Animation Magazine

Author: Ryan Ball

  • Cupid Strikes The Eds, Scoob, Charlie, Pooh, Le Pew

    Love is in the airwaves and cable lines tonight as a number of cartoon favorites celebrate Valentine’s Day with new and classic TV specials. New love-themed adventures from Cartoon Network’s Ed, Edd ’n’ Eddy and The WB’s Scooby-Doo join a pair of holiday favorites from the Charlie Brown and Winnie the Pooh libraries.

    The love fest kicks off tonight, Feb. 11, at 7 p.m. on Cartoon Network with an all-new, half-hour Ed, Edd ’n’ Eddy special titled Hanky Panky Hullabaloo. It’s Valentine’s Day at Peach Creek High, and Ed is bracing himself for the lovesick advances of May Kanker. However, Cupid’s arrow accidently strikes Edd, sending him head-over-heels for May and turning the pair into unlikely sweethearts. Meanwhile, Eddy hatches a scheme to capitalize financially on the holiday. Ed, Edd ’n’ Eddy is produced by series creator/exec producer Danny Antonucci at aka Cartoons in Vancouver. The Valentine’s Day special will replay at 9 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. tonight, and on Monday, Feb. 14, at 7:30 p.m.

    A Scooby-Doo Valentine follows at 8:30 p.m. on The WB. The primetime special has the Mystery Inc. crew return home to Coolsville for a much-deserved break from mystery solving. Their vacation is cut short when local teens start disappearing from Lover’s Lane. Meanwhile, Shaggy runs into his ex-girlfriend, Rachel (voiced by Joey Lauren Adams), a local reporter. Jealousy gets the better of him when he meets her new boyfriend new boyfriend, JC Chasez, from the boy band ’NSYNC. Also lending their voices to the special are The Simpson’s Dan Castellaneta, Gary & Mike’s Harland Williams and American Dad’s Rachel McFarlane. A Scooby-Doo Valentine is produced by Warner Bros. Animation under the guidance of exec producers Joseph Barbera and Sander Schwartz. An encore presentation is scheduled during The WB’s Easy View on Sunday, Feb. 13 at 5 p.m. ET/PT.

    ABC will air two Valentine’s Day animated specials on Saturday, Feb. 12, beginning with A Charlie Brown Valentine at 8 p.m. Winnie the Pooh, A Valentine For You will follow at 8:30 p.m.

    In A Charlie Brown Valentine, our hero finally works up the courage to call the little red-haired girl to ask her to the Valentine’s Day dance. As luck would have it, Charlie again ends up broken-hearted and empty-handed when he dials the wrong number and reaches Peppermint Patty instead. The special debuted in 2002 and was the first new Peanuts adventure made after the death of creator Charles M. Schulz in 2000.

    Winnie the Pooh, a Valentine for You finds the gang a bit jealous when Christopher Robin devotes his time to making a Valentine’s Day card for a girl. After Owl diagnoses the boy’s lovesickness Pooh leads the group on a quest to find a cure. The special, featuring three original songs by Michael and Patty Silversher, first debuted in 1999.

    Meanwhile, the folks at Boomerang, cartoon Network’s classic animation spin-off cabler, have planned a Pepe Le Pew Love Stinks marathon of vintage Looney Tunes shorts featuring the lovesick skunk. The fun begins at 6 a.m. on Feb. 14.

  • Vicon Acquires Peak Performance

    Motion-capture technology leader Vicon Motion Systems has acquired the business and assets of Peak Performance Technologies Inc., a Denver, Col.-based mo-cap products provider specializing in motion measurement and analysis in sports performance and animal science.

    Julian Morris, CEO of Vicon’s parent company, OMG Group, comments, “We believe that this is an excellent acquisition for the group, bringing expansion into the sports market and video-based motion capture. Peak and Vicon, together, provide a compelling proposition across a wide market and product range.”

