Animation Magazine

Author: Ryan Ball

  • Ice Age Leads Fox in Record Year

    According to Fox Filmed Entertainment, 2006 saw the studio earn approximately $3.5 billion in movie ticket sales, the biggest worldwide box-office gross for any slate of films in the history of the movie business. The success was led by the animated sequel Ice Age: The Meltdown from Blue Sky Studios, which grossed more than $644 million and was particularly potent overseas.

    Despite getting the cold shoulder from many critics, Ice Age: The Meltdown enjoyed a huge $68 million opening in March and went on to take in $195 million domestically and approximately $452 million in foreign markets, having record-breaking runs in a number of countries. In Mexico, for example, the pic made $28 million to surpass DreamWorks’ Shrek 2 as the top-grossing film in the nation’s history. The prehistoric comedy was just nominated for the Producers Guild Award for Best Animated Feature and is eligible for Oscar contention.

    Other releases contributing heavily to Fox’s bully year include the trilogy completer X-Men: The Last Stand, which made $458 million worldwide and the filmed adaptation of Lauren Weisberger’s best-selling novel The Devil Wears Prada, a $317 million worldwide gem. The studio also owes a debt of gratitude to a pair of modestly budgeted comedies that turned big profits. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan was made from around $18 million but brought in $235 million, and Oscar hopeful Little Miss Sunshine made an $86 million return on its tiny $8 million investment.

    Fox chairmen Tom Rothman and Jim Gianopulos released a joint statement reading, “We have enormous pride in, and gratitude towards, the thousands of Fox Filmed Entertainment employees here and around the world who have made this historic achievement possible.”

    This is the second time Fox has crossed the $2 billion mark in one year. The studio finished out the year strong with the success of the vfx-laden Ben Stiller comedy Night at the Museum, which has grossed more than $127 million domestically in just two weeks. The pic is proving to be a big hit overseas as well, raking in $60 million in only a few international territories.

    Fox Filmed Entertainment units include Twentieth Century Fox, Fox 2000 Pictures, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Fox Atomic and Twentieth Century Fox Animation.

  • Robotech Movie Premieres in Midwest

    FUNimation Films will treat moviegoers in Ohio to the Midwest premiere of Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles, the new animated feature that continues the saga introduced by the 1980s television series. This special screening will be presented in conjunction with the Ohayocon convention at the Arena Grand Theatre in Columbus on Saturday, Jan. 6 at 11:15 a.m. General admission is $6.50 but attendees of Ohayocon can present their registration badge to receive $1.50 off their ticket.

    Picking up where the popular anime TV series left off with a cliffhanger more than 20 years ago, Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles features a cast of returning characters, led by Scott Bernard and Vince Grant, that fights to end a decades-long struggle against an enigmatic alien race known as the Invid. Details surrounding the mysterious disappearance of the legendary Admiral Hunter will be revealed and our young heroes will uncover a treacherous plot that could tear them apart and threaten their survival.

    The film is directed by Tommy Yune, who worked on visual effects for the original TV series and produced the video games Robotech: Battlecry, Robotech: The Macross Saga and Robotech: Invasion. Mark Hamill (Star Wars, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm) and Chase Masterson (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Manticore) lend their voices to the production, which incorporates CG elements into the classic anime style.

    Produced by Harmony Gold and distributed in North America by FUNimation Ent., Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles took the award for Best Animated Sci-Fi Feature at the 2006 Int’l Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival and has also screened at Cannes and a host of other fests, including The New York and Los Angeles Korean Film Festivals, the Hawii Int’l Film Festival, The Waterloo Festival for Animated Cinema and the Asian Animation Festival in Chicago.

    The movie will also have a three-day engagement at Portland’s Hollywood Theatre starting Jan. 5, where Kevin Mckeever from Harmony Gold will be on hand for a Q&A session after each show. The first 100 attendees to each theater the film will receive a limited edition Robotech mini-poster. Information on each theater can be found at www.arenagrand.com and www.hollywoodtheatre.org.

    FUNimation plans to release Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles in additional theaters and on DVD early this year. Fans can watch for updates on www.funimationfilms.com. An exclusive nine-minute excerpt from the Robotech: Birth of a Sequel documentary can be viewed at www.theshadowchronicles.com/trailer.php?id=minidoc1.

  • Cool McCool to Sleuth on DVD

    Navarre Corp.’s BCI Eclipse and Hearst Ent. will release the classic King Features animated series Cool McCool on DVD on March 13. Created by Batman creator Bob Kane, the 20-episode cartoon from the late 1960s will be put out 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.

    ‘With the popularity and success of the spy genre, we are confident that now is the perfect time to introduce Cool McCool, the James Bond of classic animation’ says Jeff Hayne, director of acquisitions for BCI. ‘Additionally, we are thrilled to have Chuck McCann on board providing entertaining and insightful information about the history of the show.’

    In addition to interviews, commentary and epoisode introductions by McCann, the DVD set will feature a music video for ‘The School of McCool,’ a new, original song by Family Guy voice actor Wally Wingert, who produced the extra featuresThe release will carry a suggested retail price of $19.98.

    Other TV toons recently released by BCI include The Best of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, She-Ra, Princess of Power, Flash Gordon, Groovie Goolies and Dungeons & Dragons.

  • Producers Guild Nominates Toons

    The Producers Guild of America has made its nominations for the best feature films of 2006, placing five productions in the running for the award for best animated feature. Disney/Pixar’s Cars, DreamWorks’ Flushed Away, Warner Bros./Village Roadshow’s Happy Feet, Fox Animation’s Ice Age: The Meltdown and Sony Pictures’ Monster House will square off when the 18th annual Producers Guild Awards take place on Jan. 20 at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.

    This is only the second year that the PGA has recognized animated features with a dedicated category. DreamWorks Animation’s and Aardman Animations Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit took the first toon award last year before going on to win the Annie and Oscar. In 2004, Disney/Pixar’s The Incredibles was up for the PGA’s top film award, being lumped in with such live-action heavy hitters as The Aviator, Finding Neverland, Million Dollar Baby and Sideways. Martin Scorcese’s Howard Hughes biopic ended up taking the prize.

    This year the PGA will fette a visionary from the world of video games for the first time ever when Sims creator Will Wright receives the jurried Vanguard Award. The 2007 PGA Awards will also recognize long-form, episodic drama, episodic comedy, non-fiction and variety television productions. Other nominees are listed at www.producersguild.org.

