Animation Magazine

Author: Ryan Ball

  • Bob Boyle, Creator of Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! and Yin Yang Yo!

    With two hit series on the air, Bob Boyle barely has enough time to dream up new show ideas, much less talk to reporters about his humble beginnings, his burgeoning career and his love of titular exclamation points. Nonetheless, we managed to nail the toon creator down long enough to get a glimpse into the mind behind Disney’s delightfully twisted Yin Yang Yo! and Nickelodeon’s just plain delightful Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!, which just got nominated for a 2006 Annie Award for Best Animated Television Production. Boyle himself was also nominated for his production design on the series.

    Animation Magazine Online: We hear that when you first came to Los Angeles to get your career started you called up [Ren & Stimpy creator] John Kricfalushi?

    Bob Boyle: I knew no one in L.A. at all. Well, actually, I knew one person and he just happened to know John K’s phone number. That’s the one guy who inspired me to get into animation. I called him coldly when he had just been fired from The New Adventures of Beany and Cecil over at DIC. He picked up the phone and said, ‘Yeah, come on over.’ I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is amazing! Your hero’s inviting you into his home.’ He was great. He sat down and looked at my horrible, horrible, awful portfolio.

    AMO: At that point, what did your portfolio consist of?

    BB: Before I came out to L.A. I was in New York doing editorial illustration for like the New York Times Book Review, very serious sort of dark, brooding kind of New York things. I came out to get into animation and had this portfolio with awful character designs and my original little storyboard stories that I would come up with. It was really pretty awful. I wish I could find it, actually, because it’s pretty amazing how far I’ve come.

    So he took my portfolio and took a piece of paper and actually started drawing over my drawings, drawing over the shapes, and started drawing Warner Bros. cartoons, I remember he was drawing Porky Pig and showing how the characters were really constructed because I really liked stylized designs but there was really no structure to it and they just came off looking flat and not quite right. So he gave me a tutrial, almost like a little character design course right there. It was great, I was blown away. Then he invited me over for a poker game that night with a bunch of guys from Warner Bros.’this was pre-Ren & Stimpy and pre-Spumco’and there were names that I vaguely remembered from reading the credits of cartoons that I liked. I got to be in the inner circle and see how it all works and I was just mortified.

    I’ve heard horrible stories about John K., how he treats people poorly, chews people out and is hard on people, but I must have caught him at the right moment and it was great. It really opened my eyes.

    AMO: Did that give you a foot in the door?

    BB: It didn’t, not with him personally. But I got my Warner Bros. book out and started drawing Porky Pig, Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny. My portfolio got mildly better and I was lucky enough to get a job at Film Roman when they were a very small company of about 25 people. I was hired on for some reason as a character designer on Bobby’s World, the Howie Mandel show, and spent the next six months thinking I’m going to get fired, they’re going to catch onto me. But it was a great place to learn because it was so small and it was the kind of place where they said, ‘We need someone to do freelance background design,’

    and I said ‘I’ll do it.’

    ‘Now we need someone to paint the backgrounds.’

    ‘Can I do it!’

    I was there for like seven years. That was the early ’90s and most of the cartoons were things based on existing properties or that had celebrities attached to them. At Film Roman you had Garfield, Felix the Cat, Bobby’s World ‘ Then in ’97 Fred Seibert started doing his Oh Yeah! Cartoons and it was the first time in forever that artists were actually getting to create their own cartoons for TV. Luckilly, I got hired to work on [that] and met a bunch of great people there’Butch Hartman, Rob Renzetti, Dave Wasson, of course Steve Marmel’and all those guys went on to do great stuff. It was inspiring to be around a group of people who were really passionate and driven to work on their own stuff.

    AMO: And so when Butch created The Fairy OddParents he brought you along?

    BB: On Oh Yeah! we would pitch our own cartoons and hopefully get to do those and, in between, you would help out with other people’s projects. While I was developing my pitch I was helping Butch do storyboards and designs because he did a number of Fairly OddParents shorts for Oh Yeah! before it became a series. So we built a relationship there and when it went to series he asked me to be art director and I jumped at that. We spoke the same language and I learned quite a bit from him. Then I met Steve [Marmel, head writer and exec producer of Yin Yang Yo!] on Fairly OddParent and Danny Phantom.

    AMO: Now you’re the creator and exec producer of two new hit shows. What’s it been like having two series come out at relatively the same time?

    BB: It’s a real blessing, obviously. It all kind of happened at once and it’s been the busiest, craziest year of my life. Luckily the timing worked out so that Steve could work on Yin Yang Yo! He’s really been the one who’s allowed me to do both. Wubbzy! is my day job. I’m here during the day, and I sneak away for meetings at Disney through the underground tunnel [laughs]. There’s lots of back and forth, especially early on. On the first six episodes of Yin Yang Yo! I was back and forth all the time because we were trying to establish what it was going to be and all that. Once we figured it all out, Steve and I sort of have the same mind meld and it was great to have him there and know that things were taken care of.

    AMO: How do these two shows differ fundamentally in you opinion?

    BB: Wubbzy!‘s a preschool show. It’s very soft and warm and has a real gentle heart to it and Yin Yang Yo! is the extreme opposite. It’s a comedy-action-adventure that’s very wisecracking and has a lot of smartass humor. Basically, it’s night and day. But at the heart of it, you’re still trying to communicate and tell stories. On a preschool show, you have to be more deliberate in how you tell the stories and deliver the ideas and think about what topics preschoolers might have a tough time with. Then, on Yin Yang Yo!, we just let it fly’anything goes. And there’s a lot more adult humor. But Wubbzy! has really resonated with parents as well. It’s hopefully the knd of show where parents can sit down and watch with their kids and not be nauseated. I’d never done preschool before this so I sat down and watched a bunch of shows and went, ‘Wow! I’m so bored.’ The thing with Wubbzy! is it’s not developmental so we’re not trying to teach anything. We’re just trying to be entertaining and I try to tell stories that make me laugh.

