Animation News II

Daikun · **Daikun**

I'm kind of disappointed. I was expecting them to go for a serious Justice League-type route (I know that this series isn't going to be a tie-in to that recent JLU episode, but I would still expect a style similar to what I saw in JLU), but instead they go for the simplistic, cutesy Teen Titans look. Not that it's a bad thing, and hey, WB's gotta do what they gotta do to get the best structure possible for their shows, but this style is completely different from what I've expected.

And there's also Brainiac 5's design... I...I don't know what to think... Confused

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Toonami visual schedule - UPDATED AUGUST 2, 2015

Daikun · **Daikun**

Disney Completes Pixar Acquisition

Disney has completed its acquisition of Pixar animation Studios as Pixar shareholders approved the takeover of the company today (May 5, 2006) in an all-stock deal valued at more than $7.4 billion as 2.3 Disney shares will be issued for each Pixar share. The vote was taken at a special meeting of shareholders in San Francisco presided over by Pixar cfo Simon Bax.

Dr. Ed Catmull, previously Pixar president, will be president of the new Pixar and Disney animation studios, reporting to Robert A. Iger, president/ceo The Walt Disney Co. and Dick Cook, chairman of The Walt Disney Studios.

John Lasseter, previously Pixar's evp is now cco of the animation studios, reporting directly to Iger. Lasseter will also be principal creative advisor at Walt Disney Imagineering, where he will provide his expertise in the design of new attractions for Disney theme parks around the world.

Steve Jobs, previously Pixar chairman/ceo, has joined Disney’s board of directors as a non-independent member. With Jobs on the board, 11 of Disney’s 14 directors are independent.

“For the last 15 years, Disney and Pixar have shared one of the most successful partnerships in entertainment history,” Iger said. “From TOY STORY through THE INCREDIBLES, the success of these animated films was due to the creativity, innovation and immense talent of the phenomenal Pixar team, led by Steve, Ed and John. We also fully recognize that Pixar’s extraordinary record of achievement is in large measure due to its vibrant creative culture, which is something we respect and admire and are committed to supporting and fostering in every way possible. As we begin the next chapter, all of us at Disney are pleased to welcome the incredibly talented Pixar team to our company to continue to create quality entertainment for audiences to enjoy around the world.”

The Walt Disney Co, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise with four business segments: media networks, parks and resorts, studio entertainment and consumer products. Disney is a Dow 30 company, had annual revenues of nearly $32 billion in its most recent fiscal year, and a market capitalization of approximately $54 billion as of May 4, 2006.
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Toonami visual schedule - UPDATED AUGUST 2, 2015

Nobuyuki · **Nobuyuki**

I'm disappointed that you didn't post it here. Sad

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"When I became a man, I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up."- C.S. Lewis
Wink

"Superman can't be emo. He can't cut himself."-CP

Daikun · **Daikun**

D'oh! I forgot about that thread. Embarassed

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Toonami visual schedule - UPDATED AUGUST 2, 2015

Daikun · **Daikun**

Central Park Media prepares for bankruptcy.

Nobuyuki · **Nobuyuki**

Now the question is: Chapter 7 (liquidation) or Chapter 11 (reorganization)? Sad

At least they were nice enough to send my VOTOMS Set #3 this week.
_________________
"When I became a man, I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up."- C.S. Lewis
Wink

"Superman can't be emo. He can't cut himself."-CP

Nobuyuki · **Nobuyuki**

We're supposed to get an official statement today regarding the CPM situation, but this popped up at Toon Zone overnight:

Nobuyuki · **Nobuyuki**

The name of the game in anime licensing this month is apparently "Get Big or Get Out".

Dentsu, Mitsubishi Establish Anime Business Alliance
anounced on 2006-06-06
Dentsu and Mitsubishi Corporation Establish a Business Alliance Involving the Production, Sale and Rights Management of Japanese Animation

TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 6, 2006--Dentsu Inc. (President: Tateo Mataki; Head Office: Tokyo) and Mitsubishi Corporation (President: Yorihiko Kojima; Head Office: Tokyo) announced today that they will form a business alliance encompassing the production, sale and rights management of Japanese animated works in Japan and globally. The main points of the business alliance are as follows.

Dentsu and Mitsubishi Corporation have, up to now, pursued independent business operations involving the sale and rights management of Japanese animated works, both directly and through their respective subsidiaries. Against a background of worldwide popularity enjoyed by Japanese animation in recent years, Dentsu and Mitsubishi Corporation have decided to embark on a strategic business alliance in this field, beginning with the specific transactions outlined below. Dentsu brings to this partnership significant capabilities in content and creative production in Japan, while Mitsubishi Corporation has built a strong track record in the export of Japanese animated works, particularly focusing on children's animation. Through this alliance, the partners aim to build an integrated business model focusing on all areas related to the animation businesses, from production to global sales and rights management. Simultaneously, they will strive to accelerate the development of high-quality works, in an effort to expand the business in Japan and internationally.

