Animation Magazine

Author: Ryan Ball

  • Yu-Gi-Oh! Looking for New Monster

    4Kids Ent. and Konami are launching the first-ever Yu-Gi-Oh! “Design your Destiny Card Contest.’ Starting Saturday, Oct. 14, fans of the trading-card game and animated series will be given the chance to submit their original drawings and a name for a new Yu-Gi-Oh! monster. The winner will have his or her design made into an official trading card to be included in a Yu-Gi-Oh! booster pack.

    All submissions must be received by 4Kids Ent. by Nov. 3. A panel of 4Kids judges will then select contest winners from three age categories ranging from 3 to17. The winners will be announced on air in early January on 4Kids TV. In addition to getting their card published the booster pack, set to hit shelves in 2007, winners will receive a Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Tag Force video game from Konami.

    4Kids will also post some of the top submissions in a viewing gallery on www.4kids.tv, where fans will have a chance to nominate their favorite design in various categories.

    Yu-Gi-Oh! debuted as a comic strip in Japan in the late 1990s and has rapidly become an international sensation. The sixth season of the popular anime TV series, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX airs on Cartoon Network in the U.S. and other outlets around the world. A seventh season is now in production. For official contest rules and submission address, go to www.4kids.tv.

  • Trump: The Animated Series?

    For once, it may not be a bad thing for animators to hear the words ‘You’re fired.’ Premiere Publishing Group Inc. (PPG), publisher of Trump Magazine, has announced plans to make an animated series featuring business tycoon and reality TV star Donald Trump. PPG CEO and Trump Magazine editor Michael Jacobson issued a letter of intent on Friday, Oct. 6, between Sobe Life LLC and Trump World Publications Inc. to pursue production on the series, which will also feature other Trump execs in animated form.

    “Our first step is producing two shorts and a pilot to present back to Mr. Trump for approval,” Jacobson comments. “We have interest from major animation houses and television networks to produce the series, and project the shorts and

    pilot to be produced within 90 days, with the series in production first quarter 2007.” Jacobson bought the idea for an animated Trump series from business associate Mitchell Schultz, and retains all rights under a buy/sell agreement.

    Trump won’t be the first billionaire businessman to be animated in his own series. In February of this year, DIC Ent. announced that it is developing a direct-to-DVD animated series with investor Warren Buffet. Now in production, The Secret Millionaire’s Club will consist of 13 titles that promote financial literacy to kids through relatable characters and real-world situations. Featuring the words, voice and likeness of Buffett, the first two installments are scheduled for release this fall.

  • Brave Story to Compete at RomeFilmFest

    Brave Story, an animated feature produced by GONZO, the main production subsidiary of Tokyo-based GDH K.K., has been selected to compete in the children’s films category at the first edition of the RomeFilmFest. Kicking off today, Oct. 13, at the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome, the international film festival will screen around 100 projects from around the world through Oct. 21.

    Brave Story is based on a fantasy novel by popular Japanese writer Miyuki Miyabe. The story revolves around an 11-year-old boy who enters a magical world to find a cure for his mother’s illness. In this enchanted realm, Wataru is befriended by a talking lizard and a baby fire-breathing dragon as he learns the art of magic, collects hidden treasures, encounters monsters and journeys to meet Goddess of the Realm, who can grant a single wish to those who are worthy. Koichi Chigira (Last Exile, Full Metal Panic!) directed the CG-animated adaptation, which was reportedly budgeted at around $10 million. The film is produced by Chihiro Kameyama, a driving force behind Fuji TV’s popular Bayside Shakedown action flick franchise.

    Selected to compete in the category for children 8-13, Brave Story will screen daily from Sunday, Oct. 15, through Thursday, Oct. 19. The film is up against French filmmaker Michel Ocelot’s animated feature Azur et Asmar, as well as live-action productions including the critically acclaimed American pic Akeelah and the Bee. A jury made up of children in the target age group will announce the winner of the Best Film in the category on Friday, Oct. 20.

    The RomeFilmFest is the third international film festival in Italy after the Venice Film Festival and the Torino Film Festival. Other animated features screening at the fest include Richard Linklater’s A Scanner Darkly, Christian Volckman’s Renaissance and DreamWorks Animation’s Over the Hedge (out of competition). For more information, go to www.romacinemafest.org.

