Animation Magazine

Author: Ryan Ball

  • Jolie’s Lips Prepped for Kung Fu Panda

    DreamWorks Animation announced today that Academy Award-winning actress and tabloid headliner Angelina Jolie will lend her voice to the upcoming CG-animaed feature Kung-Fu Panda. Slated for release in May of 2008, the action-comedy will also feature the voices of Jack Black, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, Dustin Hoffman and Ian McShane.

    Set in ancient China, Kung Fu Panda centers on Po the Panda (Black), a lowly waiter in a noodle restaurant who gets a chance to take his kung fu fanaticism to a whole new level when a prophesy names him the “Chosen One” to protect his land from powerful enemies. Jolie will play Tigress, one of the martial arts masters who undertake the seemingly impossible task of transforming the slacker into a lethal weapon. John Stevenson and Mark Osborne (Father of the Pride) are directing and Melissa Cobb is producing.

    The film reunites Jolie and Black, who previously worked together on DreamWorks’ 2004 animated hit, Shark Tale. Jolie is also working on Robert Zemeckis’ performance-capture adaptation of Beowulf, which will be released in late 2007.

  • Cosgrove Hall Hitched to RocketBoy

    U.K. animation house Cosgrove Hall, which recently restructured to focus on the creation of original intellectual properties, has announced its first IP deal. The company will work with Korean animation studio Imagestone Inc. and London based Village Prods. on RocketBoy & Toro, a series that will air on BBC. London based Indigo Film and Television will handle distribution.

    Managing director Anthony Utley joined Cosgrove Hall last year help the Manchester based company create new and owned IP and expand into action-adventure and comedy programming. ‘We are very happy to have sealed this deal bringing RocketBoy & Toro into the Cosgrove Hall fold,’ he comments. ‘This is the start of plans to expand our drawn animation productions internationally as well as in the U.K. and I’m hugely pleased that we’re able to begin that process with RocketBoy & Toro.”

    Offering comedy, action and adventure for kids 5-8, RocketBoy & Toro will follow the escapades of a galactic delivery boy and his feisty guard-sheep. The studios are producing 52 11-minute episodes of the show. Imagestone is creating the animation while Village performs audio post work and Cosgrove Hall handles all other post duties.

  • No ‘GO’ for PBS KIDS

    In April, we reported that PBS had slated an October launch for PBS KIDS GO!, a 24-Hour digital broadcast channel for early elementary school kids. Now the public broadcasting entity says it has scrubbed those plans and is instead weighing other options for reaching that ‘underserved’ audience, including video-on-demand and other new media platforms. In the future, PBS may return to the idea of a 24-hour linear digital broadcast channel to extend its successful PBS KIDS GO! afternoon programming block.

    According to PBS, member stations supported the concept of a 24-hour educational service for the early elementary school set, but an insufficient number of them are in a position to financially sustain such a service. For now, the target demographic will continue being served by the two-hour PBS KIDS GO! block and its online component at pbskidsgo.org. Plans to extend the brand and the line-up of PBS KIDS GO! series through additional platforms will be announced in the next few months.

    The PBS KIDS GO! Channel was to include WGBH Boston’s new animated/live-action series FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman, which debuted in May during the PBS KIDS GO! block. Other GO! shows include Kidsworld Sports, Wishbone and Kratts’ Creatures, with a CG-animated show titled Animalia set to join the lineup in 2007. More information on these programs can e found at www.pbskidsgo.org.

  • Editor’s Note: Looking Through A Scanner Darkly

    In recent months, we’ve seen a virtually endless parade of animated movies targeting family audiences with loveable, anthropomorphic characters in light-hearted, comedic adventures. And while that sort of thing certainly has its place, it’s also nice to get something different ever once in a while. That need has been nicely filled by Warner Independent Pictures with the release of director Richard Linklater’s A Scanner Darkly. Though mainstream audiences will largely take a pass, this brilliant film is sure to become a cult classic and may even garner a few nods come Oscar time.

    A Scanner Darkly is based on the novel by famed science-fiction author Phillip K. Dick, who wrote the source material for the hit films Blade Runner, Total Recall and Minority Report. The film 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. turns in another Oscar-worthy performance as 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 originally shot live-action on digital video and then turned over to a core group of 50 animators who painted over the scenes with RotoShop, the interpolated rotoscoping software Bob Sabiston developed for Linklater’s innovative 2001 feature, Waking Life. Whereas Waking Life presented a dream-like, painterly world, Scanner is more grounded in reality but tilts things just enough to immerse the viewer in a state of altered reality, much like its drug-addicted characters.

