On Wednesday, January 12, 2000, The Walt Disney Co. announced that Joe
Roth, their movie studio chairman, was resigning to form an independent
film company. He will be replaced by studio president Peter Schneider. Roth
assumed the chairman position in August 1994 after the departure of veteran
Disney executive Jeffrey Katzenberg. During his tenure, Roth helped Disney
lead rivals at the U.S. box office in terms of market share, with help from
For over thirty years, Don Martin's crazy comics filled the pages of MAD
magazine. On Sunday, January 9, 2000, Marin died in a Miami hospital at the
age of 68. A representative of Baptist Hospital says the cartoonist died of
cancer. No further details were disclosed. Martin's weirdo humor disgusted
mothers and delighted young rebels for nearly three decades. No person or
tale was free from Martin's eye for twisted satire. For example, his strips
Sony's hit film STUART LITTLE remained at the top of the U.S. box office
this past weekend taking in US$11.21 million in ticket sales. The
giant-sized flick, with primary FX by Sony Pictures Imageworks, additional
animation by CFX and Rhythm & Hues, and miniatures by Thunderstone, has
taken home a little more than cheese with a total purse of $95.3 million.
THE GREEN MILE squeaks by live-action flick THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY to
secure the second spot on the box office charts. The Warner Bros. flick,
Bender will be back next year for more adventures on FUTURAMA. The animated
series from producers Matt Groening and David X. Cohen has been picked up
for the 2000-01 season by Fox. A decision has not been made yet on whether
the number of episodes ordered will be 13, 22 or some number in-between.
BRUCE GIONET has become BLACK LOGIC's new CGI Supervisor. Gionet will lead
the New York-based company's artists in the production of computer
generated imagery for film, television and advertising. For the last eight
years, Gionet was the Director of CGI at Cyclotron/Post Perfect in New York
City. His credits range from his work on the opening of THE LATE SHOW WITH
DAVID LETTERMAN to Emmy-winning design on WWOR New York's News opening.
London-based Link Entertainment Television has sold the rights to
TEDDYBEARS to U.S.-based Trio Channel, a new satellite channel broadcast on
Direct TV and TCI Hits. Trio's 26 episode purchase comes on the heals of
another recent deal for Link with Canada's SCN for all 52 episodes of the
lovable bears television adventures.
Kellogg's Froot Loops spokesman Toucan Sam comes to life with help from
Santa Monica-based SIMEX STUDIOS for a new spot entitled "Time Flies." The
spot highlights the new 2000 Marshmallow Blasted Froot Loops by blasting
Toucan Sam through the air with an explosion of marshmallow "2s". SimEx
produced the spot for ad agency Leo Burnett of Chicago. The SimEx team on
the commercial was animation producer Christina Cox, animation director
Jean Perramon, live-action producer Bob McGinness and live-action director
Toronto-based TOPIX/MAD DOG provided the CG images for "Flying Ball" for
Sears' new Poke-Mart. The 30 and 20 spots were produced for Young &
Rubicam. POKEMON hero, Ash, throws the famous Poke-ball which leads
children like lemmings to Sears' Poke-Mart section to catch all the new
Pokemon products. Diana D'Amelio produced and Patrick Coffey animated the
tags for TOPIX/Mad Dog.
New York-based SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION produced the 3D animation and visual
FXs for the newest Proctor & Gamble's Millstone Coffee spots. The 30 second
and two 15 second commercials entitled "Own the Mug" features a ceramic
coffee cup morphing into a boat. The spots were produced for New York ad
agency D'Arcy, Masius, Benton & Bowles. Tony Robins directed and Simone
Pillinger produced the commercials for Spontaneous Combustion. The spots
will continue to air through April 2000.
On Monday, January 10, 2000, America On-line, the leader in on-line
services, has announced their acquisition of Time Warner, the world's
largest media and entertainment company. Valued at approximately US$180
billion, the stock for stock merger is what will be the biggest corporate
merger ever. America On-line's chairman and chief executive, Steve Case
will serve as chairman of the merged company entitled AOL Time Warner. AOL
and Time Warner will each name half of the board of directors of the new
Over the holiday break Holland-based ComicHouse started its move to a new
home. After spending fifteen years in Amsterdam, the animation house has
taken root in Holland's largest nature reserve "DeVeluwe." The new base of
operations will give ComicHouse the needed workspace and client
accessibility that was lacking in the confines of the city. The company
will re-open again in Ooserbeek on January 10, 2000. For more information
contact ComicHouse at: Stationsweg 20, 6861 EH Oosterbeek, The Netherlands;
On December 2, 1999, USA Networks' Live Telecast of IMPROV-ICE, debuted
graphics done by Pinnacle Systems' Rocket for FXDeko. Rocket for FXDeko is
a template-based tool that allows the generation of real-time 3D elements
which can be automatically updated by live data streams. Rocket integrates
with Pinnacle's award-winning FXDeko character generators and adds further
dimension to live broadcasts including textured, reflective and transparent
RING OF FIRE provided the fx for the newest Ericsson T-28 mobile phone ad
entitled "Aliens." Ring of Fire produced the spot for Stockholm ad agency
Hall & Cederquist. The international 30 second spot beams down aliens to a
man deserted on an island. The aliens mistake the phone for intelligent
life (like most humans do in Los Angeles) and wonder whether or not the
device will taste like chicken. Jerry Spivack was Creative Director for
Ring of Fire and Kevin Prendiville served as Visual Effects Supervisor.