  • TOKYOPOP to Adapt Its Own Manga

    Manga producer TOKYOPOP is making its first foray into independent film production with a live-action adaptation of its horror graphic novel, Lament of the Lamb. The film is currently in development and has been chosen as an “In The Spotlight” project at this year’s 19th Annual Tokyo International Film Festival, which will be held from Oct. 21 through Oct. 29.

    Lament of the Lamb is described as a gut-wrenching chiller about a young man who shockingly discovers he may be the last in a bloodline of vampires. Created by Kei Toume and originally published in Japan by Gentosha, the manga is a metaphor for teenage alienation, twisted sexual desire and insanity.

    The film will be produced by TOKYOPOP CEO and chief creative officer Stu Levy. “We are honored to be spotlighted at one of the world’s most significant film festivals,’ he comments. ‘I believe what impressed the committee most about Lament of the Lamb was the distinctive East-meets-West approach to our production. We’ll script the story in Hollywood, attach a Japanese director, cast in the West, and shoot in Eastern Europe. Clearly, this production represents what TOKYOPOP as a media company is all about, from its business model to its creative approach.’

    TOKYOPOP’s previous production credits include the TV series’ Rave Master (Cartoon Network), Reign the Conqueror (Cartoon Network, Showtime), Street Fury (G4TV ) and GTO (Showtime). The company’s popular manga properties Priest and Pet Shop of Horrors were recently acquired for film adaptation by Sony Screen Gems and Focus Features, respectively.

  • DreamWorks Launches First Flight Site

    DreamWorks Animation has announced that the official website for its award-winning short film First Flight has gone live at www.firstflightshort.com. Visitors to the site can learn more about the film and its creators, view an exclusive clip and find out what festivals it’s screening at next.

    First Flight is a seven-minute CG cartoon from DreamWorks Animation veterans Cameron Hood and Kyle Jefferson. In the film, a fastidiously organized businessman has his perspective on life forever changed through an unexpected encounter with a tiny fledgling bird. DreamWorks screened its with Over the Hedge in 400 theaters in New York and Los Angeles last May, making it eligible for Oscar consideration this year.

    Jefferson and Hood crafted Flight over a period of three years while they worked day jobs on DreamWorks Animation films. After seeing a rough cut, studio execs got behind the production and signed on producer Maryann Garger (production manager on Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron) and co-producer by Pilar Flynn (story supervisor on Flushed Away). More than 80 artists from every corner of the studio then jumped on board to lend a hand in between their other projects.

    Hood has been working as a professional animator and teacher for more than eight years. He began his career with DreamWorks in 1997 and has worked on such features as The Prince of Egypt, The Road to El Dorado, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas and Shark Tale.

    A DreamWorks employee since 1996, Jefferson has lent his animation talents to The Prince of Egypt, The Road the El Dorado, Shrek, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas and Shark Tale.

    First Flight has played at such festivals as the South by Southwest Music Conference & Festival in Austin, Texas, the Tribeca Film Festival in New York and the Seattle Int’l Film Festival. Awards include Best Short Film at Anima Mundi in Rio de Janeiro, Best Animation at the Solstice Film Festival, Favorite Animated Short at the Palm Springs Shorts Fest and Best Short of the Year at Toronto’s Rebelfest. The film is currently playing at the Vancouver Int’l Film Festival and will next be seen at the Chicago Int’l Children’s Film Festival.

  • Disney Channel Orders More Charlie and Lola

    A third season of the preschool series Charlie and Lola has been greenlit for Disney Channel’s learning-focused Playhouse Disney block. The show is based on the award-winning children’s book series by Lauren Child and is produced by London-based Tiger Aspect Prods. using digital 2D animation combined with paper cutouts, real textures, photo-montage and archive footage.

    Charlie and Lola has 7-year-old Charlie patiently helping his feisty, but endearing, 4-year-old sister, Lola, through preschool-age challenges such as keeping a clean room, handling new friendships, caring for an injured sibling and being scared of the dark. The ever-helpful Charlie guides Lola through by using logic, humor and the power of imagination.

