Animation Magazine

Author: Ryan Ball

  • Annecy Big on Features

    The 2007 edition of the Annecy Int’l Animated Film Festival is putting a greater emphasis on feature films this year. In addition to increasing the number of features in competition from five to 10, festival organizers are creating a dedicated feature film jury, raised the number of awards for long-form entries and extended deadlines to March 15. The fest will be held June 11-16 in Annecy, France.

    Along with the Cristal for Best Feature, official selections will be elibible for new special distinction and audience choice awards this year. For those entries that do not meet all of the selection requirements, there will be an out-of-competition category of screenings, and the number of screenings per film will increase to offer greater exposure and accessibility throughout the week.

    Other initiatives intended to raise the profile of features at the fest include daily meetings between filmmakers and other professionals, including journalists and distributors, and programs designed to entice more distributors to attend the event.

    Last year, French filmmaker Christian Volckman’s black-and-white CG noir thriller, Renaissance, took the top prize at Annecy. For information on submitting features, shorts and other animated productions for this year’s festival, go to www.annecy.org.

  • FUNimation Channel Arrives in Seattle

    Anime fans in the Pacific Northwest will be happy to learn that Navarre Corp.’s FUNimation Ent. has expanded the reach of its FUNimation Channel with a launch in Seattle. The channel’s 24-hour offering popular anime series is now available to more than one million households in the city and surrounding area.

    KHCV is a locally owned and operated commercial broadcast television station serving the Seattle market. Broadcasting the “Azteca America” network over the air on UHF channel 45, KHCV’s programming can also be seen on Digital channel 44-1 as well as a variety of Western Washington cable systems such as Comcast Cable, Millennium Digital Media & Click! Network.

    “With the popularity of Anime as it is, the FUNimation Channel will be a great asset to the Seattle market and reach a wide demographic of animation fans ranging from children to adults,” says KHCV production and programming manager Stephanie Ogle.

    Available to video service providers across the nation as a 24/7 linear channel and as syndicated programming, FUNimation Channel is distributed exclusively by OlympuSAT, which handles a number of independent digital programming networks.

    The FUNimation Channel is currently available to viewers nationwide via the CoLours TV Network, which is part of DISH Network’s basic package, to residents in the Los Angeles area via over-the-air broadcast on digital channel LA 18.3, to residents in seven states on Verizon FiOS TV extended basic package, to Hawaii residents on KIKU TV, to Houston-area residents as part of Optical Entertainment Network’s FISION service, to the greater Sacramento area as part of SureWest Broadband’s Digital Choice package. For more information, go to www.funimationchannel.com.

  • TMNT Casting News

    USA Today has reported that Sarah Michelle Gellar (The Grudge, Buffy The Vampire Slayer), Fantastitc Four‘s Chris Evans and Memoirs of a Geisha star Zhang Ziyi have joined the voice cast of TMNT, the upcoming CG-animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles feature film produced by and Imagi Animation Studios, and distributed by Warner Bros. and The Weinstein Co. Also lending their voices to the cast are Patrick Stewart (X-Men: The Last Stand, Star Trek: The Next Generation) and filmmaker Kevin Smith.

    Gellar will voice the role of April, the human researcher who looks out for Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael as they use their martial arts skills to take on evil forces. Evans will provide the voice of Casey Jones, April’s love interest, while Ziyi takes on the role of Karai, a villainess who commands a ruthless band of ninjas. As previously announced, Stewart will be heard as Max Winters, a tech industrialist who plots to take over the world with his army of ancient monsters. Smith, director of such films as Clerks and Dogma, will put in a cameo as a cook in a greasy-spoon.

    The new 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, who serves as exec producer along with Francis Kao, Gary Richardson and Frederick U. Fierst. Thomas K. Gray and Galen Walker are producing the PG-rated feature toon, which, like Warner Bros.’ Superman Returns, picks up after the second live-action movie, but also tips its hat to the animated series as well.

    Laird and Kevin Eastman launched the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles property in 1984 with a 40-page, black-and-white comic book. Three live-action feature films and an animated series soon followed. After laying low for several years, the toxically transformed terrapins made their return to television in February of 2003 on Fox’s 4Kids TV block in the U.S. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’Fast Forward, a new series that takes the characters 99 years into the future, joined the 4Kids TV lineup this fall.

    TMNT is scheduled to arrive in theaters on March 23. To see the trailer for the movie, go to tmnt.warnerbros.com

  • Shrek No Longer Exclusive to Universal Parks

    Universal Studios and DreamWorks co-founder Steven Spielberg have released Shrek and other DreamWorks Animation properties from their exclusivity to Universal theme parks, according to Daily Variety. Revealed in SEC papers filed Wednesday by DreamWorks Animation, the move gives the toon studio the option to send its toon characters to other amusement companies.

