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Ramin Zahed

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Articles by Ramin Zahed

Huang’s NVISION Keynote Explores Visual Computing Ecosystem

August 26, 2008 – Jen-Hsun Huang, the charismatic co-founder, president and CEO Of NVIDIA, kicked off the three-day NVISION 08 conference with an entertaining and informative keynote speech at t...

Stan Winston’s Legacy Celebrated at SIGGRAPH

August 14, 2008 – Hundreds of fans of the late special effects legend Stan Winston filled the house at the Nokia Theater in downtown Los Angeles to pay tribute to his life and achievements last night. Part of SIGGRA...

Telltale Readies Wallace & Gromit Games

July 28, 2008 – The folks at Telltale Games and Aardman Animation have just released a cinematic teaser trailer, character renders and concept art for the upcoming episodic Wallace and Gromit’s Grand Adventures...

Aqua Teen Hunger Force Flirts with Live Action

July 28, 2008 – What would Comic-Con be without the devoted animation fans who love dressing up as their favorite characters? The folks at Cartoon Network sent us a picture of four avid fans of Aqua Teen Hunger...

Miyazaki’s Ponyo Swimming with Raves

July 21, 2008 – While audiences in many territories flocked to see Chris Nolan’s Batman epic this past weekend, family moviegoers in Japan lined up to experience Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, (Gake no U...

Totoro Inspires Charity Auction and Exhibit

July 14, 2008 – It’s been 20 years since Hayao Miyazaki introduced the world to his loveable forest spirit in the acclaimed animated feature My Neighbor Totoro. This summer, the popular classic has inspired...

Thurop Van Orman, Creator
Cartoon Network’s The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack

July 07, 2008 – Thurop Van Orman’s beautifully animated and quirky toon, The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, has developed a nice following since it debuted on Cartoon Network’s Thursday night comedy l...

S4 Studios Unleashes Fraidy Cat

July 02, 2008 – Hollywood-based S4 Studios has completed Fraidy Cat, a Flash-animated short written by Larry Le Francis and directed by Geoffrey Kater. The first in a series of “horror” shorts produced by t...

Get Your SIGGRAPH On!

July 01, 2008 – By all accounts, next month’s SIGGRAPH confab (held at the Los Angeles Convention Center and Nokia Theater) is expected to offer some of most exciting CG animation and vfx-related panels, screening...

Moonscoop and DQ Form 5-Year Alliance

June 27, 2008 – A new five-year alliance has been formed between India's DQ Entertainment and France's Moonscoop Group. This new partnership, which includes five animated series and two feature co-productions is e...

Stan Winston Tribute Added to SIGGRAPH

June 25, 2008 – A tribute to the late special effects master Stan Winston, a special conversation between Disney/Pixar’s chief creative officer John Lasseter and Oscar-winning 2D animator Frederic Back and a sneak...

American Greetings Fights for Strawberry Shortcake Rights

June 23, 2008 – Who knew Strawberry Shortcake could be such a little troublemaker? According to a story in The Los Angeles Times, Cleveland-based American Greetings, which owns the rights to the famous ’80s...

Mike Young’s Toon Aids China’s Earthquake Victims

June 19, 2008 – Proceeds from a special screening of Mike Young Productions and Global Digital Creations’ Happy Little Submarines feature will be used to build new schools in earthquake-affected areas on Ch...

Pitch Party 2008 Voting Underway

June 18, 2008 – Animation Magazine’s 7th Annual Pitch Party is on and you can now click here: www.animationmagazine.net/pi...

SIGGRAPH Asia Festival Deadline Approaches

June 17, 2008 – The SIGGRAPH Asia 2008 Computer Animation Festival is open for submissions and is seeking innovative and provocative works from all around the world. The SIGGRAPH Asia event will take place Dec. 10...

Paley, Plympton Nab Annecy Palmares Prizes

June 16, 2008 – The 32nd edition of the Annecy Int’l Animation Festival proved to be the year of the New York indie animators as Nina Paley's Flash-animated feature Sita Sings the Blues won the top prize fo...

Hulk, Happening Outperform Predictions

June 16, 2008 – Friday the 13th proved to be a lucky date for Marvel and Universal as their reboot of The Incredible Hulk brought in an estimated $54.5 million domestically over the weekend. Playing in 3,50...

Russian World Studios Launches Toon Division

June 16, 2008 – A full-length feature based the fairy tale Konyok Gorbunok will be the first project of Russian World Studios' newly launched animation arm. Variety reports that the Russian studio wi...

Exodus and Sparx Team Up for Bunyan

June 16, 2008 – L.A.-based Exodus Film Group will team up with Paris-based Sparx Animation Studios to deliver its upcoming feature Bunyan & Babe. According to Variety, Sparx will begin work on the fe...

Daytime Emmys Drawn to Toons

June 16, 2008 – Emmy loves animation—at least the Creative Arts Daytime Emmys did this past Friday (June 13) as many of our favorite animated shows received the coveted prize. PBS, Nick Jr., Disney Channel, Kids'...

Nicktoons Hungry for Three Delivery

June 16, 2008 – Animation Collective's sizzling new toon, Three Delivery, will be served up by Nicktoons on June 27. An awesome mix of martial arts, high-speed bike races, paranormal mysteries and Chinese ...

L.A.'s Nuart Screens Animation Show Volume 4

June 13, 2008 – The Fourth edition of The Animation Show, the hip collection of contemporary shorts curated by Mike Judge makes it Los Angeles debut at the Nuart theater today.(Judge's former partner in cri...

DIC Pinches Penny Brite

June 11, 2008 – After hitting the jackpot with classic girl brands such as Strawberry Shortcake, Eloise and Horseland, DIC Entertainment is now eyeing Charisma Brands’ wholesome retro line, Penny Brite. DIC’s exec...

Boondocks 2, Fantastic 4 Discs Land Today

June 10, 2008 – As most students begin their countdown to the end of the school year, two hot DVD releases hit stores today. Fans of Aaron McGruder’s edgy and trend-setting comic The Boondocks can let forwa...

Hot Pitch Party Tips from Last Year’s Winner!

June 10, 2008 – One of the most frequent questions we get around this time of the year is what has happened to previous winners of our Pitch Party contest. We caught up with Brian Smith and the team at Toronto’s E...

Sam Register joins WB Animation

June 09, 2008 – Cartoon Network veteran Sam Register has joined Warner Bros. Animation as exec VP of creative affairs. The Hollywood Reporter says he will be in charge of running the day-to-day operations o...

Tinker Bell DVD to Fly in October

June 09, 2008 – It’s been 55 years since Tinker Bell made her animated debut in the popular Disney feature Peter Pan. The single-minded fairy will be the star of her own CG-animated adventure on October 28,...

Monster Buster Club Open for Business on Jetix

June 07, 2008 – U.S. audiences will finally meet Marathon Media’s CG-animated series Monster Buster Club when it premieres this Monday (June 9) at 7 p.m. on Toon Disney’s Jetix block. With an estimated budg...

Kung Fu Panda Kicks Way into Theaters Today

June 06, 2008 – After many months of anticipation and online fan pro and con debates, DreamWorks Animation’s visually arresting Kung Fu Panda delivers the goods in theaters across the country today. Release...

Vanguard and Platinum Get Graphic

June 06, 2008 – Vanguard Animation has joined forces with Platinum Studios to form Vanguard Comics, a new imprint designed to develop properties that can be introduced both as graphic novels/comic books and featur...

BRB’s Imp Begins Mischief in France

June 06, 2008 – French TV Canal+ will begin airing BRB Internacional’s award-winning new series The Imp on a daily basis today. Co-produced by Red Kite Animation, Screen 21 and TVC, the 65-part High-Def com...

Toon Boom Sharpens Pencil Check Pro

June 06, 2008 – Toon Boom has launched a new flexible line-testing software called Toon Boom Pencil Check Pro. The new tool completes the animation pipeline by offering a wide array of capture options, an efficien...

Sex’s Cattrall Hot for Producing Parker

June 05, 2008 – Forget about her role as Samantha in Sex and the City. Actress Kim Cattrall’s next big role will be on Breakthrough Animation’s hot new show Producing Partner. Slated for a spring 200...

It’s a Strawberry Shortcake World After All

June 05, 2008 – DIC Entertainment has closed a slate of broadcast deals for many of its hit animated shows in Europe, Middle East and Africa. High on the list of money generators are the company’s evergreen girls’...

WALL•E Clips Debut on AniMagTV

June 05, 2008 – As Disney and Pixar gear up to release their eagerly awaited new animated feature film, we’re bringing you some behind-the-scenes featurettes, as well as the high-resolution trailer for WALL•E

TV-Loonland’s Owl Wise About Toy Deals

June 05, 2008 – Kids in the U.K. will be able to get their hands on a new plush toy based on TV-Loonland’s pink animated character, The Owl. Toy outfit Vivid Imagination has signed a deal to produced a range of pl...

Flapjack Sets Sail on Cartoon Network Tonight

June 05, 2008 – If you’re in the mood for a beautifully designed and animated new show that doesn’t insult the intelligence and makes you smile, you’ll have to check out the new Cartoon Network series The Marve...

Indie Animator PES

June 05, 2008 – This month, Paramount Home Entertainment released the third edition of Mike Judge and Don Hertzfeldt’s anthology series The Animation Show on DVD which features shorts such as Run Wrake’s...