Film.com has teamed-up with Troma, the production company responsible for
THE TOXIC ADVENGER, to bring the stop-motion clay characters of CRAPSTON
VILLAS to the Net. Set in Slumington, a fictional London neighborhood, this
ebony comedy is a wild soap opera spoof. The British down-to-Earth
blue-collar domestic drama features the voices of Jane Horrocks (Bubble in
ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS and Little Voice in LITTLE VOICE) and Alison Steadman
(LIFE IS SWEET). The show originally aired on Britain's Channel 4 and won
Starting January 1, 2000, Looney Toons Sylvester and Tweety hit the air,
that's the friendly skies, when Delta Air Lines began presenting Cartoon
Network's pigskin parody, BIG GAME: SYLVESTER VS. TWEETY during its
in-flight entertainment. Select domestic flights will show highlights from
BIG GAME, a Cartoon Network parody special featuring classic cartoon
episodes along with analysis by Jerry Glanville, Nick Buonoconti and Len
Dawson of HBO's INSIDE THE NFL. These football personalities break down the
Cartoon Network, featured on Poland's Wizja TV, is the #1 rated channel on
the programming package and now Cartoon Network Magazine rules the
newsstand. The first issue sold over 500,000 copies making it the top
magazine in Poland. In just three days, the magazine sold out and
publishers ordered an immediate reprint. The Polish version of the mag with
comic strips, quizzes, posters and articles featuring Cartoon Net's legion
of toon heroes and heroines is based off the British version and is the
Disney's CEO Michael Eisner delivered a four-part strategy for improving
the entertainment giant's slumping fiscal achievements. The Y2K plan
includes agressively attacking trouble spots, squeezing more profits out of
exsisting businesses, expanding those current businesses' affairs and
continuing development of new products. The seemingly Business 101 strategy
also includes annual savings of up to $300 million from changes in
purchasing. Eisner said cost-cutting efforts in live-action film production
AWN's Winter 2000 Animation School Directory will soon be here...
The 4th edition of Cartoons On The Bay, International Festival of
Television Animation, will be held in Positano (Amalfi Coast), Italy,
April 14-18, 2000. Cartoons on the Bay is the only festival in the
world solely dedicated to television animation. Promoted by Rai
Radiotelevisione Italiana and conceived and organized by Rai Trade,
the festival is an international event with awards, workshops,
lectures and events centering on the ever-changing world of
The deadline to register your film for competition at the 24th
International Festival of animated film is January 15, 2000. Entry
forms are available on the festival web site. For its 40th
anniversary, the festival is hosting triple Oscar-winning animator
Richard Williams, who will offer a three-day Animation Masterclass on
the principles of animation, June 3-5, 2000. The MIFA expo will be
open June 7-10, 2000, and feature a sizable new technologies area.
AWN is pleased to welcome Canadian non-profit corporation, the
Toronto Animated Image Society, to the AWN family...
Sign up now for AWN's ANIMATION FLASH Newsletter and your name will
be entered in a drawing to win a copy of this comprehensive history
and critique of world animation, acclaimed as a classic work of
scholarship, and an indispensable addition to any animation library.
AWN is giving away ten copies of this prestigious book to its
subscribers by drawing lots. This exceptional Millennium drawing is
open to all new subscribers and re-subscribers who buy a yearly
Plympton's new series of comics extracted from the comic book,
"Sleazy Cartoons of Bill Plympton," is for ADULTS ONLY...
Test your skills and challenge your brain with AWN's Animation Trivia
Quiz...
January 1997 saw the passing of filmmaker Renzo Kinoshita and curator
Louise Beaudet. Annecy Festival Director Jean-Luc Xiberras died a
year ago. Although they worked in very different areas, the three of
them shared a passion for animation, and dedicated their lives to
helping the animation community define itself.
Renzo Kinoshita was an accomplished filmmaker -- his major work,
"Made in Japan" won the Grand Prix at the New York International