    Shrek, DreamWorks Animation’s equivalent of Mickey Mouse, became strictly a Universal park attraction when the animation unit split off to become a publicly traded entity in 2004. Spielberg, who reportedly receives 2% of grosses generated by Universal Studios theme parks, gave DreamWorks Animation permission to deal with other parks.

    While the Shrek 4-D animated movie attraction has been a hit at Universal parks in California, Florida and Japan, DreamWorks Animation has had trouble convincing Universal to make rides based on some of its other animated properties. The company will now be able to shop those projects around.

  • Autodesk Drives Holiday Movie Fun

    While holiday traditions differ from household to household, one fairly universal activity is going to the movies. If you’re one who enjoys buttered popcorn and Hollywood product with your egg nog and visions of sugar plumbs, chances are you’re enjoying movie magic made possible by Autodesk products. The company has proudly acknowledged that many of the leading post-production facilities behind the season’s blockbusters relied heavily on its digital solutions for 3D animation, visual effects creation, color grading and editing and finishing.

    “Autodesk provides end-to-end solutions for the entire film workflow, from idea creation and story boarding to final production,” says Marc Petit, VP of Autodesk’s Media & Entertainment division. “This allows Autodesk to have a deep understanding of all aspects of the film workflow, enabling us to create unique solutions that meet the specific needs of post-production facilities. Also, facilities with an Autodesk pipeline enjoy the seamless movement of data through the various stages of film workflows.”

    Framestore CFC used the Autodesk Inferno visual effects system to create

    The very cool animated title sequence for Sony Pictures’ Casino Royale, the 21st James Bond film. According to Autodesk, director and titles designer Daniel Kleinman wanted to refresh the franchise’s signature opening credits presentation, and Framestore’s head of Inferno, William Bartlett, was able to deliver a modern look with a retrospective feel.

    For 20th Century Fox’s Night at the Museum, which opens nationwide on Friday, Rhythm & Hues used Autodesk Maya to model approximately 60 of the museum’s characters, who all come to life after hours. The studio also used Autodesk Inferno 2007 for compositing and color correction, and employed both Inferno and Maya to create visual effects for Paramount’s Charlotte’s Web.

    Los Angeles-based LaserPacific Media Corp. used the Autodesk Lustre

    digital color grading system on a variety of fall releases, including Paramount Vantage’s Babel, Warner Independent’s For Your Consideration and Sony’s Stranger Than Fiction. For Stranger Than Fiction, the facility played a key role in integrating many of the film’s visual effects shots, including the timeline effect. Colorist Mike Sowa also used the system to achieve the desired colors and saturation for the film, which cinematographer Roberto Schafer wanted to reflect the look, style and feeling of Jacques Tati’s 1967 film, Play Time.

    Buzz Image Group used Autodesk Flame to shape futuristic scenes for The Fountain, director Darren Aronofsky’s visually arresting but largely overlooked film about a love that defies death. For one of this film’s final scenes, Flame was used to create the effect of skin ripping as plants grow through it. The facility’s work with Flame also involved compositing live and computer-generated growing-plant elements into live-action footage. “Autodesk Flame allows us to take full advantage of our artists’ talent and creativity,” says exec visual effects producer Jacques Levesque. “The system’s speed and interactivity let us experiment in real-time until we perfect the shot.” Autodesk’s Toxik digital compositing software was also used by Mokko Studios to complete 8 hero shots for the film.

    Autodesk 3ds Max 3D animation, modeling and rendering software was used by

    Youngu-art to model and animate legendary creatures that return to devastate planet earth in the Korean film D-War from Showbox. “We chose Autodesk 3ds Max for its powerful polygon modeling, which allowed us to create the complex and detailed characters in a very intuitive and efficient way,” says Ho-Suk Jang, computer graphic supervisor for the film. “The software’s biped character animation tools also allowed us to easily control the various types of characters as they interacted with crowds of humans.”

    Maya, 3D animation, modeling and rendering software Autodesk inherited though its acquisition of Alias, was used by Cinesite to create shots of a CG steam train for The Weinstein Co.’s Miss Potter, while Moving Picture Company put the solution to work with the creation of 20 shots including a CG army for Sony Pictures Classics’ The Curse of the Golden Flower (Man cheng jin dai huang jin jia).

    A number of Autodesk products were used to created the visuals in Touchstone’s Mel Gibson-directed Apacalypto. Asylum employed Inferno, Toxik and Lustre, while Look Effects used the appropriately named Maya, as well as Flame and Flint to provide effects for the film set during the decline of the Mayan empire.

