Animation Magazine

Author: Ryan Ball

  • Stars Fall for Reeve’s Yankee Irving

    IDT Ent. has lined up a stellar voice cast for Yankee Irving, the CG toon feature Christopher Reeve was directing at the time of his death. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the family pic will feature the vocal talents of Rob Reiner (Hopeless Pictures), William H. Macy (Seabiscuit), Whoopi Goldberg (The Lion King 1 1/2), Brian Dennehy (Assault on Precinct 13), Mandy Patinkin (The Princess Bride), Dana Reeve (The Brooke Ellison Story), Robert Wagner (Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shaged Me), Richard Kind (Spin City), Raven Symone (That’s So Raven) and New York Yankees manager Joe Torre.

    Jake Syzmanski, star of Nick Jr.’s upcoming Dora the Explorer spin-off, Go, Diego Go, voices Yankee Irving, a boy who sets out on a cross-country mission to return Babe Ruth’s bat before the deciding game of the 1932 World Series. The film, described as a father-and-son love story involving both human and animal characters, is slated fore release by 20th Century Fox next summer.

    Taking over Reeves’ helm are Toy Story 2 co-director and former ILM animation director Colin Brady and former Disney Layout artist Dan St. Pierre. The animation is being produced at IDT Entertainment Animation in Toronto. Reeve’s widow, Dana Reeve, is exec producing along with IDT’s Steve Brown, Morris Berger and Dan Krech. Producers are Ron Tippe and Igor Khait.

  • Halo Pic Locked and Loaded

    Microsoft’s hugely successful Halo video game franchise is a step closer to wreaking havoc on the big-screen. Daily Variety reports that domestic distributor Universal and foreign handler 20th Century Fox plan to release the live-action effects film in the summer of 2007. No director or stars have been attached as of yet.

    To avoid the all-too-common Hollywood mishandling of video game properties, Microsoft took it upon itself to hire screenwriter Alex Garland (28 Days Later) to pen the Halo script, paying him a cool million for the task of bringing Master Chief to the screen.

    In June, Microsoft deployed a small squadron of costumed Master Chief look-alikes to deliver its approved screenplay to prospective studios. Universal and Fox agreed to pay $5 million against 10% of grosses for the interactive property, which has generated upwards of $600 million in the past four years.

    Developed exclusively for Xbox, the original Halo has sold more than 5 million copies worldwide and spawned a legion of devotees who participate in competitions, tournaments and game nights. Halo 2 was released in November of 2004, grossing roughly $125 million on its first day at retail before going on to sell more than six million units.

  • Cosgrove Hall Names Utley Managing Director

    Prolific U.K. animation studio Cosgrove Hall Films has a new managing director in Anthony Utley, the former worldwide director of TV distribution for BBC Worldwide. Utley will officially join the Cosgrove Hall team in early October.

    Manchester-based Cosgrove Hall, wholly owned by Granada, ITV’s production division, produces hand-drawn 2D, stop-motion and CG animation. The studio has put its stamp on numerous award winning productions from classics such as DangerMouse and Wind in the Willows to the more recent Andy Pandy, Bill and Ben, Engie Benjy, Little Robots and Postman Pat.

    Utley was ushered to Cosgrove Hall by John Whiston, Granada’s director of drama arts and kids. Whiston comments, ‘We are delighted that Anthony is joining Cosgrove Hall Films as MD. His combination of experience in international co-production and his feel for the specialized area of preschool and animation will help drive CHF forward into its next phase while building on all that is great (and small!) about the company."

  • HP to Be a Force at Lucasfilm

    Lucasfilm Ltd. has signed a three-year, multi-million dollar technology and marketing agreement with Hewlett Packard (HP). Following the lead of other major digital content creators such as DreamWorks Animation, Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures, the house that George built will install HP xw9300 Workstations for use in upcoming animation, visual effects and video game productions.

    Powered by Dual-Core AMD Opteron processors, the HP Workstations at Lucasfilm will run both Linux and Windows XP operating environments in both 32-bit and 64-bit modes, with in-house software applications for creation and editing. In addition, HP Adaptive Enterprise solutions will provide the studio with storage and business management applications. The HP StorageWorks XP12000 Disk Array with 35-terabyte capacity was chosen by Lucasfilm to securely store and archive critical information.

