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Ryan Ball
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Articles by Ryan Ball
Mighty B! Back with Corddry
September 05, 2008 – Nickelodeon’s The Mighty B! returns on Monday, Sept. 8, kicking off a week of all-new episodes airing every day at 5 p.m. Monday’s installment, “Bee Patients,” features special guest star Ro...
Columbia Calls Ghostbusters Again
September 05, 2008 – It’s starting to feel like the ’80s all over again as major studios set their sights on such franchises as Voltron, Poltergeist and Ghostbusters. Daily Variety reports t...
Xilam Pitches Mr BaBy at Cartoon Forum
September 05, 2008 – Paris-based animation studio Xilam is headed to Cartoon Forum with Mr BaBy, a new short-form animated series that has been commission by French broadcaster France 3. The company will be look...
Dive Olly Dive! Sprouts Up Five Days a Week
September 05, 2008 – Dive Olly Dive! from Taffy Ent. and Mike Young Prods. has expanded to five days a week on PBS KIDS Sprout. The 24-hour preschool outlet this week moved the award-winning, environmentally-con...
DECODE Shows Go Greek
September 05, 2008 – Greece’s Channel 9 has acquired six kid shows from DECODE Ent., the distribution subsidiary of DHX Media Ltd. The deal includes the animated series Franny’s Feet, Bo on the GO!, Ki...
Alioscopy Unveils Autostereoscopic Display at WAEA
September 05, 2008 – The glasses are coming off as Alioscopy USA, a maker of 3D display technologies, gets set to demonstrate its 3DHD-40 autostereoscopic 3D LCD display at the 29th Annual World Airline Entertainment A...
Antonucci Makes Toons with W!LDBRAIN
September 05, 2008 – Danny Antonucci, creator of Cartoon Network’s long-running series Ed, Edd n Eddy, has signed an exclusive deal with W!LDBRAIN. Under the deal, Antonucci will develop original television seri...
EA Releases Spore
September 05, 2008 – This weekend will see the release of Spore, the eagerly awaited new massively single-player game from Electronic Arts Inc. and Maxis, the development studio of Sims creator Will Wrigh...
Presidential Race Likened to Cartoons
September 04, 2008 – There’s nothing novel about comparing American politics to a cartoon, but one late-night TV comedian got big laughs by pointing out that some of our leading politicians are becoming real-life versi...
Heathcliff Making Animated Comeback
September 04, 2008 – The other mischievous orange cat of comic strip fame is set to return to the screen in celebration of the 35th anniversary of George Gately’s Heathcliff. FitzRoy Media is developing animated...
Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s Debuts at MIPCOM
September 04, 2008 – As the hit anime property Yu-Gi-Oh! gets set to enter its tenth season, 4Kids Ent. has announced that this year’s MIPCOM will feature the international premiere of the all-new series Yu-G...
International Sales for ER’s George, Casper, Finley
September 04, 2008 – Entertainment Rights (ER) has signed a number of major television distribution deals for core brands in key territories around the globe. George of the Jungle, Casper’s Scare School a...
Disney to Bring Ponyo to U.S. in 2009
September 04, 2008 – Reporting on the Venice Film Festival screening of Hayao Miyazaki’s latest animated opus, Time Magazine confirms that Disney will release Pony on the Cliff By the Sea in North America...
Voltron May Have Director
September 04, 2008 – Writer/director Max Makowski, whose credits include independent films and TV shows, is in negotiations to direct Relativity Media’s big-screen version of the 1980s animated series Voltron: Defen...
Poltergeist Director Confirmed
September 04, 2008 – The remake bandwagon rolls on as MGM moves forward with plans to make a new version of the Steven Spielberg-produced 1982 chiller Poltergeist. The studio has confirmed that Vadim Perelman, w...
4Kids Announces Saturday Lineups
September 03, 2008 – 4Kids Ent. today unveiled its lineup of fall programs to air on Saturday mornings on FOX and The CW Network. Both blocks will kick off the new season on Sept. 13, featuring new animated series and ...
Peanuts Animator Bill Melendez Dies
September 03, 2008 – Bill Melendez, the Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning animator best known for bringing Charles M. Schulz’s Peanuts characters to life, died on the morning of Tuesday, Sept. 2 at St. John’s hospital i...
Watchmen Trial Set for January
September 03, 2008 – The fate of one of the most highly anticipated big-screen comic-book adaptations hangs in the balance as 20th Century Fox gets its day in court. Daily Variety reports that a Los Angeles fede...
Animated Short Walks Tight Rope
September 03, 2008 – Magnolia Pictures’ documentary Man on Wire will be accompanied in select theaters by Michael Sporn’s 2005 animated short film The Man Who Walked Between the Towers, reports Daily V...
Image Metrics Puts Face on Operation Flashpoint 2
September 03, 2008 – Image Metrics is creating facial animation for key characters appearing in cinematic sequences for Codemasters’ upcoming video game Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising. Slated for release ...
Happy Tree Friends Explode with Ka-Pow!
September 03, 2008 – Mondo Media to day introduced Ka-Pow!, a new series based on its animated web sensation Happy Tree Friends. The property’s millions of fans can now meet new accident-prone characters ...
RocketOn, Animax Develop Virtual Worlds
September 03, 2008 – RocketOn Inc., creator of the Parallel Virtual World Platform, and Emmy-winning multiplatform entertainment studio Animax Ent. have formed a strategic partnership to co-develop parallel virtual wor...
Delgo Finally Gets Release Date
September 02, 2008 – We first became aware of the independently produced CG animated feature film Delgo in 2003, but haven’t heard much from the production since the initial casting news. Now The Hollywood Re...
Renaissance Producer Spawns Prodigies
September 02, 2008 – Aton Soumache, producer of Christian Volker’s 2006 Annecy award-winning animated feature Renaissance, is producing another major French CG feature. According to Daily Variety, he and ...
Henson’s Blue Elephant Charges to Disc
September 02, 2008 – Once known for The Muppets and other puppet creations, The Jim Henson Co. continues its push into animation with The Blue Elephant, a new CG-animated feature film that hits retail today. Als...
Batman, Scooby Double Features on DVD
September 02, 2008 – Warner Home Video today released two sets of feature-length animated movies starring two very different cartoon crime fighters. A Batman double feature offers Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker
WWE’s Claims against THQ Dismissed
September 02, 2008 – Video-game maker THQ Inc. today announced that the Connecticut Superior Court has dismissed most of the claims filed against it and THQ/JAKKS Pacific LLC. by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). WW...
TELETOON Fills Marketing Jobs
September 02, 2008 – Canadian broadcaster TELETOON has appointed Russell Ward to the post of VP of marketing, and has promoted Natalie Cunningham to director of marketing. Both appointments are effective as of today.
...
Cartoon Tributes Nominees Named
September 02, 2008 – Cartoon Forum, the European Association of Animation Film, has announced this year’s nominees for Cartoon Tributes, an award ceremony to be held on Sept 19 during the 19th annual Cartoon Forum in t...
GoAnimate to Shoot the Messenger
August 29, 2008 – GoAnimate.com has partnered with Daily Show co-creator Lizz Winstead to create election-inspired animated pieces for upcoming performances and webcasts of Shoot The Messenger, a New York Cit...
MyToons Brings Cartoon Classics to Vuze
August 29, 2008 – Online animation community MyToons.com has launched the MyToons Cartoon Classics Channel on Vuze, an Internet video platform that boasts 30 million members worldwide. Featuring such time-honored an...
Pink Panther Ultimate Collection Prowls to Disc
August 29, 2008 – MGM Home Entertainment will release the Pink Panther Ultimate Collection on DVD this fall. Slated to hit retail on Nov. 25, the box set will offer nine volumes of cartoon classics, nine feat...
New Trailer Brings the Payne
August 29, 2008 – Video games have a lousy track record when it comes to big-screen adaptations, but 20th Century Fox is hoping to beat the odds with its action thriller based Rockstar Games’ Max Payne. A new...
Schroder Wrangles Hellhounds
August 29, 2008 – Former child star and NYPD Blue actor Rick Schroder has traded in his silver spoons and policeman’s badge for a director’s chair and some nasty CG-animated pooches. According to The Holly...
Abbey Home Media Gets Moore
August 29, 2008 – Abbey Home Media, a British independent distributor, rights owner and producer of children’s programs, has appointed Stephen Moore partner and shareholder. Moore previously held senior positions at...
New particleIllusion Versions for Mac OSX
August 29, 2008 – Digital content creators working on Apple’s Mac OS X platform now have access to new versions for wondertouch’s particleIllusion 3.0 and particleIllusion SE line of product offerings. The updates t...
Next Avengers Voice Actor Tom Kane
August 29, 2008 – Whether you're an avid animation fan or a casual cartoon viewer, you’ve no doubt heard the work of Tom Kane. The versatile and very much in demand voice actor is the new voice of Yoda for the anima...
Jetix Europe Toons Come to iTunes
August 28, 2008 – Jetix Europe today announced that selections from its catalog of classic kids programming are now available for download and purchase in the U.K. iTunes Store (www.apple.com/uk/itunes). Initial off...
