Animation Magazine

Author: Ryan Ball

  • Polar Express Hits $50 Million on IMAX

    A second healthy holiday season for The Polar Express: An IMAX 3D Experience has seen Warner Bros. Pictures’ performance-capture Christmas tale cross the $50 million mark at large-format venues. The film premiered last November, getting off to a slow start before building a good head of steam based on word-of-mouth and the added appeal of the stereoscopic 3-D IMAX experience. The studio is hoping the pic will be a perennial holiday staple and is likely to keep bringing it back to IMAX theaters as long as it keeps making money.

    The digitally re-mastered Polar Express was re-released just before the Thanksgiving holiday, returning to IMAX venues on the same day the film hit store shelves on home video. The movie has continuously ranked among the top-20 films in North America, reaching No. 12 last week with a haul of $931,603 on only 66 screens.

    Based on a children’s book by Chris Van Allsburg (Jumanji, Zathura), and helmed by Academy Award-winning Forest Gump director Robert Zemeckis, The Polar Express features the voice and likeness of Tom Hanks in multiple roles as a mysterious train takes a doubting young boy on a wild ride to the North Pole and Santa’s headquarters.

    The family flick suffered a lackluster $23 million opening weekend in 2004, but, fueled by the IMAX 3D presentations, it has now grossed more than $288 million worldwide. That number is expected to rise even higher as many IMAX theatres across the network report strong advance ticket sales for this weekend and throughout the holiday season.

    With The Polar Express, the vffx wizards at Zemeckis’ ImageMovers took motion-capture to the next level with their patented performance capture technology. The system is now in use on Sony’s upcoming Monster House, which Zemeckis is producing for a 2006 bow, and the Zemeckis-directed adaptation of the Old English epic poem, Beowulf, a 2007 release.

  • Hoodwinked! Finds Happy Ending in L.A. Theaters

    If you happen to live in Los Angeles, you can find Hoodwinked!, one of the ten animated features eligible in the Oscar race, playing in a few theaters today. Written and directed by Cory Edwards, Todd Edwards and Tony Leech, Hoodwinked! offers a fractured fairytale treatment of the classic Brothers Grimm fable of Little Red Riding Hood.

    The CG-animated pic centers on a band of creatures investigating a domestic disturbance at Grandma’s famous cottage. The animated players, which include a karate-kicking Red, a smart-aleck wolf, a goofy Woodsman and a thrill-seeking Granny, are voiced by the likes of Glenn Close, Jim Belushi, Anne Hathaway, Anthony Anderson and hip-hop artist Xzibit. Andy Dick also lends his voice as a creepy bunny and Benjy Gaither is a standout as a scene-stealing singing goat

    The feature also showcases several fine songs penned by Todd Edwards.

    The toon was produced by Kanbar Ent., which was founded by SKYY Vodka entrepreneur Maurice Kanbar and former Disney Animation exec Sue Bea Montgomery. This is the first computer-animated theatrical release from Bob and Harvey Weinstein, who handled distribution for the direct-to-video Bionicle series through their former company, Miramax. The film will open nationally on Jan. 13, 2006. You can read all about the making of this indie project in the January issue of Animation Magazine, now available in Barnes and Nobles stores around the country.

  • IGF Names Indie Games Finalists

    From a record-breaking field of 118 entries, a handful of games have been chosen to compete in the 2006 Independent Games Festival, an integral part of the 20th annual Game Developers Conference (Mar. 20-24) in San Jose, Calif. Winners will be revealed at the IGF and Game Developers Choice Awards gala ceremony on Mar. 22 at the San Jose Civic Auditorium.

    A judging panel of 40 industry professionals, comprised of mainstream and independent developers and independent journalists, was formed to single out the year’s best indie titles. Among the standouts are Introversion’s cult action-strategy title, Darwinia ; Ankama’s strategy MMORPG, Dofus; Grubby Gams’ puzzle game, Professor Fizzwizzle, Digital Eel’s innovative space exploration gem, Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space; and Pocketwatch Games’ ecosystem-building Wildlife Tycoon: Venture Africa. All five titles will be competing for the $20,000 Seumas McNally Grand Prize for Best Independent Game.

    Nominated for a total of four awards, pack-leading Darwinia also goes up against Dofus in the category Innovation in Visual Art. Other games will be competing for cash prizes totaling $35,000. In addition, the Audience Award winner will be selected by public vote. Finalists in the IGF Modding category and Student Showcase will be announced in January.

    “Games are now a mainstream form of art,” states IGF co-chairman Simon Carless. “As with any art, the independent scene flourishes. We’re proud to be supporting innovative indie games and giving them the spotlight they deserve with these awards.”

    The IGF was established in 1998 by the CMP Game Group to encourage innovation in game development and to recognize the best independent game developers. With entries pouring in from all over the world, the IGF reflects how global the game development community has become.

    For more information regarding the IGF and finalists, go to www.igf.com. To register for the Game Developers Conference and review conference information, visit www.gdconf.com. Read more about Ankama’s anime-inspired Dofus in the February issue of Animation Magazine.

