Animation Magazine

Author: Ryan Ball

  • Inventor Speeds 3D Conversion Process

    When it was announced that Superman Returns would be released in IMAX 3D along with its conventional roll-out on June 28, many fans were disappointed to learn that only 20 minutes of the film would be presented in 3D. The reason is the short window that technicians have to complete the 2D to 3D process, but that stumbling block will soon be removed, according to Three-Dimensional Media Group Ltd. (3DMG) president David M. Geshwind, the computer graphics pioneer who invented the conversion technology.

    Geshwind licensed two US Patents to enable IMAX to convert select scenes of Superman Returns to 3D. Now he says his company has developed advanced patent-pending technology that permits an entire 2D film to be converted to 3D for simultaneous ‘day-and-date’ release.

    Superman Returns will offer the first major showcase of Geshwind’s patented StereoSynthesis processes, which was first used in the early 1990s to bring dimensional depth to a segment of the original 1933 King Kong. Geshwind says the technology is a great way breathe new life into classic titles, but is most excited about the possibility of seeing an entire film rendered in 3D on its initial release date. He also says 3DMG will apply the technology to other field such as medical imaging, education, scientific visualization, TV, video games and advertising.

  • Cuppa Coffee to Animate New E! Show

    According to Adam Shaheen, president of Cuppa Coffee Studios, the animation house is working with U.S. cable network E! Entertainment to produce a stop-motion TV series tentatively titled Starveillance. From the mind of Celebrity Deathmatch creator Eric Fogel, the show will aim to offer a unique look at the cult of celebrity. Fogel will write scripts and serve as creative director, working alongside long time Cuppa Coffee director Andrew Horne, who will lend his talents as animation director.

    Cuppa Coffee recently produced a new season of Celebrity Death Match that debuted June 10 on MTV2. MTV has also hired the studio to produce Rick and Steve, a specially commissioned stop-mo show for new gay-and-lesbian channel LOGO. The series is created by Alan Brocka and is based on a popular, independently produced short of the same name.

    Also in production at Cuppa Coffee is Bruno and the Banana Bunch, new U.K. preschool show about to commence, as well as an unnamed Flash series. Three other shows are in development and the studio is in talks to animate a number of productions in the works around Toronto.

  • Nick Jr. Orders More Wonder Pets!

    Nick Jr. has greenlit a second season of the animated preschool series The Wonder Pets! Since its premiere on March 3, the show has consistently ranked among the top three preschool programs on all of commercial television.

    Created and exec produced by Josh Selig of Little Airplane Prods. Inc., The Wonder Pets! follows the adventures of a guinea pig named Linny, a duckling named Ming-Ming and a turtle named Tuck, who travel the world in their jet-powered, flying boat and use teamwork to save other animals in distress. Promoted as the first mini-operetta for preschoolers, the show has its cuddly stars singing to music written and developed by Tony and Grammy-winning composers. Musical contributors have worked on such Broadway productions as Avenue Q, Monty Python’s Spamalot and Fiddler on the Roof.

    To bring its animal stars to life, the team at Little Airplane employ a cut-out style of animation dubbed ‘photo-puppetry animation,’ which allows animators to manipulate photographs of real animals.

    The Wonder Pets! airs regularly on Nick Jr. weekdays at 11 a.m. (ET/PT), and has been sold to 67 countries around the globe including 49 countries in South America and the Caribbean, three countries in Europe and 15 countries in Asia and Asia Pacific.

  • UC Irvine Offers Manga & Anime Class

    With Japanese comics and animation continuing to take root in American pop culture, the University of California, Irvine extension program has created a new course titled ‘Manga & Anime Explosion: What, Why, How & Wow!” Starting Sept. 26, students will gather every Tuesday evening for a month to explore and discuss the art forms and the impact they have made on Western civilization and the world at large.

    “Manga and anime have had a significant influence on today’s entertainment medium in recent years, including films like Kill Bill and The Matrix,” says Dr. Kirwan Rockefeller, director of UC Irvine Extension’s Arts and Humanities program. “UC Irvine Extension is pleased to announce this innovative, cutting-edge course that is reflective of our global society’s interest in these fascinating art forms.”

