Animation Magazine

Author: Ryan Ball

  • Animal Planet Makes Stuart First Movie

    Having focused on documentaries and reality programming involving pets and wildlife over the past 10 years, basic cable out Animal Planet plans to begin airing Hollywood product. According to Daily Variety, the channel’s first Saturday night movie will be Columbia Pictures’ 1999 family film Stuart Little, which combines live-action and CG animation. The flick will air on May 19 and will be followed in subsequent weeks by other animal-themed movies including fellow Columbia releases Fly Away Home and Winged Migration.

    Dubbed ‘Animal Planet at the Movies,’ the regular feature will also bring viewers such Disney favorites as the Air Bud series and both Homeward Bound movies. Dan Russell, Animal Planet’s VP of programming, is in talks with other major studios and plans to pick up at least 26 other films to air in primetime on Saturdays with repeats on Thursday nights.

    Animal Planet has already gone Hollywood by airing programming that ties into such animal-based movies as 20th Century Fox’s Eragon and Paramount’s Charlotte’s Web. The network may end up becoming another outlet for entirely animated features since the majority of them revolve around animal characters.

  • WB Drawn to DC’s Metal Men

    In the latest case of Tinsel Town pilfering the comic racks for tentpole material, Warner Bros. Pictures has picked up film rights to the 1962 DC Comics property Metal Men. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Eric Champnella (Mr. 3000) is writing the screenplay for producer Lauren Shuler Donner, who produced all three X-Men movies and is also working on the Wolverine and Magneto spin-off flicks.

    The concept of Metal Men lends itself to liberal use of CG animation. Written by Robert Kanigher, penciled by Ross Andru and inked by Mike Esposito, the comics chronicle the adventures of six intelligent robots that possess unique powers dictated by the different types of metal they’re made from. Forged in a laboratory by scientist William Magnus, the team of shape-shifting heroes is led by Gold and also includes the strong Iron, the slow-witted but loyal Lead, the self-doubting and insecure Tin and the hot-headed Mercury. Rounding out the crew is Platinum, who wants to be a real woman and harbors romantic feelings for Dr. Magnus.

    Respected comic-book scribe Geoff Johns is contributing to the development efforts and will serve as an exec producer on the film. Dan Lin and Elishia Holmes are spearheading the project for Warner Bros. and Gregory Noveck is overseeing for DC Comics.

    While costumed crime fighters Spider-Man, Superman and Batman have been sure-fire box-office draws over the years, films based on more marginalized superheroes have been a crap shoot. Twentieth Century Fox hit a winner with the X-Men trilogy and made a surprise hit out of Fantastic Four, but the deeper studios dig into the comic bin the harder they have to work to sell it to the public. Lions Gate’s take on Marvel’s The Punisher didn’t set the box office on fire and fellow moderate successes Constantine (DC Vertigo) from Warner Bros. and Ghost Rider (Marvel) from Columbia Pictures relied heavily on the star power of Keanu Reeves and Nicholas Cage, respectively. In the next couple of years we’ll see how moviegoers take to the likes of Nick Fury, Dr. Strange and Ant Man and a host of other comic heroes making their way to the big screen.

  • Flakes Takes MOBIFEST LA

    Baltimore-based animator Steve Ogden claimed the grand prize for his animated short Flakes at Tuesday Night’s MOBIFEST LA, the inaugural celebration of made-for-mobile animation. Presented by The Animation Show and Mobifest Film Festival, the screening and awards ceremony was hosted by Mike Judge, creator of Beavis & Butt-head and King of the Hill, at Laemmle’s Music Hall 3 on Wilshire Blvd.

    “My thumb is numb from hitting the ‘play; button on my cell phone,” says Judge, who screened all of the submissions received. “Every animation we got was great. It was hard work deciding which one would walk away the winner.”

    Runners-up for the grand prize include: Tim Heiderich’s Emergency 411: Atomic Bomb, Justin Cooper’s and Kun-I Chang’s Havidol: Just What I Needed, Dave Carter’s How Can I Say No To Sex at School and Brad Wolfley’s I Am Not a Biscuit. Honorable mentions were awarded to Dave Carter for Daddy and James, and Nigel Wood for One Small Step.