TeamTO Spreads Wings with Hareport

June 03, 2008 – Paris-based animation studio TeamTO has joined forces with Folimage, La Poudriere and L’Equipe to launch a new production entity called La Cartoucherie, based in Bourg-Les-Valence, in the Drome reg...

CMG Bets on SHAX’s Louis La Chance

May 15, 2008 – Cinema Management Group is putting good money down on a new CG-animated feature about the Monaco Grand Prix. The international sales outfit signed worldwide sales rights to Louis La Chance, ...

Kahani World Makes A Splash in Cannes

May 15, 2008 – Indian production entities are creating a huge presence at this week’s international film market in Cannes. According to recent figures released by the country’s National Assoc. of Software and Ser...

Toei Preps Six Different Kitaro Movies

May 14, 2008 – Fans of the popular otherworldly Japanese series Kitaro will have six reasons to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the property next year. According to Daily Variety, a new animated f...

Animation Magazine's featured School of the Month:
The DAVE School

May 13, 2008 – As anyone who attended the recent NAB confab in Las Vegas can tell you, the growth of stereoscopic 3-D technologies is having a huge impact on the entertainment and animation business. That’s why O...

Strong Buzz for Oshi’s Sky Crawlers

May 08, 2008 – Mamoru Oshi’s new anime feature The Sky Crawlers (Sukai Kurora) is expected to generate a lot of interest at the Cannes Film market this month (May 14-25) according to insiders. The n...

Ottawa Festival Deadline Only 3 Weeks Away

May 08, 2008 – If you plan to get your animated projects considered by the prestigious Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF), you have about three weeks left to make the June 1, 2008 entry deadline.

...

New Speed Racer and Avatar: Book 3 DVDs Roll Out Today

May 07, 2008 – Riding the wave of publicity building up to this Friday’s release of the Wachowski brothers’ live-action Speed Racer, Lionsgate is releasing Speed Racer the Next Generation: The Beginning...

Henson’s Sid the Science Kid to Debut on Labor Day

May 06, 2008 – The Jim Henson Company announced recently that it’s deep in production of the new digital puppet-animated series Sid the Science Kid. Produced with Los Angeles PBS station, KCET, the 40 half...

Daytime Emmys Show Love for Toons

May 01, 2008 – The nominating committee for the 35th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards did a fine job of spreading the wealth among animated contenders yesterday. PBS, Disney Channel, Discovery Kids, Nickelodeon, Nick J...

Buster Animates Sweet Mrs. Butterworth

April 25, 2008 – L.A-based conceptual design studio Buster has created two new animated ads featuring classic syrup matriarch, Mrs. Butterworth. Buster’s new 2008 version of the toon spokeswoman stars in an ad for ...

GDH’s Online Anime Hennako-chan Premieres Today

April 25, 2008 – Anime fans can look for a new series about an elementary schoolgirl with special telekinetic powers online today. Based on a popular manga by Fujio Akatsuka, the new adaptation is titled Hennako...

Diego Shrinks for Nick’s Bug Week

April 24, 2008 – Kids will be extra careful not to step on a new mini-sized version of Diego during Nick Jr.’s special bug-themed week, beginning May 12. The bi-lingual preschool star will shrink to bug size in a n...

Ubisoft Looks East to Beef Up Staff

April 24, 2008 – French gaming publisher Ubisoft is looking to add 900 new employees to its business in the next 12 months. With emphasis on growing its new studios in Singapore, India and China, the gaming powerho...

Sedelmaier Goes Back to Future with Jetsons Ad

April 24, 2008 – The Jetsons, Hanna Barbera’s beloved family of the future are having a healthy second career as TV ad spokespeople. You can catch Geroge Jetson, wife Jane, Rosie the Robot and family dog Astro in a...

Black Maria Introduces Hot Latina Toon

April 24, 2008 – Spain’s animation studio Black Maria is shopping Yenny, a new teen-targeting series about a beautiful 22-year-old aspiring model who has one minor flaw—she has huge feet. The 26 x 11 High-De...

H2V Media Sees Future in Astrology.com

April 24, 2008 – Canada-based H2V Media announced last week that it’s partnering with Astrology.com for the distribution of H2V’s mixed media documentary series Astro 12: The Collection & Other Esoteric Traditio...

Kung Fu Panda, Indy 4 to Bow in Cannes

April 23, 2008 – DreamWorks Animation’s upcoming feature Kung Fu Panda is set to make its worldwide premiere at the 61st edition of the Cannes Film Festival (May 14-25). In recent years, the glamorous Cannes...

Gumby, Wonder Pets Sing on DVD Tuesday

April 23, 2008 – Gumby, The Wonder Pets and Oban Star Racers are three of the animated stars making a splash on DVD today.

Art Clokey’s popular 1950s claymated hero appears in the new DVD release of the 1995 fea...

Animag Goes Green on Earth Day!

April 23, 2008 – In honor of Earth Day, we want to do our part in saving the planet. That’s why we’re offering a special one-time subscription price to the digital version of Animation Magazine—a whole year ...

VIZ’s Bleach Movie to Splash on 300 Screens

April 23, 2008 – He sees dead people. That’s Kurosaki Ichigo, the young hero of the hit anime series Bleach, created by manga artist Tite Kubo, which first began airing in Japan in 2004 and was picked up by ...

Baby Ball Bounces Into the World

April 23, 2008 – We're happy to report that Animation Magazine's talented and hard-working web and gaming editor Ryan Ball and his wife Jamie are the proud parents of a healthy baby boy today. Atticus Walker Ball w...

VFX Star Knoll Interviewed on modo Podcast

April 22, 2008 – Oscar-winning visual effects guru John Knoll (Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, Speed Racer) shares the secrets of his career with Luxology president Brad Peebler in a special podcast...

Lasseter Shines at UCLA’s Dumbo Screening

April 22, 2008 – CG animation pioneer and Oscar-winning director John Lasseter proved to be a huge hit at UCLA Film & TV Archive’s “The Movie That Inspired Me” event Monday night at the Billy Wilder Theater in West...

Ben 10: Alien Force Shatters Earthly Records

April 22, 2008 – Cartoon Network’s recent facelift and aging of Ben Tennyson, the star of the animated series Ben 10 proved to be a rating bonanza for the cabler. Ben 10: Alien Force’s Friday night sh...

Cloverfield DVD Attacks Stores Today

April 22, 2008 – If you missed director Matt Reeves’ low-budget 350-foot monster movie Cloverfield in theaters last January, you can enjoy the nausea-inducing hand-held camera stylings at home thanks to the ...

Porchlight’s Four Eyes to Blink on CiTV

April 21, 2008 – U.K.’s children’s digital channel CiTV has acquired L.A.-based PorchLight Entertainment and French Pictor Media’s 2D animated series Four Eyes. The 26 x 30 toon follows the offbeat adventure...

DIC Hits Right Notes with Online Music Service

March 31, 2008 – DIC Ent. is expanding its empire with a new online production music business called Cuetunes (www.cuetunes.com). The new site, which debuted this month, offers quality, cost-effect production music...

FICCI Frames Focuses on Original Indian Toons

March 27, 2008 – This week’s well-attended FICCI-Frames confab in Mumbai (March 25-27) offered several animation and vfx-related panels exploring the growth of the industry in the region. Some of the top Indian stu...

Annecy Unveils Eclectic ’08 Lineup

March 24, 2008 – The organizers of the prestigious Annecy International Animated Film Festival have announced the lineup for this year’s edition (June 9-14). This year, 1,866 projects were submitted to the world-fa...

Z Animation Lays 2D Tiles

March 21, 2008 – The creative team at New York- and L.A.-based studio Z Animation recently wrapped a new 30-second traditionally animated spot for Bella Casa, one of India’s top tile, bath and kitchen retailers. Di...

Britney Blows Her Head Off on South Park

March 21, 2008 – The career of everyone’s favorite troubled pop star, Britney Spears, has been getting a much-needed shot in the arm thanks to animation this week. A couple of weeks ago, Spears debuted her new anim...

Persepolis Nabs Another Prize at Cartoon Movie

March 07, 2008 – Although they lost the Oscar to Brad Bird and Ratatouille, Persepolis directors Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud won the Award for Best European Director of the Year at this week...

48 Euro Pics Bow at Cartoon Movie

February 28, 2008 – If you happen to be in Germany next week and would like to take a sneak peek of what the European animated feature film community has to offer, you should definitely check out the tenth edition of ...

Pirates Helmer to Navigate First Animated Pic

February 27, 2008 – Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski is getting ready to follow up his CG-laden phantom swashbucklers with a fully animated feature, according to The Hollywood Reporter. O...

Evangelion 1.0 Nabs Tokyo Fair Top Honor

February 26, 2008 – Evangelion 1.0: You are (Not) Alone has been given the Animation of the Year Award by the organizers of this year’s Tokyo International Fair (TAF). Directed by Hideaki Anno, Masayuki and Kaz...

Replacements Ready for Sophomore Season

February 22, 2008 – Disney Channel will launch the second season of its popular animated series The Replacements on Monday, March 10. Created by children's author and illustrator Dan Santat (The Guild of Gen...

China Extends Ban on SpongeBob

February 22, 2008 – Just when it seemed that the Chinese regulators were going to warm up a little to Western shows, the country's State Administration of Radio, Film and TV (SARFT) is cracking down harder on imported...