Disney Preps New Platinum Collections
August 28, 2008 – Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment has announced five additions to its Platinum Collection of animated features to be released on DVD and Blu-ray. These include such beloved classics as Pino...
Barbie vs. Bratz Victory for Mattel
August 28, 2008 – For nearly two years now, Mattel and MGA Ent. have been locked in a heated battle over copyright infringement claims filed by the maker of the iconic Barbie line of toys and animated features. A ju...
Paramount, Omnitoons Make Mobile Comics
August 28, 2008 – The Mission: Impossible franchise and several upcoming Paramount films including the thriller Eagle Eye and the Brit comedy Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging are...
DECODE’s Bo Still on the Go
August 28, 2008 – DECODE Ent., the distribution subsidiary of DHX Media Ltd., has announced further international sales of Halifax Film’s preschool series Bo on the GO! In addition, CBC in Canada has commissi...
More Dinosaur King Stomping to MIP
August 28, 2008 – 4Kids Ent. will offer 26 new half-hour episodes of the hit animated action show Dinosaur King at MIPCOM 2008. A video game, a trading card game and an extensive toy line based on the series ...
WALL•E Desktop Available from Hyperdesk
August 28, 2008 – Hyperdesk has debuted its Wall•E Hypersuite, a package that allows kids and fans of all ages to customize their computers with a Windows theme, custom icons, dynamic widgets and other featur...
Charlie Brown Elected to DVD
August 27, 2008 – Obama and McCain aren’t the only candidates hitting the campaign trail this fall. Charles Schulz’ iconic comic-strip creation is out to snag consumer’ votes as the classic animated televsision spec...
Imira to Debut Myo & Ga at Cartoon Forum
August 27, 2008 – Spainish producer and distributor Imira Ent. will introduce its quirky new 3D animated comedy series, Myo & Ga, at this year’s edition of Cartoon Forum. Aimed at kids six and up, the show is...
Gnomes and Trolls Invade Europe
August 27, 2008 – Gnomes and Trolls: The Secret Chamber, a new animated children’s movie from Swedish production company Whiteshark Films, is building an audience across Europe and other parts of the world. A...
Spielberg Still Helming First Tintin
August 27, 2008 – Brussels-based Herge Studios, owner of rights to the classic Tintin comic strip, recently broke word that Peter Jackson would take over Steven Spielberg’s installment of the planned DreamWorks moti...
Death Note II Coming to U.S. Theaters
August 27, 2008 – The Death Note manga and anime series has another live-action installment set to hit theaters in limited U.S release. VIZ Pictures, the division of VIZ Media focused on live-action fare, has again ...
Sleeping Beauty Returns to Hollywood
August 27, 2008 – The El Capitan theater in Hollywood is bringing back the Disney animated classic Sleeping Beauty for a special 50th anniversary limited engagement running Aug. 28 through Sept. 18. The scree...
Nightmare, other Tricks & Treats on DVD
August 26, 2008 – As Halloween quickly approaches, animation fans today have a few holiday-related home video releases to choose from today. In addition to a special collector’s edition of Tim Burton's The Nightm...
Chicago 10, Little Mermaid Prequel Hit Disc
August 26, 2008 – Illustrating two very different uses of animation, the award-winning, adult-oriented documentary Chicago 10 and Disney’s new direct-to-video prequel The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning
Harryhausen’s Pendulum Swings on DVD
August 26, 2008 – One DVD release we agregiously overlooked last week is Ray Harryhausen Presents: The Pit and the Pendulum, a stop-motion film exec produced by the master animator and vfx legend behind the e...
Baby Mozart Re-mastered for 10th Anniversary
August 26, 2008 – The Baby Einstein Company debuted the award-winning, animated home video release Baby Mozart ten years ago, and is marking the anniversary with a special edition release of the bestselling t...
Nick’s Zarghami to Keynote MIP Jr.
August 26, 2008 – Cyma Zarghami, president of Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group, will present the MIPCOM Junior 2008 keynote address on Sunday, Oct. 12. Zarghami will share her vision of how the localization of...
Maya Goes to a Galaxy Far, Far Away
August 26, 2008 – Lucasfilm Ltd. and Lucasfilm Animation employed Autodesk Inc.'s Maya software to create a distinctive verson of the Star Wars Universe for the theatrical feature Star Wars: The Clone Wars, a...
Marvel Goes Anime with Madhouse
August 25, 2008 – The Warner Premiere DVD release Batman: Gotham Knight recently gave us the first anime version of DC Comics’ caped crusader, and now Marvel is turning to Japanese animators to put their stam...
Miyazaki’s Ponyo Hits B.O. Milestone
August 25, 2008 – Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, the latest animated feature from celebrated filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, has crossed the Yen 10 billion ($93.2 million) mark at the Japanese box office, according...
Warner Bros. Preps More Superhero Pics
August 25, 2008 – With The Dark Knight breaking box-office records left and right, Warner Bros. is not surprisingly keen on bringing more Batman and other superheroes from the DC Comics universe to the big sc...
Nick, Amazon Strike DVD Deal
August 25, 2008 – Nickelodeon has joined forces with CreateSpace, part of the Amazon.com Inc. group of companies, to make a number of animated and live-action hits available on DVD, some for the first time ever. Sta...
Bickford Screening in L.A.
August 25, 2008 – Avant-garde clay animator Bruce Bickford is in Los Angeles this week and will be screening a number of his unreleased films on Tuesday, Aug. 26 at the Silent Movie Theatre on Fairfax in Hollywood. ...
Olesker Named President of KEN Creative
August 25, 2008 – Producer/director/writer Jack Olesker, creator of the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers television series, has been named president of KEN Creative Studio, the India/U.S. production arm of Banga...
Cartoon Net Signs Bakugan Partners
August 25, 2008 – Cartoon Network Enterprises (CNE) has appointed five new licensing partners in the soft lines categories for the hit anime series Bakugan. Announced today at the MAGIC Marketplace, the new d...
Canemaker’s Chuck Jones Doc Debuts
August 22, 2008 – Those living in Los Angeles can catch a screening of the new documentary Chuck Jones: Memories of Childhood. Produced by Academy Award-winning animator John Canemaker and fellow Oscar winner...
Stargate: Universe Greenlit
August 22, 2008 – As one Stargate closes, another opens up. Though fans of SCI FI Channel’s Stargate: Atlantis were saddened to hear that the series wasn’t picked up for a sixth season, they can look forward ...
Cartoon One’s Vampires, Buttercup, Caps Headed to MIP Jr.
August 22, 2008 – Cartoon One, and independent production and distribution company based in Rome, is heading to this year’s MIPCOM Jr. with a third season of School for Vampires, a co-production with Hahn Fil...
4Kids Names New Property Reps for Europe
August 22, 2008 – Global children’s entertainment and merchandise licensing organization 4Kids Ent. has announced the appointment of four new agencies to represent a number of 4Kids properties in three key European ...
Cage Will Kick-Ass
August 22, 2008 – Mark Millar’s bloody comic book Kick-Ass is headed to the big screen with actor Nicolas Cage attached to the cast, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The film is being directed by M...
Gnomon Hosts Making of WALL•E
August 22, 2008 – Gnomon School of Visual Effects and The Visual Effects Society (VES) are offering a behind-the-scenes look at WALL•E, the latest animated hit from the Disney/Pixar pipeline. Sets supervisor ...
Berenstain Christmas Tree Branches Out on DVD
August 22, 2008 – Bear Country’s most loveable family will learn that the best Christmas gifts are not under the tree when Sony Pictures Home Entertainment releases the classic animated special The Berenstain Bea...
NY TV Fest Previews HBO’s Tim
August 21, 2008 – The New York Television Festival (NYTVF) will include animation in its third annual Premiere Week screening series, taking place Sept. 12-17. A sneak preview of HBO’s new half-hour, animated series...
Pinky Dinky Doo Returrns to NOGGIN
August 21, 2008 – The animated, interactive preschool series Pinky Dinky Doo from Sesame Workshop and Cartoon Pizza is coming back to NOGGIN with a new look for a second season launching in primetime on Sund...
Veggie Pirates Plunder to DVD
August 21, 2008 – After making nearly $13 million at the box office, the latest animated vegetable adventure from Big Idea and Universal Pictures sets sail for the shores of home video, where the franchise’s real tr...
More Nightmare Revealed on Blu-ray
August 21, 2008 – Disney’s stereoscopic 3-D makeover of The Nightmare Before Christmas offered fans a fresh look at the animated holiday favorite from producer Tim Burton. The pic will once again be seen in a...
Jetix Europe Overhauls Websites
August 21, 2008 – Jetix Europe has today announced the redesign of its nineteen websites available in Europe. The company believes the new designs and feature enhancements will result in increased traffic and time s...
EA Awards ’08 Scholarships
August 21, 2008 – Video game giant Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) today announced the three recipients of its 2008 Scholarship Awards. The scholars were selected from a pool of 100 interns who are currently spending the ...
