Animation Magazine

Author: Chris Grove

  • Mouse, Pooh Kin Lose Appeal in Rights Fight

    The long-running saga of the Winnie-the-Pooh rights-fight won’t soon be over, but it has closed at least one chapter. Perhaps.

    In the latest development, the Pooh rights holders suing the Walt Disney Co. over royalty payments are claiming a victory after a federal appeals court blocked a bid by Disney to get the rights transferred back to them. Among other things, the ruling by the Ninth Circuit court denied an effort by Disney to recapture the rights under copyright to Winnie-the-Pooh from the Slesinger family. The Slesingers have held North American Pooh merchandising rights since Stephen Slesinger bought them from Pooh author A.A. Milne in 1929.

    The Slesingers subsequently assigned their rights to Disney in 1961. In 1983, Disney convinced the heirs of A.A. Milne and the Slesingers to enter a new agreement. “Ironically, in 1983 Disney went to extraordinary lengths to pressure the Slesingers to sign a new agreement, the very agreement Disney has sought to repudiate,” says Slesinger attorney Roger Zissu.

    Pooh product is estimated to be worth between $3 billion and $6 billion in annual revenue. The Slesinger family has asked for a judgment that would include compensatory damages of at least $700 million, unspecified punitive damages, and the right to terminate all future rights of Disney to exploit Winnie-the-Pooh characters.

    Disney discounted the ruling’s significance, saying that the real issues should be addressed next month when plaintiffs Shirley Slesinger Lasswell and daughter Pati Slesinger may be forced to testify in state court as to whether their investigators stole thousands of confidential documents from Disney to gain an unfair advantage at trial.

    Trial on the 12-year-old dispute is tentatively set for Jan. 10, 2005, in Los Angeles Superior Court.

  • Catz Shark Gives New USB Option to Gamers

    Canuck-based Mad Catz Interactive is launching the SharkBoard from GameShark. The much-anticipated release offers gamers a full-size, fully functional USB keyboard for easier play.

    A complete online gaming solution, the SharkBoard keyboard plugs into the PlayStation 2, GameCube or PC. The purpose of the upgrade is to dramatically speed up the process of code entry. Players can update their current GameShark software with all the latest codes from the dedicated website gameshark.com.

    “This marks another key step in our strategy to broaden the GameShark brand offering,” says Darren Richardson, president and COO of Mad Catz, Inc. “The game market is driven by technology and (we continue) to be on the forefront of consumer-friendly products. (The new) keyboard is the only one available that support game consoles and the PC in one unit."

    The SharkBoard supports all of the hottest online games making online gaming more user-friendly. Gamers can communicate instantly without the hassle of navigating through a standard controller. Among its features: SB is the only available full-size USB keyboard compatible with PlayStation2, GameCube and PC; it’s designed for use with GameShark Version 4.1 and higher; lets users enter codes quickly and seamlessly; has Instant Messaging capabilities; is a true plug and play technology. Shipments of the GameShark SharkBoard start this week and will sell for a suggested retail price of $29.99 U.S.

  • Cartoon Net, NBA Stars Team for B-Ball Slam

    Shaq may be hobbled from real play right now, but that doesn’t mean he can’t have any fun.

    He and other NBA stars such as Steve Francis, Jason Kidd and wunderkind LeBron James will be teaming with the best-animated shorts about sports during Cartoon Network’s Cartoon Network NBA All-Star Slam, airing Sunday, February 15 (at 1-5 p.m. EST and PST).

    CN stars such as Johnny Bravo, The Kids Next Door and Dexter will get some tips on how to handle themselves on and off the court from Shaq and his colleagues. Steve Francis of the Houston Rockets takes on Ed, Edd and Eddy in a game of 1-on-3.  The Mayor talks trash with the L.A. Clippers’ Corey Magette.  And while Karl Malone wants to show Johnny Bravo the keys to success on the court, Johnny would rather scope out the Laker cheerleaders. Among the other powerful double-teams slated for the four-hour marathon: Carmelo Anthony (Denver Nuggets) and Dexter (Dexter’s Laboratory), Kenyon Martin (New Jersey Nets) and Ed, Edd and Eddy (Ed, Edd n Eddy), Elton Brand (L.A. Clippers) and Muriel (Courage the Cowardly Dog) and LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers) and the Kids Next Door (Codename: Kids Next Door).

