Animation Magazine (189) November 2008

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T H E B U S I N E S S , T E C H N O LO G Y & A R T O F A N I M AT I O N A N D V F X
November
2008
MIPCOM’s
Hits and Misses
¬
HBO’s New
Grown-Up Toon
$5.95 U.S.
1 1> The Wild, Wild World of
0 74470 82258 5
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
w w w . a n i m a t i o n m a g a z i n e . n e t
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CONTENTS WWW.ANIMATIONMAGAZINE.NET
Volume 22, Issue 10, Number 189, November 2008
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20 26 31 78
CG-animated Tinker Bell finally earns her new shorts series from Gamania, adds for a movie featuring talking dogs, a
Frame-by-Frame wings. [by Jake Friedman] a Zen touch to classic fables. [by Ramin rat and an iguana, you need to do a lot
6 November Animation Planner ... Zahed] more than muzzle replacement.
Books We Love ... In Remembrance of Television 56 HBO’s Big Laughs for the Small [by Barbara Robertson]
Bill Melendez … Tezuka Tribute ... Nick 31 These Little Piggies Went Everywhere! Screen. The Life and Times of Tim offers 80 It Takes an Electric Village! Director
picks up FanBoy. National Geographic Kids and Mercury a new grown-up toon for those who are Gil Kenan and vfx supervisor Eric Durst
Filmworks combine sparkling animation older than rug-rats, but are not quite join forces with vfx houses BUF and Luma
Games and plenty of heart to bring Holly family guys! [by Mercedes Milligan] Pictures to bring City of Ember to life. [by
18 More E for All. Game on for second Hobbie’s Toot & Puddle to the small 58 Mouse House Says Good-bye to Ron Magid]
annual interactive entertainment expo. screen. [by Mercedes Milligan] Toon Disney. Disney XD eyes the boys’ 84 Tech Reviews [by Todd Sheridan
[by Ryan Ball] 35 Best Fiends Forever. Amy Winfrey’s action market. [by Ryan Ball] Perry]
19 Gaming Evolves with Spore. Gamers popular Making Fiends series makes a 60 Padded Cel. A Merger Preparedness
get creative with the hot new game triumphant transition from the web to Primer. [by Robby London] Opportunities
from EA and Sims creator Will Wright. [by Nicktoons this month. [by Ramin Zahed] 62 Fresh Riviera Wrap: 2008 Edition. 87 The German Pursuit of Perfection.
Ryan Ball] 38 A Globetrotting Mouse. Geronimo News and views about the MIPCOM How Baden-Württemberg’s
Stilton is poised to make a graceful leap audiovisual content market, held Oct. Filmakademie has become
Features to the small screen. [by Ramin Zahed] 13-17, in Cannes, France. phenomenal at honing the talents of its
20 The Return Call of the Wild. The 40 Japan’s Dentsu Looks to the West. 68 Inspidea Goes for Sushi. The animation students in six short years. [by
creative team behind the Madagascar The epic anime series, Deltora Quest, is Malyasian Studio joins forces with Ellen Wolff]
sequel faced many visual and narrative one of Dentsu L.A.’s first new adventures. SIP Animation for a fun show about 90 It’s Who You Know. One Plus Hub
challenges as the film brings the Central [by Ramin Zahed] competitive fish. highlights the importance of networking.
Park Zoo animals to the plains of Africa. 42 Mondo TV’s Angel Friends Spread 70 Hitting All the Right Intergalactic [by Jill Gilbert]
[by Ramin Zahed] Their Wings. Meet the new girl power Notes. The man behind the score of the 92 3D Pete. This year’s hot movie tie-in
team from the Italian toon house. new Star Wars: The Clone Wars series toys! [by Mike Fisher]
Home Entertainment 44 Big Storms in Modern China. How 21st writes about the show’s exotic music. 94 A Day In the Life. We pay a visit
24 The Samurai Critic. Reviews of the century animation models are reviving [by Kevin Kiner] to the creative team at Animax
new anime DVDs. [by Charles Solomon] classic tales and characters in the fast- 72 International Espionage, Kiddie Style. Entertainment in L.A.
25 Late-in-the-Year Liaisons on DVD. changing country. [by Alex S. Dai] Marathon Media’s new 2D show The
Homer, Princess Aurora, Robot Chicken
and a clan of feisty rabbits flirt with your
47 Cultural Revolution, Take Two. An
American expert looks at Chinese
Amazing Spiez! targets the young boy
demographic.
Cover: DreamWorks
Animation’s Madagascar: Escape
wallet this month. [by Mercedes Milligan] animation’s winding road home. [by
2 Africa offers more eye-popping
26 A Revealing Anime Flashback. Kevin Geiger] Licensing visuals and dramatic situations—and
Digital Meme’s four-disc DVD offers 50 Broad Comedy. Breakthrough 74 Objects of Our Affection. News from
lemurs and penguins to boot.
a wonderful look at the early years
NOV•08
Animation and Canwest’s Producing the world of toys and merchandising.

of animation in Japan. [by Charles Parker takes an animated look at the life
MIPCOM Cover: Taffy
Solomon] of a daytime chat show producer. [by VFX Entertainment brings the new
28 A Modern Fairy Tale. It took years of Ramin Zahed] 78 Wagging the Dogs, the Rat and the
development and tinkering, but Disney’s 54 Gentle Gems. Mig Said..., a poetic Iguana. When you create the effects
animated series Twisted Whiskers to 7
the French TV market.
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ANIMATION MAGAZINE
I
am writing this month’s letter from the beautiful Canadian city of November 2008
EDITOR’S NOTE
Ottawa, where I had the great opportunity to attend the exciting

Vol. 22, Issue 10, No. 189
Animation Festival and TV Conference. Never underestimate the Info@animationmagazine.net
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ability of these and other toon-themed events to recharge your
batteries and fuel your enthusiasm for the limitless possibilities of our President Jean Thoren
favorite art form and medium. Publisher Jodi Bluth
First up, a big brava/shout-out to conference director Azarin Accounting Jan Bayouth
Sohrabkhani, who put together a two-day program packed with
Webmaster Eric Brandenberg
informative seminars, panels and presentations. Having Nickelodeon Animation
president Brown Johnson and Robot Chicken co-creators Seth Green and Matthew EDITORIAL Edit@animationmagazine.net
________________
Senreich as keynote speakers was a huge coup. I still can’t believe they managed to Editor-in-Chief Ramin Zahed
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WWW.ANIMATIONMAGAZINE.NET
deliver inspiring speeches at 8:30 in the morning each day!

Web and Gaming Editor Ryan Ball
Johnson kicked things off by talking Robot Chicken
Contributing Editors Chris Grove, Ron Magid,
about Nickelodeon’s early days and how
the toon renaissance of the ’90s began
Barbara Robertson
with three smart shows—Doug, Rugrats Editorial Assistant Mercedes Milligan
and Ren & Stimpy!—which all debuted Animation Art Advisor Ron Barbagallo
on the same day in August of 1991. She Digital Reviews Editor Todd Sheridan Perry
also reminisced about one of her favorite Contributors
meetings in which Stephen Hillenburg Alex S. Dai, Mike Fisher, Jake Friedman,
(wearing a Hawaiian shirt) showed up with Kevin Geiger, Jill Gilbert, Kevin Kiner,
an aquarium tank, played ukelele and Robby London, Charles Solomon, Ellen Wolff
pitched this show about a porous sponge.
“The consumer division wasn’t as thrilled about the concept of the show, but they’ve ADVERTISING SALES
come around since then,” she joked. She also touched upon the great Sales@animationmagazine.net
________________
responsibility to fuel the animation process and to give freedom to artistic Sheri Shelton
minds to roam. “You need to feel creative to be creative,” she noted.
Green and Senreich were equally appreciative of the support they PRODUCTION ________________
Prod@animationmagazine.net
get from the team at Cartoon Network’s [adult swim]. “We decided from Art and Production Director Susanne Rector
day one never to work with people we don’t like,” said Green. He and
Senreich talked about their amazement at the fact that they’re in the CIRCULATION ________________
Circ@animationmagazine.net
fourth season of their hit stop-motion show. “It feels amazingly impossible. Circulation Director Jan Bayouth
Seth Green This was going to be our second job, our hobby, something that would Circulation Administrator Alexis Beebe
never bring us money,” added Green. “Each season takes about six
months of pure intensive labor, but we’re able to do this because we work TO ADVERTISE:
with people who trust us to take chances and who share our goals to Phone: 818-991-2884
Fax: 818-991-3773
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They gave props to their staff of 102 employees (including the “unpaid Website: www.animationmagazine.net
interns!” and their team of “unspoiled and unbitter writers”). “We got
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Pretty darn great, guys! Here’s to many more seasons of the insanely funny show. Oh, Published monthly by:
and incidentally, the Season 3 DVD comes out on October 7! Animation Magazine
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© 2008 Animation Magazine
NOV•08
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The copyrights and trademarks of images featured herein are the property of their respective
Keret as her guide, inventive Israeli filmmaker Tatia Rosenthal concocts an artful film owners. Animation Magazine acknowledges the creators and copyright
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that’s enchanted, enchanting and meaningful, too.” Printed in the U.S.A.
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a hit at the recent Toronto Film Festival.
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The Animation Planner

FRAME-BY-FRAME
November
1 Hailed as the Sundance 4 It’s going to be a rough month 4-9 Brush up your German 6-14 Rio is perhaps 7 The folks at DreamWorks
Animation are hoping for
of the game animation on your wallet—just check out for the Int’l Short Film the perfect city to host the
set, the annual Machinima the titles out on DVD today: Festival in Berlin this week International Festival of another big holiday hit with
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Filmfestival takes place Popeye the Sailor: 1941-1943, (www.interfi

_________ lm.de). Erotic Animation (www.fi
_____ ae. Madagascar: Escape 2
in New York Vol. 3; Batman: The com.br). Africa, in which Alex the Lion
City today Complete Animated Series; (Ben Stiller) and friends find
(www.festival. Futurama: Bender’s Game; themselves
machinima.org).
________ Chowder, Vol. 1; Home missing the
Movies: 10th Anniversary comforts of
Set and Fraggle Rock: their New York
The Complete Series! City zoo again.
10-16 Learn to do it in 11 If you’d like to get some early holiday shopping 11-13 Hey,
mates, it’s time to fly to Sydney
14 Daniel Craig is back to
do his thing as
Portuguese at the Cinanima done, just check out the new DVDs on sale today:
Festival in Espinho, Portugal, Walt Disney Treasures: The Chronological for the Australian Effects Agent 007 in
this week (www.cinanima.pt). Donald, Vol. 4, 1951-1961 and Mickey Mouse and Animation Awards (www.
___ the oddly titled
Club Presents Annette 1957-1958; Naruto the digitalmedia.com.au). Quantum of
Movie: Guardians of the Crescent Solace feature,
Moon Kingdom; Harry Potter, Years directed by
1-5 and Firefly: The Complete Series Marc Forster.
on Blu-ray.
14-16 Yes, more excitement 18 We have a big smile on

our face as Disney/Pixar’s
18-20 Check out visions 19-23 Take in the 21-23 You can meet Brian
is brewing Down Under, as for our future at the 6Sight views at the 3DX Film and O’Halloran (Clerks)
the AnimfxNZ kicks off in WALL•E comes out on DVD Future of Imaging confab Entertainment Tech Festival and the cast and
Wellington, New Zealand today and Blu-ray today. Also in Monterey, Calif. (www.
___ in Singapore. Special guests crew of Aqua Teen
(www.animfxnz.com). demanding our attention are futureimage.com).
_________ include James Cameron, Jeffrey Hunger Force at
the new SpongeBob Katzenberg and Jim Gianopulos this year’s Atlanta
SquarePants: Season (www.3dxfestival.com). SuperCon (www.
___
5, Vol. 2 atlantasupercon.
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and Doctor com).
___
Who: The Infinite
Quest.
21 Disney will unleash its 25 It’s a bird. It’s a plane. 26 If you’re in the mood 27 Today is the opening day
of the Anilogue Int’l Animation
much-anticipate new animated It’s the Superman: Doomsday for holiday post-apocalyptic
feature, Bolt, in theaters movie, which arrives on shiny tales of doom, you may want Festival,
today. Directed by Byron Blu-ray today. to check out Viggo Mortensen which runs
Howard and Chris Miller, and Charlize Theron in The through Dec.
the pic features the Road. Fans of more escapist 3 in Budapest,
voices of John Travolta and fare may opt for the latest Hungary (www.
___
Susie Essman. Teenage girls offering from lean, mean anilogue.com).

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will be rushing to see the screen fighting machine Jason
NOV•08
adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s Statham in Transporter 3.

bloodsuckers’ tale Twilight.
12
mercedes@animationmagazine.net.
To get your company’s events and products listed in this monthly calendar, please e-mail _________________________
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Books We Love
FRAME-BY-FRAME
Catmull, but when an extended clip was screened at Comic-Con last July, fans gave it
100 Days of Monsters
two paws up. In late October, the companion art book penned by the knowledgeable
By Stefan G. Bucher
Mark Cotta Vaz arrives in stores, a few weeks before the movie’s opening. Cotta Vaz
[How Books, $19.99]
has taken us on similar rides before—his credits include books about the art of Finding
I t all started in May of 2006, when designer Stefan Bucher
decided to draw an ink-blot monster every day for 100
days and post a video of himself drawing the creature
Nemo, The Incredibles, Star Wars and The Polar Express—and definitely knows his
subject matter. As we’ve come to expect from Chronicle Books, there is no shortage
of concept art, storyboard sketches and full-color illustrations—over 250 pieces are
online. That’s how the popular site dailymonster.com was born, and soon millions of fans
included in this glossy hardcover. The movie’s talented helmers Chris Williams and Byron
were submitting their own back stories about the sketches and as of a few months ago,
Howard provide the book’s intro, and there’s a foreword by everyone’s favorite chief
over 1,600,000 videos had been downloaded. Those of us who’d like to have a record of
creative officer, John Lasseter. Now all moviegoers will need are an open mind and the
this creative endeavor in our hands are doing a happy dance about the Monsters book
power to stop comparing every animated movie to WALL•E!
and tie-in DVD. “I wanted to create a time capsule of this odd little lark that developed
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a life of its own,” writes Bucher in the intro. “I didn’t plan any of this, but I’m so glad it
happened. I’ve been drawing since I could hold a pencil, and I’ve always been happy Walt Disney’s Alice in Wonderland
when I got another drawing done. But after all these years, these monsters are the first Illustrated by Mary Blair, written by Jon Scieszka
drawings that are fun while I’m drawing them!” And believe us when we tell you that this [Disney Press, $16.99]
book is definitely just as fun to look at or give to someone who appreciates much-needed
splashes of creativity in this world. T he past couple years certainly had their share of
horrible low points in art and culture, but any period that sees the release of
not one, but two books illustrated by the amazing Mary Blair can’t be all that bad.
It’s a delight to see Jon Scieszka’s (The Stinky Cheese Man, Time Warp Trio) clever
The Art of Bolt
retelling of the Lewis Carroll story accompanied by the drawings of Blair (1911-1978),
By Mark Cotta Vaz
who is credited with color stylings on Disney’s Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland and
[Chronicle Books, $40]
Peter Pan and continues to influence new generations of animators and illustrators.
A lthough Disney’s Bolt will be under much scrutiny
since it’s the first non-Pixar CG-animated project from the studio under John
Lasseter’s leadership, family audiences will simply go to the theaters to take in an
There’s only one problem about revisiting Wonderland through the eyes of the
uniquely talented Ms. Blair—you wish more volumes of her artwork could become
available to us every year. If the 64 pages of this book leave you hungry for more,
entertaining story about a white German Shepherd star who has to adjust to life in the
don’t forget to check out John Canemaker’s definitive book about the artist, The
real world, accompanied by a nervous cat named Mittens and a hamster called Rhino.
Art and Flair of Mary Blair (Disney Editions, $40), which was published in 2003. ■
The project has had a troubled history—fans were dismayed when the toon’s original
—Ramin Zahed
director Chris Sanders (Lilo & Stitch) left Disney after clashing with Lasseter and Ed
NOV•08
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In Memoriam:
Bill Melendez (1917-2008)
FRAME-BY-FRAME
I t’s the end of an era, Charlie Brown. Last month, the animation world mourned the
loss of Bill Melendez, the talented animator, director and producer who gave us those
unforgettable Peanuts TV specials. Melendez, who had a remarkable 70-year career as
an animator and worked on Disney classics such as Dumbo, Bambi, Pinocchio, Fantasia
and Bambi and Warner Bros. characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Porky Pig,
died at the age of 91 at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, Calif.
Born in Sonora, Mexico, Melendez and his family moved to Arizona in 1928 and then
to Los Angeles in the 1930s. Melendez trained at the Chouinard Art Studio (now CalArts)
___________________
and was a former faculty member of the Cinema Arts Dept. at USC. Melendez left
Warner Bros. for UPA in 1948, where as a director and producer he worked on hundreds
of commercials and shorts, including the Oscar-winning Gerald McBoing Boing.
In 1959, he directed the first animated version of Charles M. Schulz’s Peanuts
characters for a series of Ford Falcon commercials. In 1964, he founded Bill Melendez
Productions, where he delivered his best-loved project, the Emmy-winning holiday classic A
Charlie Brown Christmas (1965), co-produced with partner Lee Mendelson for CBS. In addition
to the Peanuts collection (which included over 63 half-hour specials, five one-hour specials,
four features and over 372 commercials ), Melendez also directed Garfield on the Town,
Cathy, Babar Comes to America and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. He was also the
voice of Snoopy, Woodstock and Spike throughout the years.
Melendez received 17 Emmy nomination and eight wins, as well as an Oscar nomination for
co-writing the score for A Boy Named Charlie Brown with Vince Guaraldi and two Peabody
awards. His son Steven will continue his legacy and lead Bill Melendez Productions. Melendez is survived by his wife of
68 years, Helen; two sons; six grandchildren; and 11 great grandchildren. Donations may be made in his name to the
Children’s Hospital, Los Angeles.
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Nick Greenlights Fanboy Revisiting Astro Boy’s Father
I t’s official: After a successful sneak peek at

Comic-Con this year, Eric Robles’ original
I f you are lucky
enough to
be in Japan
Fanboy and Chum Chum series has been picked
this month for
up by Nickelodeon for an early 2009 debut.
the Tokyo Film
The show, which began its life as one of Fred
Festival, make
Seibert’s Random! Cartoons shorts, follows the
sure you take
misadventures
in a wonderful
of Fanboy, a
retrospective
10-year-old
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planned for
comic-book
the “father
enthusiast
of manga
(David
and anime,” the late Osamu Tezuka. After creating some of the
Hornsby) and
most successful Japanese comic books of the post-war era, he
his imaginative
transferred his talents to the world of TV animation. In 1963, Astro
sidekick Chum
Boy became the first domestic animated TV series in Japan, and
Chum (Nika
its was followed by many other hits including Kimba the White Lion.
Futterman).
The festival celebration includes the 1979 anime, Marine Express,
The cabler has
which has an environmental theme, as well as selected episodes
ordered 26
of Astro Boy, Princess Knight and New Jungle Emperor, Go Ahead
episodes of the CG-animated show, which is exec
Leo!. On the feature side, audiences will get a chance to see
produced by Robles, Seibert and Steve Tompkins.
The Fantastic Adventures of Unico (1981) and Unico in the Island
The series voice cast also includes Jamie Kennedy,
of Magic (1983), and the live-action/animated projects Phoenix:
Josh Duhamel and Estelle Harris. We’re sure
Dawn (1978) and Phoenix 2772 (1980). Let’s hope this event
many of us will recognize some part of ourselves
becomes a traveling show so that we all get to experience some
reflected in the new show’s main characters!
of Tezuka’s rarely seen classics on the big screen. ■
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was the desire to see more of the best game

companies and best titles represented at the
show,” she says. “That’s one of the reasons
that we’re thrilled to have Microsoft on-board
at this year’s E for All. We also heard last year
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that attendees wanted more flexibility and

savings in ticket prices, so we’ve changed
our pricing structure to meet those needs.”
Dolaher and her team are also excited
about a new partnership with Target, which
will be the official retailer at E for All. The ar-
rangement will allow expo attendees to not
only try the newest games and gear, but also
purchase them on the spot and take them
home.
Another major attraction at this year’s
show is the World Cyber Games USA 2008 Na-
tional Final. Two-hundred of America’s best
More E for All players will be competing for a chance to

make Team USA and represent the U.S. at the
WCG 2008 Grand Final in November. The
Game on for second annual interactive competition will also include the Samsung
entertainment expo. by Ryan Ball Mobile Challenge tournament, a women’s
gaming invitational tournament, an old-
W
hen it was announced that the Johnathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel is back as school pinball competition, various walk-up
2007 Electronic Entertainment Expo the face of the second edition of E for All. video gaming contests and more.
(E3) would be closed to the public, Holder of 12 world championship titles in five Those interested in careers in making
it looked like Game Over for enthusiasts who different games, Wendel is living every hard- games can attend the Game Developers
had come out every year to check out all the core gamer’s fantasy of playing games and Conference (GDC) Game Career Seminar.
hottest upcoming games, get some hands- “The seminar helps jumpstart the careers of
on time with new consoles and meet fellow passionate gamers who want to work in the
gamers from around the world (and blow video game development industry,” notes
them up). The discontent was short-lived, Dolaher. It’s an important program that helps
however, as the Entertainment for All Expo (E newcomers and industry insiders alike uncov-
for All) emerged to fill the void, giving button er opportunities, inspire new ideas and further
mashers an occasion to once again gather their careers.”
in Los Angeles and revel in gamer geekdom. According to Dolaher, the exploding casu-
The second annual edition takes place Oct. al gaming sector will also be heavily repre-
3-5 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. sented in this year’s expo. “Our show floor will
Produced by IDG World Expo, E For All is a reflect this broadening of the industry’s audi-
celebration of video games and the people ence, featuring a diverse group of compa-
who play them. Bringing together consumers, nies offering everything from games for chil-
members of the media, publishers, develop- dren to games for the most devoted gamer,”
ers and retailers, the event features exhibits she says. “Additionally, we are in the process
from leading interactive entertainment com- of solidifying some new programs on the
panies and allows consumers to test and buy show floor that will cater to new and casual
the newest video games and gadgets. Other making big bucks doing it. He’ll be on the gamers, which will be made public shortly.”
highlights include professional game tourna- show floor interacting with his fans, challeng- Companies presenting games will be vying
ments, educational seminars and celebrity ing fellow gamers in head-to-head exhibi- for the E For All People’s Choice awards,
appearances. tions, conducting hands-on gaming demon- which are reserved for the games that fare
One of this year’s biggest developments is strations, signing autographs and sharing his the best in public voting. Results will be re-
the participation of Microsoft Corp., which vision for the future of pro gaming. leased after the show and will help in identify-
sat out last year’s show. The company behind Mary Dolaher, CEO of IDG World Expo, tells ing which titles will be the hottest sellers this
the Xbox 360 and many of today’s bestselling us feedback from last year’s event has holiday season. ■
NOV•08
games will be bringing its latest wares in helped greatly in making the show even bet- For more information on E For All
hopes of winning the approval of the interna- ter this time around. “Perhaps one of the big- 2008 go to www.EforAllExpo.com.
18 tional gaming community. gest things that we received feedback on
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Gaming Evolves were a kid, but the Creature Creator gave
them a way to express themselves and be
with Spore creative, which is a wonderful thing.”