    AMO: Thinking back to being in New York and aspiring to be in the animation business, has the experience met your expectations? What’s different from what you imagined?

    BB: Living in New York is hard enough but making a living as an artist’ I was actually having to work at the Marriot as a bellman and would have to run out to job interviews at the New York Times and prey they wouldn’t laugh at my stupid little outfit. But I guess the collaboration and the openness of the community has been a little more than I expected. I think animation people are so helpful and willing to help others. At least I’ve been lucky enough to be around those types of people. Also, I guess I’m surprised by how many other talents people in the animation industry have. They either want to make their own show or do paintings on the side or do books, do comic books, do music’ And this is the one place where they all come from around the world. It’s just amazing.

    AMO: Are there other avenues which you would like to channel your creativity into? Feature films?

    BB: Maybe eventually. That would be a great opportunity. Definitely children’s books. I’m working on a couple of children’s books at this time. That’s actually how Wubbzy got started and it’s something I’d really love to explore.

    AMO: What advice would you give someone who wants to get into the animation industry and reach the position you’re in?

    BB: I would just say just keep at it and ask questions. Don’t be shy. Like I said, people are really wiling to help and if you ask for that help they’re more than willing to sit down and go over your drawings and help out in any way they can. And I think that with today’s technology there are really no excuses. When I came out here, there were no animation classes if you didn’t go to Cal Arts. There are even online drawing lessons now. With all these blogs’on John K.’s blog [(johnkstuff.blogspot.com)] now he’s giving away all this great information and with Flash technology you can basically learn on the intenet and have your own animation studio through the computer. There are no limitations, which is just mind-blowing!

    Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! can be seen on Nickelodeon during the Nick Jr. preschool programming block, which airs weekdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. (ET/PT) and is carried by CBS on weekends. Jetix series Yin Yang Yo! airs on Toon Disney weekdays at 9:30 a.m and 7:30 p.m., and on weekends at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.

  • Cars Leads in Annie Noms

    Disney/Pixar’s Cars took the inside track this morning when ASIFA-Hollywood announced the nominations for the 2006 Annie Awards, taking place Sunday, Feb. 11, at the Alex Theater in Glendale, Calif. John Lasseter’s tale of talking automobiles is in the running for nine awards, including Best Animated Feature. DreamWorks/Aardman’s Flushed Away and DreamWorks’ Over the Hedge also made out well, garnering eight nominations each, including voice acting nods for Ian McKellan and Wanda Sykes, respectively.

    In addition to Cars, the Best Animated Feature race will be run by Warner Bros.’ Happy Feet, DreamWorks’ Over the Hedge, Sony Pictures’ Open Season and Columbia Pictures’ Monster House. The year’s top-grossing toon, Fox Animation’s Ice Age: The Meltdown, was shut out, though members of its crew were singled out in various individual achievement categories, including Animated Effects (John David Thornton), Character Design (Peter DeSeve), Storyboarding (William H. Frake III) and Music (John Powell).

    Ice Age: The Meltdown also earned a directing nomination for Carlos Saldanha. Also up for the award are John Lasseter for Cars, Gil Kenan for Monster House, Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick for Over the Hedge and David Bowers and Sam Fell for Flushed Away.

    The short list for Best Animated Short Subject includes Nickelodeon’s Adventure Time, Thunderbean Animation’s Fumi and the Bad Luck Foot, Blue Sky Studios’ No Time For Nuts and Acme Filmworks’ Weird Al Yankovic Don`t Download This Song (animated by Bill Plympton). Obvious omissions include DreamWorks First Flight, which opened for Over the Hedge in many theaters, and Disney’s The Little Match Girl, directed by Roger Allers (Open Season, The Lion King).

    Cartoon Network’s Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends proved popular in the television categories. The toon series from Craig McCracken is nominated for Best Animated Television production, along with Charlie and Lola from Tiger Aspect Productions, King of the Hill from 20th Century Fox Television, The Fairly OddParents from Nickelodeon and Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! from Starz Media’s Film Roman.

    One of the biggest surprises is the selection of nominees for the Winsor McKay Award for lifetime or career contributions to animation. Whereas previous Annie ceremonies feted such stalwart luminaries as Fred Crippen, Virginia Davis, Arnold Stang, Gene Deitch and Floyd Norman, this year sees more contemporary contributors singled out for their work. Independent animation guru Bill Plympton (Hair High, Mutant Aliens), former Cartoon Network toon wunderkind Genndy Tartakovsky (Samurai Jack, Star Wars: Clone Wars) and veteran Disney animator Andreas Deja (The Lion King, Aladdin) will all be honored with the award.

    Other nominees include:

    Best Home Entertainment Production

    Bambi II – DisneyToon Studios

    The Adventures of Brer Rabbit – Universal Animation Studios

    Winnie the Pooh: Shapes & Sizes – DisneyToon Studios

    Best Animated Television Commercial

    Candy Factory – Kachen/Screen Novelties

    ESPN Believe – Laika/house

    Hilton Dancing Couple – Acme Filmworks

    St. Louis Zoo Giraffe – Z Animation

    United Airlines Dragon – DUCK Studios

    Best Animated Video Game

    Flushed Away The Game – D3 Publisher of America, Inc.

    Monster House – THQ, Inc.

    SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature From the Krusty Krab – THQ, Inc.