  • Dale Named COO of Rockstar Games

    Former Capcom European managing director Gary Dale has signed on as chief Operating officer of Rockstar Games, the video-game publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. Effective immediately, the appointment will have Dale overseeing the day-to-day operations of the game studio responsible for the megahit Grand Theft Auto franchise.

    Dale has a long history of working with Rockstar Games and Take-Two. From 1994 to 1998, he served as president of BMG Ent.’s Interactive Software and Video Division, which was acquired by Take-Two in March of 1998. During his tenure, he oversaw the release of more than 30 games, including Grand Theft Auto from DMA Design, which later became Rockstar North.

    “Having been involved in the formation of what later became Rockstar Games, I am now thrilled to become a member of the team at such an exciting time,’ Dale comments. ‘Rockstar Games has built an impressive portfolio of internal development resources and valuable franchises, and I look forward to helping Rockstar Games continue to define the interactive entertainment landscape in the next-generation era.”

    Headquartered in New York City, Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. publishes and develops products through its wholly owned labels Rockstar Games, 2K and 2K Sports, and Global Star Software;. The company also and distributes software, hardware and accessories in North America through its Jack of All Games subsidiary.

  • Miss Potter Animation Director Alyson Hamilton

    In addition to dominating the box office these days, animation is found in nearly every live-action feature now, most often in the form of visual effects but sometimes in more obvious ways. Take The Weinstein Co.’s Miss Potter, a biographical look at the life of famed children’s author Beatrix Potter. Directed by Chris Noonan, whose credits include Babe and the upcoming adaptation of the comic book The Watchmen, the film stars Ren’e Zellweger as the British wordsmith who gave us such classic yarns as The Tale of Peter Rabbit. However, we’ll be watching for the brief but charming animated segments that allow Potter’s imagination to leap off the page for moviegoers.

    The animation shots were overseen by animation director Alyson Hamilton, who began her career at London-based studio Richard Williams Animation and went on to animate for the Oscar-winning Disney feature Who Framed Roger Rabbit, working alongside director and lead animator Russell Hall on the Jessica Rabbit character. She joined Passion Pictures in 1993 to direct commercial work and has been nominated for an Emmy award for a title sequence for the BBC program The Promised Land. She later won a BBA (British Animation Award) in 2002 for Best Craft in a Commercial. It’s also here that she would get the opportunity to work with some of the enchanting characters she grew up reading about.

    Animation Magazine Online: When did you get involved with Miss Potter?

    Alyson Hamilton: I work as a freelance director for Passion Pictures, one of the few remaining animation studios here in London that still work in both 2D and CG animation. I was first contacted there three years ago about this project, sent a script to read and was asked to think about how I/we might approach the animation sequences. It was a challenge especially as most people know or think they know her style of work. We knew it was going to be a special project, one of those that rarely come along but it wasn’t until two years later that we actually got to pitch for the project. There was fierce competition with several studios competing. We had previously thought it might never happen or, worse still, lose the pitch after waiting so long. So when we heard we had won the contract we were all so excited to be involved. Word quickly spread throughout the industry and there were many people wanting to work with us. It was great to have so many people excited about the project. We knew it was special.

    AMO: What was your biggest challenge going in?

    AH: We all wanted to be faithful to Beatrix Potter’s illustrations and paintings. That was the whole point, being realistic and convincing and this was very important for me. I was born and grew up in the Lake District. I read her stories and collected her books as a child, so I wanted to bring these exquisite illustrations to life and do them justice. Our biggest challenge was [figuring out] how to reproduce the watercolor look of her paintings and illustrations they had to look real and totally convincing. I knew we had the best animation team from storyboarding to animating to visual effects and compositing, so I knew we could do it.

    AMO: What type of animation was used in this project?

    AH: Traditional, hand-drawn animation’pencil on paper! It was the only way to keep her style and to give it charm. All the visual effects were also hand-drawn in order to achieve the watercolor washes, using computers only for the visual compositing of the layers of drawings that made up these watercolor effects. This was an incredibly important final process that took time for us to develop. We hadn’t done anything like this before, so it wasn’t clear to us at the beginning how to achieve what we wanted to do. We slowly worked through it in stages until we got something we liked and then pushed it a little further until we felt convinced it would work on a big screen.

    AMO: What type of budget did you have to work with?

    AH: I prefer not to get involved with budgets! I do know it was extremely tight and complex. Time wasn’t a luxury either. Except for time with the director, Chris Noonan. He was fantastic. He gave us so much of his precious time whenever and as much as we needed. We had the same goal to do the best we possibly could and it was a great honor and experience working with him.

    AMO: How long did it take to deliver the animation?

    AH: We had two weeks to work on the pitch last December to be extact. We wanted to show Noonan a test sequence to prove we could do it, and show him how we might approach the animation and how we might achieve a convincing watercolor technique. We started the animation storyboarding in late January into February and worked on the animation sequences in stages with the final work being completed mid-August, which is quite a while but we had a small team which meant we could keep the quality of work at a high standard.

    AMO: How did you incorporate the actual illustrations that were used in the Beatrix Potter classics?

    AH: We surrounded ourselves in her books and worked constantly analyzing her techniques and methods. We didn’t rule anything out. We saw the original animated tales and visited exhibitions of her work. I also studied the work of Beatrix Potter and sketched and copied her ink drawings. I wanted to be as faithful as we possible could be.

    AMO: You referred to some of the previous popular animated series based on her works?

    AH: We studied everything there was to study about Beatrix and her work. We were very kindly given access to her actual Warner Bros. archives at the V and A Museum. The staff was very friendly and helpful, telling us even more about her life and work. We carefully studied her sketch-books, watercolor landscapes and ink-and-pencil studies of nature. She was so prolific in her work and so talented even at an early age’it was very inspiring. She studied from life constantly, drawing animals over and over until she really understood their anatomy and thir personalities. We saw lots of rabbits and ducks!

    AMO: How does the animation work with the live-action portion of the movie?

    AH: There isn’t a lot of animation in the movie but it has a good balance, I think just the right amount. The animated characters are in Miss Potter’s imagination and only she can see and talk to them. They exist in their own world.

    AMO: What were you most pleased with?

