Animation Magazine

Author: Ryan Ball

  • Stan Lee Media Sues Marvel

    Stan Lee Media, a company founded in 1998 by celebrated comic-book creator Stan Lee, is suing Marvel Ent. for $5 billion. Filed yesterday in United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, the claim alleges that Lee, after his employment with Marvel was terminated nine years ago, transferred rights to comic book characters he co-created to Stan Lee Media ownership.

    Lee, who is no longer affiliated with Stan Lee Media and has no part in the suit, issued a statement reading, “I do not support this action and believe the suit to be baseless.” The comic guru is currently suing the Stan Lee Media, challenging the legitimacy of its management. The company recently went into bankruptcy and is seeking to recover revenues Marvel has earned from such popular comic-book properties as Spider-Man, X-Men and The Incredible Hulk. Marvel says the claim has no merit and is confident that it will prevail in the dispute.

    Stan Lee currently serves as publisher emeritus of Marvel Comics, while also running POW! Ent. He himself sued Marvel Ent. in November or 2002, claiming that he was entitled to a share of profits earned by the company from the blockbuster Spider-Man movies and other film and television productions that feature Marvel characters. Marvel was ordered to pay him 10% of profits earned since 1998 and appealed the decision, but later settled with Lee for an undisclosed amount.

  • Boomerang Goes Green with Gazoo

    Boomerang, Cartoon Network’s commercial-free home of classic animation, is avoiding the St. Patrick’s Day pinch by running a marathon of six Flintstones episodes featuring little, green spaceman The Great Gazoo. The fan-favorite installments will air on Saturday, March 17, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., repeating that night from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.

    Voiced by comic legend Harvey Korman (Blazing Saddles, The Carol Burnett Show) The Great Gazoo, first visited Bedrock from the planet Zetox during the 1965-66 season. Banished by his leader, Gazaam, for inventing a button capable of destroying the universe, the diminutive extra-terrestrial must prove his capacity for compassion and wisdom by serving the humans who rescue him from his grounded spaceship. But when his arrogant and mischievous nature gets in the way of his god deeds, he ends up just causing trouble for Fred and Barney.

    The marathon will kick off with ‘The Great Gazoo,’ the episopde that introduces the character, followed by ‘The Stonefinger Caper,’ ‘Seeing Doubles,’ ‘Two Men on a Dinosaur,’ ‘Curtain Call at Bedrock’ and ‘Boss for a Day.’

    The Flintstones debuted in primetime on ABC on Sept. 30, 1960, becoming the first animated situation comedy on television, and the first animated series to go beyond the seven-minute cartoon format. The Hanna-Barbera show ran for six years with 166 episodes, and spawned multiple series spin-offs throughout the years.

  • Disney Calls in The Surrogates

    With the success of films like Sin City, A History of Violence and 300, the graphic novel has become a prime source for movie material. The latest bit of news comes from Daily Variety, which reports that Disney is set to make a feature film based on Top Shelf Comix’s The Surrogates, written by Robert Venditti and illustrated by Brett Weldele. The sci-fi thriller will be directed by Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines helmer Jonathan Mostow and written by Michael Ferris and John Brancato, who also worked on the third Terminator installment.

    The Surrogates is set in the year 2054, in a place called the Central Georgia Metropolis. Those who can afford the luxury stay safe at home while their robotic surrogates to go out into the world and perform various tasks for them. But when someone or something starts destroying surrogates with megavolt electrical charges, its up to police lieutenant Harvey Greer to solve the mystery. The story plays on mankind’s growing reliance on technology and the isolation it creates.

    The film version will be produced by Mandeville’s David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman, along with Max Handelman and Elizabeth Banks. According to Hoberman, the production will involve its share of bit visual effects.

    Mostow, whose directorial credits include 1997’s Breakdown and 2000’s U-571, will be firmly entrenched in the world of comic books for some time. He is currently writing and is attached to direct an adaptation of the Marvel Comics property Sub-Mariner, which Universal plans to release in 2009.