    Steven Topham, a film studies graduate of the University of California-Santa Barbara, won the Nestle Butterfinger-sponsored ‘Sweet Dreams’ competition with his 2D/3D submission titled Strip Tease. In addition to receiving a year’s supply of chocolate bars and a Microsoft Zune digital media player, Topham will get the opportunity to work on an upcoming viral marketing campaign for the Nestle candy bar. Other MOBIFEST sponsors included Microsoft, Palm Inc. and Vidavee.

    MOBIFEST LA is a collaborative effort of The Animation Show and Mobifest, a leadign independent mobile film festival. All submitted animated shorts can be viewed at http://www.mobifest.net.

  • Toon Artist Carol Lundberg Dies

    Former Filmation Layout artist and character designer Carol Lundberg died on Feb. 11 at the age of 72. She worked at Filmation from 1969 until the early ’80s, and later lent her talents to shows produced at such renowned toon houses as Marvel Prods., Hanna-Barbera Studios and Hyperion Pictures.

    At Filmation, Lundberg did layout for 1973’s Star Trek, 1975’s The Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty, 1977’s The New Adventures of Batman and The Young Sentinels, 1979’s The New Adventures Of Flash Gordon, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983) among other animated series and specials. Her credits as a character designer for the studio include 1981’s SHAZAM! and Blackstar, as well as 1985’s She-Ra, Princess of Power.

    Lundberg served as a model designer on Marvel’s 1983 series G.I. Joe and went on to design characters for the 1987 feature-length effort G.I. Joe: The Movie. In the ’90s, she worked in layout and background design for Hanna-Barbera on The Pirates of Dark Water (1991) and Once Upon a Forest (1993). Other credits include storyboard director for the 1994 Ruby-Spears Prods. series Mega Man.

  • Sparrowhawk, DIC, Corus Mint Kid Channel

    Sparrowhawk Media, DIC Ent. and Corus Ent.’s Nelvana Enterprises have entered into a joint venture to launch KidsCo, a 24/7, multi-platform global television channel for children and families. The outlet will begin rolling out this fall and will utilize Sparrowhawk’s state-of-the-art broadcast distribution facility in the U.S. and the company’s international network of affiliates.

    Localized for individual markets, KidsCo will feature well-known animated and live-action television series and feature-length movies from DIC and Nelvana. DIC’s library of more than 3,000 half hours of programming includes the toon properties Inspector Gadget, Strawberry Shortcake, Madeline, Dennis the Menace and Care Bears. Nelvana’s catalog features such international favorites as Babar, Franklin, The Adventures of Tintin and Rolie Polie Olie. KidsCo will also acquire content from other major children’s suppliers and will produce original properties to launch on the channel.

    The first launch of KidsCo is anticipated this fall in Central and Eastern Europe with subsequent premieres throughout 2008 and 2009 in approximately 40 territories across Europe, Latin America and Asia Pacific.

    Sparrowhawk chief executive David Hulbert comments, ‘Sparrowhawk’s global commercial and technical distribution networks manage the successful operation of the Hallmark Channel across more than 150 countries. It is this unique combination of assets that enable us to deliver KidsCo in an environment designed to reassure parents, at a price that platforms will find very refreshing.’??’As the children’s market continues to evolve it presents new challenges for program suppliers looking to find a home for their product,’ adds DIC chairman and CEO Andy Hayward. ‘The KidsCo collaboration allows Sparrowhawk, Corus and DIC to pioneer an innovative business model that allows us to own international broadcast real estate to showcase our existing catalogs, as well as launch new programming overseas.’

    Sparrowhawk Media is a group of companies operating television channel broadcast and program distribution businesses worldwide. Backed by Providence Equity Partners and 3i, the company owns and broadcasts the international (non-U.S.) versions of the Hallmark Channel and Movies 24, in addition to KidsCo. The 18 feeds for the international Hallmark Channel reach more than 60 million subscribers in the U.K., Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Australia, Latin America and Asia. Movies 24 has recently launched on Sky and Virgin TV in the U.K. and will be rolled out internationally in the near future.