Spore builds on principles introduced in
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previous Maxis games, but also represents a
leap into all-new territory. Hecker explains,
Gamers get creative with the hot new game from EA and “We tried to keep a lot of the same qualities
Sims creator Will Wright. by Ryan Ball that made people like The Sims, like having
non-combat ways of resolving conflict and
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s the ongoing debate over creation- leave it to the folks at Maxis to figure it out. not having the experience be so directed
ism and evolution becomes a hot- The company has written a couple detailed that the player can’t make up their own sto-
button issue in the current U.S. presi- technical papers on the subject and recently ries. That said, it’s clearly a lot of different
dential debate, a new online sensation from presented its animation system at SIG- technology from a Sims or SimCity game,
Eletronic Arts and the creator of the Sims fran- GRAPH. that’s for sure.”
chise shows that the two disciplines don’t “The animator describes what they’re try- In addition to making creatures, players
have to be mutually exclusive. Spore is a ing to accomplish with a given motion to the can use editing tools to revise the design of
“massively single-player” game that allows system, in a way that the system can apply to buildings and vehicles found in the universe.
gamers to create a new species of creature
and steer its evolution to ensure survival in an
ever-changing virtual universe. Will the title
help Bible literalists and followers of Darwin fi-
nally find some middle ground? It’s doubtful.
But it is a great way to exercise creativity and
kill some time online.
Developed by Will Wright’s Maxis studio,
Spore features the unique Creature Creator,
which allows players to model their own 3D
creatures using provided body parts and
easy-to-use editing tools. Life forms can be as
simple or as complex as the user wants to
make them, and gamers are proving that the
sky is the limit. The game debuted just weeks
ago, but the Creature Creator was released
months earlier, allowing people around the
world to play with the tools and upload their
creations. By the second day of availability,
roughly 250,000 unique creatures had been
generated. More than three million had been
created by the time the game shipped. Each
new species designed becomes part of the the creature later,” Hecker explains. “So the Hecker thinks the creativity involved will help
game and contributes to the growth of the animator tells the system, ‘I want to select a Maxis capture an even bigger chunk of the
Spore world. right-hand side grasper and move it to pick a exploding casual games market.
“There are lots of games that let you make piece of fruit,’ and the system takes that de- “The lesson of Web 2.0 firms like YouTube
your own character, since Dungeons & Drag- scription and figures out how to apply it to the and MySpace is that everybody likes to cre-
ons came out back in the ‘70s, in fact,” notes player’s creature [taking into account] how ate things and put them up for others to see,
Chris Hecker, technology fellow at Maxis. big the motion should be, where the fruit is on so hopefully we will tap into that,” he says.
“Most games don’t take it as far as we have, the tree, etc.” “Since we now have 11 million creations in
though. Spore lets players stick an arbitrary The Creature Creator was five years in de- the database, I think we’re well on our way.
number of arms and legs and heads on their velopment as Maxis worked to find a way to Figuring out how to use all this amazing data
character, which takes it to a whole new level put professional-quality character modeling is a really fun challenge!”
in terms of the game needing to deal with capabilities in the hands of untrained artists. Spore is now available for Windows PC
the combinatorics.” “The biggest thing for me is that it’s really and Nintendo DS. Spore Origins is also on the
Combinatorics is a fancy way of saying helped people unleash their creative side,” market for mobile devices. The Creature Cre-
NOV•08
there are some crazy-ass looking creatures Hecker notes. “You can find a lot of forum ator is a separate application that retails for
and the animation system has to drive each posts on the Internet where people talk about $9.99. For more information, go to ___ www.
unique variation. It seems impossible, but how they hadn’t drawn anything since they spore.com. ■ 19
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Katzenberg, McGrath and Darnell (who

The creative team behind the Madagascar sequel faced many
co-wrote and directed the first outing)
visual and narrative challenges as the film brings the Central Park and co-writer Etan Cohen (King of the Hill,
zoo animals to the plains of Africa. (Yes, the crafty penguins and the Tropic Thunder) decided to explore how
party-loving lemurs are also back for the ride.) by Ramin Zahed Alex was taken from the Savannah by
H
poachers as a young cub and depict his
ow do you follow up a ram- Africa finds Alex the lion (Ben Stiller), Marty reunion with the parents he never got to
bunctious movie about a group the zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the giraffe know.
of New York City animals who (David Schwimmer) and Gloria the hippo “Part of the emotional impact of the
have to fend for themselves in the jungles (Jada Pinkett Smith) lost in the awe-inspir- movie comes from Alex’s relationship with
of Madagascar? You do what they used ing plains of Africa after a disastrous flight his dad [voiced by the late Bernie Mac],
to with the old Bob Hope and Bing Crosby aboard an old crashed plane fixed by the who is an alpha lion,” says McGrath. “His
movies: Take the likeable characters and penguins! father has a certain idea of what a male
put them in new surroundings, where “We kind of had a story in mind before lion should be like, and Alex is a song-and-
they’ll be bombarded with more chal- the first movie came out,” says Tom dance guy, and his dad doesn’t really see
lenging and hilarious situations. McGrath, who also voices Skipper, the his gifts. Then we also have the love story
Directed by Eric Darnell (Antz, Mada- penguin. “We had it in the back of our between Melman and Gloria, which was
gascar) and Tom McGrath (Madagas- minds that they’d go to mainland Africa. a residual from the first movie. We really
car), the sequel to the 2005 summer They are such fun characters that we feel that emotionally, this one is a lot stron-
blockbuster, which made close to $533 knew we could take them to different ger than the first movie.”
million worldwide, has certainly upped places and through deeper emotional
NOV•08
the ante, both in terms of its inspired CG- experiences.” Being There
animated visuals and its emotionally re- After they got the go-ahead from Once the sequel’s location was decid-
20 warding storyline. Madagascar: Escape 2 DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey ed, Katzenberg took the directors and the
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Director Eric Darnell
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Director
Tom McGrath
Art Director
Shannon Jeffries
Return of the Beasts 2.0: Led by directors Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath, Madagascar:
Escape 2 Africa ups the ante with CG-animated set pieces involving various
collections of animals and stunning African landscapes. The star-studded voice cast
includes familiar voices from the first movie (Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer,
Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen and Andy Richter) as well as new additions
Production Designer
such as Cedric the Entertainer, the late Bernie Mac and music by will.i.am.
Kendal Cronkhite
heads of the film’s department on a trip to what it looks like. We took the design con- to do that?”
the continent so they could all get a good ceits that were a big part of the original The film’s accomplished vfx crew
feel for the unique landscape and flora movie and tried to create an Africa that helped create the majestic skies, the mil-
and fauna. “We visited Kenya and seven they’d recognize.” lions of blades of grass and the difficult
different wildlife parks in eight days,” says McGrath says they used over 15,000 scenes featuring herds of animals using
McGrath. “There have been so many photos and numerous hours of video foot- the studio’s proprietary digital software.
movies made in Africa, but once you see age as blueprints for their CG adventure. “We pushed the limits of technology, try-
it yourself, it’s a completely different expe- “When you get to Africa, you realize just ing to get the light to shine through the
rience. For example, part of the plot re- how big the place is,” he says, “Two-thirds clouds to get a unique translucent behav-
volves around the importance of the wa- of what you see when you’re there is sky. ior,” says returning vfx supervisor Philippe
tering hole and how water is such a valu- And we just realized that it has to be a Gluckman, “This brought us some really
able resource for all the animals. That huge part of our set … How are we going amazing images that either were used di-
came out of our trip.” rectly, where the clouds are actu-
The new setting opened a ally 3D elements, or were used as
world of possibilities to Darnell the basis for the painters to start
and McGrath, who met eight with. And it gave us looks that
years ago at DreamWorks. “A lot were really fascinating.” A team
of people weren’t aware of of matte painters then helped in-
Madagascar … Some didn’t corporate these expensive CG
even know what it looked like. clouds into the frames.
So, we could create this fantasy One of the key scenes in the
NOV•08
world,” says Darnell. “But Africa is movie is the plane crash in the first
so different … Even if you haven’t act. Aided by Oscar-winning cin-
been there, you have an idea of ematographer Guillermo Navarro 21
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(Pan’s Labyrinth, Stuart Little), the filmmak-

ers plotted the sequence by strapping
animators and layout artists on an upside-
down couch and shooting them with a
shaky camera. The vfx team spent a lot of
time creating subtle touches such as
blowing curtains, wind blowing through
WWW.ANIMATIONMAGAZINE.NET ___________________
the animals’ manes, or pieces of the

plane’s body being peeled away as it
crashes down to Earth. Each shot in the
crash sequence involved 15 to 30 effects
elements, and the artists would spend
about six weeks polishing each one them.
Because of the project’s visual fireworks
and mind-boggling attention to detail,
the render time for Escape 2 Africa
clocked in at 30 million hours—a huge
bump over the 12 million hours it took to The retro look also played ues to improve and be-
complete Madagascar. an integral part in art director come more user-friendly.
Shannon Jeffries’ overall vi- People are getting so
Different Stripes sion. “We looked at a lot of much better in using
For production designer Kendal Cronkh- design work from the ’60s the medium to tell
ite (Antz, James and the Giant Peach) and also looked at African their stories. Today,
who also worked on the first movie, the patterns,” she says. “I we’re seeing more
complex setting provided an opportunity came to realize that a lot traditional animators
to experiment more with the color pal- of ’60s design was based who were reluctant
ettes and the region’s distinctive visual on African patterns, tex- to come to computer
style. “We used a child’s point of view as tures, masks and art. animation bringing
the basis for our saturated colors in the first Some of the images look their decades of expe-
movie,” she notes. “I wanted to go for a quite abstract.” rience to CG and using
more sophisticated look—you have a sim- Jeffries says it’s in- it in rewarding ways. The
plified landscape—and you put one tree credible to see how technology has also
out there and your eye immediately focus much more sophisticat- reached a point where, as
on that. The challenge was to keep the ed the CG animation has become in an animator, you can pretty much cre-
filmgoers eyes on the intimate emotions the three years since the first movie came ate whatever you dream up.”
on the characters’ faces and not have out. “We were able to do so much more McGrath says he’s pretty jazzed about
the scope of the film overwhelm those de- with the details,” she adds. the vital role animation is playing in the
tails.” “We found ways of al- movie market these days. “We are seeing
Cronkhite picks out her favorite scene lowing each of the that animation is moving beyond the
in the movie: “It’s a monochromatic, dusty main characters to genres it was associated with traditionally.
sequence in the Savannah,” she responds. stand out in You can’t compare Beowulf to Madagas-
“There’s a point where their home set huge crowds car.” More important, he simply
changes overnight and it turns into a very of animals.” wants audiences to leave
different, dustier and dry place. It’s a “Technolo- theaters with experiences
much scarier place than Madagascar. gy has changed that they can identify with.
There’s also a very cool volcano sacrifice so much in re- “We still want people to
sequence—which has this organic cent years,” laugh—that’s our main
Guggenheim museum, retro feel to it.” notes Darnell. goal—but we also want to
Cronkhite, who draws traditionally as “We have ac- move them a little!” Now, just
well as working in Photoshop and Maya, cess to so much cue up the lemur song! ■
says the process was hugely helped by more process-
having a pre-viz artist deliver some of the ing power Paramount releases
sets early in the process. “This is very helpful and the DreamWorks Anima-
as you see how each world is connected software tion’s Madagascar:
NOV•08
to the other, and it also allows the filmmak- contin- Escape 2 Africa on
ers to understand the movements and the November 7.
22 scene dynamics better,” she believes
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The Samurai Critic:

Reviews of the Latest Anime Releases on DVD and Blu-ray
by Charles Solomon
Planetes: Complete Collection Gurren Lagann 02 and 03 parodies. But Gurren Lagann is so much fun, it
seems churlish to cavil about minor problems
[Bandai: $49.98, 6 discs] [Bandai: $29.98, 2 discs each]
like a nonsensical plot. A Gurren Lagann fea-
U nlike most sci-fi shows, Planetes (2001-

04) deals with a real scientific problem:
space junk. There are about 15,000 objects
T he freewheeling fanta-
sy-adventure Gurren
Lagann (known as Tengen
ture will be released in Japan this fall.
Yu Yu Hakusho:
four inches or larger orbiting the Earth at Toppa Gurren Lagann in Season One and Two Box Sets
speeds approaching eight km per second, Japan, which translates as [FUNimation: $34.98,
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including bolts, tools and metal fragments. “Heaven Shattering Crim-

4 discs each]
All this floating crud poses a hazard to navi- son Face”) became the
gation, and it’s the job of the Debris Section
on Space Station ISPV-7 to clean it up
(echoes of WALL•E?). While it’s an impor-
anime sleeper hit of 2008,
but the producers faced
the challenge of keeping
Y usuke Urameshi, who looks like Johnny
Depp in the 1990 John Waters movie Cry-
Baby, takes pride in just one thing: being the
tant job, it’s not a prestigious one, as perky but the insanity rolling after the death of the hero toughest kid in Sarayashiki Junior High. The
klutzy Ai Tanabe learns when she (Kamina) at the end of Episode #8. hero of Yu Yu Hakusho lives to pound people
joins the crew in 2075. The Debris Simon is crushed by the death of his into mochi, especially his archrival Kuwabara.
Section is staffed with under-ap- friend and hero. The rest of the crew, Acting on a rare, kindly impulse, Yusuke gets
preciated and underpaid misfits. especially his latent love interest, Nia, killed saving a younger boy from being hit by
Ai immediately begins arguing join to bring Simon out of his funk. a car. Koenma, the son of the ruler of the Spir-
with her instructor, veteran astro- Evoking Kamina’s rallying cry, “Reject- it World, decides to give him a second
naut and junkman Hachirota ing common sense to make the im- chance. As a “spirit detective,” he’ll track
“Hachimaki” Hoshino (his nick- possible possible is the Team Gurren down evil beings in the human world. Enough
name comes from the hachima- Way,” Simon leads the continuing good actions will cause a “spirit egg” to hatch
ki or inscribed headband he al- battle against Spiral King Lord Ge- into a generous beast that will get his body
ways wears). nome. Once the humans discover that the back; if Yusuke behaves badly, he’ll create a
The premise of an over-eager, inept new- Spiral capitol of Teppelin is actually a gigantic soul-devouring monster.
comer joining a team of oddball grunts has mecha, their victory is assured. But Lord Ge- The transition from two-bit punk
been used many times in anime. But when- nome warns Simon that if the human popula- to Good Guy doesn’t always go
ever Planetes seems about to fall into for- tion ever passes the one million mark, they will smoothly, but Yusuke manages to
mula, director Gorô Taniguchi and his artists have to face an even greater threat. make allies of Kuwabara and two
toss in an unexpected element. Although Seven years later, Simon is the ruler of Tep- powerful demons, Kurama and
he’s a seasoned pelin, renamed Kamina City. But when the hu- Hiei. Using a combination of guts,
spacer with years man population reaches 1,000,001, the threat luck and kindness, he frees a Snow
of extra-vehicular Lord Genome prophesied arrives. The universe Maiden imprisoned by sinister capi-
missions under his is divided between Spiral and Anti-Spiral forc- talists and outfights the four “Saint
belt, Hachimaki es—and the Anti-Spirals fear humanity’s grow- Beasts,” demons associated with the
has to confront ing strength (the Gurren mecha’s multiple Chinese directional animals. The sec-
fears that threaten drills reflect mankind’s Spiral nature). After ond season focuses on the Dark Tour-
to end his career thwarting a plot to smash the Moon into the nament, a sort of supernatural Ulti-
after a near-fatal Earth, Simon leads his nutty friends across the mate Fighting match. Yusuke’s curmudgeon-
accident. The dimensions to the Anti-Spirals’ home. ly sensei Genkai teaches him her ultimate
squabbles be- Director Hiroyuki Imaishi and his animation technique, the “Spirit Wave Ball.” It requires
tween Ai and team at Gainax pull out all the stops in a flash- greater levels of power and control than
Hachimaki inevitably metamorphose into ily edited whirligig of neon colors, bizarre Yusuke commands, and mastering it causes
romance, but the filmmakers remain true to mecha designs and snazzy effects. As he faces him to suffer horribly. The fate of Team Ura-
their offbeat characters and avoid a pat increasingly dire threats, Simon grows and ma- meshi in the Dark Tournament is never really in
NOV•08
ending. The extras include discussions with tures until he resembles a slightly saner version question, but like Dragon Ball Z, Yu Yu Hakusho
NASA scientists about the problem of space of the outrageous Kamina. Ultimately, the story provides lots of male bonding, martial arts
debris—and photos of objects that have makes even less sense than Martian Successor training, slapstick comedy and over-the-top
24 fallen to Earth. Nadesico, Dokkoida?! and other self-reflexive fights against bizarre opponents. ■
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Late-in-the-Year Liaisons on DVD
Homer, Princess Aurora, Robot Chicken and a clan of feisty rabbits flirt
with your wallet this month. by Mercedes Milligan
ect’s first director until his death in 1977,
The Simpsons—The
and his (and Faith’s) work remains—notably
Complete Eleventh Season
in the “fable” scene. The film is augmented
[Fox, $49.98]
by the talented voicework of John Hurt,
One of the most highly scrutinized seasons Richard Briers, Nigel Hawthorne and Joss
of The Simpsons, Season 11 rolled out of the Ackland as the ominous Black Rabbit. A
pipeline the same year Futurama beauty and quality of this mid-century mas- worthy addition to any DVD library; Frith be
launched—taking boffo crew Matt Groen- terpeice make it a true toon classic. In- praised.
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ing, David X. Cohen, Josh spired by Tchaikovksy’s Sleeping Beauty [Release date: Oct. 7]
Weinstein and Bill Oakley with Ballet, the film’s score by George Bruns
it. Fans wondered if new (performed by the Berlin Symphony Or- Robot Chicken: Season
head Mike Scully could keep chestra) received an Oscar nomination. Three
the show as fresh and funny The set features the restored and en- [Turner, $29.98]
as ever after 10 years on the hanced film, plus a virtual tour of Aurora’s The latest season of Seth Green’s stop-mo
air, and there was much castle, interactive dance game, making-of farce fest has hit DVD shelves, much to the
Comic Book Guy-esque wrin- featurette and plenty more. The Mouse will delight of crass pop-culture humorists ev-
kling of noses. But Scully ex- also release this Edition as a Blu-ray set, erywhere. Desecrating everything from
ceeded expectations, bring- which comes with a bonus DVD of the film, politics and religion to 80s nostalgia and
ing us now-classic episodes like Beyond so you can enjoy Princess Aurora’s adven- modern ce-
Blunderdome (guest starring Mel Gibson), tures at home on your PS3 or tucked in to lebs, Robot
E-I-E-I-D’oh! (can you say “Tomacco?”) the kids’ portable DVD player ($34.99). Chicken is
and the series shifting Alone Again, Natura- [Release date: Oct. 7] consistently
Diddily, which killed off Maude Flanders in a unpredict-
tragic NASCAR mishap.
Watership Down—Deluxe able, with
This four-disc set packs all 22 episodes
Edition plenty of
from the Season into a limited edition
[Warner, $19.98] “Oh-no-
“Krusty Head” box, and is loaded with spe- Growing up as a tomboy, I was less than they-didn’t”
cial features: Intro from creator Matt Groen- enthused the day my aunt handed me l a u g h s
ing, episode commentary, deleted scenes, Richard Adams’ Watership Down—about a packed in
animatics, boards/sketches and The Many million pages long, covered by a pastoral to every skit-
Faces of Krusty and A Star in Hollywood illustration of bunnies… Despite her prompt- filled epi-
Boulevard featurettes. A worthy release, no ing (“It’s not really about rabbits”) I didn’t sode. This third installment features clay
matter what your Simpsons Elitist friends crack Watership open for years, but I’ve cameos by Smokey the Bear, Nicole Richie,
say. since read it again. And again. And it Jesus and Hermey the Elf, to name a few.
[Release date: Oct. 7] warms my heart to see this beautiful ani- Season Three comes on a two-disc set of
mated adaptation released in its re-mas- the 20 regular episodes. The epic Star Wars
Sleeping Beauty Two Disc
tered glory to bring Adams’ dark, imagina- special was previously released as a stand-
Platinum Edition
tive, inspiring story to another generation. alone DVD, but we’re sure it’s already sit-
[Disney, $29.99]
Written, directed and produced by Martin ting on your shelf—right?!
Disney continues its Platinum Edition roll Rosen—who went on to helm the TV series [Release date: Oct. 7] ■
out with this gorgeous 1959 feature, based (1999) and another animated Adams story,
on the fairytale by Charles Perrault. Direct- The Plague Dogs (1982)—Watership be- Let’s Go Smurfin’ Now:
ed by a team of toon legends—Clyde came the sixth most
Geronimi, Les Clark, Eric Larson and Wolf- popular film of 1979 in Turner releases
gang Reitherman—and featuring elabo- the U.K., and was re- The Smurfs:
rate backgrounds and lush design by Win- cently named one Season One,
Vol. Two on
NOV•08
sor McCay Award-winner Eyvind Earle (Pe- of the Top 100

ter Pan), Sleeping Beauty was the last Dis- Greatest Cartoons DVD Oct. 7.
ney film to use hand-inked cels. One of the by Channel 4. John Don’t be blue,
studio’s most lavish animated features, the Hubley was the proj- it’s only $26.98! 25
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the pole vault for Japan at the Berlin Olym-
A Revealing Anime pics, although he cheats. In contrast, the

