January 22 - 31, 2001 News

New Animated and Anime Titles on DVD
Here is a list of animated and anime titles being released to DVD tomorrow:

Amazing Nurse Nanako Vol. 3: The Last Spiral (1999)
Beetle Bailey/Betty Boop/Hagar the Horrible (1989)
Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 2040 DVD Vol. 3 - Leviathans (1999)
Gasaraki - Vol. 3: Betrayal (1998)
Lost Universe - Vol. 4 (1998)
Pokemon - Round One (Vol. 25) (2000)
Pokemon - Friends and Rivals (Vol. 26) (2000)
ReBoot - Season III Vol. 2 - The Net (1994)

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Museum Seeks Comic Potential
According to the Post Gazette,

"Mort Walker doesn't like when people refer to the International Museum of Cartoon Art as 'his museum.' But the creator of 'Beetle Bailey' is the guy who got this repository of yuks going 26 years ago after 10 years of fund-raising, then shepherded it through locations in Greenwich, Conn., and Rye Brook, N.Y., before planting it amid Florida's ritzy Mizner Park retail shops. He still oversees its affairs as museum chairman -- and is also the subject of its current major exhibit...

But the museum doesn't just feature decades-old comic strips. It houses a wide variety of art forms falling into the cartoon category, including political cartoons, comic books and graphic novels, one-panel gag cartoons (the kind found in magazines), animation, caricatures, sports cartoons, book and magazine illustrations and even advertising and greeting-card art..."

Click here for the full story.

Tuesday, January 23, 2001

Box Office Results for Animated Films
Here are the Box Office results for animated films last weekend, in which The Emperor's New Groove surpassed the Box Office total of Rugrats in Paris:

The Emperor's New Groove
$3.9 Million ($1,932 per screen average - 32% decrease)
12th at the Box Office (down from #10 last weekend)
Total to Date: $76 Million

Cyberworld 3D
$522,187 ($13,742 per screen average - massive 177% increase)
23rd at the Box Office (up from #31 last week)
Total to Date: $5.2 Million

Rugrats in Paris
$363,022 Million ($491 per screen average - 44% decrease)
26th at the Box Office (down from #21 last weekend)
Total to Date: $74.6 Million

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A Look Back at Bush Versus "The Simpsons"
According to The Age:

"...The feud between the Bush clan and the Simpson clan is a long and rancorous one. It's more than 10 years since Barbara Bush fired the first shot, saying The Simpsons was "the dumbest thing" she had ever seen.

This rebuff from the then First Lady drew an immediate and angry response from Marge Simpson, a wife and mother herself, after all. Marge sent a terse letter to Mrs Bush, fiercely defending her family. Within a fortnight, the First Lady apologised to Marge for her "loose tongue".

And there things should have stopped. But the whole affair clearly left a sour taste in the mouth of the then president, for not long after he too got stuck into Marge, Homer, Bart, Lisa and Maggie..."

Click here for the full story.

Wednesday, January 24, 2001

Disney Announces New Animated Comedy - "The Proud Family"
The Disney Channel recently began production in Los Angeles on an all-new, original animated comedy, "The Proud Family."

The Disney Channel has given the green light for 21 episodes to be created and to begin airing in Summer 2001 as part of the network's Zoog Disney programming block, targeted toward kids aged 9-14.

"The Proud Family" is an animated sitcom that follows the adventures of Penny Proud (Kyla Pratt), a 14-year-old African American girl who's doing her best to navigate through the mysteries, mishaps and merriment that come with those difficult early years of teen-dom. The series, produced by Jambalaya Studio and Hyperion Studio in association with the Disney Channel, is created by Bruce Smith and executive produced by Bruce Smith, Ralph Farquhar, Willard Carroll and Tom Wilhite. Kurt Albrecht serves as the series' executive in charge of production.