  • More Zixx for Summer ’08

    Thunderbird Films has completed live-action photography for the third season of Zixx, a children’s sci-fi/action series that takes place in both the real world and a completely computer-generated universe. Shot in Vancouver, Canada, Zixx: Level Three will premiere on Canada’s YTV in the summer of 2008.

    Zixx: Level Three will continue the adventures of Zixx Phunkee Zee as she tries to save the universe from evil aliens with the help of her team of human teens. The third season promises to make the heroes’ quest more dangerous by throwing stronger enemies and greater challenges at them.

    Zixx Phunkee Zee is protrayed by Barbara Mamabolo, who starred with Lindsay Lohan in Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen and appeared in the Canadian productions Strange Days at Blake Holsey High and Renegade Press.com. The show also features Ephraim Ellis from Degrassi: The Next Generation and Falcon Beach, and Reece Thompson from the recent Sundance Film Festival hit Rocket Science. Joining the team this season as Tarphex, Zixx’s best friend from the Network Academy, is T-Roy Kozuki who has appeared in Battlestar Galactica and more recently in Whistler.

    Developed by Savi Media and The Nightingale Co. in association with YTV, Zixx is produced by Thunderbird Films in association with YTV Canada and Rainmaker Animation, with the support of the Shaw Rocket Fund and the Independent Production Fund. For the third season, the producers have turned to Vancouver animation and effects house Digital Alchemy to work closely with Rainmaker in creating ambitious visuals. Zixx has been sold to Cartoon Network in the U.S. and the U.K., and is being distributed internationally by Rainmaker Animation and Echo Bridge Ent.

  • Jetix Europe Captain Flamingo

    Canada’s Breakthrough Animation Inc. has licensed the second season of its popular animated series Captain Flamingo to Jetix Europe, which has acquired the pay TV, TV distribution, home video and consumer product rights to the series for Europe and the Middle East. Co-produced by Breakthrough Animation, Heroic Film Co., Atomic Cartoons and PASI Animation, the show is an original production for YTV Canada.

    Captain Flamingo follows the adventures of Milo Powell, who is often overlooked by other kids until he dons his terrycloth cape and becomes a superhero who champions kids everywhere with the secret help of Lizbeth, the girl next door. In the second season, our beaked hero will take on some new villains, including aliens from outer space.

    TV Distribution of Captain Flamingo in Europe and the Middle East is serviced by Buena Vista International Television, on behalf of Jetix Europe. For more information on the show, go to the newly created website at http://captainflamingo.ytv.com.

  • DreamWorks Picks Stiller’s Master Mind

    DreamWorks Animation today announced that it has picked up Master Mind, a superhero send-up from Ben Stiller’s and Stuart Cornfeld’s Red Hour Films. The screenplay is being written by Alan Schoolcraft and Brent Simons, and will be adapted by directors Cameron Hood and Kyle Jefferson. The DreamWorks veterans will each make their feature directorial debut after helming the 2006 toon short First Flight, which was screened with Over the Hedge in many theaters.

    Master Mind was brought to DreamWorks Animation by Red Hour ‘s Lara Breay, who will oversee development with DreamWorks Animation’s Chris Kuser. The project marks the first time Stiller will collaborate with the studio in a production capacity. The leading comedic actor previously lent his voice to Alex the lion in the studio’s hit Madagascar, and is reprising the role in the upcoming sequel, Madagascar: The Crate Escape.

    According to DreamWorks, Master Mind will be a satirical comedy that tells the story of a super villain who loses his joie de vivre after accidentally killing his archrival, Uberman, in the opening scene of the movie.

    ‘Stuart and Lara and I are really excited to be working with DreamWorks Animation on this project,’ Stiller comments. ‘We all think the script is really smart and really funny. They have put the film on the fast track, which in animation terms means it will be coming out in the next 15 to 20 years.’

