Animation Magazine

Author: Ryan Ball

  • Cookie Jar’s Spider Riders in TELETOON Web

    TELETOON in Canada has picked up broadcast rights to Cookie Jar Ent.’s Spider Riders, a co-production with Japanese advertising agency Yomiko. The 52×30 series, which is Cookie Jar’s first Canadian-Japanese co-production in the action adventure genre, made its debut at MIP-TV this week in Cannes, France. The show is set to premiere on TELETOON with a movie special to be followed by a daily strip beginning this June.

    Spider Riders centers on 11-year-old Hunter Steele, who is magically transported into the fantastic subterranean world of Arachna, a land of eternal day where the sun is Earth’s molten core and waterfalls flow toward the sky. Here evolution takes a different twist, where the giant insects rank as the dominant species. Trapped in this world, Hunter discovers a lost civilization and helps defend them by joining the Spider Riders, an elite group warriors who ride on 10-foot tall battle spiders

    Animated at Bee Train in Japan, Spider Riders features an anim’ style mixed with Western humor and storytelling sensibilities to offer young viewers an action-packed, futuristic adventure with compelling characters they can relate to. The property is based on the book The Shards of the Oracle written by Emmy-winning scribes Tedd Anasti and Patsy Cameron-Anasti, and published by New Market Press. Emmy winner Steve Hodgins serves as producer on the series, which Funimation has picked up for U.S home video distribution.

    Fans of the series will soon get to join in on the bug battle fun with a massively multiplayer online game to be launched by Cookie Jar Ent.’s digital division. Kids will be able to log on at spiderriders.com for a positive competitive experience, eventually earning their own battle spiders and joining the ranks of the Spider Riders. The online game will extend to the wireless realm, allowing players to continue the fun on their cell phones.

  • Cartoon Network U.K. Game for Skatoony

    Live-action and animation come together for some silly game show fun in Skatoony, a new series coming to Cartoon Network U.K. Scheduled to premiere this October, the 13×30 show will be hosted by animated personalities Chudd Chudders and The Earl, and will pit real-life kid contestants and cartoon characters against against one another in three rounds of wacky challenges.

    The in-house team at Cartoon Network’s London headquarters handles all of the animation production for Skatoony, while independent producer Talent Television, creators of the hit kids reality show Best of Friends, manages and shoots all live-action elements. The show is created, directed and produced by Cartoon Network’s James Fox.

    ‘Skatoony has alien invasions, winged freaks, gladiators and giant gorillas and there’s always one contestant who manages to bring the whole show to the brink of disaster!’ says Fox. ‘It’s very exciting to use the kids’ natural reactions as direction for the cartoon characters, instead of the other way around. It gives the show a live edge not seen in a regular cartoon.’

    Chudd Chudders and The Earl first appeared as game hosts in 2000 on Cartoon Network’s website. They later emceed a series of Skatoony specials and the long-running Truckatoon show. The irreverent humor they displayed in those productions will carry over to this unique, new game show that has been picked up by Cartoon Network’s pan-European and Australian channels.

  • Carrere Picks Up Cotoons

    Independent European production and distribution company Carrere Group has picked up international distribution rights to Cotoons, a new 26-episode, 3D-animated preschool series produced by Zone 3 in Canada and Film en Stock in France. Carrere will handle all worldwide television sales, excluding the co-production territories’Canada and France.

    The Cotoons are happy-go-lucky, amazingly curious creatures who always seem to find a solution to any predicament by working things out together. Each episode presents a dilemma to resolve, prompting the Cotoons to leap into our world via a magic portal and answer such questions as: Where do eggs come from? Do animals have a home? What is rhythm? How do flowers grow? And what do I do when I have no friends to play with?

    Licensing agency VIP, a subsidiary of Carrere Group, is in charge of merchandising and licensing for the property, which already has worldwide brand recognition in the toy industry. Toy maker Smoby (n?2 in Europe) is coming out with a new line of products designed to stimulate the imagination during play.

  • More Details on Aqua Teen Movie

    As we mentioned in our coverage of Thursday’s [adult swim] Upfront presentation in New York, the first feature film based on an original [adult swim] series is slated for release this September. Frylock, Master Shake and Meatwad will finally get to wreak havoc on the big screen in The Aqua Teen Hunger Force Movie Film for Theatres, an action-adventure epic featuring that unique brand of humor late-night cartoon fans have come to love.