In addition, the partners have agreed to actively cooperate in developing businesses that utilize such new media as the Internet and mobile devices. As broadcast media rapidly diversify, the two groups intend to develop their partnership based on a long-term, multifaceted approach.

- Establishment of Joint Investment Fund Specializing in Japanese Animation

Dentsu, its consolidated subsidiary Geneon Entertainment Inc. (President: Sumio Kiga; Head Office: Tokyo) and Mitsubishi Corporation subsidiary d-rights Inc. (CEO: Toru Itabashi; Head Office: Tokyo) will establish a joint investment fund specializing in projects relating to the production of Japanese animated works. The fund will aim to develop works capable of expanding the businesses in Japan and in global markets, particularly North America. The fund will be capitalized at 2.0 billion yen, with Dentsu contributing 30%, Geneon Entertainment Inc. 20% and d-rights 50% of this amount.

Concurrent with the establishment of this investment fund, the three companies will set up a joint investment committee, and based on its recommendations the fund will invest in 15 to 20 works per year. The partners will then collaborate in developing sales and rights management businesses for the works in Japan, North America and other international markets.

For its first selection, the investment committee plans to choose "Guardian of the Sacred Spirit," (production: Production I.G Inc.; planned to be broadcast on NHK in Spring 2007), currently a popular piece of children's literature. The committee also intends to promote the work in Japan and internationally from 2007.

New media, including the Internet and mobile devices, are expected to be used extensively in the development of works targeted by the fund.

- Capital Participation by d-rights Inc. in Geneon Entertainment (USA) Inc.

Dentsu and Mitsubishi Corporation have agreed to make Dentsu subsidiary Geneon Entertainment (USA) Inc. (President: Eiji Orii; Head Office: Long Beach, California) a joint venture between Dentsu and d-rights. Geneon Entertainment (USA) is involved in the planning and distribution of entertainment content in the United States, focusing primarily on Japanese animation. Dentsu and d-rights plan to cooperate closely in the management of this company. Pursuant to Geneon Entertainment (USA) becoming a joint venture, d-rights will acquire a 34% equity stake in the company from Dentsu, and nominate two members of its board of directors.

In addition to undertaking sales activities in the United States of works developed through the joint investment fund, Geneon Entertainment (USA) will also aggressively develop these works for use in such new media as the Internet and mobile devices.

Concurrently, Geneon Entertainment (USA) will carry out marketing activities for works related to the fund, with the aim of developing successful businesses based on these works in the North American and global markets.

___________________________________

Japanese Investment Bulks Up ADV
Industrial Conglomerate Sojitz Takes Minority Stake
June 27, 2006

The Sojitz Corporation announced on Monday a substantial investment in A.D. Vision by Japan Content Investments (JCI), an investor group led by Sojitz in cooperation with the Development Bank of Japan (DBJ) and KlockWorx, which imports and distributes films in Japan. A separate capital commitment came from ARM, a JCI subsidiary, for the acquisition of new filmed content. First news of the transaction came in the Nikkei Net.

Shinichi Uchiyama, Senior Vice President of Sojitz' New Business Development Group, said of the investment, "Anime has become a global phenomenon, and the North American and European markets are slated for sustained growth. As the market leader, A.D. Vision is the best partner to realize that growth." ADV has released more anime titles in North America than any other company, founded the Anime Network, the first cable network dedicated to anime in the U.S., and also publishes an American version of Newtype magazine as well as a line of manga.

John Ledford, the founder and CEO of A.D. Vision, will remain its majority stockholder and CEO.

The investment caps a broad strategic alliance between A.D. Vision and the Sojitz Corporation, which will enable ADV to expand its operations in North America, Europe and Japan and become a fully-integrated multimedia company involved in all levels of content creation and distribution.

The investment will allow ADV Films to raise its output of new anime titles, which had dropped in 2006, back to previous levels or above.

And an ADV spokesperson told ICv2 that in the wake of this new agreement, "ADV has big plans for its manga business."

The Sojitz Corporation is a publicly listed Japanese holding company with sales of more than $48 billion per year and important positions in a variety of industries including chemicals, plastics, machinery and aerospace, energy and mineral resources, real estate, as well as in wireless technology and new media. The company is not a newcomer to the anime business; it has participated in the production of 100 anime series and films.