And Your Oscar Winners Are...

February 22, 2008 – Just in time of the real Academy Awards ceremony, which takes place this Sunday (check them out on ABC at 5 p.m.), we've tallied your votes for your favorites in the Best Animated Feature, Best Ani...

Animag Book Signing in Big Apple

February 21, 2008 – Last week, Animation Magazine hosted a party in celebration of our 20th anniversary retrospective art book at New York City’s very cool Animazing Gallery. We were fortunate enough to have se...

Tyler Perry a.k.a. Madea Talks Toons

February 21, 2008 – Tyler Perry, the man behind such surprise box-office hits as Madea’s Family Reunion and Diary of a Mad Black Woman is getting into the animation business. Helping him bring his unique...

DUCK Swims with Hoop

February 20, 2008 – LA.-based indie studio DUCK recently wrapped the innovative partially animated music video for rising star Jesca Hoop’s second single “Money.” Directed by Richard Borge and produced by Mark Mederna...

Big Bad Boo Ready for Business in Vancouver

February 20, 2008 – A new Vancouver-based toon house founded by husband-and-wife team of Aly Jetha and Shabnam Rezaei, officially opened its doors in January. Located in the city’s historic Yaletown district, the stud...

First Smurfs Movie Images Leaked

February 20, 2008 – The Internet was humming yesterday with news about little sky-blue guys known as the Smurfs—or Les Schtroumpfs as they’re called in French. It all started when French network France 3 offere...

Famed Poster Artist John Alvin Dies at 59

February 11, 2008 – John Alvin, the creator of famous movie posters for popular films such as E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King, passed away on Wednesday from a h...

Ratatouille Cooks 10-Course Annie Sweep

February 09, 2008 – It wasn’t exactly a big surprise when Brad Bird’s much-loved feature Ratatouille delivered a sweet ten-trophy sweep at the 35th Annual Annie Awards held Friday evening at UCLA’s Royce Hall i...

Christy Hui, From Martial Arts to Nature Princesses

September 27, 2007 – Four years ago, Christy Hui shook up the Saturday morning landscape with her trend-setting animated hit Xiaolin Showdown, which generated a huge fan base when aired on Kids’ WB! and Cartoon ...

Persepolis, Golden Age Nab Grand Prizes at Ottawa

September 24, 2007 – Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Parronaud’s black-and-white animated feature Persepolis, Koji Yamamura’s short Franz Kafka’s A Country Doctor and Aaron Augenblick’s Golden Age were...

ASIFA-Hollyood Now Accepting Annie Noms

September 24, 2007 – There are still three more months left in 2007, but the hard-working folks at ASIFA-Hollywood have already begun accepting nominations online for the 35th Annual Annie Awards. If you’d like your wo...

Spain’s Filmax launches Online Store

September 24, 2007 – Spanish mini-major Filmax Ent. will launch an online megastore to sell films and music worldwide, according to Variety. The studio behind such animated features such as Nocturna, T...

Two Versions of Softimage|XSI 6.5 Release Hit Market Today

September 24, 2007 – Two new software packages from the Softimage family are available to CG artists this week. The Montreal-based company—a subsidiary of Avid Tech.—has announced the release of Softimage|XSI® 6.5 Esse...

Milla Fights More Zombies in Resident Evil: Extinction

September 21, 2007 – If flesh-eating zombies, post-apocalyptic scenarios and a butt-kicking Milla Jovovich rock your boat, then you’ll find yourself drawn to Sony’s third Resident Evil chapter, opening nationwid...

Paul Dini’s the Man for Gatchaman

September 21, 2007 – Warner Bros. Animation veteran Paul Dini—whose amazing credits include Batman: the Animated Series, Superman, Batman Beyond, Duck Dodgers and the ABC series Lost—...

Weinsteins, Exodus Seal the Deal

September 21, 2007 – The Weinstein Company and Exodus Film Group announced that the first movie developed under their CG-animated co-production deal wiill be Navy Seals, a family comedy/adventure about a team of...

TOKYOPOP Polishes More Dark Crystal Mangas

September 21, 2007 – If you were one of those die-hard Dark Crystal fans who couldn’t wait to get their hands on the 25th anniversary DVD a couple of weeks ago, you’d be happy to hear about more tie-in plans fo...

Edgar & Ellen Scare Up New Viewers on Nicktoons

September 20, 2007 – Star Farms’ popular pranksters Edgar & Ellen are ready for their ghoulish close-ups on Nicktoons this fall. The mischievous twins get two special back-to-back premiere episodes on Oct. 7 at 8 p.m. ...

Fllickerlab Supercharged for Colbert’s Tek Jansen

September 20, 2007 – New York-based Flickerlab Studios is helping bring Stephen Colbert’s animated hero Tek Jansen to animated life. The shop has animated the first of eight new Tek Jansen adventures that will be rolle...

Disney Channel Sneaks Phineas and Ferb Again!

September 20, 2007 – Audiences who missed the sneak preview of Disney Channel’s new animated series Phineas and Ferb a few weeks ago get another chance to sample the show on Friday, Sep. 28 at 10:45 p.m. The 2D ...

Academy Spotlights Canadian Women Animators

September 20, 2007 – Oscar nominees Janet Perlman, Caroline Leaf, Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis and Oscar winner Torill Kove will share the spotlight at a special evening decidated to “Canadian Women in Animation” at t...

Speed Racer Drives More Licensing Deals

September 20, 2007 – Since tomorrow (Sep. 21) is the official 40th anniversary of the classic anime series Speed Racer, we had to dig up some related news to share with you. The folks at Speed Racer Enterprises ...

France Picks Persepolis as Official Oscar Entry

September 19, 2007 – After receiving various festival honors around the world—including a special jury prize at Cannes—Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronanud’s black-and-white 2D animated feature Persepolis has b...

DreamWorks’ Monsters vs. Aliens Attacks
Earlier Than Planned

September 19, 2007 – Believe it or not, it’s not too soon to shuffle animated movie release dates for 2009. The latest example: DreamWorks Animation and Paramount announced today that their upcoming stereoscopic 3-D fe...

Animation Lab Ropes in Artists for Wild Bunch

September 19, 2007 – Irsael’s toon and new media studio Animation Lab has announced the addition of seven new artists and writers to the team assembled for its upcoming feature The Wild Bunch, which will be dire...

Academy Exhibits Wong’s Classic Bambi Art

September 19, 2007 – Fans of Tyus Wong, the renowned artist behind the amazing illustrations for Disney’s 1942 classic feature, Bambi, will get a chance to see his classic art on display at the new Academy of Mo...

TV-Loonland Plays with Nippon’s Penelope

September 19, 2007 – TV-Loonland has announced that it will be handling multi-territory distribution for Nippon Animation’s hot pre-school show Penelope today.

Based on the children’s book series written by ...

Luxology Unleashes Powers of modo 301

September 19, 2007 – Luxology has announced the arrival of the latest version of its 3D content creation software, modo 301. Available for both Mac OSX and Windows, modo 301 features new sculpting and item animation, a...

Dalch Is Drawn to Classic Media

September 19, 2007 – Lara Dalch has been tapped as Classic Media’s senior director of brand development and promotions, North America. She will oversee brand partnerships and promotions for the New York-based company’s...

Superman: Doomsday, Tweety DVDs Take Flight

September 18, 2007 – It’s a bird—and it’s Superman day at the DVD stores today as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment unleashes new releases featuring two of its most recognized characters.

Billed as the first PG-13 ani...

Laura’s Star Will Shine Again in Sequel

September 18, 2007 – Piet De Rycker and Thilo Rothkirch’s charming 2004 feature Laura’s Star will be getting a sequel, thanks to a $562,000 funding package from German organization Medienboard Berlin-Brandenberg...

Buster Gets Graphic with Tim Gunn

September 18, 2007 – Just when you thought Bravo celebrity host Tim Gunn couldn’t possibily get any more animated, the folks at L.A. design studio Buster wanted to let the world know that they are responsible for the n...

Zinkia Interactive Launches Kids’ Mobile TV Channel

September 18, 2007 – Spanish kids can’t get enough of Pocoyo. Created by Spanish house Zinkia and co-proudced with Granada International in association with Granada Kids and Cosgrove Hall, the CG-animated series is now...

Another Terrific Tuesday for TV Toons on DVD

September 18, 2007 – If you dig catching full seasons of your favorite animated shows on DVD, this is going to be one heck of a week for you. We’ve got new releases featuring Rocky and Bullwinkle, Family Guy...

The Mouse Courts George Lucas

August 31, 2007 – Animation insiders are reporting that Disney is in heavy courtship mode to get broadcast rights for George Lucas’ much anticipated CG-animated series Clone Wars. Jim Hill Media (www.jimhillm...

Disney TV Powers Up Asian Jetix VOD

August 31, 2007 – Kids in Singapore will have a new way of tuning in to Jetix popular toons such as W.I.T.C.H., Get Ed, Super Robot Monkey Team Hyper Force Go and A.T.O.M. Walt Disney TV...

Italy’s Virtuality Confab Announces Lineup

August 31, 2007 – The deadline for submissions for Turin, Italy’s Virtuality Conference is coming up fast. According to event organizers, you must submit paper, abstract, video or art material or enter material to b...

Xmas in August for Sony’s ChubbChubbs

August 06, 2007 – The aliens are back! The fuzzy, unpredictable CG-animated characters of Eric Armstrong’s Oscar-winning 2003 short are back for a new holiday romp titled The ChubbChubbs Save Xmas. Directed b...