    Other 2005 IGF Finalists:

    Best Innovation in Game Design

    Darwinia (Introversion)

    Rumble Box (DigiPen Institute of Technology: Insert Coin)

    Strange Attractors (Ominous Development)

    Braid (Number None Inc.)

    The Witch’s Yarn (Mousechief Co.)

    Best Web Browser Game

    Dodge That Anvil (Rabidlab)

    Moleculous (Game Trust Inc.)

    Dad ‘N Me (Newgrounds.com Inc.)

    Technical Excellence

    Saints & Sinners Bowling (Large Animal Games)

    Tribal Trouble (Oddlabs ApS)

    Tube Twist (21-6 Prods. Inc.)

    Darwinia (Introversion)

    Crazy Ball (Atomic Elbow)

    Innovation in Visual Art

    Dofus (Ankama Studios)

    Darwinia (Introversion)

    Putt Nutz (Black Mountain Games)

    Glow Worm (Flashbang Studios LLC)

    Thomas and the Magical Words (ViquaSoft Co. Ltd.)

    Innovation In Audio

    Professor Fizzwizzle

    Saints & Sinners Bowling

    Dodge That Anvil

    Glow Worm

    Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space

  • Free Passes to ION Fest at UCLA

    Friday, Dec. 16, marks the start of this year’s ION Animation, Games and Short Film Festival at the James Bridges Theater on the UCLA campus in Westwood. Animation Magazine has 100 free screening passes to give away! The first hundred people to email festival@ionfilmfest.com with the subject head: ‘Animation Magazine FREE Pass for this weekend’ will receive a maximum of two passes.

    The festival runs through Sunday, Dec. 18, and will present more than 80 films, including 17 world premieres. Celebrating the convergence of animation, games and film, the second annual event will feature opening night presentations of Avoid Eye Contact: The Best Independent Animation from New York Animators and a feature fan film titled Star Wars: Revelations.

    The Best Independent Animation from New York Animators program will feature the films of Bill Plympton, Mo Willems, Patrick Smith, Fran Krause, Alex Budovsky, John Dilworth, John Schnall, Signe Baumane, Christy Karacas, Jesse Schmal, Nina Paley, George Griffin, Michael Overbeck, Chris Conforti, Rohitash Rao and PES.

    Star Wars: Revelations is an exercise in creating a low-budget, independent film with big-budget production values. With affordable technology and a pool of talented artists around the world, filmmakers have poured their love for George Lucas’ space saga into a new adventure that will have its debut at the ION Fest.

    A total of 47 animated films will screen and compete for ION’s top prize, which last year went Shane Acker’s dark, CG-animated adventure short, 9, which Tim Burton is now developing into a feature film. The screening schedule can be found at www.ionfilmfest.com. Festival tickets can also be purchased at the site.

  • New Bros. Quay on Tap for ANIMEX ’06

    ANIMEX, the International Festival of Animation & Computer Games, returns to The University of Teesside in Middlesbrough, England next year and organizers are filling out the roster of international guests and programs to accompany screenings of professional and student works. The 2006 edition will take place Feb. 6-10, spilling out of the University and onto screens around the North East.

    A highlight of the upcoming event is a special preview of The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes, the first full-length feature from Stephen and Timothy Quay, best known as the Brothers Quay. The British filmmakers will unveil their dark, live-action/animated fairytale which is slated for release at the end of February, 2006. The film tells the story of a demonic doctor who abducts a beautiful opera singer and plans to turn her into a mechanical nightingale and imprison her on a remote fantasy island.

    Other features to screen at ANIMEX include Steamboy, the latest anime pic from Akira director Katsuhro ‘tomo (the critically acclaimed film is available on home video in the U.S. but is yet to be released in the U.K.), and MirrorMask, The Jim Henson Co.’s live-action/CG adaptation of writer Neil Gaiman’s fantasy novel. Scripted by Gaiman and directed by his long-time collaborator, Dave McKean, the film was completed on a shoestring budget with a crew of 15 British animators.

    Audiences will be able to vote for their favorite animated shorts in the Public Choice category for the prestigious 2006 British Animation Awards. Winners will be presented in London on Mar. 9 at the Shaw Theatre. In addition, Animation students from around the world will be competing for the highly coveted Animex International Student Animation Awards.

    Video game designers will also be on and to show their stuff at Animex Game, which will focus on the art and design side of game production. Development studio Blitz will offer an inside look at some of its latest projects, while Eutechnyx discusses some of the latest art techniques its using to create games for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms.

    Special guests lined up to participate in discussions and other programs include U.K. artist Roger Dean, whose 1970s album covers for progressive-rock band YES have inspired the new animated film Floating Islands (to be exclusively previewed in Teesside); Mark Walsh, lead directing animator on PIXAR’s Finding Nemo; Mark Simon, an artist, writer and special effects supervisor who owns of one of the largest storyboard companies in the U.S.; Ed Hooks, author of Acting for Animators; Dave Sproxton, executive chairman and co-founder of Aardman Animations; and Stuart Sumida, professor of biology at California State University who has consulted on such films as Beauty and the Beast, Mulan, The Lion King, Shrek II, Lilo and Stitch, Tarzan and Stuart Little.

