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Digital
Media FX News Archives
Note:
Digital Media FX content is legally ©copyright 2001 and may
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Wednesday
- November 21, 2001
- Samurai Jack: From Animation
to Live Action
- Santa Coca-Cola
Painting Animated to Life
- Top Selling Animation and
FX DVDs
- News Link of the Day
- Aardman to Create New TV Programs
Samurai
Jack: From Animation to Live Action
(by digitalmediafx.com) New Line Cinema, which is releasing
the first of the Lord of the Rings trilogy in December, has announced
that it has acquired the movie rights to the Cartoon Networks
popular animated series Samurai Jack. New Line Cinema has no plans
of keeping it animated, however. The movie will be a live action
adventure directed by Brett Ratner, director of the two Rush Hour
films that star Jackie Chan.
"With
great action and a sense of humor, Samurai Jack is tremendously
entertaining to kids and grownups alike," says Toby Emmerich,
New Line's president of production. "There is no greater
director for this film than Brett, who is not only a tremendous
talent but also a major Samurai Jack fan, and we're thrilled to
continue our relationship with him on this exciting project."
Samurai Jack
tells the story of a great warrior displaced to the distant future
by the evil shape shifting wizard Aku. The world has become a
bleak place under Aku's rule, segregated into fantastic tribes
and policed by Aku's evil robot warlords. Samurai Jack travels
this foreign landscape searching for the time portal that can
return him to his home.
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 Santa
Coca-Cola Painting Animated to Life
(by digitalmediafx.com) In 1931, The Coca-Cola Company commissioned
artist Haddon Sundblom to create what became the first portrait
of Santa Claus depicted the way we think of him today, with a
long, white beard and a round belly. That portrait turns 70 this
year, and to celebrate, Coca-Cola is creating the first animated
commercial featuring Sundblom's version of Santa.
With the help
of Academy Award-winning animator Alexandre Petrov, the original
portrait created by Sundblom will be transformed into an animated
television advertisement. Petrov, who directed and animated "The
Old Man and the Sea," won an Oscar for Best Animated Short
Film in March 2000. To create the Sundblom Santa commercial, Petrov
recreated and animated more than 700 oil paintings frame-by-frame,
using brushes and his hands to create the masterpiece over the
course of four months. The advertisement, which was created by
McCann-Erickson, will debut November 22 during the Macy's Thanksgiving
Day Parade broadcast.
Coca-Cola
is also involved in developing a one hour animated special titled
"Santa, Baby!," that will premier on FOX at 8p.m. on
December 17. Coca-Cola and Rank/Bass Productions formed a working
partnership to develop this new holiday story featuring contemporary
characters in a family-oriented setting, as well as new and original
holiday music. The program features the voices of Gregory Hines,
Patti LaBelle, Vanessa Williams, Eartha Kitt, nationally syndicated
radio personality Tom Joyner and Kianna Underwood.
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Top Selling
Animation and FX DVDs
(by digitalmediafx.com) Here is a list of the current top
selling animation and FX DVDs at Amazon.com. Animation and FX
DVDs are in 10 of the top 20 positions for sales.
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News Link
of the Day - Aardman to Create New TV Programs
According to The UK Times:
"The
BBC is to challenge the dominance of imported cartoons by asking
the team behind Wallace and Gromit to create a variety of animation
series for children... The animations will involve cartoons, clay-mation
and stop-motion productions."
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here for the full story.
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