NVIDIA CUDA Conference Set for NVISION ’08
August 21, 2008 – The NVISION ’08 visual computing conference, taking place Aug. 25-27 in San Jose, Calif., will include a CUDA Developer Conference for software developers interested in accelerating their applicati...
New Ninja Turtles Debuts at MIPCOM
August 20, 2008 – 4Kids Ent. has announced that it will introduce the new animated series TMNT: Back to the Sewer to global broadcasters at this year’s MIPCOM, taking place in October in Cannes, France. The h...
Sick Animation Show Premieres in the U.K.
August 20, 2008 – The pilot episode for The Sick Animation Show will air on E4 in the U.K. this Thursday, Aug. at 11:40 p.m. Created, written and voiced by emerging talent Marc M., the irreverent sketch comed...
Jackson Commits to Hobbit
August 20, 2008 – Daily Variety reports that Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson and screenwriting collaborators Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens have officially announced their participation in New...
McAvoy, Blunt Mull Gnomeo Voice Work
August 20, 2008 – Once in development by Walt Disney Feature Animation, the CG-animated feature film Gnomeo and Juliet is now in the works at Miramax and Elton John's Rocket Pictures, and may have some high-c...
qubo Partners with KaBOOM! for Playgrounds
August 20, 2008 – qubo, the multiplatform children’s programming outlet from Scholastic, ION Media Networks, NBC Universal, Corus Ent. and Classic Media, has teamed with national nonprofit organization KaBOOM! (www....
Craig, Dench Accept Bond Game Assignments
August 20, 2008 – Activision’s video game based on the upcoming James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, will feature the voices and animated likenesses of franchise stars Daniel Craig and Dame Judy Dench. Also o...
Stellar Cast to Command & Conquer
August 20, 2008 – During a press conference at Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany, Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) today announced the ensemble cast to be featured in live-action cinematic sequences in the upcoming game...
FOX’s Cleveland Goes to MIPCOM
August 19, 2008 – The Cleveland Show, a spin-off of the hit animated series Family Guy, is one of several new shows 20th Century Fox Television Distribution will be showcasing at this year’s MIPCOM tel...
Wonder Pets! Goes Bollywood for Primetime Special
August 19, 2008 – Acclaimed Indian actress Nandita Das will be heard as the voice of the title character in Save The Bengal Tiger!, a primetime Wonder Pets! special premiering Monday, Sept. 8 at 8 p.m....
Renegade Showing Funny Face at MIPCOM
August 19, 2008 – Renegade Animation will introduce its latest production, an irreverent animated interstitial series titled Funny Face, at MIPCOM and MIPCOM Jr. in October. The series of 25 one-minute-long s...
Setback for Warner Bros. in Watchmen Suit
August 19, 2008 – Warner Bros.’ upcoming big-screen take on the Alan Moore graphic novel Watchmen could be one of next summer’s biggest hits, or it could never be seen by audiences at all. The trades are repo...
Doc Delves into the Mind of Alan Moore
August 19, 2008 – The Mindscape of Alan Moore, a documentary on the celebrated writer behind such bestselling graphic novels as Watchmen, From Hell, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and...
Mainframe Invests in new Digs
August 19, 2008 – The London headquarters of Mainframe, an independent studio specializing in motion graphics, animation, vfx and titles for commercials, is investing more than $2.2 million in a larger studio. Part ...
Transformers, George in DVD Jungle
August 19, 2008 – Two Cartoon Network revivals of classic animated properties are available on DVD today. The first season of Transformers Animated, the newest incarnation of the popular TV, film and toy prop...
Emmys for Foster’s Home, Creature Comforts Artists
August 18, 2008 – The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has announced the 60th Emmy Award winners in the three juried categories—Individual Achievement in Animation, Outstanding Voice Over and Outstanding Costum...
Yair Discusses Mass Animation
August 18, 2008 – We reported last week (www.animationmagazine.net/article/8752) that Yair Landau, former vice chairman of Sony Pictures En...
Knight Vanquished by Thunder
August 18, 2008 – After four weeks atop the North American box office chart, Warner Bros.’ The Dark Knight has finally been knocked down a peg by the DreamWorks/Paramount comedy Tropic Thunder. The Ben...
Cryptozoo Discovered by Hollywood
August 18, 2008 – Cryptozoo Crew from Jerry Carr and Allan Gross is the latest graphic novel series to get a big-screen deal. Daily Variety reports that Andrew Kosove and Broderick Johnson have acquire...
Relativity Eyes Voltron Movie
August 18, 2008 – Ryan Kavanaugh’s Relativity Media is in talks to pick up film rights to the giant robot anime series Voltron: Defender of the Universe, which was put into turnaround at 20th Century Fox’s Ne...
Polar Express Bound for Disc in 3-D
August 18, 2008 – Stereoscopic animation will come to the home theatre on Oct. 28 when Warner Home Video releases The Polar Express in 3-D on Blu-ray and DVD. The release will include four sets of 3-D glasses...
300 Limited Edition Battling to DVD
August 18, 2008 – Director Zack Snyder’s sword-and-sandal epic 300 is being re-issued on DVD with a limited collector’s edition slated for release on Nov. 18. from Warner Home Video. Available only while supp...
Galleon to Rep Xilam’s Magic, Oggy, Rahan
August 18, 2008 – Galleon Ent., a U.K.-based intellectual property owner and developer of family entertainment properties, has signed an agreement to represent all licensing rights to French animation producer Xilam...
Animated Space Race in Theaters
August 15, 2008 – Two animated movies set in outer space compete at the North American box office this weekend as Lucasfilm Animation’s Star Wars: Clone Wars squares off against the stereoscopic 3-D family fi...
New Release Dates for Bolt, Potter
August 15, 2008 – Disney’s upcoming CG-animated family flick, Bolt, will hit the screen sooner than anticipated, while Warner Bros. will leave Harry Potter fans waiting a bit longer for the next magica...
Oktapodi Takes Top Prize at SIGGRAPH
August 15, 2008 – Two octopi escape from the grasps of a stubborn and determined restaurant cook in Oktapodi, a student film from France’s Gobelins, l'école de l’image that won Best of Show in this yea...
Warner Bros. Brings Back Banana Splits
August 15, 2008 – Over hill and highway the Banana buggies come again. Warner Bros. Consumer Products is re-launching the classic ’60s Hanna-Barbara TV property The Banana Splits, which had costumed character...
Pink Slips to Fly at DIC
August 15, 2008 – Following its acquisition by Canada’s Cookie Jar Ent., DIC Ent. could be facing job cuts, according to The Hollywood Reporter. DIC’s corporate office in Burbank, Calif., which has already be...
Scholastics Horrible Histories Going Interactive
August 15, 2008 – Chorion has signed a worldwide licensing agreement with computer games publisher Slitherine Strategies to develop video games based on the Scholastic book series Horrible Histories. Brokered...
Adobe Design Winners Announced
August 15, 2008 – Adobe Systems Inc. today announced the winners of its eighth annual Adobe Design Achievement Awards, a competition that honors the most talented and promising student graphic designers, photographe...
Madagascar, Kung-Fu Panda Sequels Likely
August 14, 2008 – During a presentation of footage from the upcoming Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg said Wednesday that fans can expect at least one more Madagascar m...
Rough Draft Enrolled in Sit Down, Shut Up!
August 14, 2008 – Indie animation house Rough Draft Studios will be producing animation for the upcoming animated FOX series Sit Down, Shut Up! The network has ordered 13 half-hour episodes of the irreverent ...
Maya Turns 10
August 14, 2008 – Autodesk is celebrating the 10th anniversary of Maya, its widely used modeling, animation and rendering software. The company has dedicated an area of its website to reviewing a decade of Maya acco...
Intel, Landau Launch Mass Animation
August 14, 2008 – Intel Corp. today announced a new collaborative animation project to produce a computer-generated animated short film for theatrical release. Open to established and aspiring animators, the Mass An...
Happy Tree Friends Go to the Olympics
August 14, 2008 – Lip-syncing and fake fireworks are the least of China’s worries as Mondo Media’s calamity-prone Happy Tree Friends make their way to the Olympic Games in the latest in a series of gory cartoon shor...
Peanuts Characters Rock the Vote
August 14, 2008 – McCain and Obama aren’t the only candidates wooing American voters. Iconic Peanuts characters Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy and Sally are all running for President in an online mock election. ...
Cryptic Beams Up Star Trek Online
August 14, 2008 – Cryptic Studios, a independent developer and publisher of massively multiplayer online role-playing games, revealed the first details and gameplay trailer for Star Trek Online at the annual ...
Pokemon Is Japan’s Top Toon Franchise
August 13, 2008 – The Pokemon movies have earned more than $455 million at the Japanese box office to become the highest-grossing animated property produced in the country, reports Daily Variety. To date, Toh...
MAXON Introduces Cinema 4D 11
August 13, 2008 – MAXON Computer unveiled Cinema 4D Release 11 (R11), the next generation of its 3D animation software suite, at SIGGRAPH. The release promises advanced capabilities that deliver dramatically improve...