    Animex is funded by Northern Film + Media, DigitalCity, ONE North East, Learning Skills Council and Seed Animation Studio. For ticket sales and more information, go to www.animex.net.

  • Digital Dimension Animates 3D Deepo

    After traveling to the stars for Sony’s Zathura: A Space Adventure, visual effects studio Digital Dimension has tested the CG film waters with the completion of Deepo, a stereoscopic 3-D underwater adventure. Created in partnership with renowned themed park attraction developer Gary Goddard, the film is the centerpiece of the 4D theater presentation at the recently opened, 500,000-square-foot, $250-million-dollar Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta.

    Featuring more than a dozen oceanic characters including fish, sharks and sea turtles, the 12-minute Deepo plays like an immersive journey into the world of Pixar’s Finding Nemo. Digital Dimension Montreal handled storyboarding, layout, modeling, animation, rendering and compositing, while producer Chris Del Conte and exec producers Ben Girard and Jerome Morin regularly held meetings with Goddard to review shots in the Los Angeles offices.

    Michel Heroux, VP of post production for the Montreal studio, comments, ‘The biggest challenge was working in 3-D stereoscopic, because that meant doing everything twice. Deepo has a stage/live-show feel; the characters know we are looking at them and they’re looking at us, so it was important to get into a looking-at-the-camera kind of wink-wink, interact-with-the-audience animation style.’

    Deepo‘s characters were modeled based on concepts by character designer Phil Mendez. The 3D animation was completed using Autodesk’s 3ds Max, while Eyeon Digital Fusion was used for stereoscopic compositing and Mental Images’ Mental Ray for rendering.

    Digital Dimension recently created CG-animated horses for Warner Bros.’ live-action/CG comedy, Racing Stripes, which whet the team’s appetite for diving into a completely animated project. The studio’s success with Deepo has led to a CG feature film deal with unnamed former Disney producers, and Digital Dimension Montreal is now recruiting additional CG artists to produce the motion picture.

    Housing more than 100,000 animals in eight million gallons of fresh and salt water, The Georgia Aquarium lays claim to being the largest aquarium in the world. Entertaining patrons with a colorful, musical story about marine life and the responsibilities of humankind, Deepo was sponsored by Home Depot, which helped fund the aquarium’s 4D theater.

    Goddard’s theme park attraction design credits include Terminator II 3D and Jurassic Park: The Ride for Universal Studios Hollywood, The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man and Jurassic Park River Adventure for Universal Studios Florida, Star Trek: The Experience for Paramount Parks and Hilton Las Vegas, and The Enchanted Laboratory for Busch Gardens.

    Digital Dimension’s previous stereoscopic 3D work includes the IMAX feature Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D, produced by Tom Hanks. The studio recently wrapped visual effects on the motion picture Zathura. For more information about the company, go to www.digitaldimension.com.

  • GDC, Hollywood Reporter Team for Summit

    The widespread convergence of the movie industry and the video game business will be the subject of a new conference being co-produced by Game Developers Conference (GDC) host The CMP Game Group and entertainment trade The Hollywood Reporter. The inaugural Hollywood and Games Summit will take place in Beverly Hills, Calif., on June 27, 2006.

    Leveraging the combined prestige and contacts of both organizations, the summit promises to attract leaders from the respective industries to interact and discuss the best practices for strategically marketing original IP. The conference also will feature discussions on such topics as content development, rights management, production, art, music and design.

    “Some of Hollywood’s most creative and successful crossovers have resulted from game visionaries collaborating with their counterparts in movies, television and music,” says Chris Marlowe, editorial director of digital media for The Hollywood Reporter. “In the same vein, we’re excited about the crossover opportunities that arise by partnering with industry leader CMP on a new and needed event.”

    The Hollywood and Games Summit will offer focused sessions, small-scale exhibits and networking opportunities. More information will be available online in January at www.hollywoodandgames.com.

  • LAIKA Animates Starbucks for the Holidays

    LAIKA/house, the commercial division of the animation studio formerly known as Vinton Studios, has produced a series of holiday-themed animations for the Starbucks chain of coffee shops. Crated in conjunction with ad agency Wieden + Kennedy, the three pieces will be projected on buildings, shown on airline flights and broadcast via a special website.

    Titled Airport Pick-up, Men Decorate and Surprise Gift, the animated works are described as ‘charming little holiday vignettes about events that happen only during this very special time of year.’ All three blend a traditional illustrative look with light-hearted insights into how Americans celebrate the holidays.

    ‘The appeal of these little films is that they are simple and insightful. It’s not a gag-based fantasy, but more like illustrating a real moment,’ says LAIKA/house director Aaron Sorenson, who worked with Patrick Long, one of the company’s new illustrators, to create the visual style for the spots.