Get Ready for Toon Boom Studio 4

August 01, 2007 – Montreal-based animation software solution powerhouse Toon Boom Animation has announced the arrival of its new Toon Boom Studio 4 package. The release is billed as an all-in-one software, offering ...

JoeCartoon Relaunches One-Stop Humor Site

August 01, 2007 – If you’re looking for ways to battle the mid-summer blahs, you may want to check out the new JoeCartoon.com website, which has just relaunched. Recently acquired by Endemol USA, the site offers an ...

Surf’s Up Catches Blu-Ray Wave This Fall

July 31, 2007 – Sony Pictures Home Entertainment revealed yesterday that it will bring its early summer CGI feature Surf’s Up to Blu-ray on October 9. The announced extras of the Blu-ray will include filmma...

Popeye the Sailor DVD Sets Sail Today

July 31, 2007 – Fans of a certain spinach-chomping sailor with oversized forearms will be stampeding to stores today as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment releases the long-awaited Popeye the Sailor: 1933-1938 Vol...

In the Small Gets Big-Screen Treatment

July 31, 2007 – The film rights to Michael Hague’s graphic novel In the Small have been snapped up by Warner Bros. and Akiva Goldsman’s Weed Road Pictures. According to Daily Variety, Hague’s Little,...

Izzard Takes Over as Igor’s Nemesis

July 31, 2007 – Move over, Ari Gold. Eddie Izzard’s in the lab. The trades announced recently that actor and comedian Eddie Izzard (The Riches, My Super Ex-Girlfriend) has replaced Jeremy Piven (E...

Happy 67th Birthday, Bugs!

July 27, 2007 – Everyone’s favorite carrot-chomping, wise-cracking rabbit is celebrating his 67th birthday today. Bugs Bunny first appeared in Tex Avery’s much-loved short, A Wild Hare, on July 27, 1940. In...

Depp Sinks His Teath in Dark Shadows Role

July 27, 2007 – Johnny Depp will be adding the role of famous bloodsucker Barnabas Collins to his growing list of oddball/creepy/crazy screen portrayals. Todays’ Daily Variety reports that Warner Bros. is j...

Sean Penn, Iggy Pop Join Persepolis Cast

July 13, 2007 – The English-language version of Marjane Satrapi’s 2D black-and-white movie Persepolis will feature the voices of Sean Penn and Iggy Pop, as well as previously announced Gena Rowlands, Cather...

FJORG! Animation Competition Debuts at SIGGRAPH ’07

July 13, 2007 – Get ready for a 32-hour live “Iron Animator” event planned for this year’s SIGGRAPH in San Diego. Sponsored by Siggraph, AMD, DreamWorks Animation and HP, this inaugural FJORG! Contest invites 15 c...

Neptuno, Character Farm Grow Katakune

July 13, 2007 – Spain’s Neptuno Films and Singapore’s Character Farm will join forces to distribute the 3D animated preshool toon Katakune. According to The Hollywood Reporter, this is the first deal...

Junction Point Becomes Mouse’s New Cheese

July 13, 2007 – Disney has bought Warren Spector’s Junction Point Studios in an effort to continue fortifying its game-publishing arm. Based in Austin, Texas, Junction Point will continue to create games based on ...

We Love Your Student Shorts!

July 05, 2007 – There's still time to enter Animation Magazine's Annual Student Reel Awards. Please send us your animated short (completed in 2006-2007 school year either on DVD or VHS or provide us with a downloa...

Pearce Sisters Takes Top Prize at Platform

July 02, 2007 – The Pearce Sisters, Luis Cook’s wickedly funny and macabre tale about two weather-lashed Sisters living in remote coastal town won the Grand Prix (as well as best Art Design Prize) at the in...

Powerpuff Girls, Pooh Hit the DVD Screens Today

June 19, 2007 – Fans of Craig McCracken's groundbreaking Cartoon Network series The Powerpuff Girls can check out the the complete first season of the show on a new DVD out in stores today. First introduced...

Cuppa Coffee Brews Fresh Bounty Hunter PSA

June 15, 2007 – Duane (Dog the Bounty Hunter) Chapman is the latest celebrity to become a stop-motion animated character, thanks to the folks at Canada’s Cuppa Coffee Studios. Dog is the star of his own animated P...

Stan Lee to Animate Sexy Paris Hilton Strip

June 14, 2007 – After bringing to life characters such as Spider-Man and The Incredible Hulk, comic-book legend Stan Lee will focus his attentions on current jailbird heiress Paris Hilton. The New York Daily Ne...

Art Institute Feels the Force with Star Wars Workshop

June 13, 2007 – VFX visionaries Phil Tippett and Ken Ralston will be on hand to share their knowledge with high school students at a special hands-on Star Wars vfx workshop at The Art Institute of California—Orang...

Art’s Desire, Mirage Tie for Academy’s Gold Medal

June 13, 2007 – The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences 34th Annual Student Academy Awards were recently handed out in Hollywood. Sarah Wickliffe’s Art’s Desire (New York University) and Youngwoong...

Lil' Bush Wreaks Havoc on Comedy Central

June 13, 2007 – As the real-life President Bush’s popularity ratings sink to all-time low, an animated kid-sized version of George W. gets ready for his close-up on Comedy Central tonight. Co-proudced by comedy wr...

Shanghai Festival Toons In

June 13, 2007 – Animation was the name of the game at this year’s Shanghai TV Festival, which opened this Monday. The 13th annual event runs through Friday at the Shanghai New Intl. Expo Center—in a format separat...

Pixar Hot for Senior Citizen Pic

June 12, 2007 – After focusing on a French rat this summer, and a lovable robot named Wall*E in 2008, the folks at Pixar will give us a movie about a 70-year-old man who fights various animals and villains in 2009...

Chiodo Bros. Craft Little Horrors for Born

June 12, 2007 – L.A.’s stop-motion masters the Chiodo Brothers will be working on a new psychological thriller about a claymation artist living in an idyllic English town. Titled Born, the movie will be pro...

Framestore CFC Mo-Caps with Movimento

June 12, 2007 – Noted CG and vfx house Framestore CFC will use REALVIZ Movimento for its jam-packed 2007-2008 production pipeline. REALVIZ Movimento is a state-of-the-art video-based motion capture solution, “powe...

Judson Tapped as New President of Warner Bros. Animation

June 12, 2007 – Veteran digital media and children’s TV exec Lisa Judson has been named as the new president of Warner Bros. Animation. Warner Bros. TV Group president Bruce Rosenblum, to whom Judson reports, made...

An $18 Million Weekend for Sony’s Surfing Penguins

June 11, 2007 – The animated penguins of Sony’s Surf’s Up caught a relatively mellow tide at the box office this weekend as the pic landed in at No. 4 with an estimated $18 million fro 3,528 theaters. Compe...

Spanish Tooth Fairy Sweetens TV Deal

June 11, 2007 – A Spanish mouse version of the Tooth Fairy will be getting its own animated TV show soon. Variety reports that The Hairy Tooth Fairy, Spain’s biggest box-office hit of the year, will ...

Monster Sails Away with Lifeboat Luke

June 11, 2007 – Monster Distributes has picked up an animated children’s series about a lifeboat and a magical seaside town . Targetting kids 4-7, the 52 x 5 show is called Lifeboat Luke and uses narration,...

Decode’s Urban Vermin Invades VOOM Animania

June 11, 2007 – Decode Ent.’s CG animated series about two fighting raccoon brothers is getting ready for its High Def close-up. The Canadian shop has announced that its series Urban Vermin will be featured on VOO...

Nelvana’s Grossology Ready for Licensing Splash

June 11, 2007 – Kids seem to have an endless appetite for gross-out humor. Judging from Canadian toon house Nelvana’s success with its new series Grossology, more fans will discover the appeal of Sylvia Bra...

Luxology’s modo 301 Says Bonjour

June 11, 2007 – San Francisco-based 3D creation software house Luxology announced today that it will use Bonjour technology from Apple to power its upcoming modo 301 release. Luxology will ship a comprehensive upg...

Sony Rides Penguin Wave with Surf’s Up

June 09, 2007 – DreamWorks’ green ogre and Disney’s ghoulish pirates will get some killer competition today in theaters in the shape of cute, CG-animated surfing penguins. Sony Pictures Animation’s sophomore effor...

Persepolis and TekkonKinkreet Get U.S. Dates

June 08, 2007 – Two well-received indie animated features have announced their U.S. opening dates. Michael Arias’ anime/CG hybrid hit Tekkonkinkreet will be distributed by Sony on July 13 in Los Angeles and...

Humanitas Toasts Three Kids’ Toons

June 08, 2007 – Congratulations are in order for the writers of three great children’s animated series which are up for the prestigious Humanitas Prize this year.

Nominated for the $25,000 Humanitas kudos in t...

Buddha Toon to Aid Thailand’s Poor

June 08, 2007 – Thailand’s MonoFilm will donate profits from the sales of its animated movie The Life of Buddha to charity, according to a recent Variety story. Produced by Wallapa Pimthong, the $5 m...

Vooz Goes Green with Myo & Ga

June 08, 2007 – Korean outfit Vooz, the creator of the popular Pucca character, will be spreading an environmental message with its new children’s animated series Myo & Ga. The new toon combines adventure a...