  • Anime Highlander Trailer Online

    Fans of the Highlander movies, as well as the live-action and animated TV series, can now check out the trailer for Highlander: The Search for Vengeance, a new animated feature being released directly to DVD by Starz Home Entertainment this June. The film is directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri, the respected anime master behind the hits Ninja Scroll and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, as well as the ‘Program’ segment of The Animatrix.

    The Highlander mythology involves a clandestine race of sword-wielding immortals locked in a centuries-old competition to be the last survivor. While Highlander: The Search for Vengeance offers a new anime twist, it’s very much connected to previous productions in the franchise. The film was developed and produced by Peter Davis and Bill Panzer, the team behind the live-action films and TV series, and written by series head writer David Abramowitz.

    Animation was handled by Japan’s Madhouse, whose credits include Satoshi Kon’s Millennium Actress and Tokyo Godfathers. Production was overseen by Hong Kong’s Imagi Animation Studios Ltd., which provided primary animation for DreamWorks’ NBC series Father of the Pride and the feature film TMNT: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which hits theaters on March 23.

    A fifth live action feature titled Highlander: The Source has been completed and is in need of a distributor. Dimension Films was originally on board to put it into theaters in 2005 but has since dropped the movie from its lineup. Reviews from fans who have seen the film have not been especially kind. Perhaps the future of the franchise lies in animation. To see the trailer for Highlander: Search for Vengeance, go to http://www.highlandersearchforvengeance.com/.

  • Sony Wonder Closing Shop?

    According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sony BMG Music Ent. is pulling the plug on its Sony Wonder, a home video and audio distributor of children’s entertainment. Founded in the early ’90s, the lable once held a distribution deal with Nickelodeon and recently saw partnerships with Sesame Workshop and Classic Media go to Genius Products. Shout! Factory, another leading provider of animated video content, is reportedly leaving Sony Wonder and setting up a distribution deal with Vivendi Visual Entertainment.

    For more than ten years, Sony Wonder distributed Sesame Workshop titles, including episodes of Sesame Street. Through its deal with Classic Media, the label also handled such animated favorites as the Rankin-Bass holiday specials Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman, as well as successful CG-animated VeggieTales productions.

    Sony Wonder used to release as many as 50 home video titles a year but reportedy hasn’t put anything out since November of 2006, when it shipped A Sesame Street Christmas Carol and the 20th anniversary edition of Transformers: The Movie, among others. Sony hasn’t released a statement regarding the demise of the unit, but did announce the departure of its exec VP and general manager, Jim Wilson.

  • Animation Mentor Showcases Student Work

    Online character animation school Animation Mentor today unveiled its Winter Student Showcase, a web reel that includes creative work animated by 27 students representing all levels of training. Featuring clips from graduate short film projects, the showcase can be viewed at:

    http://www.animationmentor.com/quicktime/winterShowcase.

    ‘The quality of animation coming out of all of our classes is amazing, and the short films are so nuanced, imaginative and fun,’ says Animation Mentor president and CEO Bobby S. Beck. ‘The reel demonstrates why so many of our

    graduates have gone on to land the studio jobs of their dreams.’

    The Winter Student Showcase is designed to exhibit the students’ solid understanding of body mechanics, weight, squash-and-stretch, arcs, anticipation, acting and other animation fundamentals, as well as their ability to infuse characters with feelings and personality. The Summer Student Showcase will be released to coincide with SIGGRAPH 2007.

    Based in Berkeley, Calif., Animation Mentor is a distance learning

    school that employs working professionals to teach the art of character

    animation to students worldwide. The school opened its web-based doors in March of 2005 and offers an 18-month program built from the ground up by founders Bobby Beck, Shawn Kelly and Carlos Baena, whose combined credits include Cars, Finding Nemo and Star Wars: Episode 3. Animation Mentor’s California-certified curriculum includes student mentoring, expert audio/video lectures, live web classes, eCritiques and a 24/7 creative

    community. More information is available at www.animationmentor.com.