    Unlike Blade Runner and Total Recall, A Scanner Darkly is not heavy on action. As with Linklaters previous films, Slacker, Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, the pic deals mostly in dialogue that is at times humorous and often cryptic, but always engaging. Viewers expecting another Animatrix will be disappointed, but others will find this unpredictable neo-noir ride trippy on a whole different level.

    Inspired by Dick’s own experiences with drug addiction, the story is a cautionary tale for a society that is growing more chemically dependent by the day. ‘There are no weekend warriors on the D,’ Barris says at one point. ‘You’re either on it, or you haven’t tried it.’ As the movie goes on, the characters slip deeper into paranoia and the audience is never quire sure what’s really going on until the big reveal, which is difficult to see coming.

    Sources close to Linklater say he may be finished with animation because he finds the long process frustrating, but that would be a shame. One can only hope that this film is successful enough to create a demand for more animation that caters to adult sensibilities and takes risks rather than sticking to tried’and-true formulas.

    While not recommended for everyone, A Scanner Darkly is the perfect prescription for adult moviegoers who need a break from wise-cracking forrest critters and talking automobiles. As Barris might say, there are no weekend warriors on the Scanner. Either you get it or you don’t.

    A Scanner Darkly opens today in select cities before rolling out wider over the next couple of weeks. More details on the making of the movie can be found in the August issue of Animation Magazine, now available at Barnes & Noble locations and other booksellers.

  • Pirates Seek More Treasure

    Disney’s eagerly awaited Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest is sure to plunder plenty of booty over the weekend as it sets sail in 4,133 theaters across North America to challenge Warner Bros.’ Superman Returns for the box office title. The film’s opening promises to be even bigger than its 2003 predecessor, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, which debuted to $46.6 million on its way to $654 million worldwide.

    By all indications, Industrial Light & Magic does another stellar job with the effects work, which involved creating 14 CG-animated characters. One of the film’s many vfx highlights is the transformation of actor Bill Nighy into the mythical Davey Jones, portrayed in this film as a human/sea creature hybrid with a face full of tentacles and a crab’s claw for a peg leg. Other vfx houses contracted for the pic include Asylum, The Orphanage, Method Studios, Tippett Studio, Caf’ FX and Proof Inc.

    In the film, Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) owes his soul to Jones and must find a way to save himself from suffering for eternity as a member of the fiend’s army of sea phantoms. Orlando Bloom and Kiera Knightley return as Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann, Sparrow’s reluctant partners in swashbuckling. Even Geoffrey Rush reprises the role of the villainous Barbossa from the first movie. He and the rest of the main cast are already at work on the third installment, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, which is expected to debut on May 25, 2007 (Memorial Day weekend).

    Judging by the rate of presales at MovieTickets.com and Fandango.com, Pirates is on track to surpass 20th Century Fox’s X-Men: The Last Stand, which is the reigning summer champ with $230.4 million domestically. Pirates opened at midnight to packed houses and has sold out the first 24 hours of around-the-clock screenings at Disney’s El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood.

    Opening in limited release today is director Richard Linklater’s animated mind bender, A Scanner Darkly. Based on the novel by sci-fi legend Philip K. Dick, the film employs the interpolated rotoscoping technique Linklater used in Waking Life to transform live-action digital video into lively animation. Keanu Reeves stars as drug enforcement agent with a split personality assigned to monitor the movements of a paranoid group of addicts sharing a home in suburban Orange County, Calif. Robert Downey Jr., Winona Ryder, Woody Harrelson and Rory Cochrane fill out the cast. Warner Independent Pictures has released the flick in 17 theaters in select cities and will roll it out wider in the coming weeks. For more information on the making of A Scanner Darkly, pick up the August issue of Animation Magazine, available now at Barnes & Noble locations and other booksellers. Also, be sure and read this month’s editor’s note at www.animationmagazine.net/article.php?article_id=5627 for additional details and reactions to the pic.

  • Superman Busts IMAX Records

    As Warner Bros.’ Superman Returns soared at conventional theaters over the Fourth of July weekend, Superman Returns: An IMAX 3D Experience shattered every opening-week record for a simultaneous release of a Hollywood motion picture. Imax Corp. reports that the superhero pic earned $6.83 million for a record seven-day per-screen average of $89,804. In addition to performing to sell-out crowds domestically, the flick broke IMAX’s international record by taking in an average of $67,888 on 11 screens. The film will launch at 24 more large-format venues in the coming weeks.

