Animation Magazine

Author: Ryan Ball

  • Mike Young Auditioning Grandparents

    Mike Young Prods., the independent production company behind the hit PBS animated series, Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks, is auditioning grandparents with grandchildren ages 4 to 8 for a series spots to air during the Emmy-winning show. Auditions are being held on Saturday, May 28, and Saturday, June 4.

    Produced for Entara Ltd., Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks has Irish-born Grandpa Piggley, telling tales of his childhood shenanigans on an Irish farm to his three very contemporary, Irish-American "grandpigs." The live-action epilogues will feature grandparents from a variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds talking with their grandchildren about what it means to be a grandparent, and sharing their childhood memories, school experiences and cultural traditions.

    Mike Young Prods. is looking for Southern California-based grandparents who hail from exotic lands such as Asia, Africa, the Caribbean Islands, South America, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Both grandparents and grandchildren should speak English and should have outgoing personalities.

    "Grandparents enrich their grandchildren’s lives in so many ways," says Mike Young, "not least by teaching them about their own heritage. That’s why we’re excited about spotlighting grandparents from a variety of backgrounds, who can share with children the stories of their youth, and who can articulate how meaningful it is to them to watch a new generation grow into that heritage."

    Interested parties should report to Mike Young Prods. at 20335 Ventura Blvd., Suite 225, Woodland Hills, Calif., from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Grandparents wishing to audition should phone Scott Ward at (818) 227-8957 to arrange an interview time. The producers ask that the grandparents be prepared to share stories of their childhood in their native country and should bring any visual aids such as photographs, musical instruments, games and costumes.

  • Madagascar Runs Wild in Theaters

    Star Wars: Episode III–Revenge of the Sith gets some competition today as DreamWorks unleashes its latest CG-animated flick into theaters. The most kid-friendly of the two, Madagascar should pack in the family audiences as Sith gets repeat business from fans and draws stragglers who shied away from the crowds last weekend.

    Directed by Eric Darnell (Antz) and first-timer Tom McGrath, Madagascar is a fish-out-of-water story has a set of pampered New York City zoo animals shipped off to Africa. Ben Stiller provides the voice of Alex the lion, who learns that the juicy steaks he’s accustomed to come from animals like his pals. Chris Rock plays his best friend, a zebra who is bored with captivity and yearns to run free in the far-off land of Connecticut. Jada Pinkett Smith provides the voice of a pregnant hippo and David Schwimmer plays a cowardly giraffe. Cedric the Entertainer (Barbershop) Andy Richter (Quintuplets), rocker Gwen Stefani (The Aviator) and Sacha Baron Cohen (HBO’s Da Ali G. Show) fill out the voice cast.

    Despite the A-list talent in the starring roles, Cohen is getting the best reviews for his turn as King Julian the 13th, a ring-tailed lemur that just may be the scene stealer that Antonio Banderas’ Puss In Boots was in Shrek 2.

    With Madagascar, DreamWorks sought to bring a more snappy, cartoonish quality to the CG work. The animators even had a contest to see who could go the furthest over the top without losing character and detracting from the story. The character designs also more evocative of stylized 2D toons such as Disney’s Hercules.

    Madagascar animators were interviewed for today’s installment of NPR’s Morning Edition. That radio program can be accessed online at www.NPR.org. And, of course, you can read about the making of the film in the May issue of Animation Magazine, available by subscription and at Barnes & Noble locations.

  • Slesingers Appeal Pooh Decision

    Despite being dismissed by a Superior Court judge last year, the 13 year-old lawsuit over the Winnie the Pooh licensing and merchandising honey pot is far from over. Stephen Slesinger Inc., which owns much of the licensing rights to the Pooh characters, has filed an appeal in its continuing efforts to win $700 million the company believes is owed to it by The Walt Disney Co.

    Stephen Slesinger entered into the original licensing agreement with Pooh creator A. A. Milne in 1931 and his family sold rights to Disney in 1961. The Slesinger family filed suit in 1991, claiming that Disney had repeatedly breached its contractual obligations for several years, failing to account accurately and pay royalties owed.