    Vicon is the maker of the first 4 million-pixel motion capture camera. The company says the combination Peak’s strength in video-based motion measurement and Vicon’s high-accuracy motion systems allows customers to satisfy all their tracking and analysis needs from a single company. With more than 700 customers worldwide, Peak also complements Vicon’s existing presence in life sciences, animation and engineering.

    Based in Oxford, England and California, OMG has customers in more than 35 countries and trades through a number of operating subsidiaries in the name of Vicon Motion Systems, 2d3 and House of Moves in the U.K. and U.S., and through a network of distributors in other major countries. For more information about OMG or its subsidiaries, go to www.omg3d.com, www.vicon.com, www.2d3.com or www.moves.com.

  • Box Office Honey for Pooh?

    A.A. Milne’s classic Hundred Acre Woods characters return to the big screen today in Pooh’s Heffalump Movie, an all-new 2D-animated feature from DisneyToon Studios. The family pic brings some welcomed toon levity to a frame dominated by fright flicks and heavy Oscar contenders.

    Directed by Frank Nissen, Pooh’s Heffalump Movie has young marsupial Roo strikes up a friendship with a 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.

    Nissen returns to the director’s chair for the first time since his contribution to the 1973 animated film, Man the Polluter. In the meantime, he has worked as a an artist on such Disney features as Dinosaur, Tarzan, Treasure Planet and Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers. On Heffalump, he worked from a script 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 the Disney Channel.

    For more information on Pooh’s Heffalump Movie, see our cover story in the February issue of Animation Magazine, now available by subscription and at Barnes & Noble booksellers.

    Also in wide release today is Sony’s Will Smith comedy, Hitch. Meanwhile, martial arts fans can check out the well-reviewed Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior, now in limited release from Magnolia films.

  • Alosha Breaks Toon Records in Russia

    St. Petersburg-based Melnitsa Animation tells us its newest animated feature, Alosha, has become the highest grossing Russian animated film of all time. Since its premiere in late December, the epic comedy has earned roughly $1.65 million dollars at the box office and is now the 9th highest-grossing Russian movie of all time.

    Alosha centers on legendary Russian hero Alosha Popovich and his epic journey to retrieve his city’s gold and do away with a treacherous warlord named Tugarin. The comic tale is the feature film debut of renowned animator Konstantin Bronzit, who won Annecy Grand Prix awards for his short films Switchcraft and Die Hard.

    Melnitsa has also created a book and a computer game based on Alosha and plans to produce two more animated films about Russian folk heroes. Nikitich, is scheduled to be released in December of 2005, with Ilya following in December of 2006.

    Little Longnose, Melnitsa’s first animated feature, was one of the first feature-length animated films produced in Russia in nearly 40 years. A critical and commercial success in in its home country, the pic was picked up for distribution by Warner Bros., GmbH for distribution in Germany. The film has also been sold to France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Taiwan, and Iran. Melnitsa hopes to have similar, if not greater, success with Alosha as it preps the film for the international market.

    For more information about Melnitsa Animation, go to www.melnitsa.com.

  • Disney/Pixar Divide Widens

    Any smoldering embers of hope for reconciliation between Disney and Pixar have been all but extinguished with the latest set of exchanges between the studio and the animation house. Both sides have been publicly trading barbs and droving the wedge between them even deeper.

    During a recent investor conference call, Pixar head Steve Jobs told his audience not to expect any collaboration with Disney beyond the 2006 release, Cars, the last film included in Pixar’s soon-to-expire contract with the Mouse House.

    The widening gulf between the companies grew recently when outgoing Disney CEO Michael Eisner used the words “pretty pathetic” when describing some artistic aspects in Disney/Pixar films. Jobs got his chance to respond, quipping, “I know our films don’t stack up against Atlantis or The Emperor’s New Groove or Treasure Planet."

    All post-Cars Pixar pics will be self-financed. The company is in production on its first solo project and plans to release details of its production slate by the end of the year, at which time a new distribution partner should be named.