    “HP clearly understands the nature of the entertainment business, and the need to capitalize on and manage change,” says Cliff Plumer, chief technology officer for Lucasfilm. “With this agreement we will continue expanding the quality of our entertainment offerings and meet the constantly rising expectations of consumers when it comes to movies and video games.”

    HP’s Jim Zafarana, VP of worldwide marketing for workstation global business unit, adds, “Their applications on the special effects side are Lunux-based, internally developed applications and I think by going through their own benchmarking for those workloads, they found the architecture to be right for them. I believe that the dual PCI Express graphics capabilities that we enable through the NVIDIA chipset is of great value to them to get ultimate graphics performance as well.”

    Lucasfilm will install around 1,000-1,5000 HP xw9300 Workstations in its Letterman Digital Arts center in San Francisco and Lucasfilm Animation in Singapore. And while that represents a big sale for HP, Zafarana tells us the real value comes from association with the Lucas empire.

    “There is definitely a halo effect with having a large, respected customer announce publicly that they have adopted your technology, and more importantly, desiring to partner with us at multiple levels,” Zafarana notes. “If I look back at the DreamWorks relationship we built over time, that has really earned us a lot of credibility and it’s been responsible, I think, for us kind of systematically taking down some of the best names in entertainment media.”

    Zarfarana cites IDC reports indicating that HP achieved 46% market share of the branded Opteron high-end workstation market as of the second quarter of 2005. “I think what this [Lucasfilm] announcement will do is, again, give credibility to that platform, as well as the rest of our Intel-based portfolio,” he states.

    HP workstations have been employed to create such DreamWorks Animation features as Shrek, Shrek 2, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron and Shark Tale. Zarfarana says HP is also focused on partnering with independent animation studios and going after the schools that are feeding the industry’s ever-growing need for talent. More information about HP is available at www.hp.com.

  • Pekar Hosts Marketing Seminar?

    Yep, it’s true. Harvey Pekar, the famed underground comic book creator and subject of the award-winning 2003 film, American Splendor, is set to discuss marketing during a special even in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio.

    The public is invited to attend as Pekar talks about how his views on the importance of marketing his work have evolved over time. The comical curmudgeon will highlight the triumphs and struggles in his life that took him from low-income file clerk to celebrated cult figure.

    Pekar painted intimate portraits of his own life with his American Splendor series of comics. The installment American Splendor: Our Cancer Year earned him the Harvey Kurtzman Award and spotlights the sense of reality he sought to bring to the world of comic books. Currently, Pekar is working on graphic novels which will be published by Random House Inc. and DC Comics’ Vertigo book line.

    A presentation of the Cleveland American Marketing Association, the event will be held at Downtown Cleveland’s Hilton Garden Inn on Sept. 14th from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. More information can be found at www.clevelandama.com.

  • Futurama, Comic Pix on Disc

    The Simpsons creator Matt Groening presents his favorite four episodes of his far-out second series in Futurama Monster Robot Maniac Fun Collection. The DVD release is joined on retail shelves today by installments of the anime series Virus Buster Serge and the comic book adaptations Oldboy and Swamp Thing.

    Futurama Monster Robot Maniac Fun Collection features the episodes “Hell Is Other Robots,” “Anthology of Interest I,” “Roswell That Ends Well” and “The Sting.” Bonus materials include introductions by Groening, series exec producer David X. Cohen and cast members such as John DiMaggio (Bender), and Billy West (Fry, Professor Farnsworth, Dr. Zoidberg). There’s also a full-length animatic of "Hell Is Other Robots," featuring optional commentary. The Fox Home Entertainment release lists for $14.98.

    The Virus Buster Serge box set is a three-disc release featuring 12 episodes of the late ’90s mecha anime series. Set in Neo Hong Kong in the year 2097, the show has mecha-suited warriors taking on monstrous bio-mechanical beasts and a deadly virus that threatens all of mankind. Extras include character and mecha design boards, an interview with director Masami Obari (Battle Arena Toshiden, Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture), a Manga DVD catalog, previews and weblinks. The set from Anchor Bay Ent. carries a suggested retail price of $39.98.