    “The IMAX 3D release of Superman Returns is off to an incredible start in Asia and based on strong pre-sales in Europe, it looks like this is the beginning of a worldwide success story,” says Veronika Kwan-Rubinek, president of international distribution for Warner Bros. Pictures.

    IMAX Corp. used its proprietary 2D to 3D conversion technology to render approximately 20 minutes of Superman Returns in stereoscopic 3D. During four select sequences of the film, a visual cue designed by director Bryan Singer indicates when audiences should put on and remove their IMAX 3D glasses. Among other things, the technology affords moviegoers an enhanced look at the movie’s extensive visual effects work provided by Sony Pictures Imageworks, Framestore CFC, The Orphanage, Rhythm & Hues, Frantic Films Pixel Liberation Front, Digital Neural Axis, New Deal Studios Inc., Rising Sun Pictures, Lola Visual Effects and Photon VFX.

    Over the long holiday weekend, Superman Returns raked in more than $106 million domestically. Despite setting records for an IMAX opening, the movie still has a long way to go to catch up with the 3D version of The Polar Express, which has earned more than $60 million at IMAX theaters since opening in the winter of 2004.

  • Yin Yang Yo! Debuts Online

    In an unprecedented move, Jetix Europe and the Walt Disney Co. will debut their new animated television series on the web starting next week. On Monday, July 10, animation fans can go to www.jetixtv.com to get their first look at Yin Yang Yo!, a Flash-animated comedy from the producers of The Fairly OddParents. The show will hit the airwaves in the U.S., Europe, the Middle East and Latin America in October.

    Aimed at kids 6-11, Yin Yang Yo! is the first comedy-focused original production for the Jetix platform, which typically serves up action properties. The show follows polar opposite twin rabbits named Yin and Yang, who must put their differences aside as they train to become Woo Foo Knights and prevent Carl the Evil Cockroach Wizard from plunging the world into eternal darkness. Helping them along the way is Master Yo, a grumpy, old panda bear who also makes sure they get their homework done, eat their vegetables and do all the things normal kids do.

    Yin Yang Yo! is created, directed and exec produced by Fairly OddParents producer Bob Boyle. Comedian and veteran animation scribe Steve Marmel (Johnny Bravo, The Fairly OddParents, Danny Phantom) is the head writer and co-exec producer. Animation is completed at George Elliot Animation in Canada, with a small team of Flash animators also working at Disney’s campus in Burbank, Calif. Marmel tells us he’s thrilled about the episodes starting online because it provides an immediacy that television doesn’t offer.

    Jetix Europe holds all television, home video and consumer products rights for Yin Yang Yo! in Europe and the Middle East. Home video licensing and merchandising is being handled by Jetix Consumer Products, and TV distribution is serviced by Buena Vista International Television, which will launch the property with 26 half hours at MIPCOM Jr. in October.

  • Danger Rangers Gets Licensing Boost

    Charlotte, North Carolina-based edutainment company Educational Adventures has hired prominent licensing and marketing industry consultant Rafe Offer to represent the company’s animated Danger Rangers brand as chief licensing officer. Offer previously served as director and brand manager at Walt Disney Consumer Products, where he helped to grow sales from $50 million to $800 million for such properties as Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh.

    ‘Rafe Offer is a consummate licensing and marketing executive whose incredible track record of success in launching and expanding high-profile brands across the spectrum of consumer categories will play a significant role in the continued expansion of the Danger Rangers brand,’ says Educational Adventures CEO Mike Moore.

    Offer joined Disney after serving as director and manager of global marketing and licensing innovation at The Coca-Cola Company. He was also part of the executive team leading the global licensing business for Diageo Plc., where he created global licensing programs for such well-known brands as Guinness and Johnnie Walker.

    Educational Adventures’ flagship brand, Danger Rangers is an award-winning, original, animated television series that employs a colorful cast of animal characters, comedic action-adventure stories and catchy songs to empower children to make better safety decisions. The show currently airs on public television and various VOD systems. A complementary book and DVD series are available at retailers and online shopping sites.