    “The series does a wonderful job of showcasing preschool-age life lessons through the special bond siblings have,” says Nancy Kanter, senior VP of original programming for Disney Channel. “We are delighted that Charlie and Lola’s tender and humorous relationship will continue to warm the hearts of our young viewers and their parents and caregivers.”

    Currently in its second season, Charlie and Lola airs weekdays at 10 a.m. (ET/PT) and weekends at 11:30 a.m. during the Playhouse Disney block. New episodes are scheduled to air on Oct. 9 and Nov. 10, and a special holiday episode is slated for December.

  • New Lola & Virginias Debut on Animania HD

    VOOM HD Networks’ Animania HD channel will kick off new episodes of the animated series Lola & Virginia on Saturday, Oct. 14, at 2:30 p.m. (EST). Two 12-minute episodes will air back-to-back, filling 13 half-hour programming blocks this month. The show will air regularly on Saturdays and Sundays in the 2:30 p.m. timeslot, repeating at 7:30 p.m. Animania HD will air 13 additional half-hour installments nest year.

    Lola and Virginia is a co-production between Icon Animation, Millimages, France 3, TV Catalunya and ETB. The series is based on an original concept by Myriam Ballesteros, who founded Icon with Sergi Reitg. Aimed at the tween demographic, the show chronicles the rivalry between two twelve-year-old girls clashing over friends, boys and clothes. Lola, who lives in a run-down neighborhood and takes care of her irksome brothers, thought she was the local princess until snooty Virginia came to town.

    The Flash-animated show premiered on Animania HD in the U.S. last June and on Nickelodeon Latin America in July. Icon holds all distribution rights worldwide except for France, French speaking Switzerland, Benelux, the UK, Ireland, Iceland, Australia and New Zealand, which are held by Millimages.

    Featuring new series and specials, along with classic toons remastered to HD quality, Animania HD most recently picked up Gerry Anderson’s New Captain Scarlet, FUNimation Ent.’s anime series Akira Kurosawa’s Samurai 7 and Monster Distributes’ CG cartoons PicMe from Jammedia and Jungle Beat from Sunrise Media. Other offerings include Erky Perky, 2020, Horrible Histories, The Gravediggers Squad, Ratz, Dan Dare’Pilot of the Future and Voltron: The Third Dimension, as well as vintage cartoons The Pink Panther, Dick Tracy, Mr. Magoo and Felix the Cat. Animania HD is one of more than 10 high-definition core channels available through VOOM HD Networks, a subsidiary of Rainbow Media.

  • Mobile TV Awards Given at MIPCOM

    Six programs emerged victorious as the Mobile Screenings and Awards concluded at MIPCOM in Cannes, France. Chosen by an international grand jury from a total of 23 nominated projects, the winning entries were recognized Wednesday evening in a packed auditorium at the 22nd edition of the major television, film and new media market.

    Animation ruled the roost this year as Jokes from Green Paddy Animation Studio took the award for Best Original Made-for-Mobile Film or Video Content. Meanwhile, Best Repurposed Content From Existing Film or TV Property went to On This Day in History (OTDIH) from ITN ON in the U.K. and Best Made-for-Mobile TV Channel was awarded to NHK Mobile-G Channel, a division of NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation). Best Format for Interactive Mobile TV went to Forget the Rules by Global Dilemma Pty Ltd. of Australia and the award for Best Mobile Format for User-Generated Content was snatched up by U.K. company 3 Mobile for its See Me TV service. Finally, the Orange Grand Prize for Innovation Soccer Addicts, a sports talk show from Buongiorno of Italy

    “Mobile TV represents a growing opportunity for the audiovisual content industry,’ comments Paul Johnson, director of the television division of Reed MIDEM, the company that organizes MIPCOM. ‘By creating and hosting the Mobile TV Awards at MIPCOM we aim to play an active role in promoting the development of made-for-mobile content and facilitating commercial transactions on a global level for both TV and film.”

    Sponsored by Orange, Ericsson and the Korean Broadcasting Commission, the 2006 Mobile Screenings & Awards saw a record 290 entries from 34 countries, a 30% increase in submissions from 2005. The grand jury included Ericsson Mobility World VP Kurt Sill’n (Sweden), filmmaker Jean-Charles Fitouss (France), EBU/UER head of Interactive TV Nicoletta Iacobacci (Switzerland), International Program Consultants Inc. managing director Russell Kagan (U.S) and Joongang Broadcasting Co. CEO Mun Yeon Kim (Korea).