    Fans of Asian cinema won’t want to miss director Chanwook Park’s powerful Oldboy. Based on the Japanese comic book by Tsuchiya Garon and Minegishi Nobuaki, this gritty, live-action feature from Korea stars Min-sik Choi as a man seeking revenge against the mysterious captors who imprisoned him for 15 years. Bonus materials on the DVD include an interview with Park, commentary by Park and cinematographer Jeong-hun Jeong, five deleted scenes with optional director’s commentary and the Oldboy/IFILM.com DVD trailer contest winner. Available from Tartan Asia Extreme, the DVD lists for $24.99.

    As Wes Craven’s Red Eye picks up passengers in theaters, his 1982 live-action adaptation of DC Comics’ Swamp Thing comes to DVD. Packing all the fun of a pulp comic, this action-horror flick stars Adrienne Barbeau as a woman who falls for a scientist-turned-vegetable avenger in bayou country. This piece of nostalgia from MGM Home Entertainment can be had for $14.94.

  • Disney Launches Little Einsteins

    With the success of the animated Baby Einstein video productions and TV series, The Baby Einstein Company and The Walt Disney Co. have teamed up to create Disney’s Little Einsteins for preschoolers. Produced at New York-based animation studio Curious Pictures, the property kicks off with this week’s DVD release of Our [Big] Huge Adventure, and will join Disney Channel’s Playhouse Disney lineup in October.

    Little Einsteins sets 2D animated characters against live-action backgrounds featuring such landmarks as Niagara Falls and the United Nations. “Our goal was to create the ‘ultimate field trip’–to show children real places in the world, provide interactive experiences with art and nature and encourage them to learn about, enjoy and make music everyday," says Russell Hampton, exec VP and general manager of The Baby Einstein Company.

    Our [Big] Huge Adventure takes the Little Einsteins team on a mission to help a little caterpillar on his quest to become a beautiful Monarch butterfly. The story is set to the dramatic music of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and features classic artwork including Van Gogh’s Wheat Field of Cypress, Claude Monet’s Woman in a Garden, Katsushika Hokusai’s Under the Wave of Kanagawa and Navajo woven art. DVD bonus features include an animated Navajo Maze Game, Disneypedia lessons, a “meet the characters” segment and a sneak peak at the first episode of the Little Einsteins TV series.

    Eric Weiner, a co-creator of Dora the Explorer and JoJo’s Circus, serves as exec producer on the new series, working with child development veteran Dr. Valeria Lovelace (Sesame Street), Emmy Award-winning creative director Olexa Hewryk and head writer Jeff Borkin. For more information, go to www.littleeinsteins.com.

  • Boyle Blows Sunshine for Fox Searchlight

    Danny Boyle, the director of the hit indie pics 28 Days Later, Trainspotting and Shallow Grave, has begun principal photography on a sci-fi effects film for Fox Searchlight Pictures. Produced by DNA films and lensed under the working title The Untitled Sunshine Project, the film will have a crew of astronauts attempt to keep the sun from burning out.

    Written by 28 Days Later scribe Alex Garland, Sunshine takes place 50 years in the future as a crew of eight men and women are called to be mankind’s last hope. However, their mission to breathe new life into the sun is jeopardized when they lose contact with Earth and pick up a distress beacon from a spaceship that disappeared seven years earlier. Soon the astronauts are fighting not only for their lives, but their sanity.

    The film will star Cillian Murphy (Red Eye, 28 Days Later), Chris Evans (Fantastic Four), Rose Byrne (Troy), Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), Cliff Curtis (Whale Rider), Troy Garity (After The Sunset), Hiroyuki Sanada (The Last Samurai) and Benedict Wong (Dirty Pretty Things).

    DNA Films’ Andrew Macdonald is producing the pic, with Fox Searchlight VP of production Joshua Deighton overseeing for the indie arm of 20th Century Fox. There is no word on which vfx houses will be assigned to deliver the movie’s visuals.

  • Sony Animation Ups Hopper in Creative Affairs

    Nate Hopper has been promoted to senior VP of creative affairs for Sony Pictures Animation. Hooper has served as VP of creative affairs since joining the studio’s toon division in August of 2002. Effective immediately, the promotion puts Hopper in charge of the day-to-day process of developing both internal and external projects to feed the Sony Pictures Animation pipeline.

