Animation Magazine

Author: Ryan Ball

  • Robot Chicken, More TV on DVD

    The first season of the stop-motion animated [adult swim] hit, Robot Chicken, leads the pack of television favorites arriving on home video today. Other entries include Wonder Showzen Season 1, Avatar: Book 1 Vol. 2, Naruto Vol. 1: Enter Naruto, Outlaw Star: The Complete Collection, Gundam Wing: The Complete Collection, Astro Boy: Ultra Collector’s Edition Set, Jimmy Timmy Power Hour 2, A Boy Named Charlie Brown and Planet of the Apes: The Ultimate DVD Collection. Another highlight of today’s releases is Plymptons: The Complete Early Works of Bill Plympton.

    Silly jabs at pop culture come in rapid-fire succession in Robot Chicken from creators Seth Green and Matt Senreich. The show employs action figures in sketch-comedy vignettes that skewer TV, movies, music and celebrities. The DVD retails for $29.98 and includes episode commentaries, behind-the-scenes footage, deleted scenes, the original “Sweet J Presents” skits, wire comparisons, alternate audio takes and animatics.

    Even more twisted than Robot Chicken is MTV2’s Wonder Showzen, an adult-oriented Sesame Stree spoof that features edgy animated shorts from Augenblick Studios. The series has developed a dedicated cult following and has been renewed for a second season. The two-disc season one DVD offers all eight episodes, as well as special guest commentaries by Gordon Lish and Dick Gregory, Storytime with Flava Flav, auditions and outtakes, a sneek peek cartoon, a music video and a bonus mini-poster. The Paramount Home Entertainment release lists for $26.98.

    In addition to today’s many anime releases comes a new set of episodes from Cartoon Network’s anime-inspired Avatar: The Last Airbender. Book 1 Water, Vol. 2 features chapters 5-8 (The King of Omashu, Imprisoned, Winter Solstice Part 1: The Spirit World and Winter Solstice Part 2: Avatar Roku), and also includes a featurette titled The Making of Avatar: From Real Life to Animation.

    The fourteen-disc Planet of the Apes: The Ultimate DVD Collection from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment includes all five original theatrical releases, plus all episodes of the live-action and animated TV series and Tim Burtons 2001 remake of the original feature. The suggested retail price is $179.98.

    Last, but certainly not least, is the collection of wacky animated shorts known as Plymptoons: The Complete Early Works of Bill Plympton. The compilation from New Video Group includes the films 25 Ways to Quit Smoking, Your Face, Boomtown, Plymptoons, How to Kiss, Love in the Fast Lane, One of Those Days, Self Portrait, Drawing Lesson #2 and Lucas, the Ear of Corn. The films all showed up on Sling Shot’s 1991 release titled Plymptoons: The Complete Works of Bill Plympton. The new features in this latest issue are two Bill Plympton documentaries, an exclusive sketch gallery and an animator biography. Plympton fans can pick it up for the suggested retail price of $26.95.

  • 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.

  • Lunar Jim in Orbit with France 5

    Alliance Atlantis International Content Distribution has sold the stop-motion animated preschool property Lunar Jim to France 5, which plans to launch the series this fall. The show recently began airing on Discovery Kids in Latin America, CBC in Canada and ABC Kids in Australia. The lunacy with then spread to the U.K.’s BBC and CBeebies on April 3, Germany’s Kika on April 13 and Canada’s SRC on April 15.

    Co-produced by The Halifax Film Co. and Alliance Atlantis, Lunar Jim promotes problem-solving skills and cooperation through the adventures of Jim and his friends, Rover the Robot Dog, Ripple the Super Space Mechanic, Eco the Farmer and T.E.D. the Technical Equipment Device. Living on the moon presents the gang with unique challenges that must be overcome through teamwork each week.

    The series’ interactive website, www.lunarjim.com, launched in February and includes a games and activities section comprised of lunar missions, wallpapers and coloring pages. There’s also a photo section where kids can find images of Lunar Jim and his friends, and a a place where parents can find episodic descriptions and details about the series and its educational objectives. Discovery Kids and CBC are working on incorporating elements of lunarjim.com into their websites, while ABC has included a direct link to the site from the kids section of its web home. In addition, BBC will be developing a Lunar Jim tennis game for its young online visitors.

