AWN Headline News

*Thursday, December 9, 1999. Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.

The Association of Northern Animators will present "The Peg Bar" featuringscreenings of new animation produced in the region, with musicby DJs 'Salad Butty'. The event will be held at the Bridge Hotel, CastleGarth at 8pm. For more information, or to contribute material to bescreened contact Alys at ++0191 232 8413, or E-mail: alyspalace@hotmail.com.

* Tuesday, December 14, 1999. New York, New York.

MR. WONDERBIRD, the 1953 animated feature directed by Paul Grimault,will have a rare screening as part of the weekly Light+Screen FilmFestival. MR. WONDERBIRD is a surreal adventure following a lively bird whorallies a group of imprisoned lions and a lamenting polar bear in thedefense of two young lovers who are pursued by a mad king, a giant robotand a battalion of flying policemen. The film features an English-language

The Harvey Entertainment Company has partnered with Landmark EntertainmentGroup to create themed attractions from Harvey's cast of classic toons. Toons likeCASPER, THE FRIENDLY GHOST, RICHIE RICH, LITTLE AUDREY, and WENDY THE GOODWITCH will be the spark of ingenuity behind several location-based entertainmentcenters. Landmark's past film-inspired rides include STAR TREK: THE EXPERIENCE,JURASSIC PARK: THE RIDE, and TERMINATOR 2: 3D. Tony Christopher, CEO ofLandmark Entertainment Group believes, "Families are looking for entertaining things

Iwerks Entertainment, Inc., an international leader in location-basedentertainment attractions, and Stan Lee Media, Inc., comic book icon StanLee's Internet entertainment company, are making Web history by molding the firsttheme park and specialty attraction experiences for the out-of-home market,based on Stan Lee's Internet entertainment material. Lee's Web-based superheroes will be brought to ride simulations, 3D/4D FX attractions and largescreen venues by Iwerks. Lee, in the first quarter of 2000, will launch his

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, The Learning Channel will feature a specialentitled ULTIMATE SPECIAL EFFECTS. Premiering Sunday, November 28th from8pm to 11pm ET/PT, the special event will be comprised of three showshighlighting the effects in recent films like THE MATRIX, THE HAUNTING,ARMAGEDDON, and STAR WARS: THE PHANTOM MENACE.

The new Bond flick THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH beat out Tim Burton's SLEEPYHOLLOW for the top spot in the U.S. weekend box office. The thirdinstallment of the 007 series, with star Pierce Brosnan in the lead role,grossed $37.2 to become the best opening for any Bond flick and the biggestdebut in MGM history in the states. The primary visual effects for the filmwere done by Digital Film, Cinesite London, and Magic Camera. Burton'sSLEEPY HOLLOW, based off the Washington Irving story, finished second with

MICHAEL PERIK, the Learning Company's chairman, and its president, KEVINO'LEARY, have moved on from MATTEL, INC. A search has begun for a newperson to helm Mattel Interactive, the division which includes all units ofthe Learning Company, Mattel Media and the company's Intel Play venture. Inrelated news, Mattel has said that FRANCESCA LUZURIAGA will be the newchief operating officer of Mattel Interactive, responsible for finance,information technology and new business development. In addition, the

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.

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.