Modern takes on a pair of ancient tales — one a mammoth, the other modest — will compete for moviegoers’ attention at the box office the weekend.
Clash of the Titans, director Louis Leterrier’s remake of the 1981 classic, arrives in 2D and converted stereoscopic 3-D versions in more than 3,600 cinemas. The film will be fighting for 3-D screens with last weekend’s DreamWorks Animation release, How to Train Your Dragon, as well as the still-strong Alice in Wonderland from Disney.
The film stars Avatar’s Sam Worthington as Perseus, the demi-god son of Zeus who must slay the evil Medusa and defeat the Kraken to save his love, Andromeda.
The original 1981 film featured classic stop-motion creatures from all-time great Ray Harryhausen.
The Warner Bros. remake features VFX work from Cinesite, CEG Media, Flash Film Works, Framestore, Moving Picture Company, Nvizible and Prime Focus View-D.
The modest tale is the Oscar-nominated The Secret of Kells, which begins its Los Angeles run at the Landmark on the Westside and at the Laemmle Fallbrook 7 in West Hills.
Other new major releases this week include the comedy Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too and the Miley Cyrus vehicle The Last Song, which opened Wednesday.
Producers Sue Weinsteins Over Hoodwinked Sequel Release
Kanbar Entertainment, the producers of the animated feature Hoodwinked, have filed a petition with a judge in San Francisco County claiming that The Weinstein Co. breached their contract by postponing a planned release for a sequel.
According to a report in Variety, Kanbar is asking the court to force The Weinstein Co. into binding arbitration to resolve the dispute.
Kanbar also clamed that the studio stopped paying into production accounts in February 2009 and failed to discuss its release strategy for the film, the report states.
The original Hoodwinked was financed completely by Kanbar and released by The Weinstein Co. in 2005. A co-financing agreement for the sequel was reached at the insistence of the studio for the sequel slated for fall, which was originally set for a Jan. 15 release, the trade reports.
A U.S. District Court judge put an end to a long-running lawsuit filed by shareholders in the long-defunct Stan Lee Media Inc. over the company’s breakup that included a claim to the characters Lee created for Marvel Comics.
The case, which alleged Lee improperly transferred his share in such characters as Spider-Man, the X-Men, Fantastic Four and Thor to Marvel, was dismissed on grounds the plaintiffs lacked standing to sue, expiration of statute of limitations and other causes.
Stan Lee Media was an internet-based entertainment company founded in 1998 after the end of Lee’s long-time exclusive contract with Marvel. Despite a flashy launch, the company ran out of capital in the dot-com bust and entered bankruptcy protection in 2001.
A group of new investors brought the company out of bankruptcy in 2006 and filed several lawsuits against Lee, claiming his contract gave the company a 50 percent share in the characters Lee co-created for Marvel.
The judge ruled that several terms of the contract, such as lifetime term, were illegal; that the plaintiffs, who bought their shares in 1999, lacked standing; and that securities claims against Lee in the case had already been settled.
Adult Swim has picked up from VIZ Media the rights to air 52 episodes of the popular anime series Kekkaishi.
The series, which debuts on the network May 29, is based on the manga by Yellow Tanabe about a pair of young rival “kekkashi,” who are charged with guarding and containing the mystical forces of Karasumori while dealing with their crazy, feuding families.
“Kekkaishi spotlights compelling cool characters, in an intense yet fun-filled supernatural action adventure saga,” says William Germain, director of programming and music sales for VIZ. “We are very excited to add Kekkaishi to the Adult Swim anime lineup for U.S. fans to enjoy.”
Cartoon Network has acquired broadcast rights to three Marathon Media properties: the fifth season of Totally Spies!, Totally Spies! The Movie and a new series called Amazing Spiez.
The latter is a 52 x 26 min. boy-skewing spy comedy series produced by the France-based Marathon Media and distributed by Zodiak Entertainment.
Marathon says the sale makes it the only European production company to have sold each of its animated programs over the past five years to major U.S. channels or networks.
“There is no other non-American series as long-lived and successful as Totally Spies!,” says Vincent Chalvon Demersay, CEO of Marathon Media. “Some episodes have aired more than 70 times in the U.S. and 45 times in France, making it our most widely watched animation property to date.”
Small Potatoes, a new short-form animated series from Little Airplane Productions, has been pre-sold to broadcasters in Europe, Australia and Canada.
The series is set to air first in summer 2011 on the CBeebies outlet in the United Kingdom and also will air on NRK in Norway, SVT in Sweden, ABC in Australia and TVO and Knowledge in Canada.
