AWN Headline News

The Disney Channel and Toon Disney gear up for the holiday season with a newmillennium celebration. The Disney Channel will feature holiday episodesfrom Playhouse Disney series BEAR IN THE BIG HOUSE, ROLIE POLIE OLIE, andPB&J OTTER. To highlight FANTASIA/2000's January 1st opening in IMAXtheatres around the country, MOVIE SURFER'S will go inside the new film.Toon Disney, the 24-hour all-animation network, will present variousholiday-themed features as well as the television premiere of the Annie

On Monday, November 29, 1999, Time Warner launched its new Internetentertainment network, Entertaindom. The new channel is the first on-lineentertainment network produced from a major media company. The channel willoffer a smorgasbord of on-line entertainment, news, and services from Warner'svast vault of branded material. Entertaindom will include entertainmentnews andinformation from "Entertainment Weekly," CNN, Reuters, "Variety" and othersources, including music and TV stories, movie reviews, hit lists and critics'

Famous Technologies has announced that version 1.5 of its stand-alone facialanimation system FAMOUSfaces is now shipping. The program, which is aimed atfilm, broadcast, games and location-based entertainment developers now boastssome amazing new features. The software allows character animators to createrealistic facial animation using one of, or a combination of any of thefollowing input devices: motion-capture, video, puppetry devices, voicerecognition or cluster targetting. New in version 1.5, animators can use the

Imagina 2000 with FIFI (Festival International du Film de l'Internet) haveopened their competition to animation created specifically for the

Infogrames Entertainment, a leading developer, publisher and distributor ofinteractive entertainment, announced it has acquired GT Interactive Software(GTIS), a US-based company. The total investment is being reported as $135million. Infogrames' product catalog includes such franchises as MissionImpossible,Test Drive and Looney Tunes. GTIS brings such titles as Driver,Deer Hunter, Blues Clues and Abe's Odyssey. This transaction is part ofInfogrames' global expansion strategy and will help further establish the

ROBERT DALY is on deck with the DODGERS. The former Warner Bros. CEO andchairman has purchased 10% of the Los Angeles Dodgers from Fox EntertainmentGroup. According to the October 29, 1999 issue of DAILY VARIETY, Daly willtake over complete control of the team, however he has said that he willconsult Fox before making any major moves. We'll all be looking forward to thatfirst Ted Turner-owner Braves and Dodgers match-up for sure.

Librarian of Congress James Billington has announced that DUCK AMUCK alongwith 24 live-action films will be added to the National Film Registry. As partof the Library of Congress, the Registry was established in 1989 to preserve Americanfilm heritage. Billington's list is formed by input from the National FilmPreservation Board and the public. With only 25 selections made each year,DUCK AMUCK, the 1953 Chuck Jones short starring Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny,with voices by Mel Blanc, joins an even smaller list of archived animated

Those toon titans of TOY STORY 2 crushed box office records over theThanksgiving weekend. The Buzz and Woody vehicle beat the 5-day non-summeropening record set by POKEMON: THE FIRST MOVIE two weeks ago and beat ABUG'S LIFE's record for the largest Thanksgiving weekend gross with a takehome of US$80.5 million. The sequel to the $192 million blockbuster had thefourth biggest five-day total in history. THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH, withprimary visual effects by Digital Film, Cinesite London, and Magic Camera,

The Moondance International Film Festival has selected, thetraditionally-animated BEELINES, by Rachel Bevan Baker, from Edinburgh,Scotland, as this year's winner in the animation division. Moondance 2000takes place in Boulder, Colorado, January 14-16, 2000. Entries from femalescreenwriters and filmmakers from any country were welcomed to the competition.For more information e-mail: mermaid7cs@aol.com; or write: MoondanceInternational Film Festival, 970 Ninth Street, Boulder, CO 80302, USA.