Monkey in Swim, Monkey, Swim (Oyoge-ya
Flashback Oyoge, 1939) gives back the trophy he

won by riding on the back of a kappa. But
Swim, Monkey, Swim was produced at a
time when the Japanese government was
Digital Meme’s four-disc DVD offers a wonderful look at trying to improve the physical condition of
the early years of animation in Japan. the men who were being conscripted into
by Charles Solomon the military.
Particularly revealing is Kindai Eigasha’s
I
n the 1960s, Osamu Tezuka’s Astro Boy ling, The Duckling Saves the Day (Ahiru no Gulliver’s Great Activities (Gulliver Funtoki,
began what we now call “anime,” but Otegara, undated), Walt Disney’s work 1950), made at a time when the Japanese
Japan boasted an indigenous anima- seem to have had a minimal impact on the media were monitored and censored by
tion industry decades earlier, as an impor- Japanese animators. The shorts of the Fleis- the Occupation forces under Douglas
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tant new DVD compilation titled Japanese cher Studio and the early Harmon-Ising car- MacArthur. The design for Gulliver and the
Anime Classic Collection demonstrates. toons exercised a greater influence. The ti- other visuals are obviously modeled on the
Oten Shimokawa is usually credited with tle character’s movements in Taro’s Mon- 1939 Fleischer feature, but the content has
making the first Japanese animated film, ster Hunt (Furudera no Obake-sodo) and been significantly altered. The Lilliputians
the drawn-on-film Mukuzo Imokawa the free Gulliver as soon as they tie him up. In
Doorman (1917), and recently discov- return, he rebuilds levees after a flood,
ered fragments suggest artists may have extinguishes a forest fire and helps cre-
been experimenting with frame-by-frame ate and sell “Domestic Goods and Ex-
filmmaking in Kyoto more than a decade port Goods.” At the end of the film, the
earlier. The Classic Collection focuses on Lilliputians ask Gulliver to “stay with us
the work of the first Japanese studios from forever!” It’s a textbook example of the
1928 to 1940. image of the Occupation the Allies
Rather than the slapstick gags that wanted to project.
typify American animation from the 20s The Anime Classic Collection includes
and 30s, Japanese filmmakers concen- only one real example of a WWII Imperial
trated on storytelling. Not surprisingly, propaganda film. In Sankichi the Mon-
most of the stories are adapted from Jap- key: Air Combat (Osaru no Sankichi:
anese folk tales. Momotaro, the hero Bokusen, 1942), a peaceful monkey
born from a giant peach, makes an ap- kingdom defeats an air raid launched
pearance in Momotaro the Undefeated by a squadron of bears; “Protect Our
(Nihon-ichi Momotaro, 1928), conquering Skies!” The same monkey character had
a castle full of demons with his loyal ani- previously appeared in The Assault
mal friends. Samurai—or little boys aspiring Taro’s Early Training Days (Hinomaru Taro: Troops of Sankichi the Monkey (1935), a styl-
to be samurai—fight an array of traditional Musha Shyugo no Maki, both 1936) recall ized depiction of the Sino-Japanese War in
monsters that includes tengu (mountain Bosko and Buddy in the early Leon Schle- which monkeys seize a fortress defended
goblins), kappa (water imps) and oni (de- singer films, although they move even more by ineffectual Chinese pandas. Audiences
mons). The bizarre-looking ghosts that stiffly. are still awaiting a video release of San-
range from floating heads to hopping, one- Despite the international popularity of kichi’s complete adventures, as well as the
eyed umbrella creatures echo the imagery Felix the Cat and the early Mickey Mouse, first Japanese animated features, Momot-
in old paintings and woodblock prints. rubber hose animation never really caught aro, the Brave Soldier (Momotaro no Umi-
While there’s a certain amount of physi- on with the Japanese artists. They contin- washi, 1943) and Momotaro, Divine Sailor
cal comedy in the shorts, there’s also car- ued using outline figures long after their (Momotaro—Umi no Shinpei, 1944)
toon violence that feels more serious than Western counterparts had switched to This intriguing anthology suggests just
its Western equivalent. Unlike their counter- more flexible, solid black characters. The how rich early Japanese animation was.
parts in American animated films, when a outline style makes many of the films look Every serious student of animation history
Japanese monster gets clobbered, it dies older than they are, a problem compound- will want—and should have—the Japanese
and it stays dead. ed by the fact that the animation is often Anime Classic Collection. The four-disc set
Although many of these films display quite limited. is available online from Digital Meme:
NOV•08
American influences, the cultural cross-pol- Some of the most interesting films present ¥12,800, about $110 at the current ex-
lination takes surprising forms. Except for a propaganda messages. In Mabo’s Big change rate. ■
few Mickey Mouse clones and a blatant Race (Mabo no Daikyoso, 1936) the title Website: www.digital-meme.com/en/
26 copy of the first version of The Ugly Duck- character wins a long distance race and our_products/dvds
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“He really knows Disney
A Modern Fairy Tale magic, and he’s the

most artist-friendly boss
I’ve ever worked for,”
It took years of development and tinkering, but Disney’s says Raymond. “John
loved the final film—
new CG-animated Tinker Bell finally earns her wings this
he’s seen it every step
month. by Jake Friedman of the way.” Bradley
Another Disney lumi- Raymond
D
isney’s new direct-to-DVD movie, Tin- and having him over your shoulder helping nary, Andreas Deja,
ker Bell, was a long time coming. Af- you with that was an incredible process.” gave further artistic support to Raymond’s
ter all, Peter Pan’s feisty companion is Raymond and screenwriter Jeff Howard design team. “Redesigning the character in
almost as much of a Disney icon as the worked together to create an engaging CG wasn’t easy. We wanted her silhouette
Mouse himself. To synchronize the push of the story that would win Lasseter’s approval. to look and feel like Tinker Bell, so we had An-
new fairy franchise, the creative folks over at “Jeff and I thought, ‘What would be the best dreas look at it,” says Raymond. “He gave us
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Disney had the daunting task of taking the way to set up that world with a story that a very detailed chalk talk on some key ele-
emblematic pixie and turning her into a would be entertaining?’ It just felt natural to ments in her design. He had talked with Marc
movie star. The end result may make the tell Tinker Bell’s origin story, to take a charac- Davis numerous time about his design of Tin-
most creative minds at Disney not only filled ter we know and love and follow her through ker Bell, so it was almost like having Marc
with happy thoughts, but also downright her world.” J. M. Barrie’s original Peter Pan there showing us how to draw her.”
proud of their work. story was used canonically for fairy lore (a To give Tink’s home a fairy feel, art director
“It’s such a great project,” says Tinker Bell fairy is born from a baby’s first laugh). “We Fred Warter was relied upon to create some-
director Brad Raymond (Pocahontas II, The pitched the story to John a number of times, thing unique. “The different settings are part
Lion King 1 1/2), who has become an expert and at each pitch he added to it and made of the magic of relating to these characters,”
in delivering DVD sequels to the studio’s ani- it better,” offers Raymond. says Raymond. “When we start off in London,
mated releases. “It’s about Tinker Bell’s origins A few of Lasseter’s tricks of the trade found it’s a little more realistic. Pixie Hollow, though,
in Never Land, what makes Tinker Bell who their way into the Tinker Bell movie. “He really is in the mountains of Never Land. We want-
she is and finding her place in her world.” understands the importance of relate-ability ed to keep that same style, and the moun-
tains in the distance are the rounded moun-
One Pixie’s Beginning: Mae Whitman voices the titular fairy in Disney’s new CG-animated movie,
tains from Never Land, but we wanted it to
Tinker Bell. The all-star cast includes Anjelica Huston, Kristen Chenoweth, America Ferrera, Raven-
Symoné, Lucy Liu, Jesse McCartney and Rob Paulsen. stand on its own. We used art nouveau styles
to give it a slightly more stylistic world. There
are a lot of curves and straights in the lines,
echoing Mary Blair’s concept sketches of Pe-
ter Pan.” Warter also created a color script
for the film, which gives visual cues that fol-
low Tinker Bell’s journey.
The film was written and designed at the
DisneyToon Studios in Burbank and animated
by India’s Prana Studios, using a Maya plat-
form. The production team took a few trips
overseas, but mostly relied on video confer-
encing to compromise with the thirteen-hour
time difference. Raymond estimates around
500 people in total worked together to meet
Not surprisingly, Disney’s chief creative of- and how the audience’s world connects to their 20-month production schedule.
ficer, John Lasseter, has played a big role in the world you’re showing,” says Raymond. “It was a little daunting to tackle the film,”
guiding the project along and mentoring “There’s the magic of nature like snowflakes concludes Raymond, “but with John Lasseter
Raymond throughtout the production pro- and the leaves changing, and it was John and a great crew throughout the process, it
cess. “The first thing John said when he came who said, ‘What if fairies are the ones that was a chance of a lifetime. It was an incred-
in is that he loves seeing worlds created,” bring that to our world?’ He also helps us un- ible honor to see her origin story, and it makes
says Raymond, “and of course he’s done derstand that everything—the story, the cos- it a bit easier when you have a great char-
that time and time again in the Pixar movies. tumes, the props—all has to connect with acter to start with.” ■
NOV•08
It was his idea to jump in using the book In that world.” Raymond points out that may Tinker Bell will be released on
the Realm of the Never Fairies [Disney Press] be something as simple as a fairy vehicle: A DVD ($29.99) and Blu-ray ($34.99)
as inspiration and build the world from there. miniature wooden cart was redesigned out October 28 by Walt Disney Home
28 It was a lot of fun creating such a rich world, of a hollow gourd, with acorns for wheels. Entertainment.
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on top of it, to work
These Little Piggies with such wonderful

partners as Mercury.”
Went Everywhere! NGKE had acquired

the book rights for Toot
& Puddle years ago,
and in 2006 produced
National Geographic Kids and Mercury Filmworks an animated holiday
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Clint Eland
combine sparkling animation and plenty of heart to bring special with another
Holly Hobbie’s Toot & Puddle to the small screen. company. The success
of the special con-
by Mercedes Milligan
firmed for Sorensen
and her colleagues
F
or those who struggled through needed to properly ‘characterize’ the that the piggies had
childhood without Holly Hobbie’s cast was too subtle and detailed for stan- plenty of toon appeal.
delightful Toot & Puddle picture dard digital techniques.” First-time direc- Eland and Sorensen
books, help is on the way! The new ani- tor Larocque spent countless hours exper- are eager to praise
Tara Sorensen
mated preschool series from National imenting with the software, and with the each side’s contribu-
Geographic Kids Entertainment, which help of Mercury’s in-house team was able tions to the project—“I think the anima-
airs on Noggin this fall, is the perfect intro- to develop a technique which allowed tion is absolutely stunning!” gushes So-
duction to the two adventurous porcine for a traditional, “illustrated” look with the rensen, a lifelong fan of the property—
pals. Though Toot and Puddle have no speed and perfected quality of and the show is clearly the result of a
trouble charming fans of all ages, what digital 2D. “From a produc- perfect partnership. “National Geo-
truly sets their new TV incarnation tion perspective, this graphic understands how the commer-
apart is the gor- technique takes the cial and creative imperatives need to
geous anima- same amount of time work together in order to produce a pro-
tion, courtesy and costs the same gram that is loved universally in all coun-
of Canada’s amount of money [about tries, and that has the potential to de-
Mercury Film- $300,000 per half hour] as a velop into a broader preschool fran-
works. show using a more standard chise.” Eland says, “In this respect we
Most of Mercury’s technique, but needed their input and steerage—Not
design legwork came the produc- just their marketing muscle!” Sorensen
straight from the tion value is and NGKE’s president of kids program-
books: “Holly’s art much higher,”
leaps off the page Eland explains.
and does an incredi- Naturally, he adds, this
ble job of describing technique is a
each character both bit of a se-
physically and emotionally,” says cret.
Mercury founder and exec pro- “I’m just
ducer Clint Eland (Wilbur, Ruby thrilled to see a
Gloom), “So it was only a matter beautifully stun-
of distilling it to a cleaner de- ning final prod-
sign that would support ani- uct,” says VP of
mation.” However, distilling development ming and production, Donna Friedman
the illustrations affected for National Meir, were happy to oblige.
their expressiveness, but Geograph- An important aspect of the develop-
with some trial and error ic Kids Ent. ment process was the involvement of
the studio was able to recap- Tara Sorensen Toot & Puddle’s creators, husband-and-
ture the emotionality of the books (Mama Mirabelle’s Home wife team Douglas and Holly Hobbie. “As
in the animation. Movies), who also served as the creators of this property, Holly and
“We already use a more pow- an exec producer on the Doug have lived with these pigs longer
erful 2D system in Toon Boom show, “I’ve been following than any of us,” explains Sorensen, “It
NOV•08
Animation’s Harmony product,” these books for 10 years was key to have them involved as we
Eland explains, “But the direc- and it’s really a dream took these porperties from books to tele-
tor, Christian Larocque, felt come true to finally get vision.” Though the couple was not famil-
that the level of animation them produced. And, iar with animation production, they soon 31
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“As we hit our stride on the series, the
Hobbies reached a certain comfort level
with us and their notes trailed off,” So-
rensen adds, “Holly and Doug have been
extremely complimentary on the final
product, and I’m thrilled.”
The Hobbies didn’t just give their bless-
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ing, they also provided artistic guidance

for Eland’s Ottawa-based crew: “The
production team went to visit Douglas
and Holly Hobbie at their farm in rural
Massachusetts. They spent a day talking
about the look and feel of the series and
absorbing the country-craftsman atmo-
sphere of their home, which was Holly’s
artistic inspiration,” he says. These rustic
inspirations are evident in the colorful,
homey quality of the series’ sets, whether building the stories up from the charac- only did we [at National Geographic]
in Toot and Puddle’s cozy kitchen or the ters themselves and the dynamics of want to expose preschoolers to the
wooded pond where the piglets meet their friendship. world around them, but we needed to
up with the other creatures of Wood- Despite the deep involvement of all make it accessible to them. I don’t
cock Pocket. Even the exotic locales the parties, the show itself came together at a know of any other preschool shows on
friends explore are imbued with warmth remarkable pace: “From the time we had television that open up the world to the
and familiarity. an agreement with National Geographic preschool set in this way.”
The show’s visuals aren’t the only as- to option the television rights to the books One of the key lessons of Toot & Puddle
is understanding and accepting the di-
versity we encounter in the real world. But
instead of the learn-by-rote call and an-
swer sessions or chastising lessons about
hurt feelings one tends to find in kids’
edutainment, this series uses enthusiasm
and positivity about the new and different
to carry its message. While Toot may trek
through the mysterious jungle and join in
with a tribal drum circle, Puddle is inspired
by these strange adventures to create his
own drum out of a backyard rain barrel—
taking the exotic away from something to
be tolerated and turning it into something
that parallels children’s everyday lives,
without preaching.
But above all, Toot & Puddle is about
adventure. “For National Geographic, this
property was right on mission for us,” says
Sorensen, “We always talk about NGKE’s
pect filled with inspiration. “Every panel to production was around four to six formal mission of ‘Exciting kids to explore
in the books felt like fodder for a new months,” marvels Eland, “In my experi- their world,’ whether it’s as small as their
story,” Sorensen enthuses, “And, consid- ence, this is very fast.” The fact that all the backyard or as big as the universe.” ■
ering the world is their playground, we partners were familier with the books as
Toot & Puddle makes it U.S. debut
had a hard time narrowing down the well as the holiday special (which served
November 16 with back-to-back
stories. We also wanted to make sure as sort of a “back door” pilot) meant there
episodes on Noggin, and currently
that Puddle’s adventures at home were was little room for second-guessing.
airs on Canada’s Treehouse Tues-
as exciting as Toot’s adventures abroad.” “Our stories focus on great friendships
NOV•08
days at 10:30 a.m. For more infor-

Writer Stu Krieger, whose credits include and great adventures, and I think these
mation, see www.natgeoTV-int.com
The Land Before Time and Disney’s Ze- adventures set us apart form other pre-
or www.mercuryfilmworks.com.
32 non television features, put emphasis on school fare,” observes Sorensen, “Not
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Best Fiends Forever
It took almost four years, but Amy Winfrey’s popular Making Fiends
series makes a triumphant transition from the web to NickToons this
month. by Ramin Zahed
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O
ver the past decade, media months of waiting after the Nick devel- the movie and cre-
visionaries have been predict- opment folks discovered her site and ated two other web
ing that home-made animat- introduced it first on the cabler’s online toons called Muffin
ed projects will be able to make the channel, TurboNick. Films and Big Bunny
leap from the web to television. This “I didn’t even think I could be an ani- before diving into the
month, thanks to L.A.-based artist Amy mator when I was going to school at world of Vendetta,
Winfrey and her ever-growing family of UCLA,” says Winfrey, who started out Charlotte and their
Flash-animated monsters, we’ll see the as a pre-med major and segued into menagerie of mon-
Amy Winfrey
hype become a reality as her whimsi- Toon Town after taking animation sters. After creating
cal web toon, Making Fiends, evolves courses. “I was taking an interactive Making Fiends, she paid her bills by sell-
into a TV show on NickToons. class at UCLA and that led to a short I ing tie-in shirts and DVDs on her web-
Fans of Winfrey’s show are already created [The Bad Planet] which won a site.
familiar with Vendetta, the diabolical Student Academy Award in 2000. I had She got the call from the execs at
green girl who conjures up an assort- also done something on traffic cones, Nickelodeon in February of 2004, right
ment of “fiends” to torment her class- and I was getting all kinds of e-mails as she and her husband Peter Merry-
mate, a cheerful girl named Charlotte, about it from people around the world. man were about to leave for their hon-
and to wreak havoc at school. Six half- Before that, I never really considered I eymoon in Greece. (Nick’s then-devel-
hour episodes of the show have been could pursue animation as a living. I opment exec Peter Gal learned about
produced to date, and the team is took the animation class just as a lark!” Making Fiends through The X’s show
preparing seven more, according to Winfrey, who has the habit of drawing runner Dave Marshall, whose teenage
Winfrey. It may all seem like an over- her various fiends on tiny sketchbooks daughter was a big fan of the series.)
night success, but it took the 32-year- wherever she goes, worked on the first “I was doing well on my own, but I
old animator a lot of hard work and seven episodes of South Park as well as was getting tired of animating every-
thing myself,” says Winfrey.
“Four and a half years lat-
er, I have to say it wasn’t a
bad development pro-
cess.” Of course, she had
to make a few adjust-
ments. Among the things
she was told: “Don’t men-
tion Hitler” and “Don’t hit
people on the head.”
They also didn’t like a
school sign that said “A is
for Alimony”—she
changed that to “A is for
Abomination!”
The format of the Nick
show allows for three sev-
en-minute episodes. “It
adds another level of cra-
NOV•08
ziness and makes each

episode more action-
packed,” notes Winfrey. “I
can tell more elaborate 35
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stories. The backgrounds are a little For now, she is happy to see Making
more elaborate, too. When I was doing Fiends win a whole new audience on
the show for the web, I would use tiny NickToons. “I am very happy with the
texture and made the files small. Now fact that I was able to make a show on
the backgrounds are more complex my own and then get contacted by a
and the characters have become TV studio—and they allowed me to
cleaner, too.” keep almost everything about my show
As Nick’s VP of current series anima- the same! That couldn’t have hap-
tion Roland Poindexter points out, pened 10 years ago. I can’t imagine
“Transitioning from web show to TV
show was a simple matter of refining
the character models, sharpening the
color palette and working with Amy
and her talented writing staff to ex-
pand on all of the great ideas and sto-
ries that she produced for her web-
site.”
Helping out with the animation pro-
duction of the show are Cyber Chicken
in Korea and DQ studios in India, which
are also working in Flash. “We were
working at a crazy pace, and I had to
learn how to tell people what I wanted,
because before I wouldn’t even do
storyboards. We had about 30 people
working on it in some capacity.”
Monsters Among Us
Many of the animation team also
helped out with the voices. Winfrey’s
husband co-wrote and did voices for
the show as did supervising director
Dave Wasson (Time Squad, The Buzz on
Maggie) and Winfrey’s
friend, character design-
er Aglaia Mortcheva,
who provides the Bulgari-
an-accented voice of
Vendetta.
Winfrey, who also sings
and writes lyrics, is quite
thrilled about the contri-
butions of the show’s
composer, Ego Plum. “I going to a chandising rights, what kind of advice
first met him at the Student studio and does she have for all the future Amy
Academy Award cere- pitching Winfreys hoping to build popular toons
mony. He brings a lot of them an on their computers at night? “Keep
interesting ideas, using toy idea that making your films!” she says. “People
instruments and out-of-tune stuff and goes like this, ‘There’s this green girl get bogged down by their first film.
samples. He enjoys things that aren’t and this blue girl … and one of them is Keep making them even if they don’t
perfect … everything is slightly off!” going to be voiced by a friend of mine look perfect. Just keep doing it to get
After seeing her web baby take off who isn’t a professional actress, and, the experience.” ■
on TV this month, Winfrey will be work- oh, I do the other character!’ I don’t
NOV•08
Making Fiends premieres on Nick-

ing on another imaginative web cre- think that would go through the usual
Toons on Oct. 4 at 11:30 a.m. and
ation—this one is called Squid and Frog development process!”
airs Sat. and Sundays at that time.
36 and will be a puppet-based project. So, besides hanging on to the mer-
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been very satisfying,” says exec producer
A Globetrotting Caterina Vacchi, who is also Atlantyca En-

tertainment’s animation division director.
Mouse of Exceptional “Geronimo and his friends are very recog-

nizable, and at the same time, they’re suit-
able for TV audiences. Geronimo is thinner
Talents and athletic and he chooses to wear con-

tact lenses! Benjamin looks older in the
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show. He’s a brilliant young boy and you

Journalist, adventurer and children’s publishing sensation can see this quality reflected in his design.”
The casting of veteran Canadian
Geronimo Stilton is poised to make a graceful leap to the voice actor Brian Drummond as Geron-
small screen thanks to the efforts of an international team imo helped Vasilovich and his team get
of producers and artists. by Ramin Zahed a clear idea of what the animated
mouse would look like. “We auditioned
a number of actors, but he really nailed
the voice,” says Vasilovich. “He had to
have a likeable voice, but he also had
to sound like the fun uncle, someone
with whom kids would like to go on ad-
ventures. That really sparked the imagi-
nation of the artists and sped up the
development process.”
Vasilovich says our hero is a bit fussy
when it comes to technology and relies
I
t’s always a thrill to sense the influ- and who has also worked on Disney on his nephew Benjamin to deal with
ence of an old animation or comic- features such as The Fox and the Hound, 21st century gizmos. “Although Geroni-
book master on a new animated The Black Cauldron and The Great mo owns his own media empire, he runs
series. That’s certainly true for the new Mouse Detective. “It’s always a bit of a his paper with integrity, unlike his rival
26-part show Geronimo Stilton, which is challenge when you’re adapting a from across the street who crosses the
based on a popular series of books first popular franchise,” says Vasilovich. “You line. But the great thing about the show
published in Italy by Edizioni Piemme in want to maintain the integrity of what is that we’re not just around the news-
2000 and picked up by Scholastic in the the kids loved about the books in the paper office. Thanks to his adventures,
U.S. in 2004. Produced by Italy’s Atlan-
“When I first saw the books’ illustrations, they
tyca Entertainment and France’s Moon-
Scoop Productions (with the participa- really sparked something in terms of creativity
tion of Italy’s RAI and France’s M6), and design … One of their stand-out qualities
Geronimo is a wonderful throwback to
is that there are a lot of sketches and graphics
the adventures of Donald Duck, Uncle
Scrooge and the nephews immortal- within the text.”
ized by the late Disney comics artist Carl —Guy Vasilovich, Geronimo Stilton’s animation director
Barks.
The brainchild of Italian author Elisa- first place, but you also need to modify we find ourselves in a jungle, in China-
betta Dami, the hero of the series is a the books’ illustrations for the charac- town, up in the mountains where he has
journalist mouse who lives in New Mouse ters to make them more animatable a Kung Fu-type encounter.”
City on Mouse Island. When he’s not and add a more contemporary look.” The Stilton universe certainly has the
working at The Rodent’s Gazette, As Atlantyca Entertainment’s pro- right balance of comedy and adven-
Geronimo is getting into all kinds of wild ducer Karen K. Miller (Baby Blues, The ture elements. “The market is swamped
adventures with his clever nine-year-old Simpsons Movie) explains, “Geronimo with shows that are either comedies or
nephew, Benjamin. The “autobiograph- Stilton is a global property, but has a lo-
ical” books are all written from Geroni- cal appeal and we have been re-
mo’s point of view. spectful of that. We have the chal-
Overseeing the show’s animation at lenge of keeping the integrity of the
Woodland Hills-based Mike Young Pro- character and the property intact,
NOV•08
ductions is Guy Vasilovich, the Emmy- which I think Guy and his team have
nominated animation director whose done a wonderful job of doing.”
38 credits include Growing Up Creepie “The results of the character design have
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boys’ adventures,” says Vasilovich.
“Yet, it’s always difficult to do a good
show that has just the right amount of
comedy and adventure. The key is to
create the characters with the kind of
personalities that the viewer wants to
be involved with their plights and go
along on a rollercoaster ride. When I
___________________
first saw the illustrations, they really
sparked something in terms of creativi-
ty and design … One of the books’
stand-out qualities is that there are a
lot of sketches and graphics within the
text—and we’ve incorporated that in
the animation.”
The issue of communication between
the many production partners and ani-
mation facilities was a huge challenge
for the team. “Mike Young Productions in Woodland Hills, Calif.; Atlantyca in Mi- years ago, and he is already famous in
lan, Italy; MoonScoop in Paris, France; the eyes of children globally. They are
Enarmonia Animation Studio in Turin, Ita- truly in love with him and his quirky
ly; Toon City in Manila, Philippines and characteristics. Reading the books,
DQ Entertainment in Hyderabad, India children become immersed in who he
are all involved with the show,” says is [the stories are ‘written’ by Geroni-
Vasilovich, “and our recording studio is mo], imagining how he walks, runs,
in Vancouver! So we’re on the phone talks and acts. We are working very
and Skyping each other constantly.” He hard to be sure we meet the expecta-
also notes that some days he communi- tions of Geronimo’s fans. Through every
cates more with people in Europe than single phase of production, we find
he does in his own city. “All of our part- ourselves asking, ‘Would he really act
ners are very excited about this proper- or talk that way?’ Putting ourselves in a
ty and there seems to be this great syn- mouse’s shoes is indeed a very enter-
ergy among us, and that’s very rare taining challenge!”
when you’re working on international Vasilovich echoes his Italian col-
productions.” league’s feelings. “I’m always attracted
Staying true to the gentle tone of the to shows that are creative and artist-
books, the animation style is 2D, al- driven,” he says. “There are ways to
though the artists do everything digi- make a show based on an existing
tally and take advantage of the many character fun. I hope that studios em-
perks of Toon Boom’s Storyboard Pro. brace that a little more. Sometimes in
“We wanted to maintain the classic this business, people forget that we’re
quality of the books, so we chose to trying to entertain our audience—which
not do it in CG because the charac- is the kids. People are just trying to
ters would look too stiff and couldn’t please a network and everyone is giv-
have the nuance of emotions for a 22- ing notes. What’s funny to a kid is not
minute format.” always predictable. You can look back
After all is said and at the shows you liked when you were a
done, you can really kid. You certainly knew which shows
judge whether a TV series were authentic and which weren’t and
is successful by its ability to you certainly knew why you liked them.
recreate that range of It’s so important not to forget that fun
emotions for its main char- factor and to try and put yourself in the
acters. As Atlantyca’s su- mindset of the kids!” ■
NOV•08
pervising producer, Nic-