    The best way to see the shorts is by logging onto www.theredcup.com. If you live in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Washington, DC, Sacramento, Dallas, Portland, San Diego or and Seattle, you may even catch them projected larger than life on the side of one of your local skyscrapers. In addition, Airport Pick-up is screening on United Airlines’ domestic flights all this month.

    LAIKA Entertainment, the feature animation side of the company, is in pre-production on the films Coraline, written and directed by Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach), and Jack & Ben’s Animated Adventure, written and directed by Jorgen Klubien, an animator and writer lists The Lion King, Toy Story2, Monsters, Inc. and A Bug’s Life among his credits. The Portland, Oregon-based company’s new short film, Henry Selick’s Moongirl, recently won the Short Film Special Jury Prize at the Ottawa International Animation Festival and is nominated for the Annie Award for Best Short Animated Film. Visit the studio online at www.laika.com.

  • JibJab Recaps 2005

    Hurricane Katrina, FEMA, bird flu, insurgents, Cindy Sheehan, Scooter Libby, Tom Delay … all of President Bush’s 2005 headaches get the distinct JibJab treatment in a new satirical web cartoon. Titled 2-0-5, the animated short will be available for free download on Thursday, Dec. 15, at www.jibjab.com and www.MSNVideo.com.

    Set to a medley of the New Year’s Eve song “Auld Lang Syne” and bluegrass staple “Turkey in the Straw,” the two-minute video features a cut-out George Bush singing about his hope that 2006 turns out better than the present year. The music was arranged by Wojahn Bros. Music and Bush’s singing voice was provided by actor Jim Meskimen.

    ‘There were so many issues facing the President, we had to make the song lightning fast to squeeze them all in,” says JibJab co-founder Evan Spiridellis, “People will want to watch it again and again to catch all the references.”

    Evan and brother Greg Spiridellis made their JibJab Media a household brand when their short political spoof, This Land, became an internet sensation that was downloaded more than 80 million times during the 2004 Presidential Election.

    ‘When we launched `This Land,’ our servers melted down,’ notes Spiridellis. ‘With the technology expertise of MSN, we’re able to deliver a more consistent, enjoyable experience to our audience.”

    2-0-5 will be available online following its West Coast premiere on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. The cartoon is the fifth JibJab production to appear on the late-night talk show, and the second of five animated shorts to appear on MSN Video through a deal inked this past October.

  • All Hail King Kong

    Some stories are timeless, as director Peter Jackson proves with his latest vfx epic, King Kong. This CG-laden remake of the 1933 classic monster movie promises to be one of the year’s biggest blockbusters, especially with all the dough Universal has spent marketing this $200 million voyage to Skull Island, which opens in theaters around the world today.

    Jackson’s faithful re-imagining of Meriam C. Cooper’s and Ernest B. Shoedsack’s larger-than-life adventure yarn stars Naomi Watts as Ann Darrow, a struggling actress coaxed by film producer Carl Denham (Jack Black) to star in a dubious motion picture shooting on a mysterious island. She eventually falls in love with the film’s writer, played by Adrien Brody, who comes to the rescue when Anne is offered up to a 24-foot tall gorilla, a local deity the island natives call Kong.

    The great ape in the original King Kong was brought to life by vfx pioneer Willis O’Brien, who used stop-motion animation and rear-screen projection to make audiences believe that an 18-inch model gorilla was a living, breathing beast towering over humans. The movie was a massive hit, saving RKO Pictures from bankruptcy and spawning a quickly made sequel, Son of Kong. Both films were recently restored and released together on DVD. They are packaged with the 1940 Ray Harryhausen favorite, Mighty Joe Young, another overgrown ape pic produced by Cooper and Shoedsack to capitalize on the popularity of Kong.

    King Kong was remade once before in 1976 by producer Dino De Laurentiis. Despite fine acting by Jeff Bridges and Charles Grodin, and, of course, the jaw-dropping screen debut of Jessica Lange, the modernized update has few fans among Kong devotees. The film features master vfx make-up artist Rick Baker in an ape suit, scaling the twin towers of the World Trade Center.

    Universal’s new version marks the return of an animated Kong, brought to the screen by the digital magicians at Jackson’s New Zealand-based Weta, the Oscar-wining vfx shop behind the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Actor Andy Serkis, who provided the motion-captured performance of Gollum in those films, wiggled into a mo-cap suit again to monkey around as Kong. More details of the making of the film can be seen in King Kong: Peter Jackson’s Production Diaries, a two-disc compilation of behind-the-scenes footage released on DVD on Tuesday. You can also read about Weta’s work in the January issue of Animation Magazine, now available at Barnes & Noble and other fine booksellers.

  • Jacobson Takes ILM’s Marketing Reins

    Lucasfilm Ltd.’s Industrial Light & Magic has hired vfx industry veteran Joni Jacobson to head its new Los Angeles offices in the newly created role of executive in charge of production marketing. She will also develop the Los Angles marketing beachhead for Skywalker Sound.