    ‘We are looking forward to collaborating again with Ben, this time on the production side of things,’ adds DreamWorks Animation C.E.O. Jeffrey Katzenberg. ‘His creativity and signature sense of humor will lend itself perfectly to this project. As for Cameron Hood and Kyle Jefferson, they are two valued members of our DreamWorks Animation family. Their short, First Flight, was such a beautiful, original piece, and we believe the promise it showed will be on full display in Master Mind.’

    Before taking the reins on First Flight, Hood and Jefferson, both graduates of Sheridan College in Ontario, Canada, worked on DreamWorks’ first animated release, The Prince of Egypt, and also contributed to The Road to El Dorado, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Shrek, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas and Shark Tale. Jefferson’s work outside of DreamWorks includes collaborating with director Michael Bay on action scene pre-visualizations for Pearl Harbor, while Hood spent some time at Sony Imageworks as an animator on Stuart Little 2. Hood also taught at the Gnomon School of Visual Effects, where he currently hosts a best-selling character animation lecture series.

    Red Hour Films launched in 2001 with the Ben Stiller/Owen Wilson comedy Zoolander, and has since produced Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Starsky and Hutch, Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny and current box-office champ Blades of Glory.

  • Burton’s Vincent Goes 3D

    Having converted Tim Burton’s 1994 animated feature The Nightmare Before Christmas to stereoscopic 3D last year, Disney is giving the same treatment to a stop-motion short the celebrated filmmaker made in 1982. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Nightmare will be back in 3D-equiped theaters this October with a special 3D version of Vincent.

    Animated by Stephen Chiodo and narrated by late horror movie icon Vincent Price, Vincent is a six-minute black-and-white film about a boy named Vincent Malloy who idolizes Price and does his best to live like an Edgar Allen Poe character. The gothic comedy won the Audience Award at the 1984 Ottawa Int’l Animation Festival and helped launch Burton’s career.

  • Billy and Mandy, Charlotte’s Web on DVD

    Cartoon Network’s The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy goes long-form with the feature-length adventure Billy and Mandy’s Big Boogey Adventure, which debuts today on home video. Also arriving at retail is Paramount’s recent live-action/CG version of E.B. White’s classic tale Charlotte’s Web.

    Billy, Mandy and Grim take on the Boogeyman in an epic tale of monster pirates, futuristic robots, evil artifacts and snot. After having his powers abused by Billy and Mandy for years, Grim is stripped of his special abilities and must seek out Horror’s Hand, an artifact with the power to turn its possessor into the scariest being alive. In a bid to obtain the object, he and his mortal pals find themselves in a harrowing race with the Boogeyman and a crew of monster pirates. The Warner Home Video release lists for $14.98.

    Charlotte’s Web stars Dakota Fanning and a barnyard full of real animals and computer-generated creatures voices by the likes of Julia Roberts, Steve Buscemi, John Cleese, Oprah Winfrey, Kathy Bates, Cedric the Entertainer, Reba McEntire, Robert Redford, Thomas Hayden Church and Andr’ Benjamin. Vfx companies that contributed to the movie’s extensive effects work include Tippett Studio, Rhythm & Hues, Stan Winston Studios, Rising Sun Pictures, Digital Dimension, Fuel, Digital Pictures Lloura, Proof Inc. and Sandman Studios.

    Extras on the Charlotte’s Web disc include a making-of documentary, behind-the-scenes looks at the film’s CG and animatronics work, photo galleries, two music videos, a gag reel and deleted scenes with optional commentary by director Gary Winick. Among the DVD-ROM interactive features are a Charlotte’s Web storybook creator and a level demo from Sega’s video game based on the movie. The title is available from Paramount Home Entertainment for the list price of $29.99.

  • SpongeBob, Happy Feet Nick Kids’ Choice Awards

    Nickelodeon’s own SpongeBob SquarePants was named Favorite Cartoon and Warner Bros./Village Roadshow’s Happy Feet was voted Best Animated Movie by young fans during Nickelodeon’s 20th Annual Kids’ Choice Awards. Disney’s vfx-laden summer blockbuster, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, took Favorite Movie at the kudo fest, which was hosted by pop idol Justin Timberlake on Saturday evening at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles.