    With Finding Nemo keeping the home video business brisk, Pixar’s earnings for 2004 were up 11% at $141.7 million, despite a 34% profit drop in the fourth quarter. The outlook for 2005 looks much rosier with The Incredibles expected to top $600 million in worldwide box office before making a killing on DVD and VHS.

  • HP CEO Fiorina Ousted

    Hewlett-Packard chairman and CEO Carly Fiorina has been relieved of her duties by the company’s board of directors. After five and a half years with HP, Fiorina was asked to resign, reportedly over her failure to make the company’s $21 billion purchase of Compaq Computers pay off.

    CFO Robert P. Wayman has been named Interim CEO and director Patricia C. Dunn was appointed non-executive chairman of the board.

    In a statement, Fiorina comments, “While I regret the board and I have differences about how to execute HP’s strategy, I respect their decision. HP is a great company and I wish all the people of HP much success in the future.”

    Fiorina struggled to get shareholder support for the 2002 Compaq purchase, which to date has not significantly boosted the company’s slumping PC business as expected.

    The company says it will begin a search for a new CEO immediately and doesn’t expect to make any additional structural changes or executive leadership changes at present.

    Fiorina delivered the keynote speech at the 2004 National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas. Her message encouraged members to consider not only what humanity can do with communication technology, but what humanity chooses to do with that technology.

    HP has been working with DreamWorks and Warner Bros. to develop post-production digital technology it hopes to then sell to the rest of the entertainment world. The DreamWorks partnership is an expansion of an existing relationship the companies have had in place since 2001. HP worked with the studio on Shrek 2 by providing outsourced computational power through its new Utility Rendering Service. This system allows studios to rent off-site computing power from HP for big projects, such as rendering on the CG-animated Shark Tale, that would otherwise require the studio to build its own IT infrastructure to peak capacity.

    Warner Bros. has been working closely with HP on the digital restoration of classics such as Singin’ in the Rain and The Wizard of Oz.

    HP’s annual shareowner meeting will be held in Chicago on March 16, 2005.

  • Miyazaki Golden at Venice

    With his latest animated feature, Howl’s Moving Castle, in release, critically acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki is set to receive the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 62nd Venice Int’l Film Festival (Aug. 31-Sept.10). This will be the first time the honor has gone to a director of animated films. In addition, Friday, Sept. 9 will be named "Miyazaki Day" with screenings of several of his films planned at the festival.

    Venice festival director Marco Müller comments, “Hayao Miyazaki is the giant who pulled down the walls which had been erected to contain Japanese animated films and reduce them to Western categories. In Hayao Miyazaki is embodied the filmic pop art of the new millennium, one of the components that are increasingly present in the research work of the Venice Film Festival.”

    Miyazaki and his Studio Ghibli have produced a string of critical successes and Japanese box office hits, beginning with Nausicaä of the Valley of the Winds (1984) and continuing with Laputa: Castle in the Sky (1986), My Neighbor Totoro (1988), Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989), Porco Rosso (1992), Princess Mononoke (1997), and the Oscar-winning Spirited Away (2001). Howl’s Moving Castle had its world premiere at the 61st Venice Film Festival in September 2004, and has gone to great box office success in Japan and France.

    It’s reported that Miyazaki is planning three new films. He is also being honored with a major exhibition at the Musée de la Monnaie in Paris. Titled “Miyazaki & Moebius,” the showcase illustrates the reciprocal influences of the two artists.

  • Sky Kingdom Studio Says "Pay Whatever"

    Sunrise Prods., the South African animation studio which produced the 2003 stop-motion "junkmation" feature film, The Legend of Sky Kingdom, is trying a truly unique online marketing strategy. Through its website, www.sunrisecorporation.net, the company is selling DVDs of the film, along with books and a soundtrack CD, for whatever the customer chooses to pay.

