IRON GIANT comes to home video
Some fans, who are still shaking their heads over the poor boxoffice performance of the critically acclaimed THE IRON GIANT, director Brad Bird's adaptation of the children's book by British Poet Laureate Ted Hughes, have suggested that Warner Bros. should re-vamp their publicity campaign for the film by targeting a larger audience than the young kids that were originally targeted, and re-release THE IRON GIANT theatrically. Such a scenario appears unlikely now that Warner Home Video has announced THE IRON GIANT for home video and DVD.
McFarlane releases YELLOW SUBMARINE action figures
McFarlane Toys is releasing four dual-packed assortments of action figures based on characters in YELLOW SUBMARINE featuring The Beatles, John, Paul, George and Ringo. Each card comes with two figures and accessories. John comes with Jeremy, the Nowhere Man; Paul comes with Glove, one of the Blue Meanies instruments of evil; George comes with the Yellow Submarine; and Ringo comes with a Blue Meanie. The figures will be released in late September or early October, and retail for between US$8 and $11.
Learn to write for TV Animation
Craig Miller and Marv Wolfman, who created and produced POCKET DRAGON ADVENTURES, are offering THINKING VISUALLY: HOW TO WRITE FOR TV ANIMATION, a single session class at The Learning Annex in Los Angeles. Topics to be covered include what's required to break in; what extra things you need to think of when writing animation; writing the premise, outline, and script; writing with your intended viewers in mind; working with story editors; and humor and action, how far can you go. Handouts will include a sample story premise, outline, and script.
Adobe announces new version of After Effects
San Jose, California-based Adobe Systems Incorporated has announced Adobe After Effects 4.1. After Effects is a tool for motion graphics designers and visual effects artists working with film, video, multimedia and the Web. Among the new features are: support for enhanced media exchange, performance enhancements, workflow refinements, and extended creative options and control. Adobe After Effects 4.1 will be available in September 1999 in the US and Canada for an estimated street price of US$699 for the standard version and US$1,499 for the production bundle.
Netscape to carry two animated series by Mondo
San Francisco, California-based Mondo Media, Inc. has announced a one-year deal with Netscape Communications, a subsidiary of America Online, Inc., to provide Netscape's Netcenter Web site with two weekly animated shows which will be presented under the banner of MONDO MINI SHOWS. LIKE, NEWS is written and directed by Don Asmussen, a regular cartoonist for TIME and GEORGE magazines, and features a sarcastic teenager with a nose ring who "interviews" newsmakers such as Saddam Hussein and Al Gore.
Dreamcast debuts with a glitch
Tens of thousands of gameboys in the US and Canada flocked to retail outlets early on the morning of Thursday, September 9 as the Sega Dreamcast videogame console was made available for the first time in North America. As Sega expected, sales for the console during the first 24-hours set a new record for biggest 24-hours in entertainment retail sales with a total of $97,904,618.09 (about 500,000 players at a retail price of $199). The previous record was held by STAR WARS: THE PHANTOM MENACE, with its $28 million boxoffice on its first day of release in May 1999.
New version of TICTACTOON 2D software released
Montreal, Canada-based Toon Boom Technologies Inc. is now shipping version 2.3 of TicTacToon. Some of the features included on this new version are the ability to: customize and modify the aspect ratio of each scene at any stage of production; work on up to three levels of animation simultaneously; drag and drop entire columns of drawings with their cel names and timing to and from the Animation and Exposure Sheet modules; make order and timing changes quickly in either module through insert, replace or append options; and draw paintable rectangular zones to close outer edges of any drawing.
THE SIXTH SENSE drops to second at US boxoffice
Buena Vista's supernatural thriller THE SIXTH SENSE, with visual effects byDreamQuest, finished second at the US weekend boxoffice after topping thelist for its first five weeks of release, grossing an estimated $17 millionover the weekend, for a total of $198.2 million. No other animation relatedfilms finished in the top ten.
New version of Toonz 2D software released
Italy, Rome-based Digital Video S.R.L. has announced Toonz version 4.3,which provides 2D users with new tools to be more creative and efficient ontheir job. The digital exposure sheet is much more user friendly, includingmany new special effects, complete keyframe capabilities on all parameters,and enlarged number of mathematical expressions for more controllablemotion. Enhancements of display features include icons in the level headerarea for quick reference of elements. Texture mapping has been strengthened
DreamWorks sponsors chariot race on Hollywood Boulevard
DreamWorks Home Entertainment is hosting a chariot race on Tuesday,September 14 at 7:50-9 am to celebrate the release of DreamWorks' 1998animated feature THE PRINCE OF EGYPT on home video and DVD. In the race,which will be known as the Pharaoh's Cup Championship, Egyptian chariotswill race through two blocks of Hollywood Boulevard, between Cherokee andMcCadden, in Hollywood, California as part of an effort to raise donationsfor The Eastside Boys and Girls' Club of America, Children's Action
American Royal Arts offers YELLOW SUBMARINE sericels
Westbury, New York-based American Royal Arts Corp., an animation artdealer, has been licensed by Apple and Signatures to produce hand paintedlimited edition cels and sericels featuring The Beatles from YELLOWSUBMARINE. The artwork will be signed by some of the same people who wereresponsible for making the original film, including the composer, SirGeorge Martin, the producer and co-author, Al Brodax, and Erich Segal,co-author of the original YELLOW SUBMARINE screenplay and Ringo Starr, the
Brussels calls for entries
The 19th Brussels Cartoon and Animated Film Festival takes place February28-March, 11 2000. The deadlines for entries is November 1, 1999. Each yearthe Brussels Cartoon and Animated Film Festival programs the crème de lacrème in international animation, and chooses its candidate for the Cartoond'Or. For more information contact The Brussels Cartoon and Animated FilmFestival, Rue de la Rhétorique 19, 1060 Brussels, Belgium. Tel: 32 2 534 41
Richard Purdum completes 3 Nestle spots
London, UK-based RICHARD PURDUM PRODUCTIONS has completed three spots forNestle Polo mints. In "Aliens," which was designed by Robin Heighway Bury,the mint is chased by aliens. In "Cement," which was designed by John PaulEarly, the Polo mint is hounded by a mob, and in "Beach," which wasdesigned by Adrian Johnson, the mint is chased by muscle men into a ladies'changing room. The three designers brought their individual styles to eachof the spots, which were all directed by Richard Purdum for agency J.Walter Thompson.