Fueled by a never-ending passion for growing up, Penny's every encounter inevitably spirals into bigger than life situations filled with hi-jinks, hilarity and heart. Along for the ride are Penny's best friends -- the sassy and scheming Dijonay (Karen Malina White); the naively optimistic Zoey (Soleil Moon Frye); and Sticky (Orlando Brown), a techno-wiz with attitude -- her irreverent, groovy grandma Sugar Mama (Jo Marie Payton) and her funky little poodle, Puff; Penny's trouble-making toddler siblings Bebe and Cece; and, of course, Oscar (Tommy Davidson) and Trudy (Paula Jai Parker), her loving parents, who don't seem to understand that a responsible 14-year-old like Penny is ready to grow up. With family and friends like this, Penny certainly has a lot of love in her life.

Creator Bruce Smith heads Jambalaya Studio, a new animation company focusing on racially and ethnically diverse television and new media projects. He has worked as an animator and director for the past decade. His credits include "Space Jam," "Bebe's Kids," the CableAce Award-Winning series "Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales For Every Child," Disney's "The Emperor's New Groove" and Disney's "Tarzan." Executive Producer and head writer Ralph Farquhar also executive produced and co-created "Moesha" and its spin-off "The Parkers." Previously, he served as the supervising producer of "Married...With Children" and was the co-creator and executive producer of the critically-acclaimed series "South Central."

Jambalaya Studio was co-founded by Bruce Smith and Hyperion Studio, a leading independent producer of live-action and animated family films and television for sixteen years. Hyperion's productions include Miramax's all-star feature "Playing By Heart," the multiple Emmy(R) and Humanitas Award-winner "Life With Louie," and the popular "Brave Little Toaster" movie series.

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Britain Prepares for Butt Ugly Martians
According to This is London:

"...To be launched on children's ITV [Britain] on 19 February, Butt-Ugly Martians is a mixture of animation and computer-generated images whose worldwide character rights have already been bought by Hasbro...

Click here for the full story.

Thursday, January 25, 2001

Cinesite Recreates History for Thirteen Days
Cinesite recently completed work on approximately 90 visual effects shots and 70 restoration shots for the New Line Cinema feature release Thirteen Days. The film chronicles the Cuban Missile Crisis, which took the United States and the USSR to the brink of nuclear war in 1962. The film was directed by Roger Donaldson and photographed by Andrzej Bartkowiak, ASC.

The film opens with a breathtaking nuclear test explosion montage that makes it clear to the audience exactly what was at stake during the Cuban Missile Crisis-nuclear war. The almost impressionistic shot of the explosion segues through a sunrise into the cockpit of a U-2 spy plane that eventually takes the reconnaissance photos that reveal the Soviet's missile buildup in Cuba.
Director Donaldson insisted on strict historical accuracy. Many of the shots handled by

Cinesite involved military hardware including the U-2's and the F-8 fighter jets, which involved extensive in-house research and testing. Visual Effects Supervisor Micheal McAlister oversaw Cinesite's design and creation of all 3-D and 2-D computer-generated effects, the capture of real-life backgrounds, and the melding of these and other elements into finished composites.

Sequences included designing computer-generated footage of (and from) a U-2 spy plane and its environment at 72,000 feet, missile firings and their target searches, and harrowing F-8 fighter planes fighting at below-the-treetops altitudes. Live-action background footage for the F-8 scenes was captured in the Philippines and later composited with the CG creations.

Donaldson also made extensive use of vintage black and white, and color documentary stock footage to portray Americans reacting to the tense crisis and to show military operations gearing up. In ten weeks, Cinesite, led by Visual Effects Supervisor Jerry Pooler, scanned and restored this footage which totals approximately six minutes of the final film. A portion of the restored footage went on to Dynacs for colorization.

A real challenge to Cinesite was the accuracy needed for this historical drama. The only non-CG elements in the U-2 shots were green screen shots of the pilots. McAlister says that having the flexibility to make changes later on made a big difference in terms of believability.