    "We want our products to be available to everyone, regardless of whether they can afford the usual costs or not." says Sunrise Prods. head Phil Cunningham. "Some people may only be able to pay very little, or even nothing at all, while others may feel inspired to support us by paying far more than ordinary costs. We welcome both alike."

    Cunningham says the goal is to get Sky Kingdom and the company’s other offerings seen by as many people as possible. Also available on the site are an adventure novel for teenagers titled The VIII Son, and a 22-minute, CG-animated TV special titled Once Upon a Stable, which looks at the birth of Christ from the perspective of the animals present for the event.

    The Legend of Sky Kingdom features stop-motion puppets and sets made entirely from pieces of recycled junk. Three years in the making, the 35mm feature was self-financed by Cunningham and his wife, Jacqui. Director Roger Hawkins and animation director Brent Dawes were aided by a crew of 15 young artists, animators and technicians.

    The film tells the story of three orphan slaves who make a daring escape from an underground city and an evil emperor. It screened in competition at the 2003 Annecy Int’l Festival of Animation and has since played at a number of other fests.

  • Atari Restructures, Closes Studios

    With today’s announcement of dipping third-quarter financial results, Atari has outlined the first phases of its new strategic plan to reduce general and administrative expenses and strengthen its competitive edge in the marketplace. That plan will involve a complete transformation of the senior management team and the closure of two key U.S. publishing studios.

    Jim Caparro, who took over as Atari’s president and CEO in late November of 2004, comments, “In a short time, we’ve begun taking aggressive steps to address structural, operational and financial issues which we anticipate will better position the company.”

    Caparro says the management shake-up is intended to bring greater focus and establish stricter procedures and practices throughout all of the company’s operations. Recent executive additions include a new CFO.

    The company will close its publishing studios in Santa Monica, Calif. and Beverly, Mass., relocating those operations to Atari’s corporate headquarters in New York.

    Atari will also be re-examining its product portfolio, choosing to focus more on major money-making products and franchises at the expense of non-core assets. The company will also work to create added value between Atari and its majority shareholder, Infogrames Ent. SA.

    Net revenue for Atari’s third quarter was $161.8 million, compared to $190.6 million in the same period last year, and publishing net revenue came in at $143.3 million, compared to $174.4 million. Decreased revenue for the period has been attributed to a lower number of titles released, strong competition and a shortage of console hardware in the marketplace.

    Top-selling Atari titles for the quarter included Atari Anthology (PS2, Xbox), Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 (PS2), Pirates! (PC), RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 (PC) and the plug-and-play Atari Flashback Classic Game Console. The company’s big fourth quarter releases include Dragon Ball Z: Sagas (PS2, Xbox, GameCube) and DRIV3R (PC).

  • Pressman Game for Kong, Zathura, Fantastic

    Game manufacturer Pressman Toy is developing officially licensed games and puzzles based on the upcoming fantasy features King Kong (Universal), Zathura (Columbia) and Fantastic Four (20th Century Fox/Marvel). The games will debut at the American Int’l Toy Fair, held Feb. 20-23 in New York City.

    While Pressman, founded in 1922, has a history of licensing popular film, television and comic book properties for games and puzzles, the company has never before had products based on properties with such blockbuster potential.

    Peter Jackson’s remake of King Kong stomps into theaters this December, along with stars Adrian Brody (The Pianist, The Village), Naomi Watts (The Ring, Mulholland Drive) and Jack Black (School of Rock, Orange County). Weta, the Oscar-winning New Zealand-based vfx studio that helped realize Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, is providing the title CG ape and other fantastic visuals.

    Coming to theaters in November, Zathura is based on the best-selling children’s book by Chris Van Allsburg, the award-winning author of Jumanji and The Polar Express. The story revolves around two brothers who discover a vintage board game that launches them into outer-space. On board to direct is Jon Favreau (Elf, Swingers), while exec producer duties are handled by Ted Field (Jumanji, The Last Samurai).