Geronimo Stilton is expected to
coló Sacchi, explains, “The
make its global TV debut fall of
Geronimo books were
2009.
launched less than eight 39
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Japan’s Dentsu
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books written by Aus-

tralian author Emily
Rodda, Deltora Quest
Looks to the West is a 65-episode 2D se-

ries. The books, which
have sold over 10 mil-
The epic anime series, Deltora Quest, is one of Dentsu lion copies world-
wide, center on an
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L.A.’s first new adventures. by Ramin Zahed Marc Harrington

epic quest for a mag-
ical belt in a mythical land. The multi-
I
n the past few years, many compa- sensibilities. Our goal is to develop and layered storyline involves a young hero-
nies involved in the distribution of pre-produce with North American partic lead (Lief), a wise companion and
Japanese anime properties have ners and then work with Dentsu’s TV di- protector (Barda), a young heroine who
been hit hard by the growing trend of vision in Tokyo to finalize character de- communicates with trees and animals
fans putting up pirated content online sign and complete animation. Our two (Jasmine) and a group of evil charac-
for the public. However, the newly target markets are boys’ action and ters led by the Shadow Lord. Directed
launched DCI Los Angeles (a division of males 17 to 25, where Japanese ani- by Mitsuru Hongo, the series has devel-
Japan’s advertising giant Dentsu) mation has traditionally experienced oped a strong following since its debut
hopes to bridge the gap between the the most success.” on the Saturday morning block of TV To-
East and the West by developing, co- DCI-L.A. will be funding 50 kyo Network’s TV Aichi channel and
producing, distributing and licensing percent or more of webcaster Bandai Channel Kids in 2007.
original animated content. any new project, Japan’s Oriental Light and Magic
“Although Japanese animation has depending produced the animation for the
achieved significant global success, on how the show.
many productions we currently see in licensing, “Clearly, there is a universal ap-
development do not have broad ap- ancillary and peal built in to the property,” notes
peal outside of Japan,” says Yuma distrib rights are divid- Harrington. “The stories have reso-
Sakata, senior VP of DCI-L.A. “Working ed between partners. Ac- nated with fans, and the animation
with Western partners in pre-produc- cording to Harrington, the is top-notch ... the three-dimen-
tion, and then with production teams in company is working with sional bad guys give it an extra
layer of intrigue and intensity!”
Harrington, who was the former head
of business development at the now-
defunct Geneon, comes up with the
perfect analogy of what DCI-L.A. is do-
ing: He compares it to making Califor-
nia rolls. “It’s about being able to take
a classic Japanese creation [like sushi],
incorporate some American ideas, and
then present it to both markets success-
fully,” he offers. “Historically, much of
the animation created in Japan has
been very successful worldwide, but
some of the storytelling elements do
not translate well around the world. We
would like to infuse the incredible tech-
niques and visual style of Japanese
animation with some ‘Western’ ideas
Japan for animation, we can create an approximate budget of $7 million and story traditions to create a blend
content that can appeal to a wider au- for new projects. DCI-L.A. is also han- that will truly appeal to a global audi-
dience.” dling distribution and merchandising ence. California rolls are now a popular
The new company aims to produce rights for Decode’s Chop Socky Chooks, ‘mainstay’ in sushi restaurants world-
two series a year, with plans of deliver- which airs on Cartoon Network, and wide—even in Tokyo!” ■
ing the first one in mid-2009. As Marc distributing the English-language ver-
NOV•08
For more info about Deltora Quest,

Harringon, DCI-L.A.’s VP of business de- sion of the anime import, Deltora
visit www.deltoraquest.jp or ____
www.
velopment explains, “We’re focusing Quest.
scholastic.com/deltora.
40 on Japanese animation with ‘Western’ Based on a a hugely popular series of
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they are old enough to understand pop

Mondo TV’s Angel Friends culture. Their views on the world and
their tastes are much more refined than
Spread Their Wings younger kids, and they can appreciate

different levels of humor.”
According to Matteo Corradi, Mondo
I
taly’s Mondo TV has been one of the key trouble for the angels and their humans! TV’s international sales manager and
players in the European animation scene The show’s creator says she was heavily board member, the studio produces at
for over two decades. Now the Rome- influenced by classic Disney animated least four series and movies every year for
based studio has started an aggressive push features and Japanese manga. “When I the preschool-to-tween market. “Sales are
in Europe and hopes to expand its plans was a child, I used to watch all the Disney generated by the firm’s international sales
in the U.S. in the next couple of years. The movies and series, but that era was also team, operating from a network of Mondo TV
latest addition to the studio’s big catalog the golden age of manga and Japanese offices in major markets. We are an integrated
of colorful toons is Angel Friends, a 52 x 13 cartoons in Italy,” says Ferri. “Now, I see that entertainment and education company, a
production created by Simona Ferri. both sources of inspiration are evident in leading commercial animation studio in Italy
“The first ideas for the show came the new series.” and one of the largest in Europe.”
together in 2005, while Simona [Ferri] got a Just last month, Mondo TV signed a Corradi believes that the animation
lot of positive feedback about them at the production deal with Play Entertainment industry is on the cusp of a big comeback in
Bologna Book Fair last year,” says Mondo to produce the toon. “Between 20 and 30 Italy. He adds, “However, Mondo TV never
TV’s spokesperson Micheline Azoury. “A graphic artists are assigned to the project stopped producing two to four series and
demo pilot was presented at MIPTV in the at the company’s Rome headquarters and movies every year for the Italian market
spring, where it was received as the next another 500 animators are working on it at as well as international broadcasters.”
big branded kids’ show.” Korean Graphics, its large animation lab in Among Mondo’s latest projects is a 6.4
Targeting the in-demand tween audience Korea,” notes Azoury. Other partners include million euro (roughly $9 million) series
of six to 13, Angel Friends centers on five Mondo Home Entertainment, Mediaset and based on Rudyard Kipling’s Kim (26 x 26),
main characters: Gabi, Urié, Raf, Dolce Starbright for Italy and Suk (market analysis co-produced with Italy’s RAI TV.
and Ang-Li, all popular residents of Angie programs for “Kids” target). We’re sure international audiences will
Town. In order to accomplish their goals of What prompted the studio to greenlight be watching closely as the impeccably
becoming 100 percent angels, they have the production was frequent requests dressed Angel Friends battle the devils
to go through a residency period on Earth, from family and children’s TV channels for and earn their wings on the global stage
where they help five humans in their daily shows that target the “tween” audience. in the fall of 2009. ■
NOV•08
lives. But, wouldn’t you know it, five devils- “We see them as very distinct viewers,” For more info about Angel Friends
in-training are also going through the same says Azoury. “They’re part of their families and Mondo TV, visit www.mondotv.it.
“internship” period, causing all kinds of and still like to be with their parents, but
42
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playing the role of an organizer who brings
Big Storms in resources together, like it did for The Storm Rider,
instead of simply being the producer of a film.
Modern China As the second largest TV broadcaster in

China, SMG benefits from having a professional
marketing team and already-established
relationships with distributors and cinemas—
How 21st-century animation models are reviving classic something traditional animation firms don’t
___________________
tales and characters in the fast-changing country. have and need access to.
by Alex S. Dai “We got together a good story, a famous
director, experienced animated film production
T
his year’s box-office success of Kung with distributors will help The Storm Rider get companies and SMG’s advertising network
Fu Panda and The Storm Rider has shown on many more screens abroad and at across the Internet, printed publications and TV
demonstrated that there’s a market for home, Wang says. channels to serve the whole process, right from
animated films in China, and Chinese local The film hasn’t been screened abroad yet, pre-production till distribution,” Wang explains.
filmmakers have begun adopting marketing but it is set to hit screens in Japan and in South
strategies that can help them tap into this East Asia later this year, according to the group.
Bringing Merchandising to the
market. Wang claims that the early talks with buyers
Masses
By the end of August, The Storm Rider took and distributors were important to sparking
This year, the Chinese industry began to
in over 30 million yuan ($4.4 million) at the box investor interest.
embrace merchandising and other promotional
office, while DreamWorks’ Kung Fu Panda “Usually, when filmmakers start talking to
tie-ins to a significant degree, using movie-
earned nearly 186 million yuan ($27 million), buyers, most of the film is already done, which
related toys and trading cards both to generate
becoming the first animated film to pass the makes the risk even higher because all the
additional revenues and to increase awareness.
100 million yuan mark. The new marketing
strategies include distribution partnerships
with foreign companies, new merchandising
techniques and mining old animation vaults
for popular themes and characters. A new
openness to partnerships with foreign partners
is helping Chinese filmmakers find international
distribution, improve revenues and bring in
new material.
“The strong performance of The Storm
Rider is all thanks to this new marketing and
distribution business model,” Wang Lei, deputy
director of the film and TV drama center at the
Shanghai Media Group (SMG), tells Animation
Magazine.
Adapted from a well-known Hong Kong
comic book by Ma Rongcheng, The Storm Rider
was targeted at a global audience—especially
the Asia market for which it was conceived,
says Wang. Long before the film was finished, money has been spent and they can’t make
SMG began selling Storm Rider related toys and
SMG began talking to overseas and domestic any changes,” he explains. “We hope that
cards months before the movie was screened,
distributors and cinemas about the story and The Storm Rider model will create a successful
in order to attract teenagers from across the
held test screenings for them, he adds. example for taking our animated films to the
nation.
According to SMG, which co-produced the international market.”
“In addition to the income angle, the real
movie with Shenzhen-based Puzzle Animation SMG also says that the company has several
purpose was to establish a popular base for
Studio, the movie broke the domestic other animation projects in the works and is
the film’s story and its characters,” SMG’s Wang
animated film record previously held by Lotus looking forward to talking with global investors
says. “Selling film-themed toys and products
Lantern, which earned just 24 million yuan ($3.5 and production companies at the MIPCOM
can’t be considered as an innovation in other
million) in 1999. 2008 confab in Cannes this October, the largest
countries, but making tie-in sales before the
Although The Storm Rider set new records in international audiovisual content trade show.
screening of a film rather than after is a new
China, its backers plan to replicate that success “We will bring our film ideas to the conference
NOV•08
marketing technique in China.”

throughout the rest of Asia and elsewhere in and pitch them to leading global production
Besides toys, SMG also organized a “Stamping
the world—which, if successful, will be a major companies,” Wang says.
Relay” promotion, which Wang says is very
44 break-through for Chinese film. These early talks Wang also says that SMG hopes to continue
popular in Japan. Children collect different
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TELEVISION
cartoon stamps at participating cinemas and re-mastered 10-minute TV episodes, which However, Zhou says the studio doesn’t just
get a gift by collecting a certain number of originally aired 22 years ago in China. intend to keep recycling old footage, and
stamps. This is the first time that such a program “AlthoughCalabash Brothers became popular will also make original films based on these
is being conducted in China, says Wang, who 20 years ago, they still form a vivid memory for series in the future. “There are lots of successful
hopes that children would be more involved in people born in the 1970s and ’80s,” according to examples in Japan and other developed
the film’s story via such promotional strategies, Zhou Jun, deputy director at Shanghai Animation markets where popular TV animation series
rather than just watching the film. Film Studio. In addition to Calabash Brothers, the have made the transition to the big screen,
However, Wang refuses to indulge the studio has over 400 animated television series in like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” Zhou
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financial aspects of such initiatives, its vaults, with says. “And because these characters are well
adding that currently, merchandising about 660 known, you really don’t need to worry about a
deals are being done for the sole aim hours of total lack of audience.”
of promotion only. “Merchandising will be footage. According to SMG’s Wang, the group is
extended to more forms in the future, such as looking for local stories and characters that
costumes, publications and video products,” could be even more popular in China than
Wang adds. The Storm Rider. He cites the example of
Red Cliff, the historic drama which earned
Mining Old Footage 285 million yuan at the box office in China
Chinese animation companies have begun this summer. “Almost every Chinese person
mining their vaults to find characters and knows the story of Red Cliff, and there had
stories with pre-existing audiences, name to be people who would have wanted to
recognition and proven appeal: Weeks watch a movie about it in theaters,” Wang
before The Storm Rider was adds. Red Cliff is based on the famous Battle
released, another Chinese of Red Cliff and other events which marked
animated film, Shanghai the end of the Han Dynasty.
Animation Film Studio’s The Foreign companies have long been
Calabash Brothers, earned over 10 million mining Chinese tales for their stories—
yuan at the box office in China, due in part to such as Disney’s Mulan. More recently, Walt
an audience already familiar with the subject Disney Company co-produced an animated
matter.
“Usually, when filmmakers start talking to buyers, most of the film is
The Calabash Brothers tells the story of
seven boy heroes and their scorpion and snake already done, which makes the risk even higher because all the
enemies. The word “calabash” refers to a gourd money has been spent and they can’t make any changes. We
shaped like a figure eight, common to China. hope that the Storm Rider model will create a successful example
Unlike The Storm Rider, which was adapted for taking our animated films to the international market.”
from a popular comic book, Calabash Brothers
—Shanghai Media Group’s deputy director Wang Lei
was made up of 13 unchanged, but digitally
2007 Chinese TV Animation Production film in 2007 (its first in China) with China Film
Group called The Magic Gourd, based on a
Top Toon Players Snapshot popular children’s story. Screened in June 2007,
The Magic Gourd earned 20.65 million yuan ($3
million) at the box office in China.
Rank Company Name No. of Total Minutes
Jo Yan, senior VP of sales, co-productions
Animated Series Produced
and acquisitions for Walt Disney Studios Motion
1 Hunan Greatdreams Cartoon 12 15,148 Pictures Asia Pacific, believes that The Magic
Media Ltd. Gourd reinvigorated a popular Chinese tale
2 Hunan SunChime Cartoon Group 16 10,014 by giving it a contemporary look and feel.
3 Wuxi TV Station 8 6,116 Incorporating recognizable Chinese elements
4 CCTV 13 5,669 into filmmaking will be key to tapping the
local audience successfully in the future, Yan
5 Guangdong Creative Power 7 4,950
predicts.
Entertainment
However, as this year’s experience
6 Chongqing CMay Animation 7 3,734 demonstrates, good business practices are
Production Co.
NOV•08
already proving to be the key to market success

7 Zhejiang Zhongnan Cartoon 4 3,718 in China. ■
8 Shanghai Media Group 5 2,782 Alex Dai is a Shanghai-based journalist who
Source: The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) covers entertainment and sports. 45
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Timeless Images: Set on the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau, Ai Yi Mei
TELEVISION
Xun Animation’s upcoming feaure Road to Home features addressing universal
painterly landscapes and universal themes. themes, taking the
friendship of a young
girl and a wolf cub
as its throughline in a
manner that is both
epic in scope and
intimate in tone. Di-
___________________
Lijun Sun
rected by Lijun Sun
with creator Wen
Feng from a screen-
play by Yi Yan, Road
to Home features
lush painterly land-
Cultural Revolution, scapes and engag-

ing characters—in-
cluding a pair of
Take Two Wen Feng

breakout
sheep twins, Gugu and Lulu, who are
comic
sure to be spinning off to a TV set near

An American expert looks at Chinese animation’s you.
winding road home. by Kevin Geiger Yet for all their promise, original Chi-
nese films like Road to Home have a
tough row to hoe as they attempt to
W
hen is a nation of more than es from Chuck Jones to Genndy Tarta- speak to their countrymen and appeal
1.3 billion people a “scrappy kovsky—has entered the world stage, to international audiences while also
underdog?” When it is China eager to reclaim lost creative territory navigating China’s state approval pro-
seeking to reclaim the animation lega- with films that are in turn thrilling, hilari- cess. Although attitudes are evolving, this
cy pioneered by the Wan Brothers in ous, gorgeous and thoughtful. Among remains a reality of filmmaking in China. It
the early 20th century. Shanghaied by the original animated properties cur- has been my pleasure to advise the Road
Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution and rently in development in China, one to Home team for the better part of this
then crushed by the juggernaut of receiving serious buzz on the mainland year, and I have been impressed with
Japanese anime, the Chinese anima- and elsewhere is Beijing-based Ai Yi how skillfully they walk this line. Road to
tion industry has been reeling for de- Mei Xun Animation Company’s Road Home has garnered significant interest in
cades (pun intended) in a punch- to Home, China’s first environmentally Taiwan and the U.S. at the same time
drunk, outsource-fueled haze of stifled themed animated feature film. Set on that an official from China’s Ministry of
creativity. Until now. the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau, Road to Culture referred to it as “the best [Chi-
A new generation of Chinese ani- Home portrays the unique cultural nese animated] film in development that
mation filmmakers—versed in influenc- characteristics of Western China while I’ve seen.” No small feat, that.
NOV•08
47
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© Copyright 2007 Road to Home

The concept of balance extends to compelling economics of the Chinese China Now by N. Mark Lam and John
mainland studios such as Xing Xing Digi- animation industry (and even, ironical- Graham. While not attendant to ani-
tal, where Western-educated president ly, China’s protectionist ban on foreign mation in particular, it contains veil-lift-
Lifeng Wang, renowned creative direc- animation during primetime broadcast ing insights regarding the practical
tor Becky Bristow and executive produc- hours) open doors to small and mid- consequences of cultural differences
er Steve Katz meld Chinese and U.S. ar- level creators in the West who are will- between the Chinese and American
tistic and business sensibilities into a true ing to collaborate with their friends in negotiating styles.
East/West hybrid. It even extends across the East. • The social capital of guanxi (liter-
the Formosa Strait to Taiwan, where up- As with any business opportunity, ally “relationships”) is fundamental to
and-coming production companies however, there are a few things to Chinese business: Nothing happens in
such as SOFA Studio, creators of the keep in mind for best results: China without it. The emphasis on rela-
popular MuMuHug series, hope to lever- • Chinese co-productions are sub- tionships means that prospective West-
age friendlier political relations between ject to state approval, with specific re- ern co-production partners must make
Taipei and Beijing to benefit animation quirements regarding the business themselves familiar to the Chinese be-
creators and consumers on both shores. structure of the enterprise and a critical fore any serious business can be con-
Within the next five years, I anticipate eye on the content (though based on ducted. While cultivating the proper
that we will see an outpouring of high- my experience, this approval is no more guanxi in China takes time and money,
quality, original content from mainland restrictive or arbitrary than that of your the long-term payoff is well worth the
China, facilitated by closer relationships typical Hollywood animation studio). investment. The barriers and risks of do-
with established Taiwanese studios and • The quantity and quality of the Chi- ing business in China are greatly mini-
co-produced by American and Euro- nese animation workforce continues to mized with the right guanxi.
pean animation concerns of all shapes rise, and China’s “animation industry As demonstrated by the opening
and sizes. bases” can provide attractive facility ceremony of the 2008 Olympics, the
So what does the resurgence of orig- arrangements to co-pro partners. Nev- Chinese are not at a loss for how to
inal animated content in China mean ertheless, despite financial players such make a profound visual impression.
to you, the Animation Magazine read- as Standard Chartered Bank of Hong We have much onscreen magic to
er? Well, if you’re an animation fan, it Kong (one of the first banks in Asia to look forward to from this waking
means that you have some fresh voic- provide film and TV financing), Chinese dragon. ■
es and perspectives to look forward to. animation studios are not generally Kevin Geiger is presi-
If you’re an animation artist, it means flush with cash. As a content creator dent and CEO of Ani-
not job losses but job opportunities— collaborating with a Chinese studio, mation Options LLC
the chance to assume an impactful you’re expected to wrap your great (www.animationop-
_____________
leadership position within companies ideas in some funding. tions.com). He is a
______
eager for your expertise. And if you’re • The Chinese are tough negotiators. 12-year veteran of
an animation producer, it means excit- I could expound on this at length (and Disney Feature Ani-
NOV•08
ing new co-production opportunities in probably will, at some point), but in the mation and guest re-
Kevin Geiger
the country that sports one out of ev- meantime I recommend anyone con- searcher and profes-
48 ery five consumers on Earth. In fact, the templating business in China to read sor at Beijing Film Academy.
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age 18-35. “This was

a great eye-opener,
because every time
I’ve talked about an-
imation with broad-
casters, their re-
sponse is that women
don’t watch anima-
___________________
Kevin Gillis
tion … and we found
out that this wasn’t
true at all.”
Not Your Usual

Office Comedy
So why use anima-
tion to stage a
grown-up sitcom? Kim Cattrall
Broad Comedy Co-creator Gillis be-

lieves that the animated universe al-
lows for much wider satiric possibilities
and surreal options. “You can really
Breakthrough Animation and Canwest’s new sitcom take situations to wonderfully absurd
takes an animated look at the life of a daytime chat levels,” he notes. “I can think of many
show producer. by Ramin Zahed instances where we couldn’t have
done it without animation. For exam-
B
reakthrough Animation and es that grew up with animation,” says ple, Parker’s pet dog Massimo talks
Canwest have some great news Kevin Gillis, Breakthrough Animation’s [only in her mind]—to her, the dog rep-
for fans of larger-than-life actress managing partner and exec producer. resents the perfect man. He cooks for
Kim Cattrall who’ve been experienc- “The show’s co-creator Laura Kosterski’s her, offers her great massages, has a
ing life-stopping withdrawal symptoms concept was exactly what we were glass of wine ready for her after a long
after taking in several screenings of the looking for. It spoofs the women’s talk day at work. In one episode, Dee gets
Sex and the City movie this past sum- show format—which is kind of an un- shot down by a passing fighter jet after
mer. The talented actress is coming chartered territory in animation. We also trying out an ‘inflatable helium butt’
back to the small screen—in animated get to tackle subjects that are appeal- (she wanted a J.Lo posterior!). There’s
form—as a self-absorbed, high mainte- ing to female audiences—like books, no way you can do those storylines in a
nance star of a daytime chat show in a relationships, health, diets, fitness, etc.” live-action sitcom.”
new primetime toon called Producing As Gillis and company began re- As shows such as Family Guy and
Parker. This is the first adult program- searching their target audience, they South Park have proved in recent
ming venture for Breakthrough Anima- made a surprising discovery: Half of the years, you can also deliver satiric jabs
tion, which has had an increasing pres- audience of primetime animated in animation which you wouldn’t be
ence in kids TV with popular shows such shows like The Simpsons are women, able to get away with in a regular
as Atomic Betty, Captain Flamingo,
Miss BG and Jimmy Two Shoes, which
has been picked up by Disney.
The new 13 x 30 sitcom centers on
the misadventures of an overworked
TV producer named Parker Kovak
(voiced by up-and-coming actress
Kristin Booth) who has to deal with the
daily demands of TV hostess Dee (Cat-
trall) and the behind-the-scene she-
nanigans of the production. (Think of it
as an animated Sex and the City-
meets-The View!)
NOV•08
“About two years ago, we decided

to develop a show that would fill the
50 demand for grown-up fare for audienc-
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Martini Shot:
The cre-
ative team
TELEVISION
sitcom. “In one epi- at Break- realize was

sode, Dee is dating through that in this
an ex-senator who Animation show, the
has his own workout picked a characters
color pal-
regimen tapes and are far, far
ette and
speaks with a Ger- contempo- more expres-
man accent,” says rary designs sive than in
Gillis. “He likes to go that appeal kids’ anima-
___________________
on these ‘extreme to young ur- tion.”