  • Spike TV Joins Star Wars Fan Short Search

    Spike TV has teamed with fellow MTV Networks division AtomFilms and Lucasfilm Ltd. to launch the Star Wars Fan Movie Challenge, a new phase of an annual contest involving short films created by devotees of the space saga. Submissions are now being accepted and winners will be announced online, on-air on Spike TV and at the massive Star Wars Celebration IV fan event taking place in Los Angeles May 24-28.

    Previous fan film programs hosted by Lucasfilm and AtomFilms have produced such Internet favorites as Star Wars Gangsta Rap, Pink Five and Pitching Lucas. This year participants will have a chance to get their films broadcast as Spike TV comes aboard to provide on-air exposure for the top submissions, as judged by George Lucas, staffers at Lucasfilm and AtomFilms, and online voters. This year’s competition will also include an award category for fan fiction.

    “I’m very happy we’re continuing this event, which we began in 2002, because out of the current crop of young moviemakers it’s quite possible we’ll find some of tomorrow’s best writers, producers and directors,” says Lucas.

    Just as Lucas has moved away from working with film in favor of digital acquisition, the name of the contest has changed from Star Wars Fan Film Awards to reflect the fact that most submissions are shot, edited and even submitted digitally. “There really isn’t any ‘film’ being reviewed anymore,’ explains Steve Sansweet, director of fan relations for Lucasfilm Ltd. ‘[Like] the Star Wars movies themselves, our annual competition has proudly entered the digital age.”

    Lucasfilm’s Star Wars Celebration IV convention will commemorate the 30th anniversary of the release of Star Wars. Challenge award recipients will be announced and screened during the five-day geek-a-polooza. Highlights of the event, including the best fan flicks, will be broadcast on Spike TV.

    More information on the Star Wars Fan Movie Challenge can be found at http://starwars.atomfilms.com, the official website for contest. Fan movies will also be available for viewing at the official Star Wars site, http://starwars.com, beginning later this spring.

  • TELETOON Gets Chaotic

    Chaotic, the new animated action series from 4Kids Ent., will debut in Canada on March 16 with a 5:30 p.m. special sneak peek on TELETOON. The property, which also has trading-card and online gameplay components, will officially join the TELETOON Sunday lineup on March 18 at 8:30 a.m.

    Chaotic follows the adventures of two teenage boys, Tom and Kazdan, who discover that their favorite trading card game serves as a portal to the secret world of Chaotic. They realize that the one-of-a-kind alphanumeric codes on their trading cards are actually scans of living creatures and can be used to transform into powerful beasts when challenged to a battle. The animated series will offer viewers battle strategies that will help them master the Chaotic trading card game for both online and offline play.

    Starting May 16, kids will be able to purchase starter decks of either UnderWorld or OverWorld Chaotic trading cards at comic and hobby stores in the U.S. and Canada from TC Digital Games LLC, an affiliate of 4Kids Ent. The companion website, http://www.chaoticgame.com, will also go live on May 16.

  • Cast Gathers for Fox’s Horton

    TV icon Carol Burnett is one of many top comic actors signed to join Jim Carrey and Steve Carell in the voice cast for Twentieth Century Fox Animation’s feature adaptation of the 1954 Dr. Seuss book Horton Hears a Who. The film is being animated by Blue Sky Studios and is set for release on March 14, 2008.

    Carry will star as Horton, a loveable elephant who hears a cry for help coming from a tiny speck of dust floating through the air and suspects that it may support life. Carell takes on the role of the Mayor of Who-Ville and Burnett will lend her voice to the always skeptical Kangaroo, who doesn’t believe Horton’s claims about an entire community existing on a speck of dust.