    Fantastic Four is based on the classic Marvel comic-book franchise that has four astronauts transformed into superheroes by cosmic rays. Slated for a July bow, the film stars Michael Chiklis (The Shield) as Ben "The Thing" Grimm and Jessica Alba (Dark Angel) as Sue Storm.

    One of the first companies in the industry to begin licensing popular characters and content for toys and games, Pressman has created products based on Scooby-Doo, The Simpsons, Spider-Man and other Marvel characters, as well as the TV game shows Who Wants to Be A Millionaire and Wheel of Fortune. More information can be found at www.pressmantoy.com.

  • Pasi Takes Up New Digs

    After 15 years at its current Makati, Manila location, Pasi (Philippine animation studio inc.) is packing up to move its production facilities to the Legaspi Village business district of Metro Makati. The new 6-floor studio offers 3709 square meters of production and office space.

    The search for a new facility began in 2002 and has been spearheaded by studio manager Mimbi Eloriaga, CFO Jun Camerino, exec producer Frank Saperstein and general services supervisor Lito Rillo. The management team has been working closely with architectural firm ES Calma & Group, which will be providing the interior design, layout and build-out of the facilities.

    Saperstein comments, “The location and presentation of the building lends itself perfectly to the corporate and creative image of pasi. Its central location allows easy access by public transportation for artists and staff lessening their commute times to allow for greater productivity. Its proximity to fist-class hotels, restaurants and shopping make it extremely user-friendly for visiting clients and partners.”

    The six-story layout permits each production unit to be housed on a separate floor. The company says this allows management to more efficiently monitor production flow and control utility costs. Execs also hope to attract new talent with the lure of a more modern workplace.

    An entire floor will be dedicated solely to Pacific Digital, pasi’s digital ink & paint and Flash unit, allowing it to expand by more than 100 new workstations. There will also be artist lounge areas that encourage creative exchange between artists.

    The move is expected to begin by March 1 but the company will keep its current facilities until the end of 2005, operating out of both locations. pasi will also maintain its U.S. business and marketing offices in Pacific Palisades, Calif.

    Currently in production at pasi’s are Benjamin Bear for Ottawa-based Amberwood Prods., the Leapfrog home video series for Porchlight Ent. and several new projects to be announced in the coming months.

  • Will and Grace Star Options Pooch Caf’

    Paul Gilligan’s Pooch Café may be the next comic strip to make it big on TV. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the property has been optioned by Hazy Mills Prods., the NBC-based shingle of Will and Grace star Sean Hayes and partner Todd Milliner.

    The Pooch Café strip revolves around a popular canine hangout frequented by the likes of Poncho, a cheese-loving, squirrel-fearing, break-dancing toilet water-drinking mutt. Poncho and his wacky, four-legged friends gather to compare notes on such topics as how to avoid baths and toilet breath. The comic is distributed by Universal Press Syndicate to more than 150 newspapers worldwide.

    Hayes and Milliner plan to develop Pooch Café as a half-hour animated series and will likely give NBC the first crack at it. NBC may still be looking for an irreverent primetime toon series since its expensive, DreamWorks-produced Father of the Pride has disappeared from the schedule.

    Co-producing with Hazy Mills are John Glynn, editor of the comic strip, and Bridget McMeel. Both Glynn and McMeel operate under AMUSE, a division of Universal Press Syndicate.

  • Doom 3 Xbox Date Confirmed

    Video game makers id Software and Activision Inc. today confirmed that the highly successful DOOM 3 will be released for Xbox the week of April 4. Launching concurrently will be DOOM 3: Resurrection of Evil, the official PC expansion pack for the fan-favorite sci-fi/horror franchise.

