A website devoted to Walt Disney has been launched atdisney.go.com/disneyatoz/waltdisney/home.html. The site coversDisney's entire career, and features clips from Disney's animated andlive-action films, as well as family photos and home movies.
Sausalito, California-based Puffin Designs has announced Commotion DV, aprofessional image editing and effects program for digital video artists.Commotion DV is ideal for creating original stylized motion graphics andfixing image problems such as video dropouts. The SuperClone brush allowsusers to move and duplicate objects such as mountains, trees or clouds tocreate just the right background; fill in crowd scenes; or remove visualdistractions such as power lines or a wayward microphone. Playback controls
San Diego, California-based Pixels, Inc. is shipping version 3.2 of PiXELS:3D for Power MacIntosh. The new version is 25% faster than the previousversion. Among the features are: an Inverse Kinematics system that lets youdraw bones and create joints; Organic Modeling that enables users to moldprimitive objects like clay; a MorphMaker that allows for multi-targetmorphing and an Animation Timeline that lets you fine tune the movement ofobjects. PiXELS: 3D 3.2 Studio version sells for US$299.00 and PiXELS: 3D3.2 Studio Pro version sells for US$499.
Some fans, who are still shaking their heads over the poor boxoffice performance of the critically acclaimed THE IRON GIANT, director Brad Bird's adaptation of the children's book by British Poet Laureate Ted Hughes, have suggested that Warner Bros. should re-vamp their publicity campaign for the film by targeting a larger audience than the young kids that were originally targeted, and re-release THE IRON GIANT theatrically. Such a scenario appears unlikely now that Warner Home Video has announced THE IRON GIANT for home video and DVD.
McFarlane Toys is releasing four dual-packed assortments of action figures based on characters in YELLOW SUBMARINE featuring The Beatles, John, Paul, George and Ringo. Each card comes with two figures and accessories. John comes with Jeremy, the Nowhere Man; Paul comes with Glove, one of the Blue Meanies instruments of evil; George comes with the Yellow Submarine; and Ringo comes with a Blue Meanie. The figures will be released in late September or early October, and retail for between US$8 and $11.
Craig Miller and Marv Wolfman, who created and produced POCKET DRAGON ADVENTURES, are offering THINKING VISUALLY: HOW TO WRITE FOR TV ANIMATION, a single session class at The Learning Annex in Los Angeles. Topics to be covered include what's required to break in; what extra things you need to think of when writing animation; writing the premise, outline, and script; writing with your intended viewers in mind; working with story editors; and humor and action, how far can you go. Handouts will include a sample story premise, outline, and script.
San Jose, California-based Adobe Systems Incorporated has announced Adobe After Effects 4.1. After Effects is a tool for motion graphics designers and visual effects artists working with film, video, multimedia and the Web. Among the new features are: support for enhanced media exchange, performance enhancements, workflow refinements, and extended creative options and control. Adobe After Effects 4.1 will be available in September 1999 in the US and Canada for an estimated street price of US$699 for the standard version and US$1,499 for the production bundle.
San Francisco, California-based Mondo Media, Inc. has announced a one-year deal with Netscape Communications, a subsidiary of America Online, Inc., to provide Netscape's Netcenter Web site with two weekly animated shows which will be presented under the banner of MONDO MINI SHOWS. LIKE, NEWS is written and directed by Don Asmussen, a regular cartoonist for TIME and GEORGE magazines, and features a sarcastic teenager with a nose ring who "interviews" newsmakers such as Saddam Hussein and Al Gore.
Tens of thousands of gameboys in the US and Canada flocked to retail outlets early on the morning of Thursday, September 9 as the Sega Dreamcast videogame console was made available for the first time in North America. As Sega expected, sales for the console during the first 24-hours set a new record for biggest 24-hours in entertainment retail sales with a total of $97,904,618.09 (about 500,000 players at a retail price of $199). The previous record was held by STAR WARS: THE PHANTOM MENACE, with its $28 million boxoffice on its first day of release in May 1999.
Montreal, Canada-based Toon Boom Technologies Inc. is now shipping version 2.3 of TicTacToon. Some of the features included on this new version are the ability to: customize and modify the aspect ratio of each scene at any stage of production; work on up to three levels of animation simultaneously; drag and drop entire columns of drawings with their cel names and timing to and from the Animation and Exposure Sheet modules; make order and timing changes quickly in either module through insert, replace or append options; and draw paintable rectangular zones to close outer edges of any drawing.
Buena Vista's supernatural thriller THE SIXTH SENSE, with visual effects byDreamQuest, finished second at the US weekend boxoffice after topping thelist for its first five weeks of release, grossing an estimated $17 millionover the weekend, for a total of $198.2 million. No other animation relatedfilms finished in the top ten.
