April 17-23, 2000 News

Tuesday, April 18, 2000

DreamQuest Moves to Burbank
The Los Angeles Times is reporting the following:

"After completing its last project, Mission to Mars, the special-effects company Dream Quest Images has departed Simi Valley for Burbank.

The Walt Disney Co., which owns Dream Quest Images, wants most of its creative teams--visual-effects artists and producers--in Burbank to work under a new digital special-effects unit. Most of the Dream Quest workers left a month ago.

The number of employees at the operation, which moved to Simi Valley in 1989, has ebbed and flowed over the years as projects such as Armageddon and Mighty Joe Young made their way to the big screen. Both films received Academy Award nominations for visual effects for the work done in Simi Valley."

Fantasia 2000 Fills Coffers of IMAX Theaters
The Kansas City Star is reporting the following:

"Fantasia 2000 has been good for the Kansas City Zoo's Sprint IMAX Theatre -- very good.

'It's worked out exactly as we thought it would,' zoo spokeswoman Kathy Jarboe said of the Disney animated film, which has been playing exclusively on the big, big IMAX screen since Jan. 1 and which will leave town April 30. 'During January and February we did gangbuster numbers, double what we'd normally do. Business in March and April has been about what we've had in other years; those are difficult months to get people to the zoo.'

Jarboe estimated total attendance for the four-month run at 100,000. Normal January-through-April attendance is between 50,000 and 60,000."

The Matrix to Get Two Sequels
Two sequels are being written to The Matrix, winner of the "Best Achievement in Visual Effects" Academy Award this year. Both Keanu Reaves (Neo) and Carrie-Anne Moss (Trinity) have signed contracts to appear in both sequels. Larry and Andy Wachowski are returning as the writers.

Wednesday, April 19, 2000

Cartoonists Continue to Picket
More than 200 professional Hollywood cartoonists, all members of the Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists, Local 839 IATSE, carried angry cartoon picket signs as they protested for two hours yesterday (11:30 A.M. to 1:30 P.M.) against the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) in front of KCET studios at 4401 Sunset Blvd.

Their dispute is about the significant amount of animation and cartoon work being lost by union members from runaway work contracted to foreign countries by PBS, a broadcast entity the union claims should be loyal to American workers since it is funded and supported by United States tax dollars. The Union states the exported working funds are putting American screen cartoonists out of business.

The Union points out that PBS has partnered with Montreal-based CINAR Corp. to produce "Arthur," "Wimzie's House," "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" and "The Adventures of Paddington Bear." CINAR's co-founders recently resigned, and their chief financial officer was fired, after the company's board discovered that $122 million in funds were improperly invested.

Pokemon Movie Strong Overseas
Warner Bros. Pictures' Pokemon The First Movie triumphed in 11 markets over the weekend, ranking No. 1 in five of those markets--Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, Israel and Finland. Pokemon The First Movie shattered all other family film opening weekend receipts in Germany, Israel and Finland. The film also enjoyed excellent weekend openings in Austria, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Denmark and Portugal. Total weekend receipts were $14,573,355. The announcement was made today by Edward E. Frumkes, President of International Distribution for Warner Bros. Pictures. In the hold-over markets, the film moved up to No. 1 in its second weekend in Belgium with a fantastic 59% increase from first weekend. It dropped 28% in France, which Warner Bros. claims is a low percentage. However, many industry analysts consider a 28% a normal to slightly high drop for a film in its second weekend.

Box Office Results
Here are the Box Office results for last weekend's animated films:

The Road to El Dorado
$6.1 Million ($1,910 per screen average)
5th at the Box Office (down from #3 last weekend)
Total to Date: $33 Million

Fantasia 2000
$1.5 Million ($28,194 per screen average)
15th at the Box Office (down from #13 last weekend)
Total to Date: $42.4 Million

Toy Story 2
$331,858 ($742 per screen average)
21st at the Box Office (up from 23rd last weekend)
Total to Date: $243.3 Million

The Tigger Movie
$101,561 ($421 per screen average)
33 at the Box Office (down from #28 last weekend)
Total to Date: $44.2 Million

Tarzan Collector's Edition DVD Released
The Disney Tarzan Collector's Edition DVD was released yesterday. The collector's edition DVD features: Commentary by the producers and co-directors, trailers, history of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan, early presentation reels, a look at the music of Tarzan (including interviews), introductions by the filmmakers, story treatment, a look at the deep canvas process, abandoned sequences, storyboard to final film split-screen comparison, Glen Keane talking about the animation of Tarzan, character designes, concept art, production progression demonstration, posters, "Strangers Like Me" music video, and more. Total Price: $23.99. Click here to order it.