    Formerly VP of production for Twentieth Century Fox, Hooper supervised production and development on the Martin Lawrence comedies Big Momma’s House and Black Knight. He was also responsible for the development of X2: X-Men United, Alien Vs. Predator and Stuck on You.

    Hopper began his career as an agent trainee at United Talent Agency before becoming a creative assistant to TriStar Pictures president Marc Platt. From 1994 to 1996, he worked as a creative exec and then director of development for TriStar before moving on to run the day-to-day operations and development for Apatow Prods.

    According to Sony Pictures Animation exec VPs Penney Finkelman Cox and Sandra Rabins, Hooper has been instrumental in building the company’s slate of films, including first offerings Open Season, coming Sept. 29, 2006, and Surf’s Up, slated for release in the summer of 2007. "He has a wonderful sense of story and humor and a superb sensitivity for writers and material," say Finkelman Cox and Rabins.

    Directed by Roger Allers and Jill Culton, Open Season features the voices of Martin Lawrence, Ashton Kutcher, Debra Messing and Gary Sinise in a story about forest animals who turn the tables on hunters. Ash Brannon and Chris Buck take the helm of Surf’s Up, a penguin surfing movie voiced by Jeff Bridges, Shia LaBeouf, Zooey Deschanel and James Woods.

  • Toon Writing Workshop Slated for Ottawa

    The Ottawa International Animation Festival and Canadian broadcaster TELETOON have joined forces to present an intensive animation writing workshop during the 2005 edition of the Ottawa fest (Sept. 21-25). Gemini award-winning writer Ian James Corlett (Studio B’s Being Ian and Yvon of the Yukon) will lead this first installment of TELETOON’S Masters Program.

    Scriptwriting for Animation Series will give a group of writers the opportunity to work hands-on with Corlett for a full-day on Saturday, Sept. 24, from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. The workshop is open to scribes with a minimum of 3 years industry experience. Enrollment is free for OIAF and Television Animation Conference passholders and $75 CDN for non-passholders. The application deadline has been extended to 5 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 29. For details about how to apply, go to www.awn.com/ottawa/OIAF05/prog_workshops_writing.

    Corlett has worked as an animation voice talent ant writer for more than two decades. His work can be seen in such series as The Adventures of Paddington Bear, Rescue Heroes and the Emmy-nominated Rolie Polie Olie, for which he won the GEMINI award for Best Writing in a Children’s Series In 1999. He has worked as a series/staff writer for such clients as The Walt Disney Co., Nelvana, and FOX Kids, and his original animated series, Yvon of the Yukon, airs on Canada’s YTV network. Corlett has three original animated projects in development with U.S. and Canadian producers while he produces and story-edits Studio B’s Being Ian, another popular YTV offering.

  • Wonder Showzen Goes On at MTV2

    The abrasive, but often brilliant cult hit Wonder Showzen has been renewed for a second season on MTV2, according to Daily Variety. The new season will reportedly get the cable outlet’s biggest marketing push to date as it seeks to attract more hipsters with irreverent, adult humor featuring animation, puppets and kids.

    A spoof of Sesame Street, Wonder Showzen earned critical acclaim and built a dedicated following with segments that had the letter "N" going on a suicidal bender and a popular kid-on-the-street feature titled "Beat Kids." Another highlight of the show is its animated shorts, produced in part by Augenblick Studios in New York. Among the toon favorites is D.O.G. O.B.G.Y.N., in which a mangy canine delivers babies in emergency situations.

    The initial run of eight episodes currently repeats during MTV2’s Sic ‘Em Friday block. Season two is scheduled to debut in the first-quarter of 2006. The series is part of the cabler’s initiative to draw more young male viewers by diversifying its programming beyond music videos.

    MTV2 has also greenlit a number of new live-action series including Are You Game?, a show that has contestants compete in real-life versions of their favorite video games. The pilot is exec produced by Third Rock from the Sun alumni Matt Ringel and David Goetsch.