    The Aqua Teen Hunger Force series debuted on [adult swim] in September 2001, introducing viewers to a trio of human-sized food products who live together in a rental house in New Jersey. Usually short on money and bored, they often hang out in their neighbor’s above-ground swimming pool or dream up kooky get-rich-quick schemes that go horribly wrong.

    Written and produced by series creators Matt Maiellaro and Dave Willis, the feature film tackles the mysterious circumstances that brought our misguided heroes together. An immortal piece of exercise equipment threatens the balance of galactic peace, and it is up to the Aqua Teen Hunger Force to run away from it. Complicating matters, the Plutonians team up with the Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past for ultimate control of the deadly device.

    Reprising their roles in the movie will be Willis (voice of Carl, Meatwad and Ignignokt) and Maiellaro (Err, Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past), Dana Snyder (Master Shake), Carey Means (Frylock) and Andy Merrill and Mike Schatz (The Plutonians). Guest stars will include actor Bruce Campbell (The Evil Dead trilogy), Larry Blackmon and T-Man of platinum-selling funk band Cameo and Neil Peart of rock band Rush. Music will be provided by Phil Collins and Schoolly D.

    To date, more than 60 episodes of the series have been produced. The show ranks among the most watched basic cable programs with young adults and has sold more than one million units on DVD. Meatwad will get even more money and honeys when the video game based on the showis released in 2007. An official release date and distribution plans for The Aqua Teen Hunger Force Movie Film for Theatres have yet to be announced.

  • Ice Age 2 Chills in Theaters

    Global warming may still be just a theory to some clueless politicians, but the threat is very real in the latest CG-animated feature film from Fox Animation and Blue Sky Studios. Manny the mammoth, Sid the sloth, Diego the saber-toothed tiger and Scrat, the acorn-chasing saber-toothed squirrel are back to kick off spring with the big thaw in Ice Age 2: The Meltdown, arriving in theaters across North America today.

    In Ice Age 2: The Meltdown, the Ice Age is coming to an end and the animals are delighting in their new world of water parks, geysers and tar pits. But when our heroes discover that the miles of melted ice will flood their valley, they must warn everyone and somehow figure out a way to escape the coming deluge. Ray Romano, John Leguizamo and Dennis Leary return to lend their voices to Manny, Sid and Diego, respectively. Joining the cast this time around is Queen Latifah as the voice of Ellie, a female mammoth who steals Manny’s heart.

    Animation for the sequel was again handled by Blue Sky Studios, Fox Animation’s feature toon partner. Carlos Saldanha, who co-directed the original Ice Age and Robots with Chris Wedge, returned to the helm, working from a script by Peter Gaulke and Gerry Swallow. Wedge served as exec producer and Lori Forte again pulled producer duty.

    The first Ice Age movie enjoyed a record-setting $46 million March opening in North America in 2002, and went on to earn $381 million at theaters worldwide. Judging by the film’s big marketing push and its whopping 3,963-theater rollout, 20th Century Fox seems to have high hopes that this latest installment will do even better, establishing a solid franchise on par with DreamWorks’ Shrek series. When the dust settles, we’ll see if audiences were fired up for the flick or if the recent box office slump makes for a chilly reception.

    While there’s no new competition in the family film category, Ice Age 2 may lose a good chunk of its young adult audience to Universal’s Slither, a tongue-in-cheek, old-school B horror flick that is getting high marks form genre fans. Also opening in wide release today are Warner Bros.’ gangland drama, ATL, and Sony Pictures’ curiously belated follow-up, Basic Instinct 2, which sheepishly enters the ring in just over 1,400 theaters.

    See more information about Ice Age 2: The Meltdown at www.iceage2.com and read our cover story on the film in the April issue of Animation Magazine, available on newsstands including Barnes & Noble locations.

  • Nicktoons Fest Calls for Entries

    Frederator Studios and the Nicktoons network are in production on another season of The Nicktoons Network Animation Festival and have issued a call for short animated films of all kinds. The last day to submit entries for consideration is May 31, 2006.

    Previously known as Nextoons: The Nicktoons Film Festival, The Nicktoons Network Animation Festival is a televised and multi-platform showcase of films 10 minutes or less in length that were completed after January of 2002. The Grand Prize winner will receive a cash prize of $10,000 and will join the ranks of past winners Mark Simon and Travis Blaise for Timmy’s Lessons in Nature (2004), and Arthur de Pins for Le Revolution des Crabes (2005).

