AWN Headline News

The 1999 edition of SPIKE AND MIKE'S SICK AND TWISTED FESTIVAL OF ANIMATIONincludes NO NECK JOE III by DNA Productions, DIE HARD IN UNDER TWO MINUTESby Konstantin Bronzit, TYSON: I AM NOT AN ANIMAL by David Lipson, BALLETBLUES by Thomas Kung, BOWLIN' FER SOULS by SuperGenius, HORNED GRAMMA byDave Foss, LEGEND OF RAGGOT by Sean Scottm, GRIMM'S HUMPTY DUMPTY by RyanMontrucchio, SWING SLUTS by Brett Johnson, BILLY'S BALLOON by DonHertzfeldt, BEYOND GRANDPA II by Breehn John Burns, BODY PARTS by Jonas

Alias/Wavefront has announced Maya Paint Effects. Paint Effects is a toolfor the instantaneous creation and animation of organic and painterlyeffects. Completely integrated inside of Maya, Paint Effects comes with amyriad of editable pressure-sensitive preset brushes including: EffectsBrushes which can create complete environments with trees, grass, andflowers, characters with realistic hair, eyebrows and beards, and specialeffects such as lightning, clouds, rain, fire, fireworks, starfields and

John Libbey & Company Ltd. has published WALT DISNEY AND EUROPE by RobinAllan. The work is a study of the way Europe and European cultureinfluenced Walt Disney and his artists in the making of the Disney animatedfeature films from SNOW WHITE to THE JUNGLE BOOK. The book is 368 pages,and lavishly illustrated in black and white and color with manyillustrations that have never been published. Paperback: ISBN1-86462-041-2; £22.50; Hardback: ISBN 1-86462-040-4; £40.00. Robin Allan

Los Angeles' only resident Wayang Kulit shadow play ensemblepresents an episode of the Indian epic poem, THE MAHABARATA. The event isfree, and takes place Friday, August 20, 8 pm at Occidental College, ThorneHall Patio, 1600 Campus Road in Eagle Rock, California, USA. For moreinformation call (818) 768-7696.

North Hollywood, California-based Film Roman has reported second quarter losses of $266,215, or 3 cents a share, whichis an improvement over the losses for the second quarter of 1998 of$718,439, or 8 cents a share. Revenue for the first half of 1999 increasedby 58% to $27.5 million from last year's first half's $17.4 million. FilmRoman produces Fox's THE SIMPSONS and Warner Bros.' upcoming new series,MISSION HILL (previously known as THE DOWNTOWNERS). In recent months, FilmRoman has been making significant strides to enter the original content

John Kricfalusi, creatorof Nickelodeon's THE REN AND STIMPY SHOW, returns to television with twolong-awaited half-hour specials featuring Yogi Bear, Boo Boo, and theirnemesis, Ranger Smith. In BOO BOO RUNS WILD, Yogi's pal Boo Boo transformsfrom a law-abiding cave dweller to Jellystone Park's greatest menace. Yogimust save his buddy before Ranger Smith stops Boo Boo for good. A DAY INTHE LIFE OF RANGER SMITH follows Ranger Smith on his daily routine as heattempts to enforce ridiculous rules and regulations on Mother Nature.

A newly restored 35mm print of YELLOW SUBMARINE featuring The Beatles willbe shown at theaters across the USA. The film will be showing at thefollowing theaters: The Egyptian in Seattle, September 1-16; BrattleTheater in Boston, September 1-9; Landmark's Nuart Theater in Los Angeles,September 3-9; The Castro Theatre in San Francisco, September 3-15; TheUptown in Minneapolis, September 3-9; The Union in New York, September10-17; The Music Box in Chicago, September 10-16; The Hillcrest in San

Toronto-based TOPIX/MAD DOG has completed the computer animated :15"Explosion" promoting Russell Stover's Pecan Delights. In the spot, whichwas created with Softimage and Flame, little chocolate men explode thecandies to find the pecan treats inside. Livio Passera and Mark Ainsliedirected the animation. Toronto-based Generator Productions shot thelive-action footage.

San Francisco-based Wild Brain, Inc. has joined with Munich-based EM.TV &Merchandising to co-produce POOCHINI'S YARD, a 26-episode series based onWild Brain's short, A DOG CARTOON. Wild Brain will manage all creativeaspects of the series which begins production this summer. Distributionrights are planned to be split between domestic for Wild Brain, andinternational for EM.TV. Wild Brain's credits include FERNGULLY 2: THEMAGICAL RESCUE, and current productions THE ADVENTURES OF ROCKY &

It was another rough weekend for Warner Bros.' THE IRON GIANT at the USboxoffice. Directed by Brad Bird, the film finished tenth, grossing anestimated $3.8 million for a total of $12.6 million. Other animationrelated films in the top ten: Buena Vista's supernatural thriller THE SIXTHSENSE, with visual effects by DreamQuest, finished first again, grossing anestimated $26.1 million, which is actually more than last week's $25.8million, for a total of $70 million; Warner Bros.' shark thriller, DEEP

DAVID MCFARLAND has been named to the newly created position of vicepresident of Affiliate Sales for FOX FAMILY CHANNELS. McFarland willoversee all aspects of affiliate advertising sales and play an integralrole in developing strategic direction for Fox Family Channels'distribution efforts. McFarland joins Fox from Comedy Central where heserved as director of Affiliate Advertising Sales. Previously he served asregional sales manager for Cox Communications where he was responsible forselling cable advertising.

CARTOON NETWORK ONLINE has promoted POLA CHANGNON to executive producer.Changnon will manage the Atlanta, Georgia-based team of producers, writers,and technical staff of CartoonNetwork.com, as well as New York-baseddevelopers Funny Garbage, and other developers. Changnon came to CartoonNetwork Online from San Francisco-based Colossal Pictures where she was aproducer. Prior to that she was a creative executive for Nickelodeon Movies.