    Alliance Atlantis previously announced a Lunar Jim worldwide master toy licensing agreement with Fisher-Price and is continuing to finalize agreements with other key merchandising partners and international broadcasters.

  • Luxology’s modo Now for Intel-based Macs

    Luxology LLC, creators of the modo subdivision surface and polygonal 3D modeling platform, have announced the immediate availability of a universal binary version of modo for Intel-based Macintosh computers. Specifically designed for 3D artists working on games, films, TV, print, architecture and web productions, modo offers a cutting-edge toolset with painless pipeline integration, advanced software ergonomics and a streamlined learning path so users can accomplish more in less time.

    Apple used modo to conduct iMac performance benchmarks and found that the universal binary version offers more than twice the speed when running on iMacs that use Intel Core Duo technology. Furthermore, the combination boosts performance up to five times faster than previous top-of-the-line PowerBooks when testing the rendering speed of the modo 201 beta version.

    ‘modo’s uniquely clean architecture made it possible for us to be one of the first graphics applications to take advantage of the Intel Core Duo technology,’ says Luxology president Brad Peebler. ‘While the current modo universal binary version will result in much faster performance on the Intel-based Macs, the new rendering features in modo 201 will run up to five times faster on the new systems.’ Luxology is scheduled to ship modo 201 this April.

    The universal binary version of modo is free for registered modo users, and is available for immediate download at www.modo3d.com. Customers who purchase modo now will get a free upgrade to modo 201 in April. Carrying a suggested retail price of $89, 5 modo is available through Luxology and its worldwide partners and ships on a single disc supporting both Mac OSX and Windows platforms.

  • Academy to Welcome Bros. Quay

    The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will host the first U.S. speaking engagement for renowned animators the Brothers Quay on Friday, April 21, at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. The 10th Marc Davis Lecture on Animation will begin 7:30 p.m., featuring screenings of several of the Quays’ animated shorts including the award-winning Street of Crocodiles (1986) and The Comb (1990).

    Identical twins Stephen and Timothy Quay were heavily influenced by the Eastern European immigrant culture of their native Philadelphia. Now living in London, they have built a following with their unique brand of stop-motion animation, which typically employs broken dolls to create surrealistic and nightmarish visions. Over the past two decades, the brothers have produced numerous animated and live-action short films, television commercials and music videos. They have also directed two live-action features, 1995’s Institute Benjamenta and 2005’s The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes, and their work was featured in Miramax’s Oscar-winning 2002 biopic, Frida.

    Named in honor of legendary Disney animator Marc Davis, the lecture series is open to the general public for $5 a ticket. Academy members and students with a valid I.D. get in for $3. The doors open at 6:30 p.m. at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater, i located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. For more information, call 310-247-3000 ext 111.

  • Boondocks on Disc in June

    The complete first season of the [adult swim] hit The Boondocks is slated to arrive on DVD and PSP on June 13. Based Aaron McGruder’s award-winning and politically-charged comic strip, the controversial animated series will be packaged as a three-disc set featuring all 15 episodes and extensive bonus features.

    The Boondocks chronicles the culture clash experienced by two streetwise Chicago boys who are sent to the suburbs to live with their irascible grandfather. Huey, a 10-year-old left-wing revolutionary, tries to inform his affluent, apathetic neighbors of social issues while looking out for his 8-year-old brother, Riley, a proud product of contemporary rap culture.

    The show’s Nov. 6, 2005 debut ranked as the best series premiere in the history of [adult swim], Cartoon Networks’ late-night animation showcase for adults. The series consistently ranks among the top programs on basic cable each week and was recently nominated for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Comedy Series. In 2002, McGruder received the prestigious NAACP Chairman’s Award.

    The Boondocks: The Complete First Season will include a behind-the-scenes featurette, commentary on select episodes, deleted scenes and animatic compilations, among others.