    Aimed at screenwriters seeking to expand their writing skills and passionate fans of manga and anime, the course will have students applying methods of story and character development found in manga to screenwriting, advertising, information publishing and other creative endeavors. Class will be presided over by screenwriter Northrop Davis, who has written for Sony and 20th Century Fox. Most recently, he pitched the Battle Angel Alita manga series to Fox, which has put it in production with director James Cameron at the helm. Davis plans to bring in guest speakers from U.S.-based manga magazines and anime production companies.

    The five-week UC Irvine Extension course will be held on the UC Irvine campus and is open to the public at the cost of $185. To register or view more information, go to www.unex.uci.edu or call 949-824-5414.

  • Toon Boom, ITE Build Singapore Training Center

    Animation software maker Toon Boom Animation Inc. has teamed with Singapore’s Institute of Technical Education (ITE) to create a Centre of Excellence that will provide animation training in Singapore. Both Toon Boom and ITE will promote the institution in South East Asia for those seeking professional certification. The partnership was announced during the 9th annual Canadian ICT Partnering Forum in Singapore.

    With the support of the Media Development Authority and the Canadian High Commission, Toon Boom has increased its level of activity in Singapore, starting with the introduction of animation master class workshops earlier this year.

    Toon Boom president and CEO Joan Vogelesang comments, ‘As we feel that Canada holds a leading position in the global animation industry and building on Toon Boom’s expertise in animation production, we hope to participate in Singapore’s vision to become a center of excellence for interactive digital media.”

    Toon Boom won a primetime Emmy for engineering in 2005. The company’s client base includes both independent animators and major studios such as Nelvana, Klasky Csupo, Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Universal, Mercury Filmworks, Alphanim, LuxAnimation, Cosgrove Hall, King Camera, Cromosoma and Lanterna Magica. High-profile productions created with Toon Boom products technology include Sylvain Chomet’s Les Triplettes de Belleville, Warner Bros.’ Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Nickelodeon’s Rugrats, Paramount’s The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie and Universal’s Curious George feature. For more information, go to www.toonboom.com.

  • Editor’s Note: Criterion Brings On the Summer Equinox

    Most fans of Ray Harryhausen movies and schlock horror films have at least heard of a little cult gem titled Equinox. I first caught this one on cable outlet AMC, back when they were actually showing classic movies, and hastily threw a tape into the old hi-fi VCR. Now I’m happy to report that I can finally retire that poor VHS recording because Criterion today released its special 2-disc DVD of this low-budget thriller featuring stop-motion monsters and other ingenious visual effects by kids who would grow up to become some of the biggest names in the industry.

    Armed with a 16mm Bolex camera and about $6,500, a young Dennis Muren and a handful of friends set out into the wilderness outside of Los Angeles to make an ambitious, Harryhausenesque epic in the late 1960s. Muren would, of course, go on to win multiple Oscars for his visual effects work with ILM on such seminal films as Star Wars: Episode V’The Empire Strikes Back, Jurassic Park, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, The Abyss and E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial.

    Equinox‘s impressive lists of credits also includes master stop-motion animator and matte painter Jim Danforth, who received Oscar nominations for his effects work on the 1964 favorite 7 Faces of Dr. Lao and the 1970 prehistoric classic When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth. Helping out with the stop-mo effects in Equinox was Dave Allen, who would later be nominated for an Oscar, along with Muren, for his work on 1985’s Young Sherlock Holmes. Allen, who passed away in 1999, also lent his talents to Ghostbusters II and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids before spending his later years bringing stop-motion monsters to life for successful schlock king Charles Band, producer of such cult faves as Puppet Master, Robot Jox, Demonic Toys and Subspecies. In addition, Equinox‘s assistant cameraman was a young Ed Beagly Jr., who went on to star in TV’s St. Elsewhere and numerous films.

    Equinox centers on a group of college students whose innocent afternoon picnic becomes a harrowing fight for survival when they come upon ancient book and inadvertently unleash otherworldly horrors. Many films have been accused of ripping off Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead, but this is the film The Evil Dead ripped off! Though Raimi has never copped to it, the similarities between the two films are too striking to chalk up to mere coincidence.