    AH: As a team, we are all proud of what we achieved. We were constantly up against time and money but we never wanted to compromise our work. It was a great project to have been involved with and a great crew. It was good to be given a chance to work with traditional animation since there is sadly so little of it these days. I’m most happy with Jemima Puddle Duck and the Christmas scene. We tried to remain faithful to Beatrix Potter’s work and we were given a chance to bring it to life. I hope she approves!

    Miss Potter opens in limited release in North America on Jan. 5 before rolling out nationwide on Jan. 12. The animation can be glimpsed in the trailer, which is available at www.misspotter-themovie.com.

    Hamilton wishes to acknowledge these Passion Pictures crewmembers:

    Holly Stone – Animation Producer

    Jennifer Coatsworth – Animation Production Manager

    Nelson Yokota de Paul Lima – Lead Animator

    Simon Swayles – Lead SFX Animator

    Sharon Smith – Animator and Storyboard

    Jerry Forder – Animator

    Anna Saunders – Animator

    Monica Brufton – Lead Animation Assistant

    Brent Odell – Animation Assistant

    Alan Henry – Animation Assistant

    David Lea – Animation Compositor

    Niamh Lines – Animation Compositor

    Lee Gingold – Animation Compositor

    Phil Holder – Digital Ink and Paint

    Tim King – Digital Ink and Paint

    Megs White Dore – Digital Ink and Paint

    Tony Clark – Animation Technician

    Barney Russell – SFX Animator

    Barry Goff – SFX Animator

    Sky Bone – SFX Animation Assistant

    Chris Knott – SFX

  • Aqua Teen Set for Big Screen

    After months of speculation about the fate of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force feature film, fans can rest assured that Master Shake, Frylock and Meatwad will indeed make it to the big screen. The movie based on the popular Adult Swim animated series has bee acquired by First Look Pictures, which plans to give it a theatrical bow this March.

    Written, produced and directed by series creators Matt Maiellaro and Dave Willis, Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters marks First Look’s theatrical foray into animation, as well as Adult Swim’s first feature under the Williams Street banner. Atlanta-based Williams Street produces the majority of Adult Swim animated series, including Squidbillies, Sealab 2021, 12 oz. Mouse and Assy McGee.

    The Aqua Teen movie is described as an action-adventure epic that reveals the mysterious origins of the three fast-food items who come to share a rental home in New Jersey. to The trio must come to the rescue when the Plutonians team with the Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past to take possession of an immortal piece of exercise equipment that threatens the balance of galactic peace.

    ‘Matt and Dave’s Aqua Teen movie shows how edgy, inventive and hilarious contemporary animation can be,’ says First Look Studios Chairman, CEO and president Henry Winterstern. ‘Given Matt and Dave’s unique vision and their boundless imagination, I know First Look is the right company to bring this cult favorite to a completely new audience.’

    “We’ve enjoyed tremendous success with Adult Swim’s Aqua Teen Hunger Force on both television and DVD over the past five years and we are excited to extend this franchise and bring Meatwad, Frylock and Master Shake to the big screen,’ says John Friend, senior VP of Cartoon Network Ent., the global consumer products arm of Cartoon Network. ‘We’re pleased to have First Look on board and I could not imagine a more ideal distribution partner to work with us to bring the next chapter of Aqua Teen Hunger Force to movie theaters across the country.’

    Cult film hero Bruce Campbell and Rush front man Neil Peart lend their voices to the film, joining series regulars Maiellaro (Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past), Willis (Carl, Meatwad, Ignignokt), Dana Snyder (Master Shake), Carey Means (Frylock) and Andy Merrill and Mike Schatz (The Plutonians).

    Aqua Teen Hunger Force premiered on Adult Swim in September of 2001 and has tickled funny bones with more than 60 episodes. Four volumes of installments are now available on DVD as the current season winds down this month on Cartoon Network.

    The Aqua Teen movie is in good company with Hollywood-based First Look Studios, whose recent releases include Dito Montiel’s Sundance award winner A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints, Nick Cave’s critically lauded Australian western The Proposition and Kids director Larry Clark’s latest look at teen culture, Wassup Rockers. First Look’s latest release is Karen Moncrieff’s The Dead Girl, starring Toni Collette, Marcia Gay Harden, Brittany Murphy and Mary Beth Hurt.

  • Sedelmaier Goes Aboriginal for Outback

    J. J. Sedelmaier Prods., the animation studio best known for collaborating with comedian Robert Smigel on cartoons for Saturday Night Live a few years ago, has informed us of its latest television project, a series of spots for Outback Steakhouse. The company worked with New York ad agency Kaplan-Thaler Group to produce the Aboriginal-themed graphic branding animation for two new ads titled ‘Get Out of Your Cell’ and ‘Untie Your Life’

    The commercials are designed to present Outback as a way to take a break from the day-to-day pressures of everyday life. The animated segments feature figures that liberate themselves from their cell phones and their cubicles. In ‘Untie Your Life,’ the figures sit in front of computers, pounding away at their keyboards until one bangs his fists down in defiance, rips off his tie and tosses it out of the window. At the end of the spot, the same figure is seen outside the office, where countless other ties are raining down. The spots are cut to a version of the somewhat obscure pop tune ‘Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games,’ recorded by the group Of Montreal, with new lyrics supplied by the agency.

    Director/producer J. J. Sedelmaier and his team of animators worked from a design theme developed by Brand Architecture, the firm retained by Outback to oversee the redesign of all aspects of the restaurant chain, from the menus to the d’cor. ‘This was really a collaborative effort all around,’ says Sedelmaier. ‘Between the agency’s input, our studio’s contribution and the template created by Brand Architecture, we were all working off design elements and creative influences from each other. The key was getting all the pieces to work together, and John and his team at Kaplan-Thaler did a beautiful job of it.’

    Sedelmaier’s crew on the spots include production manager/animator Dave Lovelace, animators Dan Madia and Tony Eastman, assistant animator/track reader John Bonarrigo and assistant animators Gene DeCicco, Byron Moore, Jim Petropoulos and Claire Widman. Digital ink and paint was performed by David Lipson and Luciano Geronimo of DL Digital Ink & Paint.