Pixar Marks 20 Years of RenderMan
August 13, 2008 – Pixar Animation Studios is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its Academy Award-winning RenderMan rendering solution at SIGGRAPH, where it has unveiled details of the latest version of its RenderM...
Image Metrics Offers Facial Animation Tool
August 13, 2008 – Image Metrics, a provider of facial animation solutions, is letting select visual effects and film studios get their hands on its new performance transfer solution. Currently in beta, the technolog...
eyeon’s Fusion 5.3 Available Across Linux Platforms
August 13, 2008 – A major release for eyeon Software, its Unified Platform System of Fusion 5.3 for Linux offers the option to run Fusion on multiple distributions of Linux and on Windows in 64-bit or 32-bit configu...
NewTeeVee Welcomes Animation
August 13, 2008 – NewTeeVee, a website dedicated to chronicling explosion of online video, is opening its monthly Pier Screening in Los Angeles to animation, puppetry, machinima and other forms of entertainment that...
Sony Teams with Animation Mentor
August 13, 2008 – Sony Pictures Imageworks and Sony Pictures Animation are enhancing their IPAX education program with help from online character animation school Animation Mentor. Leveraging Animation Mentor's uniq...
Autodesk Unveils Maya 2009
August 12, 2008 – In celebration of the 10-year anniversary of the popular Maya modeling, animation and rendering software package, Autodesk announced Autodesk Maya 2009 at SIGGRAPH in Los Angeles, Calif. Maya 2009 ...
Massive 3.5 Debuts at SIGGRAPH
August 12, 2008 – Massive Software unveiled Massive 3.5, the latest upgrade to the artificial intelligence-driven animation system widely used in film, television and video games. Originally designed by Stephen Rege...
Madden NFL 09 Hits Stores
August 12, 2008 – Today is the day all fans of sports video games look forward to every year, the day when the latest edition of Madden NFL debuts at retail. Rabbid franchise fanatics lined up at select stores acros...
Hahn Serves Up Alchemy of Animation
August 12, 2008 – Veteran Disney producer Don Hahn (Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?) has informed us that he has a new book coming out on Oct. 7. The Alchemy of ...
Cartoon Net, Adult Swim Added to ICO Mobile
August 12, 2008 – ICO Global Communications Ltd (ICO) has reached agreements with Turner Broadcasting System Inc. to provide content from the Cartoon Network and Adult Swim for use in alpha trials of ICO’s mobile in...
Animation Mentor Renovates Online Campus
August 12, 2008 – Animation Mentor (AnimationMentor.com), an online character animation school created by animators for animators, has unveiled its new winter term curriculum for January 2009, and has released a new...
South Park, Filmation Superheroes on DVD
August 12, 2008 – Cartman, Kyle, Kenny and Stan are joined at retail by some of DC Comics’ most famous crime fighters as the complete 11th season of Comedy Central’s South Park and Super Heroes: The Filmat...
Batman Rules Another Weekend
August 11, 2008 – Warner Bros.’ The Dark Knight pulled off its fourth straight domestic box-office victory, earning an estimated $26 million over the weekend to bring its domestic draw to roughly $441 million...
Imagi Picks Up DreamWorks’ Tusker
August 11, 2008 – Daily Variety reports that Hong Kong- and Los Angeles-based animation company Imagi Int’l has taken the reins of the animated feature film Tusker, which was previously in the DreamWor...
Isaac “Chef” Hayes Dies
August 11, 2008 – Recording artist Isaac Hayes earned an Oscar for his theme song to the 1971 hit action film Shaft, but for an entire generation of television viewers he’ll be remembered primarily as the voi...
Two Toei Toons to Screen at Locarno
August 11, 2008 – Toei Animation Co. Ltd’s hit anime series GeGeGe no Kitaro and Hakaba Kitaro have been selected to screen at this year’s Locarno Int’l Film Festival as part of the show’s dedication t...
Four Win aniBoom Radiohead Contest
August 11, 2008 – Radiohead, aniBoom (aniboom.com) and TBD Records have named the winners of the In Rainbows Animated Music Video Contest. Members of Radiohead hand selected four top videos and will personall...
Crunchyroll Adds Gonzo Anime Titles
August 11, 2008 – Online media distributor Crunchyroll has acquired digital distribution rights to multiple GDH K.K. titles including Kaleido Star and Peacemaker Kurogane. Crunchyroll, which has built ...
Softimage CAT 3.0
August 11, 2008 – As a digital artist and frequent animator, I’m always keeping my eyes open for tools to make my job easier. CAT (Character Animation Tools) 3.0 is one of those that I’m really impressed with. I’m a...
Lionsgate’s Alpha Takes 3-D Route
August 08, 2008 – Add another animated feature to the list of upcoming stereoscopic 3-D releases. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lionsgate's CG animal adventure Alpha and Omega has added a third ...
Sony Turns Up the Heat on Flash Gordon
August 08, 2008 – Alex Raymond's comic creation, Flash Gordon, is closer to making its return to the big screen after nearly three decades. The Hollywood Reporter brings word that Sony Pictures tapped ...
Iron Man Gets Disc Date
August 08, 2008 – After racking up more than $567 million at the box office worldwide this summer, Marvel Studios’ and Paramount Pictures’ super-hero smash hit Iron Man is rocketing to the home video market. ...
Lionsgate Gets Wolverine Toon
August 08, 2008 – Lionsgate, which has a long-standing relationship with Marvel Ent., has acquired the North American DVD and electronic distribution rights to the new animated TV series Wolverine & The X-Men...
SOFTIMAGE|XSI 7 Ships
August 08, 2008 – Softimage Co., part of Avid Technology Inc., today announced it has begun shipping SOFTIMAGE|XSI 7, the latest version of its professional 3D animation software for games, film and television. Amon...
Godfather II Getting Made by EA
August 08, 2008 – Electronic Arts and Paramount Digital Entertainment are set to give gamers an offer they can’t refuse. The companies announced that they are developing a video game based on the classic Francis For...
Toon Disney Becomes Disney XD
August 07, 2008 – As live-action continues to creep into outlets traditionally dedicated to animation, Disney has announced that it will re-brand its Toon Disney television and online platforms in the U.S. as Disney...
Biker Mice Ride Again with 4KIDSTV
August 07, 2008 – The animated children’s series Biker Mice From Mars is back with a new incarnation that premieres Saturday, Aug. 9 at 8:30 a.m. on 4KIDSTV in the U.S. Produced by Criterion, part of The Stor...
Wubbzy! Returns
August 07, 2008 – The second season two of Nick Jr.’s Emmy-winning animated preschool comedy series Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! will return with a week of brand-new episodes starting Monday, Aug. 18 at 8:00 a.m. (ET/PT...
Voice Artist Burson Dies
August 07, 2008 – Accomplished voice performer Greg Burson died on July 22nd at the age of 59, according to animation writer/director Mark Evanier’s blog (www.newsfromme.com). The Anaheim native was a protégé of Daw...
Image Metrics Animates “Emily” for SIGGRAPH
August 07, 2008 – Image Metrics, a provider of facial animation solutions for the entertainment industry, partnered with Paul Debevec of the University of Southern California Institut for Creative Technologies (ICT)...
Clone Wars U.S. Premiere Sunday
August 06, 2008 – The American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood will host the U.S. premiere of LucasAnimation’s CG-animated feature film Star Wars: The Clone Wars on Sunday at 4 p.m. The sold...
Kabillion Adds Underdog
August 06, 2008 – Emmy-winning kids’ entertainment service Kabillion has acquired the classic 1960s animated TV series Underdog to join its VOD and online platforms on Aug. 7. The premiere also kicks off Kabi...
Barnyard, Code Monkeys on Disc
August 06, 2008 – Among this week’s DVD releases are episodes of the Nickelodeon series Back At the Barnyard and G4’s irreverent animated comedy Code Monkeys. Back at the Barnyard: When No One’s Loo...
VIZ Debuts Ultimo from Lee, Takei
August 06, 2008 – Ultimo, a new comic-book property created by industry legend Stan Lee and celebrated manga creator Hiroyuki Takei (Shaman King), has made its North American debut in the September 200...
Autodesk Extends Max ’09, Max Design
August 06, 2008 – The first extension release for Autodesk 3ds Max 2009 and Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2009 software is now available to Autodesk Subscription customers. The Creativity Extension includes new particle e...
Heit Joins Experimental Animation at CalArts
August 06, 2008 – Steve Anker, dean of the School of Film/Video at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), announced that Laura Heit will join Paul Vester as a co-director of the school’s Experimental Animation ...
Verbinski Signs with Universal
August 05, 2008 – Filmmaker Gore Verbinski, who directed the three blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean films for Disney, has inked a three-year, first-look deal with Universal Pictures, according to Daily...
Cohen Talks More Mummy
August 05, 2008 – Reviews for The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor were largely unkind, to say the least, but a $100 million worldwide opening leaves the door wide open for another sequel for the Universal f...