  • R.I.P. Richard Fleischer

    Director Richard Fleischer, son of legendary toon pioneer Max Fleischer of Fleischer Studios, passed away on Saturday at the age of 89. Though he was born into the family that introduced such animated icons as Popeye and Betty Boop, Richard made his living in live-action filmmaking, directing such classics as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Fantastic Voyage, Tora! Tora! Tora and The Boston Strangler. His later works included 1984’s Conan the Destroyer and the 1985 spin-off, Red Sonja.

    After graduating college, Fleischer was hired by RKO to write newsreel scripts and short films. His breakout feature, the 1952 B thriller The Narrow Margin, led to a number of job offers, including one from Walt Disney, a long-time rival of his father and uncles. Jules Verne’s adventure yarn, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, would be told on screen many times over the years, but Fleischer’s remains the definitive cinematic adaptation.

    Fleischer died of natural causes at the Motion Picture & Television Hospital in Woodland Hills, Calif. He is survived by his wife, three children and five grandchildren.

  • X-Men Film, Comic Scribes Retained for Game

    Activision inc. has tapped screenwriter Zak Penn to co-write the upcoming video game based on 20th Century Fox’s and Marvel Studios’ eagerly awaited sequel, X-Men: The Last Stand. Penn, who co-scripted the feature film, is working with renowned comic-book scribe Chris Claremont (Uncanny X-Men, Iron Fist) to bring compelling story elements to X-Men: The Official Game, which will hit retail on May 16.

    Penn, whose screenwriting credits include Marvel’s 2005 Daredevil spin-off, Elektra, and the upcoming video game-based Spyhunter; Nowhere to Run, also scripted Activision’s Fantastic Four video game. He penned the latest X-Men feature with Simon Kinberg, who wrote XXX: State of the Union and the box office smash Mr. & Mrs. Smith, which he is developing into a TV series.

    X-Men: The Official Game will allow players to command the unique superpowers of Wolverine, Nightcrawler and Iceman as they continue the epic struggle to preserve mutant-kind. The title will also feature a musical score created by leading sound company womb music and Chance Thomas, composer of the King Kong, Lord of the Rings and Unreal video games. The game is being developed by Z-Axis for PlayStation 2, Xbox and Xbox 360; Hypnos Ent. for GameCube; Amaze Ent. for Nintendo DS; Wayforward Technologies for Game Boy Advance; and Beenox Studios for PC.

    The PC and console versions will be rated ‘Teen’ for violence and the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS titles are recommended for everyone 10 and older due to fantasy violence.

  • TELETOON’s 6TEEN Casting Fan

    Fans of TELETOON’s top-rated tween series are vying for a chance to be included in an upcoming episode of 6Teen. The network has launched a contest that will give one lucky viewer a guest-starring role in a special installment set to air this fall.

    A TELETOON original series, 6Teen is produced by Nelvana in association with Canada’s Fresh Animation. Created by Tom McGillis and Jennivfer Pertsch, the animated sitcom is set in a gigantic shopping mall where six 16-year-old friends struggle to make it through their first part-time jobs and teenage life in general. The show also airs on Nickelodeon in the U.S. weekdays at 4:30 p.m.

    The contest winner will receive a trip for two to Toronto and a tour of the Nelvana studio, where their voice will be recorded for the 6Teen episode. The recording session will be videotaped for an exclusive behind-the-scenes video, which will offer a look at the recording session and the design and animation of their character.

    The deadline for contest entries is Sunday, March 26. Viewers can enter at www.teletoon.com

  • Annecy Selection Unveiled

    Organizers of the Annecy International Animated Film Festival have released the list of films to be included in year’s event in Annecy, France. Taking place June 5-10, the fest will include screenings of the features Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit from Aardman Animations and DreamWorks Animation, Renaissance from Millimages, Ast’rix et Les Vikings from M6, Gin-Iro No Kami No Agito from Gonzo Digimation and Media Factory, and Production I.G.’s xxxHolic.

    Nick Park’s and Steve Box’s Oscar-winning Wallace & Gromit feature may be the most recognizable title in the mix, but audiences will surely be lining up for Renaissance, a Sin City-like noir thriller from director Christian Volckman. The pic has been generated good buzz via the grapevine and promises to be a highlight of the fest. A titillating title and animation by Production I.G. (Kill Bill) should also help pack the house for director Tsutomu Mizushima’s xxxHolic, a toon based on a Del Rey comic book series by Clamp, the collective name of four female Japanese writers.