    Also on board for the movie are Seth Rogen (The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up) Will Arnett (Blades of Glory, Arrested Development), Saturday Night Live’s Amy Poehler (Blades of Glory, Mean Girls), Isla Fisher (The Wedding Crashers), Dan Fogler (Balls of Fury, Good Luck Chuck), Dane Cook (Employee of the Month) Jaime Pressly (My Name Is Earl), and Jonah Hill (Accepted, Evan Almighty)

    Horton Hears a Who is being directed by Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino from a script by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio (The Santa Clause 2). Hayward’s animation credits include Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Monsters, Inc. and A Bug’s Life. He met Martino (Oscar-winning vfx director for Total Recall) when they worked together on Robots. Twentieth Century Fox Animation production exec Bob Gordon is producing the pic, with Audrey Geisel, Chris Wedge and Chris Meledandri serving as exec producers. Twentieth Century Fox Animation VP John Cohen is overseeing the project and assembled the cast with Christian Kaplan, senior VP of casting for Twentieth Century Fox.

    Twentieth Century Fox Animation and its Blue Sky Studios are hoping to repeat the performance of their last effort, Ice Age: The Meltdown, which grossed $650 million worldwide. Working with such a well-known property should help quite a bit in that quest. Books by Ted ‘Dr. Seuss’ Geisel have sold more than 200 million copies worldwide and the Horton series, which includes Horton Hears a Who and Horton Hatches the Egg, are consistently among the top sellers.

  • BOXX is ‘Wizard’ of FX

    BOXX Technologies, which provides high-performance computing systems designed for visual effects and design professionals, is asserting itself as a driving force behind many of the past year’s top feature films. The company’s BOXX workstations and renderBOXX image rendering nodes were used to digitally create and enhance eye-popping elements for Picturehouse Ent.’s Pan’s Labyrinth, Sony’s Casino Royale and Warner Bros.’ Happy Feet, to name a few.

    “We like to view BOXX as a wizard behind the curtain for movies, television shows, and commercials that require sophisticated visual effects,” says Francois Wolf, director of marketing for BOXX Technologies. “BOXX provides the powerful multi-processor platforms with large memory capacities that enable visual effects professionals to create stunning images through stable and efficient production pipelines.”

    Long time BOXX customer CafeFX produced movie magic for director Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth on 3DBOXX 7500 Series workstations and renderBOXX 7500 render nodes. The studio also employed 3DBOXX and APEXX workstations to help bring a Marvel comic book to life with Sony’s Ghost Rider. “Using Boxx’s 3DBOXX workstations, we were able to manage the complexity of the simulation needed to visualize Ghost Rider‘s detailed effects, without sacrificing the quality of the image,” notes CafeFX visual effects supervisor John F.K. Parenteau.

    Among other major 2006 releases to feature effects created with BOXX workstations and renderBOXX include Warner Bros.’ Poseidon and Twentieth Century Fox’s X-Men: The Last Stand. BOXX customer Moving Picture Company worked on all three films. For more information on BOXX Technologies Inc., go to www.boxxtech.com.

  • Eisner Launches Web, Mobile Studio

    Former Walt Disney Co. CEO Michael Eisner will shif his focus from the big screen to the very small screen with the creation of Vuguru, an independent studio dedicated to producing and distributing content for mobile phones, the Web and and other digital outlets.

    Backed by Eisner’s investment firm, the Tornante Co., Vuguru will offer original and third-party entertainment properties in all genres and formats. The company’s first original production is Prom Queen, a serialized mystery that will unfold over 80 90-second episodes. The series is being produced with independent production studio Big Fantastic and will be distributed on various outlets including Vuguru.com, promqueen.tv, YouTube, Veoh Networks and sponsor Ellegirl.com.

    Given Eisner’s history with animation and the current demand for animated content created for Internet and mobile platforms, it’s logical to expect to see Vuguru announcing animated projects in developlent in the near future. Eisner is a board member of Veoh Networks, a YouTube competitor that offers, among other things, anime features and episodes of animated shows for viewing over the internet.