    Developed by Vicarious Visions and id Software, the Xbox version of DOOM 3 features 480p and wide-screen support, full Xbox Live multiplayer capability and the Xbox exclusive two-player co-op campaign. The limited collector’s edition also includes full versions of the original Ultimate DOOM and DOOM II playable in single player, split-screen co-op or deathmatch mode, which allows two to four players on one Xbox console.

    Co-developed by Nerve Software and id Software, DOOM 3: Resurrection of Evil for PC picks up two years after the events of the original, returning fans to an abandoned UAC research facility on Mars. Players wage a brutal war against an army of new demons and zombies while weilding weapons such as the new physics defying “grabber” and the classic double-barreled shotgun. Also featured are new locations, puzzles and mysterious powers such as the ability to slow time.

    Both Doom 3 for Xbox and DOOM 3: Resurrection of Evil for PC are are rated “M” for Mature due to intense violence, blood and gore.

  • Toon Boom Studio Express 2.5 Arrives

    Toon Boom Animation has announced the release of Toon Boom Studio Express v2.5, featuring a number of bug fixes and new features. The company is offering a special launch price and a free trial download to attract new users.

    Toon Boom Studio Express v2.5 runs on Windows XP and 2000, as well as Mac OS 10.3. Improvements over the last version include export to Quicktime video, insertion of ready-to-use templates in the library, compatibility with Panther OS (10.3) and improved manipulation of drawings and keyframes in the timeline.

    In addition, version 2.5 is now compatible with Flash MX and Flash MX 2004. The Toon Boom Studio Importer (TBSi) for Flash is a plug-in that allows users load Toon Boom Studio projects directly into Flash MX for streamlined workflow and adding interactivity to flash animations created in Toon Boom Studio.

    The release is available for the limited-time launch special price of $69.95. Current Toon Boom Studio users can upgrade for upgrade for $19.95 through the company’s online store and interested parties can download a 15-day trial version. For downloads and information, visit www.toonboom.com.

  • Blue Man Group Helps Score Robots

    To bring some very distinctive musical accents to 20th Century Fox’s upcoming CG-animated feature, Robots, composer John Powell (Antz, Chicken Run, Shrek) got some help from the world-famous Blue Man Group. The inventive, blue-painted performers created more than 25 new metal percussion instruments to reflect the flavor of Robot City in the film’s soundtrack.

    “We love the fact that John Powell is using Blue Man Group drumming to speak not only of the metal world of Robot City, but also to create a tribal, soulful undercurrent throughout the movie,” comments Blue Man Group co-founder Chris Wink.

    Co-directed by Chris Wedge (Ice Age) and Carlos Saldanha, (Ice Age, Gone Nutty), the movie centers on a good-hearted robot named Rodney Copperbottom (voiced by Ewan McGregor) who battles corporate baddie Big Weld (Mel Brooks) while being seduced by femme-bot Cappy (Halle Berry). Paul Giamatti, Greg Kinnear, Drew Carey, Jay Leno, Jim Broadbent, Amanda Bynes, Robin Williams, Dianne Wiest, Stanley Tucci and Jamie Kennedy also lend their voices to the film, which is based on a book by William Joyce (Rolie, Polie, Olie; George Shrinks; A Bug’s Life) and animated by Blue Sky Studios, now a unit of Fox Animation. Read our cover story on Robots in the March issue of Animation Magazine, now available.

    The March 6 Robots world premiere in Los Angeles will feature a special performance by Blue Man Group. The Robots soundtrack will be released on March 1 by Virgin Records and the original motion picture score will be released by Varese Sarabande on March 15. Robots opens nationwide on March 11.

    The critically acclaimed Blue Man Group was founded by Wink and long-time friends Matt Goldman and Phil Stanton in 1987. Their multimedia theatrical productions run concurrently in New York, Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas, and Berlin. A new production will begin in Toronto in June 2005. In 2004, the group won critical praise for its first television score for Fox’s The Jury, produced by Barry Levinson and Tom Fontana.