    A pre-selection committee will choose the shorts that will air and a jury of industry professionals and celebrity judges will vote on the grand prize winner. Last year’s grand jury included actor Mark Hamill (Star Wars), Avatar: The Last Airbender co-creators Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, director/animator Mike Gabriel (Lorenzo), 10-year-old cartoon connoisseur Noah Webb and feature storyboard artist and winner of the Producers’ Choice Award in the first Nicktoons Film Festival, Elizabeth Ito (Welcome to My Life).

    Entry forms and additional information on The Nicktoons Network Animation Festival can be found at www.nicktoonsnetwork.com/shows/animfest/.

  • Superman Returns to Fly in 3-D with IMAX

    Warner Bros. Pictures’ Superman Returns will be the first live-action Hollywood feature to be converted into 3-D using IMAX’s proprietary 2D-to-3D conversion technology. Actually, only 20 minutes of the movie will be tailored into an immersive IMAX experience that will have audiences flying high above the Metropolis skyline with DC Comics’ lengendary Man of Steel. The film will be released simultaneously to IMAX and conventional theaters on June 30, 2006.

    Directed by Bryan Singer (X-Men, X-2: X-Men United, The Usual Suspects), Superman Returns stars newcomer Brandon Routh as the title caped crusader, who returns to Earth after a mysterious absence of several years to find that the world he protected and the woman he loved have learned to get along without him. Meanwhile, old nemesis Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey) is up to his old tricks and launches a scheme that will send Supes on an epic journey of redemption that takes him from the depths of the ocean to the far reaches of outer space.

    During select sequences of the film, a visual cue designed by Singer will tell viewers when they should put on and remove their IMAX 3D glasses. “The test scenes that have been converted into IMAX 3D look, sound and feel absolutely amazing,” Singer comments. “The magic of IMAX 3D will envelop audiences in this story, enabling them to feel the emotion, drama and suspense in a completely new and unique way.”

    Warner Bros. Pictures will be the exclusive distributor of Superman Returns to the growing IMAX theatre network worldwide. Partnering with IMAX has paid off for Warner Bros. in the past as the 3D version of the animated Polar Express has pulled more than $60 million in IMAX venues alone. Warner Bros.’ next CG feature, Happy Feet, will get a day-and-date IMAX 3D release on Nov. 17, 2006. Among the other four IMAX 3D titles scheduled for release in 2006 is Sony Pictures’ computer-animated feature Open Season, which is due in conventional and IMAX theaters on Sept. 29.

  • Dutch to Download Potter on DVD Date

    Warner Bros. will become the first major studio to deliver a download-to-own movie day-and-date with a DVD release when Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire goes on sale in the Netherlands and the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium. The plan is part of licensing agreement that makes nearly 100 Warner Bros. films available for download from Free Record Shop, a leading specialty retailer in the Netherlands.

    Goblet will be available for download a www.freerecordshop.nl starting at midnight on April 4. Customers will also be able to choose from a number of Warner Bros. releases ranging from recent hits to catalogue favorites. Initial offerings will include Ocean’s Twelve, Constantine the Matrix trilogy, Lethal Weapon 4, Casablanca, Doctor Zhivago and Gone with the Wind.

    “We are excited to be the first studio to deliver secure and legal download-to-own films through the Internet simultaneous with the film’s DVD debut, comments Kevin Tsujihara, president of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group. “By continuing to partner with local services around the world, Warner Bros. is finding innovative ways to engage with the local culture and community.’ Tsujihara adds that the move is also intended to help combat piracy by providing high quality, legal downloads at an affordable price.

    Free Record Shop operates approximately 185 locations in The Netherlands, distributing music, movies, games, books, tickets and more through its brick & mortar shops and online through www.freerecordshop.nl.

  • CBS, DIC Unveil New Block Lineup

    CBS and DIC today announced the lineup for their new children’s programming block, Saturday Morning Secret Slumber Party, which debuts Saturday, Sept. 16, on the CBS Television Network. The three-hour strip will feature the new toon series Horseland and Kooky Kitchen, as well as established favorites Sabrina: The Animated Series, Trollz and Madeline. In addition, viewers are promised more original programming with 26 new episodes to be delivered each year as opposed to the typical 12.

    Horseland is based on a popular web destination for kids and features a mix of CG and traditional animation to take young viewers to the greatest stable ever, where kids and their talking horses compete and have adventures. Each episode features themes that deal with issues such as compassion, honesty and cooperation’both human and equine.

    Kooky Kitchen is an animated comedy-action series that promises to bring the ultimate cooking adventure to kids. From a magical secret kitchen hidden beneath a famous restaurant, a chef with a magic recipe book takes his special guests on culinary trips around the world in search of the necessary ingredients for his masterful creations.