Italy, Rome-based Digital Video S.R.L. has announced Toonz version 4.3,which provides 2D users with new tools to be more creative and efficient ontheir job. The digital exposure sheet is much more user friendly, includingmany new special effects, complete keyframe capabilities on all parameters,and enlarged number of mathematical expressions for more controllablemotion. Enhancements of display features include icons in the level headerarea for quick reference of elements. Texture mapping has been strengthened
DreamWorks Home Entertainment is hosting a chariot race on Tuesday,September 14 at 7:50-9 am to celebrate the release of DreamWorks' 1998animated feature THE PRINCE OF EGYPT on home video and DVD. In the race,which will be known as the Pharaoh's Cup Championship, Egyptian chariotswill race through two blocks of Hollywood Boulevard, between Cherokee andMcCadden, in Hollywood, California as part of an effort to raise donationsfor The Eastside Boys and Girls' Club of America, Children's Action
Westbury, New York-based American Royal Arts Corp., an animation artdealer, has been licensed by Apple and Signatures to produce hand paintedlimited edition cels and sericels featuring The Beatles from YELLOWSUBMARINE. The artwork will be signed by some of the same people who wereresponsible for making the original film, including the composer, SirGeorge Martin, the producer and co-author, Al Brodax, and Erich Segal,co-author of the original YELLOW SUBMARINE screenplay and Ringo Starr, the
The 19th Brussels Cartoon and Animated Film Festival takes place February28-March, 11 2000. The deadlines for entries is November 1, 1999. Each yearthe Brussels Cartoon and Animated Film Festival programs the crème de lacrème in international animation, and chooses its candidate for the Cartoond'Or. For more information contact The Brussels Cartoon and Animated FilmFestival, Rue de la Rhétorique 19, 1060 Brussels, Belgium. Tel: 32 2 534 41
London, UK-based RICHARD PURDUM PRODUCTIONS has completed three spots forNestle Polo mints. In "Aliens," which was designed by Robin Heighway Bury,the mint is chased by aliens. In "Cement," which was designed by John PaulEarly, the Polo mint is hounded by a mob, and in "Beach," which wasdesigned by Adrian Johnson, the mint is chased by muscle men into a ladies'changing room. The three designers brought their individual styles to eachof the spots, which were all directed by Richard Purdum for agency J.Walter Thompson.
Diepenbeek, Belgium-based Androme N.V. has announced the release ofCreaToon, a tool for cut-out animation, animated paint and any otheranimation that needs the manipulation of images or video sequences.CreaToon enables real-time editing and preview, and allows all parametersand textures can be animated with multiple camera views and scenes and lotsof plug-ins, such as file format plug-ins (TGA, BMP, JPG, PNG and AVI), alayers plug-in (image and gradient layer) and others. The package also
The Harvey Entertainment Company has selected New York-based Xceed, Inc., amarketing and communications company that specializes in interactiveservices, to develop a family oriented portal to exploit Harvey's brands onthe Web. Harvey Entertainment owns the rights to an extensive list ofwell-known cartoon characters, including Casper, the Friendly Ghost, RichieRich, Baby Huey, Wendy the Witch and Hot Stuff. Potential programming forthe portal include Harvey's classic animation library, stories from Harvey
The Fifth Annual Toronto Digital Image Festival (TDIF) is acceptingcomputer animation and special effects entries until September 24, 1999.Narrative and experimental CGI entries are strongly encouraged. Thefestival takes place October 28, 1999 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. For moreinformation visit www.interlog.com/~dolish/tdif; or Tel. (905) 438-1659.
The Giant Screen Theater Association (GSTA) Annual Meeting. Mark Osborne'sMORE, the experimental large format short film sponsored by the LargeFormat Cinema Association (LFCA) and nominated for a 1998 Academy Award,will be one of the New Film presentations. The New Film screenings at GSTAwill give operators of institutional and commercial large format theatersthe opportunity to consider the film for their venues. The event takesplace Saturday, September 11 - Wednesday, September 15 in New York, New
The Animated Castles festival is an international animation festival in theform of a show. All events, including the international competition and theItalian competition of short films, the conferences, round tables,interviews and previews, are presented in one big venue. This year, thefestival pays tribute to Marv Newland, Joanna Quinn, Carlos Trillo andRoberto Gavioli. For more information contact The Animated Castles, c/oConsorzio Imprese Castelli Romani, Corso Gramsci 110, 00045 Genzano, Rome,
The 2nd Matita International Animation Film Festival is a competitiveanimation festival. In addition to the official competition, this year'sprogram includes an Italian film program, a profile of the CFT Gobelinsschool, a tribute to Jiri Trnka, a Barry Purves retrospective and a forumabout new technologies. The event takes place Thursday, September 23 -Sunday, September 26 in Guardiagrele, Italy. For more information contactCamillo DíAlessandro, Mila Paterra, Ex Novo/ Mff, via dei Crociferi, 44,
The Annual Cartoon Forum is organized by the European Association forAnimated Films. This year the forum focuses on TV animation. Also, one ofsix European short films will be awarded the Cartoon d'Or 1999. The eventtakes place Wednesday, September 22 - Sunday, September 26 in Cordoba,Spain. For more information contact AEFA Cartoon, Boulevard Lambermont,4181030 Brussels, Belgium. Tel: + 32 2 245 12 00; or Fax: + 32 2 245 46 89.
Join the Scooby Doo Birthday Celebration Party Cruise and celebrate ScoobyDoo's 30th Anniversary. The cruise takes place Sunday, September 12, 2 pmaboard the M.V. Tiki and sets off from Fun Zone Boat Company, located nearthe end of the Balboa Peninsula in California, USA. R.S.V.P. tomfadanes@cataroo.com. Also, for more information, including directions,visit pweb.netcom.com/~cataroo/events.html.
This week's AWN Animation Trivia Quiz features questions about UPA...