    Judge Charles W. McCoy, Jr. threw the case out of court in March of 2004 on grounds that an investigator for Slesinger’s prior trial attorney unlawfully retrieved documents from trash bins outside Disney offices more than ten years ago. Despite agreeing to have the documents mad inadmissible, the Slesingers were denied their day in court.

    “The trial court’s action was unprecedented and, I am convinced, incorrect," says Jerome B. Falk, Jr., a Howard Rice appellate specialist and lead counsel for Slesinger in the appeal. "Dismissal of the entire case was overkill, and deprived Slesinger of its day in court on claims that, even by Disney’s public estimate, exposed it to hundreds of millions in damages.”

    The appeal calls for reversal of the judgment on grounds that California trial judges lack the power to terminate a lawsuit as a sanction unless the legislature confers such a power by statute. Papers filed further assert that even in those circumstances where a statute does authorize dismissal as a sanction, the court cannot do so unless the offending party had violated a prior a court order.

    This latest action in the ongoing legal battle comes just two days after the home video release of Disney’s Pooh’s Heffalump Movie, the latest big-screen animated outing for the beloved inhabitants of the Hundred Acre Wood.

  • HP Introduces Entry-Level Workstation

    Budding animators or digital content creators on a budget will soon have access to HP’s new entry-level workstation featuring the new dual-core Intel Pentium D processor designed for greater performance on multi-threaded software. The HP xw4300 will be offered with 32-bit or 64-bit versions of Microsoft Windows XP Professional.

    With prices starting at $849, the new HP xw4300 workstation boasts increased memory support of up to 8 GB of memory capacity and up to 667 MHz of memory bandwidth, as well as integrated Serial ATA 3.0Gb/s (SATA 3.0Gb/s) RAID functionality that is more commonly found on higher-end workstation and server platforms. Also featured is a robust, 460-watt power supply to support powerful processors and graphic applications.

    "The new HP xw4300 is the perfect solution for anyone who needs workstation-class graphic performance at an entry-level price," comments Jim Zafarana, VP and worldwide marketing manager for the Workstation Global Business Unit at HP. "It leverages ground-breaking technologies on a proven platform that’s reliable and easy to own."

    The new Intel Pentium D processor 840 incorporates two physical processors and L2 caches into one piece of silicon, helping give a significant performance boost to multi-threaded applications for CAD/CAE design and analysis and DCC rendering software with multiple applications running at the same time. HP says customers may expect up to 20% performance gains in these application environments with the dual-core processor.

    The HP xw4300 offers many of same the features found in its product family, including an ultra-quiet, tool-less chassis, PCI-Express graphics and HP’s Performance Tuning Framework, which guides the system setup, allowing a custom configuration to best match the workstation to user requirements.

    More information about HP and its product line can be found at www.hp.com.

  • Stars Align for Corner Stone’s Betsy

    A number of luminaries from the world of animation voice work have signed on for Betsy’s Kindergarten Adventures, an educational animated TV series going into production today at Corner Stone Animation. The cast includes Nancy Cartwright (The Simpsons, Rugrats), Daveigh Chase (Lilo & Stitch, The Ring), Fred Willard (Chicken Little, Best in Show), Vicki Lewis (Finding Nemo, An Extremely Goffy Movie), Bess Armstrong (That Was Then, Her Best Friend’s Husband), Sally Struthers (All in the Family, The Adventures of Mother Goose), Cree Summer (Star Wars: Clone Wars, The Wild Thornberrys Movie), Tom Bosley (Happy Days, The Tangerine Bear) and Richard Horvitz (EverQuest II, Power Rangers).

    Told from the perspective of a five-year-old, Betsy’s Kindergarten Adventures is designed help kids as they transition from the home to a school environment by making them excited about the kindergarten experience. The show was created by preschool teacher and author Betsy Quinn, and directed by award- winning animator Fred Crippen (Roger Ramjet, Skyhawks). Exec producers are Charles Picerni, Dale Scales and Reed Clevenger.

    Corner Stone Animation LLC is a multimedia entertainment company jointly owned by Corner Stone Pictures Corp. and OBX Prods. LLC. Corner Stone Pictures’ subsidiaries include Retirement The Movie LLC, Retirement Prods. LLC, Spaghetti Park The Movie LLC and Betsy’s Kindergarten Adventures LLC.