    CBS’s Saturday Morning Secret Slumber Party will also feature animated and live-action interstitials that promote healthy eating and balanced, active lifestyles for kids. The messages will be created in consultation with Baylor College of Medicine’s Children’s Nutrition Research Center (CNRC), an internationally renowned institute devoted to pediatric nutrition studies. DIC will also seek guidance from children’s experts from the DIC Educational Advisory Board, a group comprised of leading media experts, educators and pediatricians.

  • Fifi to Flower Again on Five, Nick Jr.

    Five’s Milkshake! and Nick Jr. in the U.K. have commissioned a second season of Chapman Ent.’s stop-motion-animated preschool series Fifi and the Flowertots. U.K. animation house Cosgrove Hall Films is in production on the first 13 10-minute installments, which will begin airing soon on Five. The remaining 39 episodes to be delivered between this summer and spring 2007.

    The new season promises brand new adventures and a lot more music for Fifi Forget-Me-Not and her Flowertot friends. The episodes will introduce exciting new characters including Diggly, a wiggly worm who lives in a compost heap in Flowertot Garden. The show will also take viwers to new settings, such as Pip’s Playground and Aunt Tulip’s tropical ‘Pineapple Palace.’

    Led by creative director Keith Chapman, originator of the popular Bob the Builder series, Chapman Ent. has sold Fifi in more than 125 territories since it’s launch just one year ago. The show has been one of the top-rated shows on Five’s Milkshake and Nick Jr., is No. 1 with preschoolers on ABC in Australia and is rapidly climbing the charts in France.

    ‘Our tiny little Flowertot looks set to grow into a major global pre-school property this year,’ says Chapman. ‘The new commission means that with 104 episodes of Fifi she will have a broadcast platform for a long time to come.’

    Fifi also has a strong licensing program behind it. According to Chapman Ent., the property is the No. 1 preschool brand in the U.K., and the Flowertot Cottage play set from Vivid Imaginations was the best-selling non-electronic preschool toy over the Christmas period.

  • New [adult swim] Shows Revealed

    Fans of Robot Chicken, Family Guy, Aqua Teen Huger Force and other late-night Cartoon Network offerings can look forward to a new slate of edgy toons, including Death Clock Metalocalypse, Frisky Dingo, Assy McGee, Saul of the Mole Men and Lucy, The Daughter of the Devil. The new shows for the 2006/2007 season were announced toady at the [adult swim] Upfront presentation in New York. The network unveiled details of the upcoming Aqua Teen Hunger Force theatrical-release movie and announced the production of two new animated pilots, Korgoth of Barbaria and That Crook’d ‘Sip, that will air later this year.

    The network has ordered 20 episodes of Death Clock Metalocalypse, which will have the world’s most popular heavy metal band leaving a trail of mayhem and destruction wherever they go. Set to debut in August, the animated comedy from co-creators and exec producers Brendon Small (Home Movies) and Tommy Blacha (TV Funhouse) will feature guest appearances by musicians the likes of Kirk Hammett and James Hetfield of Metallica.

    From Sealab 2021 co-creators Matt Thompson and Adam Reed comes Frisky Dingo, a comedy that pits lazy supervillian Killface against equally ambivalent superhero Awesome-X. Thirteen episodes have been ordered for a September start.

    Assy McGee will follow the crime-fighting adventures of a toothpick-chomping police sniper who looks like a giant ass. He’s not much of a talker, but Assy is willing to take the first shot if he needs to eliminate a scumbag criminal. The show from creators Carl Adams (Sunday Pants), H. Jon Benjamin (Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist) and Matt Harrigan (Tom Goes to the Mayor) will debut in December.

    In Saul of the Mole Men, a terra-naut on a scientific expedition to the Earth’s core stumbles upon a strange civilization of Mole Men and nearly destroys it. Cartoon Netwrok has ordered 20 episodes of the series, which will combine live-action, puppets and animation. Viewers can look for it in late 2006.

    Avid [adult swim] viewers may recall seeing the pilot presentation of Lucy, The Daughter of the Devil last year. In the series, Lucy is living in San Francisco and dating a great new guy when her father, Satan, decides to meddle in her life by hastening the apocalypse. Created by Loren Bouchard, an exec producer on Home Movies, the show has been given a 10-episode order and will debut in late 2006.:

    Korgoth of Barbaria will take place in a dark future wasteland reclaimed by primordial beasts and populated with thieves and savages. Korgoth emerges from the frozen north, and his merciless savagery may be his only key to survival. In September, [adult swim] will air the half-hour pilot episode of the animated fantasy-action-adventure-comedy from scribe Aaron Springer (The SpongeBob SquarPants Movie).