    Though technically less impressive than the Evil Dead films, Equinox is a monument to what can be achieved with little money and a whole lot of imagination. It’s just one of those movies you have to see to believe. The acting is pretty bad, the voices are all dubbed in and you can literally see the strings on some of the effects. But who cares about all that when you have teenagers fighting a lumbering giant, a winged demon and a massive, purple, ape-like creature from another dimension? Some viewers will find the achievement impressive while others will simply laugh, but most will find it entertaining, which is more than you can say of many of today’s overblown Hollywood money pits.

    Muren eventually sold Equinox to producer Jack H. Harris, who shot additional footage and cut out some of the original effects before getting it a theatrical release. That version and the previously unreleased, original version are both included on the DVD, along with commentary by Muren, Danforth, Harris and others. Bonus features also include a video introduction by legendary publisher Forest J. Ackerman (whose voice is heard in the film), interviews with Muren and cast members, deleted scenes and outtakes, an extensive gallery of rare stills and promotional materials, a trailer and radio spots for the original release. On top of all that, you get a short film titled Zorgon: The H-Bomb Beast from Hell (1972), made by the Equinox cast and crew, as well as Dave Allen’s rare animated fairy tale The Magic Treasure and his acclaimed King Kong Volkswagen commercial. There’s also a 32-page booklet with tributes from George Lucas and Ray Harryhausen, and an essay by Brock DeShane.

    Like most Criterion releases, the list price is a bit steep at $39.95, but you get a lot of bang for your buck with all the extras. Fans of mainstream movies will probably want to take a pass, but those who appreciate bizarre cinema, stop-motion animation and low-budget, creature feature drive-in fun (you know who your are!) will definitely want to add this one to their collection.

  • Super Toons Arrive on DVD

    With Warner Bros.’ eagerly awaited Superman Returns coming to theaters next week, retail shelves are being flooded today with all sorts of DVD releases based on DC Comics’ Man of Steel. I addition to live-action offerings such as the third and fourth seasons of the classic George Reeves TV series from the 1950’s and the first season of the obscure 1980s Superboy series, we get season two of Warner Bros. Animation’s Justice League, volume three of Superman: The Animated Series from the 1990s and the all-new animated feature Superman’Brainiac Attacks, featuring the return of Tim Daly and Dana Delaney, who voiced Clark Kent and Lois Lane in Superman: The Animated Series.

    Justice League Season Two from the DC Comics Classic Collection features Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Hawkgirl and Martian Manhunter as the leaders of the ultimate crime-fighting syndicate. Villains encountered this time around include the Joker, Amazo, Despero, Dr. Destiny, the Justice Lords, Vandal Savage, Darkseid, Deadshot, Lobo, Eclipso, Giganta, Clayface, Sinestro, Shade, Ultra-Humanite, Parasite and the Royal Flush Gang. All 26 episodes of the 2001 season are included on four discs, along with commentary by the show’s creators on three episodes and a behind-the-scenes documentary titled Justice League Declassified, hosted by Green Lantern voicer Phil Lamarr. The show’s many devoted fans can pick it up for the suggested retail price of $44.98.

    Superman’The Animated Series, Volume 3 is a two-disc set featuring the final 18 installments of the show’s 54-episode run. Storylines include three two-parters featuring villain Darkseid and the introduction of Supergirl. Extras include audio commentary on select episodes with creator Bruce Timm and directors, a never-before-seen deleted scene Easter Egg with an introduction by Timm, and a featurette titled Superman: Behind The Cape, in which David Kaufman (voice of Jimmy Olsen shows viewers how an episode comes together. The Warner Home Video release lists for $26.98.

    Superman: Brainiac Attacks is a brand-new, feature-length extension of Superman: The Animated Series. The Warner release sees Supes going toe-to-toe with old enemies Lex Luthor and Brainiac, while also wrestling with his desire to disclose his identity to the lovely Miss Lane. While Daly and Delaney reprise the lead roles, the seies’ Lex Luthor, Clancy Brown (HBO’s Carnivale), has been replaced by Powers Boothe (HBO’s Deadwood), and the role of Brainiac, voiced by Corey Burton in the series, has been turned over to Lance Henriksen (Aliens). This latest adventure carries a list price of $19.98.

