Animation News II

Andromaton · **Andromaton**

HarperCollins' Perennial imprint will publish a new line of Simpsons books, the company said today. The Simpsons Library of Wisdom, which will launch in November with The Bart Book and The Homer Book, will explore the human condition and the meaning of life through the eyes of the show's characters.
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Even as DreamWorks Animation goes public and sees its share price rocket (previous story here), analysts wonder if the CGI-animation bubble is about to burst, CNN/Money reports.

David Mumpower of BoxOfficeProphets.com, for instance, notes that Ice Age made a bundle despite being widely panned by critics; once the novelty of the new animation technique wears off, will audiences flock to see poor films simply because they are made on a computer? Competition is getting stiff, too, with four CGI-animated films slated for release in 2005.

Andromaton · **Andromaton**

Revolution Studios and Wes Anderson will turn Roald Dahl's "The Fantastic Mr. Fox" into a stop-motion animated feature.

Anderson will write the script with Noah Baumbach, his partner on "The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou." Anderson also will direct. It is the first animated pic for him and for Revolution.

The book tells the story of a crafty fox who finds himself and his family targeted for death by the three dumb, plug-ugly farmers who tire of sharing their chickens with the critter.

Pic will be distributed by Sony.

The film is a departure for Anderson, who is known for smart, eclectic comedies like "Rushmore" and "The Royal Tenenbaums."

When he ran Disney, Revolution Studios chief Joe Roth brought Anderson in to do both of those films; he felt Anderson's sensibilities would work well in the animation arena. Though Roth is a member of the Pixar board, he hadn't expected to enter that business.

Anderson came to Roth with the idea, and through his UTA reps, has already acquired the rights from the estate of Dahl, whose "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," "The BFG" and others are being adapted for the screen.

Andromaton · **Andromaton**

Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman are negotiating to join the voice cast of Aardman Animation's Flushed Away, Sky.com reports, citing Screen Daily. Kidman would play a street-smart rodent named Rita, while Jackman would play the lead character, a pampered penthouse rat who is accidentally flushed into the London sewers.

Sir Ian McKellan and Andy Serkis are already lined up to appear in the picture.
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Walt Disney is trying to block a shareholder proposal that would allow dissidents to nominate directors to the company's board, today's print edition of The Wall Street Journal reports. Disney has told the Securities and Exchange Commission that it will exclude the shareholder resolution from its 2005 ballot, saying that it does not comport with SEC requirements.

Andromaton · **Andromaton**

Steve Forbes on the electing Eisners replacement:

Walt Disney is now searching for a successor to CEO Michael Eisner, and its directors couldn't do better than to go all out to tap Steve Jobs, cofounder and CEO of Apple Computer and CEO of Pixar. Jobs knows high tech, Hollywood and finances as few Hollywood moguls do, and he knows the critical importance of creativity. Jobs' understanding of technology would be crucial. The music industry hurt itself for years by making it impossible to download music legally off the Web. Apple's iTunes service was the right response. Jobs understands that when we get true broadband in this country, the Internet will radically change radio and TV broadcasting, just as it's already changing telephony and the distribution of music and videos.

What about Apple Computer? Despite last summer's cancer surgery (a success), Jobs remains enormously creative and energetic. He could still head Disney and be, as he is now, Apple's guiding spirit. Walt Disney himself was an artistic genius. The Disney company needs that kind of vision again. Steve Jobs can provide it.

Zechs · **Zechs**

Yes...I'm sure. Disney's gonna have to suffer through having all it's probably converted to Apple in some way. It's gonna be funny to see Space Mountain crash every 30 seconds for no obvious reason.
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Bang.

Andromaton · **Andromaton**

Jerry Beck says it best:

I haven't liked what I've seen so far on THE POLAR EXPRESS, but I'm willing to give Robert Zemeckis and Tom Hanks the benefit of the doubt - for now. However, the hype machine is getting on my nerves. Like this quote from director Zemeckis:

“I think when you see the movie, you’ll realize it’s absolutely nothing like an animated movie,�? Zemeckis said. “You’ll see such subtlety in the performance of these characters that you would have to have the genius-of-all-genius animators. In my opinion, there’s no animation in the world that could have created it.�?

Is he kidding?

It's motion capture - the CG equivilent of the rotoscope. This quote is not unlike the B.S. hype that surrounded Bakshi's LORD OF THE RINGS in '79. Wait'll Zemeckis sees THE INCREDIBLES. And Hanks (aka Woody) should know better.

This blurb cost Polar Express any chance of seeing my money, even on DVD. If I am going to see it, it will be of somebody elses moneys.

