had been based at

Walt Disney Television since it was formed in 1997 by Imagine Entertainment

V12's director David Hwang created a "'50s sitcom spoof" commercial for

Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Produced for the Detroit ad agency DP + Company,

the 30-second spot features blue-tinted footage of a classic LEAVE IT TO

BEAVER-like family. As the family reads about the Selectcare program, the

commercial washes over in bright Technicolor hues. The voice-over

concludes, "Sometimes the answer can come right out of the blue." Jennifer

Lucero produced for V12.

CLASS-KEY CHEW-PO, the commercial division of Klasky Csupo, produced two

animated spots for Hasbro's "Together TV" and Tiger Electronics' "Find

Furby" game. Both spots were directed by Steven Dovas and were produced for

New York-based ad agency Posnick & Koklaer. The "Together TV" spot features

live-action heads placed atop animated bodies. The spot highlights parents

spending time with their children. The "Find Furby" spot brings animated

versions of the Furby dolls to life as they bounce around the sky from

Hitting the U.S. market April 2000, Humongous Entertainment will bring

families their new CD-ROM, PAJAMA SAM 3: YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT FROM YOUR

HEAD TO YOUR FEET. Pajama Sam is back to uncover the mysterious

disappearance of four Peace Delegates who have not arrived at the Food

Pyramid for a Peace Conference. The suggested retail price will be $24.99.

On January 5, 2000, Acclaim Entertainment started shipping their SOUTH PARK

RALLY for PlayStation with Nintendo 64, PC and Sega Dreamcast to follow

shortly. Developed by Tantalus Interactive, the kart-style racing adventure

features mission-based game modes and 27 characters from the Comedy Central

series. All versions of South Park Rally will include multiplayer modes

that feature races and cooperative game modes, including the multiplayer

Fox Kids has started developing a series based on the comic book/Internet

toon JOE PSYCHO & MOOFROG CARTOONSHOW. Set in the fictional town of Spleen,

Oregon, JOE PSYCHO revolves around humorous mishaps of the local TV station

where crazy Joe and mind-mannered MooFrog work.

yU + CO, in collaboration with Digital Domain, provided the motion graphics

design for seven new American Express "Blue" commercials. The titles appear

at the close of the spots as a grouping of light and dark squares, as in a

highly pixilated image, before coming into focus as letters. The titles

where designed to comment on the physical flexibility and the holographic

blue box center of the new card. Garson Yu was designer and director for yU

On December 27, 1999, Activision, Inc. shipped VIGILANTE 8: SECOND OFFENSE

for the Sega Dreamcast. In this new adventure, players must stop the Coyote

terrorist gang that has traveled back through time in an attempt to change

the course of events that will allow evil to dominate the world. Developed

by Luxoflux Corp., the game features multiple modes of play -- single

player quest, arcade and survival mode, two-player versus, cooperative and