    More than 40 million kids cast votes in 16 categories between March 5 and March 31. For the first time, voters could choose to use any of Nickelodeon’s digital platforms, including Nick.com, Nicktropolis and TurboNick, and also had the option of texting their votes via cell phones.

    Young Charlotte’s Web star Dakota Fanning was voted Favorite Movie Actress while Click star Adam Sandler took home his third win Favorite Movie Actor. Queen Latifah was named Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie for her portrayal of a wooly mammoth in Fox Animation’s Ice Age: the Meltdown. Ben Stiller, whose latest big-screen effort was 20th Centruy Fox’s highly successful Night At the Museum, claimed the coveted Wannabe Award, which Sandler won last year. The distinction is reserved for a celebrity role model who kids most want to be like.

    SpongeBob also proved popular in the Interactive world. THQ’s SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab nabbed the award for Favorite Video Game while kids who prefer to get their kicks from reading voted J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series Favorite Book.

    Kids Choice Awards: Best of the Mess, a 30-minute program of highlights, will air on Nickelodeon Tuesday, April 3 at 5 p.m.; Thursday, April 5 at 8:30 p.m.; Saturday, April 7 at 12 p.m.; and Sunday, April 8 at 5:30 p.m. Kids can also catch a half-hour version of the awards show on TurboNick, Nickelodeon’s broadband video service on Nick.com.

  • CBC Goes to Busytown with Cookie Jar

    Cookie Jar Ent.’s newest animated series, Busytown Mysteries (Hurray For Huckle!) has been picked up for broadcast by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Based on the classic works of renowned children’s author and illustrator Richard Scarry, the show will officially debut at next week’s MIPTV in Cannes, France.

    Busytown Mysteries (Hurray For Huckle!) blends humor and learning as it chronicles the exploits of six characters who try to solve everyday life mysteries in Busytown. Huckle Cat, Lowly Worm, Sally Cat, Hilda Hippo and other colorful Busytown residents are always up for a new adventure and, with everyone driving their own funny vehicle, getting there is half the fun. The show encourages young viewers to help solve life’s little puzzles as they ask questions, find clues and discover answers.

    More than 150 million Richard Scary books have been sold worldwide and have been translated into 30 languages. CBC will broadcast the first 26 half-hour episodes of Busytown Mysteries (Hurray For Huckle!) as part of the Kids’ CBC preschool programming block.

  • Aardman Clays Up Deal with Sony

    Having ended its relationship with DreamWorks Animation just months ago, Aardman Animations is reportedly sewing up a partnership with Sony Pictures. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the animation studio behind the Oscar-winning feature Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit is ironing out a three-year, first-look deal with the studio.

    Home of the Spider-Man and James Bond franchises, Sony Pictures recently entered the feature animation arena with Open Season, the first CG pic from Sony Pictures Animation. This summer, the unit will release the penguin surfing comedy Surf’s Up, before moving on to a big-screen adaptation of Judi and Ron Barrett’s children’s book, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. Also in the pipeline is Hotel Transylvania, which will visit Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, the Wolf Man and other classic creeps as they hang out together and try to cope with the notion that they are no longer relevant in modern times.

    The relationship with Aardman and Sony will likely mirror that between Disney and Pixar before the merger. Sony is reportedly looking to Aardman to make a film every year to 18 months to supplement the features being made by Sony Pictures Animation. The Bristol-based toon shop will be paid a retainer to help cover overhead and development, and will also get production and marketing funding from Sony once a movie is greenlit.

    Despite having a hit with the 2000 clay-animated feature Chicken Run and winning the Academy Award for the 2005 Wallace & Gromit movie, the partnership between Aardman and DreamWorks didn’t yield the box office results the studio was hoping for. Their final collaboration, the CG-animated Flushed Away, won over critics but only earned $64.5 million domestically.

    Flushed Away is the first CG feature for Aardman, which is best known for the stop-motion works of Oscar-winning filmmaker Nick Park. Both stop-motion and computer-generated projects will be under consideration at Sony should the deal go through.