ban female
Afghan diets’ and Gillis and
audiences.
visit Third World spas company set
where people get up a mini stu-
held up for their or- dio at Break-
gans. We really are through’s
touching on subjects headquar-
that you’d see on The View, Oprah or booth to have a fuss-free blast, record- ters in Toronto, and along with Mercury
The Ellen DeGeneres Show!” ing scenes that bring Dee to life,” de- Filmworks in Ottawa and PASI studio in
Obviously, landing the always in-de- clares Cattrall. “It’s bliss!” the Philippines, are delivering the Flash-
mand Kim Cattrall to voice the self-in- “Kim is an unbelievable comedic based animation.
volved talk show host was a huge coup actress,” notes Gillis. “She has this huge Gillis gives lot of credit to producing
for the producers. Gillis says the fact range of voices. She could seduce you partner Canwest, who allowed them
that, like the producers and creative with her voice and she can also scorch to take extra chances with the subject
team, the actress was Canadian you when she gets mad. The actress matter. “We were lucky to get our or-
helped a lot! “One night, my wife and I who plays Parker—Kristin Booth (MVP, der of 13 episodes with Canwest,” he
were watching Sex and the City, and Young People F**king), is also a won- says. “Of course, if we had a 26 [order],
she says to me, ‘Somebody like Kim derful up-and-coming actress. Togeth- it would allow us to spend more time
would be great for the show!’” he re- er they have really brought these char- unveiling our characters’ arcs and to
calls. “We knew she was Canadian, so acters to life beautifully.” get a broader sense of the world. But I
we sent her the script. She’s developed have to tell you, they were so great to
an enormous following and it’s appro- Samantha Sings! work with. They’d tell us, ‘Let your imag-
priate that she should play such an im- Cattrall fans will be delirious when ination go wilder … go wild, we’ll pull
portant role in this first primetime ani- they discover that she’ll also be dis- you back!’ It’s so refreshing to hear
mated series designed for women.” playing her singing talents on the show. that, especially after you’ve worked
Cattrall, who played a huge role in “When we were courting her for the on several children’s shows before!”
making the Sex and the City movie first episode, I could hear her doing a As exec producer and co-creator of
one of the biggest box-office hits of throat exercise,” explains Gillis. “I no- the show, Gillis is also glowing about
2008, tells Animation Magazine that ticed that she has great pitch, so I another fringe benefit of Producing
she loves portraying the pushy chat asked her if she’d be interested in do- Parker—sitting in a room full of women
show host in the series. “Dee is devilishly ing a song for the show, and she writers all day! “I know more secrets
delicious to inhabit,” says the Emmy- agreed. The show’s musical approach about the female psyche than I ever
winning actress. “Her appetite and is quite different. It’s sophisticated, a thought I could,” he says. “At the end
ego outsize her voluminous hair and combination of Broadway musical of the day, I go home and tell my wife
bosom. She is a guilty pleasure to per- mixed with jazz and salsa—you can say these things, and she can’t believe the
form. Move over, Oprah!” it’s exotically erotic!” stuff we discuss. I think guys are going
Another bonus of playing an animat- Young women who tune in may also to really enjoy watching the show with
ed role is that you don’t have to worry be struck by the toon’s color palette and their wives and girlfriends. Nothing is
about many of the tedious aspects of wonderful contemporary design. Ac- sacred—we tell it and we make fun of
being in front of the camera! “After 35 cording to Gillis, the art department it all! I think it’s going to catch audi-
years of waking up before the rooster looked into the kinds of colors and artis- ences unaware and they’re going to
crows for early pre-pre-dawn hair/ tic styles that appealed to the target de- engage with it very personally. They’ll
makeup call times on films and TV, I rel- mographic. “We did a lot of research see themselves reflected in the char-
ish getting up much later than the sun looking at everything—online dating acters and, hopefully, have fun laugh-
with bed head! I lazily brush my teeth, sites, magazines, furniture, book covers. ing at themselves!” ■
reach for the wash cloth and complete We wanted the show to look very cos-
NOV•08
Producing Parker is scheduled to

my entire morning skin regime, then lei- mopolitan—very New York, but with
premiere on Canwest’s E! Channel
surely pick out my jeans and t-shirt for warm-looking skies. There’s always some-
(Canada) in January 2009.
52 the day and head to the recording thing happening. One thing I came to
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creator and creative thinker. He put to-

gether his own development group
within the company to come up with
new concepts for various media.”
One of these concepts was originally
a game idea which became Hero:
108, a comedy-action series in pro-
duction from Gamania Creative, Mike
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Young Productions and Cartoon Net-

work Europe. Mig Said is obviously quite
different in tone, style and content.
“The Flash-animated series has a few
recurring characters—such as Oscar
the wolf—but for the most part, each
episode is wholly unique with a gor-
geous painterly look and completely
new music,” notes Street. “Everyone
who sees these little treasures—wheth-
er young or old—seems to fall in love
with them. They are like little lullaby
poems—little pieces of art that make
you feel better about the world.”
European animation studio Millim-
ages (Skyland, 64 Zoo Lane, Louie),
Gentle Gems which has its distribution arm in London,

has picked up the series for global sales
and will be launching the series at MIP-
COM this month. “Look for beautiful
Mig Said..., a poetic new shorts series from Gamania, Mig Said maquettes and giveaways at
adds a Zen touch to classic fables. by Ramin Zahed the Millimages booth,” advizes Street.
The shorts currently air on Nick Jr. U.K.,
I
t’s not every day that we see a col- enjoy the sunset together under a accompanied by narration from ev-
lection of poetic, painterly shorts ar- tree. eryone’s favorite pirate spirit Bill Nighy
riving on the market. Usually, the “Gamania Digital Entertainment is (Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s
shorts that make it to the End). Mig Said also airs on Car-
small screen are of the super- toon Network Japan, without
hyper Itchy and Scratchy va- Nighy’s narration.
riety. That’s why it’s a kick to According to Street, Millim-
see Mig Said, a wonderful ages originally believed it
44-episode series of one- might be hard to place these
and two-minute shorts cre- shorts, but buyers have shown
ated by Taiwan’s Gamania great interest and surpassed
Studio, arriving on the mar- initial expectations. “The very
ket this fall. reason that Millimages ulti-
Created by Gamania’s in- mately picked up the shorts—
house development group, they simply couldn’t resist
Gamania Creative Center, them—is why buyers are jump-
the preschool show is the ing onboard to make a deal
brainchild of acclaimed Tai- for the shorts,” she adds. “Be-
wanese illustrator Mig Jou. cause shorts are difficult to pro-
His goal was to create a se- gram, they have to be truly
ries of moral fairy tales with unique the largest Asian publisher of massive exceptional, something a channel just
twists. For instance, in Mig’s interpreta- multi-player online games outside of can’t live without.” We also hope we
tion of Aesop’s fable, The Tortoise and Korea,” says Rita Street, president of won’t have to live without Mig Said in
NOV•08
the Hare (titled The New Race of Turtle Radar Cartoons, which acts as Gama- the U.S. much longer! ■
and the Hare), the rabbit helps the tur- nia’s producer’s rep. “The founder of For more info, visit www.millimages.
54 tle finish the race with him and the two the company, Albert Liu, is a game com.
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on our staff to un-learn a lot of what they
HBO’s Big Laughs for know how to do,” Dildarian says, “We’re ask-
ing people to draw like a five-year-old, or to
the Small Screen animate like a very inexperienced animator.

It’s easier said than done.”
The comic, who lists sardonic maestros
Larry David and Ricky Gervais as inspira-
The Life and Times of Tim offers a new grown-up toon tions, joins the animation scene after a
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for those who are older than rug-rats, but are not highly successful career in the ad business.
quite family guys! by Mercedes Milligan After winning a few dozen Clio awards and
writing memorable campaigns like the
I
n our industry, one often hears anima- a bum, you can’t help but root for him. “Budweiser Lizards,” he decided to step
tion artists lamenting toons created by “I haven’t seen a good animated come- down from that hectic world and focus on
(gasp) non-animators. In the past few dy where the storylines are relevant to more personal projects. But his three-year
years, we’ve seen a renewed focus on young people’s lives,” explains Dildarian, journey to TV echoed the hard-luck frustra-
buzzwords like “artist-driven” and the less “All the best animated shows seem to cen- tions of his protagonist.
determined “artist-friendly”—but as HBO’s ter around families, or over-the-top situa- “I spent a year making the original short
new late-night comedy series The Life & tions. I just wanted to create a show that’s films [Hooker was followed by three more
Times of Tim proves with its auteurist sensi- more grounded in reality.” (Yes, living in which comprised the pilot] and writing a
bilities, sometimes, a lot of funny and very Manhattan is that much different from your pilot script, then another year producing it
little pretty can make productive bedfel- life!) This down-to-Earth mentality applies as a pilot for Fox,” Dildarian elaborates. Af-
lows. seamlessly to the look of the show. Dildarian ter a couple of false starts at Fox, the pilot
Created, written and exec produced by describes his process—or lack thereof: was shopped around, attracting funding
Steve Dildarian (who also voices the titular “I just draw the characters and back- from Media Rights Capital (which is also on-
character), The Life & Times of Tim may ground to the best of my ability, and this is board Mike Judge’s upcoming The Goode
seem familiar to indie animation fans. That’s what it looks like. I couldn’t have drawn it Family) and eventually landing at HBO—
which, happily for their audience, snapped
it up the very next day after Dildarian went
in for the pitch meeting. “A lot of the
groundwork had been done [at that
point],” says Dildarian, “The pitch was really
just so they could hear my vision for the
show, but I have a feeling they knew they
liked it before I walked in the room.”
A year later, Dildarian has 10 half-hour
episodes under his belt. Each episode is, in
a way, a self-contained short film, leaving
the hapless Tim open to limitless possible fi-
ascos, without any long-term consequenc-
es. And much as the short-subject format-
ting of the series stays true to its origins, so
does the wonky animation; “The on-air ver-
sion is certainly better looking than the first
because the show was spawned from Dil- better if I wanted to,” he says, adding, “Peo- short we did, but the overall style has re-
darian’s award-winning Angry Unpaid ple seemed to like the unpolished look of mained the same.”
Hooker short, which was featured in the the show and the limited animation. I always Though at first glance the static, limited-
fourth edition of The Animation Show. The assumed we’d need to spruce it up some- ness of Tim makes it seem an unworthy fit for
series follows the comic-tragic misadven- where along the way, but we never did.” animation, the unpolished quality gives the
tures of a 20something New Yorker, who Dildarian developed this look when he show an underlying sense of “Gosh darn it,
can’t catch a break from the bizarre events made Hooker, after a limited budget lead I’m trying!” which perfectly echoes the
and characters that turn his every day into him to take his live-action plot and turn it into struggles of our underdog hero. After all,
a hilarious ordeal, and ruin his attempts to a crash course in animation using Apple’s the mark of a true artist is knowing when
appear normal for the sake of his exasper- iMovie. Ironically, the “naïve charm” of the enough … is enough. ■
ated girlfriend (voiced by Dildarian’s friend stilted animation (art created in Photoshop
NOV•08
HBO airs The Life & Times of Tim Sun-

and former colleague, Mary Jane Otto). and animated with After Effects and Final
days at 11 p.m. For more info, visit
Whether he’s being menaced by a pimp or Cut Pro) proved to be the biggest produc-
www.hbo.com/tim.
56 coerced into pressing rape charges against tion challenge. “[We had to] teach people
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Mouse House Says Good-

bye to Toon Disney
Disney XD eyes the boys’ action market.
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by Ryan Ball
T
he phenomenal success of live-action Mongoose & Luther (working title) is a doc-
programs such as Disney Channel’s umentary-style single camera show about two
Hannah Montana, High School Musi- best friends who set their sights on becoming
cal, Camp Rock and iCarly is changing the world famous skateboarders. The creators
cable television landscape by inspiring di- and exec producers are Matt Dearborn and
versification in channels that were once Tom Burkhard (both of Disney Channel’s Even
solely dedicated to animation. First Cartoon Stevens). Filmed in HD, the series is a produc-
Network began airing Out of Jimmy’s Head, tion of Turtle Rock Prods., Inc.
then snagged its highest ratings ever with the Toon fans may be less than thrilled with
live-action movie Ben 10: Race Against Time. the re-branding, but animation will still have
Now Disney is re-branding its Toon Disney and a strong presence on the network. New ani-
Jetix television and online platforms in the
U.S. as Disney XD. Debuting in February of
2009 across television, web, mobile and
VOD platforms, the 24-hour, advertiser-
supported network will feature a mix of
live-action and animated programming
for kids six to 14.
Whereas Disney Channel’s live-action
programming is largely targeted to girls,
Disney XD’s new offerings will be aimed
squarely at boys. In addition to action-ad-
venture and comedy series and movies,
the network will offer sports-themed shows
developed with ESPN. These will include
original productions and newly packaged X The New Boys’ Club: Set to launch in February, Disney
Games content. XD will feature familiar titles such as Phineas and Ferb
and Batman: The Animated Series and new titles
“Disney Channel is a huge business serv-
such as Toei Animation’s RoboDz.
ing kids all around the world, and it’s espe-
cially successful with girls, and our goal with mated properties include the short-form series a n d
Disney XD is to have that same success ratio Hero and Not (working title), produced in Italy p r o -
with boys,” says Rich Ross, president of Disney by Studio Bozzetto & Co. SRL, and RoboDz, g r a m -
Channels Worldwide. “Disney XD will showcase a CG-animated and live-action short form ming blocks
great stories and empowering characters with comedy series co-produced by Toei Anima- in all other
Disney’s brand credibility and a cool creative tion Company Ltd. and Walt Disney Television parts of the world will
factor that will set it apart from the pack.” International Japan. Other featured series be decided on a case-by-case basis.
The new live-action programs will include will include the Disney Channel hit animated The House of Mouse is hoping Disney XD will
Aaron Stone, an original, single camera ad- comedy Phineas and Ferb, and the super- eventually reach the same heights as sibling
venture series about a teenager who is en- hero cartoons Batman: The Animated Series, network Disney Channel. Hannah Montana,
listed to become the real-life version of a leg- Superman: The Animated Series, Spider-Man High School Musical and other live-action hits
endary, crime fighting online game character. and Iron Man. such as The Wizards of Waverly Place and The
The series is exec produced by Bruce Kalish Disney XD, the seventh brand in the kid-driv- Cheetah Girls propelled the outlet to the very
(Disney Channel’s The Famous Jett Jackson) en TV and radio business of The Walt Disney top of the cable ratings chart in 2007, drawing
NOV•08
and Suzanne French (Overruled!, Life with Co., will reach nearly 70 million U.S. households an average of 2.69 million total viewers. That’s
Derek), and produced in HD by Shaftesbury via its basic cable affiliates. The fate of the 19 the biggest total audience for any cable net-
58 Films, Inc. Jetix channels and six Toon Disney channels work on record. ■
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Oscar image courtesy of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences
Welcome to
Animation Magazine’s 2008 Award Season Issues.
Award Season Preview Issue Issue #191 - February
Editorial Focus: An early preview of the award season contend- Editorial Focus: Visual Effects
ers of 2008, in the animated feature, animated shorts and visual Editorial Due: Dec. 1
effects categories. Ad Sales Close: Dec. 18
Editorial Due: Oct. 1 On Newsstands: Jan. 5
Ad Sales Close: Oct. 18 (Nominations announced Jan. 22)
On Newsstands: Nov. 1
Issue #192 - March
Issue #190 – December/January Editorial Focus: Animated Shorts and Artist Profiles
Editorial Focus: Feature Film Contenders Editorial Due: Jan. 4
Editorial Due: Nov. 3 Ad Sales Close: Jan. 22
Ad Sales Close: Nov. 20 On Newsstands: Feb. 5
On Newsstands: Dec. 3
(Nomination polls close Feb. 17)
(Note: In conjunction with this announcement, we will hold at
the printer for nomination ads.)
Call 818-991-2884 Ext. 104 or sales@animationmagazine.net ____________________________________________
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The Padded Cel

by Robby London
A Merger Preparedeness Primer:

___________________
Seven Things You Can Do to Be Ready
I
t could happen at any time; in a the word “murder?” “Merger” implies a goal is to find ways to differentiate your
booming economy or its current happy marriage but the truth is there special talents from those of anyone
antithesis—which apparently is will always be a perp … and a corpse. similar in the new parent company. To
called a “fundamentally sound” And you may not grasp which one you give one wholly random example, they
economy. It can happen as suddenly are until you happen to be enjoying a probably already have a creative
as … a moose-hunting former small “sick day” at the beach and notice a executive who is overpaid to
town mayor becoming president of tag on your toe! underperform.
the U.S. Or a story editor being Reconnoiter: Ignorance may be bliss, Waive: If the conquerors are
capriciously fired by a network. Or but knowledge is power. Keep your generous enough to offer a severance
receiving your first AARP solicitation in ears to the ground package, be prepared to waive all
the mail. Or falling into a coma induced at work. rights in order to get it, including such
by lame metaphors. Scour things as the right to sell sushi on eBay,
Yes, the company for which you your the right to reproduce and the right to
work could be suddenly … acquired! be lactose intolerant. And if you work
And your job eliminated. And since in an “at will” state like California, be
there is absolutely nothing you can prepared to see your at-will-ass
do to prevent it, the only thing you “waived” goodbye … with
can do is be prepared. That is our nothing.
mission this month: to prepare Energy: Energy is a scarce
you. And we shall be vigilant in resource. And in a brutal job
not allowing this vital mission market, you will need every drop
to be compromised by the of it to sabotage and assassinate
cheap temptation to your former trusted colleagues who
entertain you—oh no, were laid off too and are
that would be too easy! competing for the same jobs you
Here, then, are seven steps are. So, whatever you do, do NOT
to becoming prepared for waste an iota of your precious
that sudden, unexpected energy on doing a good job now!
Illustration by Mercedes Milligan
announcement on a carefree Despair: Okay, let’s face it. There is

summer’s day: little you can do to protect yourself from
Save: There are many things you’d the dark side of capitalism which results
be wise to save. First, of course, is in the few getting richer and the many
money. But also save copies of getting fired. Our list may be worthless—
your best work (or anyone’s best work but at least credit us with respecting our
that you can pass off as your o w n ) . pledge not to entertain you.
Save your vacation days so you’re Still, we would be remiss not to point
maxed out at any given time—that’s I.T. person’s desk for a out the handy acronym to help you
why god invented sick days and list of executive passwords to see what’s remember these precious seven steps.
downloadable doctor’s notes. Save all really going on. Use those sick days to All you really need remember about
the office supplies you can “liberate.” make field trips to the marina to see if mergers is this: be prepared at all times
And save your integrity for when you your CEO just bought a new yacht. to be S.C.R.E.W.E.D! ■
can’t find another job in the animation Eavesdrop in the executive suite, using Robby London is an Emmy-winning
industry and end up becoming a that surefire Scooby-Doo trick of writer and exec producer. His numerous
teacher. disguising yourself as a potted plant. TV credits include Sonic the Hedgehog,
NOV•08
Cynical: Sadly, it always pays to be Educate: As soon as a merger is Sabrina: the Animated Series, Madeline
cynical. Let’s start with the word announced, educate your new bosses and Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd
60 “merger.” Ever notice the similarity to about exactly what it is you do. Your Century.
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The Handeyeman®
Discovers Planet Earth
“Ham” is the Handeyeman®

astronomer who lives on another
planet and discovers Earth.
His discovery causes him, his
family, and his colleagues big
problems as they try to control
how the news of the earthlings
will be released to the world of
handeyepeople™.
30 page style guide for TV series,

comic book, feature film, video games
or toys on Handeyeman® and how
handeyepeople™ do things.
John O. Graybill, Creator

jog@autodocorp.com
___________________________
(951) 313-9052, (619) 287-8857

© 2008 Automatic Document Corporation. All rights reserved.
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Fresh Riviera Wrap: 2008 Edition

News and views about the MIPCOM audiovisual content market,
held Oct. 13-17, in Cannes, France.
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Of Teeny Vikings and Evil Gopherlords Around the World With

Unusual Designs
W e recently had a chance to sit down and chat with one of our favorite guys in
the TV animation business, Frank Saperstein, senior VP of animation and children’s
programming at Blueprint Media. It looks like he he has a lot of really interesting projects
for 2009. In addition to his Flash-animated adult series Dating Guy (co-produced with
A lmost 135 years ago, French fantasy
master Jules Verne wrote the exciting
adventure Around the World in 80 Days.
the team at marblemedia), which we covered in our last TV market issue, he told us
Since then, numerous adaptations of the
about two very eccentric toons which sound like a lot of fun!
work have been produced for cinema and
The first one is called Kid Chipmunk, which is created by Stephen Holman and
TV. David Niven and Pierce Brosnan have
Josephine Huang (Kablam!). “It’s a wild, game-inspired
both played the Englishman hero Phileas
adventure series about four young kids named Kid
Fogg and Jackie Chan and Eric Idle have
Chipmunk, Pigeon Girl, Beaver Boy and Raccoon Suzie,”
starred as his valet Passepartout in different
says Saperstein, with a big smile on his face. “They were
productions.
kidnapped right after birth, raised by animals in the wild
We recently got word that Toronto-based
and have become vigilant superheroes who battle
Comet Entertainment (Santa Vs. Claus,
the evil Gopherlord and his mutant army in all kinds of
Wrappy: Sex Police) has signed a deal
environmental battles!” (Frank, you had us at the Kid
Kid Chipmunk with Spanish studio Somuga—which has
Chipmunk alone!)
a big licensing and
Also on the Blueprint plate is Eric the Tiny, created by Russell Marcus (Brandy & Mr.
merchandising arm
Whiskers, Married with Children). This one is about—wait for it, wait for it—the world’s
in San Sebastian—to
smallest, meanest, most righteous Viking. “Every day he has to go fight and pillage,
produce a new 80-
but he also has a totally dysfunctional family—one gay son, one really dumb son and
minute Flash-animated
a promiscuous daughter and wife who’s the village medic!” explains Saperstein. Or
movie inspired by the
as the show’s official description synopsis reads, “His family parallels our world today
classic.
… if we bowled with human heads, used teeth as currency and chained our mentally
“This will be a
challenged relatives in the basement.” Nuf said!
completely exciting
new adventure, perfect
for the 21st century
One More Reason to Love Italia! with a really unique
look and fantastic
N ext time you’re in Italy, forget about those overrated tourist attractions such as
Rome’s Leaning Tower of Pisa, Florence’s Uffizi Gallery and Venice’s Bridge of
Sighs. The creative team at Italy’s animation studio Gruppo Alcuni have taken a page
characters,” says
Comet Entertainment’s
CEO Raquel Benitez. “Around the World in
out of the Disney book and opened the doors to The Talking Tree Park, a new family
80 Days, Free! centers on the famous bet
attraction in the beautiful city of Treviso.
between two friends [they’re renamed
“Set in a historic location, the park is a spacious green
Sheepskin and Kebab in this version] over
destination which inspires fun, learning and interactive
whether it’s possible for Sheepskin to travel
experiences,” says Laura Gambino, Gruppo Alcuni’s head
around the world for free. What happens is
of sales. “We believe the park is truly unique in both Italy and
that the cities Phileas Fogg passed through
Europe.”
about 200 years ago are now emblematic
Upon entering the park, young visitors can find their way to
centers, full of different obstacles!” And yes,
an ancient cedraia (a citrus free greenhouse). Their fantastic
the secret child of the late Lady Diana and
voyage will lead them to a place where they can
Dodi Al-Fayed plays a part in this scenario!
witness the birth of cinema, learn about the process of
We have a feeling we’ll be following these
animation and discover how new technologies allow
new eccentric-looking characters to the far
live-action actors to interact with animated characters
NOV•08
corners of the world. You can check out the