    The competition program will also include 56 animated short films, including Disney’s The Little Matchgirl from Roger Allers (Open Season, The Lion King), The Tell Tale Heart by veteran Disney animator Raul Garcia (Fantasia 2000, Aladdin, The Lion King), Aldrig Som F’rsta G’ngen! by Jonas Odell (Otto, Revolver) and Rabbit from director Run Wrake (Stop for a Minute). An additional 47 shorts were selected for the panorama screenings.

    Aardman will again be represented in the televsion category, where its Creature Comfort series and Planet Sketch will compete against 23 other productions, including Cin’Groupe/Film Roman’s Tripping The Rift, Alphanim’s Robotboy, Xilam Ent.’s Shuriken School and Nickelodeon Studios’ Catscratch. Judges will also be looking at the four TV specials Ed, Edd n’ Eddy’s Boo Haw Haw from A.K.A Cartoons, New Theori Folk Tale Suite 12 “Momotaro’ from director Taku Inoue, Petit Wang by Henri Heidsieck and The Happy Elf from IDT Ent.

    Other categories include Educational, Scientific or Industrial, Advertising, Music Video and Graduation Films. A full list of films chosen by the selection committee can be viewed at www.annecy.org

  • FUNimation Bows Syndicated Anime Block

    Navarre Corp.’s FUNimation Ent. has developed a two-hour anime block for syndication via distributor OlympuSAT. Featuring anime programming from the 24-hour digital FUNimation Channel, the block has already been picked up by the CoLours TV Network and will be available as part of DISH Network’s basic satellite TV package.

    “Part of our strategy is to use syndication to rapidly reach wider audiences and give them a taste of the top-rated anime programming available from FUNimation,’ comments Gen Fukunaga, president and CEO of FUNimation Ent.

    CoLours TV Network will run FUNimation’s anime strip seven days a week from 10 p.m. to midnight (ET) and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. (PT). The block is now available to broadcasters nationwide.

  • Win a King Kong DVD Prize Pack!

    Peter Jackson’s King Kong arrives on home video on Tuesday, March 28, and Universal Pictures has hooked us up with some goodies to give away in celebration of the event! Stomp over to the Animag Fun Bag for your chance to win a Peter Jackson’s King Kong DVD prize Pack from Universal Home Video. Try your hand at our special Kong-test and you’re entered to win a King Kong DVD, T-shirt and hat!

    Play here: www.animationmagazine.net/wac/fun_bag.html

  • VOOM Gets GamePlay HD

    VOOM HD Networks has made a play for the gammer set with the launch of Gameplay HD, a high-definition channel dedicated solely to video game-related programming. Available nationally on DISH Networks, the outlet features industry news, original series, specials and tournaments and competitions.

    Voom has inked a deal with CNET Networks’ Gamespot to co-create two new series for the channel. GameSpotting will be a half-hour show focused on news, reviews and previews, while the hour-long CinemAddicts will tell animated stories featuring characters and graphics from next-generation video games. Titles to be included in the show are Condemmed: Criminal Origins and Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones.

    Gameplay HD will also feature the science-fiction series Ice Planet,

    which will blend action, adventure and horror to delve into questions about the human condition, societal decline and choices that mankind currently faces. Meanwhile, The Art of Play will give viewers an up-close and personal look at next-gen titles with gameplay footage, cinematic clips and information on each title’s missions and characters.

    Mark DeAngelis has taken the reins as VP of programming for the new network. Before joining VOOM, he served as VP of creative services at Rainbow Media and worked as an independent producer for 15 years, collaborating on projects for music icons Madonna and the Rolling Stones, among others.

  • Shadow of the Colossus Falls on GDC

    Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.’s fantasy-adventure title, Shadow of the Colossus, was the big winner at Wednesday night’s Game Developers Choice Awards, held in conjunction with the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Jose, Calif. In addition to making off with thee Game of the Year kudo, the development team accepted the awards for innovation, game design, character design and visual arts.