24’s Balfour Fights Gargoyle for SCI FI
August 05, 2008 – The Hollywood Reporter brings word that 24 star Eric Balfour will battle CG-animated beasties in the original SCI FI Channel movie Rise of the Gargoyle. RHI Ent. will handle in...
Animax Rocks LaMB with Simple Plan, Click Five
August 05, 2008 – Animax Asia, an anime and youth cable channel owned by Sony Pictures Ent., has announced that its first original animated movie produced in HD, LaMB, will feature songs written and performed...
Bender’s Game Set for November
August 05, 2008 – Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will release the new animated feature Futurama: Bender’s Game on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on Nov. 4. The third of four new Futurama adventures, th...
Katzenberg Goes to IBC in 3-D
August 05, 2008 – This year’s IBC exhibition and conference in Amsterdam will feature a live interview with DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg. Promoted as the first-ever transatlantic telecast in high-defi...
Troopers, Garfield, Ben 10 on DVD
August 05, 2008 – The third chapter in the Starship Troopers series arrives on home video today, putting Johnny Rico and fellow Federation soldiers up against more menacing, computer-generated alien bugs. Als...
Mischel Oversees Animation for Technicolor
August 05, 2008 – Former Mainframe CEO Rick Mischel has joined Technicolor Content Services as exec VP of animation and interactive services. The unit combines Technicolor’s games division and its growing animation ...
Batman Beats Dragon by a Wing
August 04, 2008 – Warner Bros.’ The Dark Knight won its third straight weekend at the North American box office, narrowly beating Universal’s vfx-driven adventure sequel The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emper...
Miki Manga to Become a Paramount Pic
August 04, 2008 – Mark Crilley’s four-volume manga series, Miki Falls, has been picked up by Paramount and Brad Pitt’s Plan B production shingle, reports Variety. First introduced in 2007, the Miki ...
Disney Joins Monster Attack Network
August 04, 2008 – Disney has acquired rights to the AIT/Planet Lar graphic novel Monster Attack Network, according The Hollywood Reporter. The studio reportedly sees potential for a feature film franch...
Scooby Prequel Set for Cartoon Net, DVD
August 04, 2008 – Cartoon Network and Warner Premiere today commenced production on Scooby-Doo: In The Beginning, a live-action/CG prequel that will be debut on the network in the fall of 2009, shortly before...
Slain Buffy Cartoon Emerges Online
August 04, 2008 – Back in 2001, Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon announced that an animated series based on the feature film and live-action television show was in the works. The toon was being de...
3D LCD Debuts at SIGGRAPH
August 04, 2008 – Alioscopy, a company specializing in 3D display technologies, announced it will introduce its new 3DHD-40 autostereoscopic 3-D LCD display technology at SIGGRAPH 2008. Offering stereoscopic 3-D vie...
Mummy Rises Against Batman
August 01, 2008 – The O’Connells are back in action to take on a legion of the living dead and other CG beasties in Universal’s The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. The heavily promoted, vfx-driven action-a...
Prince of Persia Pic Pushed
August 01, 2008 – Fans of Ubisoft’s bestselling video game franchise Prince of Persia will have to wait a bit longer to see the property brought to the big screen. Originally slated to debut on June 19, 2009,...
Cowboy Bebop Going Live-Action?
August 01, 2008 – Cowboy Bebop may be the next anime franchise to be made over as a live-action movie. iF Magazine (www.ifmagazine.com) reports that A Scanner Darkly producer Erwin Stoff is deve...
Scooby Takes on Goblin King
August 01, 2008 – The Mystery Machine rolls on as Warner Home Video preps the animated movie Scooby-Doo & The Goblin King for release on Sept. 23. The direct-to-DVD feature boasts a star-studded voice cast th...
Animatrix Goes HD in Ultimate Collection
August 01, 2008 – The direct-to-video animated feature The Animatrix will be available for the first time in high definition When Warner Home Video and Village Roadshow Pictures release The Ultimate Matrix...
Spore Animation Explored at SIGGRAPH
August 01, 2008 – Gamers around the world have been downloading the Creature Creator and building their own animated characters for the upcoming video game Spore, the latest innovation form SimCity cre...
Houdini 9.5 Debuts
August 01, 2008 – Side Effects Software has announced the release of Houdini 9.5. Introducing the 3D animation solution to the Mac community, the latest version is designed to significantly improve workflow and inte...
Princess and the Frog Teaser Online
July 31, 2008 – Disney will see if traditional animation can draw a crowd when it releases The Princess and the Frog, a 2D family film from Walt Disney Feature Animation that could mark the triumphant retur...
Sony Nibbles on Venom
July 31, 2008 – Heath Ledger’s portrayal of The Joker contributed greatly to the extraordinary box office success of Warner Bros.’ The Dark Knight, but can a super-villain carry an entire film? According to...
Raimi, Disney Do Superheroes
July 31, 2008 – Having helmed the blockbuster Spider-Man trilogy for Sony Pictures, filmmaker Sam Raimi is set to produce a superhero flick for Disney. The Hollywood Reporter brings word that the hou...
Wonder Pets! Musicians Get Contract
July 31, 2008 – The American Federation of Musicians, Local 802, has reached an agreement with Little Airplane Prods., producers of the Emmy-winning animated preschool series The Wonder Pets! Earlier this w...
Nick Ups Borkent for Acquisitions, Programming
July 31, 2008 – MTV Networks Int’l has promoted Jules Borkent to senior VP of global acquisitions and international programming for Nickelodeon. In the newly created position will see Borkent lead global acquisiti...
VES to Fete Kennedy, Marshall
July 31, 2008 – After honoring such household names as James Cameron, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg in past years, the Visual Effects Society (VES) will bestow its 2009 lifetime achievement award upon producer...
Autodesk to Host Virtual SIGGRAPH
July 31, 2008 – For those not able to attend this year’s big computer graphics confab, Autodesk is offering Virtual SIGGRAPH on its online community site, the Area, at http://area.autodesk.com/siggraph. A live str...
Marvin the Martian Coming to Big Screen
July 30, 2008 – Warner Bros. is developing a feature film based on the Looney Tunes character Marvin the Martian. Daily Variety reports that the film will mix CG animation and live action. Alcon Ent.’s Brod...
Year of the Fish Swims to U.S. Theaters
July 30, 2008 – Filmmaker David Kaplan’s independent animated feature Year of the Fish will have a limited U.S. theatrical engagement starting on Aug. 29. The modern-day, adult adaptation of Cinderella
Miyazaki’s Ponyo, Oshii’s Crawlers Compete in Venice
July 30, 2008 – Two animated features from Japanese masters have been selected to compete in the 65th annual Venice Film Festival. Hayao Miyazaki’s Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (Gake no ue no Ponyo) and Ma...
Katzenberg, Cameron Kick off 3DX
July 30, 2008 – Daily Variety reports that DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg and filmmaker James Cameron will be joined by Twentieth Century Fox filmed entertainment chair Jim Gianopulos in delive...
Nick Jr. Headed for Big Screen
July 30, 2008 – Nickelodeon and National Amusements will bring Nick. Jr. shows to theaters in the U.S. this summer with a preschool movie program dubbed “Nick Jr. at the Movies," Kicking off on July 31 in 36 theat...
4Kids Rolls with RollBots
July 30, 2008 – 4Kids Ent. has licensed the new animated TV series RollBots from Amberwood Ent. for broadcast in the U.S. during The CW4Kids Saturday morning block on The CW Network. Amberwood has also name...
Comic-Blog ’08: New BET Animation
July 30, 2008 – Reggie Hudlin, president of BET (Black Entertainment Television), unveiled footage from the upcoming BET Animation series including the The Black Panther and Hannibal The Conqueror at...
Nick Picks Up Eisner’s Glenn Martin
July 29, 2008 – Michael Eisner, former CEO of the Walt Disney Co., has sold a stop-motion animated series to Nickelodeon’s Nick at Nite. The network has ordered 20 episodes of Glenn Martin DDS and plans to ...
First Look at New Batman Toon
July 29, 2008 – If you missed the footage of Batman: The Brave and the Bold unveiled by Cartoon Network at Comic-Con over the weekend, you can now see it on AniMagTV (
Disney Orders More Phineas and Ferb
July 29, 2008 – Disney Channel has ordered an additional 13 episodes of the hit animated comedy Phineas and Ferb, bringing its second season to 39 episodes. The Emmy-nominated series created by Dan Povenmir...
Wonder Pets! Musicians File Charges
July 29, 2008 – The Associated Musicians of Greater New York, Local 802 AFM, filed unfair labor charges under the National Labor Relations Act against Little Airplane Prods. Inc., the makers of the hit animated pr...
Avatar, Freakazoid!, Tiny Toons Lead DVD Slate
July 29, 2008 – Six episodes of the Nickelodeon’s hit animated action series Avatar: The Last Airbender debut on DVD with today’s release of Book 3 Fire, Volume 4. Also hitting retail are the first s...
Academy Rediscovers George Pal
July 29, 2008 – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will revisit some of the magical works of a visionary filmmaker when it presents “George Pal: Discovering the Fantastic” on Wednesday, Aug. 27 at 7:3...