  • Nicktoons Lets Secret Out

    Nickelodeon’s Nicktoons Network will prmiere the new animated series The Secret Show on Saturday, Jan. 20 at 8:30 p.m. (ET). The cable outlet has ordered 13 half-hour episodes of the spy comedy, which is commissioned by the BBC and produced by Collingwood O’Hare Ent. The show will air regularly on Saturdays at 8:30 p.m.

    The Secret Show is described as a fast-paced mix of Get Smart and Monty Python that features retro-styled animation. Special agents Victor Volt and Anita Knight work for U.Z.Z. protecting the world against the evil forces of T.H.E.M. in this show within a show, masked behind a fictional on-screen series titled The Fluffy Bunny Show.

    In the first part of the premiere episode, “The Secret Thing,” the Impostors, creatures capable of replicating humans as “hard copy holograms,” try to steal The Secret Thing and Victor and Anita must protect it at all costs. The second part, “Who Stole Switzerland,” involves Martian gravity thieves who are sucking up the Earth’s gravity into trucks and flying it off to planet Mars so they can have ‘falling down parties.’

    Collingwood O’Hare has won BAFTA Awards for Best Pre-School Animation for Animal Stories, Eddy & The Bear and Yoko! Jakamoko! Toto! The studio’s other award-winning productions include Dr. Seuss’s Daisy- Head Mayzie, Dennis & Gnasher from The Beano, The Magic Key, Oscar’s Orchestra, Pond Life and The King’s Beard. BBC Worldwide owns the global cross-media rights for The Secret Show, including program distribution, merchandising and DVD rights.

  • Ottawa Co-Founder Wright Dies

    Prescott Wright, a co-founder of the Ottawa International Animation Festival and ASIFA-San Francisco, and the original producer of the Tournee of Animation, has passed away at the age of 71. He died on Dec. 28 following a long bout with Picks Syndrome, a form of dementia related to Alzheimer’s disease.

    Wright and other ASIFA-Hollywood members created The International Tournee of Animation in the late ’60s as a way for animation fans in the U.S. to have access to many of the animated films that screened at festivals overseas. Wright continued to organize and promote the event until it was acqured by Terry Thoren’s Expanded Entertainment in the early 1980s.

    “When I took over the International Tournees of Animation from Prescott Wright in 1983 I began my solid day-to-day association with this great man,” Thoren tells us. “As the owner and producer it was my challenge to find cutting-edge animated films to acquire for the International Tournees. Prescott opened up his world of contacts to me and helped me in ways that cannot be measured. He was a wonderful mentor, a great ambassador for animation artists the world over and an inspiration to animation aficionados everywhere. I always had a great respect for Prescott and a deep admiration for the unique way that he approached his job and his life. In all my travels I have never met anyone quite like him.”

    Wright served on ASIFA’s international board of directors for a number of years and was an advisor to Ottawa and other major animation festivals. More recently, he helped Disney recruit artists and worked in the Philippines and India as an instructor and in development with emerging animation studios.

    “I will miss Prescott,” Thoren adds. “He made a unique contribution to a very special art form and was able to touch the hearts of many. The international animated short film circuit was never the same without him and the loss to animation enthusiasts worldwide cannot be fully measured. His presence will be greatly missed and his passing is a loss for anyone who loves animation in the purest sense.”

    The family of Prescott Wright will hold a small ceremony in his honor in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In addition, ASIFA-San Francisco will dedicate its annual party to his memory on Friday, Jan. 5.

  • Museum Cah-chings in the New Year

    The vfx-laden Ben Stiller comedy Night at the Museum sold more tickets than any other film over the holiday period, earning an estimated $125.7 million for 20th Century Fox over the past two weeks. The film opened to $30 million over the Christmas weekend but did even better during the New Year frame, picking up another $46.7 million (est.). The holidays were also good for the Will Smith drama The Pursuit of Happyness, which crossed the $100 million mark in its third week and holds tight to the No. 2 slot.

    In Night at the Museum, Stiller’s character takes a job as night watchman at New York’s Museum of Natural History, where the exhibits come to life at night. The film’s extensive visual effects and character animation work was provided by Rhythm & Hues, Weta Digital, Rainmaker, Maestro FX, New Deal Studios and The Orphanage.

    DreamWorks’ highly touted Dreamgirls, a filmed adaptation of the popular stage musical, opened wide over the holiday period, adding a weekend take of around $18.6 million to bring its five-week cumulative to an estimated $41.6 million. The pic holds the No. 3 spot, while Paramount’s live-action/CG adaptation of E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web slips to fourth place with around $15 million and an estimated three-week draw of nearly $60 million. Universal’s Robert DeNiro-directed CIA drama, The Good Shepherd, rounds out the top five with an estimated $14.2 million in its sophomore outing.

    The season’s biggest hit, Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow’s animated Happy Feet, is still in the top 10 after seven weeks. To date, the film has earned approximately $178 million domestically and $291 million worldwide, and currently stands at No. 9 after a $9.7 million three-day weekend. Meanwhile, Eragon failed to get the holiday bump 20th Century Fox was hoping for. The $100 million fantasy pic based on Christopher Piolini’s best-selling book series has slid down the chart to No. 7. The effects film added around $10 million to its domestic take, which has reached $58.7 million after three weeks. With worldwide receipts at around $91 million, Fox stands to break even on its production budget before sending the film to home video, but hopes for a big-screen franchise have been greatly compromised by its performance.

    The effects-heavy Pan’s Labyrinth from Hellboy director Guillermo del Toro opened in limited release over the long weekend, taking in approximately $751,000 in 17 theaters in North America to bring its worldwide total past $24 million. Featuring visual effects by CafeFX, the Spanish-language fantasy/horror film is making many critics’ lists of the best films of 2006 and is sure to have a good showing during awards season.

  • New Line Reels in Shark Tale

    New Line Cinema has temporarily shelved Meg, its big-budget adaptation of Steve Alten’s 1998 novel about a prehistoric shark, or Megalodon, that wreaks havoc in modern times. According to Daily Variety, the film’s proposed $75 million budget swelled to around $150 million and the studio wants time to find a way to lower costs. The computer animation and effects work alone is estimated to cost between $40 million and $70 million.

    In the book, paleontologist Jonas Taylor is helping a friend recover scientific equipment in the great ocean trench when he discovers a pair of megalodons surviving in isolation. After savagely destroying her mate, the pregnant and very hungry female gets out of control, attacking sea vessels, helicopters, news crews and tourists.