    The evening kicked off with the 8th annual Independent Games Fesival, which this year honored outstanding members of the modding community as well as students and indie game studios. The game of the hour was U.K.-based Introversion Software’s Darwinia, which has the inhabitants of a virtual theme park battling viruses in a massive computer network. Darwinia claimed the prizes for innovation in visual art and technical excellence before receiving the $20,000 Seumas McNally Grand Prize.

    In an acceptance speech, Mark Norris, who oversees all of Introversion’s activities, drew thunderous applause by declaring, ‘We didn’t take money from publishers because we didn’t want publishers f***ing up our game.’ He added that it’s moments like this that vindicate the difficult decisions the company had to make to get a game out to players without compromising the creative vision.

    IGF sponsor [adult swim] presented the $5,000 AdultSwim.com Award to Los Angeles-based Rabidlab’s Dodge that Anvil, which casts the player as a rabbit trying to get a garden snack during a storm of blacksmith tools. The title was chosen by [adult swim] staffers from a field of 118 entries.

    A record 2,000 online votes decided the winner of this year’s IGF Audience Choice Award. The coveted chunk of Lucite was handed off to Ankama of Northern France, the developer off the popular fantasy-adventure MMOG Dofus.

    The Game Developers Choice Awards followed. The Shadow of the Colossus lovefest was also good to Double Fine Prods., which was named best new studio and collected the writing award for Tim Schafer and Erik Wolpaw’s work on Psychonauts. Another big winner was Guitar Hero, a musical game developed by Harmonix Music Systems and RedOctane. The title won the Best Audio award and the Harmonix team of Mike Dornbrook, Eran Egozy, Greg Lopiccolo and Alex Rigopulos accepted the Maverick Award for exhibiting independence in thought and action while experimenting with alternative/emerging forms of digital games. Meanwhile, Nintendo’s best-selling Nintendo DS game, Nintendogs, took the award for excellence in technology.

    On hand to accept the Lifetime Achievement Award was Richard Garriot, exec producer of NCsoft North America and creator of the groundbreaking Ultima series of games, which was instrumental in helping to usher in massively multiplayer online role playing games. Garriot, who published his first game at the tender age of 19, said he was fortunate to be the right age at the right time to catch the gamming wave. However, he observed how everyone who came after him seemed to get younger and younger, making him constantly feel like one of the oldest people in the business.

    Another highlight of the ceremony was a spirited acceptance speech by Chris Hecker, a game innovator who helps to organize the yearly Indie Game Jam and Experimental Gameplay Workshop. After listing a few gaming issues he could rant about, Garriot said, ‘Id rather rave about how f***ing cool video games are and how lucky we are to be here at the beginning of a whole new art form. How often does that happen?’

    For more information regarding the Independent Games Festival, go to www.igf.com. The Game Developers Conference is online at www.gdconf.com

  • Game On at GDC ’06

    The expo floor opened today at the 2006 Game Developers Conference (GDC) in san Jose, Calif., greeting more than 12,000 video game professionals and enthusiasts from around the world. The 19th annual event will run through March 24 at the San Jose Convention Center, offering attendees a glimpse of what’s on the horizon in terms of next-gen game development, complex production and budgeting issues, strategic targeting of mass markets and collaborations with the film industry.

    This year’s keynote addresses will be presented by a handful of industry leaders, including Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, Sony Computer Entertainment exec. Phil Harrison, legendary game designer Will Wright and creator/producer of SCI-FI Channel’s new Battlestar Galactica Ronald D. Moore.

    “Right in the middle of the next-generation console releases, the GDC is the epicenter of discussion on the future of the art, science and business of games,” says conference director Jamil Moledina. The ‘What’s Next’ theme will be explored in more than 300 lectures, panels, tutorials and roundtable discussions covering all aspects of the game business. Special sessions will also be devoted to exploring the future of mobile entertainment and serious game applications.