Polar Express 4-D Bound for Dollywood
July 29, 2008 – Kicking off on Nov. 8, Dollywood’s 19th annual Smoky Mountain Christmas Festival will feature The Polar Express 4-D Experience, a theme-park attraction based on the performance-capture movie...
New Pixar Teaser is Up
July 28, 2008 – The folks at Disney and Pixar have released a teaser trailer for the upcoming animated feature Up. The adventure story involving an old man, a young boy and a flying house is slated to hit t...
Dark Lights Up Box Office Again
July 28, 2008 – Warner Bros.’ The Dark Knight reigned supreme at the box office again, taking in a whopping $75 million in its second week to drive its domestic gross well beyond the $300 million mark. The ...
Comic-Blog ’08: Disney’s Bolt
July 28, 2008 – Comic-Con attendees pack the biggest auditorium at the Los Angeles Convention center on Saturday to view footage upcoming Disney animated features. Directors Chris Williams and Byron Howard were ki...
Sony, CAPCOM Unveil Resident Evil Toon
July 28, 2008 – Comic-Con pass holders got a chance to check out some footage from Resident Evil: Degeneration, a CG-animated feature film coming from CAPCOM and Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan Co. The ho...
Toon Boom Announces Studio 4.5, Flip Boom Classic
July 28, 2008 – Toon Boom Animation Inc. today announced the upcoming release of Toon Boom Studio 4.5 and Flip Boom Classic. The enhanced products offer new features designed to streamline the animation process fo...
Aronofsky Confirmed for Robocop Redux
July 25, 2008 – MGM has confirmed that director Darren Aronofsky (The Fountain, Requiem for a Dream) is on board to helm a reboot of the Robocop franchise. Written by David Self (Road to Pe...
Legendary Helps Turn Gears of War
July 25, 2008 – New Line Cinema’s big-screen adaptation of the bestselling video game Gears of War is getting some financial aid from Legendary Pictures, according to Daily Variety. Having co-produce...
G.I. Joe Gets Animated for Adults
July 25, 2008 – Those who watched the ’80s cartoon series as kids will be happy to know that the G.I. Joe property is growing up as well. In addition to Paramount’s live-action movie set for Aug. 7, 2009, fans wil...
Disney Channel Airs Muppets Special
July 25, 2008 – Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Fozzie Bear and the rest of the Muppets gang will be joined by some of the biggest stars with kids and tweens when Disney Channel presents Studio DC: Almost L...
Virgin Comics, Perspective Create MBX
July 25, 2008 – Virgin Comics and digital animation shop Perspective Studios are collaborating with acclaimed comic-book scribe Grant Morrison to launch a new intellectual property and animation franchise based on...
Stan Lee, Disney Team for Time Jumper
July 25, 2008 – What would Comic-Con be without an announcement from comic-book legend Stan Lee? The creator of such iconic Marvel superheroes as Spider-Man, The Hulk and the X-Men is working with Disney to launch...
Henson Taps Ewing to Sell Sid
July 25, 2008 – The Jim Henson Co. has appointed children’s television industry veteran Sam Ewing to handle the international sales of its newest property, a CG-animated preschool TV series titled Sid the Scien...
Afro Samurai Returns to Spike
July 24, 2008 – Samuel L. Jackson is back for more anime awesomeness as the voice of Spike TV's Afro Samurai in Afro Samurai: Resurrection, an original movie set to premiere in January. Emmy Award-nominated...
Robot Chicken Not Done with Star Wars
July 24, 2008 – Adult Swim assured Comic-Con attendees that it will give fans a follow-up to the Emmy-nominated animated special Robot Chicken: Star Wars. Premiering Nov. 16 at 11:30 p.m. (ET/PT), Robot ...
Wumblers Takes to the Skeye
July 24, 2008 – Skeye Inflight Ent. (www.skeye.tv) has picked up The Giddy Gander Co.’s animated children’s series The Wumblers and will add it to its lineup of entertaiment offerings for airline travelers....
Corus Shakes Up Management
July 24, 2008 – Corus Ent. has announced a number of changes to its senior management lineup. Effective Aug. 5, 2008, Scott Dyer will assume the role of chief technology officer, and Doug Murphy will assume the ro...
Watchmen Game Coming
July 24, 2008 – As fans of Allan Moore’s and Dave Gibbons’ award-winning graphic novel, Watchmen, eagerly await the debut of next year’s big-screen adaptation, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announc...
EA, DC Team for Mirror’s Edge Comic
July 24, 2008 – The worlds of video games and comics collide as DICE, an Electronic Arts Inc. studio and WildStorm, an imprint of DC Comics, join forces to create an exclusive, limited-edition comic book based on ...
Strawberry Shortcake, Care Bears Land in Cookie Jar
July 24, 2008 – Cookie Jar Ent. will acquire the American Greetings Corp. properties Strawberry Shortcake and Care Bears for $195 million. The announcement comes after Cleveland, Ohio-based American ...
Nick’s Avatar Hits Ratings High
July 23, 2008 – Nickelodeon announced that its original animated series, Avatar: The Last Airbender, nabbed its highest ratings ever with its third season finale. The two-hour programming event titled Av...
Tortoise Joins Henson’s Unstable Fables
July 23, 2008 – Unstable Fables: Tortoise Vs. Hare, the second in a series of animated productions from The Weinstein Co. and Genius Products, will be released on DVD on Sept. 9 from. Created by The Jim He...
Paramount, Legacy Team for Movie Games
July 23, 2008 – Paramount Digital Entertainment and Legacy Interactive are developing video games based on the popular Paramount films Clueless, Mean Girls and Pretty in Pink. The girl-centric...
On the Bubble Bursts onto the Web
July 23, 2008 – Soft drink brand Sierra Mist will unveil its first animated web series, On the Bubble, during a Comic-Con panel discussion on Friday, July 25. Co-created by Adam de la Pena (Code Monkeys
Hasbro Drafted for Clone Wars
July 23, 2008 – On July 26, Hasbro will begin rolling out its line of toys based on Lucasfilm’s CG-animated theatrical feature and television series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The movie will arrive in thea...
Cartoon Network Adapts Comics
July 23, 2008 – Cartoon Network has begun developing animated movies based on the comic books Firebreather and Mice Templar from Image Comics. In addition, IDW Publishing’s The Vanishers will ...
Ottawa Selections Announced
July 23, 2008 – The Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) has announce the films that have been selected to compete in this year’s event, which takes place Sept. 17 -21 in Ottawa, Ontario. From the record...
Robot Chicken Star Wars Hits Disc
July 22, 2008 – Adult Swim’s hit stop-motion series takes aim at George Lucas’ space opera with Robot Chicken: Star Wars, which arrives on home video today after some delay. The disc was pushed back to coin...
Watchmen, Spirit Trailers Emerge
July 22, 2008 – Comic book fans can now get their first look at the upcoming major motion picture based on the bestselling graphic novel Watchmen. A trailer has hit the web, offering a glimpse at what appea...
DeAPlaneta Gets Planet 51 for Spain
July 22, 2008 – On the heels of Sony Pictures’ acquisition of U.S. distribution rights to the CG-animated feature film Planet 51 comes word that distributor DeAPlaneta has picked up the flick for Spain. ...
Disney Renews Content Deal with Greece’s ERT
July 22, 2008 – The Walt Disney Company’s EMEA TV distribution arm, Disney-ABC ESPN Television, has renewed its multi-year volume agreement with ERT, Greece’s top public TV broadcaster. The deal will increase ERT’...
South Park Season 11 Uncensored in August
July 22, 2008 – Comedy Central Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Entertainment will present the 11th season of South Park uncensored on DVD next month. Featuring the Emmy-nominated three-episode “Imagin...
Imageworks Awards Scholarships
July 22, 2008 – Sony Pictures Imageworks president Tim Sarnoff today announced the company’s second annual scholarship winners. From a record number of applicants, the selection committee chose four students who a...
Batman Makes Box-Office History
July 21, 2008 – Warner Bros.’ The Dark Knight brought in $158.3 million since opening Thursday night, surpassing last year’s Spider-Man 3 ($151 million) to score the highest-grossing opening weekend ...
Imagi Courts U.S. Investors
July 21, 2008 – Hong Kong- and Los Angeles-based animation studio Imagi will offer shares to U.S. investors via a secondary listing on the international OTCQX. The toon shop behind TMNT and the upcoming ...
Turbo Dogs Get Their Day on qubo
July 21, 2008 – Turbo Dogs, a new CG-animated action-comedy series from Scholastic, has been scheduled to debut on Oct. 3 on multilingual and multimedia programming platform qubo (www.qubo.com). In each epi...
Futurikon Flexes with Captain Biceps
July 21, 2008 – French animation house Futurikon tells us that it is launching a new animated series titled Captain Biceps at this year’s MIPCOM, taking place in October in Cannes, France. The show is based...
Porky, Tony the Tiger Grace VOICE 2008
July 21, 2008 – Bob Bergen, the current voice of Warner Bros.’ Porky Pig and Tweety, and Lee Marshall, the voice of Tony the Tiger, will be among the dignitaries attending the VoiceOver Int’l Creative Experience (...