"A lot of nuance was put into the flight characteristics of the airplane," he says, "We worked on how it traveled through the air, how it reacted to turbulence, how the pilots were adjusting their flight controls to deal with air currents, and things to that degree. It's the kind of detail that makes the difference between an animated jet and a real jet."

McAlister and his crew created the CG backgrounds representing the earth far below. A series of high altitude photographs were altered and enhanced, warped to represent the planet's curvature, and textured using 3-D animation techniques. Reflections, clouds and shadows were added to complete the illusion.

Ruth Scovill, Cinesite president and COO adds, "Our visual effects team, headed by McAlister, stepped up to the very difficult challenge of creating believable planes and flight pattern. The fact that our restoration team, led by Pooler, was able to take old footage and make it work for six minutes of a major film, is a value-added aspect of what our digital technology can do for the industry."

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Street Fighter Animated Series Coming to Video
Manga Entertainment will release the entire 29 episodes of the original Japanese animated series Street Fighter II V (V for Victory), in four volumes: Volumes One and Two on February 27 and Volumes 3 and 4 on March 27, 2001.

From the sinister back-alleys of Hong Kong to the muddy banks of the Ganges, from Thailand to Spain and across lands unknown, Ken, Ryu and Chun Li track-down the very best fighters in the world to compete and improve their fighting skills. Featuring extraordinary animation and a wicked cast of martial arts characters, watch as these legendary warriors collide in this amazing martial arts action series.

The DVD includes: Seven half-hour episodes per volume (8 on Volume 4) with a digitally re-mastered 4x3 transfer in Dolby Stereo. The Languages options are English, Japanese and Japanese with English subtitles. Other features include Motion menus, the original Street Fighter trailers, theme song remixes, Manga fan club info, Manga web link and Manga trailers.

The retail price will be $29.95.

Friday, January 26, 2001

Cinesite Names Hoffman VP and Head of Visual Effects
Dennis Hoffman has been appointed vice president and head of Visual Effects for Cinesite. He reports to Ruth Scovill, president and COO of the digital studio's operations in Los Angeles.

"Dennis Hoffman is a proven leader with the right combination of aesthetic sensibilities and mastery of the craft," says Scovill. "He is the ideal person for this role."

Since joining Cinesite as an executive producer in 1998, Hoffman has supervised the production of more then 1,500 visual effects shots on 65 projects including such films as Red Planet, Deep Blue Sea, Message in a Bottle and Thirteen Days.

"We are committed to providing the combination of depth in talent and state-of-the-art technology that it takes to create world class visual effects," says Hoffman. "We have two of the industry's top visual effects supervisors in Mike Fink and Micheal McAlister and a strong base of talent and technology infrastructure supporting them."

Hoffman says that a top priority will be to continue augmenting the facility's leadership in digital compositing and other traditional 2-D effects work with a strong commitment to 3-D effects and character animation by building on the foundation of the work done on Red Planet and Thirteen Days.

"In Red Planet, we designed AMEE and brought that computer generated robotic character to life on the screen," he says. "Her movements were smooth and fluid, and the computer animation integrated seamlessly into the live action plates to the point where a number of people, whose critical eye I respect, had a hard time believing AMEE was digitally created. This is one of the greatest compliments any digital artist or facility can receive."

Prior to joining Cinesite, Hoffman was a producer and subsequently vice president/executive producer at Dream Quest Images (DQI), where his producing credits included Crimson Tide, the IMAX film Asteroid Adventure and the series Earth 2, which earned an Emmy for visual effects. As the executive producer he was responsible for overseeing the facility's visual effects efforts on such projects as The Rock and Mighty Joe Young, which earned a 1999 Oscar nomination for visual effects.

Hoffman is a native of Connecticut. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in international affairs with a minor in photography from George Washington University and a master of fine arts degree in film/video production from the California Institute of the Arts.