    Highlights of the week-long event will include the Independent Games Festival, the Game Developers Choice Awards, GDC Mobile, the Serious Games Summit, Game Connection, the Graphic Impact Gallery and reception, and the Video Games Live Concert. These entertaining and informative events will offer industry insiders a chance to network, exchange ideas and perhaps shape the future of the interactive entertainment industry. A complete list of GDC 2006 programs and additional information on the conference can be found at www.gdconf.com. Animation Magazine Online will provide updates from the event throughout the week.

  • Street Named Development VP at MYP

    Former Animation Magazine publisher Rita Street has joined independent animation studio Mike Young Productions (MYP) as VP of development. Working out of the company’s Los Angeles production facility, Street will support the company’s existing development slate while looking for new projects and opportunities across all platforms. She will report to company co-CEOs Mike Young and Bill Schultz, as well as president Liz Young.

    ‘We’re thrilled to be signing Rita, a long term industry colleague and esteemed individual in the field of animation, comments Mike Young. ‘She has such a strong rolodex of worldwide talent, producers and buyers, not to mention outstanding creative chops herself!’ [A personal note from all of us at Animation Magazine: Way to go, Rita! Excellent move, Mike Young! She’s a real gem!]

    Street’s appointment is a non-exclusive arrangement with her Radar Cartoons, which will now be housed at MYP’s Woodland Hills studio. The agreement allows her to continue to serve other clients through the Radar Cartoons shingle.

    The appointment follows the announcement that MYP’s VP of creative affairs, Josh Fisher, will be leaving the company to pursue his own projects, including Bad Egg, which was optioned by MYP. In related staffing news, MYP’s Taffy Entertainment announced the expansion of its marketing division, naming Delphine Pham and Vicky Youn as marketing coordinators. While Pham will focus on online editorial and research, Youn will concentrate on new platforms acquisitions for the Asian territories.

    Recently acquired by Moonscoop of France, Mike Young Productions is the animation company behind the Emmy Award-winning CG-animated PBS series Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks. Seen in more than 160 countries around the world, MYP’s roster of animated television productions also includes Pet Alien and ToddWorld, as well as the upcoming Growing Up Creepie, I Got a Rocket and Dive Olly Dive! More information on the company can be found at www.mikeyoungproductions.com.

  • Japan’s GDH Builds Toon Fund

    Japanese animation studio GDH (formerly Gonzo Digimation Holding) has linked up with the Japan office of Goldman Sachs to raise approximately $43 million to fund content creation, according to Daily Variety. The fund will cover TV, direct-to-video features, theatrical films, online games and other productions targeted at international audiences.

    GDH will initially issue share warrants to local Goldman Sachs affiliate Jupiter Investment. Goldman Sachs will then have the option of investing in a contents fund set up by GDH and subsidiary GDH Capital. Through GDH Capital, the company will adopt an investment structure more akin to those employed by U.S. production companies than Japanese animation houses, which typically finance productions through committees.

    GDH recently teamed with major shareholder Fuji TV to produce the CG-animated feature Brave Story, based on a best-selling fantasy novel by Miyuki Miyabe, which is slated for release through Warner Bros. Japan this July. In addition, GDH is producing an animated series based on the Witchblade comic books published by Top Cow Prods. in the U.S. This version will be tailored to Japanese audiences and will feature and Asian heroine wielding an ancient weapon to battle evil forces in Tokyo. The series is scheduled to begin airing in Japan on April 6.

    GDH’s live-action division, Gonzo Revolution, is set to produce Long Armed Monkeys, the company’s first non-animated effort. The sci-fi buddy actioner is being produced in partnership with Hakuhodo DY Media Partners and Media Factory for release in 2007.

  • SOFTIMAGE|XSI v.5.1 Unveiled

    Softimage Co., a division of Avid Technology Inc., has announced the latest update to its flagship character production software at the Game Developer Conference (GDC) in San Jose, Calif. The release promises to a range of new features designed to simplify deployment and asset exchange for customers working on next-generation game titles and visual effects in mixed pipelines. Feature updates include native COLLADA 1.4 support, enhanced asset exchange with other applications and hundreds of other customer-driven enhancements.