    O’Neal, Kidd and Ben Wallace (Detroit Pistons) are also scheduled to drop by for a little animated conversation. Highlights of the cartoons to air during CN’s NBA All-Star Slam include Dexter’s embarrassing failure at every sport imaginable, Johnny Bravo’s cross-dressing turn on a ladies’ softball team and some serious Sumo wrestling on Ed, Edd n Eddy. Cartoon Network is currently seen in over 85 million U.S. homes and 145 countries around the world.

  • NATPE 2004 Generates New Ani Buzz

    Among the developments at the Las Vegas-HQ’d NATPE yesterday, Calif.-based Cybergraphix Animation announced a trio of new kids series that it plans to co-produce with its animation partners in India.

    As busy as the vibrant sub-continent animation biz has become, producing half-hour strips in India is still vastly cheaper than doing so in the U.S., even using low-tech solutions such as Flash animation. Cybergraphix execs say they can produce and deliver high-quality new animated series for as low as $250,000 per segment.

    With India co-prod partner Animation Bridge, Cybergraphix is currently making the initial episodes of Guardians of Luna and Myth House. Luna is

    about the magical legacy of an ancient race of shapeshifters and the metropolitan family that seeks to protect its great power, while Myth tells the tales of a school full of young mythological characters. In its co-prod agreement with UTV Toons, meanwhile, CA is in production on The Infinite Darcy, 52 eleven-minute segs centering on a nine-year old girl who can travel in to alternate realities. The company is also adapting the Michael Payne fantasy novel The Blood Jaguar into an 80-minute animated special. Drawing inspiration from such works as Watership Down and The Lion King, the show will center on three unlikely heroes–a bobcat, a fisher and a skink–who are singled out as the prophesized saviors who can stop the legendary destroyer known as the Blood Jaguar.

    The special and all three series haven yet to find a broadcast home. Initial episodes of Myth and Darcy will be available at MIPCOM Jr. in March. Guardians will debut at MIPCOM in October.

  • Simpsons Score Tallied by ESPN

    They’ve starred in a TV series for 15 years, recorded two albums and horrified conservative parents groups since they first went on the air in the late 1980s. Now they’re getting their props from ESPN of all places. Fox’s The Simpsons has had so many athlete guest voices and sports story-lines in its 330-plus episodes that ESPN.com is giving the show the Top 100-treatment.

    Compiled by ESPN scribe Greg Collins, the Top 100 is unspooling in four chapters. In ascending order of importance, yesterday was moments 100 through 76, today 75 through 50, Thursday 49 through 25 and Friday the top 25 sports moments.

    With clearly too much time on his hands, Collins says the project "is a labor of love," adding, "If you don’t like it, I’ll borrow one of my favorite Homer retorts and tell you gently, ‘You can cram it with walnuts, ugly!’"

    Among the best moments from 100 to 76, according to Collins:

    100. To show his “extreme” nature, Poochie the Dog dunks a basketball while jumping a stunt bike off a ramp in his one and only appearance during an Itchy & Scratchy cartoon.

    98. When Lisa becomes President of the United States, she honors the players of the Negro Leagues of Rollerball.

    80. Homer tries to combine a weekend of marriage counseling at the Lovejoys’ retreat and a fishing trip. When he hears of the legend of General Sherman, a huge catfish that lives in the lake where they’re staying, he can’t resist.

    79. One of Homer’s lifelong dreams is to run out on a baseball field during a game. But this is hardly his only lifelong dream. Others include to eat the world’s biggest hoagie, work in a bowling alley, manage a beautiful country singer, be a blackjack dealer, be a contestant on The Gong Show, be a monorail conductor, and own the Dallas Cowboys–all of which he achieves, except for owning the Dallas Cowboys.

    75. With the town caught in a rabid anti-immigration movement, Apu feels obliged to prove his love for America by wearing a cowboy hat and a baseball jersey. “What do you say we take a relaxed attitude toward work and watch the baseball match? The N.Y. Mets are my favorite squadron,” he says to a customer.

    To follow Collins’ Simpsons tome, go to espn.com and click on "Page 3."

  • Pixar Posts New Short, Hints at What’s to Come

    It all began with a short, so anytime the animators at Pixar Animation come up with a new one, the production community pays a lot of attention.

    Now getting a sneak peak on Pixar’s website is writer-director Bud Luckey’s Boundin’, a musical about the adventures of lamb who needs the help of a wise jackalope to get over the loss of his wool coat. Luckey says he got the inspiration after he saw the touching sight of a newly shorn lamb shivering in a cold rain in his native Montana.