    Also in development at Williams Street is That Crook’d ‘Sip, a comedy revolving around the Beauregard family, a dysfunctional clan living in a dilapidated Mississippi mansion. Relics of the Old South, the family sits in stark contrast to the modern crunk-fueled Dirty South that has grown up around their crumbling estate, Frenchman’s Bend. Created by Jacob Escobedo and Nick Weidenfeld, the show will have its pilot debut this fall.

    Anime series acquired by [adult swim] are Eureka Seven and Bleach. In Eureka Seven, a young hoverboard enthusiast named Renton meets a mysterious and beautiful young girl named Eureka, who changes his life forever. The show will premiere on April 15. Bleach, which debuts this fall, follows the adventures of Ichigo Kurosaki, an average 15-year-old who was born with the ability to see ghosts. When his family is attacked by a malevolent lost soul, he becomes a Soul Reaper and dedicateds his life to protecting the innocent and helping tortured spirits find peace.

    Returning to the lineup with a new season on Wednesdays in September is the anime favorite InuYasha, which centers on a human girl, Kagome, and a half-demon who have adventures in a mystical, feudal Japan. Other shows returning with new seasons are Robot Chicken, Family Guy, Tom Goes to the Mayor, The Venture Bros., Aqua Teen Hunger Force, 12oz. Mouse, Squidbillies and Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law.

    The Aqua Teen Hunger Force Movie Film for Theaters is slated to arrive in theaters this September. Written by series creators Matt Maiellaro and Dave Willis, this first movie based on an [adult swim] original series is described as an action epic that chronicles the mysterious origins of the title trio and their battle over an immortal piece of exercise equipment. Fans will no doubt be thrilled to see human-sized food products Meatwad, Frylock and Master Shake on the big screen at last.

  • More Details on Aqua Teen Movie

    As we mentioned in our coverage of Thursday’s [adult swim] Upfront presentation in New York, the first feature film based on an original [adult swim] series is slated for release this September. Frylock, Master Shake and Meatwad will finally get to wreak havoc on the big screen in The Aqua Teen Hunger Force Movie Film for Theatres, an action-adventure epic featuring that unique brand of humor late-night cartoon fans have come to love.

    The Aqua Teen Hunger Force series debuted on [adult swim] in September 2001, introducing viewers to a trio of human-sized food products who live together in a rental house in New Jersey. Usually short on money and bored, they often hang out in their neighbor’s above-ground swimming pool or dream up kooky get-rich-quick schemes that go horribly wrong.

    Written and produced by series creators Matt Maiellaro and Dave Willis, the feature film tackles the mysterious circumstances that brought our misguided heroes together. An immortal piece of exercise equipment threatens the balance of galactic peace, and it is up to the Aqua Teen Hunger Force to run away from it. Complicating matters, the Plutonians team up with the Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past for ultimate control of the deadly device.

    Reprising their roles in the movie will be Willis (voice of Carl, Meatwad and Ignignokt) and Maiellaro (Err, Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past), Dana Snyder (Master Shake), Carey Means (Frylock) and Andy Merrill and Mike Schatz (The Plutonians). Guest stars will include actor Bruce Campbell (The Evil Dead trilogy), Larry Blackmon and T-Man of platinum-selling funk band Cameo and Neil Peart of rock band Rush. Music will be provided by Phil Collins and Schoolly D.

    To date, more than 60 episodes of the series have been produced. The show ranks among the most watched basic cable programs with young adults and has sold more than one million units on DVD. Meatwad will get even more money and honeys when the video game based on the showis released in 2007. An official release date and distribution plans for The Aqua Teen Hunger Force Movie Film for Theatres have yet to be announced.

  • NVIDIA Debuts Mobile GPUs

    NVIDIA Corp. today announced a new line of NVIDIA Quadro FX graphics processing solutions. The NVIDIA Quadro FX 350M is the company’s first professional GPU designed specifically for thin and light mobile workstations, while the NVIDIA Quadro FX 1500M is designed to provide the industry’s highest image precision and quality. For customers looking for the highest performance, the NVIDIA Quadro FX 2500M offers an industry-best 512MB of graphics memory.

    The new Quadro FX GPUs have been selected for the latest generation Dell Precision M90 and M65 mobile workstations. Offering a broad range of features for on-the-go engineers, artists and other professionals, the machines promise to be the most powerful mobile workstation solutions ever offered by Dell.