  • Ratatouille Previews at ShoWest

    Tuesday’s opening day ceremony for the ShoWest exhibitor convention in Las Vegas featured a 12-minute preview of Ratatouille, the next CG-animated feature film from Disney and Pixar. Director Brad Bird (The Incredibles, The Iron Giant) was on hand to introduce the exclusive footage, which was well received by all accounts.

    Ratatouille stars comedian Patton Oswalt as the voice of a rodent who lives in a Paris eatery and fancies himself a gourmand. His quest to obtain tasty treats, however, proves dangerous as rats are not exactly welcome in high-end restaurants.

    According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bird joked that the film seemd a bit out of place in a summer filled with such high-profile sequels as Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End and that Pixar considered the title Ratatouille 1 and marketing it as the prequel to the sequel. He also admitted that getting moviegoers to care about a rat was not an easy task, but pointed out that Pixar managed to elicit sympathy for superheroes in The Incredibles and made audiences feel at home under water with Finding Nemo.

    Developed from a concept by Oscar-winning Pixar short director Jan Pinkava (Geri’s Game) and scripted by Emily Cook and Kathy Greenberg, Ratatouille is slated to hit theaters on June 29, 2007.

  • Nick Int’l Wild and Wooly for Shaun

    Aardman Animations’ new stop-motion kids’ series, Shaun the Sheep, has broadened its broadcast pasture though a far-reaching deal with Nickelodeon International. Aardman International has sold the Wallace and Gromit spin-off to Nickelodeon Benelux, Spain, India, Australia and New Zealand.

    Commissioned by CBBC in the U.K., Shaun the Sheep is a series of 40 seven-minute-long adventures starring a character from the Oscar-winning Wallace and Gromit short A Close Shave. Shaun doesn’t follow the flock but rather leads them into all sorts of trouble. He and his pals run rings around their poor sheepdog, Bitzer, as he tries to stop the Farmer from finding out what’s going on behind his back. The show is directed by Richard Goleszowski and is aimed a kids 4-10.

    ‘Shaun the Sheep is a perfect fit for Nickelodeon’s international channels, without saying a word he speaks volumes with a single look or glance,’ says Jules Borkent, VP of programming for Nickelodeon International. ‘The strong brand awareness, silly humour and great characters will really appeal to our audience.’

    The Nickeodeon International deal will bring Shaun‘s reach to 72 territories worldwide. The show will launch in Benelux in April, Spain and India in May, and Australia and New Zealand later in the year once it has aired on ABC and TVNZ. Other new shows in the pipeline at Aardman include Chop Socky Chooks for Cartoon Network and TELETOON, and the American version of Creature Comforts for CBS.

  • DreamWorks Enters the Third Dimension

    DreamWorks Animation SKG announced today that it will produce all of its films for stereoscopic 3D presentation starting in 2009. While a number of animated features, including Disney’s Chicken Little and Sony’s Open Season, have been converted for stereoscopic projection after completion, all DreamWorks toons will be crafted for 3D from beginning to end. The studio’s first film to be built from the ground-up with 3D technology is Monsters vs. Aliens (working title), which is now in production for summer 2009 release.

    “I believe that this is the greatest opportunity for movies and for the theatrical exhibition business that has come along in 30 years,” says DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg. “Advancements in sound have dramatically improved the auditory experience, but there hasn’t been a corresponding breakthrough in the way we see movies until now. Stereoscopic 3D technology gives us a real opportunity to significantly enhance the theater experience.”

    Stereoscopic cinema was first popularized as a B-movie gimmick in the 1950s, but proved little more than a fad that came and went, enjoying a brief revival in the ’80s with such genre offerings as Jaws 3-D, Friday the 13 Part 3 and Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn. By the ’90s, the technology was limited to large-format edutainment offerings show at IMAX locations and other such venues. The average moviegoer wouldn’t get a chance to put on the special specs until 2003’s Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over. The success of this film and the following year’s 3D IMAX presentation of Warner Bros.’ The Polar Express would usher in a new era for 3D cinema.