  • DreamWorks Ani to issue More Shares

    DreamWorks Animation SKG plans to issue a secondary offering of shares following the Nov. 3 release of its latest CG family flick, Flushed Away, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The toon studio, which went public in October of 2004, was expected to make a secondary offering of 500 shares after the May 2005 release of Madagascar.

    The secondary offering was requested by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who has $700 million invested in DreamWorks Animation and stands get around $220 million back. Meanwhile, about $80 million will be divided between investors Lee Ent. and Paramount Pictures, according to analysts. Allen initially saw a $130 million return on his investment when DreamWorks Animation went public. He will get another $350 million in stock once DreamWorks SKG dissolves HoldCo, the holding company it created to pay back principal investors. DreamWorks principals Jeffrey Katzenberg, Steven Spielberg and David Geffen will get a combined $100 million in DWA shares, and Lee Ent. will receive $55 million.

    There is speculation that the timing of the offering is strategic for Allen, who will get more shares in DreamWorks Animation if the sale price is lower. The price will certainly drop if Flushed Away underperforms as analysts are predicting. The company is then expected to trade higher as Shrek the Third and Bee Movie approach. DreamWorks Animation shares, which originally went for $28 with its IPO, closed at $23.73 on Wednesday.

  • Flying Bark, SLR Team for Gasp!

    Australian comic-book author and illustrator Terry Denton will see his creation brought to the screen with Gasp!, an animated series to be produced by Flying Bark Prods. PTY Ltd. (formerly Yoram Gross-EMTV) and SLR Prods PTY Ltd. This second children’s animated collaboration for the two companies will be co-produced by EM.Entertainment GmbH.

    Gasp! aims to entertain kids 8-12 with glimpses of what goes on when pets are left alone. The tales of chaos are told from the perspective of a hyperactive goldfish. The series of 52 12-minute episodes will be distributed by EM.Entertainment GmbH and has been pre-sold to Nine Network in Australia. Discussions are underway with French and German co-producers.

    Flying Bark and SLR previously worked together on DEADLY!, an animated series based on the best-selling Deadly children’s book series by Morris Gleitzman and Paul Jennings. The project was the first series for SLR, which went on to co-produce I Got A Rocket! with Taffy Ent. That series was animated by Singapore’s Peach Blossom Media Pte Ltd. and Korea’s Sunwoo Ent. A subsidiary of EM.Entertainment GmbH, Flying Bark is the creative force behind such series as Blinky Bill, Flipper & Lopaka, Bambaloo and Art Alive.

  • Nick Takes Domo International

    Nickelodeon has acquired the Japanese stop-motion kids property Domo for broadcast on its international channels. The agreement with New York-based marketing agency Big Tent Ent. will see Nickelodeon premiere the 26 Domo shorts on its networks in Europe, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand in 2007. Earlier this year Nickelodeon, signed on to develop the property with The Domo Production Committee, an affiliate of Japanese television station NHK. At that time, it was announced that the series would air on Nicktoons in the U.S.

    Produced by Media International Corporation (MICO), the two-minute animated Domo installments are aimed at the tween demographic and will be available in 17 languages on the various Nick outlets. The title character is a fuzzy, brown cave-dweller who became a cultural icon with his first appearance as the mascot of in 1998. Domo enjoys kicking back with tea, watching TV and sinking his sharp teeth into seasoned beef with potatoes. He shares his underground habitat with a wise, elderly rabbit named Usajii, who has to put up with Domo’s antics, including his tendency to break wind when he gets nervous or upset.

    Terrestrial rights to the series remain available in many territories. Distributor Joan Lambur of Lambur & Associates is currently at MIPCOM in Cannes exploring additional broadcast arrangements while MICO is handles sales in the Asian territories.

  • ToddWorld Expands with Elastic Deals

    Elastic Rights in Spain has inked TV, DVD and publishing deals for the animated preschool series ToddWorld at MIPCOM in Cannes, France. Produced by Los Angeles-based Mike Young Prods and distributed by Taffy Ent., the award-winning show will air on TVE in Spain in the fall of 2007 and has been renewed by pay-TV outlet Boomerang in Spain, which debuted the initial 26 episodes in December of 2005 has picked up an additional 13 episodes for air next spring of 2007.