Jimi Hendrix Makes Video Game Debut
July 21, 2008 – Wannabe guitar gods will soon get to live out one of their greatest fantasies—being Jimi Hendrix. The late rock legend will appear in a video game for the first time when Activision Publishing rele...
Space Chimps, Dark Knight Blast Off
July 18, 2008 – The CG-animated family film Space Chimps from Vanguard Animation and Starz Media gets off the launch pad today, soaring into the nation’s theaters along with Warner Bros’ latest Batman epic,...
France’s TeamTO Gets Funding for 3-D Toon
July 18, 2008 – Paris-based production company TeamTO is getting some financial aid in producing its first stereoscopic 3-D animated feature. Daily Variety reports that the entity will receive up to $95,000...
Nick Shows Go to Taiwan’s YOYO TV
July 18, 2008 – Leading Taiwanese children’s broadcaster YOYO TV has picked up more than 118 hours of animated programming from Nickelodeon. Established in 2005, the partnership between YOYO and MTV Networks Int’l...
Spike & Mike Site Launches
July 18, 2008 – For the first time in its 25-year history, The Spike & Mike Sick and Twisted Animation Festival is launching a consumer website at www.spikeandmike.com. Part of the Mondo Mini Shows Network, the si...
Watchmen, Batman Motion Comics Debut
July 18, 2008 – As Warner Bros.’ The Dark Knight swoops into theaters, the studio today announced the launch of Warner Premiere’s Motion Comics, a new way for fans to enjoy graphic novels. The initiative ki...
Toei’s Digimon, Pretty Cure Found Online
July 18, 2008 – Toei Animation Co. Ltd. and Toei Animation Inc. will debut their two most popular animated series, Digimon Adventure 02 and Pretty Cure, online this month. Each anime show will be ava...
Emmy Noms Announced
July 17, 2008 – The Academy today released its list of nominations for the 60th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, airing Sept. 21 on ABC. The animation categories will again be relegated to the Creative Arts ceremony ...
Sit Down, Shut Up! Back in Production
July 17, 2008 – After walking out to protest Sony’s reluctance to grant them a WGA contract, writers are reportedly returning to FOX’s upcoming primetime animated series Sit Down, Shut Up! Deadline Hollywoo...
Wolverine Goes to Jetix Latin America
July 17, 2008 – Jetix Latin America has acquired pay television and basic subscription television rights for the new animated action series Wolverine and the X-Men. Based on the Marvel Comics franchise, the...
Book Offers Crash Course in Character Animation
July 17, 2008 – Award-winning animator and director Eric Goldberg has a new book coming out titled Character Animation Crash Course. Set to be published by Silman-James Press in September, the tome and acco...
Woo Loads Caliber Comic Pic
July 17, 2008 – Famed action movie director John Woo (Face/Off, Hard Boiled) has signed on to helm a filmed adaptation of the Radical Comics’ Caliber, according to Daily Variety. Johnny...
TELETOON Gives Go-Ahead to Go-Girl
July 17, 2008 – Canada’s TELETOON has ordered 26 half hour of Go Girl, a live-action/animation hybrid series from Independent Canadian Studio Blueprint Ent. The first TELETOON original production to feature...
Sony Cooks Up 3-D Meatballs for 2010
July 16, 2008 – Sony Pictures Animation's Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs will be the studio's first animated release created specifically for stereoscopic 3-D. According to The Hollywood Reporter,...
Black Panther Sneaks at Comic-Con
July 16, 2008 – BET Networks and Marvel Animation will treat San Diego Comic-Con attendees to a special sneak peek at their upcoming animated superhero series, The Black Panther. BET's panel will take place...
JibJab Campaign Cartoon Hits Web
July 16, 2008 – JibJab, the company behind the 2004 animated Internet sensation This Land and last winter’s year-in-review video, Nucking Futs!, has released a new presidential campaign spoof featuri...
VeggieTales: Tomato Sawyer on DVD
July 16, 2008 – Big Idea Inc.’s VeggieTales: Tomato Sawyer and Huckleberry Larry’s Big River Rescue is now available on DVD. Young fans of the faith-based direct-to-video and theatrical release franchise ca...
Frank & Ollie Tribute Set for SIGGRAPH
July 16, 2008 – Animation Mentor (AnimationMentor.com), an online character animation school created by animators for animators, will host a panel discussion and tribute to the life, work and enduring legacy of Fr...
Cartoon d’Or Finalists Named
July 16, 2008 – CARTOON, the European Association of Animation Film, has announced the five finalists for the coveted Cartoon d’Or prize at the19th edition of Cartoon Forum, taking place Sept. 16-19 in Ludwigsburg...
Space Chimps Game Launched
July 16, 2008 – Brash Ent.’s video game based on the upcoming animated feature film Space Chimps has shipped to retailers nationwide. Featuring Cheryl Hines (Curb Your Enthusiasm), Patrick Warburton ...
Warner Bros. Orbits Capcom’s Lost Planet
July 15, 2008 – Warner Bros. is again taking on the tricky task of adapting a popular video game for the big screen. This time, the studio has signed on to distribute a pic based on the Capcom hit Lost Planet
Dark Knight Continues to Sell Out
July 15, 2008 – Warner Bros.’ The Dark Knight continues on its path to bona fide blockbuster status. First, online movie ticket seller Fandango.com reported sold-out screenings of the Batman installment, an...
Lone Ranger, Zorro Ride on Disc
July 15, 2008 – Two masked men fight for justice in the old west in a new DVD release from BCI/Eclipse. The New Adventures of the Lone Ranger and Zorro Vol. 2 brings more episodes of the Filmation 1980s TV ...
Angelus Student Fest Names Semi-Finalists
July 15, 2008 – A total of 75 student films have been picked as semi-finalists in the 2008 Angelus Student Film Festival, which takes place at the Directors Guild of America on Saturday, Sept. 13. According to org...
Anthem Finds Sanctuary at SCI FI Channel
July 15, 2008 – Vancouver-based Anthem Visual Effects is single-handedly producing all the visual effects for 13 hour-long episodes of a new SCI FI Channel television series titled Sanctuary. Slated to air ...
EA Has RAGE for id Software
July 15, 2008 – Electronic Arts (EA) today announced that it has signed on to publish the latest video game from id Software, the award-winning development studio behind Wolfenstein, DOOM, QUAKE
Hellboy Scorches Competition
July 14, 2008 – Universal’s Hellboy II: The Golden Army earned an estimated $35.8 million to lead a somewhat week post-holiday weekend at the North American box office. Director Guillermo del Toro’s sequel ...
Wild Things Further Delayed
July 14, 2008 – Bringing a kid lit classic to the screen sounds like a slam-dunk proposition, but Warner Bros.’ $80 million adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are is having trouble just ge...
Fly Me to the Moon Trailer Blasts Off
July 14, 2008 – Insects space out in 3-D this summer in the CG-animated family feature Fly Me to the Moon from Illuminata Pictures and nWave Pictures. Developed specifically for stereoscopic 3-D exhibition,...
Cleveland Voice Cast Grows
July 14, 2008 – The title character in FOX’s upcoming Family Guy spin-off is voiced by a white guy, and now his redneck neighbor will be voiced by an African-American actor. Daily Variety reports tha...
Fink Heads VFX at Frantic Films
July 14, 2008 – Academy Award Winner Michael L. Fink has been appointed president of visual effects worldwide for Frantic Films, a Division of Prime Focus Group. Working out of Frantic Films’ vfx facility in Holly...
Simpsons Gets Kidrobot Treatment
July 14, 2008 – Twentieth Century Fox Licensing and Merchandising and The Simpsons creator Matt Groening have joined forces with retailer Kidrobot to release the first-ever Simpsons vinyl toy mini-fi...
Hellboy, Journey, Dave Meet in Theaters
July 11, 2008 – The summer of CG effects continues as New Line Cinema's 3-D adaptation of the Jules Verne classic Journey to the Center of the Earth goes toe-to-toe with Universal's Hellboy II: The Golde...
DC, Warner to Form Super Strategy
July 11, 2008 – Warner Bros. is sure to make a killing with the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight, but plans for its DC Comics properties are sketchy beyond that. Daily Variety reports that the two u...
TELETOON Adds 11 Shows for Fall
July 11, 2008 – Canada's TELETOON is giving its viewership something to look forward to this fall as it prepares to debut 11 new series. Chowder, The Spectacular Spider-Man, Ben 10: Alien Force
Saw Director Cuts EA's Dead Space Trailer
July 11, 2008 – Electronic Arts Inc. today announced the launch of "Loved Ones," a new trailer for the upcoming video game Dead Space. Directed by James Wan, one of the filmmakers behind the Saw horr...
Toon Boom Offers Summer Specials
July 11, 2008 – The price of a gallon of gas keeps going up this summer, but at least animation is getting cheaper for some. Emmy award-winning software company Toon Boom Animation Inc. today announced that it has...