    Led by executive producers Howard Kazanjian, a producer on Star Wars: Episode VI’Return of the Jedi, and Larry Huber, exec producer of Powerpuff Girls and Dexter’s Laboratory, the Danger Rangers creative team has collectively won more than 100 Emmy and Oscar awards, according to the company. Educational Adventures established the Media for Family Foundation and develops strategic campaigns with for-profit and not-for-profit entities to support childhood injury prevention. For more information, go to www.DangerRangers.com.

  • Toons Up for Emmys

    The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences today announced nominations for the 58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, pitting Cartoon Network, FOX and Comedy Central against one another in the race for top animated show. Hosted this year by Conan O’Brien, the awards ceremony will be televised from the Los Angeles Shrine Auditorium by NBC on Sunday, Aug. 27. The awards for animation will be handed out during the Creative Arts Primetime Emmys, to be held on Aug. 19, also at the Shrine Auditorium.

    Nominees in the Outstanding Animated Program (less than one hour) are Cartoon Network’s Camp Lazlo from creator/exec producer Joe Murray, Cartoon Network’s Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends from creator/exec producer Craig McCracken, FOX’s Family Guy from creator/exec producer Seth MacFarlane, FOX’s The Simpsons from creator/exec producer Matt Groening and Comedy Central’s South Park from creators/exec producers Trey Parker and Matt Stone.

    Getting nods in the Outstanding Animated Program (one hour or more) category are Discovery Channel’s Before The Dinosaurs from Impossible Pictures production in association with Discovery Channel and Nickelodeon’s Escape From Cluster Prime from Nickelodeon Studios and Frederator Inc.

    HBO blew away the competition this year by garnering 95 of the 451 separate nominations. The closest competitor is ABC with 64 noms. HBO has two shows in the running for Outstanding Children’s Program’ HBO Original Programming’s Classical Baby 2 and HBO Documentary Films’ I Have Tourette’s But Tourette’s Doesn’t Have Me, produced in conjunction with the Tourette Syndrome Association. Also up for the award are Disney Channel’s High School Musical from Disney, Salty Pictures and First Street Films, and Nickelodeon’s Nick News With Linda Ellerbee: Do Something! Caring for the Kids Of Katrina from Nickelodeon Studios with Lucky Duck Prods.

    The animated series Get Ed from Disney and Jetix Animation Concepts is up against live-action competition in the category Outstanding Main Title Theme Music. Written and performed by Amin Bhatia and Ari Posner, the Get Ed theme is up against Edward Shearmur’s work in Showtime’s Masters Of Horror from IDT Ent., Nice Guy Prods., and Industry Ent.; Chris Gerolmo’s theme for FX’s Over There from 20th Century Fox Television and Steven Bochco Prods.; Ramin Djawadi’s work on Prison Break from Original Film, Adelstein and Parouse in association with 20th Century Fox Television; and Jeff Beal’s composition for HBO’s Rome from HBO Ent. in association with the BBC.

    In the Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series category, SCI FI Channel gets a nod for the Battlestar Galactica episode ‘Resurrection Ship’Part 2.’ The series from R&D Television in association with NBC Universal Television Studios faces tough competition from ABC’s Lost (‘Live Together, Die Alone’Part 1 & 2’) from Grass Skirt Prods. LLC in association with Touchstone Television, HBO’s Rome (‘The Stolen Eagle’) from HBO Ent. in association with the BBC, ABC’s Surface (Episode #101) from Pates in association with NBC Universal Television Studio and Discovery Channel’s Perfect Disaster’Super Tornado from Impossible Pictures in association with Discovery Channel.

    SCI FI Channel also garnered a pair of nominations for Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special with The Triangle’Part 1 from Bryan Singer’s Bad Hat Harry Prods. and Electric Ent., as well as the SCI FI Pictures original creature feature Mammoth from Pliny Minor Prods., which director Tim Cox tells us was intended to play like a live-action Warner Bros. cartoon. Aslo up for the award are Discovery Channel’s Before The Dinosaurs from Impossible Pictures in association with Discovery Channel, TNT’s Into The West from Hell On Wheels and Dreamworks Television PBS’s Great Performances production The Nightingale from Agat Films & Cie, Arte France and Mikros Image in association with Thirteen/WNET New York and Image Plus, Schweizer Fernsehen DRS, AVRO Television, ORF, SVT, YLE, and ARTV.

    During the Creative Arts awards presentation, additional juried awards may also be given for voice-over performance, individual achievement in animation and interactive television. The announcement of these awards, if any, will be released in mid-July. This year’s complete list of nominees can be found at www.emmys.org/media/releases/2006/rel_pte58_noms_pluslist.php.