  • G4 Game for New Strip

    Comcast Corp.’s video game lifestyle cable network, G4, is gearing up to launch Barbed Wire Biscuit, a new hour-long programming block that will air edgy animated and live-action series starting this fall. The Monday-Friday strip will debut Aug. 29 at 12 a.m. (ET/PT). Featured programs will include Happy Tree Friends & Friends, Brainiac, Anime Unleashed and Cinematech: Nocturnal Emissions.

    "Barbed Wire Biscuit is really a free-for-all for our core 18-34 male audience," says Peter M. Green, G4’s senior VP of programming and production. "The programs are unconventional with a warped sense of humor, and the fast, kinetic pace of these shows appeals directly to those who have grown up with video games. G4 will continue to broaden its programming, using videogames as the entry point to the young, male lifestyle."

    After a series of guest spots on G4’s Attack of the Show, Mondo Media’s accident-prone woodland critters get their own series with Happy Tree Friends & Friends. In addition to the gory mishaps Tree Friends fans have come to love, the show will also showcase a variety of other sick and twisted animated shorts on Wednesdays.

    The weird science series, Brainiac, will air in back-to-back episodes on Monday and Thursday nights. Each episode follows two young presenters and a daredevil team of "Brainiacs" as they examine scientific principles and attempt to carry out experiments that shouldn’t be tried at home.

    Tuesdays will be game days with two episodes of Cinematech: Nocturnal Emissions, the latest incarnation of G4’s original series that showcases the most extreme movies and cut-scenes from the hottest video games. Rounding out the week is Anime Unleashed, which returns on Fridays with more installments of fan favorites and the addition of RahXephon, Cromartie High and Colorful. More information on G4 programming can be found at www.g4tv.com.

  • Nemo Designer Gets In Your Face

    Pixar character designer Dan Lee, who died earlier this year of lung cancer at the age of 35, is remembered with a new book of artwork scheduled for release in late August from Zippity Publishing. Titled In Your Face, the coffee table tome is a collection of Lee’s most recent personal artwork.

    Compiled by pals from Pixar, In Your Face is a series of interesting faces Lee observed and sketched in coffee shops in San Francisco. The release is intended to show the world another side of the talented artist who contributed significantly to some of the most popular animated features of recent years.

    Among the characters Lee designed during his seven years with Pixar were Rosie, Princess Atta, Dot, Hopper and Tuck & Roll in A Bug’s Life; Waternoose and Boo in Monsters, Inc.; and Nemo, Marlin, Bloat, Nemo’s friends and the barracuda in Finding Nemo.

    Born in Montreal to Chinese immigrants, Lee graduated from the classical animation program at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario, where he received the Board of Governors Silver Medal for Academic Excellence. He went on to work in TV animation and advertising with Kennedy Cartoons in Toronto and Colossal Pictures in San Francisco. Friends and family say Lee was a nonsmoker who bicycled to and from work.

    In Your Face will be available through www.amazon.com after Aug. 29. All proceeds will be donated to a chosen charity.

  • Genius to Distribute BFC Toons in U.S.

    Germany-based BFC Berliner Film Companie Distribution GmbH will make its first foray into the U.S. DVD/UMD market with four animated children’s shows to be distributed by Genius Products Inc. The deal will see Adventurers–Masters of Time, Shadow of the Elves, Mission Odyssey and Altair in Starland released in the fourth quarter of 2005.

    In Adventurers–Masters of Time, four students upload themselves by way of time continuum software and are whisked back through the ages on a desperate search for their missing computer professor. Through their adventures, they encounter great historical figures while battling the evil Hacker and his Virtual Agents, who threaten to change world history.

    Shadow of the Elves takes place in the Meadowlands, a microscopic kingdom where peaceful fairies and comical trolls fight to protect their realm from the evil elfin king, Lord Kann.

    A retelling of the classic tale of Ulysses, Mission Odyssey features strong anime influence as it chronicles its hero’s attempts to return home to Ithaca after defeating the Trojans. Plagued by the angry god Poseidon, Ulysses and his band of warriors are sent to the edges of the world, where they must battle fantastic mythological creatures.

    Altair in Starland centers on Altair, a young boy growing up among the Starish people in a group of islands in the sky, where he has a series of adventures with his best friend Blip, a clever, wisecracking little star, and his star-herding green dog.