Andromaton · **Andromaton**

A one-hour preview of W.I.T.C.H. will be airing on ABC Kids on Saturday, December 18, at 12:00 pm ET/11:00 am CT & PT. The preview will then be shown on Jetix on ABC Family on Sunday, December 19, at 9:30 am, and then on Jetix on Toon Disney the same day at 8:00 pm ET/PT.

here's what toonzone has about the show

Andromaton · **Andromaton**

Warner Bros. will release The Polar Express: An IMAX 3D Experience in 70 IMAX theaters on November 10, the studio said today. Warner says it is the first full-length feature to be converted into IMAX 3D.
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Visitors to the official Chuck Jones website have cast more than a million votes for Daffy for President, the site says. The publicity stunt is timed to coincide with both the U.S. presidential elections and the upcoming release of volume two of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection.

http://www.chuckjones.com/entry.html

Andromaton · **Andromaton**

Cartoon Network, the number one kids™ channel of India, ushers in the festive season with special programming extravaganzas celebrating both Diwali and Children™s Day by launching five brand new animated series and a host of other popular shows and movies.

Adding more magic and sparkle to Diwali is the programming bonanza, "Gili Gili Pasha Diwali Tamasha", which includes the Indian Television Premiers of two exciting new series Jungle Tales, which is also the eighth locally produced animation on Cartoon Network and the hit animated show Sabrina - The Animated Series on 6 November at 2:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. respectively. Spicing up this year™s Children™s Day, Cartoon Network presents another programming treat â€“ "100% Desi Toons" “which will showcase back-to-back episodes of popular Indian animations such as, The Adventures Of Tenali Raman, The Adventures Of Chhota Birbal, amongst others.

The festive season also marks the Premiers of three brand new internationally acclaimed animated series for young kids on 1 November called Postman Pat, Little Red Tractor, and Maisy.

"Gili Gili Pasha Diwali Tamasha" excitement begins from November 6thâ€“12th, and as part of the programming block, the Network will showcase new programmes and animated movies from 2:00-4:00 p.m. daily, and Â on Diwali, the fun will continue till 6:00 p.m. The block will premiere Jungle Tales and Sabrina - The Animated Series, and in addition, will also showcase, popular animated movies such as Tin Tin & the Calculus Affair, Batman & Mr. Freeze: Subzero, Barbie and Rapunzel, Tom & Jerry: The Magic Ring, The Scarecrow, Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island. Another Cartoon Network treat includes, the spectacular full-length animated film, Ramayan â€“ The Legend of Prince Ram, to be aired on Diwali at 3:00 p.m.

Moving forward, kids can enjoy Children™s Day with "100% Desi Toons" by tuning in to the exclusive 12-hour programming marathon on November 14 from 8:00 am - 8:00 p.m., featuring their favourite Indian toon characters including, Jungle Tales, The Adventures of Tenali Raman, and The Adventures of Chhota Birbal.

Andromaton · **Andromaton**

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Three months after suing The Walt Disney Co. (DIS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) in a dispute over royalties, Marvel Enterprises Inc. (MVL.N: Quote, Profile, Research) wants to strip the Magic Kingdom of its licensing deals for lucrative Marvel superheroes.

In a new lawsuit filed on Friday in Los Angeles federal court, Marvel asks a judge to declare that Disney never legally assumed copyrights to Marvel characters when it bought the original licensee, Fox Family Worldwide, in 2001.

Marvel had longstanding agreements with Fox and other producers to make animated programming starring Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, X-Men and other superheroes for the cable network, Marvel's attorney Carole Handler said.

Marvel sued Disney in Los Angeles Superior Court in July, claiming Disney's ABC Family group of channels shortchanged it by about $55 million on royalty payments for the "Spider-Man," "The Incredible Hulk," and "X-Men" animated series.

Handler said the federal lawsuit was spurred by research done for the earlier suit, which showed that Marvel had never consented to Disney assuming the licensing pacts from Fox.

"As we got further into the analysis of the underlying agreements with respect to first lawsuit, the more apparent it became that Disney never properly got the rights in the first place," Handler said.

A Disney spokesman said the company had not seen the lawsuit and had no comment.

Marvel officials said they became concerned after receiving 2002 profit participation statements accompanied by a form letter informing them that the series were not making money, and were not expected to make money, the lawsuit said.

Both lawsuits say Disney has refused to open its books to Marvel accountants, concealed profits and failed to properly exploit the characters.

Andromaton · **Andromaton**

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Broadcaster NBC has pulled "Father of the Pride," its expensive foray into computer-animated prime-time comedy, off its schedule for the key November "sweeps" ratings period, the network said.