    New Line picked up the rights to the book last year and originally planned to release Meg in 2006. With studio focusing attention on other expensive pics including its adaptation of Philip Pullman’s fantasy book His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass, shooting on the shark tale has been pushed back to this spring for a summer 2008 release. Jan de Bont (The Haunting, Twister) is attached to direct.

    With this year’s passing of Jaws author Peter Benchley, Alten is carrying the torch for killer shark fiction. He has published three book in the Meg series, and is waiting to release the fourth when the movie finally makes it to the big screen.

  • Disney Bottles Tinker Bell

    Anonymous parties close to Disney have leaked word that the company is delaying the release of Tinker Bell, the direct-to-video feature being developed as the centerpiece of the new Disney Fairies franchise. Featuring actress Brittany Murphy (King of the Hill) as the voice of Peter Pan’s diminutive friend, the DisneyToon Studios production was slated for release in 2007 but will instead debut in 2008 or later.

    Like a number of Mouse House toon productions, Tinker Bell apparently needs some fixing now that it’s under the thumb of Pixar principals John Lasseter and Ed Catmull. The pair came in when Meet the Robinsons was in production and ordered some major changes and recently pulled Lilo & Stitch director Chris Sanders off of his America Dog feature as they work to set a new course for Disney-produced animate features. And while a DVD movie tailored to young girls may seem like small potatoes for the guys behind such blockbusters as Toy Story and Finding Nemo, the Disney Fairies property has the potential to make a lot of money for the studio, just as its Disney Princesses line. Featuring such beloved characters as Cinderella and Ariel from The Little Mermaid, Disney Princesses generated around $3 billion at retail.

    Disney Consumer Products debuted the Disney Fairies property in 2005 with a series of best-selling chapter books. The franchise is being further supported by a line of dolls, role-play items, a Disney Fairies magazine launch in Europe and a multi-category product roll-out that was scheduled for spring of 2007. Those merchandising plans are sure to change as well without an animated feature to help drive sales.

    Murphy, best known to toon fans as the voice of Luanne on Fox’s King of the Hill, will be the first voice ever given to Tinker Bell, who was a silent character in Disney’s 1953 animated classic, Peter Pan. As the star of her own movie, the sassy sprite will introduce kids to her secret, magical world of Pixie Hollow and a new circle of enchanting fairy friends. Murphy made a live appearance at the New York Licensing Show to promote the title.

  • Academy to Honor VFX Guru Edlund

    Oscar-winning visual effects producer and supervisor Richard Edlund will receive the John A. Bonner Medal of Commendation from the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences during the 2006 Scientific and Technical Awards dinner. The black-tie ceremony will be at the Regent Beverly Wilshire in Los Angeles on Saturday, Feb. 10.

    Edlund has received Academy Awards for his work on , The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi and Raiders of the Lost Ark, and has garnered six additional Oscar nominations and three Scientific and Engineering Awards, as well as an Emmy for visual effects for the TV series Battlestar Galactica (1978).

    From ILM, Edlund went on to found Boss Film Studios and began work on Ghostbusters in 1983. Through 1997, the studio produced visual effects for more than 30 motion pictures, including 2010: The Year We Make Contact, Die Hard, Ghost, Poltergeist II: The Other Side, Cliffhanger, Batman Returns, Alien 3, Species, Multiplicity and Air Force One. More recently, he served as a vfx consultant for Tippett Studio on the 2004 remake of The Stepford Wives, and is currently supervising visual effects work on Kamala Films upcoming crime thriller, Anamorph, and the Mike Nichols drama Charlie Wilson’s War for Universal.

    Named in honor of the late director of special projects at Warner Hollywood Studios, the John A. Bonner Medal is awarded for ‘outstanding service and dedication in upholding the high standards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.’

    Academy President Sid Ganis comments, ‘Besides Richard’s groundbreaking visual effects work, which has given moviegoers some of the most memorable scenes on the big screen, he’s been central to the Academy’s work in the scientific and technical areas for over a quarter century, including serving as one of the first Visual Effects Branch governors on the Board.’

    An active member of the Academy since 1979, Edlund served on the Academy’s Board of Governors from 1995 to 2006, and chaired both the Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee and the Scientific and Technical Awards Committee from 2001 to 2006. He continues sit on the Academy’s Science and Technology Council and on its Museum Committee.

    Segments of the 2006 Scientific and Technical Awards presentation will be featured during ABC’s telecast of the 79th Academy Awards. on Sunday, Feb. 25.

  • Transformers Trailer Online

    Those who were underwhelmed by the sparse teaser trailer for DreamWorks’ and Paramount Pictures’ upcoming Transformers feature can get an eyeful of Decepticon and Autobot action in the full trailer, released just in time to capture the imaginations of holiday moviegoers. Directed by bombastic filmmaker Michael Bay and exec produced by Steven Spielberg, the CG-heavy live-action film will stomp into theaters on July 4, 2007.

    Based on the hugely successful Hasbro toys that changed from vehicles to towering robots, the Transformers animated TV series ran from 1984 through 1987. Produced by Hasbro, Marvel and Toei Doga, the show centered on the battle between good robots led by Optimus Prime and evil ones controlled by Megatron. An animated feature film, Transformers: the Movie, was released in 1986 and was recently dusted off for a 20th anniversary special edition DVD. The latest incarnation of the cartoon series, Transformers: Cybertron, airs on Cartoon Network in the U.S.

    Starring Shia LeBeouf and Josh Duhamel, Bay’s Transformers movie with blend live action and CG to put the planet Earth right in the middle of the epic battle between the Autobots and the Decepticons, giant robots that can disguise themselves as various vehicles. To get a first look at the film’s animation work, check out the trailer at http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/transformers_hd.html.

  • Animated People: Santa Claus

    This time of year, nobody is animated more than old Chris Kringle himself. In addition to all the classic cartoon holiday specials that air on TV every December, the season always managed to bring a plethora of new toon representations of the man with the beard and the red suit. So how does he feel about being the subject of so many animated productions? We recently got him on the phone to find out.

    Animation Magazine Online: Are you ever dismayed by the animated depictions of yourself?