    The super fun gets a bit more humorous with Krypto the Super Dog, Volume 1’Cosmic Canine. Geared to younger kids, this cartoon throwback debuted on Cartoon Network last year, introducing tykes to Superman’s dog, who jettisons to Earth after orbiting countless years in space as a test-pilot aboard a malfunctioning rocketship built by Jor-El. Having landed, the super pup finds companionship in a young boy named Kevin Whitney and together they combat threats to the safety and well-being of the people and animals of Metropolis. The disc offers five episodes, plus a guided tour of Krypto’s spaceship and an unaired promo introduction to the series. Also from Warner Home Video, the rekease lists for $14.98.

  • [adult swim] Paddles to TELETOON

    The Detour, Canadian broadcaster TELETOON’s answer to Cartoon Network’s [adult swim], is adopting a slate of shows from its U.S. counterpart. Starting this September, [adult swim] favorites Robot Chicken, Tom Goes to the Mayor, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, 12oz Mouse and Squidbillies will join the Detour lineup, which already features Cartoon Network originals Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Venture Bros. and Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law.

    “By acquiring the original [adult swim] titles, TELETOON is fulfilling its promise of offering different, smart and fearless entertainment for our 18-34 fans,” says Carole Bonneau, VP of programming for TELETOON. ‘The current success of our post-9 p.m. block is a critical stepping stone towards building a stronger and distinct destination for more mature viewers, setting itself apart from our kids and family fare. The addition of the new [adult swim] acquisitions to our fall line-up can only serve to better anchor this destination.’

    Robot Chicken will join the Detour lineup on Fridays at 10 p.m., followed by Tom Goes to the Mayor at 10:30 p.m., Space Ghost Coast to Coast at 11 p.m., 12oz Mouse at 11:30 p.m. and Squidbillies at 12 a.m. Harvey Birdman installments and new episodes of Aqua Teen will fill in the 15-minute gaps throughout. The shows will premiere as part of TELETOON’s F-Night block, which was introduced last winter to boost adult male viewership. The [adult swim] titles will then air Saturday through Thursday during The Detour.

  • Nick’s Wubbzy! Gets Multiplatform Sneak

    Before it joins the Nick Jr. lineup on Aug. 28, the new animated series

    Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! will be introduced to viewers via mobile phones, broadband video and a video podcast. Exclusive sneak-peek content including never-before-seen music videos and character segments will launch simultaneously every Tuesday from June 20 through Aug 22 on wireless carriers, Nick Jr. Video at Nickjr.com, on-air on Nick Jr. and on The Wubbcast,

    Created by Bob Boyle Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!, centers on a curious little creature named Wubbzy, who lives in the mythical city of Wuzzleburg. With the help of pals Widget and Walden, he tackles everyday kid problems so he can pursue such interests as chasing flutterflies, eating ice cream and playing hippity-hopscotch. Widget is a mechanical whiz and inventor who owns her own fix-it shop, and Walden is a quirky scientist who finds great wisdom in everything from ancient philosophy to tarot card reading. Each half-hour episode will feature two, 10-minute adventures with themes that are reinforced with original music videos.

    Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! is produced by Bolder Media for Boys and Girls in association with IDT/Film Roman. Creator Boyle is exec producer, along with Susan Miller and Fred Seibert, co-founders of Bolder Media for Boys and Girls. Nickelodeon will initially air 26 episodes of the show on its 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.

  • JEN to Mint More Anime for U.S.

    Having brought the hugely successful Dragonball Z property to the U.S. on Cartoon Network, Japan Entertainment Network (JEN) has its sights set on producing an aggressive slate of anime shows targeted primarilyto kids in North America. According to Daily Variety, the joint venture between Turner Entertainment Network Japan and the Itochu company has created a special department devoted to establishing production partnerships with outside anime and comic creators.

