Do you know how many sun swords a wizard with only seven charisma points needs to slay a wandering armored Tharg troll? Likely, you don't have a clue, but this is common knowledge in NERDLAND, a new stop-motion animated pilot debuting at MIPCOM in October from Cuppa Coffee Studios and set to air this fall on TELETOON.
Invading Martians will hit the screen at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' "George Pal: Discovering the Fantastic" event on Wednesday, August 27, at 7:30 p.m. in the Samuel Goldwyn Theater. The centennial celebration, hosted by director Joe Dante (GREMLINS), will feature a panel discussion with several Pal collaborators as well as a screening of two Pal "Puppetoons" and THE WAR OF THE WORLDS (1953) in its entirety.
ROBOT CHICKEN: STAR WARS, the sequel, has been greenlit, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. Just days after earning an Emmy nomination for Best Animated Series, the Adult Swim show is moving forward with Episode II, to air November 16.
"It doesn't even seem real -- getting to make STAR WARS twice!" said ROBOT CHICKEN co-creator Seth Green. Green won an Annie Award for directing the first one, and will helm the sequel. The first ROBOT CHICKEN: STAR WARS special was released to DVD on Tuesday.
Nike co-founder and billionaire Phil Knight is making some noise with Laika, the Portland, Oregon-based animation studio he bought six years ago, according to VARIETY.
Laika, which does both CG and stop-motion, is scheduled to release their first feature, CORALINE on February 6, 2009 from Focus Features.
The stop-motion film follows a girl (voiced by Dakota Fanning) who stumbles upon a dark fantasy alternate universe. THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS director Henry Selick helmed the picture, with Knight's son Travis the lead animator.
D3Publisher has entered a worldwide publishing agreement with the Universal Pictures Digital Platforms Group for video games based on Focus Features and LAIKA Ent.'s CORALINE, the upcoming HD stop-motion animated feature -- the first to be originally filmed in 3-D.
This week AWNtv has a place for stop-motion fans to start a commotion. There's a food fight, caged birds, funerals, rockin' puppets, lumps of clay, cyborgs, soul-sucking looms and Manny Schmeckstein.
Hot trailers ! WALL*E behind-the scenes peek! Two SIGGRAPH previews! And the LOVE GURU!
The cool vids of the week take a Middle Eastern flare with Omid Khoshnazar's ZERO DEGREE, Mashaallah Mohammadi's OTHER BEING, and Shlomi Schillinger & Tamar Moshkovitz's PLUSHOOD.
Disney Channel programmers from North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific have joined forces to acquire global rights for the stop-motion animated series TIMMY from the acclaimed U.K. production company Aardman Animations (WALLACE & GROMIT).
It is scheduled to premiere in 2009 on Playhouse Disney channels and programming blocks around the world. The announcement was made today by Gary Marsh, President, Disney Channels Worldwide.
Oscar's 2008 Best Animated Short PETER & THE WOLF will be airing at 8 p.m. on March 26 on PBS' GREAT PERFORMANCES.
Suzie Templeton's take on how little boys can find extraordinary courage, set to the Russian composer's famous score, offers the latest in stop-motion animation, particularly effective here in the tale's updating into the grim realities of a more contemporary Russia.
Richard Jones' darkly imaginative take on Humperdink's HANSEL AND GRETEL will air immediately after at 9 p.m.
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has handed out the winners of the 80th Academy Awards. The first animated related prize of the evening went to Brad Bird for Outstanding Animated Feature for RATATOUILLE. In the category of Animated Short Subject, director Suzie Templeton and producer Hugh Welchman took home Oscars for the stop-motion film, PROKOFIEV'S PETER AND THE WOLF.
Having secured a first-season run of 20 half-hours for its new animated reality series LIFE'S A ZOO on Canada's TELETOON, Cuppa Coffee Studios has now set its sights on the U.S. The new stop-motion show aimed at teens and up delivers a new spin on the reality television genre while also pushing a distinctly indie-music angle.
Aardman International has secured the worldwide TV, DVD and online rights to the award-winning PETER AND THE WOLF. The half-hour stop-motion animated film has already been licensed in several territories.
Produced by BreakThru Films, this latest film version of Prokofiev's classic work was first aired on Channel 4 last year. It was adapted and directed by the BAFTA-award-winning Suzie Templeton and set to a special new recording by the Philharmonia Orchestra.
The holiday tradition continues this Halloween when Tim Burton's THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS returns to theaters in Disney Digital 3-D on Oct. 19-Nov. 18, including the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. Industrial Light & Magic worked on the 3-D transfer in collaboration with In-Three Inc. The film will be in three times as many theaters as last year -- around 600 nationwide.
They Might Be Giants recently turned to Portland-based Bent Image Lab to create an edgy two-and-a-half-minute music video for their hit song, "I'm Impressed." The video mixes a sense of epic scale with violent undertones. Its gladiatorial combat scenes draw on such influences as BEN-HUR, SPARTACUS and TRIUMPH OF THE WILL.
Director Rob Shaw worked for six weeks on the stop-motion video, which tells the story of a dictator's rise and fall, with robot warriors made out of paper.
Cuppa Coffee Studios' new stop-motion animated comedy series LIFE'S A ZOO.TV is being formally launched at MIPCOM. With thirteen half-hours aimed at the "teens and up" crowd slated for a spring 2008 delivery, LIFE'S A ZOO.TV promises to deliver a new spin on "reality" television alongside its own Web channel at lifesazoo.tv.
Aardman is making its foray into the preschool market, unveiling its brand new stop-motion animated series TIMMY at MIPCOM. The 52x10 series has already been pre-bought by CBeebies in the U.K., and Aardman International is looking to secure further worldwide pre-sale deals at the market.
Yowza Animation and Cuppa Coffee will join their talents in bringing a unique visual style to Star Farm's THE KINETICS (52x11) with a breakthrough blend of 3D effects and stop-motion animation. Star Farm will introduce the property to international buyers at MIPCOM Jr.
Commercial animation studio LAIKA/house created the stop-motion animation dream sequence featuring Oscar winning actor/producer Michael Douglas for writer/director Mike Cahill's feature film, KING OF CALIFORNIA, opening nationwide Sept. 28th.
Douglas stars as Charlie, a former mental institution patient whose return home throws his daughter's (Evan Rachel Wood) life into chaos.
To illustrate Charlie's delusional state of mind Cahill asked LAIKA/house to create a dream sequence utilizing the woodblock print technique.