    It was veteran animator Luckey who designed Toy Story’s Tom Hanks-voiced Woody, one of the characters that started Pixar’s amazing ten-year run in 1994. In addition to penning the Boundin’ story, Luckey created the conceptual drawings of the characters, wrote the music and lyrics, and performs the shorts central song. Boundin’ is in the running for an Annie Award and will probably vie for an Oscar short kudo as well.

  • Sony Games Has Big Year

    One of the reasons the travel industry had such a tough time last year might have been all those computer games consumers were buying. Who can leave home with all that new technology to play with?

    For its part, entertainment giant Sony announced today that 2003 was a banner year for its PlayStation 2 platform. With an installed base of more than 24.5 million on PS2 and more than 37 million PS2 gamers, Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. says demand for PlayStation software reached an all-time high in 2003, with total sales nearing 100 million units. That figure was driven by a more than 24% increase in PS2 software sales year-over-year.

    “With record-breaking software sales again this year, our partners are realizing the benefits of aligning with the [PS2 brand],” says Jack Tretton, exec. VP of Sony Computer Entertainment America. “In 2004, we will continue to evolve our platforms and challenge the publishing community to push themselves even further to leverage the incredible power of PlayStation.”

    PlayStation 2 comprises more than 66% of the home console market share, with its closest competitor at less than 20% according to research from the NPD Group.

    Creating a unique opportunity for content providers and third party publishers, the PlayStation 2 online community has grown to more than 2.4 million connected consoles in North America. The first online console community is also the most popular, with the PlayStation 2 online base growing nearly three times as fast as that of Microsoft’s Xbox Live. As the online community grows in popularity, demand for online titles are hitting an all-time high, as seven of the top-10 PlayStation 2 software titles in December were online enabled, according to NPD. PlayStation 2 online devotees purchased first party titles such as SOCOM II: U.S. Navy SEALs and third party online fare including Need for Speed Underground and Medal of Honor Rising Sun from Electronic Arts.

  • Sprint Comics Going Mobile, In Living Color

    One more reason for people to stare at their mobile phones in public has come on-line today as mobile phone giant Sprint says it’s bringing the funnies to cell phones nationwide.

    Through the combined efforts of Sprint and FunMail Inc.’s Mobile Comics Network, millions of PCS Vision Subscribers can soon read Dilbert, Beetle Bailey, Hagar the Horrible, Dick Tracy, Zits, Baby Blues Momma and other comics on their PCS phones.

    “MCN looks and feels fantastic on Sprint’s next-generation network and color handsets,” says FunMail CEO Adam Lavine. “We’re extremely proud of the work we’ve done with Sprint, and feel MCN’s daily stream of premium content will be of great interest and value to PCS Vision subscribers.”

    The Sprint Comics service uses a designated in-box that lets consumers receive a daily strip of their choosing. Subscribers can scroll through the comic at their own pace, clip favorite comics to a virtual scrapbook and rate comics from “Great!” to “Blah!” The top-rated comics are available to the Sprint Comics community in a “Top Ten” area. Each of the Sprint comics’ applications are available for $1.99 per month.

    Other comics available on MCN include Rose is Rose, Animal Crackers, Bound & Gagged, Los Kitos, Bizarro, Broom-Hilda, Herb and Jamaal, Mother Goose & Grimm, Nancy, Brenda Starr, Ferd’nand and The Other Coast.

  • Pokémon Heroes, Stargate Warp to Home Vid

    Among the many DVD releases coming to a video store near you this week are the fifth chapter in a successful kids’ anime franchise and the fifth season of a hit sci-fi TV series. Pokémon Heroes and Stargate SG1 join the list of the packaged to own.

    Pokémon Heroes chronicles the latest adventure of trainer Ash Ketchum and his yellow pet, Pikachu. The action takes place in a Venice-like dream city, where the clan tries to stop a pair of thieves hiding out in the canals and alleyways in the water capital of the world. The film also introduces two new Pokémons, a brother and sister pair called Latias and Latios, who are protecting a treasure known as the Droplet of the Heart.

    Alternately titled Guardian Spirits of the Water Capita: Latias and Latios, Pokémon Heroes is directed by Jim Malone and Kunihiko Yuyama, based on a script by Malone and Hideki Sonoda. The film is 72-minutes long, is rated G, and has some scenes of cartoon violence. The DVD, released by Buena Vista Home Entertainment contains a never-before-seen Pokémon short.