Win a Pair of Tickets to a Special Screening of Shrek the Third!

May 08, 2007 – DreamWorks Animation and ASIFA-Hollywood have kindly give us 50 tickets to special screenings of Shrek the Third on Tuesday, May 15 in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

If you are in Los A...

Winx Fairies Spread Movie Wings

May 03, 2007 – The fashion-conscious fairies of Rainbow’s Winx Club are ready for their big-screen close-up. It was announced this week that the Rome, Italy-based Rainbow is producing a CG-animated feature...

Ark, Dreammaker, En Tus Brazos Nab SIGGRAPH ’07 Honors

April 24, 2007 – Grzegorz Jonkajtys and Marcin Kobylecki’s CG-animated eye-popper Ark, Leszek Plichta’s Dreammaker and Supinfocom students Francois-Xavier Goby, Edouard Jouret and Matthieu Landour’s

Americanized Creature Comforts Premieres on CBS in June

April 19, 2007 – The U.S. version of Aardman’s acclaimed Creature Comforts series is finally set to make its debut on CBS Monday, June 4 at 8 p.m. Based on Nick Park’s 1989 Oscar-winning short, the half-hour...

Miereanu Gets Animated for Warner

April 16, 2007 – Warner Bros. Animation has tapped veteran entertainment and sports communications exec Gary Miereanu as director of publicity. Miereanu will oversee all publicity activities for WBA’s properties, i...

Ugly Duckling and Me! Helmers Win Cartoon Movie’s Top Prize

March 09, 2007 – Michael Hegner and Karsten Kiilerich were awarded Cartoon Movie´s Directors of the Year prize at the annual event held at Potsdam, Germany today (Friday, March 9). The duo received the honor for th...

Don Hertzfeldt
Acclaimed Indie Animator (Rejected, Meaning of Life, Everything Will Be OK)

February 27, 2007 – For the past 12 years, Santa Barbara, Calif.-based indie animator Don Hertzfeldt has created a series of inspiring, quirky hand-drawn shorts which have delighted toon lovers and festivalgoers all ...

VIZ Takes Bite out of Big Apple Comic-Con

February 26, 2007 – San Francisco-based manga and anime powerhouse VIZ Media had a high profile at the New York Comic-Con show this past weekend. Offering an interative photo booth that allowed attendees to pose with ...

Warner Hungry for Justice League

February 23, 2007 – As the Nicolas Cage comic-book vehicle Ghost Rider continues to blaze a hot trail at the box office this weekend, studio suits around town are furiously trying to greenlight more live-action...

Mouse House Squeaks for Second Season of Yin Yang Yo!

February 23, 2007 – Animation “It Guy” of the year, Bob Boyle, has another reason to celebrate as Toon Disney recently picked up a second season of his hot Flash-animated show Yin Yang Yo for its Jetix block of...

Cars Spins to Annies’ Victory Lane

February 12, 2007 – In what may be the bellwether for what may happen on Oscar night, Disney/Pixar’s Cars took the top honor for Best Animated Feature at the 34th Annual Annie Awards Sunday night at the Alex Th...

Torill Kove, Director of Oscar-Winning Short The Danish Poet

January 31, 2007 – Norwegian born animator Torill Kove had her first date with Oscar in 1999, when her short My Grandmother Ironed the King’s Shirts landed a well-deserved nomination. The talented artist just ...

TV Festival Pays Tribute to Simpsons, Lucas

January 26, 2007 – Die-hard fans who’ve been hungry for tightly guarded details about this summer’s The Simpsons Movie would be wise to pick up tickets for the March 15 tribute to the series set as part of L.A...

Angelina Ballerina Takes to the Stage

January 26, 2007 – HIT Entertainment’s elegant white mouse will be making her English National Ballet debut this year. Angelina’s Star Performance puts the popular classical ballerina in a live show, planned f...

Cars, Happy Feet, Monster House Nab Feature Oscar Nominations

January 23, 2007 – As many of the media watchers had predicted, the three nomination spots in the Best Animation Oscar race were filled by Disney/Pixar’s Cars, Warner Bros. Happy Feet and Sony Pictures ...

Nicktoons Drawn to Decode’s Planet Sketch

January 22, 2007 – Those who were waiting for a major U.S. cabler to pick up Decode/Aardman’s fun comedy show Planet Sketch have a big smile on their faces today. That’s because Nicktoons has picked up the CG-...

Ice Age 2 Picked as Most Profitable Movie of ’06

January 22, 2007 – Although Scrat and his preshistoric buddies from Fox/Blue Sky’s Ice Age: The Meltdown may have been snubbed by many of the year-end critics and awards groups, they are laughing all the way t...

Sheridan Institute Installs Toon Boom

January 22, 2007 – Students enrolled at Canada’s acclaimed Sheridan Institute of Technology and Advance learning will be able to take advantage of Toon Boom’s Storyboard and Solo products in their animation labs begi...

News from NATPE: Words from the Wise

January 15, 2007 – If it seems a bit quiet in your neck of the woods this week, it’s because many of the animation execs, buyers, sellers, producers and distributors are attending the NATPE confab in Las Vegas (Jan. ...

Last Chance to Get Free Tickets to Special Happily N’Ever After Screening

December 19, 2006 – Would you like to take a sneak peek at the new CG-animated feature Happily N’Ever After? If you live in the Los Angeles area, Animation Magazine, ASIFA—Hollywood and Lionsgate are inv...

A Good Month for Entertainment Rights’ Kid Brands

December 08, 2006 – U.K. media group Entertainment Rights has announced the delivery of several new programs across four key brands to three of the U.K. ’s major broadcasters:

Rupert Bear—Follow the Magic w...

HIT’s Benelux Consumer Division Goes In-House

December 08, 2006 – HIT Entertainment, the U.K. home of such brands as Bob the Builder, Pingu, Thomas & Friends and Angelina Ballerina ahs moved its consumer products division for the Benelux region in house. The Belg...

Bandai Plugs In New Honneamise Online Community

December 08, 2006 – Top Japanese animation outfit Bandai Visual USA has jumpstarted Honneamise, a new anime community on MySpace.com. The jazzed-up site (www.myspace.com/honneamise) offers related info and down...

Hertzfeldt, Weil and Augenblick Shorts to Shine at Sundance

December 07, 2006 – The Sundance Film Festival announced several new animated titles set to screen Jan. 18-28 at Park City, Utah. Alex Weil’s SIGGRAPH 2006 hit One Rat Short, Aaron Augenblick’s Golden Age

Pirates Sequel Steals Record DVD Booty

December 07, 2006 – Arrrrr, time to bring on the grog! The folks at Disney Home Entertainment are celebrating today as Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest posted a record 5 million DVD sales on its first...

Three Comic Voices Sign Up for FOX’s Two Dreadful Children

December 07, 2006 – Chris Kattan (Saturday Night Live), French Stewart (3rd Rock from the Sun) and Meredith Roberts (Kitchen Confidential) will be voicing characters for the upcoming FOX-TV animat...

Digital-Tutors Announces RealFlow4 Training

December 07, 2006 – Oklahoma City-based interactive training outfit Digital-Tutors has announced the release of Intro to RealFlow 4, a guide to creating realistic fluid and dynamic simulations with RealFlow4. ...

Disney Channel’s London Arm Pumps Up for New Toons

December 06, 2006 – The Mouse is ready to find new cheese in Europe. Disney Channel in Europe will be upping investment in original programs and local co-productions, according to a story in The Hollywood Reporter

Mischel Ready for New Rainmaker Role

December 06, 2006 – Vancouver-based vfx. animation and post house Rainmaker has tapped Rick Mischel to serve in a new role as an executive producer with a ‘first look’ deal. Rainmaker recently acquired Mainframe Enter...

Hollander Gets Animated About Pixar

December 06, 2006 – Former Rhythm & Hues film division president Richard Hollander has ankled his position to join Pixar Animation studio as a producer, according to a story in The Hollywood Reporter. Lee Berge...

Portland’s PLATFORM Fest Sets Dates

December 06, 2006 – Portland, Oregon, just became more animated. It was announced yesterday that the PLATFORM International Animation Festival is ready to launch June 25-30, 2007 in Portland. Festival founder and dire...

NaturalMotion High on endorphin 2.7

December 06, 2006 – U.K.-based software developer NaturalMotion has announced the release of new versions of endorphin 2.7 and related Learning Edition (eLE). The new versions of the award-winning software features ne...

CN’s Ben and Foster Will Make First-Quarter DVD Splash

December 06, 2006 – Kids will have a hard time leaving home in February and March as Cartoon Network and Warner Home Video have announced new DVD release dates for the first seasons of Ben 10 and Foster’s Ho...

Channel Frederator Launches New “Freddies” Awards

November 14, 2006 – If you thought user-submitted podcast toons were getting short-changed during the bountiful awards season, Fred Seibert and his talented team at Channel Frederator have just the thing for you. On J...

Over the Hedge Critters Prove Popular on Discs

October 27, 2006 – The hyperactive CG-animated animals of DreamWorks Animation’s Over the Hedge are proving to be hot items on DVD this week. The Paramount Home Entertainment-distributed title delivered an est...

Learn How to Pitch with Rita Street!

October 27, 2006 – If you have a great idea for an animated TV series and happen to be in Los Angeles on December 4, you’re in luck. Animation industry expert Rita Street (CEO of Radar Cartoons, producer of upcoming ...