"I remember being amazed as a kid by films like King Kong and Jason and the Argonauts but I had no idea that would become my career. I went to work for a small TV commercial company, which had a division that created the miniature spaceships for the Star Trek television series," he says. "I fell in love with what I was doing. It was pure magic."

Cinesite is a Kodak subsidiary and part of the company's Entertainment Imaging division. It provides a range of visual effects, film restoration and digital intermediate and mastering services with facilities in Los Angeles and London.

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'Waking Life' Takes Animation in Radical New Direction
According to The Salt Lake Tribune:

"Director Richard Link-later leaned into the microphone before Tuesday's Sundance Film Festival premiere of his new animated film, 'Waking Life' and asked the audience an unusual question.

'How many of you are on drugs?' When some brave folks in the packed Eccles Center crowd whooped or raised their hands, Linklater chuckled. 'The rest of you bear with us,' he said.

Such is the mind-expanding nature of 'Waking Life,' a revolutionary feature sure to be one of the festival's most talked-about films. Shot as a live-action feature on digital video and then animated by artists who 'painted' over the footage, 'Waking Life' is the first animated feature to be given a coveted slot as a Sundance premiere..."

Click here for the full story.

Saturday, January 27, 2001

Akira to Get U.S. Re-release
According to Daily Variety, "Akira,' one of the earliest and most popular films in the Japanese anime film wave, is being restored in preparation for a theatrical re-release in the U.S. this spring."

Approximately $1 million will be spent on the restoration for the rerelease. It will be followed later in the year with a release to video and DVD.

Sunday, January 28, 2001

Discreet Ships 3D Studio Max, Version 4.0
Discreet, a division of Autodesk, Inc., has announced it has begun shipping 3ds max 4, the latest version of its 3D modeling, animation, and rendering program. 3ds max 4 is available now for a suggested retail price of US $3,495.

3ds max 4 delivers a new and extensible character animation architecture, advanced game development tools, and extensive rendering productivity with ActiveShade, Render Elements and support for new Direct 3D technology. These advancements give animators a flexible and realistic working environment for media content creation-whether for motion picture special effects, 3D Web production, or next-generation game development for PC game titles or gaming consoles such as Microsoft Xbox, Sony PlayStation2 or Nintendo GAMECUBE.

"In the production of MYST III: EXILE, shipping in spring 2001, the core team required a software package that provided top image quality, network rendering and the ability to animate other-worldly creatures. 3ds max delivered the breath-taking visuals and animation MYST fans have come to expect," said Mike Brown, lead 3D animator for Presto Studios. "Working with 3ds max 4 in BETA for the past several months, we also benefited from character animation and production tools that no other animation package has. This allowed our artists more flexibility to concentrate on the story in MYST III-and our programming team to create proprietary animation tools that sit directly in the 3ds max/Discreet pipeline better than ever, helping us meet our production deadline," said Brown.

The 3ds max SDK (software developers kit) and maxscript language greatly expand in version 4, building upon Discreet's commitments to extensibility and open-source compliance. Building upon the SDK, and included in 3ds max 4, is the web studio cd set-an integrated set of Web developers tools from Cycore, Pulse, RichFX and Viewpoint-companies that make putting 3D content on the web easier than ever before. In addition, Discreet continues to deliver the ultimate in Macromedia Flash content creation with the latest Vecta 3D-MAX vector animation renderer from Ideaworks 3D. This limited promotional offering gives 3ds max artists the ability to create 3D effects for their Flash movies, complete with multi-level cartoon shading.

Pricing and Availability
The suggested retail price for 3ds max 4 is US$3,495. Upgrade price from 3ds max 3 is US$795. For upgrade information from all previous versions of 3ds max, consult Discreet's regional or international offices for information. The latest version of character studio® is included in 3ds max 4 to update current character studio 3 customers' versions to operate within 3ds max 4.