    “The Dell Precision M65 and Dell Precision M90 offer the flexibility, performance and reliability that is demanded by customers in industries like computer-aided design and engineering, scientific research or digital content creation,” says Darrel Ward, director of Dell Precision Workstations. “Together, these two new mobile workstation products offer a full range of solutions that will address the diverse requirements of mobile professionals.”

    NVIDIA Quadro FX mobile solutions offer the same features found in NVIDIA’s industry-leading solutions for desktop-based professional workstations. These include exclusive features like 12-bit sub-pixel precision and full 32-bit floating point precision.

    “Mobile products are our fastest growing segment as our customers realize the productivity benefits of taking their work wherever they need to be,” comments Jeff Brown, general manager for NVIDIA professional products. “NVIDIA introduced the industry’s first mobile workstation graphics solution back in 2001, and this year we will be delivering a range of products that will enable our partners like Dell to make this the biggest year ever for the rapidly expanding mobile workstation segment.”

    The new NVIDIA Quadro FX mobile GPUs are now available in the Dell Precision M65 and Dell Precision M90 models. For more information on these mobile workstations, go to www.dell.com/precision. For more information on NVIDIA Quadro products, visit www.nvidia.com/quadro.

  • VICON iQ 2.5 Available for Mo-Cap Workflows

    Academy Award-winning motion-capture technology developer VICON today announced the release of VICON iQ 2.5, the most recent installment of the company’s software solution for streamlining and automating motion-capture workflows. The new release adds features designed specifically for professional production, including a new real-time engine, improved kinematic fitting, faster labeling, frame-synced SMPTE and EBU timecode video and capture and control of multiple reference video streams in sync with motion-capture data.

    VICON iQ is designed with intuitive controls and a user interface that simplifies the tasks associated with recording and managing complex motion capture data. The new features in iQ 2.5 provide tight integration between motion-capture and other production requirements, such as hardware-scalable real-time and live reference video on set. Support for frame-synced video and embedded timecode speeds the transport of 2D and 3D motion capture data to applications such as VICON’s Diva and Autodesk’s MotionBuilder software in the character animation pipeline. New capabilities in VICON iQ 2.5 also make it easier for users of VICON MX systems with high camera counts to save, manage and customize their system setups.

    The new real-time engine in iQ 2.5 uses multithreading and is optimized to take advantage of multiple CPUs as well as today’s high-performance dual-core processors, providing users with highly accurate, multiple-character real-time previs and capture. VICON iQ 2.5 also offers improved data reconstruction and introduces 3D marker modeling to meet the new demands of full performance capture. 3D marker modeling provides an efficient way to differentiate and process data sets generated via simultaneous facial, hand and full-body motion capture sessions by specifying the size range of the markers.

    Working closely with industry customers, VICON has integrated a number of requested features, including a new scrub time function, new file save functions and the ability to save and remember camera and hardware setups. Beta tests have shown that the new workflow tools, coupled with high-quality VICON MX data, can reduce processing times by as much as 60%. More information on VICON is available at www.vicon.com.

  • BKN Secures Spanish Distributor

    Animation company BKN International AG today announced a major new home entertainment contract between its recently opened office in Barcelona, BKN New Media SL (BKN SL), and independent DVD distributor Enciclop’dia Catalana, S.A.U. (ECSA). The independent Spanish company will handle local distribution of BKN’s library of classic films and TV series, including A Christmas Carol, Robin Hood, Jungle Book, Legend of the Dragon and Zorro: Generation Z.

    Manuel Sanglas Muchart, managing director of ECSA, comments, ‘BKN has created a wonderful catalog of classic animated films and TV series that children in Spain will enjoy. We expect to sell hundreds of thousands of videos in Spain in the next few years.’

    This is the first contract for BKN SL, which formed in February. The five-year deal is valued at approximately $1.8 million, with BKN’s share at approximately $1 million. The company intends to sign many more distributors internationally, including North America, at MIPTV in Cannes next week. In January, BKN Home Entertainment Ltd. was formed to handle distribution in the U.K., where the company plans to launch its catalog to customers in May.

    BKN’s slate of animated feature films to be distributed between September 2006 and December 2007 include Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Kong II – Return to the Jungle, Jack and the Beanstalk, The Prince and the Pauper, The Three Musketeers, Gulliver’s Travels, Alice in Wonderland and The Nutcracker. TV series include Kong’The Animated Series and Dork Hunters from Outer Space. The full BKN ‘Classic Collection’ catalogue can be found at www.bknhomeentertainment.com.