  • Academy to Screen Restored Bambi

    While the recently re-issued Bambi has been a big seller on home video, many viewers have never had the pleasure of seeing the Disney classic on the big screen. Those who live in the Los Angeles area are in for a treat when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences screens a newly restored digital version of the 1942 cartoon favorite on Wednesday, June 15, at 8 p.m. in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

    Author and film critic Leonard Maltin will moderate a panel discussion following the screening, during which legendary animator Ollie Johnston will be joined on stage by voice actors Donnie Dunagan (young Bambi), Peter Behn (young Thumper) and Cammie King (young Faline).

    Presented as part of the Academy’s Gold Standard series, this version of Bambi was produced under the supervision of The Walt Disney Studios’ Preservation and Restoration Team. The exhaustive restoration process involved shooting surviving artwork housed at the studio’s Animation Research Library, utilizing the same techniques employed during the original photography. Technicians pulled the original nitrate negative from the Library of Congress archives and digitally scanned each frame at 4K resolution so they could be scrutinized and cleaned. The final restored picture was then re-color-corrected for digital cinema and high-definition video. In addition, the soundtrack was digitally cleaned up and re-mastered in 5.1 audio from the studio’s archived magnetic masters.

    Based on a book by Felix Salten, Bambi tells the story of a fawn who loses his mother to a hunter’s bullet but ultimately matures into a leader among the animals of the forest. The film earned Academy Award nominations for Best Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture (Frank Churchill, Edward Plumb), Best Song ("Love Is a Song," music by Churchill; lyrics by Larry Morey) and Best Sound Recording (Walt Disney Studio Sound Department, Sam Slyfield, Sound Director).

    Admission for this screening of Bambi is $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members. Tickets may be purchased in advance beginning June 1 by mail or in person at the Academy during regular business hours. If still available, tickets also may be purchased on the night of the screening when the doors open at 7 p.m. The Academy is located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. For more information, call 310-247-3600 or go to www.oscars.org.

    DisneyToon Studios is currently working on a sequel titled Bambi and the Great Prince of the Forest for an early 2006 DVD release.

  • Disney Finds New Enchanted Director

    Daily Variety reports that Kevin Lima, director of Disney’s Tarzan and 102 Dalmatians, has been tapped to helm Enchanted, a romantic fable that will combine live-action and CG animation. Earlier reports had Bringing Down the House director Adam Shankman attached to direct the long-in-development project.

    Enchanted centers on Giselle, a fairytale princess banished from the cartoon kingdom of Andalasia to find herself a flesh-and-blood person in the Big Apple. The script has been in the hands of several writers, including Toy Story 2 scribe Rita Hsiao and Antz writer Todd Alcott. Bill Kelly, who wrote the initial screenplay, has reportedly been brought back on to do another draft.

    Barry Josephson and Barry Sonnenfeld (Men in Black, The Tick), who acquired the property through their company, Sonnenfeld Josephson, will serve as producers. Overseeing for Disney are Jason Reed and Nina Jacobson and execs Doug Short and Jill Morris.

    Disney is set to begin casting and intends to start filming in New York this September.

  • Digital-Tutors Gets Fluid with Maya

    Digital-Tutors wants to help digital artists get their creative juices flowing with today’s worldwide release of the much anticipated Maya Advanced: Ultimate Fluids training kit, the follow-up to the popular Maya Unlimited: Fluid Effects. This latest release in a growing library of training resources presents more than 3 and a half hours comprehensive, project-driven training in a format designed to be fun and enjoyable.

    Maya Advanced: Ultimate Fluids is intended to help artists master Maya’s integrated fluid technology to achieve optimal results in simulating and rendering advanced fluid effects. According to Digital-Tutors, each interactive lesson is presented in clear and easy-to-follow steps that ultimately help users save time and increase productivity.

    Popular topics covered in Maya Advanced: Ultimate Fluids include creating realistic fire and smoke effects; Navier-Stokes Fluid Solvers; Spring Mesh Fluid Solvers, interacting fluids with particles; fine-tuning fluid container properties; expression-controlled fluids; advanced heat dynamics; combustible fluids; soft surface simulations; realistic liquid simulations; and converting fluids to polygons.