    As Japan’s satellite broadcaster of Cartoon Network, JEN tailored U.S.-produced toons such as The Powerpuff Girls for Japanese viewers. Now the company appears to be more interested in exporting than importing.

    In two years’ time, JEN plans to be producing around two new animated series per year, working with companies in the U.S. and other countries. All projects will be squarely aimed at kids 6-11, a demographic that has made massive hits of such Japanese anime properties as Pok’mon and Yu-Gi-Oh!.

  • Garfield Gets Cars’ Scraps

    There was nothing but leftovers for 20th Century Fox’s Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties, which had a tough time competing at the box office over the weekend. The sequel starring a CG version of the famous comic strip cat earned an estimated $7.2 million, finishing at No. 6 behind a mix of buzz-worthy newcomers and scrappy holdovers. Despite losing some horsepower in its second week, Disney/Pixar’s Cars was still tops with families, raking in around $31 million for another first-place finish.

    The first Garfield movie did far better when it opened in June of 2004, taking in more than $21 million in the shadow of Warner Bros.’ Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The kid pic did most of its business overseas, making around $198 million worldwide before scoring additional scratch on home video. With the sequel off to such a bad start, foreign markets and DVD sales will really have to pick up some slack in order to warrant a third big-screen outing for the lasagna-craving, orange feline and his pal, Odie.

    Cars lost nearly half of its audience in its sophomore weekend but crossed well over the $100 million mark and managed to hold off new challengers Nacho Libre from Paramount, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift from Universal and The Lake House from Warner Bros. Though they couldn’t catch up to Pixar’s latest computer-animated spectacle, all three did well with top-four finishes.

    Nacho Libre came in at a close second with around $27.5 million, followed by Fast and the Furious with a respectable $24 million. The Lake House, a romantic drama with a supernatural twist, managed an estimated $13.6 million, stealing the female audience from Universal’s The Break Up, which came in at No. 5 with approximately $9.5 million. Meanwhile, DreamWorks Animation’s Over the Hedge held onto a top-ten spot with around $4 million for the weekend and a 5-week cume of about $138.7.

    Cars has another week to pull off the trifecta before Warner Bros. releases the highly anticipated Superman Returns on Wednesday, June 28. The next animated feature on the horizon is Richard Linklater’s A Scanner Darkly, which opens in select cities on July 7 before rolling out wider in subsequent weeks. Disney’s eagerly awaited Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest also opens on July 7.

  • Contest Seeks Comic-Book Talent

    Platinum Studios, controller of one of the world’s largest independent libraries of comic-book characters, has teamed with San Diego television station NBC 7/39 to discover new talent with the Comic Book Challenge. New and unpublished writers and artists nationwide are encouraged to submit their work at www.nbcsandiego.com contests through July 5. The winning comic concept will be developed for print, online, film and TV.

    On July 20, the top 50 semi-finalists will pitch their concepts live to a panel of industry insiders at the San Diego Comic-Con. The judges will include Terminator producer Gale Anne Hurd, Top Cow Comics founder and CEO Marc Silvestri and Platinum Studios chairman and Malibu Comics founder Scott Mitchell Rosenberg.

    “It is very hard to break through into comics and get noticed by industry luminaries. The Comic Book Challenge allows creators and aspiring fans a new opportunity to get their concepts reviewed and turned into an entertainment property,’ says Rosenberg, who discovered the Men In Black property and developed it into a billion-dollar entertainment franchise.

    Comic book fans will be able to vote for their favorite comic concepts at www.nbcsandiego.com/contests starting at midnight on July 20. The top three finalists will then pitch their ideas on NBC 7/39’s Streetside San Diego with Kimberly King on July 21. Voting will be open through midnight on July 24. The winning entry will be published in March of 2007 by Platinum Studios, which will work with the creator to develop the property for film and television.

    Platinum Studios’ library of intellectual properties includes more than 3,800 characters that have appeared in more than a billion comics. The prcompany has a number of projects set up at major film studios, include a sci-fi epic titled Unique at Disney and Cowboys & Aliens at Sony. More information can be found at Platinum Studios www.platinumstudios.com.