  • SAG Acts on Toon Pact

    Narrowly averting a strike, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) has signed a tentative deal regarding its basic cable animation contract with broadcast entities including Walt Disney Pictures & Television, Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network Studios. Formal bargaining is expected to commence this week as both sides work to iron out the 2′-year deal, which reportedly represents a 20% hike in residuals for performers working on cable cartoons.

    On Monday, SAG members on the basic cable contract authorized a strike because cable revenues have continued to rise but the actors’ cut has not. Now it appears that animation performers will receive their first residuals percentage bump in 16 years. According to a SAG spokesperson, the increase will be particularly significant because of the high number of reruns typically given to animated shows on basic cable outlets.

    ‘The performers who work under this contract have waited a long time for these well-deserved gains, particularly in the area of residuals,’ says Screen Actors Guild President Alan Rosenberg. ‘Thanks to the hard work of the negotiating committee and staff, and with the support of our membership, we were able to improve this contract, which affects mainly working day performers, for the first time in almost two decades. The Guild achieved this important victory by standing together as a united group of actors.’

    Under the new animation deal, residual rates for actors would increase from 12% to 17% of the minimum pay rate, which is currently set at $716 for a four-hour recording session. That percentage would then drop to 1.5% beginning with the 13th rerun. SAG has also negotiated a shift from single-production contracts to an all-inclusive contract for animated basic cable productions.

    The new contract will go to SAG’s national board for ratification on April 21-22. Upon approval, the pact will be retroactive to Jan. 1 and run through June 30, 2008, which gives the Guild an opportunity to go back to the bargaining table in just over two years and potentially secure additional gains.

  • TV-Loonland Inks Pre-MIPTV Deals

    Heading into next week’s MIPTV television market in Cannes, France, international producer/distributor TV-Loonland has already announced a raft of deals signed with broadcast partners around the world. Productions getting picked up for air include the feature film Heidi and the television series Clifford and Fat Dog Mendoza.

    TV-Loonland has sold the feature film Heidi to TSR Switzerland, Disney France and YLE Finland. In addition, Germany’s top children’s broadcaster, Super RTL, will begin airing the film early next year. A co-production between TV-Loonland, its subsidiary Telemagination and Canadian animation house Nelvana, Heidi has now been sold for broadcast in more than 80 countries worldwide. The movie was also recently included in a Loonland Christmas Specials DVD package deal signed with MRA Ent., an independent distributor serving the Australian and New Zealand markets. Other productions named in that deal include Lion of Oz and Donner.

    Rights to the series Clifford (40×30) have been snatched up by Disney Spain, Disney Germany and Mini Mini in Poland. Produced by Scholastic Prods. and based on the beloved book series by Norman Bridwell, the half-hour toon follows the adventures of the big, red dog, his eight-year-old owner, Emily Elizabeth, and their pals on Birdwell Island.

    Zig Zag in Poland has picked up broadcast rights to the TV-Loonland series Fat Dog Mendoza, a 26-episode, half-hour animated show about a boy and his dog learning to be heroes in a neighborhood where nothing is quite as it seems.

    These deals are only the latest in a string of major pacts TV-Loonland has announced since recently overhauling its sales team and naming Justine Bannister head of distribution and acquisitions. Under the management of CEO Selma K’ppel, the team continues to aggressively pursue broadcast and home entertainment opportunities with distributors across Europe, Latin America and Australia.

  • Is Disney Ditching Gnomeo, Retooling Meet the Robinsons?

    The grapevine is abuzz with word that Disney has scrapped plans to produce Gnomeo and Juliet, an animated feature that was to be produced by legendary recording artist Elton John. The house that Walt built is also reportedly doing some major renovations on the planned 2007 release, Meet The Robinsons, at the request of new toon bosses John Lasseter and Ed Catmull of Pixar.

    Gnomeo and Juliet, a tale of English garden gnomes in love, was shelved once before but was put back on the blotter when Sir Elton agreed to make his entire song catalog available for the soundtrack. Now the production appears to be another casualty of the Pixar merger, which recently shut down Circle 7, the 3D toon unit former Disney CEO Michael Eisner set up to produce Pixar sequels sans Pixar.

    Lasseter’s and Catmull’s response to the nearly completed Meet the Robinsons was reportedly less than glowing as well, imploring the creative team to begin reworking the entire second act, according to Jim Hill Media. Rumor has it that first-time director Stephen Anderson has been resistant to Lasseter’s suggestions for the film, which is based on William Joyce’s book, A Day with Wilbur Robinson.