    Remarking on Jacobson’s appointment, ILM president Chrissie England comments, ‘Her unique background straddles both the production and artistic disciplines of the visual effects Industry, and our clients can only benefit from the wealth of knowledge she brings to the table. In addition, having an ongoing local presence in Los Angeles will allow for better support for our clients in the area.’

    Jacobson got her start in visual effects working for Atari founder Nolan Bushnell. In 1982, she joined CIS Hollywood, where she was part of the EFilm launch team and served as a creative director and visual effects supervisor. Jacobson launched her own VFX boutique, Mar Vista Ventures, in 2002, and worked as a senior digital artist and vfx producer on such films as Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Flight of the Phoenix, The Aviator and the upcoming All the Kings Men.

    Celebrating its 30th anniversary, ILM recently took up new digs at the Letterman Digital Arts Center in San Francisco’s historic Presidio and its putting its new production pipeline to work with Mission: Impossible III for Paramount, Pirates of the Caribbean 2 for Disney, Eragon for 20th Century Fox and Poseidon and Lady in the Water for Warner Bros. The new Los Angeles offices will open under Jacobson’s supervision in January at The Lot in West Hollywood.

  • Autodesk Brings Lustre to Kong

    The vfx wizards at Weta Digital in New Zealand relied heavily on Autodesk’s Discreet Lustre system to digitally color grade Universal Pictures’ King Kong, which opens worldwide today. Since lighting and color were identified early on as key aspects of the film, the Autodesk solution ended up influencing the entire creative process, according to Weta.

    Commenting on Lustre, King Kong‘s senior visual effects supervisor Joe Letteri notes, ‘We used it to grade at the front end, before the computer-generated elements were added, and also at the very end of our pipeline to grade the final images. As the elements came in, the Lustre system helped us work out the look for complex environments like Skull Island and 1933 New York.”

    Weta Digital installed five Discreet Lustre systems, giving the artists ample room to explore numerous options for the film’s look. Since director Peter Jackson and his fellow filmmakers knew they had control and flexibility in the digital grading post-production phase, they had more freedom during filming. For example, there was no waiting for the ‘magic hour’ since lighting for scenes shot at various times of day could later be corrected to achieve the desired effect.

    “Establishing the right look and feel for King Kong was an essential part of the storytelling,’ says supervising digital colorist Dave Cole. ‘We achieved this with the Discreet Lustre system. This extremely powerful tool made it possible for the film to appear realistic, yet stylized.’

    Autodesk today launched a micro-site for its contributions to King Kong. The page can be accessed at www.autodesk.com.

  • Exodus Mints Consumer Products Unit

    Exodus Film Group, an entertainment company developing a slate of CG-animated productions, has tapped veteran licensing exec Bruce Auerbach to head its newly formed consumer products division. He will oversee all licensing and merchandising efforts beginning with the live-action/CG feature film, Bunyan and Babe. Reporting to Exodus president John D. Eraklis, Auerbach will also be working to strike video-game, publishing and toy deals for the company’s toon movies Igor, The Hero of Color City and Amarillo Armadillo.

    Over the course of his 25-year licensing career, Auerbach’s has been involved with such major franchises as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Jurassic Park, Star Wars, Batman, Cabbage Patch Kids, Dragonball Z, The Simpsons, Looney Tunes, Star Trek, Power Rangers, Sesame Street and Pokemon. He previously served a president of consumer products for Entertainment Business Group (EBG), where he oversaw worldwide third party film licensing. Most recently, he directed the worldwide merchandising and marketing efforts for the upcoming Warner Bros.’ film and animated series, The Runelords.

    Igor, Exodus’ first CG-animated film, is now in production and will be preceded by the animated short film Igor: Unholy Frijoles, set for release in the fall of 2007. The short and feature will play on the Frankenstein story by focusing on the eager lab assistant, who has big dreams of becoming a mad scientist in his own right and winning the coveted first place award at the annual Evil Science Fair. Actor Christian Slater will star as the voice of Igor in both films, leading a cast that includes Jay Leno, Steve Buscemi and John Cleese. Igor, The Hero of Color City and Amarillo Armadillo are being exec produced by veteran animation exec Max Howard (The Lion King, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Space Jam).

    Directed by three-time Academy Award-winning visual effects director Jim Rygiel (The Lord of the Rings films, 102 Dalmatians) Bunyan and Babe will feature a CG-animated Babe the Blue Ox voiced by actor/comedian Eddie Griffin.

  • Globe Noms for Kong Director, Score

    On the eve of the release of his latest vfx extravaganza, director Peter Jackson received a Golden Globe nomination for directing King Kong. The state-of-the-art update also got a nod for Best Original Score, recognizing the work of James Newton Howard. Despite Universal’s heavy awards-season campaigning, however, the film was shut out of the other major categories, including Best Picture.