Thursday, April 20, 2000

New Series Coming to Disney One
More School goes to the dogs - and vice-versa - when "Teacher's Pet" joins the award-winning "Disney's One Saturday Morning" lineup on ABC this fall, it was announced this week by Jonathan Barzilay, senior vice president and general manager, ABC Children's Programming, and Barry Blumberg, executive vice president, Walt Disney Television Animation.

"Teacher's Pet" is the story of a boy and his dog, "Spot" - a talking canine that yearns for the education afforded his master. As voiced by Tony Award-winning actor Nathan Lane, Spot disguises himself as a boy in order to go to school and, as the title suggests, become the teacher's pet.

The animated series' initial order of 13 episodes includes both full-length, 22-minute episodes and pairs of 11-minute cartoons. While packed with Saturday morning humor, "Teacher's Pet" is designated as children's educational and informational programming.

"Teacher's Pet" is produced at Walt Disney Television Animation by the team of renowned cartoonist Gary Baseman and Emmy Award-winning primetime sitcom writers Bill & Cheri Steinkellner. Michael Price ("The PJs") is co-executive producer. Timothy Bjorklund ("Rocko's Modern Life," "Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat") is director.

Serving as executive producers, the husband-wife writing team of the Steinkellners received Emmy, Golden Globe and Writers Guild awards for their work as writers/executive producers on "Cheers." The writing tandem has also provided the words for, to name a few, "Bob," "The Jeffersons," "Facts of Life" and "Hope & Gloria."

"Teacher's Pet offers one of the funniest, most memorable animated characters in years - a dog who leads a double life as a fourth grader," said Jonathan Barzilay, senior vice president and general manager, ABC Children's Programming. "We are really excited to welcome this show, and
its talented production team, to Disney's One Saturday Morning."

Titan A.E.'s Gary Goldman Believes in Aliens
According to Space.com:

"Does Gary Goldman think there's other life out there?

'I'm a believer,' he said while talking about Titan A.E., the newest animated film from him and longtime collaborator Don Bluth. Goldman added that NASA's chunk of the national budget is one part of his taxes he 'doesn't mind sharing.'

'Watching the world population grow is scary,' he said. 'It's good to know that there are people researching the rest of the universe. It's extremely important, because we're not the only world out here. We'd be like specks in the middle of a dandelion.'

But as much as he treasures that speck, Goldman and Bluth don't waste any time with our planet in the film. An alien vessel annihilates Earth in the opening minutes -- a sequence Goldman said 'rocks.'"

Click here for the entire article.

Good Friday, April 21, 2000

AnimeOnline Festival 2000 Call for Entries
An online company, Tokyo Pop announced this week its first annual AnimeOnline Festival 2000. Animation artists working in anime style are invited to submit their original anime Internet works in the Flash, Shockwave, or Quicktime formats, competing in five Asian pop culture catagories. Cash prizes will be awarded including a $10,000 Grand Prize for best overall work. Submitions will be judged by a distinguished panel of experts from the fields of entertainment, the Internet, technology, and culture, as well as by popular audience vote. Finalist entries will be posted on Tokyo Pop for viewing, voting, and judging.

Asian pop culture influences are highly evident in TV, fashion, music, sports, electronics, video games, and the Internet. Through AnimeOnline Festival 2000, Tokyo Pop is celebrating the Asian pop culture phenomenon by combining the finest in traditional anime style with the latest tools for entertainment delivery on the Internet.

ENTRIES ACCEPTED ONLINE ONLY
Entry Period: May 15 - JULY 31, 2000
Entry Deadline: JULY 31, 2000
Finalists in all five categories will be
posted July 1 - July 23 2000

For more information, click here.