    Santa Claus: I wish I could say it’s flattering, but come on. Have you seen these representations of me? I’ll have you know that I’ve been on the South Beach Diet since 2004 and I’ve got killer pecs and abs from the Bowflex the elves pitched in to buy me. Everyone’s talking about how buff 60-year-old Sly Stallone looks in than new Rocky movie, but none of these cartoons acknowledge the fact that I’ve made some major lifestyle changes. I was watching Dr. Phil one day and I had a light-bulb moment. Eating all the cookies the kids left out on Christmas night just wasn’t working for me. So kids, would it kill you to put out some rice cakes or Power Bars? And please, make the milk skim.

    AMO: Are there any animated holiday show that you like more than others?

    SC: The Rankin/Bass specials like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town and A Year Without Santa Claus were all made in the ’60s, back when I still had the spare tire, so I can’t fault them too much. I come off looking like a swell guy in those, but they make my wife look like an old biddy with a lot of junk in the trunk. Have you seen my wife? She’s hot. They don’t call it the North Pole for nothing.

    AMO: What’s one thing you’d like animation producers to consider when making another movie or TV show about you?

    SC: You know what really roasts my chestnuts? It’s the notion that every year Christmas needs saving. There’s always some snot-nosed little brat who thinks it’s up to him to make sure all the little gentile boys and girls of the world get their presents. What a load of reindeer turds. Insinuating that I can’t pull it together one night out of the year is like saying the President of the United States can’t be trusted to run the country. Okay, so that’s a bad example. I guess what I’m trying to say is that Christmas isn’t some fragile snow globe that’s going to crack if little Timmy Rosycheeks can’t get Rudolph his magic flying dust in time.

    AMO: On that subject, there have been reports in the tabloids that you may be indulging in the magic flying dust yourself.

    SC: That’s medical magic flying dust. Next question.

    AMO: We hear that the elves love animation and the studios all send you prints of their animated features. Which one do you think should win the Oscar this year?

    SC: I’m a bit biased with Happy Feet since I know a lot of those cats, the penguins I mean. I had mumble up the house just last week and he entertained the troops with a little soft shoe. I also liked that Scanner Darkly, but then again, Robert Downey Jr. has also been to the house. He wasn’t invited, I just came home one night to find him sleeping in our bed. Guess he found the flying dust.

    AMO: You get a lot of letters from kids who want stuff from you. Do you ever feel like your job is all give and no take?

    SC: It’s always more satisfying to give than to receive. I get a lot of enjoyment from seeing the joyful smiles on the faces of children, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, it can be a bit thankless at times, especially when I get angry letters form kids saying I gave them the wrong Bratz doll or the Xbox instead of the PlayStation. Where do these ankle biters get off? Maybe I should take a page out of these animated Christmas shows and not load up the sleigh one year, make it the Christmas that didn’t happen. That will teach them to be grateful for what they get. When I was a kid, a lump of coal was a great present because it meant you had something to burn for heat or throw at wild animals.

    AMO: One last question: Do you really know when we’ve been good or bad?

    SC: Yes, and the staff of Animation Magazine has a lot of explaining to do

  • Museum Open for Business

    Since opening on Wednesday, MGM’s Rocky Balboa has been a box office heavyweight, but can the comeback story of the year stand up against Ben Stiller slapping a monkey? Twentieth Century Fox’s Night at the Museum, one of the seven films shortlisted for this year’s VFX Oscar race, opens nationwide today to battle Stallone and CG-laden second-week holdovers Charlotte’s Web and Eragon, which should get a boost now that the kids are out of class.

    Featuring visual effects by Rhythm & Hues, Weta Digital, Rainmaker, Maestro FX, New Deal Studios and The Orphanage, Night at the Museum has Ben Stiller taking on a seemingly boring job as a night watchman at a natural history museum. He soon learns, however, that the exhibits all come to life at night and it’s his job to keep everybody and everything in line. And did we mention he slaps a monkey?

    Night at the Museum has the second highest theater count of the weekend, coming just shy of Paramount’s 3,728-theater occupation with Charlotte’s Web. This should yield big returns for the fantasy comedy, which has been cleverly crated to appeal to kids and adults alike. Many have likened it to Sony’s 1995 holiday release, Jumanji, which grossed more than $100 million domestically. That film had Robin Williams unleashing African critters on a suburban American neighborhood via an enchanted board game. Williams also shows up in Museum as a wax sculpture of Theodore Roosevelt that springs to life after hours. The film also stars Owen Wilson, Carla Gugino, Ricky Gervais, Steve Coogan, Paul Rudd, Dick Van Dyke and Mickey Rooney, as well as a host of CG-animated oddities including a T-Rex skeleton and an Easter Island stone head voiced by Everybody Loves Raymond‘s Brad Garret. The film is directed by Shawn Levy (The Pink Panther [2006]), from a screenplay by Thomas Lenon and Ben Garant, stars of Comedy Central’s Reno 911!

    It should also be a big weekend for Rocky Balboa, which features CG animation to depict fights between boxers from different eras. In fact, it’s ESPN’s computer-generated simulation of a fight between Rocky and the current heavyweight champion that inspires the Italian Stallion to get back in the ring one more time.

    Also opening in wide release this weekend are Warner Bros.’ inspirational football flick, We are Marshall, and Universal’s tale of the birth of the CIA, The Good Shephard.

  • Editor’s Note: Seeing Arthur and the Invisibles

    I’ve been a fan of director Luc Besson’s work since 1990’s La Femme Nikita, and have particularly enjoyed The Professional (L’on) and his sci-fi actioner The Fifth Element. So when I first heard the French filmmaker was working on an animated feature, I was quite curious to see how it turned out. Based on his own series of children’s books, Arthur and the Invisibles (Arthur et les Minimoys) is not without its flaws, but it is visually inventive, well animated by French studio BUF, and is a unique entry in the year’s hefty slate of toon features.

    Arthur and the Invisibles tells the story of a 10-year-old boy named Arthur (Freddie Highmore) who hopes to save his grandmother’s home from being demolished by seeking his grandfather’s treasure, which is hidden in the land of the tiny Minimoys. Having collected clues left behind by his grandfather, Arthur discovers a way into the Minimoys’ world and teams with Princess Selenia (Madona) and her brother, Betameche (Jimmy Fallon) to defeat the evil Malthazard (David Bowie) and retrieve a stash of precious rubies. The English-language voice cast also includes Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, Snoop Dogg, Emilio Estevez, Jason Bateman and Chazz Palminteri.