  • NBC to Remake Rankin & Bass’ Santa

    Daily Variety reports today that the NBC network is re-imagining the 1974 Rankin & Bass stop-motion holiday special, The Year Without a Santa Claus, as a two-hour, live-action production. Produced by Mark Wolper’s The Wolper Co. in association with Warner Bros. Television, the movie will be completed in time to air this holiday season.

    The new script from Larry Wilson and Tom Martin will revisit the year that Santa Claus decides to take a year off but ends up saving Christmas from the mischievous Heat Miser and Snow Miser. City Slickers helmer Ron Underwood is reportedly directing actor John Goodman in the title role, which Mickey Rooney voiced in the animated pic. Supporting performances will be supplied by Ethan Suplee (My Name Is Earl), Chris Kattan (Saturday Night Live), Eddie Griffin (Date Movie) and Carol Kane (Scrooged). According to the trade, the new version won’t be a musical, but fans of the original animated production can expect a few nods to the perennial holiday favorite, which is owned by Warner Bros.

    Though they produced many television shows and films during their careers, Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr. are best known for animated holiday specials such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Frosty the Snowman and Mad, Mad Monster Party.

  • Tribune to Syndicate Family Guy

    Tribune Broadcasting has inked a deal with Twentieth Television to air Seth MacFarlane’s Emmy Award-winning animated series, Family Guy, on the Tribune Broadcasting station group in the fall of 2007. The off-net syndication deal will see the irreverent comedy premiere in 20 major markets.

    ‘We’re always looking to acquire engaging, high-quality programs to refresh our local lineups,’ comments Tribune Broadcasting president John Reardon. ”Family Guy’ fits that description and we look forward to the show having a positive impact on ratings and revenues across our group.’

    Family Guy will air on such local stations as WPIX in New York, KTLA inLos Angeles, WGN in Chicago, WPHL in Philadelphia, WLVI in Boston, KDAF in Dallas, WDCW in Washington, KHCW in Houston, KCPQ-KTWB in Seattle, WBZL in Miami, KWGN in Denver, KTXL in Sacramento, KPLR in St. Louis, KWBP in Portland, WXIN-WTTV in Indianapolis, KSWB in San Diego, WTIC-WTXX in Hartford, WXMI in Grand Rapids and WGNO-WNOL in New Orleans.

    Currently in its fifth season, Family Guy had a rocky start on FOX in 1999. The show struggled to find an audience as the network moved it around on the schedule, eventually canceling it in 2002. Its revival is attributed to its performance in reruns on Cartoon Network’s [adult swim] and on DVD, where it has sold more than nine million DVD units, outperforming The Simpsons, South Park, Seinfeld, Friends and Everybody Loves Raymond.

    A production of 20th Century Fox Television, Family Guy picked up Emmy awards for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance in 2000 and Outstanding Music and Lyrics in 2002. In addition, the show today earned its third nomination for Outstanding Animated Program.

  • Discovery Kids Hosts Time Warp Trio Marathon

    Time-traveling action, adventure and learning will be served up in heaping helpings as Discovery Kids presents a marathon of Time Warp Trio episodes on Saturday, July 15. Beginning at 4 p.m., the special presentation will include brand-new installments of the animated series, which is based on the popular book series of the same name by author Jon Scieszka (The Stinky Cheese Man, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs) and illustrator by Lane Smith.

    In the series, 10-year-old city kids Joe, Sam and Fred get their hands on a magic book that has the power to send them anywhere in time or space. Through their adventures, they battle gladiators and march into battle with samurai when they’re not visiting historical figures such as Napoleon, Genghis Khan and Thomas Edison. Each episode is created in consultation with historians to provide historical lessons while entertaining young viewers with high adventure.

    In the seven new episodes slated to premiere during the marathon, the gang visit the Stone Age, come face-to-face with Frankenstein author Mary Shelley and her fearsome creation, meet up with Machiavelli in 1503 Renaissance Italy, join Robert F. Scott’s historic expedition to the South Pole, overhear an urgent radio transmission from aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart, take on Suleiman the Magnificent and his 16th century Ottoman Empire and pay a visit to Lady Agnes Randolph in 14th century Scotland.