Moonscoop, Classic Media Scare Up New Casper Series

October 09, 2006 – An old, familiar ghost has got a new lease on life thanks to the folks at Moonscoop, Classic Media and India’s DQ Ent. First created by Seymour Reit and Joe Oriolo in 1945, Casper the Friendly Ghos...

Fantasia Hits the Right Notes at the Hollywood Bowl

August 21, 2006 – File the amazing concert performance of Disney’s 1940 classic Fantasia at the Hollywood Bowl this past weekend as another reminder of the glories of 2D animation. Thanks to the effortless ch...

Sony Announces Cloudy Directors

August 16, 2006 – The folks at Sony Pictures Animation are getting ready to send off their debut feature, Open Season, in grand style. At a special press event held at the studio’s Culver City space on the So...

Turner to Set Up New London Toon Shop

July 25, 2006 – Turner Broadcasting Europe will set up a new animation studio in London’s Soho district next year. According to various trade reports, this multi-million production arm is the cabler’s biggest Brit...

Astral, Corus Hungry for More of Teletoon Pie

July 14, 2006 – Montreal-based Astral and Toronto’s Corus Entertainment Inc. announced on Thursday that they will buy the remaining 20 percent of the Teletoon Network that they didn't already own for C$96 million ...

French Renaissance Wins at Annecy

June 12, 2006 – After six days of packed screenings of 279 animated projects from around the world, the top Cristal awards were handed out a well-attended ceremony this past Saturday at Annecy. Renaissance,...

A Flash-Animated Game Show Host Wags his Tail on PBS’s FETCH!

May 24, 2006 – Just when you thought you had seen every possible variation on the reality/game show theme, the producers at Boston public broadcaster WGBH and Vancouver’s Global Mechanic toon house have come up w...

Vanguard Wags Tail for Santa’s Paws

May 11, 2006 – Christmas is going to the dogs, thanks to a new animated feature in development at Vanguard Animation in conjunction with Nash Entertainment. Variety reports that the U.K.-based studio (whic...

Second Season of IGPX Revs Up on Cartoon Network

May 10, 2006 – The resilient Team Satomi gang are ready for new challenges in the second season of IGPX, which kicks off Saturday, May 22, at 10:30 p.m. on Cartoon Network. Co-produced by Japanese powerh...

Women in Animation Presents Panel on CG Toons on TV

April 19, 2006 – If you’re looking for a chance to mingle with toonerati types and attend a panel discussion on 3D animation for television, the Women in Animation International Annual Meeting is the event for you....

Russo Writes the Book on [adult swim]

April 18, 2006 – As Cartoon Network’s [adult swim] block continues to deliver strong ratings and fans anxiously wait the Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie to open in the fall, we caught up with Ron Russo, author ...

Cartoon Network Holds Benefit Silent Auction for Fyn Stec

April 18, 2006 – If you happen to be in Los Angeles this Thursday evening, you may want to visit Cartoon Network Studios in Burbank. The good folks at the studio are hosting a special animation benefit silent aucti...

Captain Planet Rules Boomerang on Earth Day

April 11, 2006 – If you’re looking for new ways to celebrate Earth Day (you’re done with the whole tree-planting thing!), we suggest you tune in to Boomerang’s 13-episode marathon of the ’90s-era show, Captain P...

New Windows Version of Call of Duty 2 Open to Gamers

April 11, 2006 – Santa Monica-based Activision and Infinity Ward are releasing a new Windows PC update for the hit game Call of Duty 2, which includes the anti-cheat software PunkBuster, as well as two new m...

Grass Greener at Entertainment Rights

April 11, 2006 – Nikkie Grass (nee Sherrard) has been appointed the new head of marketing at U.K’s family entertainment group, Entertainment Rights. Before joining the ER team, Grass was at Disney, where she was ma...

Digital-Tutors Nabs Innovator of the Year Award

April 11, 2006 – PL Studos’ Digital-Tutors has received the Innovator of the Year Award from the folks at The Journal Record, a leading business publication in the Midweat. The publication honored companies who ar...

Winnie the Pooh DVD Hits the Fans

April 11, 2006 – It’s a big day for Disney fans at the DVD stores today as the Mouse House releases a new digitally remastered version of the 1987 feature, Pooh’s Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robi...

DAZ Introduces Developer Program with New DAZlStudio 1.3

April 10, 2006 – Utah-based 3D software and models developer DAZ Productions has released a new developer program (Software Development Kit SDK) with the latest version of its free digital art software, DAZlStudio ...

Fischinger to Swim in DVD Waters

April 10, 2006 – The prayers of abstract expressionist animator Oskar Fischinger’s fans have finally been answered. L.A.-based Center for Visual Music will release a new DVD featuring ten of Fischinger’s beautiful ...

Ice Melts More Filmgoers’ Hearts

April 10, 2006 – Can Scrat and company single-handedly save the first quarter doldrums at the box office? In light of the estimated $34.5 million Fox/Blue Sky’s Ice Age : The Meltdown (directed by Carlos Sal...

Toon Boom Touts Terrific Week

April 07, 2006 – It’s been a busy news week for the folks at Montreal-based Toon Boom Animation. On Monday, it was announced that award-winning studio Cosgrove Hall (Little Robots, Fifi and the Flowertots...

DreamWorks Rocks with Punk Farm

April 06, 2006 – If you needed more evidence that animation studios can’t get enough features about farm animals, look no further than the latest news from DreamWorks Animation. The studio’s next animated feature w...

On Your DVD Wish List Today:
Chronicles of Narnia, Tripping the Rift

April 04, 2006 – C. S. Lewis’ magnificent lion Aslan is finally ready to roar on DVD today. Directed by Shrek helmer Andrew Adamson, Disney/Walden Media’s The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and...

Laika Snaps Up Snow’s Monsters

April 03, 2006 – Portland-based Laika Entertainment is developing an animated feature based on author/illustrator Alan Snow’s best-selling children’s book series, Here be Monsters. The book, which is current...

Zoo Films and Atomic Cartoons
Hit the Bollywood Road

March 29, 2006 – A dysfunctional singing-and-dancing Anglo-Indian family is the focus of Bollywood Road, a new animated series to be co-produced by London’s Zoo Films and Toronto-based Atomic Cartoons. Creat...

Joe Cartoon Puts New Site, DVDs and Deals in Its Blender

March 29, 2006 – Spring is bursting all over for the talented folks at Los Angeles-based Joe Cartoon studios. The popular Internet home of shorts such as Gerbil in a Microwave and Lump: The No-Legged Dog

Bix Pix’s Miss Twigley’s Tree Branches Out in Cannes

March 28, 2006 – Miss Twigley is ready to take her show on the road. Bix Pix’s beautifully clay-animated adaptation of Dorothea Warren Fox’s classic book, Miss Twigley’s Tree, will be available at the MIPTV ...

Monster Brings Eclectic Selection to MIPTV

March 27, 2006 – There’s a lot of buzz surrounding the shows Andrew Fitzpatrick and his Dublin-based Monster Distributes shingle are taking to the MIPTV market this year. “We have a lot of unusual animation,” he no...

EM.Entertainment Gets Immersive with Croco Loco

March 24, 2006 – One of the big trends at this year’s MIPTV market in France is the high visibility of shows that mix live-action with CG-animated sequences. German company EM Entertainment GmbH will be exploring t...

DIC Re-Acquires 20 of Its Animated Shows from Disney

March 23, 2006 – It seems like not a day goes by without some kinds of new development coming out of DIC Entertainment. Yesterday the company’s chairman and CEO Andy Heyward announced that the L.A. toon house has r...

The Zula Patrol Rockets Away to MarVista

March 23, 2006 – The scientifically minded aliens of The Zula Patrol have a new home today. MarVista Entertainment has acquired the international distribution rights to the CG-animated children’s show that a...

IDT Renames Yankee Irving, Pushes Back Release Date

March 23, 2006 – IDT’s CG-animated feature about a young boy’s heroic cross-country quest has a new name and a new release date. The feature, which was originally directed by the late Christopher Reeve and titled

Cuppa Coffee Brews Big for MIP

March 23, 2006 – Toronto-based toon shop Cuppa Coffee will be brewed to the max and totally caffeinated at this year’s MIPTV market in France. According to company president Adam Shaheen the shop has more titles ta...

NVIDIA Fixes Up a New Gelato Flavor

March 23, 2006 – Artists looking for ways to create high-quality images in a shorter period of time have a new rendering softwar to turn to. Santa Clara, Calif.-based NVIDA has announced the release of its new Gela...

Toon Boom Offers New Mac-Ready Software

March 22, 2006 – Montreal’s Emmy-award winning Toon Boom Animation has released a new version of its Studio V3 software for Intel-based Macs. Toon Boom Studio offers a dynamic animation toolset that works with Qui...

FableVision Nabs Library Assoc. and Parents' Choice Awards

March 22, 2006 – Boston-based media developer and publisher FableVision has been raking in the awards in recent weeks. The company’s Essay Express K12 writing software was the recipient of a top honor for the Ameri...

Ethnic Heroes Save the Day on [adult swim]’s Politically Incorrect Minoriteam

March 17, 2006 – Get ready for another outrageous new show on [adult swim] this Sunday as Minoriteam makes its much-anticipated debut at midnight, March 19. Created by Adam de la Pena, Todd James and Peter G...