    Elastic Rights, which also handles all ToddWorld rights in Portugal, has signed a publishing deal with Gailivro, which will launch a series of books passed on the show by year’s end. In addition, Elastic has closed a DVD distribution deal with Lusomundo in Portugal, where ToddWorld debuted on broadcast network RTP in March of this year.

    Inspired by the best-selling books by Todd Parr, ToddWorld follows the adventures of charismatic six-year-old and his band of friends. The series was nominated for Emmy and Humanitas Awards, and won a Parent’s Choice Award and a Hugo Award.

    Based in Madrid, Elastic Rights works closely with TV, home entertainment, publishing, toys, merchandising and internet companies in Iberia. Other popular cartoon series represented by the company in Spain and Portugal include Cookie Jar’s Caillou, Alliance Atlantis’ Lunar Jim and CCI’s Harry and His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs.

  • Family Guy Art Coming to Beverly Hills

    A collection of art pieces inspired by FOX’s hit animated series Family Guy will be on display next month at The Museum of TV & Radio in Beverly Hills. The exhibit, titled “What the Deuce Are You Staring At!?!,” will feature 21 works of pop art featuring characters from Seth McFarlane’s edgy comedy show about a dysfunctional American family and their talking, martini-sipping dog. Following its 10-week run, the show will hit the road and visit other museums and art galleries around the country.

    Running the gamut from sculpture to oil paintings, the pieces included in the exhibit were commissioned by 20th Century Fox Television Licensing & Merchandising. The event is timed to help promote the Nov. 14 release of the Family Guy Vol. 4 DVD, featuring the second set of episodes from the fourth season.

    McFarlane and members of the show’s voice cast are scheduled to be on hand at The Museum of TV & Radio for the gala opening on Nov. 8. Other stops on the exhibit’s tour include the Van Eaton Gallery in Los Angeles, Animation Connection in Toronto, the Linda Jones Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Animation Art Gallery in London and the Silver K Gallery in Melbourne.

  • NBC Expands Late Night Toon

    Avid viewers of NBC’s Late Night with Conan O’Brien will recall Pale Force, a series of animated shorts introduced by comedian Jim Gaffigan, a regular guest on the talk show. Now the network has ordered 20 new 90-second episodes to debut Thursday nights on Late Night before being posted at NBC.com on Fridays, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

    Originally intended to play into O’Brien’s self-deprecating sense of humor, Pale Force features Gaffigan as brawny superhero Pale Man, who battles villains with the help of his puny, cowardly sidekick, Conan. The dynamic duo foils the evil plans of arch nemesis Lady Bronze by exposing their blindingly white chests and shooting lasers out of their nipples.

    The first Pale Force episode debuted on Late Night in September of 2005 and spawned two follow-up installments. Animated by cartoonist Paul Noth, the shorts have built a cult following, popping up on a number of video web sites including YouTube.com and CollegeHumor.com. They’re also available at JimGaffigan.com.

    NBC will also make the new shorts available on mobile phones. Sprint subscribers will be able to view them free of charge a full week before they debut on Late Night and NBC.com.

  • Hair Raised to Sr. VP at Walt Disney Studios

    As evidenced this week by Google’s $1.65 billion purchase of viral video website YouTube, the internet is once again being seen as the future of content distribution. To help it stay ahead of that curve, The Walt Disney Studios (TWDS) has hired broadband entertainment specialist Arthur Hair to serve as chief technology officer and senior VP. Reporting to president Alan Bergman, Hair will working closely with the studio’s business units to leverage technology to take advantage of emerging media outlets such as the Internet and mobile platforms.

    ‘Arthur is a brilliant technologist and a pioneer in the area of delivering video via the internet,’ says Bergman. ‘We’re thrilled to have an innovator of his stature on our team at this critical juncture in the evolution of entertainment technology.’

    Hair spent the last eleven years at broadband entertainment distribution company SightSound Technologies, where he served as chief technology officer and was the architect of the company’s proprietary Secure Media eCommerce System, which automated the electronic sale of movies and music from geographically distributed data centers around the U.S.