    Time Warp Trio is produced for Discovery Kids by WGBH in association with Soup2Nuts. WGBH’s Carol Greenwald serves as exec producer, along with Martha Ripp and Jim Rapsas. Marjorie Kaplan is the exec in charge of production. Major funding was provided by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

  • Di-Gata Defenders Comes to TELETOON

    Nelvana’s gaming and anim’-inspired animated series, Di-Gata Defenders, is slated to debut on TELETOON this summer. The broadcaster will exclusively air three back-to-back episodes as a 90-minute CINETOON presentation on Saturday, Aug. 5 at 5 p.m. (ET/PT).

    Di-Gata Defenders is created by Greg Collinson, who pitched the show to Nelvana execs during the production company’s yearly open call session. The series follows the adventures of Seth, Melosa, Erik and Kara, teen warriors who have been learning to harness the earth’s energy to prepare them for their battle against the Order of Infinis and the awesome power of the Megalith. As the spell that binds Megalith’s spirit in four stone prisons weakens, the four remaining Di-Gata Defenders must reunite the stones and recast the spell in order to save their realm from the reign of evil.

    In mid-August, TELETOON will launch a Di-Gata web site through www.teletoon.com. The site will offer single player games, a multi-player online role-playing game, an online forum, a regular blog by Collinson, contests and downloads. In addition, a competitive dice game is expected to launch with the series’ official debut in 2007.

  • John K., TELETOON Align with Zodiacs

    Toronto-based Portfolio Entertainment Inc. has inked a development deal with Canadian broadcaster TELETOON for its recently optioned rights to the Zodiac Girls web property. Ren & Stimpy creator John Kricfalusi has come on board to serve as animation designer for The Zodiacs, an animated comedy action series based on the popular web destination for girls.

    The Zodiacs will chronicle the cosmic adventures of a dozen Solar Superheroes who represent the signs of the Zodiac. Posing as average teenagers, the galactic gal pals defend earth from the malicious 13th Zodiac sign, a 13 year-old boy who is seeking revenge for a thousand years of neglect. The show is being written by veteran Canadian scriptwriter and story editor Erika Strobel, who is also currently working on Portfolio’s animated tween series Carl.

    Created by Rosina Rothman and Jill Akahoshi of Los Angeles-based 3 Muses LLC, the Zodiac Girls characters have attracted more than 500,000 visitors to www.zodiacgirlz.com each month. The site has logged more than seven million page views, making the Yahooligans directory of most popular girl sites.

    Kricfalusi launched his loveably disgusting dog-and-cat team with the 1990 short Big House Blues, which Nickeloden turned into The Ren & Stimpy Show. Creative differences led to his departure from the show in 1993, but he would later return to the characters with the 2003 series Ren & Stimpy Adult Party Cartoon, which enjoyed a brief run on cable outlet Spike TV.

    Portfolio Ent. co-founders and presidents Lisa Olfman and Joy Rosen received the 2003 Rotman Canadian Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Export Excellence and were featured in Animation Magazine‘s list of 25 Rising Women in Animation.

  • B.O. Fireworks for Superman

    Superman Returns flexed its box office muscles both domestically and abroad over the weekend. The latest big-screen outing for DC Comics’ Man of Steel pulled in approximately $74 million in North America over the long Fourth of July weekend, bringing its total to around $106 million since opening on Wednesday. Receipts from 11 foreign markets kicked in another $20 million for Warner Bros., which was no doubt hoping for an even bigger debut.

    Despite topping the charts at home and abroad, Superman Returns has failed to match the success of Sony’s Spider-Man films. The first flick based on Marvel’s web slinger series crossed the $100 million mark on its opening weekend, while its sequel opened to $88 million. Even Marvel’s X-Men, a marginal superhero franchise compared to Superman, has done better at the box office. The latest installment, X-Men: The Last Stand, debuted to $102 million in May.

    Providing an alternative to the testosterone-fueled vfx extravaganza was 20th Century Fox’s The Devil Wears Prada, which dared to open opposite Superman and proved to be quite in vogue with moviegoers. The Meryl Streep chick flick earned and estimated $39 million over the three-day period, pulling ahead of holdovers with higher theater counts. Sony/Revolution’s Click dropped to third with around $29 million while Disney/Pixar’s Cars placed fourth with an estimated $22 million. Paramount’s Nacho Libre took in around $9.5 million to finish out the top five.

    Cars, which has taken in around $190 million domestically, picked up some more foreign coin over the weekend as it gradually rolls out wider in Europe. Overseas box office for the CG comedy currently stands at around $24 million, bringing its worldwide total to approximately $214.4 million. Disney is looking to stuffing its treasure chest even fuller as the studio releases the highly anticipated Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest on Friday.