    Animated Effects

    Scott Cegielski – Flushed Away – DreamWorks Animation & Aardman Features

    Keith Klohn – Cars – Pixar Animation Studios

    David Stephens – Open Season – Sony Pictures Animation/Columbia Pictures

    Erdem Taylan – Cars – Pixar Animation Studios

    John David Thornton – Ice Age: The Meltdown – Blue Sky Studios

    Character Animation in a Feature Production

    Line Andersen – Flushed Away – DreamWorks Animation & Aardman Features

    Carlos Baena – Cars – Pixar Animation Studios

    Gabe Hordos – Flushed Away – DreamWorks Animation & Aardman Features

    Bobby Podesta – Cars – Pixar Animation Studios

    Kristof Serrand – Over The Hedge – DreamWorks Animation

    Character Animation in a Television Production

    Joshua Jennings – Moral Orel – ShadowMachine Films

    Eileen Kohlhepp – Family Guy – Fox TV

    Sihanouk Mariona – Robot Chicken – ShadowMachine Films

    Yu Jae Myung – Avatar The Blind Bandit – Nickelodeon

    Character Design in an Animated Feature Production

    Peter DeSeve – Ice Age: The Meltdown – Blue Sky Studios

    Carter Goodrich – Open Season – Sony Pictures Animation/Columbia Pictures

    Nicolas Marlet – Over The Hedge – DreamWorks Animation

    Character Design in an Animated Television Production

    Ben Balistreri – Danny Phantom ‘King Tuck’- Nickelodeon

    Mike Kunkel – The Life & Times of Juniper Lee ‘Party Monsters’ – Cartoon Network Studios

    Carlos Ramos – The X’s ‘Homebody’ – Nickelodeon

    Eric Robles – The X’s ‘You Only Sneeze Twice’ – Nickelodeon

    Directing in an Animated Television Production

    Shaun Cashman – The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy ‘Hill Billy’ – Cartoon Network Studios

    Craig McCracken – Foster `s Home for Imaginary Friends ‘Bus the Two of Us’ – Cartoon Network Studios

    Guy Vasilovich – Growing Up Creepie ‘The Tell-Tale Poem’ – Mike Young Productions

    Giancarlo Volpe ‘ Avatar: The Last Airbender ‘The Drill’ – Nickelodeon

    Music in an Animated Feature Production

    John Debney – The Ant Bully – Warner Bros. Pictures/Legendary Pictures/ Playtone/DNA Productions

    Gordon Goodwin – Bah Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas – Warner Bros. Animation

    Laura Karpman – A Monkey’s Tale – Dedica Group

    Randy Newman – Cars – Pixar Animation Studios

    John Powell – Ice Age: The Meltdown – Blue Sky Studios

    Music in an Animated Television Production

    Brad Benedict, Mark Fontana & Erik Godal – Squirrel Boy ‘A Line in the Sandwich’ – Cartoon Network Studios

    John King – Shorty McShorts’ Shorts Boyz on Da Run Part 1 – Walt Disney Television Animation

    Steve Marston – Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks ‘The Gift’ – Mike Young Productions

    James L. Venable & Jennifer Kes Remington – Foster`s Home for Imaginary Friends ‘One False Movie’ – Cartoon Networks Studios

    Production Design in an Animated Feature Production

    William Cone – Cars – Pixar Animation Studios

    Andy Harkness – Open Season – Sony Pictures Animation/Columbia Pictures

    Michael Humphries – Open Season – Sony Pictures Animation/Columbia Pictures

    Paul Shardlow – Over The Hedge – DreamWorks Animation

    Pierre-Olivier Vincent – Flushed Away – DreamWorks Animation & Aardman Features

    Production Design in an Animated Television Production

    Martin Ansolabehere – Foster `s Home for Imaginary Friends ‘Good Wilt Hunting’ – Cartoon Network Studios

    Alan Bodner – The Life and Times of Juniper Lee ‘Water We Fighting For’ – Cartoon Network Studios

    Bob Boyle – Wow! Wow! Wubbzy ‘Tale of Tails’ – Film Roman

    Dan Krall – My Gym Partner’s a Monkey ‘Grub Drive’ – Cartoon Network Studios

    Sue Mondt – Camp Lazlo ‘Hard Days Samson’ – Cartoon Network Studios

    Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production

    Thom Enriquez – Over The Hedge – DreamWorks Animation

    William H. Frake III – Ice Age: The Meltdown – Blue Sky Studios

    Gary Graham – Over The Hedge – DreamWorks Animation

    Kris Pearn – Open Season – Sony Pictures Animation/Columbia Pictures

    Simon Wells – Flushed Away – DreamWorks Animation & Aardman Features

    Storyboarding in an Animated Television Production

    Troy Adomitis – American Dragon: Jake Long ‘Breakout’ – Walt Disney Television Animation

    Ben Balistreri – Danny Phantom ‘Urban Jungle’ – Nickelodeon

    Li Hong – The X’s ‘You Only Sneeze Twice’ – Nickelodeon

    Shaut Nigoghossian – Danny Phantom ‘Reality Trip’ – Nickelodeon

    Adam Van Wyk – Hellboy Sword of Storms – Film Roman

    Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production

    Maggie Gyllenhaal -voice of Zee – Monster House – Columbia Pictures/ImageMovers/Amblin Ent.

    Sam Lerner – voice of Chowder – Monster House – Columbia Pictures/ImageMovers/Amblin Ent.

    Spencer Locke – voice of Jenny – Monster House – Columbia Pictures/ImageMovers/Amblin Ent.

    Ian McKellan – voice of the Toad – Flushed Away – DreamWorks Animation/ Aardman Features

    Wanda Sykes – voice of Stella – Over The Hedge – DreamWorks Animation

    Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production

    Keith Ferguson – voice of Blooregard ‘ Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends ‘Squeeze the Day’ – Cartoon Network Studios

    Eartha Kitt – voice of Yzma – The Emperor’s New School ‘Kuzclone’ – Walt Disney Television Animation

    Mila Kunis – voice of Meg Griffin – Family Guy ‘Barely Legal’ – Fuzzy Door Prods.