KOCCA Funds $6 Million Toon Studio

March 16, 2006 – The Korea Culture and Content Agency has been a familiar force in funding animated projects in the past decade. Now the government agency is expanding its role by establishing a full-service, state...

Blur and Lapin Blanc Partner Up to Make TV Commercials

March 15, 2006 – Venice, Calif.-based animation house Blur Studio has joined forces with Lapin Blanc, the animation unit of London commercials and film company Lucky Elliot to launch a new commercial production ven...

History of Violence, Speed Racer DVDs Roll into Stores

March 14, 2006 – We know St. Patrick’s Day is just around the corner, and you’ll be needing some help to recover from the brain damage the next day. So it’s a good thing that there are some new animated and comic-b...

Cartoon Movie Ends on an Upbeat Note

March 13, 2006 – The Eighth edition of Cartoon Movie ended on an optimistic note this past weekend as awards were handed out to individuals and companies that had made huge strides in the feature toon business in E...

Softimage’s New Face Robot Begins Global Invasion

March 10, 2006 – Score another one for the proponents of digital cloning! Yesterday, in Los Angeles, Softimage unveiled its state-of-the-art Face Robot, a hot new software application which delivers realistic, life...

UCLA Hosts Rare Screening of Band of Ninja

March 08, 2006 – If you are in the Los Angeles area this week, you won’t want to miss a rare screening of Oshima Nagisa’s seminal 1967 feature, Band of Ninja, at UCLA’s James Melnitz Theater on Saturday, Mar...

PBS Paints Picture of Terry Gilliam’s Animation

February 28, 2006 – If you’re a fan of the highly original and wacky animated sequences featured on the groundbreaking series Monty Python’s Flying Circus you shouldn’t miss a special program airing on PBS this...

Wondertouch Emits Six New FX Libraries

February 27, 2006 – Visual effects artists have six cool new pro emitter libraries to choose from this week. St. Louis-based software developer wondertouch has announced the release of its Professional Emitter Librari...

John Lasseter Tribute Dominates 4th Annual VES Awards

February 16, 2006 – Last night’s Fourth Annual presentation of the Visual Effect Society Awards in Hollywood aimed to honor the best vfx work of 2005 in all media. However, because this year’s George Melies Award for ...

Bambi II DVD Rolls in the Doe

February 15, 2006 – Sixty-four years after David Hand’s beautifully animated feature introduced moviegoers to Bambi, Thumper and Flower, a sequel to the classic Disney gem is doing amazing business on DVD. Buena Vista...

Comet and Dachefa Build Animated CoolCity

February 15, 2006 – Toronto-based toon house Comet Entertainment is taking a trip to an animated hipster paradise known as CoolCity. Joining forces with Spain’s Dachefa Audiovisuales, the company will be presenting th...

BOXX APEXX 4 Shows Love for Autodesk Maya Software

February 15, 2006 – Austin-based workstation and render node developer BOXX Technologies reports that its new BOXX APEXX 4 workstation has been optimized to deliver increased versatility and performance for vfx artist...

Lark Creek Restaurants Hungry for Animated Gaspergoo

February 15, 2006 – Kids will soon be able to watch their Gaspergoo show and eat it too. Entertainment and brand development company Zoup-ah! LLC today announced a partnership with San Francisco-based Lark Cree...

Curious George Animators Go Bananas for Toon Boom

February 15, 2006 – Montreal-based animation solution producer Toon Boom is proud of the success of Universal/Imagine’s 2D-animated Curious George at the box office this past week. Toon Boom’s leading animation...

Weinsteins Plan CG-Animated
Escape From Planet Earth

February 14, 2006 – It sure seems like Harvey Weinstein can’t get enough of CG-animated family movies. It was announced today that the Weinstein Company has acquired the rights to Escape from Planet Earth, a co...

Amp’d Cells Dial Up Scanner Spots

February 14, 2006 – The trailer for Richard Linklater’s highly anticipated animated adaptation of A Scanner Darkly is set to debut on Amp’d Mobile handsets today. Based on a sci-fi novel by Philip K. Dick, the ...

FUNimation’s Dragon Ball Z Bounces to CN Weeknights

February 14, 2006 – Navarre’s FUNimation Entertainment has announced the return of Dragon Ball Z to Cartoon Network’s weeknight schedule. The popular anime series will air Mondays thru Thursdays at 10:30 p.m.
...

Dora Explores Top Toy Brand Honor

February 14, 2006 – Nickelodeon’s little animated adventuress, Dora was the big winner the sixth annual T.O.T.Y. (Toy of the Year Awards), put together by the Toy Industry Assoc. Awards at the 103rd American Internati...

Disney Faves, He-Man and MirrorMask Out on DVD

February 14, 2006 – Just in time for Valentine’s Day, there’s an avalanche of animated and vfx-related titles arriving in DVD stores today. Fans of 1990s-era TV series based on durable Disney characters can pick up

Monkey Swings at Box Office

February 13, 2006 – By George, this monkey has legs! Universal’s well-reviewed adaptation of H.A. Rey and Margaret Rey Curious George book series took in an estimated $15.3 million at the U.S. box office this w...

Santa Visits Renegade Animation

February 13, 2006 – Glendale-based toon shop Renegade Animation is teaming up with director Robert Zappia to deliver a new holiday-themed feature titled Who Stole Santa’s Sack? this Christmas. Featuring the voi...

Artists Offer Extreme Disney Makeovers

February 13, 2006 – If you like to see modern takes on favorite Disney classics and you live in Los Angeles, then you have to visit a special show at Gallery 1988 running February 17-March 10. Remixing the Magic

Aardman Leads British Animation Awards Race

February 13, 2006 – Aardman Animation leads the finalists’ race in the jury-judged categories at this year’s British Animation Awards. Nick Park and Steve Box’s Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were Rabbit ...

Clik Clak Clicks with Animex Jurors

February 13, 2006 – The winners and runners up for the Animex Student Animation Awards were announced at Animex Talk! on Friday 10 by Shelley Page (DreamWorks Animation), David Sproxton (Aardman) and Philip Hunt (Stu...

Truelight Hot for Iggy Cool

February 07, 2006 – Add Iggy Cool, the South American surfing iguana, to the list of fun animated characters to watch in 2006. Created originally as a logo for a hot line of surfing clothes in Maryland, the character ...

Bardel Zeroes in on Anton’s World

February 03, 2006 – Are kids ready to peel their Christmas Orange all year round? That’s what the creative team at Vancouver-based animation studio Bardel Ent. are hoping as they get ready to shop a new 2D-anim...

Marathon’s Team Galaxy Beams Down to Cartoon Network

January 26, 2006 – Paris-based toon powerhouse Marathon Animation will be moving from the femme espionage world of Totally Spies! to the teen space cadet universe of Team Galaxy this fall. Cartoon Netwo...

Adobe’s New Production Studio Powers Up Workflow

January 17, 2006 – Tech-heads rejoice: San Jose-based Adobe Systems Inc. unveils its brand new extension of its Creative Suite family of products, the Adobe Production Studio, today. Billed as the most complete post ...

Wacom Introduces Super New Pen Tablet

January 09, 2006 – Animators, designers and engineers addicted to big screens can start their week on a happy note as Wacom Technology Corp. introduces its Intuos3 12x19 pen tablet today. This new design tool is desi...

Full Sail Swims with particleIllusion

January 06, 2006 – Students at Orlando, Florida-based Full Sail school will be able to learn the ins and outs of wondertouch’s award-winning particleIllusion software program beginning this semester. Full Sail will i...

Three Miyazaki Shorts Premiere at Ghibli Museum

December 23, 2005 – Hayao Miyazaki fans will have three more reasons to visit the famous Studio Ghibli Museum in Japan next year. Fan website www.nausicaa.net reports that from January 3 until March 13, three brillian...

Academy Announces Seven Films Eligible for VFX Oscar

December 16, 2005 – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced the seven films in consideration for Achievement in Visual Effects for the 78th Academy Awards. The titles in the running are, in alp...

Narnia Roars for Lion’s Share of B.O.

December 09, 2005 – Having missed the boat on Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, Disney hopes to gain its own epic share of the box office with The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the W...

Hayward and Martino Heard for Seuss’ Horton

December 09, 2005 – Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino have signed up to direct Twentieth Century Fox Animation’s upcoming CG-animated adaptation of Horton Hears a Who, the beloved book by Dr. Seuss. Slated for a ...

EA Buys Jamdat Mobile for $680 mil

December 09, 2005 – In what is seen as the largest acquisition in the company’s history, Elecronic Arts is buying cell-phone vidgame publisher Jamdat Mobile for a crisp $680 million in cash. Jamdat CEO Mitch Lasky wil...

Sundance Fest Shorts Lineup Is Announced

December 09, 2005 – Sundance Institute has announced the lineup for the 2006 Sundance Film Festival's shorts program, which will feature 73 projects split into domestic and international competitive categories. These ...

Image Ent. Announces DVD Venture with Bandai Visual USA

December 06, 2005 – The competitive anime home entertainment field in the U.S. welcomes a new player as Image Ent. and Bandai Visual USA announced the launch of their joint venture yesterday. The two companies have si...

Berenstain Bears Creator Dies at 82

November 30, 2005 – We were sad to hear about the recent passing of Stan Berenstain, who created the hugely successful Berenstain Bears series of children’s books with his wife, Jan Berenstain, who published more than...

