Table of Contents NOVEMBER 2000 VOL.5 NO.8 4 Editor’s Notebook A new, healthy beginning… 5 Letters: [email protected] TELEVISION 6 Belphégor,The Renewed Legend The legend of Belphégor has entranced France for years. Now France 2 and 3 bring the mys- terious dark figure back to television, only this time, it’s animated. Annick Teninge reports. 11 No Boundaries:An Interview With Eric Radomski From Batman: The Animated Series to Spawn and Spicy, Eric Radomski has always been testing the limits of animated TV, while being very vocal about what makes and breaks a show. Amid Amidi passes on the insight. 19 Primetime Animation Fills Growing Niche TV Gerard Raiti studies the migration of animated primetime programming from the major net- works to more specialized networks and reveals that maybe 2000 wasn’t such a bust after all, rather just a shifting of sorts. 2000 24 The Good,The Bad,The Butt-Ugly Martians The Butt-Ugly Martians are about to invade Earth and the World Wide Web simultaneously. Paul Younghusband investigates this strategy’s development and implementation process. 26 Boom and Doom Did primetime television animation fail because it was animated or because it was on big time network TV? Martin Goodman offers new insight on the pressures (and ignorance) influencing the bust of 2000. 30 Tom Snyder Productions Goes Scriptless Sharon Schatz goes behind the scenes at Tom Snyder Productions and learns how this surpris- ing little company has been hitting winners ever since its inception. 34 The Purpose of That X-Chromosome Oxygen’s flagship showcase of animation, X-Chromosome is almost a year old. Designed to bring the female viewpoint to television, Heather Kenyon reveals that it is doing even more than that. 38 The Music,The Pageantry,The Fourth Grade… Disney’s Teacher’s Pet is all the rage, and Joan Kim finds it easy to understand why. The combi- nation of unique style and great writing bring this crazy cast to life. ADDITIONAL FEATURES FEATURES 41 Last Exit on St. Laurent Street Chris Robinson delves into the bizarre story of Ryan Larkin, once an Oscar nominated National Film Board of Canada wunderkind, now a homeless man living in Montreal. How did incredi- ble talent, guilt, drugs, alcohol and the quest for freedom bring him to the last exit on St. OVEMBER Laurent Street? 49 David Bowers: Creating Shelf Space for Casper Joan Kim interviews David Bowers about Casper’s Haunted Christmas’ final challenge: finding shelf space and effective promotions. N © Animation World Network 2000. All rights reserved. No part of the periodical may be reproduced without the consent of Animation World Network. ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November20002 Table of Contents NOVEMBER 2000 VOL.5 NO.8 FILMS 52 Mark Dindal’s Place in the Sun Q: What do some non-dancing cats and a llama with an attitude have in common? A: Mark Dindal. Here the director of Cats Don’t Dance and Disney’s upcoming major holiday release, The Emperor’s New Groove, sits down with Joe Strike and talks and talks and talks… 63 Out of Character:The Making of Joseph When Jeffrey isn’t jumping for joy after the first test screening what do you do? Go back to the draw- ing board? No, go back to the script. Co-director Robert Ramirez recounts his experience wrangling together the timeless story of DreamWorks’ new straight-to-video release, Joseph: King of Dreams. GUEST EDITORIAL EDITORIAL 67 The Animation Pimp The first in a provocative series (or is it just wild ranting?), Chris Robinson proposes that whether one is a festival director, working animator or studio executive, we are all simply prostitutes. FOCUS ON… ON... 69 A Lessening Dichotomy: China 2000 Frank Gladstone recently traveled to China for a conference and two studio tours. Here he reflects on the experience of visiting a giant on the brink of taking a great leap. FESTIVALS & EVENTS& EVENTS 74 The Ottawa 2000 Scrapbook: Featuring the 3D Photographs of Gary Schwartz Did you miss Ottawa this year? Thinking about attending next year? This selection of over photos will hopefully make it a must stop for you in 2002! 78 The Daily Report: I Castelli Animati, Genzano Di Roma Italy’s free-wheeling I Castelli Animati was packed with surprises…including a very special visitor. Animation legend Marv Newland reports. 