    ‘The unique features in XSI like the popular GATOR attribute transfer tool and the Ultimapper data map generator were designed in collaboration with some of the world’s top games studios,’ says Softimage senior product manager Gareth Morgan. ‘XSI v.5.1 offers innovative character production tools for artists, backed up by the widest range of supported file-formats, standard scripting languages, and an extensive range of specialized C++ APIs for everything from plug-ins to pipeline deployment.’

    Featuring a unique, non-destructive workflow, SOFTIMAGE|XSI v.5.1 enables artists to make changes to rigged and animated characters at any point in the production cycle. Other highlights include built-in COLLADA 1.4 import and export for next-gen asset production, additional support of real-time shading languages (.CgFX, COLLADA FX, HLSL, SAS v.1.0), SDK enhancements to enable mixed-pipeline deployment, SOFTIMAGE|FACE ROBOT v.1.0 scene support for lifelike face animation, and enhanced support for Autodesk 3ds Max and Maya assets.

    SOFTIMAGE|XSI v.5.1 is expected to be available by the end of March. Customers who purchased any of the three packages of SOFTIMAGE|XSI v.5.0 software (Foundation, Essentials, Advanced) will be able to download the upgrade at www.softimage.com/download. New customers will be able to purchase SOFTIMAGE|XSI v.5.1 Foundation for $495, SOFTIMAGE|XSI v.5.1 Essentials for $1,995 and SOFTIMAGE|XSI v.5.1 Advanced for $6,995 from authorized resellers and the Softimage web site at www.softimage.com/store.

  • MTV2 to Launch Toon Block

    Having built a strong cult following for its twisted Sesame Street spoof, Wonder Showzen, MTV sister network MTV2 is reportedly bringing more animation to its lineup. According to Daily Variety, the network will introduce its first animation block on Friday, June 9. The lineup will include the revival of the clay-animated Celebrity Deathmatch and new toons titled Where My Dogs At? and Chico and Guapo.

    Created by Eric Fogel, Celebrity Deathmatch previously aired on MTV from 1998 to 2002. The show employs stop-motion animation to pit clay versions of public figures against one another in bloody wrestling matches. MTV2 recently began airing reruns of the show and decided that it could draw an audience with new episodes.

    Where My Dogs At? is created by comedian and roast master extraordinaire Jeffrey Ross and Aaron Lee. The show stars Ross and former Saturday Night Live player Tracey Morgan as the voices of stray dogs living on the streets of Hollywood.

    Actor Orlando Jones, who previously lent his voice to DreamWorks’ NBC primetime toon, Father of the Pride, created Chico and Guapo. No addition information on the series has been made available at this time.

    New episodes of Wonder Showzen will kick off on Friday, March 31, at 9 p.m. The show, which features animated shorts and segments involving hand puppets, debuted in 2005 but recently got a boost from viral video clips circulated by such internet outlets as ifilm.com and YouTube.com. MTV2 plans to also use the internet to help promote its upcoming programs.

  • Disney Shutters CG Unit

    When Disney announced plans to acquire digital animation juggernaut Pixar, the studio also mentioned that it will be closing Circle 7, the CG facility it was building to produce its own sequels to Toy Story, Finding Nemo and other Pixar favorites. Now the Los Angeles Times reports that the Mouse House has officially closed the shop and dropped the axe on 32 employees.

    The job cuts will be effective on May 26, but Disney says it will help laid-off employees find new work. The unit’s remaining 136 will apparently transition into roles at Walt Disney Feature Animation to work on such upcoming productions as Meet the Robinsons, Rapunzel: Unbraided and American Dog. Disney’s plans for Circle 7 head Andrew Millstein are not known at this time.

    Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner set up Circle 7 (which got the nickname Pixaren’t) in Glendale when Pixar was looking elsewhere for a distribution partner. Since Disney owns rights to all of the Pixar productions, the studio was prepared to crank out sequels without the participation of Pixar CEO Steve Jobs and creative force John Lasseter.

    Under the $7.4 billion acquisition deal, Disney has put its animation operation in the hands of Jobs, Lasseter and Pixar president Ed Catmull. Lasseter directed Cars, the seventh Disney/Pixar collaboration, which opens in theaters on June 9.