    Like Henry Selick’s James and the Giant Peach, the film begins with a live-action setup featuring Highmore as Arthur and Mia Farrow as his grandmother. When our hero gets ‘Minimoyzed’ he becomes CG-animated like everything else in the Minimoy world. Most of the action from here on is animated, but Besson cuts back to Farrow from time to time as she searches for Arthur around the house and fends off a greedy land developer. Some of the supporting live-action performances are over-the-top and cartoonish, which some adults might cringe at. However, the film doesn’t talk down to adults and taps into a universal desire to believe that there are places left to be discovered on this planet, magical worlds existing in a delicate balance with our own.

    Warner Bros.’ Ant Bully also centered on a kid who gets shrunken to learn what life is like for the tiniest of creatures that roam our backyards, but that’s where the similarities end. Arthur draws more form Arthurian legend and sci-fi favorites such as George Lucas’ Star Wars, Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal and Besson’s own The Fifth Element. Arthur isn’t a reluctant hero, but rather a consistently brave and gung-ho adventurer with a big heart and a lot on the line, literally.

    Budgeted at around $80 million, the film is the most expensive European animated feature to date, and the money is on the screen in the form of beautifully rendered animation and a generous amount of action, one of Besson’s strong suits. Since the movie was dubbed over in English, the lip-sync is a bit off at times and the voice performances often seem a bit shoe-horned to match the lip movements, but it’s doubtful that kids will even notice or care. Most will be swept along with the film’s zippy pace and its well-balanced blend of humor and suspense. Despite their 3D modeling, the characters are fairly one-dimensional but they’re likeable enough that you care what happens to them.

    Besson has plans to make at least two sequels, and hopefully he’ll iron out some of the rough spots and develop the characters a bit more. Despite their 3D modeling, the Minimoys in this first film are all fairly one-dimensional, but they’re likeable enough that you care what happens to them.

    Arthur and the Invisibles may not be on par with such recent hits as Pixar’s Cars, DreamWorks’ Over the Hedge and Flushed Away or Warner Bros.’ Happy Feet in terms of overall execution, but it’s at the forefront of a coming wave of competitive toons made outside the Hollywood system. Furthermore, it feels fresh and certainly deserves a look this holiday season. The film is being released in select cities by the Weinstein Co. on Dec. 29 before rolling out wider on Jan. 12.

  • 20 Things to Look Forward to in ’07

    Yeah, we know, another year is over and we’ll all be one year older! But, hey, there are plenty of cool things awaiting us in 2007’we hope! Time to put on those rose-colored glasses and cross our fingers because no refunds are given on the time we’ll spend on these movies and TV shows!

    Bridge to Terabithia. Katherine Paterson’s widely read fantasy becomes a vfx-laden live-action feature, directed by toon veteran Gabor Csupo (Rugrats, The Wild Thornberrys). The plot centers on the friendship between a fifth-grader and the new girl in town who discover a magical kingdom in a nearby forest. Don’t forget your hanky for this one! [Opens Feb. 16]

    Aqua Teen Hunger Force: The Movie. Never before have we had so much love and admiration for a meatball, a bag of fries and a milkshake. Yes, Matt Maiellaro and Dave Willis’ [adult swim] faves make the leap to the big screen this winter. The feature tackles the mysterious circumstances that brought Meatwad, Frylock and Master Shake together and offers guest voices such as Rush drummer Neil Peart, Jon Benjamin and Bruce Campbell. Reportedly, the movie was a huge crowd-pleaser when it opened on Pluto last year. [Opens March]

    El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera. Created by husbandand-wife team Jorge Gutierrez and Sandra Equihua, this colorful new toon centers on a 13-year-old who has to figure out whether to use his superpowers for good or for not so good! The look of the show is inspired by both classic spaghetti Westerns and Latino folk art! [Premieres on Nickelodeon in March.]

    300. Graphic novel guru Frank Miller says he was blown away by the first footage of director Zack Synder’s feature adaptation of his project about the epic Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C. Starring Gerard Butler, Lena Headey and Dominic West, the vfx-laden epic promises to be one of the visual spectacles of the spring season. [Opens March 9]

    Meet the Robinsons. All eyes are on the Disney CG-animation team this spring to see how their follow-up to Chicken Little will fare critically and commercially. Based on the popular children’s book by William Joyce (A Day with Wilbur Robinson), the retro-futuristic movie is directed by Stephen J. Anderson, who has worked on a wide range of Mouse House projects, including Tarzan, Brother Bear and Emperor’s New Groove. [Opens March 30]

    Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Writer-director Kevin Munroe is bringing a darker edge to this much-anticipated CG-animated adaptation of Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’s comic-book characters. Animated by Imagi and distributed by Warner Bros. and The Weinstein Co., the film finds Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo lost and directionless in the Big Apple until Master Splinter and Leonardo unite the green pals against a dangerous tech industrialist. [Opens March 23]

    My Friends Tigger & Pooh. A.A. Milne’s honey-loving bear and his colorful collection of pals get the CG treatment in Disney Channel’s new preschool toon, which also centers on a six-year-old girl named Darby’sorry, Christopher Robin, you had your share of the limelight already! Veteran voice star Jim Cummings does double duty as both Pooh and Tigger. [Premieres on Disney Channel’s Playhouse Disney block in May.]

    Persepolis. Three cheers for Sony Pictures Classic for releasing this super-cool adaptation of Marjane Satrapi’s acclaimed graphic novel. Directed by Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud, the black-and-white 2D-animated movie follows the coming of age of a spirited young girl during the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran. The voice list includes Catherine Deneuve, Gena Rowlands and Chiara Mastroianni. Produced by Marc-Antoine Robert and Xavier Rigault of 2.4.7. Films, Kathleen Kennedy of Kennedy Marshall and France 3 Cinema. [Opens in the spring.]