Space Chimps Clips Launch on Starz
July 10, 2008 – Actress Cheryl Hines (Curb Your Enthusiasm) will introduce exclusive clips and other material from her upcoming CG-animated feature film Space Chimps as she hosts a day-long "Amazing ...
Bert, Ernie Make Clay Debut in August
July 10, 2008 – The previously announced clay-animated series The Adventures of Bert and Ernie will debut this August on PBS KIDS as a regular segment of the 39th season of Sesame Street. Animated by...
MySpace Gets "Kroft Kwikies"
July 10, 2008 – Need some bite-sized fixes of Land of the Lost or H.R. Pufnstuf? If so, head over to MySpace.com. The social networking megasite today announced that it has launched a new branded vid...
Blog Site for CG Garfield Hits the Web
July 10, 2008 – Dargaud Media production studios has announced the launch of The Garfield Show blog at www.thegarfieldshow-diary.com. The producers and artists behind the upcoming series will chart the proc...
Toei Mints New One Piece Site
July 10, 2008 – Toei Animation Europe launched a new website for the animated property One Piece. Announced at this year's Japan Expo in France, the site features complete series overviews, historical infor...
ASIFA Brings Click & Clack to Comic-Con
July 10, 2008 – As part of its Comic-Con ’08 plans, ASIFA-Hollywood will offer a behind-the-scenes look at PBS's new primetime cartoon based on the radio show Car Talk. Other activities will include an expl...
SCI FI Beefs Up Ani-Monday
July 10, 2008 – SCI FI Channel this month debuts new series and movies in its weekly Ani-Monday anime programming block. Airing Monday nights from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m., the lineup will feature a collection of movies,...
Sony Claims Planet 51
July 09, 2008 – New Line Cinema's aborted mission has become Sony's new animation invasion plan. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group has bought North American dis...
Elfquest Ventures to the Screen
July 09, 2008 – Wendy and Richard Pini's cult comic book series Elfquest is the latest fantasy epics to be picked up by a major motion picture studio. The Hollywood Reporter brings word today that Wa...
Despereaux Trailer Debuts Online
July 09, 2008 – Fans of Kate DiCamillo’s Newberry Medal-winning children’s book The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread can finally get their first lo...
Ottawa TV Conference Lines Up Keynotes, Pitches
July 09, 2008 – Brown Johnson, president of Animation for Nickeoodeon, MTVN Kids and Family Group, will deliver the opening keynote address at the fifth annual Television Animation Conference (TAC) taking place Se...
DreamWorks Ani, Intel Team for 3-D
July 09, 2008 – DreamWorks Animation and Intel Corp. have formed a strategic alliance to advance the art of stereoscopic filmmaking. Starting with next year's Monsters Vs. Aliens (March 27), the partnership...
Brave Little Toaster Scribe Dies
July 09, 2008 – Science-fiction fans are mourning the passing of author Thomas M Disch, whose children's book The Brave Little Toaster was made into a popular animated series by Disney. Internet reports say...
Feature Review: Batman Gotham Knight
July 08, 2008 – Heath Ledger's perfromance as a certain clown-faced bank robber will help sell tickets for Warner Bros.' upcoming live-action release, The Dark Knight, but there's much more to the Batman my...
Fly Me Producer Flies with Dragon
July 08, 2008 – Charlotte Huggins, producer of nWave's upcoming CG-animated stereoscopic 3-D feature film Fly Me To the Moon, is trading in insects for mythical creatures for her next project. According to ...
Nick Shows Go to the Olympics
July 08, 2008 – Nickelodeon is celebrating the summer Olympics with four new sports-themed episodes of the hit animated shows The Fairly OddParents, The Backyardigans, Dora the Explorer and
Animation Block Party Set to Roll
July 08, 2008 – The Fifth Annual Animation Block Party (ABP) is taking place July 25-27 in Brooklyn, New York. Festival favorites Hot Dog from Bill Plympton, Lapsus from Juan Pablo Zaramella and T...
SOFTIMAGE|XSI 7 to be Served with ICE
July 08, 2008 – Avid Technology's Softimage Co. today announced SOFTIMAGE|XSI 7, the latest version of its professional 3D animation software for games, film and television. The update will introduce a transformat...
Hancock to the Rescue for Sony
July 07, 2008 – Sony Pictures and actor Will Smith have pulled off another Fourth of July blockbuster weekend with the deconstructed superhero flick Hancock. The film opened on Tuesday night and managed an ...
Imagi Lands Big Investor
July 07, 2008 – As it prepares its feature-length version of the anime classic Astro Boy for theatrical release sometime next year, Hong Kong- and Los Angeles-based animation studio Imagi is receiving a big...
R.I.P Bozo the Clown
July 07, 2008 – Larry Harmon, the entrepreneur who popularized Bozo the Clown more than 50 years ago, died of congestive heart failure on Thursday at the age of 83. Pinto Colvig, who provided the voice of Goofy in...
FUNimation Gets ARM, Geneon Anime Titles
July 07, 2008 – Navarre Corp.'s FUNimation Ent. has acquired distribution rights to a number of anime titles from ARM Corp. Later this year, FUNimation will begin releasing Devil May Cry, Murder Princess...
Anime Expo Issues Awards
July 07, 2008 – The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation, the organization behind the annual Anime Expo, has anounced the winners of the 2008 SPJA Awards. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya turne...
Academy Picks Students for CG Internships
July 07, 2008 – The Science and Technology Council of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has selected three students to participate in its second annual summer internship program designed to provide r...
Blur, Fincher to Animate Goon Comic
July 03, 2008 – Eric Powell, creator of the Dark Horse comic book series The Goon, announced on his website (www.thegoon.com) that the property has been optioned by filmmaker David Fincher (Zodiac,
FX All Ears for Horton Hears a Who!
July 03, 2008 – The hit animated family feature Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! will make its free TV debut on FX. Daily Variety reports that the basic cable network has snatched up broadcast rights ...
Cartoon Net, Adult Swim Comic-Con Plans Set
July 03, 2008 – Cartoon Network and Adult Swim will again host panel discussions, signings and a number of other activities at this year's San Diego Comic-Con Int'l. Taking place July 24-28 at the Los Angeles Conv...
Halo Board Game Announced
July 03, 2008 – Genius Products Inc. and B1 Games have teamed to create the first board game based on bestselling Halo video game property from Microsoft and developer Bungie. Scheduled to arrive at retail ...
Astro Boy Zooms to Anime Expo
July 03, 2008 – Imagi Studios and Summit Ent. will be at Anime Expo 2008 this weekend to introduce attendees to the upcoming animated feature film Astro Boy. The companies will be at booths 913 and 915 with...
Box-Office Fireworks for Hancock?
July 02, 2008 – Casting the world's box-office champ as a reluctant superhero should pay off big for Sony Pictures as the Will Smith action-comedy Hancock opens in theaters today. The Tuesday night screenin...
Warner Bros. Picks Up Hiding in Time Comic
July 02, 2008 – As he works to bring George Miller's Justice League movie to the big screen, producer Dan Lin has boarded another comic-book adaptation for Warner Bros. Daily Variety reports that the...
Nick Nabs Ratings Milestone
July 02, 2008 – Citing Nielsen Media Research data, popular kids' cable network Nickelodeon has claimed its 53rd consecutive quarter as basic cable's top total-day performer with kids and all viewers. The 14-year ...
AOL Opens BigDownload.com
July 02, 2008 – AOL announced the launch of BigDownload.com, a new content and service site for the PC gaming audience. The first joint project between AOL Games and Weblogs Inc. (www.weblogsinc.com), the site pro...
Comic Book Challenge Names Top 50
July 02, 2008 – Platinum Studios Inc. today announced the top 50 contestants in The Comic Book Challenge, the company's international competition to find the next great comic-book creator. In addition to a shot at...
WGA Scribes Support Sit Down, Shut Up Writers
July 02, 2008 – A number of animation writers/producers who are members of the Writers' Guild of America (WGA) have come out in support of fellow scribes who walked off of FOX's new animated series, Sit Down, S...
Imageworks Takes on Heroic Projects
July 01, 2008 – With its work on the big-budget superhero satire Hancock set to splash onto screens this weekend, Sony Pictures Imageworks has released a rundown of all the projects currently in its pipelin...
Naruto, Samurai 7, Bravestarr on Disc
July 01, 2008 – Heroic television figures dominate this week's animated home video debuts as anime warriors and space cowboys arrive at retail. Fans can now pick up VIZ's release of Naruto Vol. 25, FUNimati...
Martha Speaks to PBS KIDS on Labor Day
July 01, 2008 – Young viewers will learn what happens when a dog suddenly acquires the extraordinary ability to talk as the new animated series Martha Speaks debuts on PBS KIDS this fall. Slated to premiere...
IFG Plows Into FARMkids
July 01, 2008 – International Film Group (IFG) has signed on to be the exclusive sales agent for Australian production company FARMkids in the Asia-Pacific region. The partnership has already yielded a television ...
LucasFilm, Toys 'R'Us Partner for Clone Wars
July 01, 2008 &n