  • Animation Gets Heroic at Comic-Con

    The 2006 edition of Comic-Con Int’l in San Diego will feature a special panel discussion titled ‘Animating Comic-Book Heroes.’ Animators who worked on such major comic adaptations as Spider-Man, Superman Returns, Hellboy and Blade will be on hand to discuss their work and unique challenge of bringing famous heroes and villains to life in scenes involving digital animation.

    Panelists lined up for the program are Sony Pictures Imageworks pros Spencer Cook, animation director on Spider-Man, and Andy Jones, animation director on Superman Returns. Joining them from the Animation Mentor character animation school are Dovi Anderson, senior animator on Hellboy, and Chris Williams, lead animator on Spider-Man. The participants’ various other credits include Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, The Animatrix and The Matrix Reloaded. Each will show examples of their work and demonstrate their personal techniques as they discuss such topics as how to determine the best technique in creating digital characters and how to balance respect for iconic characters with cinematic needs.

    The hour and a half-long program will be held on Thursday, July 20, at 4:30 p.m. in room 6A at the San Diego Conference Center. Taking place July 20-23, this year’s Comic-Con will offer a host of comic-book, film and video-game related events. More information can be found at www.comic-con.org.

  • Director Talks Superman: Brainiac Attacks

    Curt Geda knows his superheroes. After working as a storyboard designer on the 1993 fan-favorite home video feature Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, he went on to helm episodes of The New Batman Adventures, Superman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond and X-Men Evolution. In addition, the talented director has put his stamp on the feature-length outings Batman Beyond: The Movie, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker and Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman. After recently hopping over to the Marvel universe to bring fans the direct-to-video feature Ultimate Avengers and the upcoming Ultimate Avengers 2: Rise of the Panther, Geda returned to DC’s main attraction with Warner Home Video’s all-new adventure, Superman: Brainiac Attacks.

    A feature-length continuation of the popular 1996 show, Superman: The Animated Series, Brainiac Attacks sees the man in tights taking on old enemies Lex Luthor and Brainiac, while also wrestling with his desire to disclose his identity to the lovely Miss Lane. Series voicers Tim Daly (Clark Kent/Superman) and Dana Delaney (Lois Lane) reprise their roles in this action-packed story animated by Lotto Animation in South Korea.

    As Super-mania grips the world, Geda was kind enough to take some time out of his busy schedule to talk to us about producing and directing the last son of Krypton’s return to animation.

    Animation Magazine Online: As beloved as the series is, there must have been a lot of pressure to please the fans with Brainiac Attacks. What were some key elements this movie had to have?

    Curt Geda: As I had felt very fortunate to work at Warner Bros. Animation at the time when they changed the face of action/adventure animated cartoons, I was thrilled when they called with the opportunity to produce and direct this film, Superman: Braniac Attacks. The Superman series had been my first experience as a director more than ten years ago and this superhero has always held a soft spot in my heart. Warner Home Video desired the ‘classic’ style of the series for the fans, but they also wanted humor and a certain lightness in its tone as per the first two feature movies. As to my personal vision for the film, I wanted to inject humor, romance, explore the use of the secret identity and tie it all together in an epic look. [Writer] Duane Capizzi was very important, and he always brings a sense of humor to a story. We pushed the romance angle up a bit and made it multi-level. Duane did a terrific job in capturing a voice for the characters. The storyboard crew embraced the humor angle with their staging, but always respected the animated series by never resorting to camp.

    Was there an attempt to update the animation style a bit, or was the team dedicated to matching the look and feel of the series?

    Geda There was a conscious effort to capture the very best of the series style. My knowledge of the evolution of the series helped me to decide what needed to change and what worked better as it was. The small pre-production crew was extremely talented and brought a fresh and epic look. Sequence director Doug Murphy has a theory on staging similar to mine and was of crucial help keeping the action strong despite our extremely short schedule. Marina Levikova was a designing machine. She gave us background layouts and environments that were iconic, lush and emotional. Kyle Jolly, associate producer, was creatively involved and skillfully kept us on time and on budget. A huge recognition goes to Lotto Animation in South Korea. Mr. Doh and his crew gave us some amazing animation even though the animation is so demanding and larger than life.

    What are you working on next?