    Jackson picked up the Globe in 2004 for directing The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. This year, New Zealand’s golden boy is in good company as he competes with Woody Allen for Match Point, George Clooney for Good Night, and Good Luck, Ang Lee for Brokeback Mountain, Fernando Meirelles for The Constant Gardener and Steven Spielberg for Munich.

    Howard’s score for Kong also has some stiff competition. Also in the running are Alexandre Desplat for Syriana, Gustavo Santaolalla for Brokeback Mountain, Harry Gregson for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and John Williams for Memoirs of a Geisha. Narnia also garnered a Best Original Song nomination for Alanis Morissette’s ‘Wunderkind.’

    Last year, Disney/Pixar’s The Incredibles was nominated for Best Motion Picture’Musical or Comedy, a category filled this time by live-action efforts. The contenders are Mrs. Henderson Presents from The Weinstein Co., Pride & Prejudice from Focus Features/StudioCanal, The Producers from Universal Pictures/Columbia Pictures, The Squid and the Whale from Samuel Goldwyn Film/Sony Pictures Releasing International and Walk The Line from Twentieth Century Fox.

    On the dramatic side, this years Best Motion Picture contenders are Focus Features’ Brokeback Mountain and The Constant Gardener, Warner Independent Pictures’s Good Night, and Good Luck, New Line Cinema’s A History Of Violence and DreamWorks Pictures’ Match Point.

    The 63rd Annual Golden Globe Awards will be presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association on Monday, Jan. 16, 2006, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The event will be air live on NBC at 8 p.m. (ET). A complete list of nominees is available at www.hfpa.org/news/id/13.

  • Valiant, Kronk, Simpsons on Disc

    As the holidays approach, the studios are turning out plenty of gift ideas for the animation fan on your list. Today alone sees a plethora of debuts that leads off with Disney’s presentation of Vanguard Animation’s Valiant, Disney’s new direct-to-video spin-off, Kronk’s New Groove, and the complete seventh season of The Simpsons. And let’s not forget the new Mystery Inc. adventure, Scooby-Doo in Where’s My Mummy?

    Reased theatrically by Disney over the summer, Valiant did little business at the North American box office but should fare better in the lucrative family home video market. The adventure-comedy tells the story of a lowly wood pigeon who overcomes his small size to become a hero in Great Britain’s Royal Air Force Homing Pigeon Service during the Second World War. Ewan McGregor (The Island, Star Wars Episodes I-III) voices the title character, leading a star-studded cast that includes Sir Ben Kingsley (House of Sand and Fog) Jim Broadbent (Moulin Rouge), Rupert Everett (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe), John Hurt (Harry Potter films) Hugh Laurie (ABC’s House) and Ricky Gervais (HBO’s Extras). DVD bonus features include a blooper reel and a Valiant Training Challenge game with three different levels to play. The Buena Vista Home Entertainment release lists for $29.99.

    Disney’s 2000 animated theatrical release, The Emperor’s New Groove, introduced audiences to loveable henchman Kronk, who takes center stage in this sequel of sorts, which recently received an Annie Award nomination for Best Home Entertainment Production. Patrick Warburton reprises the role of Kronk, who has realized his lifelong dream of becoming a chef and camp counselor. But when his father (voiced by John Mahoney from TV’s Frasier) comes to visit, he has to win Pop’s approval by pretending he has settled down with a wife and family. David Spade, John Goodman, Eartha Kitt and Wendie Malick also revisit their respective roles for this outing, which also features the voice of Tracey Ullman. The disc’s $29.99 suggested retail price also includes such extras as a making-of featrette and the interactive activities Kronk’s Brain Game and Pyramid Scheme.

    The Simpsons: The Complete Seventh Season is a four-disc set offering 23 episodes from the 1995 season of the long-running FOX animated series. Featured installments include ‘Treehouse of Horror VI,’ in which Homer enters a 3D world and becomes a CG model. Packaged in a limited-edition Marge head box, the set offers episode commentary, animation showcases, deleted scenes, a sketch gallery and the featurettes Invitation From Matt Groening, Homer and the Third Dimension and Paul and Linda’s Lentil Soup. Fox Home Entertianment lists the set at $49.98.

    Those meddling kids and their snack-scarfing Great Dane are back in another direct-to-video feature titled Scooby-Doo in Where’s My Mummy? Produced by Warner Bros. Animation, this latest mystery takes the gang to Egypt, where archeologist Velma discovers the hidden tomb of Cleopatra and unleashes the cursed army of the undead. Bonus materials include Raiders of the Lost Lunch, a National Geographic Kids featurette, which has Scooby-Doo and Shaggy discover King Tut’s tomb in Egypt while in search of an ancient banquet. There’s also a behind-the-scenes look at voice recording sessions with Casey Kasem (Shaggy) and other cast members, a Scooby-Doo rap music video and the interactive challenge Escape From The Ankh Chamber. The Turner Home Entertainment release carries a suggested retail price of $24.98.