    Genius Products CEO Trevor Drinkwater comments, "In just three years, BFC has established a reputation for high-quality animated programming for children. We are pleased to represent these highly popular series as we continue to build our library for the American marketplace with unique content from around the world."

    Genius will put out four DVD and one UMD, each featuring two episodes of the BFC productions. Other properties under the Genius Products umbrella include Jay Jay The Jet Plane, The Twilight Zone, Baby Genius, Tonka, My Little Pony, Curious George and Paddington Bear.

  • Valiant Grounded, Virgin Scores

    Disney’s CG-animated Valiant flew largely under the radar during its maiden North American voyage, debuting at No. 7 with a box office take of just over $6 million. Produced on a modest budget by Vanguard Animation in the U.K., the toon feature was bested by Warner Independent’s real-life bird adventure, March of the Penguins. The documentary earned an estimated $6.7 million over the weekend, bringing its nine-week total to around $48.6 million.

    Valiant is the first directorial effort for character designer Gary Chapman, who had expert support from Shrek producer John H. Williams, a co-founder of Vanguard. The film is also the first 3D Disney release animated outside of Pixar. In addition, Valiant has earned the dubious distinction of being the weakest computer-animated box-office contender to date. This is partly due to a relatively low theater count, but even Artisan’s 2002 release of Big Idea’s Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie opened slightly better in just 940 locations, fewer than half the venues showing Valiant.

    Ewan McGregor (The Island, Star Wars Episodes I-III) voices the lead role in Valiant, 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. The film’s cast also includes Sir Ben Kingsley, Rupert Everett, John Hurt, Hugh Laurie and Ricky Gervais.

    The 40-Year-Old Virgin was the top draw at the box office this week, seducing audiences to the tune of $20 million. Moviegoers chose comedy over thrills and chills, making DreamWorks’ Wes Craven-directed nail biter, Red Eye, No. 2 with $16.5 million. Four Brothers dropped to third with $13 million, while Wedding Crashers and Skeleton Key round out the top five with $8.2 million and $7.4 million respectively.

  • Exclusive: McFarlane Talks New Spawn

    Fans of the animated Spawn series that aired for three seasons on HBO during the late ’90s can look forward to all-new adult-oriented superhero adventures from famed comic-book and toy tycoon Todd McFarlane. We recently spoke with McFarlane, who is busy at work on the new Spawn series, produced by IDT Ent. and its subsidiary, DPS/Film Roman. The show will feature the voices of Mark Hamill (Star Wars), Keith David (The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury), Carl Weathers (Predator), Michael Jai White (live-action Spawn feature), Bruce Boxleitner (Star Trek: Babylon 5), Clancy Brown (Carnivale), Cree Summer (Star Wars: Clone Wars) and Phil LaMarr (Samurai Jack).

    McFarlane says 2006 will be the year Spawn gets put back on the map. A new art and writing team has been assembled to take the comic books in a whole new creative direction, and a full line of toys is being designed for collectors. McFarlane has also scripted a sequel to the 1997 live-action movie, which he plans to produce on a modest budget. But what has us most jazzed is more anime-inspired ass kicking from a supernatural caped crusader who makes the Dark Knight look like a PowerPuff Girl.

    The new animated series doesn’t have a broadcast home yet, but it is first being produced as a 90-minute feature that will be distributed on DVD through IDT’s Anchor Bay no matter what. HBO will get the first crack at a series of weekly installments.

    "TV is sometimes adverse to bringing back shows," says McFarlane, "but the way we would re-sell it on HBO is to just treat it like a sequel. I always find it amusing that you can’t bring a TV show because people think you’re bringing back a failure. But you bring back a movie eight years later and people go, ‘Oh my God, a sequel!’"

    Perhaps the Home Box Office will be inspired by Fox’s success with bringing back Family Guy and hatch another round of Spawn adventures that promises to be bigger and badder. "One of the things we’re able to do now is actually use CG, but in a way that makes sense," McFarlane reveals, explaining that the goal is to combine 2D character animation with CG background and prop elements a la Disney’s Tarzan. "You’re allowed to then do those good camera perspectives that you normally wouldn’t be able to do with cell animation. We’ve also built Spawn as a 3D element at times when we have a lot of movement and action."