    “In true Digital-Tutors fashion, we explain Maya fluid techniques that others often pass over, as well as bring new ones to light.” says Sunder Iyer, senior 3D curriculum developer. :Using spring solvers to stimulate rain or learning how to ignite gasoline into an inferno are simple projects that are sure to make this kit fantastic. Users are sure to walk away with a deeper understanding of fluids and the ability to make their effects more impressive.”

    For a full outline and pricing information on Maya Advanced: Ultimate Fluids, go to http://store.digital-tutors.com/store2/customer/product.php?productid=93. General information about Digital-Tutors and its products can be found at www.digital-tutors.com.

  • Activision Acquires Beenox Studios

    Major game publisher Activision Inc. has acquired Quebec-based developer Beenox Inc., the studio behind such Activision titles as Shrek 2, Tony Hawk’s Underground 2 and the upcoming Fantastic Four. Activision says the acquisition further bolsters its internal development capabilities by giving it a foothold in one of the fastest growing development talent pools in North America.

    One thing that made Beenox attractive to Activision is its platform conversion technologies that allow for simultaneous multi-platform game development. According to Activision Publishing president Kathy Vrabeck, Beenox will be a key component of the company’s console transition strategy by allowing Activision to focus resources on next-generation technologies while continuing to develop games for current-generation systems.

    In 2002, the Beenox Shift division was created to breathe new life into hit titles by porting them to additional platforms. Since its founding, the company has delivered more than a dozen AAA title ports and was honored with the prestigious Innovative Enterprise of the Year award at the 2005 edition of the Fideides Awards, organized by the Quebec Business Council.

    With the acquisition, Beenox has become a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision and its management team and key employees have signed long-term employment contracts with the publisher. The studio’s 32-person team will remain in Quebec under the supervision of president and CEO Dee Brown.

    Beenox most recently developed the PC version of Activision’s Madagascar: The Game, which is hitting retail now in advance of Friday’s release of the DreamWorks Animation feature.

    Photo: From left to right: Sylvain Morel, CTO, Pascal Brulotte, 3D Artist and Dee Brown, president and CEO of Beenox.

  • Madagascar Game Turned Loose

    As DreamWorks Animation’s latest CG feature, Madagascar, gets set to hit the big screen on Friday, May 27, Activision has announced the release of its video game based on the talking animal comedy/adventure.

    In the movie, pampered New York City zoo pals Alex the lion, Marty the zebra, Melman the giraffe and Gloria the hippo are yanked from their sheltered existence and transported to the exotic island of Madagascar, where they have to learn to survive in the wild. Players of the game must master each animal’s individual survival skills in order to tackle obstacles and foes in scenarios from the movie and beyond.

    Console developer Toys for Bob worked closely with the team at DreamWorks Animation to deliver a game that captures the humor, friendship and adventure found in the film. The title also adds a few surprises and provides some additional backstory for the movie’s four-legged heroes.

    The Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS handheld versions were developed by Vicarious Visions, while the PC version was crafted at Beenox, Activision’s latest acquisition. Nintendo DS owners can engage in wireless multiplayer mini-games and use the touch screen to switch characters in the middle of levels. The DS title also offers mini-games exclusive to the platform.

    Madagascar The Game for PlayStation2, Xbox, GameCube and PC are recommended for ages 10 and over due to cartoon violence and crude humor. The suggested retail price is $39.99 for console versions and $19.99 for PC. Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance versions are rated “E” for “Everyone” and list for $39.99 for DS and $29.99 for GBA .

    BradyGames’ Madagascar The Game Official Strategy Guide is available at electronics, book and software retailers nationwide, and online at bradygames.com. More information about Activision and its products can be found at www.activision.com.

    Read more about Madagascar The Game in the upcoming July issue of Animation Magazine, available by subscription and at Barnes & Noble locations.

  • Happy Tree Friends Bring Gore to G4

    Those accident prone, cuddly critters known as the Happy Tree Friends have found a new home on G4’videogame tv, the only 24/7 television network dedicated to video games. The cable outlet has formed a partnership with San Francisco-based Mondo Media to co-produce shorts, series, promos and other content for broadcast on G4 and for distribution via the web and other new media outlets such as video on demand.