    Russi Taylor – voice of Ferny – Jakers! ‘Mi Galeon’ – Mike Young Prods.

    Patrick Warburton – Voice of Kronk – The Emperor’s New School ‘Kuzclone’ – Walt Disney Television Animation

    Writing in an Animated Feature Production

    Rich Burns – Brother Bear 2 – DisneyToon Studios

    Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais and Chris Lloyd & Joe Keenan and Will Davies – Flushed Away – DreamWorks Animation/Aardman Features

    Dan Harman, Rob Schrab & Pamela Pettler – Monster House – Columbia Pictures/ImageMovers/Amblin Ent.

    Dan Fogelman – Cars – Pixar Animation Studios

    George Miller, John Collee, Judy Morris & Warren Coleman – Happy Feet – Warner Bros./Village Roadshow Pictures/Kennedy Miller/Animal Logic Film

    Writing in an Animated Television Production

    Kirker Butler – Family Guy ‘Barely Legal’ – Fuzzy Door Productions

    Ian Maxtone-Graham – The Simpsons ‘The Seemingly Neverending Story’ – Gracie Films

    Tom Sheppard – My Gym Partner’s a Monkey Nice Moustache – Cartoon Network Studios

    Dan Veber – American Dad ‘American Dad Afterschool Special’ – Fuzzy Door Productions/Underdog Productions

    John Viener – Family Guy ‘The Griffin Family History’ – Fuzzy Door Productions

    Juried Awards

    June Foray Award for significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation.

    Stephen Worth

    Certificate of Merit

    Bill Matthews

    Michael Phallic

    Mark Deckter

    Eric Graff

  • IFC Has More FUNimation

    Having added Samurai 7 to its lineup earlier this year, The Independent Film Channel (IFC) is boosting its anime output with the acquisition of two more properties from Navarre Corp.’s FUNimation Ent. In January, the cable outlet will premiere full seasons of Basilisk and Gunslinger Girl, which will create a one-hour anime programming block that leads into its new Friday night ‘Grindhouse’ line-up.

    “IFC values the opinions of our viewers, and proven by our popular film strands Samurai Saturdays and Indie Screams, anime and horror are two genres that our viewers continue to enjoy and request,” says IFC exec VP and general manager Evan Shapiro. “With the addition of these programs to our expanding slate of original series and docs, IFC is delivering on its commitment to increasing the original and serial programming on the network.”

    Gunslinger Girl, an action show based on a manga series by Yutaka Aida, and Basilisk, a ninja-horror-action series, are scheduled to premiere on IFC on Jan. 5 at 11 p.m. (EST).

  • More Layoffs at Disney

    Daily Variety reports that the Walt Disney Feature Animation is laying off approximately 20% of its staff. The toon unit was spared during the summer belt-tightening axe drop, but now nearly 160 employees will be getting pink slips in the next couple of weeks, even as Disney prepares to go into production on the animated feature American Dog. Currently slated to bow in 2008, the pic will follow Meet The Robinsons, which comes to theaters this March.

    While this round of job cuts won’t affect the Pixar unit, it is reportedly a side effect of John Lasseter’s and Ed Catmull’s commandeering of Walt Disney Feature Animation. They apparently felt that they had more personnel than production of American Dog requires.

    Chris Sanders (Lilo and Stich) is attached to direct American Dog, a comedy about a famous canine TV star who, after leading an extremely sheltered on-set life, finds himself stranded in the Nevada desert with an over-sized rabbit and a testy cat.

    Walt Disney Feature Animation plans to release one feature film a year to complement the one movie being produced by Pixar each year. While Pixar readies Ratatouille for a June release and looks forward to the third installment in the Toy Story franchise, WDFA is developing Rapunzel with Glen Keane and The Frog Princess, which is currently being planned as a 2D production.

  • Happy Feet Has Legs to Match

    For the third consecutive week, Warner Bros.’ Happy Feet is the top draw at the North American box office. The computer-animated penguin pic took in around $17 million over the weekend to stay ahead of Sony/Columbia’s Casino Royale and a few newcomers, including New Line Cinema’s The Nativity Story.

    Made for approximately $100 million, Happy Feet has earned an estimated $121 million domestically and another $13.7 million overseas as it rolls out in foreign markets. Already one of the year’s top-grossing animated entries, the film should continue to do well throughout the holiday frame and has a good chance of getting one of the five slots when Oscar nominations are announced. Today, the movie received an Annie Award nomination for Best Animated Feature, George Miller, John Collee, Judy Morris and Warren Coleman were recognized for their writing.

    James Bond spent a third week at No. 2 as Casino Royale earned an estimated $15.1 million to bring its worldwide take to around $244.6 million. Buena Vista’s D’j’ vu also stayed put in third place in its second weekend in theatres. The time-travel thriller starring Denzel Washington took in an estimated $11 million, bringing its box office a bit closer to its $75 million price tag.

    The Nativity Story was no Passion of the Christ. The tale of Jesus’ birth didn’t get the kind of Christian support New Line had hoped for, taking in only $8 million to debut in fourth place. It probably doesn’t help that the film’s star, 16-year-old Kiesha Castle-Hughes (Whale Rider) is unwed and pregnant, though not by devine design like her biblical on-screen counterpart.

    Fox’s Christmas-themed comedy Deck the Halls rounds out the top five, earning $6.6 million in its second week. Meanwhile, the studio’s genre off-shoot, Fox Atomic, had an inauspicious debut with Turistas, which only grossed about $3.5 million. The teen slasher flick did, however, outperform fellow opener National Lampoon’s Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj. The college comedy bowed at No. 10 with an estimated $2.3 million.