The move came just days after "Pride" creator DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. launched a successful initial public offering on the strength of such big-screen animated properties as its "Shrek" franchise.

But for all the commercial gains DreamWorks has had with "Shrek," the much-hyped "Pride" has not fared as well. For the fall season through Oct. 24, the new comedy series about a frisky family of talking lions in Siegfried & Roy's famed Las Vegas act ranks 42nd in household ratings.

Of 13 episodes initially ordered by the network, seven have aired. An NBC spokeswoman said the show would return to the network's lineup after sweeps, though she did not pinpoint a date. Voice work has been done for all 13 episodes, though some animation is yet to be completed on a couple of episodes.

The show cost a reported $1.6 million per episode to produce. But some critics have questioned whether its ribald sense of humor, described by the network as "edgy," was tame enough for kids to watch with their parents or sophisticated enough for adults to enjoy on their own.

Networks traditionally roll out their best programming in November and two other monthlong "sweeps" periods each year to boost ratings, which in turn are used to set local advertising rates. The networks also tend to pull weaker shows off their schedules during sweeps.

The move comes amid admissions by network executives that NBC has struggled this season, with ratings for its target audience of viewers aged 18 to 49 on the decline following years of dominance in that demographic.

"We've gotten spanked," Jeff Zucker, president of the NBC Universal Television Group, told the Los Angeles Times this week, pointing to new hits on ABC and CBS.

Andromaton · **Andromaton**

The 90-minute CG movie X and I will be produced at the Bangalore-based Paprikaas Animation Studios (Pas) under the direction of Stanislao Pasqualini, an Italian director who has handled action movies. According to Pas president Srini R. Raghavan, the movie would be a major milestone for the nascent Indian animation industry. “We are doing the complete movie and not pieces and parts. It’s a serious film as opposed to cartoons. It’s about X, a sheep, humans and fleas that live off sheep. It is being produced for a premier studio in Europe, but I cannot disclose the name now. We will have the movie ready for release by October 2005,�? he said. At a news conference earlier, Raghavan had said the project would have cost anywhere between $15-20 million if it were to be produced elsewhere. “We are producing it in India at 50 to 60 per cent of the cost.�? The company’s 120-odd animation specialists are spread over three centres — Bangalore, Borgomanero, Italy, and Coraopolis (Pennsylvania) in the US.

Andromaton · **Andromaton**

A teaser trailer for what likely will be the final Disney/Pixar computer-animated comedy will be featured before their latest collaboration, The Incredibles, opening Friday. Hoping to parlay the public's growing appetite for auto racing, Cars features the voices of track aficionado Paul Newman, who continues to compete at age 79, and NASCAR great Richard Petty. Cars isn't due in theaters until November 2005, and production won't finish until next summer. The movie centers on speed-obsessed race car Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson), who gets lost on his way to the track. He lands in Radiator Springs, a downtrodden town off fabled Route 66 that has been bypassed by the interstate. There, he learns about what really matters from the cars of the 1950s and '60s.

Andromaton · **Andromaton**

CNN is reporting that NBC is about to quietly cancel Dreamworks' FATHER OF THE PRIDE, the pricey and apparently lousy (I haven't seen it) animated series about Sigfried and Roy's lions.

Why did I never get around to watching the show? In part because just about every animation fan I respect who saw it was revulsed by it. But subconsciously, I think, I was also put off by the Sigfried and Roy angle--there was just something wrong about animated, cuddly S&R animals showing up so soon after poor Roy's unfortunate incident. I'll bet that a goodly percentage of America felt the same way.

Anyhow, yet another prime-time animated series has failed. Looks like bad computer animation is no more of a surefire thing than bad hand-drawn animation. Who knew?

Andromaton · **Andromaton**

Aubry Mintz of the Laguna College of Art & Design writes:

I am the chair of an Animation Program in Laguna Beach CA. We are running a great show for our students but have enough seats to open it up to the public. This is totally free and a great opportunity to honor Chuck Jones and meet and listen to some animation veterans.

Laguna College of Art and Design will be hosting a very exiting event Saturday Nov 20th. We are fortunate to be able to showcase a collection from the archives of the Chuck Jones Foundation in our school gallery. We will be showing the development of Chucks work from though process to creation of his characters and fine art. Also we are honored to have Animation director (Looney Tunes Back in Action, Pochahontas) and good friend of Chuck's, Eric Goldberg visiting. We have rented out an old movie theatre in Laguna and Eric will be screeing some of Chuck's rare films and dissecting the work frame by frame.

Also that evening there will be the gallery opening and industry meet and greet from 7-9 at the college.

For more info & directions go to www.lagunacollege.edu


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