DreamWorks Animation Posts Third-Quarter Losses

November 11, 2005 – Call it the real curse of the were-rabbit! Although Oscar watchers have already put Wallace & Gromit—The Curse of the Were-Rabbit as one of the frontrunners in this year's Best Animated Feat...

Will Zathura Choke Disney's Chicken?

November 11, 2005 – Disney's CG-animated Chicken Little will be going beak to beak with Sony's high-flying, well-reviewed new family movie, Zathura today. Based on the best-selling children's books by Ch...

Cartoon Network Announces Scooby-Doo Pic and Ben 10 Premiere Dates

November 11, 2005 – Forget the football game: You can spend Turkey Day with your favorite mystery-solving animated canine this year. Cartoon Network has scheduled the new toon movie Scooby-Doo in Where's My Mummy?

New 3D Comedy Debuts Live at Machinima

November 11, 2005 – If you happen to be in Queens, New York, this weekend, make sure you stop by the Museum of the Moving Image. That's where you'll be able to catch a new CG-animated talk show, created by Brooklyn-ba...

Oscar-winning Animator Derek Lamb Dies

November 08, 2005 – We are sad to report that animator Derek Lamb passed away on Monday after a long battle with cancer. Lamb won the Oscar for producing the poignant animated short Every Child in 1979, and mos...

Kat Garcia Upped to Director of Intl Media at SSA

November 07, 2005 – Kat Garcia has been promoted to director of international media at L.A.-based SSA Public Relations. According to company’s chairman and CEO Steve Syatt, Garcia will work with London-based managing ...

India’s DQ Entertainment in High Demand

October 17, 2005 – Indian animation house DQ Ent. used to be one of the best-kept secrets in the business. However, this past year has been such a high-profile period for the five-year-old company that more people ar...

Jojo Wins Cartoon D’Or in Kolding

September 27, 2005 – Marc Craste’s haunting black-and-white toon about tragic love and a little trapeze artist with rabbit ears was the big winner at the 16th edition of the Cartoon Forum held in Kolding, Denmark ...

Marvel to Make Two Superhero Pix Per Year

September 06, 2005 – It looks like DC Comics crimefighters such as Batman and Superman will be facing a lot of competition from the folks at Marvel. The company announced today that it will change its name from Marvel ...

Apple’s Mighty Mouse Squeaks Out of the Box

August 05, 2005 – No big tech confab would be complete without a new high-tech model from the sharp minds at Apple, so we weren’t surprised that Apple unveiled its slick new Mighty Mouse this past week (in time...

SIGGRAPH News
Luxology Unveils modo 201

August 04, 2005 – On Tuesday night, SIGGRAPH attendees were introduced to Luxology’s upcoming new release, the modo 201. The product will expand the company’s flagship product beyond advanced modeling to integrate m...

TV-Loonland Lands Dargaud’s Bannister

August 04, 2005 – It’s official. TV-Loonland is determined to shake up the toon exec landscape in Europe. The latest news from the German company finds Justine Bannister, formerly distrib and acquisitions head ...

O’Donnell to Shine as Truelight Topper

August 04, 2005 – DIC Entertainment veteran Kevin O’Donnell has been named the president of Truelight, a new Burbank-based production company launched Bakers Man, an internet-based tech, marketing and digital i...

Alias SketchBook Pro Now Part of ThinkPad X41 Tablet

August 04, 2005 – Animators will have a new reason to get their hands on the recently released Lenovo x41 ThinkPad Tablet. Toronto-based software powerhouse Alias announced today that its Sketchbook Pro software wil...

Lions Gate Opens Up Family Arm

August 04, 2005 – It looks like Lions Gate Entertainment is moving fast and furiously ahead with plans for its Family Entertainment Enterprises. A story in The Hollywood Reporter today notes that the company ...

eyeon to Ship Fusion 5 on August 31

August 03, 2005 – Another day, another big SIGGRAPH unveiling, this time from the folks at eyeon Software, who announced that their compositing application, Fusion 5, will be shipping by the end of August.

Among ...

CN Hits a Home Run with Tooner Field

August 03, 2005 – Tooner Field is now officially ready to play ball. The Atlanta-based Cartoon Network-themed entertainment arena features original characters in life-size and larger-than-life-size interactive envir...

Aardman Goes Ga Ga for Golly

July 27, 2005 – Bristol-based toon shop, Aardman Animations, has announced the appointment of Richard Goleszowski to the new position of creative director, broadcast and development. Known to most as Golly, Golesz...

A Sweet Weekend for Charlie and Harry

July 18, 2005 – Despite some mixed reviews, Tim Burton’s Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, took in a sweet $55.4 million over the weekend, putting a big fat smile on the faces of Warner Bros. execs. N...

Geeks Inherit the World at Comic-Con ’05

July 18, 2005 – By all early estimates, the latest edition of Comic-Con was a huge success, both for the legions of fans attending the show and for the studios toy companies and TV and cable entities offering sci-...

Henson and TOKYOPOP to Put on MirrorMask

July 18, 2005 – Just in time for the feature release of Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean’s fantasy movie Mirrormask, The Jim Henson Company and TOKYOPOP have announced the details of a joint manga publishin...

Maggie Begins Buzzing on Disney

June 17, 2005 – Disney Channel’s new Flash-animated series The Buzz on Maggie lands on the cabler tonight at 8 p.m. Created by Dave Polsky, who was a writer on Scary Movie 2, South Park and The C...

Cartoon Network Pens Ben 10 for ’06

June 17, 2005 – It looks like Cartoon Network’s latest toon character has a bad case of multiple personalities. Ben Tennyson, the 10-year-old her of CN’s Ben 10, can transform himself into any one...

Gagné Gets Insanely Twisted

June 14, 2005 – Fans of animation designer and vfx wiz Michael Gagné will have to make sure they fire up their TiVos and VCRs before partaking in Halloween festivities this year. Gagné, whose very im...

DIC, McDonald’s Sign Licensing McPact

June 14, 2005 – In what seems to be a huge coup for Burbank-based DIC Entertainment, the company has been named as the worldwide licensing agent for McDonald’s worldwide licensing agent for active play toys, ...

The District, Jasper Morello Nab Top Annecy Kudos

June 13, 2005 – The Mysterious Geographic Exploration of Jasper Morello by Aussie animator Anthony Lucas and The District by Hungary’s Aaron Gauder nabbed the top prizes for Best Short Film and ...

This Just In! Nickelodeon's Peter Gal Joins Pitch Party Powerhouse Panel

June 13, 2005 – It's official. We've got the tenth and final addition to our super panel of distinguished toon judges. Fresh from his visit to this year's Annecy Animation Festival, the amazing Peter Gal is Direct...

Cartoon Forum ’05 Offers Veggies, Aliens and Jesus

June 02, 2005 – Organizers of this year’s Cartoon Forum in Kolding, Denmark have selected 69 from 24 countries to be showcased at this year’s event, Sep. 21-24. Judging from some of the titles selected, ...

Exodus Gets Surge of CG Toons

June 01, 2005 – Venice-based Exodus Film Group has added two new CG-animated features to its quickly expanding development slate. The first–The Hero of Color City, centers on a boxful of heroic crayons...

Exodus Gets Surge of CG Toons

May 31, 2005 – Venice-based Exodus Film Group has added two new CG-animated features to its quickly expanding development slate. The first–The Hero of Color City, centers on a boxful of heroic crayons...

Marie Johnston, wife of Ollie, dies at 87

May 26, 2005 – Marie Johnston, the wife of legendary Disney animator Ollie Johnston, passed away last Friday, from complications due to pneumonia, at her home in Flintridge, Calif. The Johnstons celebrated their ...

Acker’s 9 Gets Oscar, SIGGRAPH screening

May 19, 2005 – UCLA student Shane Acker has two huge reasons to celebrate this morning. Not only did he got word that his innovative short 9 will receive a prestigious Student Oscar on June 12, it also got...

Harvey Birdman Takes Flight Again in July

May 18, 2005 – If you’re hungry for more animated madness from Cartoon Network’s legal eagle, worry no more! Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law will resume his adventures on Adult Swim, Sunday, July 10 at 12:...

Toon Boom Unleashes Beta Release of Studio v3

May 18, 2005 – Animators will have an easier time creating toons and selecting artwork from existing libraries thanks to a new Beta release of Toon Boom Studio v3 for Mac and PC set for early July. According to t...

BroadcastAsia Electrifies Singapore in June

May 18, 2005 – As more broadcast, cable and animation entities eye the growing Asian territories, this year’s annual BroadcastAsia conference promises to be one of the hottest tickets in June (13-16). The ev...

Exodus, Melwood Ride Pavlov’s Dog

May 13, 2005 – Melwood Pictures and Exodus Film Group hope to have animation fans salivating with Pavlov’s Dog, a CG-animated/live action feature film they optioned from world-famous illusionist Nicho...

Hypefest Opener Feels Radiant

May 06, 2005 – Hypefest, the cool L.A.-based showcase of innovative shorts, music video and commercials, has tapped Knoxville, TN-based Radiant Media to produce its 2005 show open. Timed to take advantage of the ...

National Accreditation Awarded to Ex’pression

May 04, 2005 – The students and staff of Expression College for Digital Arts have one more reason to be proud of their institute. The school announced this week that it has been awarded National Accreditation by ...