  • Three on Ben 10 Bandwagon

    Cartoon Network is expanding the licensing program for its original action-adventure series Ben 10 into new categories for 2007 and has inked deals with Jay Franco and Sons Inc., Accessory Innovations and AME (American Marketing Enterprises). The companies will work with global merchandising arm Cartoon Network Enterprises to bring a full line of bed, bath and beach items, accessories, sleepwear and more to market in 2007.

    The Jay Franco Ben 10 products will include beach towels, bedding, 3D character pillows, sleeping bags, shower curtains, toothbrush holders and wastebaskets. Meanwhile, children’s sleepwear manufacturer AME will develop pajamas, lounge pants and robes based on the show. Accessory Innovations, a new player in the accessory arena, will develop a line of Ben 10 headwear that will include baseball caps, hats, rainwear and cold-weather accessories.

    These latest deals follow in the heels of Ben 10 footwear and clothing partnerships formed with SG Footwear and ODM. In addition, Bandai America has successfully launched a line of Ben 10 toys that includes transforming toys, role-play items, action figures and playsets.

    Ben 10 centers on 10-year-old Ben Tennyson, who finds a strange wristwatch-like device inside a crashed meteorite and discovers that it has the power to transform him into ten different alien beings, each with unique powers and abilities. The gadget, know as the Omnitrix, helps Ben fight evil, but also gets him into trouble when he uses it to satisfy his own curiosity.

  • Animation Heads to Park City

    A handful of productions will animate Park City, Utah, during the 2007 edition of the Sundance Film Festival, kicking off on Jan. 18. Fully animated movies and live-action films that incorporate animation will debut in the noncompetitive Premieres, Spectrum, Midnight and New Frontier series of screenings during the prestigious independent film fest.

    Sundance will officially open with a screening of Chicago 10 from filmmaker Brett Morgen (The Kid Stays in the Picture). The new documentary employs animation, archival footage, interviews and music to tell the story of the antiwar protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago that resulted in the Chicago Conspiracy Trial of 1969.

    The Spectrum screenings will include Year of the Fish, an animated feature written and directed by David Kaplan. Featuring a rotoscope technique similar to that used by Richard Linklater in Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly, Year of the Fish film is described as a contemporary Cinderella story set in the underbelly of New York’s Chinatown.

    Also making the Spectrum program is the live-action Japanese feature Bugmaster, based on a famous Manga. Directed by Katsuhiro Otomo and written by Sadayuki Murai, the movie tells the story of a mystical doctor who travels through remote areas of Japan curing the ill effects of supernatural creatures known as “Mushi.”

    Premiering during the wee hours of the fest is We Are the Strange, an animated feature written and directed by M dot Strange. The midnight world premiere presentation has two outcasts struggling to survive in a sinister fantasy world. On their way to the ice cream shop, the pals find themselves caught in the middle of a deadly battle between bizarre monsters.

  • BroadcastAsia Boosts Animation focus

    Organizers of the BroadcastAsia TV market in Singapore announced that they will increase the presence of computer graphics and animation for the 2007 event, taking place June 19-22. For the first time in its 12-year history, the expo will add extra floor space to accommodate this new focus and more than 80% of the exhibition space has already been booked.

    ‘This is in keeping with market trends and especially across Asia, where the animation industry is set to grow to epic proportions,’ says Stephen Tan, chief exec for organizer Singapore Exhibition Services.

    In 2006, BroadcastAsia was housed in halls 7 & 8 at the Singapore Expo. This year, the event will also take up half of hall 9 for the ComGraphics&Animation2007 exhibition show floor, which will be divided into four distinct physical areas. At the Recruitment Zone, aspiring digital artists can speak with company recruiters’ land representatives from various leading educational institutions. Meanwhile, the Interactive Zone will allow visitors to engage in hands-on demos and get up close with the latest technologies. The Exhibitors’ Tech Talk Zone will offer insights and knowledge on CG and Interactive Digital Media techniques and trends, and selected animation entries and award winning productions will be seen in the Animation Screening & Digital Art Gallery.

    Conference sessions and artist workshops will also be held in conjunction with the exhibition, which will play host to the annual Comgraph Competition, organized by ACM SIGGRAPH Singapore.

    BroadcastAsia2007 incorporates ProfessionalAudioTechnology2007 and is held in conjunction with InteractiveDME, CommunicAsia2007 and Enterprise IT2007. For more information, go to www.broadcast-asia.com

  • Taffy’s Code, Fantastic Expand in Latin America

    Taffy Ent. will get its popular animated shows Code Lyoko and Fantastic Four in front of more eyes in Latin America through separate deals with Jetix and Cartoon Network. Jetix Latin America has picked up seasons three and four of Code Lyoko after finding ratings success with the first set of 52 episodes. Meanwhile, Cartoon Network Latin America has come on board with Fantastic Four, which was also acquired by free TV broadcaster TVN in Chile.

    MoonScoop is currently in production on the fourth season of Code Lyoko, bringing the total number of episodes to 97. The series airs on Cartoon Network in the U.S. and around the world on such outlets as Cartoon Network Spain, Toonami in the U.K., France 3 and Canal J in France, RTBF in Belgium and Cartoon Network and Channel 10 in Australia. The first and second seasons also air on Chile’s TVN.

    Fantastic Four is co-produced by MoonScoop, Marvel Comics, M6 and Cartoon Network Europe. Based on the Marvel comic-book series and hit live-action feature film, the show follows the adventures of a group of astronauts who acquire special powers after being exposed to cosmic radiation. Taffy Ent. has distribution rights outside the U.S., while Marvel handles U.S. television and subsequent DVD distribution rights and worldwide merchandising for the property.