from Gruppo Alcuni’s favorite shows such as Pet Pals
designs and some of Somuga’s t-shirt and
and Leonardo.
toy designs at www.somuga.com and learn
62 “The Talking Tree Park is the ideal location for school
more at www.cometentertainment.com.
excursions or for family outings,” says Gambino. After all,
how many times will you get the chance to hang out with the Pet Pal characters in real
life—fantastico, no?
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Animasia Serves Alphabet Soup and Soccer Fever
TELEVISION
K uala Lumpur-based animation studio Animasia is bringing two very different shows
to the MIPCOM market this month. The first one is a colorful preschool series about This Cat Is Ready for His
the 26 letters of the alphabet who live within the walls of Capital Castle! The 26 x 22 show Comeback!
is called ABC Monsters and is produced at Animasia’s studio using Flash software in High
Def. The colorful toon was the winner of Malyasia’s
I.P. Challenge, which was organized by the country’s
Multimedia Development Corporation.
N ow that Garfield the cat has two CG-
animated movies under his fat belt, it’s
time for his charming rival from the ’80s to
Animasia’s managing director and the show’s exec step into the limelight. Created by George
___________________
producer Edmund Chan tells us that the show targets Gately in
four- to six-year-olds in English-speaking territories, but 1973, the
skews a bit older for non-English regions. “The concept black-and-
is fresh and creative as we face these 26 letters in orange cat
our daily life,” says Chan. He says the show is currently in production, and Animasia has Heathcliff
secured interest from Malaysian, Middle Eastern and European TV networks. has been
With eyes on the sport’s huge fan base all around the world, Animasia is also bringing a popular
a 13-part soccer-themed toon to the market. Supa Strikas is another HD, Flash-animated staple of the
series which is centered on the world’s greatest players, united in the spirit of adventure. funny pages
“The story’s magic lies in the variety of content, character and locale … and of course, in newspapers
in the blazing action both on and off the field,” says Oliver Power, exec producer of Strika around
Entertainment. He also notes that the show is based on a popular Supa Strikas multi- the world. In addition, he starred in two
platform project which includes several print formats, website and animated shorts for different TV series (produced by Ruby-Spears
broadcast TV. “Our target audience is boys, seven to 11, but we expect people of all ages Productions and DIC) and had the distinct
to enjoy this universal action-adventure series.” honor of being voiced by the legendary Mel
Fans can expect to start screaming Blanc.
“Goooooooaaaal!” as early as November, Last month, FitzRoy Media CEO Hamp
when the show hits leading TV stations across Hampton announced that his company
Asia, Latin America and Malaysia. has teamed up with Gately’s nephew Peter
Chan says the growth of new media has Gallagher, who now writes and draws the
helped producers in the region maximize their comic strip, to develop new animated
revenue potential. “The Asian market itself is projects based on the popular feline. Los
an interesting area where countries such as China, India and Indonesia are becoming Angeles-based studio Renegade Animation
more mature with higher purchasing power and give us more opportunities to push is also involved in the project.
for merchandise volumes,” says the producer. “Besides Malaysia will also be a new “We want to emphasize that Heathcliff is
destination for high quality animation productions as we have strong training institutions the original streetwise cat,” says Gallagher,
and universities delivering quality talent every year. Year in and year out, we have a in a phone interview. “We want to update
strong, knowledgeable work force which can support the continuous flow of projects from him, so that a whole new audience will be
abroad.” introduced to him. It’s funny how people
To learn more about these and the studio’s other projects, visit www.animasia-studio.com. sometimes confuse him with Garfield, but
there is a difference—Heathcliff actually
came out first, several years before Garfield.”
Mouse’s Tale Captures Cartoon D’Or Gallagher, who took over the strip after the
passing of this uncle, says Heathcliff is a great
T hose talented French animation students

have done it again. Benjamin Renner, a
graduate of France’s La Poudrière, received
character to write about. “He has a girlfriend,
and he always gets into trouble with her.
Throughout the years, the strip’s humor and
Cartoon Forum’s Cartoon d’Or Award for his
personality have remained constant.”
graduation project, A Mouse’s Tale (La Queue
Gallagher says he still enjoys creating
de la Souris) last month.
the strip the old fashioned way. “Very little
Renner’s four-minute short uses drawings
is done on the computer,” says the artist,
and cut-out animation to tell the story of a lion
who works from his home in Glenridge, New
who captures a mouse and is about to devour
Jersey. “Coming up with ideas day after
it when the mouse proposes a deal. Renner
day is the toughest part of the job. It never
made the film while he was attending La
gets easier. But I have to tell you, I’ve always
Poudrière, an animation film-directing school in France, where he directed several shorts. The
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loved to draw. I remember how I missed

24-year-old is now working at France’s Les Armateurs studio, where he is lead animator on the
a couple of days drawing when I was a
upcoming movie Ernest and Celestine.
kid, and I almost developed an allergic
The Cartoon d’Or 2008 jury was composed of directors Enzo D’Alo from Italy, Raul Garcia
from Spain and Michael Coldewey from Germany. Cartoon d’Or is part of the annual Cartoon
reaction!” Now that sounds like a perfect 63
plot for a Heathcliff episode!
Forum event, which was held at Ludwisgsburg in September. For further information, visit ___
www.
cartoon-media.eu.
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FatKat Unleashes Kooky Crime-Fighters Yummy and ZeFronk Land on

OddBot’s Menu
TELEVISION
B ewildered attendees of the Ottawa Animation Festival’s opening

night screening got a sneak peek at FatKat Animation studio’s
offbeat new series SpaceKnights. Actors dressed up as the toon’s
goofy crime-fighting characters got a few
I t’s been a very busy summer for the talented group of
animators, artists and producers at Los Angeles-based
studio OddBot. They wrote to tell us that they’ve been
laughs when they interrupted festival director working on a new animated interstitial series for Playhouse
Chris Robinson’s introductory speech. Based Disney, called Tasty Time with ZeFronk. Slated for a
in New Brunswick, Canada, FatKat is gearing November debut on the cabler, the show is about a French
up heavily for the new Flash-animated toon,
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wiener dog who hosts a cooking show with his assistant, a

which is an off-the-wall parody of programs bird named Sue. The appetizing toon offers kids and their
such as Voltron, Transformers and Mighty Gene Fowler
parents/caregivers great recipes for healthy treats that
Morphin Power Rangers. they can make at home. “ZeFronk encourages kids to
“The SpaceKnights are a group of slightly outdated superheroes be actively involved with creating healthy meals in the
who drive 1994 Honda Accords that have been given special kitchen,” says OddBot president and creative director
abilities,” says company president Gene Fowler, who co-created the Chris Hamilton. “The unique style of the show is a mixture
show with Buddy Bolton (My Adventures with Cloe). “When they’re of Flash animation with actual pictures of the ingredients.
together, they can transform into a variety of giant robots, from a After we prepared and photographed the food at the
pterodactyl, to a giant T-Rex, to a Saber Tooth Tiger.” studio, we had to sample the fifinal
nal dishes--no sense in
According to the always-energetic Mr. Fowler, about 120 wasting food! I have to say, everything tasted great!”
employees are working at the studio on the project, which is one of OddBot is also working on American Greetings and
Teletoon’s Detour Pilot Projects. “I think fans of those old shows are DQ Entertainment’s Maryoku Yummy, the 52 x 11-minute
going to get a kick out of the toon, which is going to answer pressing preschool show about a magical creature that tries very
questions like ‘Where do you get funding for giant robots?’ and ‘Why hard to make children’s wishes come true. “It was such
does it seem like every alien a pleasure working with show’s creator Jeffrey Conrad
travels billions of light years and his team at American Greetings,” adds Hamilton.
across the depth of space, “They are so creative, highly
all the way to Earth, only to supportive, and reacted
want a fist fight!?’” positively to our ideas. This
FatKat, which also works made building the whimsical,
on Animation Collective’s unique, and colorful world of
Nicktoons series Three Maryoku Yummy inspiring. Plus
Delivery, will be taking the characters look like cute
SpaceKnights to MIPCOM, little marshmallows with dot
so watch out for four eyes - and who doesn’t like
wild and crazy guys in funny costumes on the Riviera this month. marshmallows?”
(Although it might be hard to tell them apart from all the other slightly To learn more about OddBot’s wide variety of
insane market attendees!) animation production services and its feature, broadcast,
For more info about this fun toon studio, visit http://fatkat.ca. cable and web projects, visit www.oddbot.net.
Lincoln Butterfield Offers Fantastic Foursome
R obert Hughes and his maddeningly creative team at the new indie toon
studio Lincoln Butterfield Animation have lined up quite a lineup for the
market this year. Hughes (an animation director on Phineas & Ferb and Angry
Beavers) has joined forces with Porchlight Entertainment to deliver Tan, an
action comedy about a group of egg friends (Tan, Foo Young, Tamago and
Curry) that have recently graduated from the Lo Fat Martial Arts Academy
and Cooking School and face many adventures and challenges without
letting go of their eggscelent optimism.
Also part of the new Butterfield catalog is NIT: The Neighborhood
Investigation Team, a show created by Hughes and designed by Mitch
Schauer; and an adult toon called Venture Probe, about the voyages of
Captain Craig Taylor and his incompetent crew aboard a corporate-class sales cruiser. Wrapping
up the studio’s offerings is a curious number called When in Rome, which is said to be inspired by
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the two acclaimed I, Claudius novels by Robert Graves. The show follows two helpless cousins who weave in and out of
the treacherous Roman Empire. Created and written by Robert Hughes and designed by Frank Furlong, the property is
64 available both as a comic book and animated series. May the sweetness, insanity and decadence bring Butterfield much
success!
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TELEVISION
FatCat Swims in the CrocPond
I t’s been almost eight years since FatCat Animation

Studio (not to be confused with FatKat Studio in
Canada) opened its doors in
Tempe, Arizona. By keeping
the flames of traditional
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animation alive, the studio
is carving a niche in the
competitive toon market.
“We currently have a number
Rindin the Puffer
of projects in the works which
include family programming from our Gathering Place
series, CrocPond Short Films and a joint project with
California’s Beati Productions to develop and produce
children’s interstitials for Max on Snax, which promotes
healthy eating habits for children,” says Len Simon, the
studio’s co-founder and animation director.
FatCat, which began life as a spin-off of the
old Fox studio in Arizona and is now a subsidiary
of San Francisco-based Crocodiles not Waterlilies
Entertainment, is producing 30 short films based on
CrocPond’s stories and kid-friendly characters and
universe. “One of the award-winning shorts (Rindin the
Puffer) is being been screened at film festivals worldwide
and gaining attention
from audiences and the
entertainment industry.
We’re also producing
Dex’s Gym and Babysitting
Bolper. This awareness is
building momentum on our
main focus, which is the
CrocPond feature film.”
Simon says the studio,
which currently has a staff
of just under 50, takes great
pride in being one of the few U.S.
animation studios which is still following
the 2D route, “Our animators keep true to the traditional
art form; still animating the way it was done over 50
years ago—drawing with pencil on paper. However, we
also understand the need to evolve, and in doing so we
utilize today’s digital technologies such as Toon Boom’s
USAnimation, Photoshop, 3ds Max, After Effects and Final
Cut Pro HD, among others.”
Simons says he believes that there are still a lot of __________________
animation fans who prefer 2D to CG. “Based on recent
reports, over 51 percent of animators would like to work
on 2D classic animated films,” he adds. “These types of
figures speak volumes and reaffirm that we are headed
in the right direction. We simply focus on the strength of
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our people, their storytelling skills and their creativity.”

To learn more, go to www.fatcatanimation.com and
www.crocpond.com.
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Chloé van den Berg Cartoon

Entertainment Rights Plc
Executive Director, International Forum’s
Top 10 Toons:
Years in the biz: Coming up on 20 years
Hometown: London The following shows registered the
Favorite animated show of 2008: Soon to be most attendance at last month’s
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launched brand new Postman Pat® SDS, Cartoon Forum in Germany:

followed closely by Pixar’s WALL•E.
Recently acquired titles: Shelldon®, CGI- 1. Mouk’s World Tour
animated (26 x 30) series produced by (Millimages)
Shellhut Entertainment.
2. Pok & Mok (Alphanim/
Things I look for in a show: Today a show has to work across multiple
Vivement Lundi!)
platforms and needs to standout from the crowd, but what remains
essential is the story and characters have to be strong and engage 3. Mr. Baby (Xilam Animation)
with the audience. 4. Plankton Invasion
My dream vacation: Havelock, Beach No.7, The Andaman Islands. (Tinkertee/Nexus Factory/
The book that changed my life: The Lonely Planet. TeamTO)
Favorite performer: Currently, Jack Johnson. 5. Badly Drawn Roy (Jam
Shows I always TiVo: The Gadget Show, Heroes, Gray’s Anatomy, The Media)
Tonight Show. 6. Gaston (Normaal
The gizmo I can’t live without: Sad to say, the Animation)
BlackBerry.
7. Dr. Brumm (TRIKK 17
What I love about my job: The people, the
Animationsraum GmbH)
content and that its an environment that is
constantly evolving. 8. The Three Robbers
The most annoying trend of the year: Blaming (Animation-X, Les
all of the world’s ills on the credit crunch—most Armateurs)
definitely over used?!? 9. Claude (Folimage)
Shelldon
Do you have any unusual hobbies/talents: 10. Huhu (Studio Baestarts)
Nothing that I’m willing to put in print… Source: Cartoon Forum press office
Richard Rowe
Turner Broadcasting
Acquisitions Executive
Years in the biz: 7

Hometown: London
Favorite animated show of 2008: Whilst South Park continues to be
produced; it will always be my favorite.
Recently acquired titles: Hi-5 UK, Pink Panther, The Garfield Show, Blue
Water High Season 2 and The Latest Buzz Season 3.
Things I look for in a show: It does depend what channel I am buying
for, but generally speaking: Endearing characters and the ability to provoke
emotion … usually a smile!
What I hate to see in a show: The cutting of corners.
My dream vacation: Living with bears in Alaska.
The movie that changed my life: Super Size Me. This piece of gastro art not only
showed how possible it is to live solely on McDonalds, but also if you eat under nine
Big Mac meals a day it isn’t that bad for you, either.
Favorite performer: Larry David in The Producers.
Shows I always TiVo: Match of the Day, Dragons Den, Peep Show, Soccer AM, The Garfield Show
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Panorama.
The gizmos I can’t live without: Xbox 360, PS3, Tom Tom.
66 What I love about my job: There aren’t many jobs that beat getting paid to watch TV.
The most annoying trend of the year: Converse trainers and skintight jeans.
Do you have any unusual hobbies/talents?: This isn’t the place to list them!
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Total Drama, The Musical? Mater Gets Own Show on Disney
TELEVISION
(Sort of!)
C anada’s TELETOON has ordered more episodes of Fresh
TV’s animated series Total Drama Island and Stoked. The
third season of the mock reality show Drama takes a musical M ater, the
rusty tow
spin as Total Drama, the Musical plays on such popular live- truck which
action tween sensations as High School Musical and Camp befriended
Rock. The network commissioned another 26 episodes of the Lightning
upcoming Stoked, an animated sitcom about teens who
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McQueen in the
come together one summer to work at Surfer’s Paradise 2006 Pixar feature
Resort, bringing the total order to 52 installments. The show will Cars will star in his
premiere on TELETOON in the spring of 2009. own animated
Created by Fresh TV partners Tom three-part short
McGillis and Jennifer Pertsch, Total series. Pixar’s Cars Toons will premiere on Disney
Drama, the Musical takes 15 lucky Channel, Toon Disney and ABC Family beginning
contestants all over the globe to Monday, Oct. 27. This news follows the recent
compete in challenges and break announcement that director Brad Lewis’ Cars 2
into spontaneous musical numbers sequel will now be released in the summer of 2011.
in each episode. TELETOON has also These three short animated vignettes are
committed to a new season, dubbed directed by John Lasseter and co-directed by
Total Drama Action, which is distributed Pixar animators Victor Navone and Rob Gibbs and
internationally by Cake Entertainment (King Arthur’s Disasters, produced by Kori Rae. Mater, who is voiced by Larry
Skunk Fu!) It definitely sounds like the Toronto-based family the Cable Guy, rescues McQueen from a burning
entertainment outfit has carved a really nice niche in the building, becomes a famous daredevil and tries his
market for itself. Check out www.freshtvinc.com for more info. hand at bulldozing in this fun trilogy.
Lots of vroom, vroom, vroom ahead!
Nerd Corps Roots for Evil

A Brown Bear Goes Green
A wise man once said, “I have discovered that all human evil
comes from this, man’s being unable to sit still in a room.” When
it comes to Vancouver-based Nerd Corps’ latest animated show,
League of Super Evil (yup, that’s L.O.S.E.!) it’s all about taking over the
T hese days, even the animated bears are more
ecologically conscious than the old classic toons
like Yogi Bear. A good example
world! is Beary Boo, a new preschool
The 26 X half-hour series is show about a green-living
quickly gaining momentum brown bear cub, which will
in Latin America, where it be produced by Ireland’s
will launch on Jetix, and in Caboom and distributed
France, where it will premiere by L.A.-based PorchLight
on Canal +, Canal J and Entertainment. This deal marks
Gulli in 2009. The series charts the Irish outfit’s first distribution
the adventures of four goofy deal of an original property in
supervillains (Great Voltar, the U.S.
Doktor Frogg, Reginald “Red” The preschool show follows
Menace and Doomageddon!) the adventures Beary who joins
who have set their sights on wreaking havoc on their neighborhood. the Fuzzy Scouts and marches
The bad-to-the-bone Nerd team is also working hard on developing to the tune of conservation and
a mega fansite where kids can enjoy interactive games, create their living green. “We are pleased to
own virtual villain identities and watch streaming videos. be working with the talented team
“League of Super Evil is about a compelling cast of hilarious at Caboom on Beary Boo,” says Fred Schaefer,
goofball characters driving these fast-paced, absurd storylines,” says PorchLight’s senior VP of animation. “With Beary Boo,
Nerd Corps supreme commander and creative mastermind Asaph Caboom has created an exceptional series that
Fipke. “It has a broad appeal in that the edgier send up of typical combines great designs, humor and entertaining
super hero/villain stories will resonate with older kids, while its fast- stories with messages on conservation, recycling, and
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paced, slapstick action and silly humor will keep the younger end other eco-conscious themes.” You can find out more
tuned in too.” He kind of makes us want to throw a cape over our info about the two companies at www.caboom.ie
shoulders and start planning nefarious plots against do-gooders! For
more info, visit www.thenerdcorps.com.
and www.porchlight.com. 67
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any spoken words, so it appeals to
Fishing viewers all around the world. The three-

minute length of the show also makes it
suitable for various formats—from stan-
for a Tasty Hit dard broadcast to specialty channels

to mobile media downloads. The pro-
ducers are hoping to wrap the financ-
Inspidea and SIP show appetite ing in the near future and begin pro-
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for sushi with Ko-Bushi. duction by early next year and have
the show debut in 2010.
Inspidea’s managing director con-
firms that the animation scene in Ma-
laysia is going through a renaissance of
late. “There are more companies that
are getting their feet wet than before,”
he says. “This is a good because we
are getting some competition, we
think. The government is supportive of
the local entertainment industry, with
friendly policies coupled with several
incentives packages and tax breaks.”
The team at Inspidea is also working
on X3, a new spinoff of their popular
series Mustang Mama. The 26 x two-
minute package follows the extreme
sports-themed adventures of the spirit-
ed grandma, her tough grandson Toby
and Sally, her naughty pet cow!
“The challenge for Inspidea is out-
X3
S
o you think you’ve heard and idea to work together with SIP
seen it all when it comes to con- Animation again. So we went
cepts for animated shows for kids looking for a project that is suit-
this fall? How about a three-minute for- able for collaboration.”
mat about a shogun, two samurai, The team at SIP Animation,
three ninjas and a dog made out of under the direction of Stephanie
tofu, who are trying to outsmart each Kirchmeyer, liked the original concept performing ourselves,” observes Ooi.
other to become the mascot of a sushi for the show and decided to work to- “We want to come up with new shows
bar? That’s right—bet you don’t hear gether with Inspidea. “The project really that are better than what we already
that very often! felt right to both sides, so we went have in terms of concept, design and
The series is called Ko-Bushi, a co-pro- ahead and divided our duties,” says storytelling. We also want to improve
duction between Malaysian animation Ooi. “SIP Animation refined the concept our animation skills so that the bar is set
studio Inspidea and French toon house and the storytelling while we tweaked higher with each new show … Malay-
SIP. As it turns out, the origins of the idea the design of the characters and the sia is exposed to both Eastern- and
go back to 2005, when Inspidea en- show. The end result is something we Western-style animation. We have
tered it in the Singapore Super Pitch can proudly say was co-created.” been this way for years! Hopefully the
event. “The concept and the name of Ooi points out that the design of the future kids will be influenced by Malay-
the project were quite different—it was show is “drenched in a heavy dose of sian animation.” ■
more Zen, mystical and—pardon the kawaii.” He says everything has that —Ramin Zahed
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pun—raw,” says Inspidea’s managing special Japanese “cute flavor,” which For more information on these
director Andrew Ooi. “After Combo Ni- is universally admired. Another selling shows, visit www.inspidea.com.
68 ños, we thought it might be a good point is the fact that it doesn’t have
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Visit us at MIPCOM
MDA Booth 05.20 - 07.19
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about music without actually playing a
Hitting All the Right note. So the temp track is the easiest
way for them to give me strong direc-
Intergalactic Notes tion, and I use it for tempo and texture,

mood and the pacing.
Ahsoka’s theme is probably my fa-
vorite—that really came straight out of
The man behind the score of the new Star Wars: The her personality. There’s a softness to it.
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Clone Wars series writes about working with Lucas and It’s not complex in terms of chord struc-
Filoni to create the show’s exotic music. ture, and it features melody notes that
aren’t part of that structure—exotic
by Kevin Kiner
notes that I think fit her well.
A
fter 20 years of scoring television sodes, that meant a Bulgarian flavor. After I’ve sketched it all out, I orches-
series, you think you’ve heard it George had been quite taken by the trate the score, instrument by instru-
all … until George Lucas says sound of a Bulgarian women’s choir ment. The music in this series is so com-
he’d like to hear a Bulgarian women’s and felt that was right for this planet. I plex that I usually am able to write
choir included in a Star Wars score. had little experience with Bulgarian about two minutes a day—and that’s
Scoring the new Star Wars: The Clone music, so my first task was to learn ev- over a 12-hour day. I work out most of
Wars, which begins its run on Cartoon erything I could and figure out how to the themes on piano and write them
Network this month, is easily the most incorporate the sound. The end result down on paper, then I start orchestrat-
difficult and, simultaneously, satisfying was a fairly authentic piece of music, ing with samples, one instrument at a
project I’ve ever worked on. We don’t complete with the women’s choir. time, building a string section, then
approach this as a TV show, but as But it didn’t stop with Bulgaria. We’ve brass and percussion.
“mini-movies”—and we’ve got 44 of used everything from South American The whole experience is like growing
them in the first two seasons. charangos to Chilean drums to the In- up or giving birth—painful, but ex-
The challenges are two-fold (at least): dian bansuri flute to a Japanese shaku- tremely rewarding. When you’ve done
Creating a score in the grand tradition hachi, and they all instill wildly different it, you have that knowledge, and that
never leaves. Now I can write in the
style of Bulgaria, it’s part of my musical
vocabulary, and it can only make me
a better composer.
If anyone had ever asked about my
aspirations and goals, I would have
simply said, “I want to be the next John
Williams.” His scores are the absolute
pinnacle of our craft, and to assume
that role, to follow in his footsteps and
with this wonderful material is a great
honor and very exciting. Now, every
morning I get up and get to do what
of John Williams’ standard-setting Star textures in the series’ unique, new he did. That’s very inspiring. ■
Wars music, and matching the expec- worlds. And each comes with a differ- Kevin Kiner is a two-time Emmy nomi-
tations of executive producer George ent bit of inspiration: The choir provided nee and the composer for the Star
Lucas and supervising director Dave Fi- a deep, nasal, haunting sound; the Wars: The Clone Wars feature film and
loni in terms of texture, flavor and sound. bansuri brought the score a very TV series, as well as CSI: Miami, Star
The latter part of that equation is where woody, earthy quality; and the shaku- Trek: Enterprise and Stargate SG-1. He
Bulgarians enter the picture. hachi offered an emotional, almost was nominated for an Annie Award for
George decided early on that each mournful, sound. his work on Harold
episode would be defined by a particu- and the Purple Cray-
lar ethnicity of the planet, locale or envi- Harmonic Convergence on. While he admits
ronment where most of the action takes When I’m scoring the show, I listen to he has attended the
place. For the viewer, that makes the se- a temp track that George and Dave midnight premieres
ries fascinating. For the composer, it cre- assemble as a rough guide to what of the final five Star
ates a massive job on a weekly basis. they want. Somebody once said that Wars films, he swears
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First, I need to thoroughly explore the talking about music is like dancing he never donned a
music of the ethnic variety for that about architecture. Even for musicians, costume for the Kevin Kiner
70 week’s episode, and for one of the epi- it’s difficult to verbally express specifics events.
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very distinct look!”
International The company is

also working on a
Espionage, Kiddie Style major new media

push for the toon.
According to Michel,
TF1 and Marathon
Marathon Media eyes the boys’ action audience with a are spending close
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spunky new 2D show called The Amazing Spiez! to $300,000 per show
David Michel
online. “We have 10 people in house
S
ometimes a hit animated series mixed with a great deal of comedy.” working on the web components of
can lead to a great new spinoff Directed by Totally Spies! veteran the show,” he says. “We have inserted
that looks nothing like its prede- Stephane Berry, the series is a Mara- secret codes in each episode that di-
cessor. That scenario is happening this thon Media, Canal J and Image Enter- rect viewers to exclusive content online
fall as Marathon Me- that continues the sto-
dia’s new boys’ ac- ryline. We’ve made
tion-comedy toon the site very interac-
The Amazing Spiez tive. The episodes will
tries to follow in the be available online
footsteps (or the and offer completely
high heels) of the original material.”
French studio’s glob- One of the top TV
ally successful Totally animation players in
Spies!. “We had France, Marathon
been thinking about Media will be bringing
how to expand the the new toon to the
Totally Spies! brand MIPCOM market,
for a while now and along with some of its
were looking for a other recent new
smart and different shows including The
way of doing it,” Famous Five and
says David Michel, Monster Buster Club.
Marathon Media’s Michel also has
general manager some good news for
and co-creator of fans of the original To-
both shows. “So, we tally Spies! series.
decided to take it to Those fashionista
a completely differ- crime-fighters of Bev-
ent cartoony level erly Hills will be stars of
and age group.” their own theatrical
Created in HD, the 52 x 26 spy com- tainment co-production, in association movie, which will be released in Europe
edy/adventure revolves around the with TF1 and Teletoon Canada. in July of 2009. “When that show came
escapades of four 10-year-old siblings Unlike Totally Spies!, which had a out eight years ago, we had nothing to
(Lee, Megan, Marc and Tony Clark) very feminine color scheme and was lose,” he admits. “It was virgin territory
who use high-tech gadgets and (yes!) inspired by manga, the new show is and we had a lot of fun exploring what
top-of-the-line vehicles to battle the heavily influenced by American comic it was like to be a teenage girl and
forces of evil while dealing with the books. As Michel explains, “Our team have this completely other lifestyle.
regular headaches of school and par- of designers have used the look of Mar- Now we are taking that concept and
ents’ supervision! Like many of Mara- vel and DC Comics as a take-off point, seeing how our young boys deal with
thon’s hit shows, the series has a color- but it looks different from other shows having a secret spy life and dealing
ful palette and an edgy graphic style. we have seen.” with authority figures like their parents
“After eight years, Totally Spies! is still Michel describes the animation style and teachers. It’s going to be a lot of
an international reference in the spy as enhanced 2D—shot in High-Def, fun!” ■
genre,” says Marathon Media’s presi- with heavy compositing and treatment —Ramin Zahed
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dent and show co-creator Vincent in After Effects. He notes, “We’re For more info about the series, visit
Chalvon-Demersay. “The Amazing French! We spend a lot of time looking www.marathonmedia.fr.
72 Spiez has a unique, stunning visual look, at the pictures, so you know, it has a
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Objects of Our Affection The New Pig in Town