Marc Davis Subject of Lecture
According to the LA Times:

"The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will present its sixth annual Marc Davis Lecture on Animation--named for the legendary Disney animator who was one of the studio's 'Nine Old Men'--April 28 at 8 p.m. in the academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

This year's lecture will be devoted to the work of its namesake, who died in January. Davis began working for Disney Studios in 1935 and created Disney characters including Bambi, Cinderella, Alice, Tinkerbell and Cruella De Vil. He also did extensive work on a number of attractions at the Disneyland parks."

Click here for more information including which of the remaining Nine Old Men will be in attendance on a panel.

Claymation on ABC
This Sunday at 7:00 PM, ABC will air a claymation feature about the life of Jesus titled "The Miracle Maker." Besides claymation, there is also 2D animation that takes place in the special. The special was put together by 250 artists, animators, and claymation specialists working for Christmas Films.

Saturday, April 22, 2000

New Animated TV Series in Production
Animation executive-creator-producer Phil Roman and his new 14-month-old, Studio City, Calif.-based Phil Roman Entertainment company, in partnership with Quarter Star Productions (QSP) of Charlotte, N.C., will produce "Soap on the Range," a new prime-time animated half-hour comedy TV series about rival family ranches in Colorado and charismatic talking bulls that are expected to be rich in merchandising potential.

"Soap on the Range" is best described as a contemporary spoof on such prime-time soap operas as "Dallas" and "Dynasty" with a mix of "Bonanza."

"Soap on the Range" will be fully produced into a 26-episode family entertainment package. Domestic and international sales will be offered for delivery in time for the 2001 television season. Serving alongside Roman as executive producers will be the husband-and-wife team of Joyce Wade-May and Patrick W. May, principals of QSP, who created and developed "Soap on the Range" over the past eight years.

"Soap on the Range," to be privately financed with a multimillion- dollar budget, represents the most ambitious series project of Roman's new company, formed by him soon after his departure in 1999 as founder and chairman of Film Roman Inc., the public company he originally organized in 1984 and in which he remains the principal stockholder.

Roman, winner of six Emmy Awards, previously served as executive producer of "The Simpsons," "King of the Hill," "Garfield & Friends," "Bobby's World" and many other celebrated animation specials and series. He was also producer-director of the theatrical feature "Tom and Jerry -- The Movie."

Joyce Wade-May and Patrick May are creative entrepreneurs and business partners who have successfully marketed a number of diversified products before devoting their energies since 1992 in a single-minded manner to the fulfillment of their "Soap on the Range" dream.

Said Roman: "Our company is delighted to have been chosen by Joyce and Pat May and their QSP company to make their delightful animated series idea into a major product reality. We are now forming a top animation team of professionals to make `Soap on the Range' a popular and successful international entertainment franchise."

Phil Roman Entertainment is additionally working on "The Gaudins: A Christmas Special," "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" and the animation segments of "Cyber Quest," a live-action/animation theatrical feature.

"Soap on the Range" was negotiated for the Roman company by the firm's vice president, Rick Ramirez

Southern Baptists Suspend ABC Boycott for One Show
According to a story in the San Francisco Chronicle:

"ABC's Easter Sunday broadcast of ``The Miracle Maker'' tomorrow has found unexpected allies in some Southern Baptist pastors who are calling on followers to suspend a boycott of network owner Walt Disney Co. -- at least for one night so they can watch the film.

``The Miracle Maker,'' airing Sunday from 7 to 9 p.m., uses 3-D, or clay, animation and two-dimensional animated drawings, to tell the story of Jesus through the eyes of a young girl. Airing in the ``Wonderful World of Disney'' time slot, the film, which was released theatrically in some European countries, is designed to appeal to family audiences.

But the broadcast, which ABC has marketed heavily among Christian religious groups of all denominations, has posed a problem for some Southern Baptists and others who have been engaged in a several- year boycott of Disney, stemming from such factors as the company's provision of employee benefits to same-sex couples, annual gay and lesbian events at its theme parks, and movies from Disney's Miramax subsidiary with content that the groups found objectionable..."

Click here for the full story.

Easter Sunday, April 23, 2000

Weekend Estimates Place El Dorado Seventh
Holiday weekend estimates at the Box Office place The Road to El Dorado seventh for the weekend with a $5.1 million take. This is was the fourth straight weekend that The Road to El Dorado had the entire family film audience to itself. Next Friday, Flintstones: Viva Las Vegas opens.

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