    Based on the 1995 film Stargate (starring Kurt Russell and James Spader), the syndicated TV series Stargate SG1 has been a big success for MGM and can currently be seen in syndication, with new episodes appearing on the Sci Fi Channel. The new five-disc season five set contains 22 episodes of the adventures of Col. Jack O’Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) and his crew. As is de rigeur for any DVD release these days, the set includes cast, crew and directors’ commentaries on each episode, featurettes and photo galleries. The suggested retail price is $69.95.

    Among other DVD/VHS releases this week are Fist of the Red Dragon (2000) from directors Yuen Woo Ping and Donnie Yen (Columbia TriStar), the teen horror flick Cabin Fever (Lions Gate), a two-disc set of MTV’s Punk’d: The Complete First Season (Paramount) and Once Upon a Time in Mexico from director/writer Robert Rodriguez with Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Johnny Depp and Willem Dafoe (Columbia TriStar). The two-disc release Rodriguez’s Sergio Leone homage will include, among other things, the director’s famous Ten-Minute Film School.

  • Video Game Games Put Prize Money Online

    Thirty-year old gamer geeks still living at home now have the perfect rejoinder when Mom wants them to stop playing on the computer: “I can make money at this!”

    Thousands of dollars of prize money are at stake for this year’s V Games (thevgames.com), sponsored by Ziff Davis Media Group and EB Games. From March to October 2004, 30 cities will host qualifying rounds of the 2004 V Games, the first-ever live, console- and PC-based video game tournament. An estimated 30,000 people will compete in eight top video games nationwide.

    Tournament sponsors are billing the tournament as the video game Olympics. More than $150,000 in cash and prizes is at stake for the inaugural frame of the games. “Our sponsors realize that video games are no longer strictly the province of teenage boys,” says Heath Gross, V Games co-founder and director of marketing. Because of the wide demographics playing video games, Gross adds, "The V Games have caught the attention of companies marketing everything from soft drinks to cell phones.”

    The V Games will give gamers a chance to stand shoulder-to-shoulder and compete in the best-selling console and PC video games on the market. “There is something to be said for the live competition–it’s almost like a sporting event,” says Gross. “There will be no shortage of spectators since the games are being held at malls where EB Games retail stores are located. A competition of this magnitude is likely to make shoppers stop and see just what’s going on.”

    Players can register online at www.thevgames.com or through a mail-in registration card available at EB Games stores. Anyone registering before Feb. 1, 2004 will receive a free V Games t-shirt, and the first 500 players to register in each city will be entered in a drawing for a $100 EB Games gift card.

  • Marvel Studios Gets New Chief, New Brief

    Looking to control its own destiny in an entertainment business continually hungering for the next franchise, Marvel Studios has named David Maisel as its new president and COO.

    Fresh from his former job as head of business development at the top-line Hollywood boutique agency Endeavor, Maisel will report directly to Marvel Studios CEO Avi Arad.

    Since the late 1990’s films based on Marvel characters–X-Men, Spider-Man, Hulk, Daredevil and others have grossed over $3 billion at the worldwide box office and from DVD sales.

    According to a report in today’s Daily Variety, Marvel is not looking to become a studio, just to negotiate better and more lucrative deals with third parties that want to base films and other projects on Marvel properties. Marvel’s To date, Marvel, whose comic book library contains more than 4,700 characters, has had to cede all rights to characters such as Spider-Man to get the deal done. In a business where leverage is just about the only thing, the more money Marvel characters make the more leverage the mini-studio has. Maisel and Avi say they are looking for new opportunities on a broad front–theatrical films, direct-to-video projects, television programming, video games and live theatrical productions.

    Before the company filed for bankruptcy a few years ago, Marvel had almost no leverage at all, so it sold off rights to entities such as Fox and Disney. As a result, those studios got all broadcast and DVD rights to the wildly successful X-Men, Spider-Man, Hulk and others. When those deals expire, Marvel execs say they are eager to reclaim their rights. This coming summer will see a raft of Marvel product in the marketplace, including Artisan/Lions Gate’s The Punisher (4/16), Spider-Man 2 (8/2), Man-Thing (August 2004) and Blade 3: Trinity (also in August).