  • Movielink Orders More Anime On Demand

    Broadband video-on-demand service Movielink has significantly expanded its library of anime titiles via a distribution agreement with Central Park Media. The new deal covers 25 titles ranging from comedy and romance to sci-fi and horror.

    There are now 50 anime downloads available through Movielink, including new titles such as Dominion Tank Police, Hyperspeed Grandoll, Demon City Shinjuku and DNA2. All Central Park Media anime will be dubbed in English.

    Movielink is available to U.S. customers with broadband connections. Users can view trailers of available titles without charge before renting titles. Rental prices range from $1.99 to $4.99. The Movies in Minutes feature lets customers begin watching titles within two to 10 minutes, or store them for up to 30 days for unlimited viewing over any 24-hour period. The service is owned and operated by Movielink LLC, a joint venture of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal Studios and Warner Bros. Studios.

  • Discreet Lights Fuse on combustion 4

    Discreet today announced that combustion 4, the latest version of its desktop compositing software, will be available for PC in March and for Mac in May of this year. The release promises to offer motion graphics and compositing artists new creative capabilities, interface improvements, additional paint tools and enhanced interoperability with most 3D animation products including Discreet’s 3ds max, its cleaner encoding software and its systems products such as flint, flame, inferno, fire and smoke.

    A key new feature in combustion 4 is Discreet’s Diamond Keyer, the second generation of sophisticated keying algorithms derived from flame, the company’s Academy Award-winning online visual effects system. Also new is Time-Warp, a fully key-frameable time-remapping operator that allows for the quick creation of slow motion and speed-up effects.

    New creative features include B-spline vector shapes and new point-grouping for faster, more efficient rotoscoping; enhanced paint tools such as grids and rulers, B-spline and new customized brushes; and new optimized Fast Gaussian Blur. The numerous interface enhancements include edit, operator, navigation, filtering and compare tool improvements.

    Other features include:

    • Custom capsules that allow users to create and save encapsulated single or grouped operator nodes.

    • Gbuffer builder to enable custom building of Discreet’s Rich Pixel Format. (RPF) data structures from bitmap files for more extensive use of combustion’s RPF nodes.

    • Merge operator for quickly merging 2 layers of the same size using any of combustion’s transfer nodes.

    • New file import/export options for importing images into color mixer and import ASE (ASCII Scene Export) camera targets from 3ds max.

    • Windows Media and Open EXR compatible output.

    Discreet’s combustion 4 will retail for $995, but users who upgrade from combustion 3 can get it for $249. Customers who purchase a full commercial or educational seat of combustion 3 between now and the shipping date can qualify for a free upgrade to combustion 4. For more information, visit www.discreet.com or call 1-800-869-3504.

  • 2D Demise Doc to Precede Disney Meeting

    When Disney animators Dan Lund and Tony West were asked in March of 2002 to put their pencils down and pack their things (along with more than 200 other traditional artists), they pooled their resources to make Dream On Silly Dreamer, a new partly animated documentary on the demise of 2D animation at the House of Mouse. The film is scheduled to screen in Minneapolis on Thursday as Disney shareholders prepare for the company’s annual meeting there on Friday.

    Directed by Lund and produced by West, the 40-minute doc features interviews recorded only seconds after the now infamous March meeting where the 2D animators at Disney Feature Animation in Burbank were told their services were no longer needed. The film offers a rare opportunity to hear what was said, the reasons offered by the company and the emotional responses from those affected by the decision.

    "Documenting myself and my friends losing our jobs while it was happening, proved to be the most difficult exercise in filmmaking I have ever experienced," Lund comments on the film’s website, www.dreamonsillydreamer.com.

    West, a first-time producer, says he did the unthinkable and turned down a very lucrative job offer from a major Canadian animation studio in to work on Dreamer. He previously worked on effects animation for such films as The Rescuers Down Under, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King and Mulan.