    According to McFarlane, the latest series will be self-contained so that new viewers won’t feel like they’ve missed anything, but it will also be consistent with the original 18 episodes. "We’ll keep all the things fans came to love, which are all the dark, gritty moodiness and claustrophobic sort of feel," he says. "So we’ll keep playing on the strengths that worked and build upon it with the technology that we can mess around with."

    McFarlane says the brass at IDT has been really good about giving him creative freedom, especially given the novelty of what he’s trying to achieve. "Doing R-rated drama animation is actually sort of a new function for almost anybody you deal with here in America," he asserts. "They do a good job on their other projects with Film Roman, but nobody’s really tackled the sensibility that I have, which is that this is just an "R" movie that we happen to be animating." Japanese animation directors will work with DPS/Film Roman’s Korean animation facilities to inject the show with a dose of anime, a proven commodity with adult animation fans.

    Spawn isn’t just another cookie-cutter superhero. When fans ask him why the title character rarely talks, he replies, "Because you’re applying a Batman-Superman mentality to him. Spawn is way more Jaws than Superman. Jaws didn’t talk in his movie, but when he showed up, you knew something big was going to happen. I don’t think the Boogeyman needs to say much if he’s done right. He’s just a presence, and when he shows up you’re f—ed."

    Spawn’s sub-verbal quality, of course, means fewer lines for Keith David, who reprises the role he originated in the first HBO series. The actor is nonetheless thrilled to be back in McFarlane’s world, which requires a departure from typical cartoon acting. McFarlane remarks that one of the most challenging things he faced with casting was keeping actors from doing exaggerated voices. Even seasoned pro Mark Hamill, whose numerous voice roles include The Joker in various animated Batman productions, needed to be reined in.

    McFarlane recalls, "We cut him off a couple of times and said, ‘Now, Mark, you have to bring it down, take the edge off.’ And he’d say, ‘so you want me to bring it down?’ and we’d say, ‘That’s it!’ It was funny because he was a little confused and said, ‘Well, that’s just my voice.’ And I was like, ‘That’s the point. I don’t want a voice, I just want you.’"

    And we just want more Spawn. McFarlane promises to keep us up-to-date on everything that’s happening with the animated series, comic books and live-action feature. In the meantime, you can track the show’s progress at http://spawn.com/entertainment/spawnanimation. You can also view a teaser trailer for the live-action sequel at http://spawn.com/entertainment/spawnanimation/video_Comicon2005_teaser.html.

  • IFC Debuts Hopeless Pictures

    The Independent Film Channel (IFC) premieres its first original animated series tonight, Aug. 19, at 10 p.m. The comedy is part of the cabler’s all-new Friday night line-up, which also includes the return of Greg the Bunny and the ensemble comedy The Festival.

    Writer/director/producer Bob Balaban, who appeared in Christopher Guest’s improvisational films Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show and A Mighty Wind, brings a touch of Guest’s style to Hopeless Pictures, an animated show about a dysfunctional independent film studio. Fellow Guest favorite Michael McKean voices the role of Mel Wax, the troubled studio head who named the entity after his deceased parents, Hope and Les.

    Balaban voices the role of Mel’s idiot nephew and head of production, while Friends star Lisa Kudrow plays his vengeful soon-to-be ex-wife. Jonathan Katz from the brilliant-but-cancelled animated series Dr. Katz, Professional Psychiatrist, returns to familiar ground as Dr. Stein, Mel’s inept shrink. Guest stars will include real Hollywood players including directors Nora Ephron, Rob Reiner and Paul Weitz.

    The animation for the series is produced by New York-based Worlds Away under the direction of Kim Lee. Lee’s team relied on 3ds max to deliver the project under a very tight budget.

    Hopeless Pictures has been garnering positive reviews and should find an audience among IFC’s industry-savvy hipster viewers. The show will air Fridays at 10 p.m. and 1 a.m., with encore presentations Tuesdays at 10 p.m. and 1 a.m.

    Greg the Bunny, which got its start on New York public access before being picked up for interstitials on IFC in the late ‘90s, went on to become a FOX sitcom that ran for one season. Back on IFC, hand puppets Greg and Warren the Ape try to forget their cancelled sitcom by starring in five- to 12-minute film parodies. Created by Dan Milano, Spencer Chinoy and Sean Baker, the show is produced by Moxie Pictures.