Sojitz's experience in wireless combined with an integrated anime rights management approach and ADV's expertise in all the distribution channels in the North American market could well provide the basis for new distribution models for anime in the U.S. in the coming years. As ADV's John Ledford put it, "This is a perfect marriage. Sojitz gains ADV's specialized knowledge in the packaging and distribution of anime content for the North American and European markets, and we gain Sojitz's global network and expertise in wireless and new media, which for anime-related content is a particularly strong growth area. The anime market is primed for a big expansion, fueled by the young, tech-savvy consumers that drive today's new media."

ADV will also assist in the acquisition of U.S. and European content for distribution in Japan and other markets.
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"When I became a man, I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up."- C.S. Lewis
Wink

"Superman can't be emo. He can't cut himself."-CP

Daikun · **Daikun**

The guy who succeeded Eisner last year...is going away already? Shocked

From VFX World:

Nobuyuki · **Nobuyuki**

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences unveiled the nominations for the 58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards early yesterday morning in LA. Among the nominees for kids programming, Disney Channel leads the way with 7 nods, followed by HBO/HBO Family with three nominations, and Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and Discovery Channel with two each. Winners in 27 categories will be handed out live on the 58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards show, hosted by Conan O'Brien, on NBC Sunday, August 27 at 8p, live from the Shrine Auditorium in LA. Awards in the other categories will be announced at a ceremony on Saturday, August 19, which will air on E! at a later date (TBA). A full list of categories and nominees can be found at http://www.emmys.org. Nominees for the 58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards in kid/family related categories include:

Animated Program (Less than 1hr) - series, episode (network; production company)

* Camp Lazlo, "Hello Dolly/Over Cooked Beans" (Cartoon Network; Cartoon Network Studios)
* Family Guy, "PTV" ( Fox; Fuzzy Door Productions in association with Fox TV Animation Studios)
* Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends, "Go Goo Go" (Cartoon Network; Cartoon Network Studios)
* The Simpsons, "The Seemingly Neverending Story" (Fox; Gracie Films in association with 20th Century Fox Television)
* South Park, "Trapped in the Closet" (Comedy Central; Central Productions)

Animated Program (1hr or more) - series (network; production company)

* Before The Dinosaurs (Discovery Channel; Impossible Pictures production in association with Discovery Channel)
* Escape From Cluster Prime (Nickelodeon; Nickelodeon Studios with Frederator Inc.)

Children's Program - series (network; production company)

* Classical Baby 2 (HBO; HBO Original Programming)
* High School Musical (Disney Channel; Salty Pictures/First Street Films/Disney Channel)
* I Have Tourette's But Tourette's Doesn't Have Me (HBO; Tourette Syndrome Association with HBO Documentary Films)
* Nick News With Linda Ellerbee: Do Something! Caring For The Kids Of Katrina (Nickelodeon; Nickelodeon Studios with Lucky Duck Productions)

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Boomerang has picked up the TV rights to Hal Seeger's truly fab animated series Batfink (100 x 5 min) from Foothill Entertainment, Inc. A send-up of the Batman TV series, Batfink will join the Boomerang lineup this fall on September 16, 2006. With 'wings like a shield of steel' Batfink and his trusty side-kick Karate regularly jump in his Battillac (sounds like Cadillac) to fight the forces of evil, who most frequently is Batfink's arch nemesis Hugo A Go Go. Licensing for Batfink is being handled by Dimensional Branding Group.
_________________
"When I became a man, I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up."- C.S. Lewis
Wink

"Superman can't be emo. He can't cut himself."-CP

Nobuyuki · **Nobuyuki**

New Anime Company Founded, Licenses Beet the Vandel Buster
July 12, 2006

Three former executives from FUNimation including Barry Watson, who presided over the production of the English language versions of DBZ, Fullmetal Alchemist, and Yu Yu Hakusho, have founded the privately-held Fort Worth, Texas-based Illumitoon Entertainment Ltd. Illumitoon's first DVD release, scheduled for January 2007, will be Beet the Vandel Buster (Japanese Title: Bouken Oh Beet), a 78-episode series produced by Toei Animation and based on a popular Shonen Jump manga by Riku Sanjo (story) and Koji Inada (art).

The Beet the Vandel Buster anime series first aired on Japanese TV in September of 2004 and ran for 52 episodes. A second TV anime series, Beet the Vandel Buster: Excellion debuted in October of 2005 and is obviously included in the licensing deal announced by Illumitoon. The action-packed story in the Beet anime takes place during the "Century of Darkness" during which "Vandels" (a combination of "vampire" and "devil") arrived and began to prey on humans. Beet is nearly killed attempting to become a Vandel Buster, but the Zenon Warriors infuse their spirits into him, and after a period of training he is ready, willing and able to take on the powerful Vandels.