    Autodesk was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in San Rafael, Calif. For

    More nformation on the company and its suite of products, go to

    http://www.autodesk.com.

  • Diego Goes into Third Season

    Nickelodeon has ordered 20 new episodes, including two hour-long specials, of Go, Diego, Go!, sending the top-rated Nick Jr. preschool series into its third season. A spin-off of the equally successful Dora The Explorer, the show will be back with an all-new adventure titled The Great Jaguar Rescue on Martin Luther King Day. The Jan. 15 premiere will kick off at 9:30 a.m. (ET/PT) and will encore at 11:30 a.m.

    The Great Jaguar Rescue finds Diego and Baby Jaguar eagerly awaiting the annual Jaguar Day party at the pyramid, which commences only when Baby Jaguar climbs to the top and lets out a big jaguar growl. On their way to the big celebration, however, the Bobo Brothers take Baby Jaguar’s growl away and lock it in a magic bottle. With help from big sister Alicia and Click the Camera, Diego and friends must catch the mischievous pair of spider monkeys and set things straight.

    Nickelodeon Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Entertainment will release Go, Diego, Go! The Great Jaguar Rescue! on Tuesday, Jan. 16. In addition to the title episode, the disc will feature three additional Go, Diego, Go! Installments and such goodies as animal stickers and a sneak peek at the upcoming new The Wonder Pets! DVD, slated for a Spring 2007 release.

    The new episode is also being made into a theatrical live tour that will travel to 50 markets nationwide starting on Feb. 1. Produced by Nickelodeon and Live Nation, Go, Diego, Go Live! The Great Jaguar Rescue will start in Louisville, Kentucky before moving on to Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Indianapolis, Baltimore and New York’s Radio City Music Hall, among other venues. Updates can be found www.NickJr.com, where fans can play an interactive game based on Diego’s and Baby Jaguar’s adventures starting Friday, Jan. 5.

    Go, Diego, Go! airs regularly at 9:30 a.m. and 12 p.m. (ET/PT) on Nick Jr.

    In each episode, Diego (Jake T. Austin) identifies and locates an animal in trouble and comes to the rescue, with help from his friends, high-tech gadgets and the viewers at home.

  • Rose Peddles W!LDBRAIN

    San Francisco-based animation studio W!LDBRAIN has hired Lisa Rose to serve as director of public relations and marketing. The award-winning public relations specialist previously managed publicity for Warner Bros. Television, where she oversaw campaigns for animated series and other productions. In her new role, she reports directly to W!LDBRAIN CEO Charles Rivkin.

    Rose has received multiple Television Publicity Executives Committee (TPEC) Awards for her work and was twice nominated for the Publicists’ Awards’ Maxwell Weinberg Publicist Showmanship Award for Television, entertainment publicity’s most prestigious award for outstanding publicity and promotion.

    Prior to Warner Bros. Television, Rose was a publicist at FOX, managing public relations campaigns for such hit series as Beverly Hills, 90210 and Melrose Place, as well as for entertainment awards shows including The 5th Annual Blockbuster Entertainment Awards and The 51st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. She began her career in public relations at Alfred A. Knopf Inc. in New York City, where she represented a diverse roster of clients including internationally best-selling author James Ellroy, golf pro Nick Price and The New Yorker cartoonist and former art editor Lee Lorenz.

    Founded in 1994, W!LDBRAIN develops and produces content with a blend of traditional animation methods with state-of-the-art computer graphics. The studio received an Annie award for its CG short film, Hubert’s Brain, and currently has a number of film projects in development. In television, the studio has produced animation for Disney Channel’s popular series Higglytown Heroes, and has won a number of awards for its commercial work for such clients as The Coca-Cola Company, Honda, Kraft and Nike. W!LDBRAIN also creates and distributes collectible merchandise including toys and apparel through its subsidiary Kidrobot, with stores located in New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco. For more information, go to www.wildbrain.com.

  • Happy Feet Kicking on IMAX

    In addition to dancing up big numbers at cineplexes worldwide, Warner Bros.’ animated Happy Feet has been very successful at IMAX theaters, where it has earned $10.6 million on just 79 screens in North America. This, combined with receipts from conventional theaters worldwide, has driven the film’s gross to nearly $200 million since its Nov. 17 opening.

    Digitally re-mastered with the proprietary IMAX DMR (Digital Re-mastering) technology, Happy Feet will open on an addition 28 IMAX screens internationally and Warner execs are confident that the hit pic will do particularly well during the holiday break.