The series’ 26 three-minute episodes feature four musical potatoes, and each segment shows them playing in a different musical genre from rock to jazz, reggae, ska and hip-hop.
"The Small Potatoes are The Beatles of the fresh produce aisle," said Josh Selig, founder and president of Little Airplane Productions. "Their music has universal appeal and can be enjoyed by parents and children alike. I have never loved one of our shows as much as I love this one."
Musical contributors to the series include Jerry Bock, who won a Tony Awards for bst musical and best composer and lyricist for the classic production Fiddler on the Roof.
Crunchyroll to Stream Stan Lee-created Anime Series
The internet will give fans in America their first look in April at Heroman, a new anime series co-created by Stan Lee’s POW! Entertainment and Japanese studio Bones.
Asian culture and anime site Crunchyroll will make each episode of Heroman available to its premium subscribers in high definition one hour after it airs in Japan on TV Tokyo. A standard definition version will be made available for free on the site one week after the initial Japanese airing.
Heroman is about an ordinary boy named Joey Jones who owns a toy robot that through an unusual accident becomes a giant robot. Together, they must fend a militant alien invasion.
“Heroman is exactly what the anime world needs right now. Though the visuals may drastically differ from what American comic book fans are accustomed to, the methods of storytelling and character development will have a classic Stan Lee flair,” says Rob Pereyda, VP of licensing for Crunchyroll. “At the same time, anime fans initially hooked by the high production quality of Bones will find Stan Lee's approach to these aspects a refreshing diversion from the business as usual world of shonen action anime.”
Eric Robinson, a former executive with The Weinstein Co., has joined The Gotham Group as executive VP of production and development.
Robinson’s main duty at the management and production company will be to oversee its first-look deal with Sony Pictures Animation for both animated and hybrid animaton-live action films.
"Family entertainment is my passion,” said Robinson. “I’m delighted to be joining The Gotham Group’s unsurpassed team at a time when the company is becoming a major force in the film production business. No other entity in Hollywood controls more content than The Gotham Group and I’m thrilled to help them convert their portfolio into successful film properties. And I’m tremendously excited about our dynamic collaboration with Hannah Minghella, Bob Osher and their brilliant teams at Sony.”
At The Weinstein Co., Robinson headed up the family and animation division. He came to that job from Miramax, where he was director of development and production. Projects he worked on at the studios include TMNT, Hoodwinked, Hoodwinked 2, Fraggle Rock, Escape from Planet Earth, Cricket in Times Square, The Silver Linings Playbook, Wolf Boy, Artemis, Inglorious Basterds and Knight Rider.
“We worked very closely with Eric while he was at TWC,” says Gotham Group founder and CEO Ellen Goldsmith-Vein. “He has a rare combination of business smarts and creative genius. Plus, he loves animation and family films. We’re thrilled to have him on board.”
Fans flocking to San Francisco for this weekend’s WonderCon will likely notice two things — one, it’s nowhere near as jam-packed as its sister show Comic-Con International: San Diego, and two, it has some terrific animation programming.
The convention, which runs Friday through Sunday at the Moscone Center in downtown San Francisco, will feature plenty of how-to sessions for aspiring animators, as well as plenty of sneak peeks at upcoming cartoons for the big-screen and small.
Highlights of the animation panels include:
• The perennial topic of “How to Successfully Pitch an Animated Cartoon” with Mike Gray (Nicktoons’ Thom Cat)
• A spotlight on the art of Disney’s The Princess and the Frog, featuring directors Ron Clements and John Musker, art director Ian Gooding, supervising animator Eric Goldberg and head of effects Marlon West.
• A Nickelodeon Animation Studio Panel, featuring tons of showrunnres, all talking about the challenges in creating feature-quality CG animation for TV.
• A demonstration of hand-drawn animation from Eric Goldberg, who animated Louis the alligator from The Princess and the Frog.
• A discussion of what it takes to be a storyboard artist with Spyros Tsiounis (Coraline, Madagascar, Shrek Forever After, Star Wars: The Clone Wars) and Sergio Paez (Clone Wars, Darkwatch, Three Wise Men).
• Panels previewing Disney-Pixar’s Toy Story 3, with director Lee Unkrich; and Star Wars: The Clone Wars, with supervising director Dave Filoni.
Disney Channel has ordered a second season of Jungle Junction, an animated series for preschoolers produced by Spider-Eye Animation in the United Kingdom.
The 26 new episodes that comprise the second season will begin airing as part of Disney Channel’s Playhouse Disney blocs around the world starting in 2011.