    The 2005 Disney release, Chicken Little, proved highly popular in 3D, but the limited number of theaters equipped for stereoscopic projection kept the experience form reaching a wide audience. In the past two years, more and more venues have adopted digital systems capable of 3D projection and DreamWorks expects to see thousands of screens available for the roll-out of Monsters vs. Aliens. Theater owners are getting behind the technology hoping it will lure people back to theaters as improvements in home entertainment systems offer tough competition.

    “I believe CG animation is in the best position to take advantage of the latest advancement in 3D technology,” Katzenberg adds. “Since our films are made digitally, it presents numerous opportunities for our filmmakers. And by moving into this area now, DreamWorks Animation is developing expertise that will differentiate our films and provide a lasting competitive advantage.”

    Heading the launch of DreamWorks Animation’s stereoscopic 3D efforts are Jason Clark, who most recently served as exec producer on Monster House 3D, and Jim Mainard, who lead DreamWorks Animation’s research and development for a number of years. Stereographer Phil McNally, whose credits include Chicken Little and the upcoming Disney toon Meet the Robinsons, will supervise the 3D process on Monsters vs. Aliens.

    One CG-animated feature currently being made specifically for 3D exhibition is Fly Me to the Moon from nWave Pictures and Illuminata Pictures. The film about three young flies who stow away on the 1969 Apollo 11 mission promises to offer a very different experience than movies converted to 3D as an afterthought. A good deal of the animation has been completed and the producers are working on sewing up a deal with a North American distributor. Read about the film in the latest issue of Animation Magazine.

  • Looney Tunes, Turtles, McCool on Disc

    Two very different incarnations of Warner Bros.’ classic Looney Tunes property are joined on home video today by some Ninja Turtle cartoon fun from the 1980s and a bit of groovy ’60s sleuthing. Baby Looney Tunes, Vol. 3’Puddle Olympics, the complete first season of Loonatics Unleashed, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Season 4 and Cool McCool are all now available on DVD.

    Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Taz, Tweety and the rest of the gang get the toddler treatment in Baby Looney Tunes. This third volume offers eight episodes from the 2002 season, including ‘Sylvester the Pester,’ ‘Duck! Monster! Duck!,’ The Brave Little Tweety’ and the title installment, ‘Puddle Olympics.’ The Warner Home Video release also includes four music videos and carries a retail price of $14.98.

    With Loonatics Unleashed, Warner Bros. Animation flashes forward 700 years in the future as teenage descendants of the famous Looney Tunes characters fight crime with their superhero powers. Ace Bunny, Lexi Bunny, Danger Duck, Slam Tasmanian, Rev Runner and Tech E. Coyote are the fearless defenders of Acmetropolis, a city besieged by supernatural phenomena and such ominous villains as a nefarious carnival barker, a gravity-defying professional thief and giant Viking robots from another dimension. This home video release offers 13 episodes on two discs, as well as an interactive challenge titled Loonatics Unleashed: Villain Invasion Challenge. Fans can pick it up for the list price of $19.98.

    There’s more anthropomorphic superhero fun to be had with the five-disc set of episodes from the fourth season of FUNimation’s Saturday morning cartoon series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. As Warner Bros. and The Weinstein Co. prepare to release the new CG-animated movie in theaters on March 22, Turtles followers can revisit The 2D adventures of Michaelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo, and Donatello with this collection of 40 episodes. Bonus features include the featurettes Underneath the Shell: Slash the Evil Turtle and The Shredder: Inside the Turtles’ Most Fearsome Foe, plus a recipe for a cheese pizza. The Lions Gate release lists for $39.98.