  • Glory Guts Robinsons

    The DreamWorks/Paramount release Blades of Glory earned an estimated $33 million over the weekend to claim the box office gold medal. The ice skating comedy starring Will Ferrell and Jon Heder did well enough on Friday night to get a solid lead on Disney’s animated Meet the Robinsons, which debuted in second place with an estimated $25 million. Last week’s champ, Warner Bros.’ TMNT, took a steep 62% tumble to land at No. 4 with around $9.1 million for the weekend.

    After being kicked out of the top spot last week by the animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Warner Bros.’ 300 managed to trump the terrapins, taking in approximately $11 million for a third-place finish. The $65 million green-screen production has grossed nearly $180 million to date, making it one of the year’s most profitable movies and giving director Zack Snyder his pick of projects. He’s currently working on an adaptation of Alan Moore’s and Dave Gibbons’ highly regarded graphic novel Watchmen, and will return to the zombie genre with Universal’s Army of the Dead having remade George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead in 2004.

    Buena Vista’s Wild Hogs is still rolling in its fifth week, rounding out the top five with an estimated $8.5 million for the weekend and $135 million to date. Featuring a ensemble cast that includes John Travolta, Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence and William H. Macy, the motorcycle comedy managed to catch a ride with moviegoers while more recent releases were left with their thumbs out. Paramount’s $60 million actioner Shooter has only grossed around $27.2 million since opening last week, and New Line’s sci-fi family pic, The Last Mimzy, stands at just $16.2 million in its sophomore frame.

  • Director Hitched to Hoodwinked Sequel

    Daily Variety reports that Disney animator Mike Disa has been hired to direct Hoodwinked 2: Hood vs. Evil for the Weinstein Co. and Kanbar Ent. The sequel was put into the pipeline after the first Hoodwinked, a modestly budgeted independent CG feature, grossed $51 million domestically and $109 million worldwide in 2005. The fairytale spoof also topped video rental and sales charts when it debuted in May of last year.

    Disa has served as an animator on such Mouse House releases as Pocahantas, The Hunchback of Notra Dame, Mulan, Tarzan, Fantasia 2000, Treasure Planet and Home on the Range. His credits also include the Disneytoon Studios efforts The Tigger Movie and Pooh’s Heffalump Movie, as well as Warner Bros. Looney Tunes: Back in Action. The former video game designer most recently served as technical consultant on Strarz Media’s toon feature The Haunted World of El Superbeasto, a direct-to-DVD animated feature from the mind of rocker-turned-horrormeister Rob Zombie.

    Hoodwinked 2: Hood vs. Evil is being produced by. While the fist film was made for around $20, the budget for the followup will likely be more in the $40 million ballpark. The sequel will have Red Riding Hood (Anne Hathaway) teaming up with The Wolf (Patrick Warburton) to investigate the disappearance of Hansel and Gretel. Writers/directors Cory Edwards, Todd Edwards and Tony Leech are bringing most of the other characters back as well.

    Animation is being handled by Kanbar Animation, which SKYY Vodka entrepreneur Maurice Kanbar and former Disney Animation exec Sue Bea Mongomery set up in Manila for the first movie. Kanbar and David K. Lovegren are producing the sequel with Eric Robinson overseeing production for the Weinstein Co.

    The Weinsteins haven’t met such good fortune with subsequent animated releases Doogal and Arthur and the Invisibles, but recently rebounded with its distribution partnership with Warner Bros. on TMNT. Other computer-animated features on The Weinstein Co.’s distribution slate include Exodus Film Group’s Igor and the French animated musical Piccolo, Saxo and Company. The company has also acquired rights to produce an animated feature based on the Jerry Lewis comedy classic, The Nutty Professor, and is producing Escape From Planet Earth with Hoodwinked scribes Tony Leech and Cory Edwards.

  • AniBOOM Contest Spoofs Idol

    AniBOOM.com, a website featuring user-generated animated short films, has announced the launch of AniBOOM Eyedoll, a parody of the popular American Idol talent competition. Animators from around the world are invited to create their own animated contestants and music parodies and vie for votes from the viewing public.