Viz Media has published nine volumes in the Beet the Vandel Buster manga series and has scheduled volume 10 for a November release. In Japan the manga series, which debuted in 2004, has reached eleven volumes and is on-going.

In its mission statement Illumitoon promises to "incorporate the constraints of the U.S. marketplace in the planning and acquisition phase, thereby greatly increasing the placement possibilities and overall likelihood of success," indicating clearly that the new company is looking for success in the mass-market and will likely eschew edgy material in favor of properties that won't require lots of cutting or adapting to air on U.S. television. If Illumitoon can achieve its goal and get Beet the Vandel Buster on a prime broadcast or cable outlet, the property has a chance to make a major impression. In addition to the manga from Viz, Bandai produced a plethora of Beet the Vandel Buster merchandise in Japan, and like Bandai's DBZ merchandise, these goods might well find their way here if the series takes off.

Illumitoon, which shares a 43,000 square foot, state-of-the-art production facility in downtown Fort Worth with CRM Productions, can boast of plenty of experience in working with the mass-market hit Dragon Ball Z at FUNimation, thanks to the combined savvy of its founding trio -- Illumitoon's CEO Barry Watson was V.P. of Production and of New Business at FUNimation, while COO Stephanie Giotes was FUNimation's General Counsel, and Executive V.P. Richard Ray was FUNimation's Home Video Director of Sales.

:From ICv2:
_________________
"When I became a man, I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up."- C.S. Lewis
Wink

"Superman can't be emo. He can't cut himself."-CP

Nobuyuki · **Nobuyuki**

New stamps will let you send mail care of a DC superhero
By BILL RADFORD - Colorado Springs Gazette
July 09, 2006

Superheroes from DC Comics are getting a new stage, albeit a tiny one: the postal stamp.

Last year, the U.S. Postal Service announced its 2006 lineup of commemorative stamps, including a salute to DC heroes. Now the wait for comic-book fans is nearly over: The DC stamps will be issued at the San Diego Comic-Con on July 20 and will be available the following day at post offices across the country.

DC’s Superman was honored with a U.S. stamp in 1998. This time, he’s joined by Aquaman, Batman, Flash, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Plastic Man, Supergirl and Wonder Woman. Ten of the stamps on the 20-stamp sheet are portraits; the other 10 show comic-book covers featuring the heroes.

The Postal Service receives 40,000 to 50,000 suggestions each year for commemorative stamps. The DC stamps came about after Carl Herrman, an art director with the Postal Service, pitched the idea of stamps devoted to superheroes.

“I’m not sure if in their big book of potential subjects this had already been in there,” he said. But it was a subject he was eager to tackle.

“I just thought they would be very colorful and just fun to do,” said Herrman, who also worked on a series of stamps years ago devoted to comicstrip characters.

The idea at first was to highlight superheroes from multiple comic-book publishers, but legal and other issues led to the decision to go with one company, Herrman said. “So we started with DC.”

Choosing characters and art from more than 60 years of comic-book adventures involved a collaborative effort with DC. Many of the characters, such as Superman and Batman, were a natural, said Paul Levitz, president of DC.

“The debate was more sort of, do you do Aquaman or do you do Shazam? You could argue either side of that. We had a couple in that category.”

The portraits and covers range from comics’ Golden Age to modern times. Herrman had planned to focus on the early days of DC’s heroes, but he was convinced by the company to include some more current images, such as superstar artist Jim Lee’s version of Batman.

“We wanted to represent the breadth of the experience,” Levitz said. “And we wanted to try and include in the mix a broad selection of the great artists who were part of DC’s history.”

Many of the artists represented, such as Curt Swan, Gil Kane and Jack Kirby, are dead. But there are some from comics’ early days who are still around, and in some cases, still working.

For Levitz, it was a treat to call those legendary artists — such as 79-year-old Joe Kubert, whose portrayal of Hawkman is included — and tell them about the stamps.

“He’s had every accolade within this business that you could possibly have,” Levitz said, “but I don’t think he ever expected to see this happen in the course of his life.”

Herrman wouldn’t comment on whether more DC stamps — or stamps featuring heroes from DC’s chief rival, Marvel — are in the works.

“But I think we’re expecting that this is going to be a big hit,” he said. “I don’t think you could miss with these characters.”
_________________
"When I became a man, I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up."- C.S. Lewis
Wink

"Superman can't be emo. He can't cut himself."-CP

Daikun · **Daikun**

The trailer for the upcoming new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie has been released.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/teenagemutantninjaturtles/tmnt_large.html
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Toonami visual schedule - UPDATED AUGUST 2, 2015

Zechs · **Zechs**

Weak Sauce.

That is all.
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Bang.


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