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The Irish Times Talks About Animation Oscar
According to The Irish Times:

"'I would like to thank Tom Hanks for voicing me, John Lasseter and the guys at Pixar for creating me, my agent, Buzz, Jessie, Mr Potato Head and the rest of the team - it was great working with you guys.' That won't happen this year but we could be hearing Oscar acceptance speeches like this, perhaps complemented by computer-animated tears, in years to come.

For the first time in 20 years, a new Academy award has been created: best animated feature. It will probably come into effect in 2002, for films of more than 70 minutes' length that are primarily animated..."

Click here for the full story.

Monday, January 29, 2001

Animated and Anime New Releases
Here is a list of Animated and Anime titles being released to DVD tomorrow, including Disney's Dinosaur:

Dinosaur
Dinosaur - Collector's Edition
Gundam Wing - Operation 5
Ninku/Yu Yu Hakusho Double Feature (1996)
Street Fighter Alpha - The Movie (2000)
Tenchi in Space 2 (Collection 6) (1995)

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Details on U.S. Release of Akira Anime
Utilizing the latest high-definition digital technology, Pioneer Entertainment has retained International Video Conversions, Inc. (IVC) to restore the classic anime film Akira. First released in 1988 and produced by the Akira committee (under license by Kodansha, Tokyo, Japan), Akira has garnered legions of fans around the world and is still considered the pinnacle of cel animation. To celebrate this landmark film, Akira will undergo a complete restoration at a cost of one million dollars. The restoration will include a new film interpositive and high-definition mastering using the latest Digital Vision HD technology. In addition, Akira will be THX certified, the audio components will be re-mixed to Dolby Digital AC3 Surround Sound and a new English dub will be created from a new translation of the original Japanese script. Akira will be released theatrically in Spring 2001.

"Akira jump-started the anime industry with its ground-breaking animation and has achieved a cult status with anime fans around the world," said Pioneer Entertainment president Yosuke Kobayashi. "Restoring this extraordinary film will enable Pioneer Entertainment to re-introduce Akira to a new generation and seal its place as the benchmark anime film."

"Akira is dramatic cel animation at its best, making use of vibrant color, high and low contrast, fine detail and an extreme range of light and dark scenes," said Mark Nakamine, IVC's high definition colorist. "I used the very latest in high definition processing to create the digital master which will convey all the visual nuances intended."

Neo-Tokyo has risen from the ashes of World War III to become a dark and dangerous megalopolis infested with gangs and terrorists. The government seethes with corruption and only maintains a token control over the powerful military that prevents total chaos and hides the secrets of the past. Childhood friends Tetsuo and Kaneda plunge into Neo-Tokyo's darkest secret when their motorcycle gang encounters a military operation to retrieve an escaped experimental subject. Tetsuo, captured by the military, is subjected to experiments that make him a powerful psychic, but unfortunately for Neo-Tokyo, Testuo's powers rage out of control and he lashes out at the world that has oppressed him. Nothing can stop the destructive forces that Tetsuo wields except possibly the last boy to destroy Tokyo -- Akira!

Tuesday, January 30, 2001

Box Office Results for Animated Films
Here are the Box Office results for animated films last weekend as The Emperor's New Groove nears the $80 million mark, a number that seemed unreachable to critics after the animated movie's poor opening weekend in mid-December:

The Emperor's New Groove
$2.6 Million ($1,571 per screen average - 32% decrease)
15th at the Box Office (down from #12 last weekend)
Total to Date: $79.3 Million

Rugrats in Paris
$213,916 Million ($379 per screen average - 41% decrease)
28th at the Box Office (down from #26 last weekend)
Total to Date: $74.9 Million

Cyberworld 3D
$155,825 ($4,211 per screen average - massive 70% decrease)
32nd at the Box Office (down from #23 last week)
Total to Date: $5.28 Million

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Ed Catmull Named Pixar President
Pixar Animation Studios today announced that co-founder Ed Catmull has been named President. Catmull has served as a member of the company's executive team and chief technical officer since the incorporation of the company in 1986. In his new role as President, Catmull will report to Chairman and CEO Steve Jobs and work closely with Jobs and Pixar's executive team to guide Pixar's growth.