    On April 30, the ten top-ranking animated performances will be announced as the AniBOOM Eyedoll finalists. The final winner will then be announced on May 22, three days before the American Idol finale. The winners can choose between a trip to LA to meet with their new agent, or a production deal with AniBOOM for their own web series.

    AniBOOM went live in September of 2006. The site’s previous contest, the AniBOOM Awards, generated more than 1,500 entries from 72 countries. Those interested in entering the AniBOOM Eyedoll competition can go to www.aniboom.com/Pages/Application/Search/Search.aspx?q=eyedoll&s Method=all.

  • Kids’ WB! Adds New Shows

    The Kids’ WB! Saturday morning block on The CW gets some fresh blood with the addition of five new animated action shows for the 2007-2008 season. In addition to the previously announced Spider-Man show, the fall lineup will include Eon Kid, Magi-Nation, World of Quest and Will & Dewitt.

    Eon Kid revolves around Marty, an enterprising 11-year-old who unexpectedly becomes the human extension of the Fist of Eon. Seemingly lost for all time, the Fist endows Marty with amazing fighting powers, but puts him at the heart of a centuries-old struggle between good and evil. Pursued by the dark armies of The General, Marty must undertakes a hero’s journey into a world of battle-bots, bounty hunters, legendary warriors and humanoid bandits. The CG series is produced by Daiwon C&A Holdings Co., Design Storm Co., BRB Int’l and Manga Ent., and distributed by Starz Media.

    A spoiled, young prince is unevenly paired with a square-jawed hero to defeat evil and restore order to their kingdom in World of Quest, based on the Komikwerks graphic novel series by Jason Kruse. When his parents are kidnapped by the nefarious Lord Spite, pampered Prince Nestor enlists the assistance of Quest, the only warrior on the planet who has the strength, skill and courage to wield the Shatter Soul Sword. The show is produced by Cookie Jar Ent.

    Magi-Nation follows the adventures of teenager Tony Jones, whose world is forever changed when he is mystically transported into a beautiful world far beyond imagination that was created millennia ago by a powerful race known as the Magi. Here Tony meets Edyn and Strag, two young Magi heroes in training, who help him battle the evil Shadow Magi with their vast collection of Dream Creatures. The 2D-aniamted series is part of a multi-platform entertainment brand that allows kids to interact with the characters and storylines online. Magi-Nation is produced by Cookie Jar Ent. and Korea’s Daewon Media.

    Cookie Jar also produces Will & Dewitt, in which an average kid with an endless thirst for adventure finds a personal ‘life coach’ in Dewitt, his shape-shifting, talking frog pal. Dewitt’s eternal optimism helps Will discover that all things are possible.

    As previously reported, Culver Ent.’s new Spider-Man toon series s being overseen by supervising producer Greg Weisman (The Batman, Gargoyles) and producer/supervising director Victor Cook (Hellboy: Blood and Iron, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command). The show finds our friendly neighborhood web-slinger at the beginning of his hero’s journey. Having spent the summer engaging common criminals with his new-found powers, 16-year-old Peter Parker struggles to keep his crime-fighting alter-ego a secret while combating the pressures of normal teenage life. The series is slated to premiere early 2008.

    The new shows join returning Warner Bros. Animation series. Back for second seasons this fall are Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!, Tom and Jerry Tales and Legion of Super Heroes. In addition, Warner has begun production on a foruth season of the three-time Daytime Emmy Award winner The Batman, which will also be back with new episodes this fall as Cookie Jar’s Johnny Test returns with season three.

  • Robinsons Meet the Turtles

    Offering the first toon box-office showdown in a while, Disney’s Meet the Robinsons arrives in theaters to challenge box office champ TMNT. Threatening to skate past both of them is DreamWorks’ and Paramount’s heavily marketed ice-skating comedy Blades of Glory, starring Will Ferrell and Napoleon Dynamite‘s Jon Heder.