    Having built a strong cult following online and on the festival circuit, Mondo Media’s Happy Tree Friends will be integrated into G4’s hour-long daily live program, Attack of the Show!, beginning June 10 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. The comically gory shorts show that bad things happen to good creatures as forest animals face a chronic onslaught of physical torture and eye-popping calamities.

    Attack of the Show! airs Monday through Friday on G4 and covers everything from underground music to new gadgets and technology. The show also features guests from the video game and entertainment worlds.

    "‘Happy Tree Friends’ represents exactly the kind of funny, irreverent programming that speaks to G4’s videogame-centric audience," comments G4 CEO and founder Charles Hirschhorn "Like the Happy Tree Friends characters Lumpy, Toothy, Petunia and others, video gamers know exactly what it’s like to keep getting knocked down and having to get right back up again."

    Mondo Media CEO John Evershed adds, "Our online fans have been clamoring for a home for Happy Tree Friends on television in the U.S., and now with the level of commitment G4 is making, we can really elevate the property into a fully realized multimedia brand including online, DVD, mobile and merchandise."

    Happy Tree Friends has been picked up by a number of international broadcasters but only recently had its U.S. TV debut when MTV 2 aired the holiday special, Happy Tree Friends Winter Break, last December.

  • Cannes Critics Dig Jona/Tomberry

    Dutch filmmaker, artist and composer Rosto picked up the Grand Prix Canal+ du Meilleur Court Métrage award for his animated short film, Jona/Tomberry, in Cannes, France. The kudos were handed out during the Friday, May 20, Award ceremony for the Semaine International de la Critique (International Critics’ Week), a parallel section of the Cannes Int’l Film Festival.

    Jona/Tomberry blends various techniques and narrative approaches to explore the notions of reflection and repetition; opposites and duplicates; doppelgängers and alter ego’s. The film is a follow-up to Rosto’s well-received animated short, The Rise and Fall of the Legendary Anglobilly Feverson, and completes a trilogy of films spun off from a multimedia project titled Mind My Gap.

    Canal+ has acquired French TV rights to the film, produced by Rocketta Film and co-produced by Studio Rosto A.D. In addition, Rosto has been invited for a one-month stay at the Moulin d’Andé, a residence for artists in Normandy, France, where he will work on his next film script.

    Last year, the Annecy Int’l Animation Film Festival awarded Jona/Tomberry the Festival Award for Best Project. It will also screen at the 2005 Annecy Int’l Animation Film Festival in France (June 6-12 2005), and at the 21st Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival in the Netherlands (June 9-15 2005). For more screenings dates and making-of details, go to www.jonatomberry.com.

  • Game Over Gets Second Life on Disc

    Anchor Bay is putting another quarter in the short-lived, primetime animated UPN series, Game Over. The home video distributor will release all six episodes, including one that never made it air, in a two-disc set scheduled to hit retail on June 28.

    Produced by Carsey-Werner-Mandabach, Game Over follows the misadventures of The Smashenburns, a family of video game characters living in suburban America. Patrick Warburton (The Tick, Seinfeld, The Emperor’s New Groove) voices patriarch Rip Smashenburn, a Grand Prix racecar driver, while Lucy Liu (Kill Bill Vol. 1, Charlie’s Angels) plays his tomb-raiding wife, Raquel. The series was Created by David Sacks.

    An obvious attempt to attract the young male audience that broadcasters have been losing to video games, the series debuted last among network offerings and suffered even weaker ratings in subsequent weeks. UPN then moved it out of competition with Wednesday’s American Idol broadcast and put it on Friday nights, where it still failed to attract an audience.

    Though it’s the dominant animation style on the big screen, CG is having a tough time on primetime television. DreamWorks and NBC struggled to keep viewers with it’s big-budget, star-studded Father of the Pride. That series comes to disc on June 7.

  • Thurl "Tony the Tiger" Ravenscroft Dies

    Animation voice actor Thurl Ravenscroft, best known as the first and only voice of Kelloggs’ Tony the Tiger, died of prostate cancer at the age of 91 on Sunday, May 22. His passing has dealt yet another blow to animation community, which lost this past weekend veteran voice actors Henry Cordon (Fred Flintstone) and Howard Morris (Atom Ant).