  • Kong, Godzilla, Harryhausen Beasts Unleashed

    With Peter Jackson’s remake of King Kong bowing in theaters on Wednesday, home video distributors are cashing in on the excitement by releasing of some monster productions of their own. The most direct link is King Kong: Peter Jackson’s Production Diaries, a deluxe gift set containing behind-the-scenes video and interviews shot during the making of the big-budget update. In addition, Kong’s Japanese counterpart arrives in stores in Godzilla: Final Wars and the latest Ray Harryhausen gift set offers up giant stop-motion-animated monsters in the classic 1950s films 20 Million Miles to Earth, Earth vs. the Flying Saucers and It Came from Beneath the Sea.

    The limited edition King Kong: Peter Jackson’s Production Diaries comes on two discs and offers a step-by-step, first-hand account of the Lord of the Rings director’s efforts to recreate the 1933 classic King Kong for a new generation. Jackson personally introduces 54 video segments featuring peeks at the creation of the film’s computer-generated visual effects and appearances by stars Naomi Watts, Jack Black, Adrien Brody and Andy Serkis. The diaries were originally posted online at www.kongisking.net. Bonus materials include a 50-page, full-color book featuring production photos, drawings and other artwork; four exclusive production lithographs created by the conceptual artists at Big Primate Pictures and WETA workshop; and a numbered letter of authenticity. All that lists for just $39.98 from Universal.

    One of the most entertaining movies of the year is Godzilla: Final Wars, which Toho claims will be the final big-screen romp for the Big G. Released theatrically in time for last year’s 50 anniversary celebration, which included the unveiling of Godzilla’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, this latest rubber-suit beast brawl was directed by Japanese action auteur Ryuhei Kitamura (Versus). Working with the biggest Godzilla budget ever, Kitamura brings a hip, new look and feel to the franchise while bringing back a dozen or so classic monsters for his prehistoric hero to fight. There’s even a healthy dose of computer animation tossed in to augment the man-in-suit action. The film’s effects sequences are profiled in the bonus features department, which also offers the film’s teaser trailer, TV spots and a promo reel. The Sony Pictures release can be had for around $24.96. Read more about this film here: www.animationmagazine.net/article.php?article_id=4177.

    More classic monster mayhem is offered up in the form of the new, three-disc Harryhausen Gift Set. A major influence on Peter Jackson and just about everyone working in the visual effects field today, Harryhausen mastered the stop-motion technique Willis O’Brien employed in the original King Kong to bring his own creatures to life in these atomic-age sci-fi films. A giant octopus, a mammoth Venitian and some destructive UFOs wreak havoc on planet Earth in It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955), 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957), and Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956), packaged together complete with digitally mastered audio. In addition to the documentaries The Harryhausen Chronicles and This Is Dynamation, the set includes a making-of featurette on Earth vs. the Flying Saucers. Released by Sony, the pack retails for around $49.95.

    There’s more vfx fun to be had in the recut and extended version of Sin City from directors Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller (creator of the comic-book series). This two-disc set features both the theatrical version and an unrated, protracted cut for the list price of $39.99. Bonus materials include the complete graphic novel; commentary by Rodriguez, Miller and guest director Quentin Tarantino; audience reaction from the Austin, Texas premiere; an uninterrupted 17-minute take of Tarantino’s segment; bloopers; video from the filmmaker, cast and crew party; an interactive game titled Sin-Chroni-City; and the featurettes 15-minute Film School with Robert Rodriguez; The Movie in High Speed Green Screen; 10-minute Cooking School with Robert Rodriguez; A Hard Top With a Decent Engine: The Cars of Sin City; Making the Monsters (special effects make-up); Trench Coats & Fishnets: The costumes of Sin City; Booze, Broads & Guns: The props of Sin City and How It Went Down: Convincing Frank Miller to Make the Film.

  • Pettson Enjoys Scandinavian Success

    Pettson’s Promise, the third animated TV-Loonland movie featuring internationally popular Swedish heroes Pettson and Findus, is in the midst of a successful run in Scandinavian cinemas. Based on the Christmas story The Tomte Machine, the film has sold more than 61,000 tickets in Sweden since Nov. 25, putting it at No. 2 behind Warner Bros.’ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

    While the latest Potter film suffered a 48% drop in attendance in Sweden during its second week, Pettson’s Promise slipped only 3% and was well ahead of the third-place contender, which attracted just 8,000 moviegoers. Elsewhere in Scandinavia, Pettson drew 47,300 viewers in Denmark, 14,400 in Norway and 8,000 in Finland.

    As with the first two movies, Pettson and Findus and Pettson and Findus II, Pettson’s Promise is based on a book series by award-winning Swedish author Sven Nordqvist. The tales of grouchy old man Pettson and his curious little tomcat, Findus, have sold more than four million copies, toping best-seller lists in Germany. Danish directors Jorgen Lerdam and Anders Sorensen teamed with Albert Hanan Kaminski, the prize-winning director of the first two movies, to adapt Nordqvist’s picture-book, Morgen, Findus, Wirds Was Geben, for the new movie.