  • Cartoon Composer Shirley Walker Dies

    Film and television composer Shirley Walker died Wednesday from complications associated with a stroke at the age of 61. She was perhaps best known for scoring episodes of the popular 1990s Warner Bros. Animation shows Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, The New Batman Adventures and Batman Beyond, as well as Todd McFarlane’s animated Spawn series. Other credits include the much-loved 1993 animated feature film Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and 1998’s The Batman/Superman Movie, as well as the live-action Final Destination movies. Walker’s next project was to be Bruce Timm’s DC: The New Frontier, a direct-to-video comic book-based feature which is currently in pre-production.

    Walker worked with leading film composer Danny Elfman on a number of projects, serving as orchestrator and conductor on Scrooged (1988), Tim Burton’s Batman (1989), Clive Barker’s Nightbreed (1990), Dick Tracy (1990), Edward Scissorhands (1990) and Article 99 (1992). She also collaborated with Hans Zimmer on several films including Backdraft (1991), Toys (1992), True Lies (1994) and Johnny Mnemonic (1995).

    Born in Napa, Calif., Walker began her career in industrial films and jingles work in the late 1960s and later worked as a musician on Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now. In the 1980s, she found work as a composer on such television series as Falcon Crest and China Beach, and lent her talents to such B-movie classics as 1985’s The Dungeonmaster and Ghoulies. Walker would find a comfortable niche in the superhero genre. In addition to working on the Warner Bros. cartoon series and live-action Batman films, she scored episodes of Warner Bros.’ 1990 television series The Flash, based on the DC Comics property.

    Walker had been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 1994 and also served the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, the American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers and a number of other professional organizations. She is survived by two sons.

  • Happy Feet Faces Nativity

    Warner Bros.’ Happy Feet faces some tough competition this weekend as it tries to hold onto the top spot at the North American box office for a third week. The leading contender is New Line Cinema’s biblical drama The Nativity Story, which should benefit from grassroots Christian support a la Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. Also opening wide today are National Lampoon’s Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj from MGM and the teen slasher flick Turistas from Fox Atomic.

    Directed by Catherine Hardwicke (Lords of Dogtown, Thirteen), The Nativity Story stars Whale Rider‘s Keisha Castle-Hughes as Mary, who travels to Bethlahem with Joseph to give birth to Jesus Christ. The film features visual effects by Digital Domain and Hammerhead under vfx supervisors Theresa Ellis and Scott Harper. On the whole, reviews for the film have not been kind and the film lacks the controversy factor that contributed to Gibson’s account of Christ’s death, but expect it to do steady business throughout the holiday frame.

    The Nativity Story opens in 3,183 theaters across North America, but Happy Feet still boasts the highest theatre count with 3,804. Sony/Columbia’s James Bond thrill ride Casino Royale should retain its license to kill as it holds tight in 3,386 venues in its third week, while recent entries Deck the Halls from 20th Century Fox and D’j’ vu from Buena Vista are likely to begin sliding down the chart after lacklustre openings last weekend.

    Turistas is the weekend’s dark horse that just may run an impressive race despite being released in just over 1,500 theaters. Horror has been a lucrative business lately and this one should attract the same crowd that made a hit of Lions Gate’s Hostel, which was released in January and grossed more than $80 million worldwide. This weekend also sees sneak preview screenings of Sony/Columbia’s romantic comedy The Holiday and Warner Bros.’ socially conscious thriller Blood Diamond in select theaters.

  • Slamdance Recognizes Guerilla Gamemakers

    Slamdance, the independent film festival started in 1995 as an alternative to the commercialized Sundance Film Festival, is again shaking things up by adding video games to the mix. The Guerilla Gamemaker Competition will be held concurrently with the Slamdance Film Festival, taking place in Park City, Utah, January 18-27.

    “Video games today are as important and influential as movies have ever been,’ says Slamdance president and co-founder Peter Baxter. ‘The type and standard of creativity we are seeing at Slamdance Games is akin to the trail blazing days of independent filmmaking, a time that artists reacted with more imagination and against the generic fare of the movie studio.”

    The Guerilla Gamemaker Competition is focused on on the art of game design and the creative professionals who bring entertainment experiences to gamers. The games will screen in competition, just as the films do, and winners will be selected by a jury comprised of game industry professionals and luminaries. Grand Jury Award winners will receive more than $5,000 in cash and prizes. There will also be an Audience Award and a student competition that will offer a summer fellowship with the University of Southern California’s Game Innovation Lab in the Interactive Media Division.

    “We are very excited about the finalists for this year’s GGC,” remarks Sam Roberts, Slamdance’s Games Competition Manager. “This year’s entrants range from biting indictments of modern corporate culture to fantastical adventures crashing castles. We have interactive fiction, beat-em-ups, non-traditional puzzle games and experiments in flow theory. These games push the edges of what games can be and can try to be, experimenting in art style, gameplay, metaphor, story, concept and time.’

    A total of 14 independently designed video game finalists have been selected for the inaugural competition. The nominees are Base Invaders by Seven Sigma and Matt Miner (U.S.); The Blob by Banana Games and Jasper Koning (The Netherlands); Book and Volume by Nick Monfort (U.S.); Braid by Number None and Jonathan Blow (U.S.); Castle Crashers by The Behemoth and John Baez ( U.S.); Cultivation by Jason Rohrer (U.S.); Everyday Shooter by Queasy Games and Jonathan Mak (Canada); flOw by flow and Jenova Chen (U.S.); Once Upon a Time by Waking Games Inc. and Justin Meagher (Canada); Plasma Pong by Steve Taylor (U.S.); Steam Brigade by Pedestrian Entertainment and Ryan Thom (U.S.); Super Columbine Massacre RPG! by Danny Ledonne (U.S.); Toblo by Toblo and Steve Chiavelli (U.S.); and Toribash by Toribash and Hampus Soderstrom (Singapore).