    “The combination of Happy Feet and The IMAX Experience has clearly captured the hearts of moviegoers this holiday season,” says Greg Foster, chairman and president of IMAX Filmed Entertainment. “We are thrilled that the film has already reached this milestone in IMAX theatres. This accomplishment can be attributed to Warner Bros. Pictures’ talent for marketing. We look forward to further success as the film continues it run across the network of IMAX theatres.”

    Having received the thumbs-up from critics associations around the country, Happy Feet has pulled ahead as the frontrunner in the Oscar race for Best Animated Feature. It’s also up for the Golden Globe Award, along with Disney/Pixar’s Cars and Sony’s Monster House.

    Happy Feet is a presentation of Warner Bros. Pictures, in association with Village Roadshow Pictures, and is animated largely by Animal Logic in Australia. The film is directed by George Miller (Babe: Pig in the City, Mad Max), who also co-wrote the screenplay with John Collee, Judy Morris and Warren Coleman. The Kennedy Miller production is produced by Doug Mitchell, George Miller and Bill Miller.

  • Editor’s Note: Disney Back to 2D Roots?

    As we wait to see what happens with Meet the Robinsons, Walt Disney Feature Animation’ second CG-animated feature after Chicken Little, we’re even more curious to find out how things will change at the House of Mouse now that Pixar’s John Lasseter and Ed Catmul have taken the reins. Jim Hill of Jim Hill Media recently reported in his blog that the duo pulled Lilo & Stitch director Chris Sanders off of his CG-animated American Dog feature, and now there is new speculation about the reason for his departure from the project he helped conceive.

    Now that Pixar is part of Disney, one would think that CG would be king at the studio, but that may not be the case. As Hill postulates, Lasster and Catmul may want to see Disney return to what it has done best since its inception, traditionally animated movies.

    There was a time when the name Disney was synonymous with feature animation and a Disney release was a major event. Today, however, all of the major studios and a growing number of independents are in the business of making toon features and cranking them out at a rate of two a year. With Pixar committed to making one animated feature every 12 months, Walt Disney Feature Animation (WDFA) is dedicated to filling out the year with one of its own. And since Pixar is already a top CG studio, it doesn’t make much sense for the team at WDFA to try and compete on the same level. Chicken Little was a box-office hit, but few would argue that it exhibited the technical aptitude and grace of storytelling found in any of Pixar’s films. Likewise, Meet the Robinsons, though based on a popular William Joyce book, has thus far been met with apprehension as industry insiders and the general public wait to see more before getting excited. But what would get us excited? A 2D feature made with the care and heart that went into such enduring classics as Snow White and Lady and the Tramp, and more contemporary favorites like The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast.

    If this is indeed the intention of Lasseter and Catull, it won’t be an easy road, and the fault lies with both Disney and Pixar. As films like Toy Story and Monsters, Inc. whet the public’s appetite for the 3D look, Disney created the notion that 2D was best served on home video with their many direct-to-video sequels, or ‘cheapquels’ as they’re often called. CG became the preferred theatrical style and 2D is now something you rent. Everyone says it’s all about story, but that’s the reality we’re faced with as we hope for a return of hand-drawn animation by the company that all but invented the art form. Shaking the stigma attached to 2D won’t be easy, but if anyone can do it, it’s Lasseter. Disney currently has one 2D feature in development, The Frog Princess, and its success or lack thereof may be a make it or break it decider. Rumor has it that Lasster and Catmul also want to make Glen Keane’s Rapunzel: Unbraided in 2D.

    Hopefully, Sanders will get to make his American Dog as he envisioned it with another studio, considering gorgeous CG conceptual images that have been released. However, the sight of light boxes fired up all over WDFA would be a thing of beauty in itself.

  • Editor’s Note: Disney Back to 2D Roots?

    As we wait to see what happens with Meet the Robinsons, Walt Disney Feature Animation’ second CG-animated feature after Chicken Little, we’re even more curious to find out how things will change at the House of Mouse now that Pixar’s John Lasseter and Ed Catmul have taken the reins. Jim Hill of Jim Hill Media recently reported in his blog that the duo pulled Lilo & Stitch director Chris Sanders off of his CG-animated American Dog feature, and now there is new speculation about the reason for his departure from the project he helped conceive.

    Now that Pixar is part of Disney, one would think that CG would be king at the studio, but that may not be the case. As Hill postulates, Lasster and Catmul may want to see Disney return to what it has done best since its inception, traditionally animated movies.