    In addition to delivering that signature "They’re Grrrrrrreat!" line in TV commercials since 1952, the basso-voiced Ravenscroft teamed with Dr. Suess and Chuck Jones as the voice of the Grinch in How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and also lent his golden pipes to other Dr. Suess projects including The Cat in the Hat.

    Ravenscroft was born Feb. 6, 1914, in Norfolk, Neb. He moved to California in 1933 and by the mid-1930s was appearing regularly on radio as a backup singer for Bing Crosby and other artists. During World War II, he enlisted in the Air Transport Command, serving for 5 years as a navigator for special missions over the North Atlantic. It was during this time that he met his wife, June.

    When he returned to Hollywood, Ravenscroft became a founding member of the Mellomen, a singing group that performed on radio, film, television and commercials, and sang backup for such luminaries as Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Danny Kaye and Rosemary Clooney. The group also performed for Walt Disney films and television productions. He would later serve as the voice of the Pageant of the Masters, the annual celebration of the arts in tableaux vivants (living pictures) in Laguna Beach, Calif. from 1974 until his retirement in 1993.

    At the 2003 Annie Awards, Revenscroft was honored with a Windsor McCay Award for a lifetime of contributions to the art of animation. He is survived by his two children, Ron and Nancy, and four grandchildren. Plans for a memorial service are pending.

  • Autodesk Supports PS3 Development

    Autodesk Inc., maker of the popular 3ds max modeling and animation software, today announced plans to support PlayStation 3, the next generation video game console from Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI). The company also says it intends to support 3ds max-based developers who may rely on the Collada format to streamline the complexities of next generation game title development.

    Unveiled at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) last week, PlayStation 3 boasts the new Cell processors, the advanced graphics capabilities of RSX (jointly developed by NVIDIA and SCEI) and support for 1080p high-resolution display. Autodesk hopes to be the major solution provider as developers work to take advantage of these new features in creating HD titles.

    “With a long-term business relationship with SCEI, Autodesk is committed to its ongoing support that will directly benefit our 3ds max customers as they create new, imaginative film-like game titles for the PlayStation 3″ platform,” comments Marc Petit, VP of product development and operations for Autodesk Media and Entertainment. “We are delivering the innovative tools and game pipeline solutions needed to help our customers realize their ideas and harness the amazing power of PlayStation 3."

    For more information on Autodesk and its products and services, go to www.autodesk.com.

  • Alias’ Maya Lends Character to Sith

    Alias announced today that its Maya software was the chief 3D animation technology and the only non-proprietary animation solution used to complete key characters and scenes in Star Wars: Episode III–Revenge of the Sith. The 3D modeling and animation package was employed by Industrial Light & Magic’s animators to bring to the screen such fully digital characters as Yoda and the villainous General Grievous.

    Sith contains 2,151 vfx shots, constitution roughly 90 minutes of digital animation. ILM’s chief technology officer, Cliff Plumer, comments “One of ILM’s big breakthroughs with this movie is the level to which the digital characters engage the audience. The way they emote and interact with the live-action actors, often in epic battle scenes, is completely convincing.”

    While Maya has been used at ILM for a number of years, it became the heart of a revamped pipeline for this latest Star Wars Installment. "The time we invested in integrating the software with our proprietary tools soon paid off,” notes Plumer. “Our animators found they could achieve their desired results very quickly with Maya: those results have allowed us to take digital characters, such as Yoda, to new heights.”

    In addition to Yoda (173 shots) and General Grievous (84 shots), Maya aided in the creation of digital stunt doubles for Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker), Ian McDiarmid (Supreme Chancellor Palpatine) and Christopher Lee (Count Dooku).

    One factor that influenced ILM to make the move to Maya was the software’s customizability. “We have a lot of animators here at ILM, most of whom have a specialty,” explains Shawn Kelly, one of 45 animators using Maya at the peak of production. “Using MEL [Maya Embedded Language] to customize Maya’s user interface, our technical directors were able to very quickly streamline our tasks. This let me concentrate on the performance of my characters, without having to think about the tools I was using.”

