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Digital
Media FX News Archives
Wednesday
- September 19, 2001
- Cinderella and Hunchback
Sequels
- Cambridge Animation
Systems Acquired
- Jackie Chan Almost at WTC
on September 11
- News Link of the Day
- Disney: The Man Behind the Mouse
Cinderella
and Hunchback Sequels
(by digitalmediafx.com) The release dates for Disney's direct
to video sequels of Cinderella and The Hunchback of
Notre Dame have been set. On February 26, 2002, Disney will
release Cinderella II: Dreams Come True followed a few
weeks later, March 19, with The Hunchback of Notre Dame II.
The Hunchback sequel was originally scheduled to be released
this year, but ended up being delayed.
In related
news Disney has announced that Atlantis: The Lost Empire
will be released to video and DVD on January 29, 2002. There will
also be a 2-disc special edition (details forthcoming).
Disney has
found its direct to video sequels to be very profitable which
is why it keeps dipping into its "classics" to create
new revenue sources.
Click
here to view a trailer for Hunchback 2.
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Cambridge
Animation Systems Acquired
(company press release) Cambridge Animation Systems, developer
of Animo 2D software used by more than 3,000 animators worldwide,
has been purchased from Japanese investment bank Nomura by a digital
media consortium that includes an original founder of the company.
The new owners are moving the company to a new and larger facility
in Cambridge.
Over the past
18 months a new management team placed in the company by Nomura
has completely reorganized Cambridge Animation Systems. The new
management expanded Cambridge’s line of products and set
up a growing reseller network worldwide. The restructuring of
the business and the promise of growth made the company an attractive
investment, according to Peter Florence, leader of the purchasing
consortium and a founder of Cambridge Animation Systems in 1990.
“The
company has dramatically accelerated its product pipeline to meet
customers’ needs,” says Florence. “Our focus is
on delivering great products such as Animo for Mac on time and
bringing new products to market as quickly as possible. As a founder
of this company, I know the product, people and market. I feel
strongly that we are on the right path to guarantee that Cambridge
Animation Systems will continue to be the leader in the 2D animation
market.”
Moving to
new facilities in Cambridge Research Park will enable the company
to continue its aggressive new product development. This year
Cambridge has released a new version of its Inkworks 3D cartoon
rendering program, new software called Swiffworks that delivers
Macromedia Flash output to 3D animators, and Animo 4, a major
upgrade of the company’s flagship software.
“With
Animo 4.0 for Mac OS X due out next month, and a number of other
products scheduled for release by early 2002, it was imperative
that we move the company to larger, superior facilities,”
says Florence. “This will allow us to expand quickly once
the market recovers from this period of consolidation.”
About the
Consortium Members
Peter Florence was the original co-founder of Cambridge Animation
Systems. He served as CEO and head of U.S. operations before leaving
in 1996 to establish RadioScape, a digital broadcast and communications
company based in London. Before Cambridge Animation, he was a
producer at The Moving Picture Company and cofounder of Digital
Pictures, one of the first companies in Europe producing computer
graphics for the entertainment industry.
Dr. Gavin
Ferris is CTO and cofounder of RadioScape. Before returning to
the UK to join Peter Florence in setting up RadioScape, he was
based in Los Angeles at DreamWorks SKG, where he headed a team
developing the studio’s production and asset management system
for animation and film production. Dr. Ferris was one of the key
developers of Cambridge Animation Systems’ Animo software.
Chris Briscoe
is creative and technical director at Primal Pictures, which he
established in the 1990s. He has a wealth of experience in computer
graphics, including founding one of the world’s first 3D
graphics curricula at the Slade School of Art in London. Briscoe
also co-founded Digital Pictures with Peter Florence.
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Jackie
Chan Almost at WTC on September 11, 2001
(by digitalmediafx.com) Last week, word was released that
several Hollywood films were undergoing revisions (due to the
WTC attack) including Jackie Chan's next action adventure (with
limited visual effects), Nosebleed. One of the scenes in
the script was to take place on top of one of the World Trade
Center towers. Chan has told the Oriental Daily News that shooting
of the World Trade Center scenes were to begin on Tuesday, September
11, including many early morning scenes being shot on the roof
of the World Trade Center. A late script revision delayed the
shooting. Chan says, "I would probably have died if the shooting
had gone ahead as planned."
Many scenes
of Nosebleed are now being reedited and shot, particularly
since the movie was about a World Trade Center window washer and
a terrorist plot to blow up the Statue of Liberty.
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News Link
of the Day - Disney: The Man Behind the Mouse
According to the Los Angeles Daily News:
"...Walt
felt betrayed by his animators - he thought he was running a big,
happy family. But apparently not - look closely at the cap interviewee
Bill Littlejohn, a union leader, wears: It sports what looks suspiciously
like a Warner Bros. logo..."
Click
here for the full story. (note: the show this article
refers to aired last Sunday night)
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