  • Empire to Bring Earthworks’ Z-Force to Asia

    Empire International Merchandising Corp. has inked a deal to distribute Earthworks Ent.’s animated home video series, Z-Force, in the Asian marketplace. The deal marks Earthworks’ first commercial deal for its entertainment-driven merchandise licensing property, and puts Z-Force in good company with The Simpsons, Transformers: The Movie and Ice Age: The Meltdown, which are also handled by Empire in Asia.

    Z-Force revolves around normal teens who learn that they each possess the power to transform into a superhero representing one of the 12 animals of the Chinese/Asian Zodiac. Once in costume, the characters all exhibit the primary animal characteristics attributed to the year of their birth, and secondary animal characteristics associated with the month of their birth. Clips from the series can be seen at www.earthworksentertainment.com. More information on Empire’s lineup is available at www.EmpireMultimedia.com.

  • IDGE Launches Gaming Reality Show

    Interactive entertainment and information provider IDG Entertainment (IDGE) today announced the debut of Creating Kaos, an original reality-based video series that follows a new game development studio as it sets out to make the world’s greatest massively multiplayer online game (MMOG). The first episode went live today on www.games.net.

    Headed by CEO Damon Grow, San Francisco-based Shattered Reality Interactive Inc. is a 40-person, all-volunteer game development company that is out to provide some tough competition for Blizzard Ent.’s wildly successful MMOG, World of Warcraft.

    “There’s a one in one million chance you can beat World of Warcraft. And if you’ve never designed a game before, no chance,” says legendary Quake and Doom designer John Romero, who serves as on-camera commentator for Creating Kaos.

    “There’s humor, real drama and some amount of insanity,” adds Wendy Chan, series director and video producer for IDG Ent. “But throughout it all, you can’t help being touched by Damon’s commitment and unwavering optimism.”

    Creating Kaos is part of IDGE’s slate of original video productions specifically developed for gaming enthusiasts. Other offerings include the pop-up video-style game trivia series Attack of the Factoids, the short video series Hi-5s, and Behind the Screens, a documentary-style look at what goes on behind the scenes of the most popular video games.

    A new 3-5 minute episode of Creating Chaos will be posted on Games.Net every Friday. A total of 5 episodes have been filmed and another 15 are in production. In addition to producing video content, IDGE maintains a portfolio of gaming magazines including GamePro magazine, Star Wars Insider magazine, Code Vault magazine, and the IDG Entertainment Industry White Paper. The company’s online network includes the web sites GamePro.com, GamerHelp.com, GameDownloads.com, BlogFaction.com, StarWars.com, Modojo.com, Savvy.com, WGWorld.com and MegaGames.com. For more information, go to http://www.games.net.

  • PBS Joins Verizon’s TV Lineup

    U.S. telephone company Verizon Communications has inked a multi-year deal with the Public Broadcasting Service and the Association of Public Television Stations to provide public television programming over its new fiber-optic Fios TV subscription television service. In each market, Verizon will carry as many as three digital public television stations and their multicast outlets, which include the cartoon-focused PBS Kids Go, and Spanish-language station Viva TV.

    “This agreement is a major step forward for public service media in our country,’ comments John Lawson, president and CEO of the Association of Public Television Stations. ‘It is the culmination of hard work by APTS, PBS and Verizon to ensure that public television’s content is available to consumers who choose to receive their television programming from Verizon. At a time when some in Congress question the important contribution that public television stations make to the communities they serve, Verizon’s commitment to public television and to delivering high-quality programming to its growing television-customer base is significant.’

    PBS stations are home to a number of award-winning animated favorites including Arthur, Clifford The Big Red Dog, Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks, Dragon Tales, Bob the Builder and Franny’s Feet. Newly added toon and hybrid series include Curious George, Fetch! and It’s a Big Big World, and 2007 will see the addition of a CG-animated show titled Animalia.