LICENSING
News from the world of toys and merchandising

by Ramin Zahed F ans of quality children’s books know Mick
Inkpen as the creative author and illustrator
of the popular Kipper the Dog series. Now
his other hit property, Wibbly Pig, is making
the transition to children’s TV as well. A co-
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production between the U.K.’s Wish Films and

Toy Event with a British Accent Toronto-based 9 Story Entertainment, the new
52 x 10-minute toon has signed BBC Worldwide
I t’s become an early fall ritual to meet up with the likes of Angelina Ballerina,
Miffy, Marge Simpson and Bob the Builder at the annual Brand Licensing
Europe show in London. Held at the Grand Hall of London’s Olympia on Oct.
as international distributor and licensing rep.
CBeebies in the U.K. will air the new Wibbly Pig
series in the fall
1 and 2, the event attracts close to 200 exhibitors, from Hollywood studios
of 2009. Wibbly
such as Fox and Warner Bros. to licensing arms of international TV players such
is a gentle
as Nickelodeon, TV-Loonland, Aardman and Entertainment Rights. Besides
preschool-
the usual meet-and-greet
age pig
opportunities, the show
who is often
features informative
accompanied
sessions and a screening
by his toys,
suite where promos, sizzle
Pigly, Flop
reels and trailers can be
and Dimple.
screened for potential
We have a
partners. “According to
feeling Olivia,
auditors, 4,301 pure visitors
Piggly Winks and Peppa Pig aren’t too thrilled
attended Brand Licensing
about this latest addition to the crowded
Europe 2007, an increase of eight percent on 2006 and even higher than we
porcine preschool playground, but we’re sure
had originally thought,” says Helen Gardner, managing director of the event’s
Wibbly will put his own stamp on the tyke toon
organizer Advanstar Communications. Although the toy business has been in
market.
a slump lately, we’re hoping that events like Brand Licensing will energize the
business in time for the holiday season. After all, nothing tickles Elmo and his
toy buddies better than a healthy profit margin.
Smells Like a Great Toy

Deal
A Heroine with Whiskers

K ids are going to be seeing a lot more of the
animated series Skunk Fu! in toy stores in the
months ahead. Produced by Cartoon Saloon,
Cake Entertainment and Telegael, the show’s
J ennifer and Matthew Holm’s Babymouse may

be one of the few graphic novel characters who
is pink, sassy and has whiskers on her face. United
toy rights have been snapped up by Zizzle from
Galleon Holdings for the U.S. market. Croco
Worldwide—a division of Galleon—will develop a
Media recently picked up the merchandising toy line based on the property, which is currently
rights to the popular gal/mouse who has been airing on Cartoon Network.
winning over the hearts of young readers since
2005. In each one of her Random House books,
the adventurous heroine finds herself in unique
situations as a skater girl, a rock star, a camp
counselor, heartbreaker, etc. In this month’s
Monster Mash, she is determined to have
the best Halloween costume and the best
ghoulish party EVER! She might even have a
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brush with the Creature from the Black Lagoon!

We can totally see Elle Fanning (that’s Dakota’s
74 little sister) in the movie version.
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Battles Ahead Fraggles

Continues to
LICENSING
E ver since its debut on TV Tokyo last year, the

anime series Bakugan Battle Brawlers has
captured the imagination of a new generation
Rock
of young boys. Now the toon is slowly taking
over the licensing world as well. Broadcast
T he folks at Lionsgate and
HIT Entertainment have
made holiday shopping really
partner Cartoon Network Enterprises has signed
simple for fans of Jim Henson
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new licensing partners for the boys’ brand,

and his timeless HBO series
which means we’ll be seeing Bakugan tees, sweatshirts, backpacks, novelty stationery,
Fraggle Rock. All 96 episodes
lunch bags and messenger bags (courtesy of Hybrid Tees, Accessory Innovations and
of the show, which first
Jazwares). You’ll be seeing kids wearing Bakugan swimwear, board shorts and rash
began its run in 1983, will be
guards from B-Life and sleepware from SGI Apparel next spring. We might as well face
available on The Fraggle Rock
it—it’s going to be a Battle Brawler kind of a world.
Complete Series Collection:
The Ultimate DVD Set which
More Expansion Top Toys of the Moment arrives in stores on November

4. You can expect a lot
for the Wallace & of Fraggle action in
Gromit Empire T he following new releases were doing well
on Amazon’s best-seller list this month: the months ahead.
The Weinstein Co. is
developing
S ince the popularity of the
characters created by the
talented team at Aardman
1.
2.
Elmo Live (Fisher-Price, $69.95)
Star Wars Clone Trooper Voice
a live-
action
Changer Helmet (Hasbro, $36.99)
Animations shows no signs of musical
3. Leapster Learning Game: Star Wars feature based
slowing down, the Bristol-based
Jedi Math (LeapFrog, $24.99) on the gentle
studio has created a new division
under the Aardman Rights banner. 4. Transfomers Animated Voyager puppets, with
The new division is set up to market Blitzwing (Hasbro, $58.99) Cory Edwards (Hoodwinked)
and sell Aardman content across 5. Bakugan Special Attack Delta attached as director and
all media and it will seek to expand Dragonoid (Spinmaster, $18.99) Ahmet Zappa and Brian
its IP portfolio by representing third- 6. The Dark Knight Stealth Launch Inerfeld as exec producers.
party properties. Overseeing the Batmobile (Mattel, $29,99) Oh, and let’s not forget that
new division is Sean Clarke who awesome 16-month calendar
7. The Obama Action Figure
reports directly to Miles Bullough, that can be
(Distributoys, $12.99)
head of broadcast. “We wanted yours for
8. LEGO Star Wars Republic Gunship about $14.
to create a more efficient and
(LEGO, $119.99) The lyrics to
focused sales and marketing
division to drive forward the 9. Transforming WALL•E the show’s
exploitation of our own properties (MPA Sales, $36.99) catchy theme
as well as third 10. Yo Gabba Gabba! Figure Set song—“Dance
party rights (Spin Master, $17.99) your cares away:
across multiple Source: amazon.com 9/8/08 Worry’s for another day”—are
platforms,” say still playing in our heads.
Bullough.
In related
news, our
favorite
inventor and Must-Have Item of the Month
his resourceful
pooch recently
made a smooth
transition to the
R abbits and magicians have had a long, troubling history
together for more than a hundred years. But nothing has
quite captured their twisted relationship as well as Presto, Doug
world of haute Sweetland’s hilarious short, which played with WALL•E in theaters
couture. Shot by all summer long. We were tickled pink to discover that Acme
NOV•08
Giles Revell, Wallace, Gromit and Archives (www.acmearchivesdirect.com) is offering a limited

Lady Tottington show off their new collector’s 19 x 13” giclee on paper of the short’s poster, which
threads in a series of splashy ads echoes turn-of-the-century promo art traditions. This piece of
76 for department store group Harvey toon history will set you back about $140, but come on, this is a
Nichols. Beckham and Posh were great way to have a souvenir of the summer of 2008 invigorating
reportedly green with envy. your work space. ■
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plays Aunt Viv, Chloe’s human.
Wagging the Dogs, the “The thing that attracted me to this

project is that it’s a coming of age story
Rat and the Iguana told through animals,” says Michael

McAlister, visual effects supervisor.
Put a Muzzle on ’em

When you create the digital effects for a movie featuring The dogs in the film are nearly always
talking dogs, a rat and an iguana, you need to do a lot real, but with facial features replaced
more than muzzle replacement. Just ask the team at digitally to synch with the dialogue. The
rat and iguana, who play the con art-
Tippett. by Barbara Robertson
ists, are always digital. Four visual effects
W
hen director Chris Noonan’s studios worked on
beloved feature Babe was the film: Cinesite in
released 13 years ago, the ef- London did muzzle
fects were so unique the film won a vi- replacements for
sual effects Oscar. Before Babe, the the dialogue shots
notion of realistic talking animals with the real dogs;
seemed as possible as, well, lipstick on Tippett Studio cre-
a pig. Since then, animators and ef- ated the rat, the
fects artists have created barnyards iguana, all the digi-
filled with talking animals for feature tal stunt dogs and
films, including, most recently, the visu- the digital crowds;
al effects Oscar-winning The Golden Svengali created
Compass. Thus, it was only a matter of
time before the technique would go to “[VFX supervisor] Mike [McAlister] wanted Manuel, the rat, to
the dogs, and not just one Underdog, be more Templeton than Stuart Little, but when he got too
but a whole yapping pack of Beverly
real, he started to look creepy.”
Hills Chihuahuas.
Drew Barrymore provides the voice —James W. Brown, animation supervisor at Tippett Studio
for Chloe, the bejeweled Chihuahua
star of the new Disney family comedy. ously directed the two Scooby-Doo matte paintings and environments; and
George Lopez is Papi, a studly Chihua- feature outings, the film also stars Andy CIS composited shots. Counting all the
hua pup who sounds the alarm when Garcia as Delgado, a streetwise Ger- muzzle replacements, the film has more
NOV•08
ritzy little Chloe disappears while on va- man Shepherd, Cheech Marin as a rat than 1,000 visual effects shots.
cation with the dog sitter in Mexico. named Manuel and Paul Rodriguez as “Fortunately, the technology is pretty
78 Directed by Raja Gosnell, who previ- Chico, an iguana. Jamie Lee Curtis much established in terms of muzzle re-
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placements,” McAlister says. “So, it was general, when Manuel was in con man and Rodriguez performing the dia-
really fun to create the characters for mode, he walked on two legs and ges- logue. “Raja [Gosnell, Chihuahua’s di-
the dogs in this movie and this story as tured with his hands; otherwise, he was rector] didn’t just film the dialogue,”
contrasted with all the other talking on all fours. Brown says. “He let the camera roll so
animal movies.” Three iguanas brought into the stu- we could see them in acting mode
Because the dogs are telling a story dio served as reference for Chico, Tip- and thought process mode. It was
that humans could have acted, McAl- pett’s second digital character. “The awesome to sit there and diagnose
ister concentrated on having the Cine- main thing we saw was that they move Cheech Marin and Paul Rodriguez.”
site artists and animators make the lip only when they need to,” Brown says. The animators also filmed them-
synch for the dogs with dialogue be- “And, when they stop, they just stop.” selves. In one shot, Manuel wears a
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lievable. “We went for more literal lip When the animators moved the cor- dog collar like a bandolier, so Tippett’s
synch than the other talking animal ners of Chico’s mouth too much, the stage crew built a prop from rope and
movies had done,” he says. “It was im- reptile’s scales slid, which made his cardboard that an animator wore to
portant to be as realistic as possible to face look rubbery. As a result, the ani- pantomime the shot. “He moved com-
keep the human essence of the story mators treated his lip synch more like pletely differently when he was carry-
intact. If we were drawn to the mouth, that of a puppet, and concentrated ing this huge burden,” Brown says.
we were doing it wrong.” on his eyes for expression. By now, audiences have seen
However, for the rat and iguana—who “Chico and Manuel are like an old enough talking animals in films to be
were always digital and never
had to stand up next to real Funny Critters: Tippett Studio is responsible for
examples of their species—the the smooth comedic interactions between
artists at Tippett Studio could Chico, the iguana and Manuel, the rat!
take more liberties. “Mike
[McAlister] wanted Manuel,
the rat, to be more Templeton
than Stuart Little,” says James
W. Brown, animation supervi-
sor at Tippett, referring to the
rat in Charlotte’s Web and the
mouse in Stuart Little. “But,
when he got too real, he start-
ed to look creepy.”
So, rather than change
the model, which the model-
ers based on a real rat, ani-
mators moved him in cuter
ways. “You believe he’s a rat,” says married couple,” Brown says. “They are willing to suspend their disbelief, but
McAlister. “But, he’s a very adorable best buddies and intimate with each McAlister believes this film raises the
rat.” other. We’ve done a lot of fighting bar a little higher. “I’m quite proud of
For reference, Brown and his crew of characters, but those characters don’t our animation and compositing
16 animators watched wood rats in a interact as closely. Chico and Manuel teams,” he says. “I like to think we
local wildlife rescue facility. “They’re sit on each other, bump each other, pushed the reality of the performances
different from country rats and pack back into each other.” a bit; there are a lot of scenes in which
rats,” Brown says. “They’re kind of like In one comedic shot, for example, you’d have to prove to me that ani-
Ratso in Midnight Cowboy. Always the two con artists push each other as mals don’t talk.”
twitching and itching.” they back away from an accuser while But, he goes on to say that reality is
Then, to add cuteness, animators defending themselves. “It’s a comedic not his most important measure. Emo-
working in Maya tilted Manuel’s head moment when Chico [the iguana] tries tionality is, and characters don’t have
to make his eyes look bigger, brought to hide behind Manuel [the rat],” Brown to be real to generate strong feelings in
his ears forward to give him a rounder says. “It’s difficult to get that believable an audience. “Sleeping Beauty and
shape, kept his elbows close to his interaction in CG.” other animated movies are emotionally
body, and used the animation rig to rich,” he says. “We’ll see if other people
make his mouth bigger. “We didn’t High on Cheech and Chong think our characters have more emo-
want to change the model, so we did In addition to referencing real ani- tionality, but I think the stuff works.” ■
NOV•08
what we could with poses and atti- mals, the animators watched Cheech Disney’s Beverly Hills Chihuahua
tude,” says Brown. “Our rigs are set up and Chong movies and films with Paul starts yapping in U.S. theaters on
so we can change the shapes.” In Rodriguez as well as video of Marin October 3. 79
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“I went to CalArts
It Takes an and did traditional and

computer animation for
Electric Village! years,” Durst says. “Gil

has an animator’s way
of thinking that I instantly
related to. Some people
Director Gil Kenan and vfx supervisor Eric Durst join do animatics just to Gil Kenan
forces with vfx houses BUF and Luma to bring place the cameras, but
City of Ember to life. by Ron Magid Gil used them to understand weight and tim-
ing; I loved that, because that’s how I think as
A
fter leaving his creative mark on the huge water wheels. When the city’s once- well. Our shared animation background re-
performance-capture animated hit powerful generator begins to fail, the great sulted in a wonderful collaboration that’s pret-
Monster House a couple of years lamps that illuminate the city start to flicker. ty rare on a live-action set.”
ago, director Gil Kenan decided to swim in Even though the production built the tallest The vaguely European style Ember and the
live-action waters for his sophomore effort. soundstage in Europe—inside a former shipyard steampunk environment beneath that powers
Based on the popular fantasy novels by in Belfast where the doomed Titanic ocean liner the city echo Metropolis’ contrast between
Jeanne DuPrau, Kenan’s adaptation of City was constructed—the space couldn’t do justice the workers and the masters and demanded
of Ember centers on the residents of a magi- to the scope of Kenan’s vision. Impressed by the a postmodern blend of large sets and digital
cal city/village of glittering lights powered by unusual character and environmental work in effects to bring both environs to life. Durst
The Last Mimzy, “cast” two separate facilities, which brought
Forces of Water: Kenan enlisted their distinct sensibilities to the diverse sets: BUF
Vfx supervisor vfx artist and tackled Ember, while Luma Pictures brought
Eric Durst relied fellow animator, the generators to life: “We chose the two com-
on Venice, Calif.- Eric Durst (Bat- panies because there’s a different feel to their
based Luma man Forever, work. BUF is very European and brought that
Pictures to deliver Spider-Man 2), feel to Ember, while Luma did the high-tech,
the Jules Verne- to create Em- Jules Verne-esque stuff.”
esque generators ber and a cou- Production designer Martin Laing visualized
of the mystical ple of demand- Ember as a small village, replete with narrow
city for the ing digital char- alleyways that twist and turn, hinting at much
movie. acters—to the more than you see. “We utilized several interi-
tune of some or-exterior sets like the courtyard, where the
400 shots. The main action takes place, then BUF built city
two artists’ extensions and added the lighting grid for the
NOV•08
wavelengths wide shots—like in the title sequence, where

were immedi-
80 ately in sync. continued on page 82
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Points of Light:
Under Gil Kenan’s
direction, the
illuminated city
envisioned by
author Jeanne
DuPrau comes to
cinematic life.
City of Ember everything was synthetic.” liantly portrayed that in the animation.”
continued from page 80 Like the haunted house of his first movie, While in Ireland, Kenan contacted a star-
we start very tight on a light bulb, then pull Kenan wanted the generator to feel like a liv- nosed mole expert, a biologist at Vanderbilt Uni-
back to see the entire city with people walk- ing character. “It’s the heart of the city and versity in Nashville. Durst and Luma’s artists stud-
ing around. BUF created that big opening it’s pumping like a heart,” Durst explains. ied the weird little creatures via reference video
shot, and it’s all synthetic.” “There’s a spectacular shot where you see all on YouTube. The biggest challenge was making
But it’s the under-world generator that feels these pumps and gears and you get the sense the mole appear to sense things via the little
the most futuristic in a retro, Industrial Revolution that you’re inside an organism. Luma’s ani- tentacles around its nose. “There’s a scene
kind of way. This otherworldly creation features mation surges and vibrates like it’s a heart where Lina is hiding and the tentacles just touch
twin turbines at either end of a turquoise river, pumping. It’s very beautiful.” her hand,” Durst says. “In that shot, we really un-
with massive metallic Art Deco structures hous- Durst also “cast” the creature animation, giv- derstand that he’s like a blind person touching
ing the generator. “We had a set with part of the ing an oversized moth to BUF and a star-nosed the wall to ‘see’ where things are.”
Unlike the mole, the giant moth that BUF
“Some people do animatics just to place the cam- created was not threatening, but gentle. BUF’s
eras, but [director] Gil [Kenan] used them to under- challenge was imbuing the insect with a pup-
py-like quality. “This wasn’t some creepy bug
stand weight and timing.” that was going to hurt the hero—it was very
—Eric Hurst, vfx supervisor, City of Ember submissive like a dog that hurt its paw,” Durst
says. “BUF brilliantly animated that creature
generator exterior and the bridge spanning the mole (a furry creature with tentacles surround- through its eyes and the cocking of its head,
river, but that was pretty much it; Luma created ing its nose) to Luma. Although a real star-nosed which gave it lots of personality. They did a
everything else,” Durst says. “Behind the bridge mole measures a couple inches, this one had to wonderful job, very subtle work.”
and the buildings on the left and right was a 50- be eight feet long. “Without trying it looks sinister The same can be said for Durst’s entire ap-
foot-high green-screen and down below was a because it’s pretty weird,” says Durst, stressing proach to effects for The City of Ember, where
big rectangular pool we were originally going to that Kenan’s goal was to give the monstrous subtle extensions and understated performanc-
fill with water just to have some interactive light- creature believable motivation as it attacks Em- es brought the environs and its unique charac-
ing, but ultimately we decided to just put a ber’s protagonists, Lina and Doon. “He comes ters to cinematic life. ■
NOV•08
green-screen down there. Luma did the exten- after them, not because he’s mean, but be- Universal releases Fox/Walden’s
sions on the generator buildings, the waterwheel cause he’s starving. He’s threatening as any City of Ember on October 10 in U.S.
82 turbines and extensive digital water effects— wild animal, but it’s not personal, and Luma bril- theaters.
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Te c h R e v i e w s
by Todd Sheridan Perry
sive and node-based compositing and However, let me preface it by saying that
World Machine v.2 particle/dynamics software. It may have a this tool saved our butts in a recent job I
B uilding environments to take audiences

to different worlds is not a new art. It’s
steeper learning curve than its competitors,
but it’s this open, complex approach that
was on that was shooting on film, with a
wide lens (and they pushed the exposure
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been around for centuries or longer. As makes the program powerful. on the film, making it even grainier and
long as stories have been told about far It comes in three flavors: Basic, Standard harder to track). The lens was long enough
away places, there has been a need for and Professional. The basic is fine for get- to not readily detect distortion, but wide
artists to create those far away places. ting used to it and toying around, as some enough to really mess up the track. In fact,
Backdrops turned into full sets, which turned of its export abilities are curtailed. The stan- we had to stabilize around one element of
into sound stages and then matte paint- dard gives one all the tools necessary for the shot to see that the image was bending
ings, then miniatures. CG environments creating spectacular environments. But it’s like a bad acid trip. Monet’s magic saved
were some of the first things to be played really the professional edition that is ready the day.
with digitally, oftentimes starting off as full for primetime, opening up everything to 64- With that said (deep breath), here is the
matte paintings on glass, and then digitized bit, multi-threaded processing, managing laundry list: Planar tracker which combines
into the computer world. Over the past large data sets, ability to tile environments 2D and 3D trackers to find a plane in space;
couple of decades, software has risen to to save on building one super-huge world robust toolset to adjust the track; perspec-
the task to create full 3D CG terrains. and scripting capabilities (a must to work tive tracking (stemming from the 2D/3D hy-
World Machine 2 was developed by Ste- with any large pipelines). brid); rotoscoping compounded with the
phen Schmitt’s big mathematically gifted Website: www.world-machine.com track marks and tracked planes to reduce
brain up in Seattle, Wash. to accommo- Price: $89 (Standard); $189 (Professional the time for roto and the manual labor. You
Per-Seat License); $1,000 (Professional Site can also track rotating objects. There are
credit: Eoin Armstrong
License) extraction tools to replace shadows and