    There was a time when the name Disney was synonymous with feature animation and a Disney release was a major event. Today, however, all of the major studios and a growing number of independents are in the business of making toon features and cranking them out at a rate of two a year. With Pixar committed to making one animated feature every 12 months, Walt Disney Feature Animation (WDFA) is dedicated to filling out the year with one of its own. And since Pixar is already a top CG studio, it doesn’t make much sense for the team at WDFA to try and compete on the same level. Chicken Little was a box-office hit, but few would argue that it exhibited the technical aptitude and grace of storytelling found in any of Pixar’s films. Likewise, Meet the Robinsons, though based on a popular William Joyce book, has thus far been met with apprehension as industry insiders and the general public wait to see more before getting excited. But what would get us excited? A 2D feature made with the care and heart that went into such enduring classics as Snow White and Lady and the Tramp, and more contemporary favorites like The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast.

    If this is indeed the intention of Lasseter and Catull, it won’t be an easy road, and the fault lies with both Disney and Pixar. As films like Toy Story and Monsters, Inc. whet the public’s appetite for the 3D look, Disney created the notion that 2D was best served on home video with their many direct-to-video sequels, or ‘cheapquels’ as they’re often called. CG became the preferred theatrical style and 2D is now something you rent. Everyone says it’s all about story, but that’s the reality we’re faced with as we hope for a return of hand-drawn animation by the company that all but invented the art form. Shaking the stigma attached to 2D won’t be easy, but if anyone can do it, it’s Lasseter. Disney currently has one 2D feature in development, The Frog Princess, and it’s success or lack thereof may be a make it or break it decider. Rumor has it that Lasster and Catmul also want to make Glen Keane’s Rapunzel: Unbraided in 2D.

    Hopefully, Sanders will get to make his American Dog as he envisioned it with another studio, considering gorgeous CG conceptual images that have been released. However, the sight of light boxes fired up all over WDFA would be a thing of beauty in itself.

  • Scanner, Lady Seek Audience on Disc

    Those seeking a break from cute animal animation are in for something completely different with today’s home video release of director Richard Linklater’s A Scanner Darkly. In addition, there are some cool digital vfx by ILM to be found in M. Night Shyamalan’s Lady in the Water, which also hits retail today.

    Based on a novel by famed science-fiction author Phillip K. Dick, A Scanner Darkly takes place seven years in the future as a new designer drug sweeps the nation and causes an epidemic of addiction. Keanu Reeves stars as Fred, a drug enforcement agent whose own use of Substance D has caused a split personality disorder. Half of the time, Fred thinks he’s Bob Arctor, one of the junkies occupying a suburban California home he’s been assigned to infiltrate. Robert Downey Jr. is Jim Barris, a fast-talking, paranoid member of Arctor’s motley crew of burnouts, filled out by Donna Hawthorne (Winona Ryder), Ernie Luckman (Woody Harrelson) and Charles Freck (Rory Cochrane).

    The film was shot live action on digital video then rotoscoped using RotoShop, the interpolated rotoscoping software Bob Sabiston developed for Linklater’s innovative 2001 feature, Waking Life. But whereas Waking Life presented a dreamlike, painterly world, Scanner is more grounded in reality, looking more like a comic book brought to life. Made for around $8 million, the film only earned $7.5 million through limited worldwide releases.

    The Warner Home Video release features commentary by Linklater, Reeves, producer Tommy Pallotta, author Jonathan Lethem (The Fortress of Solitude) and Isa Hackett Dick (daughter of Philip K. Dick). There are also two making-of featurettes titled One Summer in Austin: The Story of Filming A Scanner Darkly and The Weight of the Line: Animation Tales. The disc carries a suggested retail price of $27.98

    Lady in the Water is a not-so-well-received follow-up to Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs and The Village. Described as a bedtime story, this latest supernatural thriller stars Paul Giamatti as a building superintendent who finds a strange woman (Bryce Dallas Howard) in the pool of his apartment complex and is soon introduced to menacing creatures of the night. While Shayamalan’s other films all crossed the $100 million mark, this entry only grossed around $42 million domestically.

    The DVD includes a six-part documentary titled Reflections of Lady in the Water, as well as deleted scenes, auditions, a gag reel and a featurette titled Lady in the Water: A Bedtime Story. The Warner Home Video lists for $28.98 and is also available on HD DVD and Blue-ray for $39.99 and $34.99, respectively.

  • Simpsons Season Nine Comes Home

    Holiday shopping gets a bit easier with today’s debut of the complete ninth season of Fox’s The Simpsons, a four-disc set featuring lots of commentary and a host of other extra features. Though many fans have complained about a decline in the quality of writing following this season, the series continues to rack up accolades for its scripts. The long-running show recently grabbed four of the six nominations in the Writers Guild of America’s animation category.