    Geda: The only constant in the industry is to look for the next project, so that’s what I’ll do. But for the moment, my wife and I are doing some home renovations while I rest and recharge. Meanwhile, I’m trying my hand at writing and developing my own property while I’m trying to finish my ceiling on time and on budget.

    Superman: Brainiac Attacks is now available from Warner Home Video, and comes with a free ticket for Warner Bros.’ blockbuster theatrical feature, Superman Returns.

  • Geneon, Production I.G Animate French Diva

    Anime producer and distributor Geneon Ent. (USA) Japanese animation studio Production I.G have teamed to develop and produce an animated music video for internationally renowned French recording artist Mylene Farmer. According to Geneon president and CEO Eiji Orii, the entirely animated video for Farmer’s song, “Peut-etre toi,” (“Maybe You”) opens the door for future collaborations between the two anime powerhouses.

    Geneon recently bolstered its expansion into the anime market with the aid of a two billion yen investment fund arising from a joint venture between its parent company, Dentsu Inc., and the Mitsubishi Corp.

    Production I.G is best known for producing the international hit features Ghost in the Shell and Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, along with the TV incarnations Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd Gig. The studio’s other high-profile credits include the anime segment in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill: Vol. 1, the new anime series Blood+ and IGPX, the feature film xxxHOLiC – A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Mamoru Oshii’s latest directorial effort, Tachigui: The Amazing Lives of the Fast Food Grifters.

    A superstar on the French pop scene, Farmer has sold millions of records and earned a footnote in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the top-selling music single of all time with “Desenchantee.”

  • VES FEST Examines Animation

    This year’s edition of the Visual Effects Society’s Festival of Visual Effects will feature a special focus on our beloved art form with panel discussion titled ‘Creating Life One Frame at a Time: The Art of VFX Animation.’ The program is part of a full schedule of events taking place July 6-8 at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. A number of leading vfx and animation pros will be on hand during the three-day extravaganza to discuss their work on top films and TV shows, including the summer blockbusters Superman Returns and Cars.

    The VFX Animation panelists will include Chiodo Bros. Prods. principal Steven Chiodo, Lord of the Rings vfx supervisor Randy Cook, Antz and Over the Hedge director Tim Johnson and ILM senior visual effects supervisor Dennis Muren. Vfx supervisor/cinematographer Bill Taylor, ASC from Illusion Arts will moderate as the distinguished guests discuss their own work before and after the digital revolution, and some of the unexpected consequences that come with change. A visual demonstration will accompany the program, which is scheduled for 10 a.m. ‘ 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, July 8. For more information on the 2006 VES Festival of Visual Effects, go to www.visualeffectssociety.com/vesFestival.

  • Screenplay Comp Offers Comic Deal

    The Screenwriting Expo 5 Screenplay Competition has upped the ante this year by teaming with comic book studio Dabel Brothers Prods. (DB Pro) to turn the winning entry into a comic-book series or graphic novel. DB Pro will give the project a $50,000 budget and will sell the finished product in bookstores around the world. The grand prize winner will also receive $20,000 in cash as part of the Expo’s overall $100,000 prize purse.

    DB Pro’s previous successes include Robert Jordan’s 100 million-selling The Wheel of Time: New Spring and the top graphic novel of 2004, George R. R. Martin’s The Hedge Knight. Since Screenwriting Expo 5 is calling for all type of scripts, any genre is fair game for comic adaptation.

    The winner in the new Short Screenplay category will have a chance to have his or her script produced by onwaecan Films with a budget of $10,000. Another entrant will be flown out Albuquerque, New Mexico to make their short film in one week as part of the Duke City Shootout competition.

    In addition, Writers Boot Camp is granting two winners entry into its 22-month long career development Think Tank, a $17,000 value. Through this program, writers develop three features and hone their skills to succeed on a professional level.

    Manager Andrew Kersey, who has sold projects to DreamWorks, Nickelodeon, the Weinstein Company and Montecito Pictures, will also choose a script to develop and send to several major buyers. The writers of the top-20 screenplays will additionally have access to more than 350 production companies, agencies and managers. Each scribe will be partnered with a consultant or working writer, who will give them professional feedback on their work.

    The contest winners will be announced the last day of the expo, which takes place Oct. 19-22 in Los Angeles. In addition to Dabel Brothers Prods., onwaecan Films, Duke City Shootout and Writers Boot Camp, sponsors include Write Brothers, Truby Studios, Creative Screenwriting magazine Script Pimp and YourBestDraft.com. For morel information, go to www.screenwritingexpo.com.