Animation producers/directors Don Bluth and Gary Goldman

("Anastasia," "Titan A.E.") have set out to expand their "Dragon's

Lair" game franchise into the land of Webtoons. Plus, another

incarnation of Lair will be a feature-length film. Bluth and Goldman

are already in pre-production and the initial storyboards for the

feature are being presented in comic book form in "Don Bluth's Toon

Talk," a new animation magazine that will feature interviews with

many of the personalities behind the scenes. Currently, the film is

being produced independently by Goldman and Bluth and the initial

plans are to release the storyboards and rough animations from the

production on donbluth.com. Goldman went as far as to tell AWN that

the film "may be released on the Internet and not go to the theatres.

[We'll] build the audience on the Internet. And then if [the fans]

want the best with home theatre quality they can buy the DVD or home

video." Bluth and Goldman are not ruling out theatres, however, and

are currently trying to find investment partners. Goldman commented

that "distribution is the most difficult thing and few people have

conquered it. You get beat up by the Disney organization." Therefore,

the freedom of Internet distribution is a promising option for Bluth

and Goldman, who admit that Web technology isn't ready yet for the

kind of production they are creating. Yet, Goldman went on to say,

"We are trying to produce a product that we can have available when

[the Internet] is ready and it's coming sooner than you may think."

Also this week, "The Simpsons" creator Matt Groening confirmed that a

Simpsons feature is in the planning stage. The television classic is

now in its tenth season and is the longest running sitcom on U.S.

television.

Theatrical distribution is one of the greatest challenges an animated

feature producer has to face. Add to that the high costs associated

with marketing and promoting a theatrical release, and a feature

becomes a high risk venture. It is totally understandable that

producers measure the risks and try to win the audience beforehand.

However, it is a shame that building an audience through the Internet

or on television is becoming a standard. Studio heads should have

more faith in the audience's response to creativity and innovative

skills. Hopefully, the quality and success of original productions

such as "Chicken Run" and "Toy Story" will help give a new confidence

in the market and make producers take some bigger risks with new

projects.

Related articles:

- A

Chat With Gary Goldman And Don Bluth (Part I) Larry Lauria starts his two-part series with a conversation with Gary

Goldman, co-director of Fox Feature Animation's summer release

"Titan, A.E." and industry veteran.

- Don

Bluth Goes Independent When Don Bluth suddenly left Disney in the late 1970s to strike out

on his own, it led to a chain of events that sparked today's

renaissance in feature animation. Jerry Beck provides a brief memoir

of the days when Bluth appeared to be animation's white knight and

could do no wrong.

- Aardman's

First Feature Egg-stravaganza! Watch out Feathers McGraw! Aardman's got a whole new flock. Andrew

Osmond visits Aardman Animations as they put the final touches on

Chicken Run,the studio's first feature film.

In our upcoming September issue,

Amid Amidi will look into the world

of producing theatrical-length animation without major studios

backing and ponder if the positives outweigh the negatives.