    Currently available in seven states, Verizon’s Fios TV service delivers more than 400 all-digital channels, including two dozen high-definition channels, as well as an extensive library of on-demand content. News of the PBS deal follows last week’s announcement that the service will carry the FUNimation Channel. The 24-hour digital anime network from Navarre Corp.’s FUNimation Ent. will be added to the FiOS TV Premier package this summer, offering some of the most popular anime brands in the U.S.

  • Cartoon Network Nabs Pok’mon Exclusive

    Cartoon Network in the U.S. will be the exclusive broadcast carrier of Pokemon: Battle Frontier, the ninth season of the successful cartoon series in which kids duel with their pocket-sized monsters. Scheduled to debut this fall, the all-new episodes will take Ash and Pikachu back to the Kanto region to complete the Battle Frontier, seven ultimate tests that will challenge Ash’s skills as a Pok’mon Trainer.

    “We’re thrilled to be the new home of Pok’mon in the U.S., and to be bringing first-run, never-before-seen episodes of this tremendous series to our audience,” says Bob Higgins, senior VP of programming and original animation for Cartoon Network. “We’re looking forward to working with Pok’mon USA to grow Battle Frontier into a top television destination for boys and girls of all ages.”

    On June 3, Cartoon Network debuted Pok’mon Chronicles, which was never before seen in the U.S., during its Toonami action block. Featuring a mix old friends, unsung heroes and villains, the series focuses on what the characters do when they’re not accompanying Ash on his action-packed journeys.

    Celebrating its 10th worldwide anniversary this year, the Pok’mon property was launched in Japan in 1996 with a game for Nintendo’s Game Boy system. The brand has since generated more than $25 billion in worldwide retail sales. More than 14 billion trading cards have sold globally to date, and the animated Kids’ WB! series consistently ranked among the top shows for boys ages 6-11.

    Late last year, Pok’mon USA ended its successful, eight-year, exclusive relationship with 4Kids. All brand activity outside of Asia is now is being handled by Pok’mon USA Inc.’s own licensing group. For more information, go to www.pokemon.com.

  • Taffy Toons Go In-Flight

    Mike Young Prods.’ popular animated shows Pet Alien, ToddWorld and Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks will soon be entertaining kids on planes and trains. International rights, distribution and brand management company Taffy Ent. has signed a deal with portable in-flight entertainment provider digEcor, which will add the shows to its digEplayer kids’ package.

    All three cartoon shows will be shown on Alaska Airlines starting in July, and will be available to Amtrack passengers in August via a deal with partner company Railway Media. Springville, Utah-based digEcor hopes to sell the package to an additional sixteen international airlines.

    DigEcor’s handheld digEplayer is a brandable, portable in-flight entertainment device that features a 7-inch screen and hard-drive that comes loaded with movies, music, TV shows and music videos. The company has content deals in place with major Hollywood studios and other leading distributors.

    “This deal is indicative of our desire to reach out to non-traditional distribution

    outlets.’ says Taffy Ent. exec VP Regis Brown. ‘This is a non-exclusive ancillary rights deal and one that sets the foundation for many more to come. The strength of Mike Young Prods.’ product is opening up non-traditional doors for us, while

    helping to increase our brand presence in the market place.”

    Jointly owned and operated by Mike Young Prods. and French animation company MoonScoop, Taffy Ent. handles a library that includes more than 2,400 half hours of animation. Key titles include MoonScoop’s Code Lyoko, Titeuf, The Fantastic Four, Funky Cops, Doctor Dog and Little Vampire, and Mike Young Prods.’ Growing Up Creepie, I Got A Rocket! and Dive Olly Dive! The company also distributes third party properties including Sunwoo Ent.’s Mix Master: King of Cards and Entara’s Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks.

  • Garfield Back on the Big Screen

    That lazy orange tabby with a taste for lasagna leaps from the funny pages to the silver screen for the second time in 20th Century Fox’s Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties, a sequel to the 2004 hit, Garfield: The Movie. The CG-enhanced comedy opens in nearly 3,000 theaters today, challenging Disney/Pixar’s Cars for the lion’s share of the family audience.

    Garfield : A Tale of Two Kitties is directed by SpongeBob SquarePants Movie scribe Tim Hill, who cut his directorial teeth on Columbia Pictures’ Muppets in Space and Disney’s Max Keeble’s Big Move. 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.