  • Nat Geo to Show Home Movies At MIPCOM

    Mama Mirabelle’s Home Movies, a new animated preschool series from National Geographic Television & Film’s Kids’ Programming and Production, will premiere at MIPCOM 2005. The project has been greenlit for production and the first episode will be screened at the confab in hopes of generating presales worldwide.

    The series’ title character, an elephant, leads an inquisitive cast of baby animal characters, including regulars Bo the cheetah cub, Karla the zebra foal, Max the elephant calf and monkeys Pip, Flip and Chip. Each day, the animals gather in the savannah to watch home videos of themselves and other amazing creatures of the natural world.

    Mama Mirabelle’s Home Movies is based on an original concept by Wild Brain animation studio and George Evelyn. The pilot was directed and produced by Leo Nielsen (Wide Eye, Paz, Maisy) of U.K.-based animation house King Rollo Films. The script was written by Andrew Yerkes (Pocoyo, Stanley, Bear in the Big Blue House), with Eve Hall (The Berenstain Bears, Sagwa the Chinese Siamese Cat) serving as educational consultant.

    A series of 26 eleven-minute episodes is slated to go into production for delivery in the fall of 2006. National Geographic will be at stand # R29.40 at MIPCOM. More information about the company is available at www.nationalgeographic.com.

  • Valiant Takes Flight

    Valiant, a Disney presentation of a Vanguard Animation film, lands in North American theaters today to take advantage of a late-summer frame virtually devoid of kid-friendly competition. The WWII carrier pigeon pic is the first 3D Disney release animated outside of Pixar.

    Valiant is an adventure-comedy that 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 (Sexy Beast, House of Sand and Fog) Jim Broadbent (Moulin Rouge, Bridget Jones’s Diary), Rupert Everett (An Ideal Husband, My Best Friend’s Wedding), John Hurt (Harry Potter films, The Elephant Man) Hugh Laurie (Stuart Little 1 and 2, TV’s House) and Ricky Gervais (BBC’s The Office).

    British character designer Gary Chapman makes his directorial debut with the film, produced by John H. Williams (Shrek, Shrek 2). Exec producers are Barnaby Thompson for Ealing Studios, Ralph Kamp for Odyssey Ent., Robert Jones for the U.K. Film Council and Keith Evans for Baker Street Media Finance. Eric M. Bennett, Curtis Augspurger and Buckley Collum serve as co-producers for Vanguard.

    Valiant was produced at Vanguard Animation’s recently built CG studio at Ealing Studios in London. Odyssey Ent. in the U.K. is handling international distribution. Disney isn’t showing a whole lot of faith in the toon, releasing it in just over 2,000 theaters. Even Warner Independent’s doc, March of the Penguins, and Disney’s own 4-week holdover, Sky High, are in wider release. The Mouse House is surely planning a more expansive roll-out for Chicken Little, it’s first CG feature produced in house. That one falls into theaters Nov. 4.

  • TV-Loonland Names New Chief Corporate Development Officer

    Peter Urie has been appointed chief corporate development officer for TV-Loonland, a Germany-based independent production and distribution company with offices in the U.S., Europe and the U.K. Urie will work out of the London office, managing strategic business development and sourcing potential acquisitions for the producer of such animated projects as The Cramp Twins and Heidi.

    Urie joins TV-Loonland’s core team of CEO and president Selma Käppel, COO Olivier Dumont and CFO Karl W. Homburg. He will also serve as managing director of Metrodome, overseeing and managing its video and theatrical distribution business. Past Metrodome titles include the Oscar-winning feature Monster and the critically acclaimed cult hit Donnie Darko.

    Before joining TV-Loonland, Urie spent 12 years with BBC in various roles. He then went on to co-found TSS Ltd. and Media Merchants Ltd., companies that specialized in creating children’s content for ITV and the BBC. Gullane Ent. PLC acquired both entities and subsequently sold them in 2002 to HIT Ent, where Urie served as VP and group head of production (Europe). At HIT, he was responsible for production activities encompassing such classic brands such as Art Attack, Thomas the Tank Engine, Fireman Sam and Sooty.