Androme launches Creatoon
Diepenbeek, Belgium-based Androme N.V. has announced the release ofCreaToon, a tool for cut-out animation, animated paint and any otheranimation that needs the manipulation of images or video sequences.CreaToon enables real-time editing and preview, and allows all parametersand textures can be animated with multiple camera views and scenes and lotsof plug-ins, such as file format plug-ins (TGA, BMP, JPG, PNG and AVI), alayers plug-in (image and gradient layer) and others. The package also
Harvey selects Xceed for development of internet strategy
The Harvey Entertainment Company has selected New York-based Xceed, Inc., amarketing and communications company that specializes in interactiveservices, to develop a family oriented portal to exploit Harvey's brands onthe Web. Harvey Entertainment owns the rights to an extensive list ofwell-known cartoon characters, including Casper, the Friendly Ghost, RichieRich, Baby Huey, Wendy the Witch and Hot Stuff. Potential programming forthe portal include Harvey's classic animation library, stories from Harvey
Toronto Digital Image Festival calls for entries
The Fifth Annual Toronto Digital Image Festival (TDIF) is acceptingcomputer animation and special effects entries until September 24, 1999.Narrative and experimental CGI entries are strongly encouraged. Thefestival takes place October 28, 1999 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. For moreinformation visit www.interlog.com/~dolish/tdif; or Tel. (905) 438-1659.
MORE at the GSTA Annual Meeting
The Giant Screen Theater Association (GSTA) Annual Meeting. Mark Osborne'sMORE, the experimental large format short film sponsored by the LargeFormat Cinema Association (LFCA) and nominated for a 1998 Academy Award,will be one of the New Film presentations. The New Film screenings at GSTAwill give operators of institutional and commercial large format theatersthe opportunity to consider the film for their venues. The event takesplace Saturday, September 11 - Wednesday, September 15 in New York, New
Don't miss The Animated Castles festival
The Animated Castles festival is an international animation festival in theform of a show. All events, including the international competition and theItalian competition of short films, the conferences, round tables,interviews and previews, are presented in one big venue. This year, thefestival pays tribute to Marv Newland, Joanna Quinn, Carlos Trillo andRoberto Gavioli. For more information contact The Animated Castles, c/oConsorzio Imprese Castelli Romani, Corso Gramsci 110, 00045 Genzano, Rome,
Don't miss the 2nd Matita International Animation Film Festival
The 2nd Matita International Animation Film Festival is a competitiveanimation festival. In addition to the official competition, this year'sprogram includes an Italian film program, a profile of the CFT Gobelinsschool, a tribute to Jiri Trnka, a Barry Purves retrospective and a forumabout new technologies. The event takes place Thursday, September 23 -Sunday, September 26 in Guardiagrele, Italy. For more information contactCamillo DíAlessandro, Mila Paterra, Ex Novo/ Mff, via dei Crociferi, 44,
Don't miss the Annual Cartoon Forum
The Annual Cartoon Forum is organized by the European Association forAnimated Films. This year the forum focuses on TV animation. Also, one ofsix European short films will be awarded the Cartoon d'Or 1999. The eventtakes place Wednesday, September 22 - Sunday, September 26 in Cordoba,Spain. For more information contact AEFA Cartoon, Boulevard Lambermont,4181030 Brussels, Belgium. Tel: + 32 2 245 12 00; or Fax: + 32 2 245 46 89.
Celebrate Scooby Doo's 30th Anniversary!
Join the Scooby Doo Birthday Celebration Party Cruise and celebrate ScoobyDoo's 30th Anniversary. The cruise takes place Sunday, September 12, 2 pmaboard the M.V. Tiki and sets off from Fun Zone Boat Company, located nearthe end of the Balboa Peninsula in California, USA. R.S.V.P. tomfadanes@cataroo.com. Also, for more information, including directions,visit pweb.netcom.com/~cataroo/events.html.
This week's Animation Trivia Quiz: UPA
This week's AWN Animation Trivia Quiz features questions about UPA...
Plympton's Comic of the Week: "Fun with Perspective"
This week's comic is about the fun and games that can be had withperspective...
The Toon Institute Now Online!
This week the Toon Institute joins the AWN family as an aid to students andaspiring animators...
Big Idea Productions is actively recruiting for a number of positions
Chicago-based BIG IDEA PRODUCTIONS, an actively growing computeranimation company and producers of "Veggie Tales," has opportunities forqualified candidates in a number of positions...