    The ninth season of The Simpsons features such memorable episodes as ‘The City of New York Vs. Homer Simpson,’ ‘Treehouse of Horror VIII,’ ‘The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons,’ ‘All Singing, All Dancing,’ ‘Trash of the Titans,’ and ‘The Last Temptation of Krust.’ The disc set contains 25 episodes, complete with commentary from series creator Matt Groening, Homer voicer Dan Castellaneta, director Jim Reardon and writers/producers Bill Oakley, Josh Weinstein and Ian Maxtone-Graham, among others.

    Additional bonus materials include a special riff from Groening, a featurette on the animation in the ‘All Singing, All Dancing’ musical episode, animation showcases, original sketches, commercials and a featurette titled A Moment with U2. The Fox Home Video release can be had for the list price of $49.98.

  • Genius Enters Taffy’s ToddWorld

    Distributor Genius Products LLC has picked up home video rights to Taffy Ent.’s Emmy-nominated preschool series ToddWorld, and will begin rolling out episodes on DVD this spring. The deal follows on the heels of an agreement that made Genius the exclusive U.S. home entertainment distributor of Discovery Kids programming.

    Based on the best-selling books by Todd Parr, ToddWorld is a half-hour animated series that explores common themes and the social challenges of a young child’s life with color, humor and quirky charm. The series offers a mixture of moral, emotional and skills-based messaging, presented in a playful and whimsical manner.

    ‘There is an incredible amount of warmth and charm in ToddWorld,’ says Christine Martinez, Genius Products’ exec VP. ‘The engaging stories, vibrant colors and quirky characters make for a truly wonderful viewing experience. ToddWorld is yet another quality program we’re proudly adding to our expanding family portfolio.’

    ToddWorld is an international co-production of Mike Young Prods. in Los Angeles, Discovery Kids, India’s Dataquest and Ireland’s Telegael. The series was created by Parr, in collaboration with writer Gerry Renert, president of SupperTime Ent. In the US, the program airs on the Ready Set Learn! programming block on TLC and Discovery Kids.

    This year, Genius Products has also picked up exclusive home video distribution rights to 16 animated properties from the home entertainment arm of BKN International A.G., and acts as the U.S. distributor of animated programs from Germany’s BFC Berliner Film Companie Distribution GmbH. Other animated titles handled by Genius in the U.S. include PorchLight Ent.’s The Secret World of Benjamin Bear and Jay Jay The Jet Plane, as well as the classic properties Curious George, Paddington Bear and My Little Pony.

  • Warner to Distribute Codemasters’ Games

    Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group has inked a deal to handle North American distribution for video games developed by Codemasters, the U.K.-based company behind such hit titles as Colin McRae Rally, TOCA Race Driver, LMA Manager, Brian Lara Cricket and Operation Flashpoint. The teams at Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Warner Home Video will work together to manage the distribution, sales and trade marketing of Codemasters’ portfolio and will begin rolling out the company’s products in April of 2007.

    “This partnership allows the Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group divisions to combine strengths to distribute Codemasters’ games, which have global appeal, throughout North America,” says ,Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group president Kevin Tsujihara. “Employing the expertise of our gaming division and our powerful home video distribution services, we will bring Codemasters’ products to consumers within the ever-growing gaming marketplace.”

    “We greet this arrangement to work with Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group with great enthusiasm,” adds Codemasters CEO Rod Cousens. “Codemasters continues to strengthen its content and distribution, and as the reach of our product portfolio broadens to a global audience, there can be no more effective alliance than to have the world’s largest entertainment corporation handling the line in the single largest market.’

    Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group is licensed to distribute Codemasters titles in North America through May 2008. Titles to roll out under the deal will include DIRT: Colin McRae Off-Road, Overlord, Clive Barker’s Jericho and Turning Point: Fall of Liberty

  • Classic Toons Tapped for Games

    Classic Media’s roster of time-honored cartoon characters is going interactive via a strategic consulting agreement with business management firm Flashman Studios. Rocky & Bullwinkle and Friends, Dick Tracy, Underdog and George of the Jungle will be among the animated favorites getting their game on as the two companies work to create video game opportunities for all interactive platforms.

    ‘Flashman Studios’ vast experience and key industry relationships make them an ideal partner to help us bring our classic characters to a new generation of gamers,’ says Leslie Levine, Classic’s VP of worldwide licensing. ‘We look to tap into Flashman’s wealth of knowledge to strategically determine which developers and publishers can best capture the uniquely fun game play inherent in each of these great icons.”