  • WGA: Homer’s Still Got It

    It began as a tentative 13-episode pick-up in the late 1980s when the Fox network was a borderline joke and the notion of a primetime animated series was scoffed at by execs at the big three as a nutty notion that only an Aussie megalomaniac could back. Look who’s laughing now. Fourteen-and-a-half seasons later, Matt Groening’s The Simpsons is one of the most successful TV series ever, animated or live-action. Its creator, producers and stars have all become very rich off the hideous-looking and highly dysfunctional Springfield five.

    So it is that the WGA has once again nominated the series for some major 2004 WGA Awards. Along with NBC’s Law & Order franchise, The Simpsons snagged three nominations for the 56th annual WGA Awards, while Fox’s live-action Malcolm in the Middle grabbed two.

    The Simpsons noms were for the writing on three epsiodes: Matt Selman’s The Dad Who Knew Too Little, J. Stewart Burns’ Moe Baby Blues and Michael Price’s My Mother the Carjacker. Also singled out in the animation category are Tony Gama-Lobo and Rebecca May for the Reborn to be Wild episode of the Fox series King of the Hill, Steven Banks for the Rescue Jet Fusion episode of Nickelodeon’s The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius and Patric Verrone for The Sting episode of Futurama.

    WGA winners will be announced Feb. 21 as the WGA West holds its ceremonies at the Century Plaza Hotel in Century City and the WGA East doles out honors at the Pierre Hotel in New York.

  • Manga Sees Starz in New Deal

    Japanese animation distributor Manga Entertainment has just entered into an agreement with Starz for thirteen of Manga’s anime films. The films will be featured on Starz’s Action Channel.

    Among the titles in the pact are a number of Manga’s most highly-acclaimed titles including two seminal works by veteran animation director Mamoru Oshii, Ghost in the Shell and the Patlabor movies. Ghost in the Shell is the ground-breaking cybernetic magnum opus based upon the works of Japanese comic book legend Masami Yuuki. Other Shirow comics-turned movies are the first two films in the mecha-infused Patlabor franchise, including Patlabor 1 and Patlabor 2: The Movie, which has also spawned a long-running Japanese television series.

    "We are pleased to add this cutting-edge selection of films to our anime library," says Nancy Silverstone, Starz VP of program acquisitions. "This (deal) further underscores our commitment to this genre and to our anime-loving addicts who know they have a dedicated channel to satisfy their movie-viewing preferences."

    Other Manga titles in the agreement include Production I.G.’s Blood: The Last Vampire, the masterful psychological thriller Perfect Blue from director Satoshi Kon (whose Tokyo Godfathers is currently playing in U.S. theaters), Black Magic M-66, Macross II: Lovers Again, Macross Plus, New Dominion Tank Police, Shadow Skill, X and the long-running video game-inspired series Street Fighter IIV and Fist of the North Star.

    Starz’s subscriber service Action Channel features action movies 24/7, including a packed schedule of martial arts, action-hero, war, crime stories and anime films. Chicago-based Manga Ent., meanwhile, specializes in the production and distribution of Japanese animation for theatrical, DVD and home video release worldwide.

  • DIC, UAV Drag Heathcliff out on DVD

    Fans of the sarcastic cat Heathcliff, fear not. DVD iterations of classic episodes of the 1970’s cartoon creation are on the way as part of a new deal just signed between UAV Corp. and DIC Ent. The distribution deal will bring select titles from DIC’s library of animated classics to VHS and DVD throughout 2004. The first two titles due in stores Feb. 24 are Heathcliff compilations–Fish Tale and Terror of the Neighborhood.

    "We’re thrilled to re-introduce a classic property that will definitely meet the ongoing demand for retro properties in the retail market," says Steve Chase, UAV senior VP of sales and marketing.

    Among other things, Heathcliff features the voice talents of the late great Mel Blanc, who brings the comic cat to life. Both releases include seven episodes and two bonus Catillac Cats episodes on each DVD.

    Heathcliff was created in 1973 by George Gately, and became the first newspaper comic character to feature a cat as a main character. The syndicated Heathcliff strip currently appears in more than 1,000 newspapers around the world. The orange tomcat is also featured in a bestselling line of children’s books, greeting cards, and comic books.

    Additional titles to be released in 2004 under the deal between UAV and DIC include Care Bears, Sylvanian Families, The Littles, Sabrina: the Animated Series, Inspector Gadget, and Super Mario Bros.