    Navarre Corp.’s BCI Eclipse and Hearst Ent. present the classic King Features animated series Cool McCool on DVD for the first time. Created by Batman creator Bob Kane, the 20-episode cartoon from the late 1960s is available as a three-disc set under BCI’s Ink & Paint brand.

    Cool McCool aired on NBC from 1966 to 1968. The show has the title secret agent facing down such heinous villains as Hurricane Harry, The Rattler, Jack-In-The-Box, The Owl, Dr. Madcap and Greta Ghoul. The collector’s edition DVD set is hosted by legendary performer Chuck McCann, who provides the majority of voices in the series. His other animation voice credits include G.I. Joe, Fantastic Four, Iron Man and DuckTales. In addition to interviews, commentary and episode introductions by McCann, the DVD set features a music video for ‘The School of McCool,’ a new, original song by Family Guy voice actor Wally Wingert, who produced the extra features. The release carries a suggested retail price of $19.98.

  • Wait Till Your Father Gets Home in June

    Warner Home Video will release the first season of Hanna-Barbera’s Wait Till Your Father Gets Home on DVD for the first time on June 5. Available in time for Father’s Day, the four-disc disc will feature 24 episodes of the 1972 primetime series that spun off from a segment on the show Love American Style.

    Wait Till Your Father Gets Home is a generational comedy that revolves around the Boyles, a lovable dysfunctional American family living in the suburbs of Los Angeles. Tom Bosley of Happy Days fame lends his voice to the role of Harry Boyle, a conservative father and everyman trying to come to terms with the changing world around him while learning to deal with his liberal kids. His youngest, Jamie, is voiced by actor Jackie Earle Haley, who recently received an Academy Award nomination for his role in Little Children.

    DVD special features will include a retrospective featurette titled Animation for the Nation, which highlights the history of the series and time period in which it is set. Also featured is Illustrating the Times, a look at the show’s animation and how it ‘crossed the line of poetic license and danced around the exaggerated version of an American family.’ The disc set will carry a suggested retail price of $44.98.

  • TOMY, D3Publisher Bring Naruto to Wii

    TOMY Corp. and D3Publisher of America Inc. (D3PA) today confirmed rumors that they are working on a new game based on the hit anime series Shonen Jump Naruto. Developed exclusively for the Nintendo Wii system, the game Naruto: Clash of Ninj MVZ (working title) is a head-to-head fighting game that is expected to ship this fall with special content created for North American gamers.

    “For some time we have wanted to give Naruto fans in North America something they could not find anywhere else, and in Naruto: Clash of Ninja MVZ we have a game with original, exclusive content that will amaze them,” says TOMY Corp. exec VP Mark Shinohara. “For TOMY, 2007 and the release of Naruto: Clash of Ninja MVZ will mark a significant milestone in not only our relationship with D3PA, but in TOMY’s expansion in the video game industry.”

    Developed by Eighting, The new title will include characters that have never been featured in previous Clash of Ninja games released for the Nintendo GameCube. The next-generation offering will also feature fresh character and special attack animations, and, for the first time, new interactive environments.

    In Naruto: Clash of Ninj MVZ, players will be able to launch attacks with the innovative Wii Remote using Ninja-like movements. Up to four players can compete in nine different gameplay modes or take on special mini-games created exclusively for use with the remote control system.

  • Marvel Makes Executive Decisions

    As Marvel Ent. ramps up to produce a slate of self-financed feature films based on its comic-book franchises, the company has named David Maisel chairman of Marvel Studios and has upped Kevin Feige to president of production. The announcement was made today by Marvel Ent. chairman Mort Handel as principal photography begins this week on Iron Man, the first film in the pipeline.

    Maisel joined Marvel in December of 2003 and has been responsible for the conception and execution of the company’s new film production initiative, including the establishment of the $525 million non-recourse loan facility to finance films.