    Spider-Man 3. Could third time still be a charm for Tobey Maguire as angst-ridden Peter Parker and his web-slinging alter ego? Directed by masterful helmer Sam Raimi, this first entry in the summer blockbuster derby finds Spidey bonding with a dark entity from another world, as well as dealing with villains such as Sandman (Thomas Haden Church) and Eddie Brock (Topher Grace). Kirsten Dunst and James Franco reprise their roles as Mary Jane and Harry. Bryce Dallas Howard also stars as Gwen Stacy. [Opens May 4]

    Shrek the Third. The secret weapon in this third outing for the lovable CG ogre (voice of Mike Myers) and his talented wife, Princess Fiona (the effervescent Cameron Diaz), is the little bundle of greenish joy they add to their family. Julie Andrews, John Cleese, Antonio Banderas, Eddie Murphy, Larry King, Ian McShane, Regis Philbin, Rupert Everett, Amy Sedaris, Maya Rudolph, Amy Poehler and Cheri Oteri are all part of the royal cast, directed by DreamWorks’ Chris Miller and Raman Hui. [Opens May 18]

    Surf’s Up. After their fall hunting world adventure last year, the team at Sony Animation is offering a wonderful animated mockumentary about the Penguin World Surfing Championship. The totally dudalicious cast is led by Jeff Bridges, Mario Cantone, Shia LaBeouf, James Woods and Zooey Deschanel. Ash Brannon and Chris Buck are at the helm of this perfect summer offering. [Opens June 8]

    Ratatouille. What would the summer be without another clever, offering from the brilliant boffins at Pixar? Co-directed by Brad Bird and Jan Pinkava, this eighth Pixar feature release tells the story of an eager rat who dreams of being a chef at a Parisian bistro! Brad Garrett, Ian Holm, Patton Oswalt, Janeane Garofalo and Brian Dennehy round up the voice cast. [Opens June 29]

    Transformers. Geek alert! Action auteur Michael Bay directs this anticipated live-action version of the popular ’80s toon. Produced by Steven Spielberg, this one has major summer blockbuster potential. The ubiquitous Shia LaBeouf plays the lead, and Peter Cullen returns as the voice of Autobot leader Optimus Prime. [Opens July 4]

    Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Harry, Hermione and Ron are older and wiser in this fifth outing for the Hogwart wizards but their powerful adversary Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) has also upped the ante by undermining their protective headmaster, Dumbledore (Michael Gambon). Helena Bonham Carter and Imelda Staunton join the cast as Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange and the evil Dolores Umbridge. David Yates (HBO’s The Girl in the Caf’) takes over as director. [Opens July 13]

    The Simpsons Movie. You must have taken a sabbatical to the moon if you aren’t aware of this summer’s hugely anticipated big-screen adventure of Springfield’s dysfunctional family. After 18 seasons on Fox, the clan (all voiced by the original stars of the show) is finally ready for its close-up! The heavily guarded plotline reportedly takes off when Homer is fired from his job after poisoning the town’s water supply and all the town folks have to flee their homes. Minnie Driver, Albert Brooks, Kelsey Grammer and Joe Mantegna are some of the guest stars; David Silverman directs. [Opens July 27]

    Igor. The talented team at Exodus Entertainment have cooked up a tasty CG animated treat for all of us who have a soft spot for the hunchback assistants of evil scientists in B-movieland. Directed by Anthony Leondis (Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch), the toon features the voices of Christian Slater as the lead character, Molly Shannon as his indestructible female monster creation. John Cleese, Steve Buscemi and Jeremy Piven co-star. [Third Quarter, 2007]

    Underdog. Almost 43 years after the goofy rhyming superhero made TV audiences fall for his canine charms, he gets his own movie in which he’ll be voiced by none other than Jason Lee (My Name Is Earl). The liveaction/CG-animated movie is directed by Frederik Du Chau (Quest for Camelot, Racing Stripes) and features Amy Adams as the voice of love interest, Sweet Polly Purebred. Jim Belushi, Peter Dinklage and Patrick Warburton are also on board. [Opens Aug. 3]

    Tak and the Power of Juju. The hit videogame becomes a CG-animated show about a jungle boy (voiced by Hal Sparks) who acquires some magical powers thanks to some of his friends in the Juju realm. Of course, his new abilities always get him and his best friend Jeera and the Pupununu villagers into trouble. [Premieres on Nickelodeon in Oct.]

    Bee Movie. The Internet is already abuzz about the clever live-action trailer featuring lead voice Jerry Seinfeld. The famous comic stars as the heroic bee Barry B. Benson who thinks there should be more to life than making honey. Ren’e Zellweger supplies the voice of a New York city florist who saves his life. The DreamWorks Animation project is directed by Steve Hickner and Simon J. Smith. [Opens Nov. 2]

    His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass. Philip Pullman’s fantasy about a young girl with magical powers and a shape-shifting animal soul (Yeah, we know, it’s complicated!) who fights evil in a parallel world in the far North has been begging to be adapted into a live-action Narnialike epic. Next year’s holiday treat is directed by Chris Weitz (About a Boy, American Pie) and stars Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig as two of the film’s mystical characters. To make comparisons with Lord of the Rings even easier, it’s the first part of a trilogy! [Opens Dec. 7]

  • SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6 Released

    Avid Technology today announced that subsidiary Softimage Co. has released SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6, the latest version of its flagship 3D animation and character creation software. Available now for download, XSI 6 offers new features and solutions designed to speed and simplify work with complex 3D characters and motion capture data in a mixed-studio pipeline.

    The rendering core within XSI 6 software has been enhanced for increased performance, scalability and extensibility. The software also offers integration with the mental ray 3.5 rendering application, and now includes expanded support for the integration of third-party renderers via a new open rendering API (Application Programming Interface).

    Included with XSI 6 is free DVD training from Digital-Tutors. The five training chapters provide an introduction to the software and cover modeling and texturing, animation, synamics, lighting and rendering, for a total of 43 lessons.

    Additional features of XSI 6 include Crosswalk, a dedicated toolset for asset transfer to and from other 3D softwarel; MOTOR, a streamlined way to transfer and move animation and motion capture data between arbitrary XSI rigs and other 3D software character rigs; Delta Referencing, a new lightweight production-level referencing solution designed to streamline the process of working with and making changes to 3D models and scene set-ups; and Elastic Reality Warper and Morpher, a solution built into the Illusion compositor to allow artists to distort and morph images and sequences.

    A full feature list for SOFTIMAGE| XSI 6 can be found at www.softimage.com/xsi.

    The software is available for download from the Softimage web site (www.softimage.com/store) and can also be purchased from authorized Softimage resellers for the list price of $495 for SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6 Foundation, $1,995 for SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6 Essentials and $6,995 for SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6 Advanced.