    The Maya modeling and animation software earned Alias|Wavefront a Scientific and Technical Academy Award in 2003. The package is used heavily in the production of both live-action and animated feature films, as well as TV and video games. For more information, go to www.alias.com.

  • DreamWorks Bares Panda Details

    In advance of this year’s big Licensing Show in New York City, DreamWorks has released some details regarding it’s 2008 animated release, Kung Fu Panda. The CG comedy is the latest addition to the studio’s healthy toon slate, which includes Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (Oct. 7, 2005), Over the Hedge (May 19, 2006), Flushed Away (Nov. 3, 2006), Shrek 3 (May 2007) and Bee Movie (fall 2007).

    According to a brief synopsis issued by DreamWorks, Kung Fu Panda will center on a lazy, irreverent, slacker panda named Po, who must somehow become a Kung Fu Master in order to save the Valley of Peace from a villainous snow leopard named Tai Lung.

    The combination of Kung Fu and Panda Bears is already being played with by Cartoon Saloon and production partner Telescreen, who are producing an animated series titled Skunk. Based on an original idea by Aidan Harte and Hyun-Ho Khang, the show tells the story of a skunk who is mistakenly delivered via stork to a Panda living in a Chinese forest. When the forest comes under attack by a Dragon and his army of Ninja monkeys, Skunk hones his martial arts skills to restore peace and order.

    While DreamWorks Animation has a full 3D pipeline in use at its Burbank facilities, Kung Fu Panda is listed as being on the production docket at Pacific Data Images (PDI), the Northern California studio behind Antz and the Shrek movies.

  • Pooh Comes Home with Heffalump

    Following a moderately successful theatrical run, DisneyToon Studios’ latest trip to the Hundred Acre Woods makes its way to home video today. The new adventure starring A.A. Milne’s classic characters is accompanied by a number of special features, including interactive games and activities.

    Directed by Frank Nissen (Man the Polluter), Pooh’s Heffalump Movie has young marsupial Roo strike up a friendship with Lumpy, an imaginary creature known as a Heffalump. The friendship is tested when Pooh, Tigger and the rest of the gang venture into Heffalump territory hoping to capture what they think is a fearsome nuisance. The entertaining film also aims to teach a lesson about accepting differences.

    Pooh’s Heffalump Movie was written by Brian Hohlfed (Piglet’s Big Movie, A Very Merry Pooh Year) and Evan Spiliotopoulos (Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers). Hohlfed is developing a Winnie the Pooh series for Disney Channel.

    Bonus materials featured on the DVD include a Roo and Lumpy set-top hide ‘n’ seek game, a featurette titled Welcome to the Family, Lumpy, a Disney song selection, DVD-ROM printable coloring pages and a Rubledoodles recipe. The Buena Vista Home Entertainment release lists for $29.99.

    Also arriving on home video today is Batman: The Animated Series–Volume Three, a four-disc set containing the final 28 episodes of the popular show. For $44.98, you also get Gotham’s New Knight, a featurette on Batgirl, and commentary on select episodes with producer Bruce Timm, writer Paul Dini (now a writer on ABC’s Lost) , director Boyd Kirkland, writer Michael Reaves and Composer Shirley Walker.

    The title is part of Warner’s DC Comics Classics Collection.

    There’s more superhero action with Super Friends–Volume Two, a two-disc set with 16 episodes and a Wonder Twins music video and Pajama-Rama SuperFriends Retrospective featuring filmmaker Kevin Smith (Clerks, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back) and other celebrities and pop culture enthusiasts reflecting on their Saturday mornings with the ’70s cartoon series. This entry in Warner’s DC Comics Classics Collection lists for $26.99.

    Last but not least is SpongeBob SquarePants: Fear of the Krabby Patty, a Paramount Home Entertainment release featuring eight episodes from the popular animated Nickelodeon show, including "Fear of A Krabby Patty," the first installment of the new season. Other episodes listed are "Molting," "Argh!," "Neptune’s Spatula," "One Krab’s Trash," "I’m Your Biggest Fanatic," "Karate Choppers" and "Superfriends." Fans can pick it up for $16.99.

