PET ALIEN, Taffy Entertainments groundbreaking, new 3D, CGI character-comedy was acquired today (Nov. 22, 2004) by Cartoon Network to debut on the cablenet in the second quarter of 2005. The series started airing on Animania HD on Nov. 20 at 7:00 pm.
MGA Ent., a consumer entertainment products company most noted for the worldwide doll sensation BRATZ, has joined forces with 4Kids Ent. to bring its new boys' action property ALIEN RACERS to Saturday morning television starting in spring of 2005 during the FOX BOX lineup on the Fox television network. The CG series will be produced by SD Ent., in concert with MGA's ALIEN RACERS creative team, led by MGA vp of entertainment Jay Fukuto.
On the heels of Ridley Scott's recent director's cut of ALIEN comes ALIEN QUADRILOGY, the ultimate box set of the sci-fi franchise and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment's (TCFHE) most ambitious DVD project yet. Streeting Dec. 2, 2003 and priced at $99.98, QUADRILOGY contains four films, nine discs and 45 hours of bonus materials. Plus new vfx in ALIEN and ALIEN3 supplied by TCFHE and five houses (Svengali, R!OT, Encore, Frantic and Modern Video). There are 15 new CG shots in ALIEN, including CG blood, CG fire, wire removal and star fields.
Encore Hollywood provided animation and visual effects services for Fox Home Entertainment on ALIEN 3 for the Alien Quadrilogy, the nine disc boxed set, which arrives on December 2. Computer animator Greg Tsadilas created a 3D version of a baby alien for the birth sequence, which is part of 30 minutes of added material. The birth sequence shows the newborn alien creature emerging from the carcass of an ox then fleeing down a corridor. The new creature is in a form not seen in any of the ALIEN films.
On the heels of Ridley Scott's new director's cut of ALIEN comes ALIEN QUADRILOGY, the ultimate box set of the sci-fi franchise and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment's (TCFHE) most ambitious DVD project yet. Due Dec. 2, 2003 and priced at $99.98, QUADRILOGY contains four films, nine discs and 45 hours of bonus materials. Plus new vfx in ALIEN and ALIEN3 supplied by TCFHE and five houses (Svengali, R!OT, Encore, Frantic and Modern Video). There are 15 new CG shots in ALIEN, including CG blood, CG fire, wire removal and star fields.
Blur Studio, whose acclaimed AUNT LUISA short will screen at the SIGGRAPH Conference (July 29-31, 2003), is producing a 7-minute sci-fi adventure as a change of pace. The untitled computer-animated project, directed by Blur co-founder/creative director Tim Miller, is about a fisherman in the far future that catches more than he bargained for.
This week at MIPCOM, Los Angeles-based Mike Young Productions (MYP) introduced the companys international roster of partners for its new extraterrestrial property, PET ALIEN from John Doze Studios. The partners are: Frances Antefilms Production, based in Paris; jadooWorks PVT. LTD. of Bangalore, India; and Abú Media in Galway, Ireland. The partners are joining forces to create the CGI-animated project, a series of 52 x 11-minute episodes aimed at 4 to 11 year-olds.
Italy's Ubik VFX Studio recently completed animation and visual effects for the new Maxibon Motta commercial, directed by Dario Piana and produced by FilmMaster and the Red Cell Agency. The spot opens with a live-action scene on a sunny and crowded beach on a hot summer's day. A space ship appears and a friendly alien with two mouths appears, which he uses to eat a Maxibon ice cream sandwich, before returning to outer space. The model artists and animators at Ubik VFX developed the concept, design and model of the alien and spaceship.
Disney has partnered with Hasbro, Inc. to bring the popular characters from Disney's summer hit LILO & STITCH to stores. The unruly alien is captured in numerous ways including SPITTIN' STITCH with "real spitting action" created by holding him underwater to fill him up, then squeezing him, ELECTRONIC EXPERIMENT 626 STITCH has electronic features which allow Stitch to make laser sounds and speak "alien." And if you want to transform an alien into a pet, the 2-in-1 SWITCHIN' STITCH turns Stitch from outlaw alien experiment into a family pet.
ILM created the new Super Bowl spot for Budweiser that has aliens saying, "Whassup!" The spot opens with a dog walking into a country field and is then beamed up into an alien spacecraft. After the head alien asks the dog what he has learned on Earth, the dog unzips and out pops an alien who yells, "Whassup!" The animation was done using Softimage with facial and lip-synchs done with ILM's in-house software Caricature. Modeling was done in Maya and Alias|Wavefront, with rendering handled in RenderMan and compositing in ILM's in-house software CompTime.
Once again Universal Studios Florida's newest attraction -- the largest dark ride to date is a show stopper featuring Men In Black and new technology. Jacquie Kubin offers a trip inside.
Nickelodeon Films and Paramount Pictures have asked producer/actor Dan Schneider to pen the script for their next animated feature based on Keith Graves' short story PET BOY. The story will unravel the adventures of a pet-loving boy and his trip to an alien planet after discovering a secret alien pet selling operation at his local pet store. The project came to Nick as a pitch from Graves and producer John Williams. Schneider might be best known for his role as Dennis on the '80s sitcom HEAD OF THE CLASS.
Released on October 3, 2000, the direct-to-video SCOOBY-DOO AND THE ALIEN INVADERS will make its television debut after less than two months on video. Cartoon Network will air THE ALIEN INVADERS on November 25, 2000 at 7-9 pm in the U.S. This time around the Mystery, Inc. gang get stranded in a desert town and have a run in with less than friendly extra-terrestrials. This Thanksgiving weekend airing could help put the direct-to-video on Christmas lists around America.
The newest installment of the SCOOBY-DOO direct-to-video franchise will be coming to DVD. SCOOBY-DOO AND THE ALIEN INVADERS will be released by Warner Home Video on October 3, 2000. ALIEN INVADERS has the Mystery Inc. gang stranded in a desert town crawling with alien invaders. The retail price will be US$19.96 (VHS) and $24.98 (DVD).