    Descriptions of the games in competition and more information on The Guerilla Gamemaker Competition and the Slamdance Film Festival in general can be found at www.slamdance.com/games.

  • Good Hunting for Cartoon Network

    Cartoon Network enjoyed its highest-rated Thanksgiving ever with help from the very first Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends movie. Good Wilt Hunting premiered on Thursday at 7 p.m. and proved to be the day’s top-rated program on all cable among kids 6-11 and boys 2-11, according to preliminary data from Nielsen Media Research. Counting Friday’s two encore broadcasts, the one-hour special attracted more than 10.5 million unique viewers over the age of two.

    Good Wilt Hunting served as the programming anchor for an all-day marathon of Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends episodes that kicked off at 7 a.m. Cartoon Network also entered a Foster’s float in the 80th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and attracted millions of young Internet users to CartoonNetwork.com to play the year-long Foster’s game Big Fat Awesome House Party.

    ‘Thankfully, these promotional efforts appear to have worked extremely well at satisfying Foster’s core audiences and hopefully inspired program sampling from new viewers as well,’ says Cartoon Network exec VP and general manager Jim Samples.

    Created by Craig McCracken and produced at Cartoon Network Studios in Burbank, Calif., Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends centers on 8-year-old Mac and his imaginary friend, Blooregard, who was sent to a rather unique orphanage when Mac’s mother decided he was too old for invisible pals. In Good Wilt Hunting, the annual Creator Reunion Picnic once again finds a lonely Wilt without a visitor. When he sets out across country in hopes of reuniting with his long-lost creator, the rest of the gang begins to worry and embarks on a road trip to find him.

  • Cartoon Network U.K. Orders More Skatoony

    Cartoon Network UK viewers can look forward to more episodes of Skatoony, an animated game show featuring real kid contestants. The network has commissioned a second season of the half-hour show that is hosted by popular animated characters Chudd Chudders and The Earl.

    The new episodes of Skatoony will be animated entirely in-house by Cartoon Network in London while Talent Television, creators of the kids’ reality series Best of Friends, again handles all live-action elements. The show is created, produced and directed by James Fox. Kevin Narrainen also serves as producer and Finn Arnesen is exec producer for Cartoon Network. Annie Miles exec produces for Talent Television, while Amanda Browning handles producer duties and John A. Marley directs the live-action shoots.

    Skatoony has real-life and cartoon contestants competing in three rounds of wild game show challenges, with the final contestant taking everything in an against-the-clock challenge. Many of the contestants will be chosen via a web competition currently running at www.cartoonnetwork.co.uk. Groups of three friends can play the online Skatoony Quiz Champ Challenge and win the chance to audition live at their school early next year. There have been more than 6000 entries to date.

  • Rudolph, Frosty Re-Releases Get Big Push

    A number of major companies have come on board to support Classic Media’s re-releasing of such timeless, animated holiday specials as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, Frosty the Snowman, The Legend of Frosty the Snowman, Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol and the forgotten classic, Cricket on the Hearth. The comprehensive marketing, promotional and advertising campaign will be supported by such partners as Applebees, Hostess, Keebler, Quaker and Sargento.

    Approximately 1,800 participating Applebees restaurants will help promote Frosty the Snowman and The Legend of Frosty the Snowman through Dec. 31, 2006. The campaign includes Frosty-themed kids’ meal activity books and cups, along with table tent cards and themed stickers for the restaurant wait staff. Kids will also get a coupon for $2 off the purchase of the DVD.

    Hostess will support the release of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer by offering a $3 mail-in rebate on with the purchase of two Hostess products. Meanwhile, more than two million Keebler Holiday Cookie and Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Treats packages will feature a $6 mail-in rebate offer for select Classic Media ‘Christmas Classics.’

    Quaker will offer a special $5 mail-in rebate offer for the various DVDs on approximately one million boxes of their limited edition Cap’n Crunch’s Christmas Crunch cereal, and Sargento will give customers a $3 mail-in rebate for Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman or Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town with the purchase of one specially marked Sargento Cracker and Cheese product.

  • Big Picture Claims Pocoyo for Spain

    Big Picture Ent. has acquired home entertainment rights to the award-winning CG-animated preschool series Pocoyo for Spain. Co-produced by Zinkia Ent. and Granada International, in association with Granada Kids and Cosgrove Hall, the popular show recently won the BAFTA award for Best Preschool Animation and took Best TV Production at the 2006 Annecy Int’l Festival of Animation.

    Big Picture, which manages home entertainment rights for a number of prestigious brands including Cookie Jar’s highly successful TV series Caillou, says it is committed to making Pocoyo one of Spain’s hottest preschool DVD properties of 2007. The first disc release is scheduled for the spring of 2007.

    The title character in Pocoyo is a child with an insatiable curiosity who lives in a world of limitless opportunities. The show’s cast of other colourful characters promote creativity, self-awareness and self-confidence by helping children learn through laughter. Written by Andy Yerkes (Bear In The Big Blue House), and featuring English narration by actor Stephen Fry (Gosford Park, Thunderpants), the series employs 3D animation to create a tactile world that kids find inviting. Currently in its second season, the series airs on Spain’s TVE La 2 and is seen in more than 100 countries worldwide.

  • Game Factory Adopts Taffy’s Pet Alien

    International video game publisher The Game Factory has inked a worldwide publishing agreement with Taffy Ent. to market a Nintendo DS title based on the CG-animated children’s series Pet Alien. Aimed at kids seven and older, the game will launch at retail globally in 2007.