    Flashman is now actively seeking game publishers worldwide to bring Classic’s legendary characters to gamers. ‘Flashman is proactive when it comes to representing intellectual property and presenting a full business case to game publishers,’ notes Flashman Studios CEO Brad Young. ‘We typically think through an interactive brand strategy that takes into consideration the appropriate game platform for the property, high-level design, and we often present a game developer who’s both passionate about the intellectual property and able to execute.’

    Other Classic-owned animated properties that will be pitched to game developers include Hot Stuff, Peter Cottontail, Sherman and Peabody,Dudley Do-Right, Fractured FairyTales, Gerald McBoing Boing, VeggieTales, Roger Ramjet and Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town.

    Classic Media is currently working with Spyglass Ent. and Disney to develop a live-action/CG feature film based on the animated Underdog series, and has also teamed with Universal Pictures to produce the CG animated feature The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie. Other projects in the works include a live-action Lone Ranger movie with Columbia Pictures and an all-new George of the Jungle animated series set to premiere on Cartoon Network in the fall of 2007.

    With offices in San Francisco, Calif. and Vancouver, B.C., Flashman Studios has been instrumental in constructing such projects as Cars Mobile for Disney/Pixar, Happy Feet Mobile for Warner Bros. Interactive, Flipper Critters for Ignition and WizKids Pirates for SOE-Denver. The company is also putting a Happy Tree Friends game deal together for an unannounced publisher.

  • Anime Network Debuts Two in ’07

    Anime Network will kick off the new year with the U.S. video-on-demand premieres of the Japanese animated series Coyote Ragtime Show: Fox Trot and Moeyo Ken TV: Shinsengumi on the Prowl. The first episode of Coyote will bow on Jan. 11, while Moeyo is scheduled to debut on Jan. 18.

    Coyote Ragtime Show: Fox Trot takes place in a world where insurrection will not be tolerated and the government has resolved to bomb to the planet Graceland right out of the sky. But what they don’t know is that the king hid billions in stolen loot on the doomed planet before he died. Now, the galaxy’s most infamous criminal’a mystery man known only as ‘Mister”has busted out of the slammer to get his hands on the treasure before it’s too late. Joined by King Bruce’s daughter and his misfit band of ‘Coyotes,’ Mister sidesteps government goons, dodges a hot investigator and fends off a dozen Gothic Lolita androids programmed to kill.

    Directed by Takuya Nonaka, Coyote Ragtime Show: Fox Trot originally aired in Japan last July. For those who don’t have VOD, the first volume of the show will be available on DVD on Jan. 16.

    Moeyo Ken TV: Shinsengumi on the Prowl revolves around Yuuko Kondou, Toshie Hijikata and Kaoru Okita, the daughters of the legendary and honorable Mobile Shinsengumi team. Charged to carry on in the noble tradition of their samurai fathers, they are tasked with defending Kyoto from a hoard of outlawed and unlicensed beasts. Aiding thim in their quest is a crazy monster cat named Nekomaru, a wacky inventor named Gennai and a silly boy named Ryuunosuke. Based on the PlayStation 2 RPG, the show first aired in Japan in the first half of 2006.

    Anime Network is a subsidiary of A.D. Vision Inc., parent company to ADV Films and Newtype USA. The channel now reaches more than 40 million households with thousands of hours of animated programming and is also available as a 24/7 linear channel in several U.S. markets. In addition, Anime Network has its own channel (66) on the Sprint Mobile network. For more information, go to www.theanimenetwork.com.

  • MTVN Mints Mobile Media Unit

    Viacom’s MTV Networks (MTVN) has created MTVN Mobile Media, a new unit dedicated to expanding the company’s mobile entertainment business. Responsible for managing mobile partnerships and content distribution, the branch will support the teams at the individual MTVN brands in developing a wide portfolio of mobile content and applications, including original animation and extensions of hit shows including Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants.

    Greg Clayman has been tapped to head MTVN Mobile Media as senior VP, reporting to MTVN Global Digital Media head Mika Salmi and MTVN Affiliate Sales and Marketing president Nicole Browning.

    “Our audiences lead an on-demand lifestyle and our brands deliver the best pop-culture, music, comedy and entertainment programming on the handset,” comments Salmi. “With MTVN Mobile Media, we’re poised to deliver even more compelling mobile content and further deepen our connection with our viewers.”

    MTVN publishes more than 600 clips and 30 hours of video per month in the United States alone, across all major carriers. Globally, the company has partnered with 68 carriers to reach more than one billion subscribers. Original animated content includes the series Usavitch and Lightman from Flux in Japan, and MTV International’s Wulffmorgenthaler.