    Meet the Robinsons tells the story of Lewis, a 12 year-old genius inventor who meets a mysterious boy from the future named Wilbur Robinson. The two travel forward in time and spend a day with Wilbur’s eccentric family, a day that will change Lewis’ life forever.

    Disney is now promoting its latest CG-animated feature, The Wild, which narrowly escaped the scrutiny of the Pixar elite. The comedy about New York zoo animals who tear up the town before being crated to the wilds of Africa is reminiscent of DreamWorks’ Madagascar and It has many questioning its relevance and box office potential. Mouse House execs seem to be among them, since promotional efforts seem a bit lackluster compared to the media blitz for Chicken Little. The Wild opens in North America on April 14.

  • Disney, Square Enix Debut Kingdom Hearts II

    Classic animated Disney characters meet up with popular video game denizens once again in the eagerly awaited Kingdom Hearts II from Square Enix and Disney’s Buena Vista Games. A sequel to one of the best-selling PlayStation2 titles of all time, the fantasy role playing game is now available exclusively for PlayStation2.

    The first Kingdom Hearts game, which shipped more than 2.6 million units in North America, featured environments and characters from Mouse House favorites Aladdin, Hercules, The Little Mermaid, Winnie the Pooh and Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. The sequel has players return to those settings, while adding the worlds of Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Mulan, Pirates of the Caribbean, Steamboat Willie and Tron. The game features more than 100 Disney characters, including new additions Chicken Little and Stitch from Lilo and Stitch. New, original characters introduced include Roxas, members of Organization XIII, and the Nobodies, all designed by Square Enix director and character designer Tetsuya Nomura, who is best known for his creations in the top selling titles Final Fantasy VII, VIII, X and X-2. All characters from Final Fantasy VII also show up in Kingdom Hearts II.

    The game features an all-star ensemble voice cast led by Haley Joel Osment (The Sixth Sense). Other contributors David Gallagher (7th Heaven), Hayden Panettiere (Racing Stripes) recording artist Jesse McCartney, Brittany Snow (The Pacifier), Christopher Lee (Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride), Rachael Leigh Cook (Josie And The Pussycats), Mena Suvari (American Beauty) and Tara Strong (Fairly OddParents). Reprising their roles from their respective Disney features are Ming-Na as Mulan, James Woods the villain Hades from Hercules and Zach Braff as Chicken Little.

    Boasting a new and improved real-time battle system, Kingdom Hearts II brings more strategy to the gameplay by providing an increased selection of commands, including special attacks and cooperative attacks with members of your party. Players can also perform the “Drive” to transform main character Sora into his various forms, altering his skills and abilities. In the ‘Master Form,’ for instance, Sora absorbs the power of both Donald and Goofy and increases his attack and magic powers.

    The September 2002 release of the original Kingdom Hearts was followed by the December 2004 debut of Kingdom Hearts: Chain Of Memories for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance. The Japanese version of Kingdom Hearts II debuted this past December and shipped 1 million units shipped during its first three days at retail. Overall, the series has shipped more than 7.5 million units worldwide.

    Kingdom Hearts II carries a suggested retail price of $49.99 and is recommended for everyone ages 10 and up by the Entertainment Software Rating Board. More information on the title can be found at www.kingdomhearts.com. BradyGames’ Kingdom Hearts II Official Strategy Guide retails for $19.99 and is also available online at www.bradygames.com.

  • Zenith, Neptuno Bringing More Disasters to Round Table

    London-based Zenith Ent. and Barcelona’s Neptuno Films have renewed their animation co-production and co-financing agreement for a second season of King Arthur’s Disasters. The companies will produce 13 additional half hours of the comedy series for air on CiTV this September. The first season is set to begin its digital run this spring on Nickelodeon U.K.

    King Arthur’s Disasters follows the epic adventures of the legendary title monarch, who sets out on various quests to satisfy Guinevere’s need for exotic presents in the vain hope that she will finally agree to marry him. Based on an original idea by Paul Parkes and Will Ashurst, the 13×30 series features the voices of Brit comics Rik Mayall, Matt Lucas, Phil Cornwell and Morwenna Banks.

    Julian Scott, head of children’s drama and animation at Zenith, comments, ‘The first series was greeted with great critical and commercial success and it is exciting to be working with Neptuno again. We look forward to building on the international sales with this second season.’

    Zenith will deficit finance the show and retain distribution rights with the exception of Spanish/Brazilian speaking territories, which are reserved for Neptuno. Both companies will finance the series and Cake Ent. Ltd will distribute in key territories for Zenith.