Wallace and Gromit will join a host of other Aardman favourites at a new GBP 400,000 animation exhibition set to open at the popular Harbourside attraction, Explore-At-Bristol, on 18 July.
The interactive exhibition called Animate It! has been developed in association with Aardman Animations and will allow visitors to create their own animations and broadcast them via a new interactive website.
Corus Ent. announced its second quarter financial results today.
Consolidated revenues for the three months ended February 28, 2009 were $181.4 million, up 1% from $178.7 million last year. Consolidated segment profit was $51.0 million, up 3% from $49.7 million last year. Net income for the quarter was $29.0 million ($0.36 basic and diluted), compared to net income of $35.4 million ($0.42 basic and $0.41 diluted) last year.
Studio100 Media, a subsidiary of Belgium's family entertainment group Studio100, has signed a deal with Canal+'s children and family channels for several series from its programming library.
Puppetry series BIG AND SMALL (52 x 11) will air on Piwi, the animation series POOCHINI (78 x 7) on TeleTOON and ZEKE'S PAD (26 x 24) on Canal+ Family.
Director Gore Verbinski has told Disney and producer Jerry Bruckheimer he will not helm a fourth installment of the PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN franchise, per VARIETY.
The film is in development for a 2010 projected release, and star Johnny Depp is onboard. Whether this means the pic will not get greenlit as a result is still up in the air.
Robert Downey Jr. talked about IRON MAN 2 with ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT on Friday (Via COMINGSOON.net).
The sequel starts lensing in Los Angeles on Monday. "The film is almost entirely about character, and yet we still have twice as much action as we did last time, so it's going to be nuts. Essentially IRON MAN 2 is about looking behind the armor, or the armature, of a superhero. It's one thing to say you're Iron Man, it's another thing to be fully ready to do that."
Birmingham's Second Home Productions has developed an innovative new animation technique for its latest animated sequence "Into The Microworld."
The film brings together the digital domain of computer generated images, stop-motion animation and technology developed for producing engineering prototypes, moving Second Home to the forefront of new animation production.
This week in AWN's Forums, a member has posted a lengthy reading list of recommended reading for talent training at Walt Disney Feature Animation. What is the definition of a sequence, a scene, and a shot in animation and how do they differ from live-action? Do animated TV episodes really cost $200,000 apiece to produce? And what does that money go towards, exactly? Members want to know.
As well as, tools for teaching animation, the business of animation and, as always, brand-new stuff to check out in show and tell!
On the heels of the DIGIMON franchise's 10th anniversary, Toei Animation Inc. has finalized a licensing agreement with Well Go USA for the DVD rights to DIGIMON DATA SQUAD in the U.S. and Canada. Well Go USA will street a new box set, which includes the first 13 episodes, this spring.
Updating another of its "creatures features," Universal has hired BATTLESTAR GALACTIC exec producer Ron Moore to write a script for THE THING, with director Matthijs Van Heijningen also on board, per VARIETY.
THE THING was last filmed in 1982 and has become one of John Carpenter's horror classics. The new reimagining is still based around John W. Campbell Jr.'s short story WHO GOES THERE that was Carpenter's basis as well as Howard Hawks for the original 1951 feature THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD.
Test your skills and challenge your brain with AWN's Animation Trivia Quiz.
Taffy Ent. has sold its new Emmy Award-winning I GOT A ROCKET! animated kids' and family series to Disney Channel in the U.K., Scandinavia and Emerging Markets. The 52x11' comedy series is scheduled for an early 2009 debut.
Anne Hathaway, who was the ugly duckling-to-swan princess in Disney's THE PRINCESS DIARIES films, will play the White Queen in Tim Burton's ALICE IN WONDERLAND, per THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.
The Disney film, which has Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter and Mia Wasikowska as Alice, also signed Burton's inamorata Helena Bonham Carter to play the Red Queen.
The Lewis Carroll story will be told through a combination of live action and performance capture and is produced by Richard Zanuck, Joe Roth and Jennifer and Suzanne Todd.
5D: The Future of Immersive Design Conference has added two industry luminaries to its program, scheduled for this Saturday and Sunday on the California State University at Long Beach (CSULB) campus.
Evan Hirsch, Creative Director of Microsoft Live Labs, will join the Saturday panel, "Narrating Space," while Emmy-winning production designer J. Michael Riva will participate during the Sunday session, "Bigger Bang: Colliding Science and Design."
The IMAX release of DreamWorks Animation's MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA has been extended to include the Thanksgiving holiday, and will now run into December. MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA will be digitally re-mastered into the image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience and play for a full run in IMAX theatres, including select new IMAX Digital theatres, which began rolling out this summer.
MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA opens on November 7 in North America.
Cyma Zarghami, President of Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group, will present the MIPCOM Junior 2008 Keynote on Sunday October 12. The 16th edition of MIPCOM Junior, the specialist international screening marketplace and conference for children's programming and merchandising will be held on the October 11-12 at the Carlton Hotel in Cannes, France.
During her address, Zarghami will share her vision of how the localization of global hit creative properties can result in a stronger worldwide brand presence.
Senior technical writer for mental images and author of the third volume of mental ray documentation, "Writing mental ray Shaders: a Perceptual Introduction," Andy Kopra will provide an overview of the mental ray rendering pipeline and the role shaders play in it at NVISION 08 in San Jose, California this week. He will also discuss how his new book takes a tutorial approach to teach mental ray shader programming.
The signing is on Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2008 from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at NVISION 08 at the Hilton Hotel, Almaden Room 1.
VIZ Pictures will show a series of special theatrical screenings of HAPPILY EVER AFTER, a live-action comedy directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi (MEMORIES OF TOMORROW) and based on a popular manga series by Yoshiie Gouda.
At SIGGRAPH, mo-cap producer PhaseSpace will allow participants to personally try out a system in their motion capture studio. Suited-up attendees will be able to perform and see the results in real time due to PhaseSpace's unique systems, they can then take their moves home on a DVD. SIGGRAPH's main exhibition will take place from August 12-14 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Phasespace will be across from the Autodesk booth in the studio.
Voice actor Greg Burson, who once was the main replacement voice on Bugs Bunny and other characters voiced by Mel Blanc, died July 22 at age 59, according to THE BIG CARTOON FORUM.
His death was due to complications from diabetes and arteriosclerosis. However, "obviously, drinking had a lot to do with it," according to Mark Evanier, who directed Burson in three TV series.
Sanrio Far East, a company of Sanrio Group, has added PLANETPALS to their portfolio that includes properties such as SPONGE BOB SQUAREPANTS and DORA THE EXPLORER.
PLANETPALS has entered into an agreement with the licensing group, to exclusively represent PLANETPALS in Japan.
Sanrio F.E. will introduce PLANETPALS characters to the preschool and elementary market and plans to establish a multi-platform presence in Japan as well as develop strategic partnerships with appropriate companies. They will also manage local key partnerships.