  • VFX to Collect

    Today’s slate of home video released includes a handful of live-action films known for their innovative use of visual effects. You’ll find lots of commentary and behind-the-scenes featurettes devoted to those effects on the DVD releases of The Aviator, The Day After Tomorrow Collector’s Edition and I, Robot Collector’s Edition.

    Director Martin Scorsese’s biographical look at the life of eccentric entrepreneur Howard Hughes, The Aviator, relies heavily on both digital and practical vfx to recreate breathtaking aerial sequences and a backdrop of Hollywood in its heyday. The film makes its home video debut with a two-disc set packed with bonus materials, including 12 making-of featurettes. Titles include The Visual Effects of The Aviator, A Life Without Limits: The Making of The Aviator, The Affliction of Howard Hughes: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, The Age of Glamour: The Hair and Makeup of The Aviator, Costuming the Aviator: The Work of Sandy Powell, Constructing the Aviator: The Work of Dante Ferretti, Scoring the Aviator: The Work of Howard Shore, The Role of Howard Hughes in Aviation History, An Evening With Leonardo DiCaprio and Alan Alda, and Modern Marvels: Howard Hughes (History Channel documentary). There’s also commentary by Scorsese, deleted scenes, a still gallery and footage of an OCD Panel discussion with Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese and Howard Hughes’ Widow, Terry Moore. The Warner Home Video release carries a suggested retail price of $29.95.

    The Day After Tomorrow Collector’s Edition repackages director Roland Emmerich’s goofy but entertaining meteorological disaster pic with featurettes on the many visual effects shots and other aspects of the making of the film. In addition to commentaries by director/writer Emmerich, producer Mark Gordon, co-writer Jeffrey Nachmanoff, cinematographer Ueli Steiger, editor David Brenner and production designer Barry Chusis, the two-disc release offers footage form a pre-visualization meeting, a storyboard gallery, 10 deleted scenes, an interactive audio mix demo and two documentaries: Two Kings and a Scribe (produced by Emmerich), and The Force of Destiny: The Science and Politics of Climate Change. Fox Home Entertainment lists the DVD at $26.98.

    Nominated for a 2004 Best Visual Effects Oscar, I, Robot hits retail again with a two-disc collector’s edition brimming with extras, including a CG and design featurette, compositing breakdowns, visual effects “how-tos” and commentary by animation supervisor Andrew Jones and visual effects supervisors John Nelson and Brian Van Hul. Other commentaries feature director Alex Proyas, screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, production designer Patrick Tatopoulos, editor Richard Learoyd, associate producer John Kilkenny and composer Marco Beltrami. Also included are alternate endings, deleted scenes and the featurettes The Making of I, Robot, Day Out of Days: The I, Robot Production Diaries and Three Laws Safe: Conversations About Science Fiction and Robots. And don’t forget to hunt for those Easter eggs. The Fox Home Entertainment release lists for $29.98 on DVD.

  • Winkler Fetches Emmy for Clifford

    Henry Winkler, who won a Gloden Globe in 1977 for portraying the ultra-cool Fonzie on Happy Days, finally made good on the many Emmy nominations he’s received over the years. During Friday’s telecast of the 32nd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards, the actor/producer picked up one of the coveted trophies for his voice work as Norville on the Scholastic animated PBS series, Cliford’s Puppy Days.

    Winkler was named Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program, an award for which former Clifford voicer John Ritter was nominated four years running from 2001 to 2004. The late Ritter lent his voice to the title character in Clifford the Big Red Dog, the series from which Puppy Days was spun off, as well as last year’s big-screen outing, Clifford’s Really Big Movie

    Emmy kudos also went to Muppeteer Kevin Clash, the voice of Elmo on the long-running PBS show, Sesame Street. Clash was named Outstanding Performer in a Children’s Series, giving Sesame Street its Guinness World Record-setting 101st Emmy win in its 35th season.

    During the untelevised Creative Arts Awards portion, held on May 14, Sesame Street garnered an additional three Emmys for Outstanding Pre-school Children’s Series, Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction/Set Decoration/Scenic Design and Outstanding Directing in a Children’s Series.

    Also on May 14, Ellen Jin Over was awarded a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Production Color Design on Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks, produced by Mike Young Prods. While working on Jakers!, she married John Over, who won a 2004 Emmy for production design on the CG-animated series.