    Garfield creator Jim Davis produced the sequel, which again combines live-action footage with a CG Garfield animated by the team at vfx house Rhythm & Hues. After numerous 2D-animated TV specials and a regular series, Garfield’s 3D makeover proved profitable with the first movie, which earned $75.3 million domestically on its way to $198 million worldwide.

    This latest effort faces tough competition from the fully animated Cars, which opened to $60 million last weekend and may just win another race or two before running out of gas. Also taking the track this weekend is Universal’s The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, but the box office cup just may go to Paramount’s Nacho Libre, a Jack Black comedy vehicle written and directed by Napoleon Dynamite helmer Jared Hess. Amid all that racing and wrestling, Warner Bros. hopes to reel in female audiences with The Lake House, a supernatural romance flick starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock.

  • World Premieres Set for Anaheim Anime Fest

    Now in its 15th year, the Anaheim Anime Fest will kick off at the Anaheim Convention Center on July 1, offering four days of programs for fans of Japanese animation and Manga. This year’s schedule of screenings boasts six world premieres of TV series and features from top anime studios.

    Attendees will be among the first to get a look at episodes of the series Muteki Kanban Musume from Telecom Animation Film, Project Blue Earth SOS from Studio A.C.G.T, The Coyote Ragtime Show from ufotable and Ultraman Max from Tsuburaya Prods. There will also be world premieres of the features Mirror Man Reflex, a live-action kaiju entry from Tsuburaya Prods., and Tank S.W.A.T. 01, Digital Tokiwa Village Project’s and DOGA Prods.’ adaptation of the Dominion manga by world famous author Masamune Shirow (Ghost in the Shell, Appleseed).

    The fest will also screen Haya Miyazaki’s classic Howl’s Moving Castle and Spirited Away, and such various titles as Train Man, Ghost In The Shell 2: Innocence, Millennium Actress, Kamikaze Girls, Tree of Palme, Azumi, Escaflowne, Cutie Honey Live Action, Ergo Proxy, Shakugan no Shana, Gorjira, Kamichu, Kannazuki no Miko, Hellsing Ultimate and Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. All screenings will be projected in 35mm on a massive screen.

    Registration for Anime Expo 2006 is now available online at www.anime-expo.org. Attendees are encouraged to check the site periodically for the latest video announcements and program schedule updates.

  • Strawberry Shortcake Ripe for Big Screen

    DIC Ent. and Fox Home Entertainment will bring American Greetings Corp.’s Strawberry Shortcake to theaters with the property’s first-ever full-length movie. Titled Sweet Dreams, the CG-animated movie is slated to open across the U.S. this October.

    Written by Carter Crocker (Jungle Book 2, Winnie The Pooh series, Return to Neverland), Sweet Dreams will re-introduce the Purple Pie Man of Porcupine Peak, who has not appeared in Strawberry Shortcake productions in more than 20 years. The villain will stroll into town and cause trouble for Strawberry as she sets out to grow of fresh new fields of berry bushes that will yield enough tasty goodness everyone. In order to stop the Purple Pie Man, our heroine and her friends must travel to the Land of Dreams, learning an important lesson about teamwork along the way.

    First introduced by American Greetings Corp., in 1980, Strawberry Shortcake became a hugely successful girls’ brand and spawned a series of animated dvideo releases and TV specials. The property has generated more than $1 billion in worldwide retail sales and boasts around 300 licensees worldwide.

    As part of the extensive marketing program planned for the upcoming movie, Strawberry Shortcake worldwide licensing agent DIC has planned a exclusive promotion with Toys ‘R’ Us. In additon, special webisodes will advertise the film to the 400,000-plus members of the Strawberry Shortcake Friendship Club website, and American Greetings will distribute promotional e-cards at www.ag.com.

    In conjunction with the release of Sweet Dreams, DIC will team with American Greetings and their partners will introduce new products, including toys from Playmates Toys and DVD releases from Fox Home Entertainment. Video games, a movie soundtrack and a Strawberry Shortcake Baby program are also in the works.