    Since 1993, Hair has received patents in the U.S. and around the world in the fields of audio/video e-commerce, audio/video compression and applied encryption. He began his career at Texas Instruments in its Defense Electronics division as a manufacturing engineer working on Forward Looking Infrared night vision systems.

  • New Nightmare Before Christmas Soundtrack

    In addition to re-releasing the 1994 stop-motion opus The Nightmare Before Christmas in 3D, Disney is putting out a two-disc special edition of the film’s soundtrack on CD. The Walt Disney Records release will hit stores on Oct. 24, just days after the Oct. 20 theatrical debut of the 3D version of the film. Both projects are part of Disney’s 13th anniversary celebration for the animated holiday favorite produced by Tim Burton and directed by Henry Selick.

    The Nightmare Before Christmas Special Edition Soundtrack will include the film’s original score and ten songs by Grammy- and Emmy-winning composer/songwriter Danny Elfman. The second disc will feature nine songs, including five new versions of songs from the movie re-recorded by alternative rock superstars Marilyn Manson, Panic! At the Disco, Fall Out Boy, Fiona Apple and She Wants Revenge. The other four tracks will be never-before-released demos performed by Elfman.

    Converted to 3D via a revolutionary process developed by Industrial Light & Magic, The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D is being released in 200 theaters nationwide on Oct. 20. For more detail on the 3D conversion process, pick up the November issue of Animation Magazine, available now.

  • Yoram Gross-EM.TV Becomes Flying Bark Prods.

    Yoram Gross-EM.TV, a leading Australian producer of children’s animated programming and family entertainment, unveiled its new corporate identity at MIPCOM in Cannes, France. Now known as Flying Bark Prods., the company was re-branded after EM.Entertainment GmbH acquired the remaining 50 percent of Yoram Gross-EM.TV. The new name is intended to reflect the original, bold and contemporary vision of the Sydney-based corporation, which houses four primary divisions including Greenpatch Prods., Forest Interactive and Trackdown.

    ‘The name change symbolizes the innovative approach of the company,’ comments Susanne Schosser, managing director of EM.Entertainment GmbH and Junior.TV GmbH & Co. KG. ‘With Flying Bark Prods., we intimately connect the strengthening of production skills in high-quality entertainment as well as the intensification of activities within the interactive segment.’

    Geoff Watson, managing director of Flying Bark Prods. adds, ‘The new name reflects the new direction the company is heading in. Flying Bark Prods. will continue its strategic relationships with its many international and Australian co-production partners as well as pursuing new production opportunities.’

    The divisions housed within Flying Bark Prods. will focus on diversifying the company’s offerings to include children’s and adult live-action programs and films as well as animation and puppetry productions. Flying Bark Prods. will handle production and distribution while Greenpatch Prods. will develop Australian programming as the creative heart of the company. Meanwhile, multimedia division Forest Interactive will continue to develop new content delivery platforms and interactive games, and Trackdown will provide full audio production services for film, TV, music and multimedia projects.

    EM.TV purchased its initial 50% stake in Yoram Gross in 1999. In January of 2006, EM.Entertainment GmbH, a subsidiary of EM.TV AG, acquired the remaining 50 percent from Yoram and Sandra Gross, who founded the company in 1968.

    The unveiling of Flying Bark Prods. at MIPCOM coincides with the debut of the company’s first new production, Zigby. The 3D-animated project for pre-schoolers is developed by Greenpatch and will be co-produced with ABC Australia.

  • Fans Making the Videos on Habbo

    Members of Habbo, one of the world’s largest online social networks for teens, are making their own animated music videos for Universal Def Jam recording artist Lady Sovereign and Hollywood Records’ Jeannie Ortega. Featuring user avatars dancing to the pop stars’ new songs, the ‘Habbo Fans Version Animated Music Videos’ are part of overall advertising campaigns that include billboards, branded rooms and customized interactive content within the community.

    Fan contributions will be edited into videos for Ortega’s song ‘Crowded,’ which will premiere in mid October, and Lady Sovereign’s ‘Gatheration,’ premiering October 24. In addition to airing on Habbo, the videos will be played on the jumbotrons at upcoming concerts. This is the first time a social networking community has created music videos featuring member avatar characters, and Habbo plans to continue the trend with several other featured artists.