highlights on reflective surfaces where your
element is being tracked into—even with
Imagineer Systems’ textured backgrounds. You also get lens
monet v2.1.1 distortion analysis tools which let you re-
R oto and tracking can be dangerous

business with pitfalls at every turn. Any
software that makes this journey more
move distortion to get better tracks or rec-
reate distortion in elements. Oh yes, and
they also throw in automated tracker re-
pleasant is a welcome addition to any tool- moval.
set. Imagineer Systems’ monet is just such a If that’s not enough for you to take a look
date terrain building. This is the latest ver- tool. There are so many features in this ro- at monet, I just don’t know what to say. It
sion of the release after the initial World Ma- bust software that I’m going to forgo my does have siblings that specialize in partic-
chine came out in 2005. usual rants and rattle off a breakdown. ular areas, like roto (motor), keying (mokey)
The unique thing about WM that takes it credit: ACHT Frankfurt
beyond some of its competitors is the com-
pletely procedural methodology for build-
ing the terrains. It really feels like Houdini in
its approach as it’s made up of nodes
(called devices in WM2). So, the creation
node sets everything up, and then nodes
are added into the flow to modify the ter-
rain. Each node can be changed after the
fact to tweak and adjust the creation of
the world.
WM2 provides tools for customizing, cut-
ting and adjusting the terrain within the
flow. In addition, it offers powerful texturing
NOV•08
tools to control the look based on the con-

text of the terrain. I like the working style of
84 the program, but I’m used to Houdini, Mas-
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and 2D tracking (mocha), but monet seem Max to do just that gone into this little
to wrap it all up in a tidy little bundle. called RayFire. In its gem of a plugin.
Website: www.imagineersystems.com base form, RayFire al- Furthermore, it
Price: $6,500 (floating license); $5,000 lows you to choose an works with third-
(node-locked license) [dollar price con- object (or multiple ob- party dynamics
verted from British pound] jects) and procedurally engines, specifi-
score it in a way that it’s cally NVidia’s
prepped for a dynam- PhysX engine.
Mir Vadim’s RayFire ics engine to take over Thinking Particles
H ave you every tried to pre-fracture a the animation. That is in likes RayFire ...
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3D object to prepare it for any kind of itself a timesaver that And, I don’t see
dynamics? If you haven’t heard of this pro- can make or break a any reason why a
cess, it’s a method of breaking up a 3D ob- shot, or even a whole production. Maya-based production couldn’t fbx mod-
ject into a bunch of smaller ones so that What is mind-boggling about this prod- els over to Max for pre-scoring, and then
the program can calculate collisions and uct is the different methods with which you back into Maya. Take it from me, someone
forces during a dynamics simulation. I can can fracture the target objects. You can who has spent centuries of my life pre-frac-
tell you right now that in the best of worlds, manually sketch where you want the fracturing models. This product is something
it’s time consuming and tedious, and will ture lines, determine impact points by that should be in any studio’s arsenal—and
bring about the sudden urge to kick duck- mouse clicks and fracture based on the it’s $255 for crying out loud. So, push off
lings. Houdini was the best at automating pivot point of the object so the fractures buying the tickets to Wicked, and save
the process, but before the latest iteration are more dense nearest the rotation/oscil- yourself millions of dollars and a couple of
of Houdini, it took a theoretical science lation point. You can choose regular or ir- ulcers.
major to put together the recursive SOP, regular fracturing or set it up so that the Website: www.mirvadim.com
WOP, COP, and HOP on POPS to get it to fractures are more dense nearest a Bomb Price: $255 ■
work. space warp (that way the area nearest the Todd Sheridan Perry is the co-owner
To solve this problem, a small company— bomb breaks into smaller pieces, while fur- and vfx supervisor of Max Ink Produc-
and by company I mean one man named ther away are larger chunks). tions. He can be reached at ______ ducky@
Mir Vadim—has created a plug-in for 3ds A lot of thought (and/or experience) has maxinkcafe.com.
No One Can Beat Our

One-Two Punch!
The monthly print issue of Animation Magazine and our daily
Animation Magazine Online coverage work beautifully together
to deliver all the animation and vfx news you need in your life.
We also spread the message about your company better,
faster and wider than the competition.
NOV•08
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OPPORTUNITIES WWW.ANIMATIONMAGAZINE.NET
by adding, “Yes,
Barenbraut by Derek Roczen
together with
[Arles, France’s]
Supinfocom.” His
school makes a
concerted effort
to advise stu-
dents about
competitions,
and to help them
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submit their films.
In both 2006 and
2007, SIG-
GRAPH’s Jury
Prize went to Fil-
makademie stu-
dents.
Of course, the
school’s admit-
tance process
focuses on se-
lecting applicants who are primed to
The German Pursuit succeed. Typically 100 people apply

to the six-year-old Institute’s program
of Perfection each year. Haegele says, “We take 10

to 15 students. They need one year of
working experience to apply. We ex-
pect them to know Maya, 3ds Max,
How Baden-Württemberg’s Filmakademie has become Softimage or Houdini, for example, be-
phenomenally successful in honing the talents of its cause we do not teach software. Some
animation students in six short years. people have already studied at other
schools—maybe for three or four
by Ellen Wolff
years.”
T
o get a feel for the global nature other SIGGRAPH entries, but from the
of modern animation, one need- five other Filmakademie pieces select- Testing the Talent
ed only to walk through the “Vil- ed by the festival this year. “I’m happy After submitting sample films, appli-
lage” at this summer’s SIGGRAPH con- that we have a broad bandwidth. We cants may then be invited to take an
ference in L.A. In that small space on took part in DreamWorks’ Educators entrance exam. Those who pass must
the exhibition floor, the multitude of Symposium at SIGGRAPH, where then make a short film, and they’re
languages being spoken provided a schools were invited to submit tapes given three days to do it. “You wouldn’t
telling measure of internationalism.
Among the attendees was Professor “It seemed that many schools specialize in a style. But our tape
Thomas Haegele, who directs the Insti- had CG animation, puppet animation, hand-drawn anima-
tute of Animation, Visual Effects and
Digital Post-production at Filmakade- tion and visual effects. It’s such a broad range.”
mie Baden-Württemberg in Ludwigs- —Professor Thomas Haegele, director of the Institute of Animation,
burg, Germany. In his impeccable Visual Effects and Digital Post-production at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg.
English, Haegele enthusiastically shared
his optimism about Filmakademie ani- showing what they’re doing. It seemed believe what they can do,” says Hae-
mations making an impact at SIG- that many schools specialize in a style. gele. He adds with a smile that it’s after
GRAPH. But our tape had CG animation, pup- they’re enrolled that their ambitions
“We had a film nominated for Best pet animation, hand-drawn animation grow and they need more time!
Student Film this year,” says Haegele, and visual effects. It’s such a broad Students in the Institute’s program
referring to Barenbraut by Filmakade- range.” follow the broader Filmakademie cur-
NOV•08
mie’s Derek Roczen. The black and Filmakademie students are attract- riculum during their first year, which in-
white “wood-cut” style of Roczen’s ing significant attention on the festival cludes three-month courses in direct-
animation stood out—not only from scene, which Haegele acknowledges ing actors, camerawork, scriptwriting 87
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Mindplotter by Ilija Brunck,

Jan Bitzer and Tom Weber
and experimental filmmaking. “It is use- student may do the compositing on an- students current with new develop-
ful,” observes Haegele, “so that when other student’s visual effects film, for ex- ments like digital cinema and stereo-
they light a computer scene, they will ample. He does not have to make his scopic 3-D.
know the basics. own film to get a diploma.” The benefits of these relationships
“In the second year they study ani- What really distinguishes Filmakade- accrue to Filmakademie in several
mation basics within the Institute, and mie, however, is its “team teaching” ways. This year, the Institute became
they can also take courses like direct- approach, which utilizes scores of the first overseas school selected for
ing or scriptwriting. Then in the third guest lecturers each year. “We bring in Sony’s IPAX program. And students
year, they really join the Institute, and people from the industry for a week— looking for internships and jobs have
have a room with a workstation and all or even a day—to talk about specific been helped as well. Haegele remarks,
the software packages available on themes, look at student projects and “We have graduates working at these
the network. But they can also use oth- give advice,” says Haegele. He notes studios, so when students from Fil-
er techniques, including puppet ani- that these lecturers have come from makademie submit their reels, the stu-
mation or even sand animation if they studios like Pixar, Digital Domain, ILM, dios are interested. We had one intern
want.” (Haegele notes that Filmakad- DreamWorks, Sony and Framestore. go to Digital Domain, and the experi-
emie alumnus Chris Stenner earned a “We’re lucky that we can afford to in- ence was so successful for him he
2002 Oscar nomination for Best Ani- vite guest teachers even for a group of didn’t come back!” ■
mated Short for the stop-motion film three or four students.” Such diversity of Ellen Wolff is a Los Angeles-based jour-
Das Rad (Rocks). Stenner then went on lecturers enables the Institute to keep nalist who specializes in visual effects,
to animate on
The Moment by Verena Fels and
Tim Burton’s
Csaba Letay
Corpse Bride.)
In the summer
following their
third year, Fil-
makademie stu-
dents begin their
diploma films,
working solo or as
a team. Haegele
says, “That’s not
really regulated.
We encourage
them to pitch
their ideas to oth-
NOV•08
er students, so we
have big teams
88 with most films. A
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guests Aaron Simpson,
It’s Who You Know founder of coldhard-

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flash.com, and the stu-
dio heads of Six Point
One Plus Hub highlights the importance of networking. Harness, Titmouse, Ren-
egade, OddBot and
by Jill Gilbert
Animax. And just this
past September, Lisa Jill Gilbert
A
s the old cliché goes: It’s not what studios. The night was a success, and the Kaye, founder and
you know, it’s who you know—es- One Plus Hub was born. CEO of greenlightjobs.com, attended to
___________________
pecially in Hollywood. In an industry In the past two-and-a-half years, the One discuss online recruitment for creative and
where job-hopping is the norm, the must- Plus Hub has grown to over 500 members. technical talent within the entertainment
have tools are a BlackBerry full of contacts, Every three months, animation producers, industry.
a LinkedIn profile and a packed lunch directors, writers, executives, agents, com- The One Plus Hub’s next event will be in
schedule. In the animation community, posers and managers in all media (films, January 2009. Our first New York event took
however, this hasn’t historically been place October 16 and again focused
Mingling with Toon Types:
the case, as most animation people on Flash animation; Aaron Simpson
One Plus Hub events offer
worked at a single studio for their entire the opportunity for animation and I brought together three studios
career. industry professionals to network from Los Angeles and five studios
That’s all over now. With emerging and form new partnerships. from the New York community to
delivery platforms, new technologies Aaron Simpson, founder of Cold make it a truly exciting occasion. MTV
Hard Flash, and teams from
and the use of animation in many forms is interested in participating in one of
Six Point Harness, Renegade,
of media, it is critical to know what is Animax, Worldwide Biggies, my future events to coincide with the
going on in the studio, the editing suite Curious Pictures, Augenblick launch of their new online animation
and the marketplace. And the best Studios and Animation Collective site. This past May, I traveled to Tai-
way to find out this information is by will be attending the Oct. 16 wan to connect with the exploding
event at M1-5 Lounge in New
meeting people who can share it. animation community there, paving
York City, beginning at 7 p.m.
As an executive at DisneyToon Stu- the way for an event in Taipei. This
dios, I was keenly aware that this net- would be a cultural “first” for Taiwan’s
working need was not being met in the growing animation industry. It’s criti-
animation community. When I tried to cal that we educate ourselves about
create it, the idea was met with resis- the business, reconnect with former
tance and skepticism from my immedi- colleagues, make new friends, and
ate superior. I was even told to consult create a sense of unity in this growing
with the HR department on this issue. industry. The One Plus Hub events are
Once I left the company, however, I fun and easy, which is a nice break
decided to press forward on my own. after slaving all day to keep our artis-
In the fall of 2005, I organized a din- tic integrity stimulated and our busi-
ner for eight colleagues from the animation television series, web and mobile entertain- ness thriving.
divisions of each of the major studios. It was ment) network and discuss today’s issues I am extremely grateful for the One Plus
fun but, in all honesty, rather limited. Net- and the future of animation locally and Hub, and Iím looking forward to watching it
working with people you already know globally. After one of my get togethers, an continue to grow in ways that I have yet to
doesnít leave you with the same sense of animation writer/director said to me, “It’s discover. While the One Plus Hub’s future is
excitement as meeting new people who easy to lose track of people in this business uncertain, there is one thing I know: Iím now
are doing innovative things. Plus, sitting at because everyone moves around so much. connected to lots of friends and colleagues
dinner hindered our ability to mingle freely. What I love about your events is that I get to in the animation community who will help
While the intention was right, I needed a dif- reconnect with friends and artists I haven’t me figure it out. ■
ferent approach. seen in ages.” In order to keep the gather- Jill Gilbert is the founder and president of
Two months later, I enticed 25 people to ings exciting, I invite special guests or focus the animation production company, One
Sonora Café for drinks. In a more casual set- the event on a specific theme; for example, Plus Productions. She recently produced a
ting, the group was free to circulate and REAL D, one of the leaders in stereoscopic series of shorts called The Misadventures of
connect, creating an ideal situation for new cinema, hosted a demonstration with ste- Bob Paparazzo for VH1 Online and Mobile.
relationships to form. Some people I knew, reoscopic 3-D animation directors Phil Mc- Prior to founding One Plus Productions, Jill
while others came from studios that I didnít Nally (DreamWorks), Robert Neuman (Dis- served as VP of creative affairs at Disney
NOV•08
even know existed. The event opened my ney) and Rob Engle (Sony). In April, a record Toon Studios.
eyes to the animation community that 175 people packed the Formosa Café as For news, info and event dates, visit
90 stretched far beyond the large Hollywood we highlighted Flash animation with special www.oneplusproductions.com.
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United States Postal Service 13. Publication Title Animation Magazine

Statement of Ownership, Management and Circulation
14. Issue date for Circulation Data Below
1. Publication Title Animation Magazine November 2008
2.Publication Number 1041-617X 15. Extent and Nature of Circulation
3. Filing Date 9/23/08 Average # Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months 14,572
4. Issue Frequency Monthly # Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date 9,850
5. Number if Issues Published Annually (12) b. Paid and/or Requested Circulation
6. Annual Sub Price $55.00 Paid/Requested Outside-County Mail Subscriptions Stated on Form
&RPSOHWH0DLOLQJ$GGUHVVRI.QRZQ2IÀFHRI3XEOLFDWLRQ 3541
30941 West Agoura Road Ste 102 4,550 3,000
Westlake Village, CA 91361 Paid In-County Subscriptions
Contact Person Jan Bayouth 818-991-2884 Sales Through Dealers Carrier, Street Vendors, Counter Sales and
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and Managing Editor d. Non-requested distribution by Mail (1) Outside-County (2) in-
Publisher Jodi Bluth County (3) Other Classes Mailed through USPS
30941 West Agoura Road Ste 102 (4) Free Distribution Outside the Mail 4,807 5000
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Managing Editor g. Copies Not Distributed
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Westlake Village, CA 91361 14,572 9,850
11. Known Bondholders, Mortages and Other Security Holders i. Percent Paid and/or Requested Circulation 61.6 % 97.14 %
X NONE 16. Publication of Statement of Ownership
12. Tax Status X Publication required. Will be printed in the Nov 2008 issue. Signa-
7KH3XUSRVHIXQFWLRQDQGQRQSURÀWVWDWXVRIWKLVRUJDQL]DWLRQDQG ture and Title of Editor, Publisher, Business Manager or Owner Date
the exempt status for federal income tax purposes:
X Has Not Changed During Preceding 12 Months Jan Bayouth, Bus. Mgr, 9.23.08
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Event Date Place Website

Anime SuperCon Nov. 1 to 2 Ft. Lauderdale, FL www.animesupercon.com
APE Alternative Press Expo Nov. 1 to 2 San Francisco, CA www.comic-con.org/ape
Animacor Int’l Animation Festival Nov. 3 to 8 Córdoba, Spain www.animacor.com
Interfilm Berlin Nov. 4 to 9 Berlin, Germany www.interfilm.de

___________________
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Holland Animation Festival Nov. 5 to 9 Utrecht, Netherlands www.haff.nl
American Film Market Nov. 5 to 12 Santa Monica, CA www.americanfilmmarket.com
NekoCon Nov. 7 to 9 Hampton, VA www.nekocon.com
Wizard World Texas Nov. 7 to 9 Arlington, TX www.wizardworld.com
Bradford Animation Festival Nov. 12 to 15 Bradford, U.K. www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/baf
AURORA Nov. 12 to 16 Norwich, U.K. www.aurora.org.uk
Bel Air Film Festival Nov. 13 to 18 Bel Air, CA www.belairfilmfestival.com
2D or Not 2D Animation Festival Nov. 14 to 15 Seattle, WA www.plexipixel.com/2dornot2d
3DX Film Festival Nov. 19 to 23 Singapore www.3dxfestival.com
JaniCon Nov. 21 to 23 Jacksonville, FL www.janicon.org
Anilogue Budapest Nov. 27 to Dec. 3 Budapest, Hungary www.anilogue.com
[In the Next Issue of]
» Disney Unleashes a Star Pooch

Named Bolt.
» Meet Despereaux, a Little Mouse with
a Big Heart.
» Our Annual Toon Fans’ Holiday Gift » The Animated Road to the Oscars.
NOV•08
Guide.
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ADVERTISER INDEX
Advertisers in Alphabetical Order
310Studios Inspidea
www.310studios.com 16 www.inspidea.com 27
Accel Animation Studios JourneyEd.com
www.accelanimation.com Inside Back Cover www.journeyed.com 93
Animasia Lightfoot
www.animasia-studio.com 49 www.lightfootltd.com 93
Animation Development Company / Toon Zone Studios Lupus Films
info@toonzonestudios.com
__________________ 1 camilla@lupusfilms.net
_______________ 57
___________________
Animation Toolworks Messy Productions
www.animationtoolworks.com 93 www.messypro.com 33
Asia Television Forum Mondo TV
www.asiatvforum.com 83 www.mondotv.it 2,3
Atlantyca Mipcom
distribution@atlantyca.com
__________________ 51 www.miptv.com/www.mipcom.com
___________ ____________ 77
Automatic Document Corporation MPSC
www.handeyeman.com 61 www.animationguild.com 86
Big Bad Boo Motion Pictures
http://www.bigbadboo.ca/bigbadboo/ 12 www.motionpic.com 11,12
BRADIC National Geographic Television International
www.bradic.org 71 karen.vermenulen@natgiotv-int.com
________________________ Back Cover
Breakthrough Entertainment Nelvana
www.breakthroughfilms.com 29 www.beingian.com 53
Cartoon Colour NYU
www.cartooncolour.com 93 scps.nyu.edu/x65
___________ 75
Center for Digital Imaging Arts at Boston University Santo Domingo Animation (SDA)
www.CDIABU.com 91 www.brijespartners.com 37
Crystal Film & Animation Skechers
http://www.crystalcgstudio.com/ 30 310-406-0116 34
Dawsen Infotech Straandlooper
www.daewonmedia.com 55 www.straandlooper.com 41
Doolynara Inc Studio 100 Media
www.doolynara 67 www.studio100media.com 43
DQ Entertainment Taffy
www.dqentertainment.com 55 www.taffyentertainment.com 23
FatKat Animation The Jim Henson Company
www.fatkatanimation.com 73 ewing@henson.com
_____________ Inside Front Cover
Full Sail Tiny Island Productions
www.fullsail.com 89 www.tinyisland.net 69
Global Digital Creations (GDC) Holdings Limited. Toon Boom
www.gdc-world.com 4,5 www.toonboom.com 46
Gruppo Alcuni USC
sales.department@alcuni.it
_________________ 6 http://anim.usc.edu 93
Hanwen Animation Vancouver Film School
www.treetoppop.com 9 www.vfs.com/animationvfx 89
Honest Entertainment Wacom
dean@honest-ent.com
_______________ 17 www.wacom.com 15
NOV•08
Imageventure ZN Animation / CHINAnimax

www.imageventure.net 65 www.CHINAnimax.com 13
95
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T he creative team at Animax EntertainmentZKLFKKDVRIÀFHVLQ9DQ1X\V

&DOLIDQG7RURQWR&DQDGDLQYLWHGXVWRVKDUHDOLWWOHVOLFHRIWKHLUOLYHV
7KH(PP\ZLQQLQJVWXGLRLVSUHSDULQJLWVQHZDQLPDWHGVHULHVThe Animated
A DAY IN THE LIFE
Adventures of Bob and Doug MacKenzieIRUGHOLYHU\HDUO\QH[W\HDU

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Contents | Zoom In | Zoom Out For navigation instructions please click here Search Issue | Next Page

Animation and Canwest’s Producing the world of toys and merchandising.

Ottawa, where I had the great opportunity to attend the exciting

deliver inspiring speeches at 8:30 in the morning each day!

Periodicals postage paid at Thousand Oaks Post Ofﬁce, CA,

_____________ _____________ ________________

____________ ____________ _______________

The Animation Planner

Filmfestival takes place Popeye the Sailor: 1941-1943, (www.interﬁ

14-16 Yes, more excitement 18 We have a big smile on

Susie Essman. Teenage girls offering from lean, mean anilogue.com).

adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s Statham in Transporter 3.

I t’s ofﬁcial: After a successful sneak peek at

was the desire to see more of the best game

that attendees wanted more ﬂexibility and

More E for All players will be competing for a chance to

with Spore creative, which is a wonderful thing.”

Katzenberg, McGrath and Darnell (who

(Pan’s Labyrinth, Stuart Little), the ﬁlmmak-

the animals’ manes, or pieces of the

The Samurai Critic:

U nlike most sci-ﬁ shows, Planetes (2001-

including bolts, tools and metal fragments. “Heaven Shattering Crim-

HOME ENTERTAINMENT WWW.ANIMATIONMAGAZINE.NET

sor McCay Award-winner Eyvind Earle (Pe- of the Top 100

the pole vault for Japan at the Berlin Olym-

A Revealing Anime pics, although he cheats. In contrast, the

Flashback Oyoge, 1939) gives back the trophy he

“He really knows Disney

A Modern Fairy Tale magic, and he’s the

These Little Piggies with such wonderful

Went Everywhere! NGKE had acquired

became accustomed to the process.

ing, they also provided artistic guidance

days at 10:30 a.m. For more infor-

ziness and makes each

Making Fiends premieres on Nick-

been very satisfying,” says exec producer

A Globetrotting Caterina Vacchi, who is also Atlantyca En-

Mouse of Exceptional “Geronimo and his friends are very recog-

Talents and athletic and he chooses to wear con-

show. He’s a brilliant young boy and you

pervising producer, Nic-

books written by Aus-

Looks to the West is a 65-episode 2D se-

L.A.’s ﬁrst new adventures. by Ramin Zahed Marc Harrington

For more info about Deltora Quest,

they are old enough to understand pop

Spread Their Wings younger kids, and they can appreciate

playing the role of an organizer who brings

Modern China As the second largest TV broadcaster in

marketing technique in China.”

already proving to be the key to market success

Timeless Images: Set on the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau, Ai Yi Mei

Cultural Revolution, scapes and engag-

Take Two Wen Feng

sure to be spinning off to a TV set near

© Copyright 2007 Road to Home

age 18-35. “This was

Not Your Usual

Broad Comedy Co-creator Gillis be-

“About two years ago, we decided

sitcom. “In one epi- at Break- realize was

_______ _ __________

___