  • Producers Guild Honors Sims Creator

    The Producers Guild of America will recognize a visionary from the world of video games for the first time ever when Sims creator Will Wright receives the Vanguard Award at the 2007 Producers Guild Awards. Wright will be honored along with film producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Universal Studios chief operating officer Ron Meyer, among others, when the awards are presented on Jan. 20 at the Centry Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.

    “Will Wright is the icon of the gaming industry and one of the great producers of entertainment content,’ say PGA Awards co-chairs Mark Gordon and Hawk Koch. ‘His creations have transcended into feature films and continue to entertain a global audience. We are proud to have him be the first Vanguard recipient from the gaming universe.”

    Bruckheimer will be presented with the Norman Lear Acheivement Award in Television and Meyer will receive the Milestone Award. Other honorees will include Emmy and Grammy Awards producer Ken Ehrlich, who will get the Visionary Award, and Stuart Little producers Doug Wick and Lucy Fisher, recipients of the David O. Selznick Achievement Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures.

    The nominees in this year’s animated motion picture competition are expected to be announced soon. This is only the second year that the PGA has had an animation category. Last year, the group gave the top award to DreamWorks Animation’s and Aardman Animations Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

  • Shrek the Third Trailer Online

    DreamWorks has released the first full trailer for Shrek the Third, the latest installment in its blockbuster CG-animated franchise. Featuring the return of such popular characters as Donkey and Puss In Boots, the film will be released on May 18, 2007, as part of a competitive slate of summer movies that will include Sony’s Spider-Man 3 and Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End.

    In this latest animated ogre opus, King Harold falls ill and it’s up to Shrek (Mike Meyers) to find a suitable heir to the throne or else he’ll be forced to take the job. Along with Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and Puss In Boots (Antonio Banderas), he sets out to track down Fiona’s rebellious cousin Artie (Justin Timberlake), and attempts to transform him into a suitable successor. Meanwhile, Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) storms the castle, forcing Fiona (Cameron Diaz) and Queen Lillian (Julie Andrews) to defend their ‘happily ever afters’ with help from Cheri Oteri (Saturday Night Live) as Sleeping Beauty, Amy Poehler (Saturday Night Live) as Snow White, Maya Rudolph (Saturday Night Live) as Rapunzel and Amy Sedaris (Strangers with Candy) as Cinderella. Also joining the cast are Monty Python alum Eric Idle as Merlin, John Krasinski (The Office) as Lancelot, and Ian McShane (Deadwood) as Captain Hook.

    Shrek the Third is being directed by DreamWorks Animation story artist Chris Miller and co-directed by supervising animator Raman Hui. Aron Warner is producer and exec producers are Andrew Adamson and John H. Williams. Watch the Quicktime trailer at http://movies.aol.com/movie-trailer-clip/shrek-the-third-quicktime.

    Shrek and crew are also bringing their shenanigans to the small screen in Shrek the Halls, a half-hour animated holiday special from DreamWorks Animation SKG. The program is slated to air on ABC in December of 2007.

  • Sing-Along Scores for Kids’ WB!

    Some carol-crooning classic cartoon stars helped Kids’ WB! on The CW post season-high ratings on Saturday, Dec. 9. Featuring such Warner Bros. favorites as Superman, Scooby-Doo and the team of Tom and Jerry, Super Sing-A-Long holiday promotion helped the leading Saturday morning kids outlet to its best day of ratings since its 2006-2007 season premiere.

    Citing Nielsen Media Research, Warner announced that ratings for the Kids 2-11 demographic rose by 11% over the previous week and the same weekend last year. The Saturday block drew a 2.0 rating and 8 share, thanks in part to a spike in viewership among girls aged 2-11.

    ‘This week’s ratings surge was particularly satisfying for the success of our creative holiday promotion and as a testament to the popularity of our programming and its strong mix of classic and new characters in contemporary, entertaining situations,’ says Betsy McGowen, senior VP and general manager of Kids’ WB! ‘We’ve experienced incremental ratings increases as the season has progressed and, after seeing this week’s numbers, we’re confident of continued growth as the season continues.’

    The new series Tom and Jerry Tales and Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get A Clue! scored their highest ratings of the season, each pulling an 11 share in their respective timeslots by attracting 25% more viewers over the previous week. Also scoring their best numbers of the season, Johnny Test and Loonatics Unleashed drew 2.4 million and 1.7 million viewers, respectively.

    Kids’ WB! on The CW is also the broadcast home for such hit animated series as Pok’mon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Xiaolin Showdown, The Batman, Jackie Chan Adventures and ‘Mucha Lucha! Gigante. Kids and their parents can find more information on programming at www.KidsWB.com.