    With more than 1.7 million members in the U.S. and approximately 7.1 million users worldwide, Habbo major brands and artists a platform for reaching teens. To date, brands such as Sprite, L’Oreal and Wal-Mart have all taken part in interactive campaigns within the Habbo world.

    Habbo users join by creating a fully customized online character called a Habbo. From there, they can explore many public hang-outs, play a variety of games, connect with friends, decorate their own rooms and engage in other acts of creativity and self expression. Since its launch in 2000 by Sulake Corp., HABBO sites have been introduced in 21 countries on five continents, and have seen more than 60 million Habbo characters created. Teens interested in becoming members can go to www.habbo.com and click on the ‘check in’ button.

  • Doogtoons Wrangles Weird Al, Tommy Chong

    Doogtoons.com is set to launch a new web series, titled Doogtoons In the Studio, a fully animated celebrity talk show featuring actual celebrity voices. The first episode will debut on Nov. 1 with multi-Grammy Award-winning musician and satirist Weird Al Yankovic and comic legend Tommy Chong.

    Yankovic will be on the show promoting his new album, Straight Out of Lynwood, talking about the making of the CD, how he got his start in showbiz and growing up ‘Weird.’ Best known for the series of films he made with long-time comedy partner Cheech Marin, Chong most recently held down a regular role on That 70s Show. Doogtoons will animate hime talking about the birth of ‘Chong’ as a comedy icon, the secrets behind a possible Cheech and Chong sequel and his recent time in prison. Doogtoons In the Studio will bring in other celebs from the world of film, TV and music with the lure of free publicity.

    Doogtoons is the brainchild of Doug Bresler, who recently picked up the award for Best Animated Short at the 2006 DIY Film Festival, received the First-Place Comedy award on Bolt.com and had one of his original series, Nick and Haig, picked up as part of G4TV’s Midnight Spank programming block. For more information and to check out the Doogtoons shorts, go to Doogtoons.com.

  • Garfield, Fox and the Hound on Disc

    The fat, orange tabby with a taste for lasagna lands on retail shelves today, along with a couple other classic animated critters. This weeks’ slate of home video releases is led by the big-screen sequel Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties and The Fox and the Hound 25th Anniversary Edition, a re-mastered collector’s edition of the marginalized Disney feature.

    Released theatrically over the summer, Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties earned just north of $28 million domestically but was a certified hit overseas, scratching up a worldwide gross of $133 million. The title should also do well on disc as kids follow the lazy, CG-animated cat across the pond. In this latest adventure, Garfield, voiced again by Bill Murray, travels to the U.K. with his owner, Jon Arbuckle (Breckin Meyer). Through a case of mistaken identity, our feline hero lands in the lap of luxury as the ruler of a posh castle, but gets more than he bargained for as the scheming Lord Dargis (Billy Connolly) plots to take over the estate. Jennifer Love Hewitt also reprises the role of Jon’s veterinarian girlfriend, Liz.

    Bonus materials include a Drawing With Jim Davis featurette, an exclusive Garfield comic strip and the interactive games Odie’s Photo Album and Garfield’s Maze. The widescreen version also includes includes footage not seen in theaters. Released by Fox Home Entertainment, the DVD lists for $29.99.

    First released in 1981, The Fox and the Hound features the voices of Mickey Rooney, Kurt Russell, Pearl Bailey, Jack Albertson, Sandy Duncan, Jeanette Nolan, Pat Buttram, John Fiedler, Paul Winchell, Keith Coogan and Corey Feldman. Based on a book by Daniel P. Mannix, the film follows the unlikely friendship between a bloodhound pup and a young fox, who are soon driven apart by the ways of the world. The pic is noteworthy for the involvement of Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston and Woolie Reitherman, three of Disney’s ‘Nine Old Men.’ This was the last time the stalwart animators would collaborate with the studio’s up-and-coming artists.

    Extra features on the DVD include a sing-along featuring th soong ” The Best of Friends,” a Forest Friendship game, an art gallery, a DVD storybook titled New Best Friends and the featurette Passing the Baton: Golden Age animators and the New Breed. Also included are the bonus classic shorts Lambert the Sheepish Lion and Lend a Paw. The Buena Vista Home Entertainment release carries a suggested retail price of $29.99.