    Meet the Robinsons is a sci-fi comedy is based on William Joyce’s book A Day with Wilbur Robinson. The film centers on Lewis, a 12 year-old genius inventor who meets a mysterious boy from the future named Wilbur Robinson. The two travel forward in time and spend a day with Wilbur’s eccentric family, who will rely on Lewis’ sharp mind for survival. Joyce has become a popular source of animation inspiration. The creator of the Rolie Polie Olie preschool series also influenced the design of Fox Animation/Blue Sky’s feature film, Robots.

    Directed by Stephen J. Anderson (Journey Beneath the Sea, Toto Lost in New York), Robinsons was heavily tweaked when Pixar’s John Lasster took the reins at Walt Disney Feature Animation. If the film does well, it could mark a turn-around for Mouse House animation, which has had some hits but has largely dwelled in the shadow of Pixar for the past decade. Helmer Anderson is a veteran Disney artist and story man whose credits with the studio include Brother Bear, The Emperor’s New Groove and Tarzan.

    Robinsons has been released in 3,400 theaters domestically, giving it a slight edge on Blades of Glory, which has a theater count of 3,372. Based on last weekend’s success, TMNT has added a handful of venues in its second week as Warner Bros. waits to see if the film has legs that stretch past the hardcore Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fanbase that turned out for its opening. Debuting in more limited release is Miramax’s critically lauded crime thriller The Lookout, which opens today on 955 screens.

  • China Gets Spider-Man 3 Before U.S.

    In its efforts to curb piracy, Sony will release the eagerly awaited Spider-Man 3 in China before rolling it out in North American theaters, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Chinese audiences will be able to see the film on May 3, the day before it debuts domestically. Given the pervasiveness of the black market in China, other studios are also seeing the benefit of getting prints in theaters there before pirated DVDs have a chance to hit the street.

    Yuan, whose company is China’s only licensed importer of the 40 overseas films allowed to screen theatrically each year, would not say whether he confirmed that the Film Bureau had approved the import. Only 20 overseas films each year can share in a percentage of their own boxoffice receipts. “Spider-Man 3” will be one of those films.

    As foreign-made entertainment is strictly controlled by the Chinese government, the China Film Group is the country’s only legal importer of overseas films and also controls the largest distribution company. The Chinese film business as a whole reportedly lost $2.5 billion to piracy in 2005, the year Spider-Man 2 came out.

    Just as many Americans feel it’s okay to illegally rip music onto their iPods, the Chinese populous has become accustomed to buying entertainment on the black market since that is the only way to get many American movies and TV series under governmental censorship policies. Comedy Central’s animated South Park is one show that is very popular among the nation’s youth though it’s not permitted to be seen. Even a politically neutral superhero film like Spider-Man 3 will be edited for content by at the China Film Bureau.

    Spider-Man 3 will be released on a day-and-date basis in many parts of the world, and will even open a couple days earlier in Japan, but this is the first time the Sony/Columbia Pictures will open a pic in China prior to its North American bow.

  • GDH Makes GONZO Merger

    Tokyo-based GDH K.K., which owns the GONZO animation studio, has announced that its GONZO Rosso Online K.K. will be absorbing fellow GDH group company G-creators K.K. The consolidated entity will be known as GONZO Rosso K.K. and will operate in Tokyo under managing director Hideki Moriya.

    GONZO Rosso Online is known around the world for creating such innovative games as the MMORPGs Knight Online and Master of Epic’The Resonance Age Universe. G-creators’ two main areas of operation have been media businesses (production of e-commerce sites, mobile sites and SNS sites) and production of video and marketing content.

    The GDH group has been actively pursuing anime-related entertainment business through GONZO Rosso Online and G-creators. The establishment of the new company is intended to further strengthen its efforts in this area. In addition to focusing on the development and production of the Knight Online and Master of Epic franchises, the company will create video, characters, advertisement designs, websites and other Internet content leveraging GDH/GONZO’s network of creators and artists. Other priorities will include managing the web-based merchandise store GONZO STYLE and the mobile sites Mobile Newtype and GONZO MOBILE.