    The Pettson and Findus movies are produced at renowned British animation studio Telemagination by ZDF and ZDF Enterprises, along with Swedish animation shop Happy Life Animation and A Film in Denmark. The first installment opened in early January of 2001 and was seen by more than 1.3 million people. With the second film reaching similar success, TV-Loonland has pumped approximately 4.5 million Euros into the latest production.

    ‘The excellent start that our Pettson and Findus Christmas movie has made in Scandinavia gives us reason to believe that the movie will follow the success of the first two productions in Germany,” says Selma K’ppel, CEO of TV-Loonland. The holiday pic is slated to open in German theaters in December of 2006. In addition, a second season of the Pettson and Findus TV series (13×13) is currently in production and will air on ZDF.

  • NY Critics Howl for Miyazaki Pic

    The New York Film Critics’ Circle announced its 2005 winners on Monday, naming Hayao Miyazaki’s traditionally animated Howl’s Moving Castle Best Animated Feature. Miyazaki’s 2003 release, Spirited Away, was the critical favorite that year and went on to win the Academy Award for feature animation.

    Based on a fantasy book by Diana Wynne Jones and scripted by Reiko Yoshida, Howl’s Moving Castle centers on an enchanted 18-year-old girl who becomes trapped inside the body of an old woman and encounters with a wizard named who inhabits a magical moving castle. Though Disney’s U.S. release made little money, the film was a huge hit in Japan and received the Hollywood Film Festival’s Animation of the Year award earlier this year.

    Over the weekend, both the New York Film Critics Online and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association gave their Best Animated Feature awards to DreamWorks Animation’s and Aardman Animations’ Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Directed by Nick Park and Steve Box, the clay-animated romp leads the nominations for this year’s Annie Awards and may be Oscar bound unless Howl’s Moving Castle builds up more awards season steam.

  • Gromit Cracking with Critics

    Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, the latest animated feature from Aardman Animations and DreamWorks Animation is emerging as the awards season frontrunner. Over the weekend, the clay-animated screwball comedy was named animated movie of the year by both the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) and the New York Film Critics Online.

    Directed by Nick Park and Steve Box of Aardman, the first feature-length outing for cheese-craving Wallace and his canine compadre, Gromit, did boffo business overseas, especially in the U.K. However, the film made a modest $55 million in the U.S., where moviegoers plunked down more cash for DreamWorks’ Madagascar and Disney’s Chicken Little. Perhaps a successful awards-season run capped off by an Oscar win will inspire more love for the big-screen extension of Park’s Academy Award-winning short film series and translate to robust home video sales and maybe a sequel.

    Critics in Los Angeles also gave Best Score to Joe Hisaishi’s and Youmi Kimura’s score for Howl’s Moving Castle, the latest traditionally animated feature from celebrated filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki.

    On the live-action side, LAFCA chose director Ang Lee’s tragic cowboy love story, Brokeback Mountain (Focus Features) as the year’s top film, while New York Film Critics Online went with director Noah Baumbach’s dark comedy The Squid and the Whale from Samuel Goldwyn Films. Relationship stories ruled the roost as both organizations shut out big-budget effects films such as Peter Jackson’s King Kong. However, the giant ape pic did get some love this weekend from the American Film Institute, which named the film among the top 10 motion pictures of 2005.

    The Los Angeles Film Critics Association’s 31st annual awards ceremony will take place Jan. 17 at the Park Hyatt in Century City. A full list of winning films can be viewed at www.lafca.net/Home/News/2005_lafca_awards_winners.html. The list of New York Film Critics Online picks is available at www.nyfco.org (requires login). The New York Film Critics Circle will weigh in with its choices later today.

  • DreamWorks Animation, Paramount Sign Distrib. Pact

    With the news of Paramount Pictures’ $1.6 billion purchase of DreamWorks SKG comes word that Paramount has secured worldwide rights to distribute DreamWorks Animation productions through 2012. The seven-year agreement covers theatrical, home entertainment and television releases, and is conditioned on the closing of Paramount’s acquisition of DreamWorks Studios, which currently handles distribution for its publicly traded toon unit.

    Paramount will earn the same 8% distribution fee that DreamWorks Animation previously paid to DreamWorks Studios. In return, DreamWorks Animation will receive $75 million in cash, which it plans to use to repay debts following a year marred by losses.

    “We are pleased with the benefits this new relationship provides DreamWorks Animation,” comments studio CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg. “The existing talent of DreamWorks Studios and the resources available at Paramount Pictures will result in a very strong distribution partner that will create great opportunities for our products in the marketplace.”

    Under the new agreement, DreamWorks Animation will retain a certain level of control over the marketing and distribution of its films, and will also be afforded promotional opportunities over such Viacom television outlets as Nickelodeon, MTV, Nick at Nite, VH1, BET, TV Land and Comedy Central.

    DreamWorks Animation will host a conference call and webcast to discuss the new distribution agreement on Monday, Dec. 12, at 3:30 p.m. (ET). The live webcast can be accessed at www.dreamworksanimation.com.