  • Teacher’s Pet Weak, Godfathers Anime anemic

    While Return of the King continued its mind-blowing box office romp and Ben Stiller’s latest farce survived critical barbs to be number one, this weekend’s animated fare had a rough time of it. Disney’s Teachers Pet got some great reviews Friday but tanked with the public on Saturday and Sunday. The TV-based toon took in around $2.4 million on more than 2,000 screens.

    The third anime title from filmmaker Satoshi Kon, meanwhile, also rode a wave of strong critical praise to nowhere in particular. On eight screens, Tokyo Godfathers only mustered an estimated $30,000.

    Things were much more fun for the Ben Stiller/Jennifer Aniston vehicle Along Came Polly. With less-than-favorable response the Universal release took in just under $28 million, according to estimates. In addition to exceeding expectations, the take represents a record January opening for a comedy.

    Meanwhile, New Line’s global phenom The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King finished the weekend in a strong fourth place, adding $10.2 million to its five-week North American total of $328.9 million.

    The Tim Burton fantasy Big Fish was the weekend runner-up to Polly, taking in $10.4 million. Warner Bros.’ motorcycle Fast and the Furious knock-off Torque grossed $10.3 million in its debut weekend to cross the finish line third.

    Overall, the weakening of the 2003 box office take over 2002 continues in 2004. The past weekend’s total was down 5% from the same weekend last year. Overall, year-to-date, 2004 box office is off 6% from the same period of last year with $292 million in total grosses.

  • Lord Award Juggernaut Rolls On

    If there’s such a thing as the big ‘mo in the Oscar race, Lord of the Rings certainly seems to have it. The latest kudo comes from the Producers Guild of America which named The Return of the King its 2004 Best Picture recipient on Saturday night.

    As with the Golden Globes, the PGA awards are closely watched because the correlation between them and Oscar wins is high. Ten of the past 14 PGA best pic picks have gone on to win the same award from the Academy.

    “After this long journey to produce these three pictures, to receive this award is the greatest of honors,” co-producer Barrie Osborne said Saturday.

    In a related, but hardly surprising development, The Lord of the Rings trilogy capper has also received a bundle of nominations for this year’s British Academy Film Awards. With 12 noms, the film was only slightly outdone by Anthony Minghella’s Civil War drama Cold Mountain. The two films are going head-to-head for best picture along with Lost in Translation, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World and Big Fish.

    The only real surprise of this year’s BAFTA noms is that both Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe are not among the field of contenders, though both gave strong, critically praised performances in their respective films.

    The BAFTA film awards ceremony takes place Feb. 15 at the Odeon Leicester Square.

  • NVIDIA Lends Helping Hand to NASA

    The company whose graphics cards power many of the world’s PCs and Macs is now on the Martian surface. Sort of.

    NVIDIA Corp. has announced that NASA is using its technology to transform data sent from NASA’s Martian rover into a photorealistic virtual-reality that NASA boffins can move through in real time on planet Earth. The simulations gives scientists the opportunity to rehearse a variety of rover scenarios, mapping out moves and experiments, prior to directing the vehicle to undertake actual tasks on Mars.

    The NASA rover Spirit, which landed on January 3, 2004, is on a mission to see if life once existed on the Red Planet. Another rover, Opportunity, is scheduled to join Spirit when it lands January 24, 2004.

    “NVIDIA graphics allow NASA scientists to interactively plan rover movements using 3D photorealistic views of the surface so commands transmitted to the rover are more likely to result in successful experiments and data gathering,” says Laurence Edwards, Mars team-lead for 3D visualization and surface reconstruction from the NASA Ames Research Center. “Data transmissions from Mars involve massive amounts of image data that must be quickly viewed, studied, and shared. Three-dimensional visualization in photorealistic virtual reality is the most effective way to maximize distance traveled and knowledge gained.”

    NVIDIA graphics are rendering photographic imagery more than three times as detailed as images sent back from 1997’s Sojourner mission. Traveling up to ten times farther than Sojourner, Spirit often takes 10,000 measurements per foot. The data stream is intense. Each day rover missions are underway, one group of NASA scientists focuses on that day’s rover operation while another plans the following day’s activities by studying the data and interacting with NVIDIA’s 3D model.

  • Pet Gets Leg Up on Godfathers

    In an ironic end to a tumultuous week that saw the Walt Disney Co. all but abandon 2D animation, the studio’s 2D-animated feature Teacher’s Pet goes into wide release today on 2,000-plus screens across North America.