    Produced by Mike Young Prods. with Moonscoop, Telegael, and Europool, Pet Alien is a comedy series about five aliens, Dinko, Gumpers, Flip, Swanky and Scruffy, who take up residence with 12-year-old Tommy Cadle and turn his life upside down. Realizing Tommy is a bit of an underdog, the blundering extra-terrestrials try to help him survive the trials and tribulations of pre-adolescent life but usually end up creating bigger messes. The series is created by Jeff Muncy of John Doze Studios and airs in more than 50 countries.

    “The Game Factory is the perfect partner for an irreverent show like Pet Alien,’ says Cynthia Money, president of worldwide consumer products for Taffy Ent. ‘Their incredible creativity and sense of fun will translate into a video game that engages both fans of the show and gamers of all ages with exciting new worlds and interactions with Tommy and his alien friends.’

    The Pet Alien game will be developed by SHIN’EN, which will use its proprietary, third-generation 3D Nintendo DS engine to integrate unique special effects and a state-of-the-art particle system. The game’s design will emphasize the TV series style and complement it with robot enemies inspired by 1960s-era science fiction entertainment and vintage robot toys.

    The game will be set completely within an enormous robotic spaceship and will require players to use the unique abilities of all five Pet Aliens as they work to rescue Tommy through 50 levels of non-violent gameplay and puzzles. Featuring a tilted, top-down view, the title will also include five stylus-driven mini-games, an adventure mode and a bonus mode that contains an unlockable jukebox and photo gallery.

  • Animation Show Schedule Set

    Cartoon creator Mike Judge (Beavis & Butt-Head, King of the Hill) and Oscar-nominated indie animator Don Hertzfledt (Rejected, Billy’s Balloon) have posted the tour schedule for The Animation Show Year 3, the third incarnation of their traveling festival of animated shorts. The tour will kick off on Jan. 16 in Santa Barbara, Calif., at the Arlington Theater at 8 p.m. From there, the show will travel on to Seattle, Wash., Boston, Mass., Portland, Ore. , New York City, Austin, Texas and a host of other major cities across the U.S.

    Having sifted through thousands of submissions and taken in plenty of festival screenings, Judge and Hertzfeldt have begun to make their selections for this year’s program. Films to be screened include Hertzfeldt’s own latest short, Everything Will be Ok, as well as Run Wrake’s Rabbit, Shane Acker’s 9, PES’ Game Over, Gaelle Denis’ City Paradise, Max Hattler’s Collision, Joanna Quinn’s Dreams and Desires, Remi Chaye’s Eaux Forte and Overtime by Oury Atlan,Thibaut Berland and Damien Ferrie. Other films will be announced closer to the tour kick-off.

    According to the website (http://animationshow.com), some tour stops will feature a live preshow, while others will offer a Q&A with animators from the show or ‘something entirely different. To view the full tour schedule, go to http://animationshow.com/ScheduleHome.

  • Kids’ WB! Hosts Super Sing-A-Long

    Made up of such iconic Warner Bros. Animation characters as Superman, Scooby-Doo and Tom & Jerry, The Kids’ WB! Choir will croon Christmas carols and invite kids to join in during the very first Super Sing-A-Long on Saturday, Dec. 9. Starting at 7 a.m., the special broadcast event will feature sing-along appearances between episodes of popular animated series throughout the Kids’ WB! lineup on The CW.

    Kids at home will be encouraged to harmonize with their favorite characters by followng the bouncing ball as it dances over on-screen lyrics. Youngsters will be able to belt out favorite yule tide with such dynamic duos as Batman and Robin from The Batman, Slam Tasmanian and Danger Duck from Loonatics Unleashed, Omi and Kimiko from Xiaolin Showdown, Johnny and Dukey from Johnny Test and Zick and Bombo from Monster Allergy, among others.

    The morning will also see the debut of special winter-time episodes including the Krypto the Superdog two-part episode ‘Storybook Holiday.’ Everyone’s favorite cat-and-mouse game will follow with the Tom & Jerry Tales installment “Polar Peril,” and Johnny Test will get into the spirit with “Johnny vs. Brain Freezer.” Viewers can then catch The Batman episode “The Big Chill,’ followed by the Xiaolin Showdown adventure “The Deep Freeze.” Kids and their parents can find more information about Kids’ WB! programming online at www.KidsWB.com.

  • Happy Elf Sees Starz

    The Starz Kids & Family premium cable channel will air the CG-animated holiday special The Happy Elf throughout the month of December and during its Christmas Marathon, which kicks off at 10 a.m. on Christmas Eve. The marathon will also include the animated movies Eloise: Little Miss Christmas (2006), An All-Dogs Christmas Carol (1998) and The Nuttiest Nutcracker before ending at 6 p.m.

    Featuring vocal talents of Grammy and Emmy Award winner Harry Connick Jr., The Happy Elf is the story of Eubie, one of Santa’s helpers, whose overly optimistic outlook is put to the test when he tries to bring Christmas joy to the sad little town of Bluesville. The voice cast also includes screen icon Mickey Rooney (The Fox and the Hound), Carol Kane (Scrooged!), Lewis Black (The Daily Show with Jon Stewart) and Rob Paulsen (Coconut Fred’s Fruit Salad Island).

    Based on Connick’s original children’s song of the same name from his 2003 album, Harry for the Holidays, the special was written by Andrew Fishman (Harry for the Holidays TV Special) from a story by Fishman and Scott Landis. Landis is a partner in HC Prods., along with Connick and Ann Marie Wilkins.

    The Happy Elf had its world premiere on NBC last December and was released on DVD by Anchor Bay Ent. More information about the special can be found at www.thehappyelf.com, which offers preview clips, holiday activities, games and various downloads.