    Nearly two years in the making, Dreamer is told as a modern-day fairy tale, borrowing a Winnie The Pooh device as an artist’s sketch-book opens up to reveal the various sides of the story. The film is also augmented with original, animated vignettes.

    "The animation was our humble attempt to honor the incredible legacy that we were all lucky enough to be a part of," says Lund. The producers say the animation also serves to provide levity to what could otherwise be a sad story of disenfranchisement.

    The documentary had its world premiere on Jan. 31 at the Animex Int’l Festival of Animation in Middlesbrough, England.

    Presented by the Independent Film Project (IFP), Dream On Silly Dreamer screens Thursday, Feb. 10th at the Crown Theater located at 600 Hennepin Ave. Minneapolis, MN 55402 on BLOCK E. Show times are 1 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 4 p.m., 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. Admission is free.

  • Ottawa Calls for Entries, Welcomes Students

    The Ottawa Int’l Animation Festival (OIAF) has issued a worldwide call for entries for its 2005 event, being held Sept. 21-25 in Canada’s capital. Now that the Ottawa Int’l Student Animation Festival (SAFO) is defunct, student animators are welcome to submit this year, along with Independent and commercial filmmakers working in a variety of media. Entry forms are due by June 1, 2005.

    Films may be submitted under six umbrella categories, including commissioned films, independent short films, student films, films for children, school showreel, feature films and new media. SAFO categories added to program include best school, graduate, undergraduate, elementary and secondary school film.

    Another new OIAF twist is the creation of a Children’s Films competition that will be judged by a jury of local children. The 2005 schedule will also offer special programs such as a tribute to The Pink Panther, the best of Pee Wee’s Playhouse Animation, a spotlight on Slovak animation, a retrospective of award-winning Italian animator Guianluigi Toccafondo and a celebration of Canadian independent animation.

    Television animation producers, broadcasters and buyers will also be in town for the 2nd annual Television Animation Conference, Canada’s only TV toon industry forum. The conference will be held at the Chateau Laurier Hotel on Sept. 21 and 22.

    Submission preview tapes or DVDs must be received by June 18th, 2005. An online entry form and information on the festival and conference can be found at www.awn.com/ottawa. Inquiries may also be sent via e-mail to info@animationfestival.ca or by calling (613) 232-8769.

  • Shark Tale Told on Video

    Buoyed by an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature, DreamWorks Animation’s box office hit, Shark Tale, swims to home video today complete with a boatload of extra features.

    Directed by Shrek helmer Vicky Jensen, animator Bibo Bergeron (The Adventures of Pinocchio, A Goofy Movie) and writer Rob Letterman, Shark Tale evokes classic mob movies to tell the story of a fish named Oscar (Will Smith), who finds himself in deep water when he takes credit for killing the son of shark mafia boss Don Lino (Robert De Niro). The cast also includes Oscar winners Renée Zellweger and Angelina Jolie, hot property Jack Black, director Martin Scorsese, TV icon Peter Falk and Sopranos stars Michael Imperioli and Vincent Pastore. Shark Tale is the first completely 3D feature produced at DreamWorks’ Glendale, Calif. facility.

    DVD extra features include director commentary, a blooper reel, an interactive tour of the Shark Tale world, a behind-the-scenes documentary and a music feature with Christina Aguillera, Missy Elliot, Mary J. Blige, Will Smith, Justin Timberlake, Ziggy Marley, D12, Ludacris, India.Arie and others.

    The DreamWorks animation team has created new animation for “Club Oscar,” an area of the disc where the film’s star-studded voice cast reunites for a dance sequence and viewers learn how to get their collective groove on. The dance lesson segment is hosted by the film’s choreographer, Nadine “Hi-Hat” Colquhon. Another bit of new animation features audition footage of Gigi the Whale trying to land a role in the move. Those interested in the animation process can enjoy layout drawings, storyboards, animation tests and more within the various features.

    Shark Tale is rated PG and carries a suggested retail price of $29.99 on DVD.