"Jungle Junction has become a global success for Playhouse Disney, with preschoolers and their parents embracing its characters and unique jungle world,” said Nancy Kanter, senior VP of Playhouse Disney Worldwide. “We are eager to continue working with our U.K. production partners at Spider-Eye to bring more adventure-filled episodes to kids around the globe."
The series has aired in more 15 countries and in 12 languages, reaching more than 29 million unduplicated viewers.
Alan Gregg has joined Teletoon Canada as its director of original content, effective April 19.
Gregg will oversee development and production for Teletoons English and French networks as well as multiplatform outlets and the network’s original production teams in Toronto and Montreal.
A 12-year veteran of the children’s television industry, Gregg most recently was story editor on a preschool series at Guru Studio. HE also has worked for YTV, Brown Bag Films and was VP of production and distribution at Alliance Atlantis’ children’s TV division.
Indian Fables, a new 3D CG animated series from Accel Animation Studios, will debut at MIP-TV courtesy of Monster Distributes.
The series, for children 3-8, is available in high-definition and was recently acquired by Disney Channel in India for an April 5 premiere.
The series is based on Thirukural, a famous collection of ancient couplets that has been translated into nearly every language on Earth. It also features a colorful cast of animal character who explore universal themes such as friendship, generosity and honesty.
The annual MIP-TV conference and market is set for April 12-16 in Cannes, France. Visit www.monsterdistributes.com for more info.
Pegbar is hosting a special networking event for animators April 9 at the Sugar Club in Dublin, Ireland.
The event will feature as guest speakers:
• Andrew Kavanagh, director at Kavaleer, to screen the studio’s award-winning short film Hasan Everywhere. • Peter McNally, technical artist at Havok, who discuss best ways for artists and animators to get jobs at games companies. • Neil Kidney, director at Seed Animation, who will talk about setting up the company and the challenges of moving it to London.
The event concludes with a DJ set from Billy Shing.
The doors open at 7:30 p.m. and the cost of entry is 7 euros. For more information, visit the Pegbar blog at www.pegbaraffair.blogspot.com.
Ben studied animation under former Disney animator Milt Neil at the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art. He has been in the animation industry since 1984. He started doing animation for small commercials, then years later moved on to J.J. Sedelmaier Productions working on the "Cluckin' Chicken" parody for Saturday Night Live, which led to MTV, where he worked on "Beavis and Butt-Head", doing storyboard revisions, character and prop design, layout. animation on the hallucination sequence on the feature "Beavis and Butt-head Do "America" and also MTV's "The Maxx", doing character layout. As a freelancer, he's worked for various companies including Disney TV, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, HBO Family, Miramax, Warner Bros., Saatchi and Saatchi, General Mills and Comedy Central. Currently, he's still doing the freelancing thing, while developing some personal projects for pitching.
Modern takes on a pair of ancient tales — one a mammoth, the other modest — will compete for moviegoers’ attention at the box office the weekend.
A U.S. District Court judge put an end to a long-running lawsuit filed by shareholders in the long-defunct Stan Lee Media Inc. over the company’s breakup that included a claim to the characters Lee created for Marvel Comics.
Adult Swim has picked up from VIZ Media the rights to air 52 episodes of the popular anime series Kekkaishi.
Cartoon Network has acquired broadcast rights to three Marathon Media properties: the fifth season of Totally Spies!, Totally Spies! The Movie and a new series called Amazing Spiez.
Small Potatoes, a new short-form animated series from Little Airplane Productions, has been pre-sold to broadcasters in Europe, Australia and Canada.
The internet will give fans in America their first look in April at Heroman, a new anime series co-created by Stan Lee’s POW! Entertainment and Japanese studio Bones.
Eric Robinson, a former executive with The Weinstein Co., has joined The Gotham Group as executive VP of production and development.
Fans flocking to San Francisco for this weekend’s WonderCon will likely notice two things — one, it’s nowhere near as jam-packed as its sister show Comic-Con International: San Diego, and two, it has some terrific animation programming.
Disney Channel has ordered a second season of Jungle Junction, an animated series for preschoolers produced by Spider-Eye Animation in the United Kingdom.
Alan Gregg has joined Teletoon Canada as its director of original content, effective April 19.
Indian Fables, a new 3D CG animated series from Accel Animation Studios, will debut at MIP-TV courtesy of Monster Distributes.
Pegbar is hosting a special networking event for animators April 9 at the Sugar Club in Dublin, Ireland.
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