    Feige has been with Marvel since 2000 and has been involved in all of Marvel’s theatrical productions including the X-Men trilogy, all three Spider-Man movies and Fantastic Four and its upcoming sequel. He is currently serving as producer on Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, and will also creatively oversee Marvel’s TV and DVD animated projects and video games in his expanded role.

    Marvel has made a number of other executive hires and moves as it works to implement its new studio initiative. Eric Rollman, who joined the company in 2004 as senior VP of home entertainment and TV production, was recently promoted to exec VP of animation and television for Marvel Studios. In addition, the company appointed Craig Kyle to senior VP of animation, Ames Kirschen to senior VP and exec producer of video games, Jeremy Latcham to VP of development and production, Stephen Broussard to creative exec and Joshua Fine to story editor for animation.

    Marvel has had great success in putting out films based on its comic-book properties through other studios. Most recently, Sony’s Ghost Rider set a President’s Day opening weekend record and crossed the $100 million mark this past weekend. This summer will see the debuts of Sony’s Spider-Man 3 and Twentieth Century Fox’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Marvel’s first two self-financed and produced features will hit theaters in 2008 as Iron Man arrives on May 2 and The Incredible Hulk smashes on June 13.

  • Animation Show, Mobifest Join Forces in LA

    Mike Judge, creator of Beavis and Butt-Head and King of the Hill, and co-founder of The Animation Show, will host Mobifest LA, an independent film festival devoted to animated content created for mobile platforms. Submission are now being accepted for the show, which will take place at Laemmle’s Music Hall 3 on Wilshire Blvd. on Tuesday, April 3, at 7:30 p.m.

    ‘Mobile is a fun new format and a totally different way for animators to reach a huge new audience,’ says Robert May, producer of The Animation Show. ‘Soon everyone will be able to carry a pocket full of animation with them wherever they go.’

    Established and emerging animators are encouraged to enter the competition for a chance to be one of five to have their work screened at Mobifest LA. Finalists will be selected by a panel of celebrity judges and the grand-prize winner will receive a trip to Los Angeles for the show, a creative session with Mike Judge, a mobile distribution agreement, a Palm Treo smartphone,and a Microsoft Zune digital media player.

    The deadline for submissions is March 28 at midnight (PST). All animations submitted must be 60 seconds or less, and shot and created specifically for the small screen. Submission criteria and tips for making made-for-mobile movies are available at the Mobifest website (www.mobifest.net). Animators can also submit original work for ‘Sweet Dreams,’ a special video contest category sponsored by Nestle Butterfinger. Animators and filmmakers are asked to create a dream sequence involving Butterfinger’s icon, ‘The Finger,’ who represents the promise to ‘Feed Your Appetite for Fun.’

  • Imagi Names Feeney VP of Production

    Computer graphics industry veteran Brett Feeney has been appointed VP of production at Imagi, the Hong Kong-based CG animation house behind the upcoming animated feature TMNT: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Feeney, who previously served as digital supervisor at Sydney-based Animal Logic, will be responsible for managing Imagi’s animation production pipeline and its staff of more than 400 artists, animators and technicians.

    During his ten years at Animal Logic, Feeney worked on such films as Moulin

    Rouge, Hero and The Matrix Reloaded. He also managed the production line that delivered Warner Bros.’ Oscar-winning animated feature, Happy Feet. At Imagi, he will begin working on preparing the production pipelines for big-screen adaptations of the anime favorites Gatchaman and Astro Boy, scheduled for release in late 2008 and early 2009, respectively. According to Imagi founder and co-CEO Francis Kao, the company is ramping up to deliver a film every eight months ad that Feeney will head that initiative.

    TMNT, Imagi’s first major theatrical project, will be released by Warner Bros. and The Weinstein Company on more than 10,000 screens worldwide. Starting March 23. The movie is being directed by animator/comic-book artist Kevin Munroe from a screenplay he wrote with help from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles co-creator Peter Laird.