    The film is sure to add fuel to the fire of controversy surrounding Monday’s closure of Disney’s Florida animation division and the consequent lay-off of 260 animators. Pet was animated off shore in the vastly cheaper labor market in the Philippines at Toon City Animation Inc.

    For its part, Teacher’s Pet is getting strongly positive reviews in the trades and in the general media at large. It certainly gets Animation Magazine’s seal of approval for its unbridled energy, its witty and memorable songs, its fun and heartfelt storyline and its wonderfully eccentric art design. It’s the kind of film that should appeal to a broad base of fans, from teens to tweens and even some boomers. The story centers on the travails of a dog named Spot (voiced by Nathan Lane) who wants to be a real boy. In a further irony for hardcore Disney-philes, Pet opens with a clip of the Mouse House’s groundbreaking 1940 2D ani feature Pinocchio (which is playing on the TV Spot has fallen asleep in front of).

    Pet is a Buena Vista release of a Walt Disney Pictures presentation of a Walt Disney Television Animation production featuring the voices of Kelsey Grammer, Megan Mullally, Jerry Stiller and others. The film is based on the multi-Emmy-winning series of the same name, created by Los Angeles-based artist Gary Baseman.

    On a completely different note, today also sees the narrow release of Satoshi Kon’s anime feature Tokyo Godfathers, which is distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Films in the U.S. This is Kon’s third anime effort. As far from the sentimental landscape of Disney animation as one can get, Godfathers tells the story of three homeless characters in Tokyo who stumble upon (and adopt) a baby they find in a dumpster.

    Anime films have yet to score big at the U.S. box office, but Kon’s latest film solidifies his growing rep as a master of the medium. DreamWorks’ new specialty arm, Go Fish, released Kon’s Millennium Actress last year, making him the only director with two animated features competing in this year’s Best Animated Feature Oscar race. To learn more about both Tokyo Godfathers and Disney’s Teacher’s Pet, pick up the new March issue of Animation Magazine.

  • Game Developers 2004 Confab To See Doom, Matrix

    The 18th annual Game Developers Conference has named the creator of Doom, the Matrix films’ visual effects supervisor and The Lord of the Rings game developer as its 2004 keynoters for its late March conference. The confab is the world’s largest trade event exclusively devoted to game-creation. This year’s frame will feature more than 300 lectures, panels, tutorials and roundtable discussions across seven content tracks.

    “The GDC is the gravity point for the creation of games and interactive entertainment,” says Alan Yu, GDC director. “The 2004 speaker program is headed by the most respected names in the field, people who set the agenda for the game industry.”

    Keynote speakers are:

    Visual Arts track: John Gaeta, visual effects supervisor on the feature films The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. He won both an Academy Award and a BAFTA award for his work on The Matrix.

    General Interest: Andrew House, exec. VP, Sony Computer Entertainment America, responsible for the game content lineup, brand management and advertising for the Playstation 1 and 2 consoles.

    Production Track: David Perry, president, Shiny Ent., a 21-year game industry veteran. His last project was the game Enter the Matrix.

    Game Design Track: Neil Young, VP and exec in charge of production at Electronic Arts, who is currently leading the development of the Lord of the Rings games.

    Programming Track: John Carmack founder/owner/lead programmer for id Software, whose credits include the blockbuster hits Doom, Quake and Wolfenstein. He is currently working on the highly anticipated Doom III.

    Visual Arts: Phil Tippet, founder of Tippet Studios, visual effects supervisor on such feature films as: The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Jurassic Park.

    For a complete list of GDC 2004 event information visit www.gdconf.com.

  • Marvel Spins Vid Game Group

    Following its huge success with the Spider-Man video game, comic empire Marvel Enterprises is forming its own stand-alone video game group. While many content providers once just licensed their product to third-party developers and publishers, now more and more of them are starting in-house efforts to fully participate in the huge profits of the game world.

    The new Marvel division is to be headed by Ames Kirshen, whose official title is manager of game development. He will report to Gui Karyo, president of publishing, and work closely with Tim Rothwell, president of worldwide consumer products.

    Several Marvel character-branded vid games are already in production through existing video game license agreements with Activision, Encore, Universal Games and THQ.

    Marvel’s news follows yesterday’s announcement that Warner Bros. was starting its own video game unit. For at least five years, worldwide revenues from games have surpassed those of the North American box office by a considerable margin.