"Ed and I founded Pixar almost 15 years ago, and we've been through thick and thin together," said Jobs. "There is no one I trust more to help Pixar realize its destiny as one of the premier animation studios in the world." Catmull has been twice honored with the Scientific and Technical Engineering Award from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for his work. Most recently, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences' Board of Governors voted to honor him, along with Loren Carpenter, Senior Scientist, and Rob Cook, Senior Scientist, with an Oscar "for significant advancements to the field of motion picture rendering as exemplified in Pixar's RenderMan(R)." The award will be presented as part of the 73rd Scientific and Technical Academy Awards(R) ceremony presentation on March 3, 2001.

Catmull was also acknowledged for his achievements and contributions to the field of engineering by his induction into the National Academy of Engineering in October 2000.

Wednesday, January 31, 2001

DreamWorks Ambitious About Shrek
DreamWorks is pulling out all the marketing stops for Shrek stating that promotion for the animated movie will be the company's biggest yet. Shrek won't be without its marketing problems, however. Like last year's DreamWorks *failure*, The Road to El Dorado, Shrek is focused on irreverent comedy as the foundation for the story. But that's not stopping a strong marketing campaign aimed at kids.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Major promotional partners providing media include Burger King, Baskin-Robbins and Heinz; all will lend television spot support beginning in April, about four weeks before the film's release. A fourth, yet unnamed partner is expected to also air television spots. In addition to television, the promotions from those and other partners will feature radio and print campaigns, Internet components and in-store displays."

* * *

Cinar's Auditors Resign
According to the Montreal Gazette, "Ernst & Young resigned yesterday as auditors of Cinar Corp. after management at the troubled film-and-animation house said it would not assist in determining whether the company's books contain evidence of fraud, illegal acts or related-party transactions."

In other Cinar news, Micheline Charest and Ronald Weinberg yesterday responded to the announcement by CINAR Corporation that it had filed legal proceedings against them and certain other defendants. Here is their statement:

"We are in the process of reviewing with our professional advisors the
forty-seven page detailed claim that has been made against us by the Company
that we founded." said Mr. Weinberg. "Upon the completion of that review, we
expect that we will have much more to say about the allegations which have
been made against us."

"The Company's lawsuit against us comes only days after we served a
demand on the Company, that based on the extensive work carried out by our
professional advisors, the Company owed us in excess of $8.2 million." said
Ms. Charest. "We have shared the details of our work with the Company and we
had believed that a resolution of our claims was possible."

"We are surprised and extremely disappointed that the Company and it's
advisors would react to the results of our work by taking legal proceedings
against us. This is especially so when the details of the Company's lawsuit
essentially confirms the results of our work." said Mr. Weinberg.
We have been working diligently and co-operatively over the last several
months with the Company and its advisors on many different issues. Most
recently, at the urging of the Company and its advisors, we have been meeting
with Merrill Lynch and have been actively involved in helping them in their
efforts as financial advisors to the Company. "We are therefore perplexed and
disturbed by the timing of the Company's actions. We fail to see how this
lawsuit will help the Merrill Lynch process, or benefit the shareholders of
the Company." said Ms. Charest.

"Notwithstanding that the Company has now chosen to take an adversarial
position in response to our claims against it, we remain committed to doing
everything we can to help the shareholders of the Company by working to find a
transaction that will be in the best interest of all the shareholders."

Other CINAR Stories:
CINAR Avoids Fraud Charges (scroll down to second story after clicking)
CINAR Signs Deal to Recover Money (scroll down to fourth story after clicking)
CINAR Fires It's Founders! (scroll down to second story after clicking)
Fired CINAR Founders Fight Back
CINAR Trading Suspended (scroll down to second story after clicking)
CINAR May Be Target of Acquisition Attempt
CINAR Discusses Investigation

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