82 MIPCOM 2000:A Report from the Front Across the board, MIPCOM 2000 proved to be a much livelier market than in past years. While there are still some worries and complaints…most people could still find something positive to report. GAMING 87 Video Games: Not Just For Males Ages 12-24 Anymore While our first assumptions about gaming lead us to thoughts of a violent, action-packed, male dominated past-time, Jacquie Kubin reveals why it is important never to assume anything as the numbers certainly do not support this ideal anymore. NEWS 90 Animation World News Phil Roman Entertainment Teams With C-3D TV & Internet, German TV Loonland Acquires Sony OVEMBER Wonder, Showtime Wants To Showcase Your Toons Online, WB Set To Start Live-Action Scooby- Doo Feature, ASIFA-Hollywood Annie Awards Are The Toon Land’s Top Honors and much more. 93 Next Issue’s Highlights N This Month’s Contributors Cover: Belphégor, the story that has fascinated the entire country of France since the ‘60s, comes alive again with a new animated series. © France 2 and 3. © Animation World Network 2000. All rights reserved. No part of the periodical may be reproduced without the consent of Animation World Network. ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November20003 mates had terrible internships where all they learned was exactly Editor’s Notebook how certain executives liked their tuna sandwiches (think Swimming with Sharks), and one poor soul by Heather Kenyon even had to bail out a convertible that had been left open in a rain- A new, healthy beginning… Fox…well, it takes focus and com- storm! No one ever yelled at me mitment. Unfortunately, now because I forgot mustard. In fact, his year I consider that many have been burned and they even bought me some trail primetime animation has won’t be coming back to anima- mix because I wouldn’t take lunch Tbeen kinda like a rock star tion anytime soon. Moreover, as and they felt sorry for me. In or movie star that has hit super Martin “Dr. Toon” Goodman Hollywood, that’s true concern. I stardom and then doesn’t quite explains in “Boom and Doom,” it did coverage, filed, entered info know how to handle it, resulting takes more than a dog and pony into the database and was encour- in a fiery crash to rock bottom. show to produce animation. aged to ask a lot of questions. The Animation became red hot, and in Experience is vital and several of other internship was at Turner all the craziness that ensued…we this past season’s shows have Feature Animation (TFA) and the went down in a fiery crash. (How proven that you are asking for project that was in production was else can you explain cancellations trouble when you have an ani- Cats Don’t Dance. After complet- almost before the shows even mated show that isn’t backed by ing my coverage, I would get to aired?) Now, like the big bang industry veterans. Hopefully, if net- look at artwork, sit in on story theory the explosion is coming works have learned anything this meetings, and on really great back down, and I think this will past year, it is to look before they days, I’d go over to the main TFA lead to a more stable industry, if it leap. There is still more animation building and follow around the doesn’t completely implode! being produced for primetime key players, one of whom was Rather than having two or three than ever before and with shows Mark Dindal. I had no idea how high profile shows on the major like The PJs and Home Movies find- lucky I was at the time. If I had networks, I’d rather see the indus- ing new network homes after some questions about character try have four or five shows on being cancelled proves that it isn’t design, the next week they’d smaller networks continuing at a “our” animation that failed, it was organize a chat with character steady pace, building a following the placing and approach. designer and CalArts’ instructor and audience for the networks. If When I was in college two Robert Lence. The next week I had animation can help build a market events influenced me to go into questions about acting and ani- for burgeoning networks as animation. The first was a “Writing mating, so in I’d go to Lennie Gerard Raiti suggests in his article for Animation” course I took with Graves who was Sawyer’s lead ani- “Primetime Animation Fills Ernie Pintoff. For a bunch of kids mator. ‘How do you put the whole Growing Niche TV,” then that will raised on Saturday morning car- thing together though?’ I pon- only help animated programmin- toons, Ernie’s selection of art films dered. Well, what I didn’t glean expand and in turn provide jobs. with favorites from UPA and the while being a fly on the wall of the Animation producers are NFB blew us away. We were conference room from Mark and always complaining about “suits” wowed. And I was impressed. The the Turner executives, I could get that don’t understand animation second event was my experience by asking a few questions of art and make their lives hell by poking over the course of one summer director Brian McEntee.