Table of Contents JANUARY 2001 VOL.5 NO.10 4 Editor’s Notebook What’s to look forward to? 5 Letters: [email protected] THE PROSPECTS OF 2001 7 Down and Out in Toon Town:The Status of Animation Jobs in the United States Lately it seems as if everyone is out of work or in jeopardy. Has the local animation biz gone bust due to globalization? A normal downward cycle? Or is something else to blame? Ilene Renee Gannaway investigates. 11 Debris from Dot Com Crash Hits Animators As the glow fades off the Internet rose, Michael Hurwicz takes a look at animation on the Internet, a young industry already at a crossroads. 18 Finding Lucy While the Internet is the latest “killer app,” it is in fact in search of an identity and unique purpose. Eric Oldrin offers some insight into the Internet’s future. 22 Movie! Movie! Fearless Martin “Dr. Toon” Goodman makes his predictions regarding 2001’s major animated feature film releases. Will he do better this year than last? 2001 27 Outside the Bubble:What the Main Street Papers Say In the animation community, we hold high expectations for the animated feature film to break out of its “kid’s only” realm. However, what do editors from papers across the U.S. have to say? Joan Kim surveys these hometown gurus on the status of animation. ADDITIONAL FEATURES 29 Beyond Good and Evil: Piotr Dumala’s Crime and Punishment Chris Robinson interviews Polish independent animator Piotr Dumala regarding his latest masterpiece, Crime and Punishment, leading to a discussion of his unique plaster technique, Hitchcock and post-war Poland. QuickTime movie clip available online! 32 The Philosophical Stone of Animation Somewhere in between still images and motion is a moment of transmutation, or pure magic, that transfixes many of our animation masters. Here Piotr Dumala expands on this notion, comparing animation to the mysterious science of alchemy. 37 The Animation Pimp This month the Animation Pimp, Chris Robinson, discusses how traveling is really just waitin’. STUDENT CORNER 39 Joshua Seth’s 10 Steps to Voice Over Success. ANUARY It is a new year and you still want to be a voice over artist, so here’s a few tips from working voice over actor Joshua Seth. INTERNET COMPANY PROFILE J 41 Flinch:The House That Flash Built Flinch Studio is turning heads with such beloved hits as Stainboy. Gregory Singer takes a closer look at this intensely Flash-loving group that walks the careful line between business and art. © Animation World Network 2001. All rights reserved. No part of the periodical may be reproduced without the consent of Animation World Network. ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE January20011 Table of Contents JANUARY 2001 VOL.5 NO.10 THEME PARKS 47 Men In Black Goes Into the Dark Once again Universal Studios Florida’s newest attraction — the largest dark ride to date — is a show stopper featuring Men In Black and new technology. Jacquie Kubin offers a trip inside. FESTIVALS AND EVENTS 49 A Look At Europe’s Cartoon Forum with John Bullivant Cartoon Forum is helping to build Europe into a powerful animation force. TV-Loonland’s John Bullivant discusses this past year’s Forum and how this precious tool might evolve into the new millennium. 59 Since September Let’s check in with a few of the participants from this past year’s Cartoon Forum and see where Gotland’s leads have taken them. Participants include: Honeycomb Animation, Artoon S.A., Fictitious Egg and Sav! The World Productions. FILMS, VIDEOS AND DVDs 61 Fresh From The Festivals Maureen Furniss reviews the following short films: Janno Poldma’s On the Possibility of Love, Just in Time by Kirsten Winter, Stephen X. Arthur’s Vision Point, Passport by Siri Melchior and The Scarecrow by Cheryl Meier. Go online to see a QuickTime movie clip from each of the 2001 featured films! 65 Catch the DVD of Chicken Run Jacquie Kubin describes what is in store when it comes to the new Chicken Run Special Edition DVD. 67 New from Japan:Anime Film Reviews Fred Patten reviews the latest anime releases including: The Legend of Black Heaven, Samurai X: Rurouni Kenshin, Virgin Fleet, Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise and Sol Bianca: The Legacy. NEWS 72 Animation World News Fox Loses Interest in Icebox’s Zombie College, EM.TV Investors Take Company To Court, NATPE 2001, Roars Of Controversy Over Dinosaur In Italy, Flintstones/Jetsons’ Composer Curtin Passes, Dune Mini-Series Marks Sci-Fi History and much more. 74 Next Issue’s Highlights 5 This Month’s Contributors Cover: Airing on shockwave.com, Tim Burton’s Stainboy is produced by Flinch Studio using Flash animation and is an excellent example of some of the best content the currently ANUARY be-leaguered Web has to offer. © Shockwave.com. J © Animation World Network 2001. All rights reserved. No part of the periodical may be reproduced without the consent of Animation World Network. ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE January20012 What the Main Street Papers Say.” In an attempt to gage where the Editor’s Notebook general audience stands regard- ing animated features, we decid- ed to poll the folks writing the by Heather Kenyon movie reviews and news in news- papers all over America. Their What’s to look forward to? Out in Toon Town,” artists are answers are more than insightful going to have to train and re-train and reveal we still have a way to uring December 1999 in order to stay competitive in this go before animation is regarded as most people were either quickly changing, technology merely a storytelling technique Dbusy worrying about the focused world. The number of and not a kid’s only, comedy Y2K bug, planning a memorable skills one has just may be the genre. way to ring in the new millennium knight in shining armor. From Also in our coverage of the or desperately trying to sell a Web theme parks to gaming, our next year ahead we have paid special cartoon…things have definitely issue’s topic, artists that were for- attention to Cartoon Forum, an changed. By December 2000 peo- merly employed in the animation event that is helping to build ple were busy worrying about field might need to diversify in Europe into a powerful animation paying their mortgage, planning order to keep working. force. memorable, but inexpensive, holi- In this issue we are also tak- Finally, please do not over- day gifts and desperately trying to ing a look at the current number look Piotr Dumala’s inspiring and sell anything, anywhere. In this of dot coms that are downsizing thought-provoking essay “The issue we take a look at the big and shutting their doors. Like pio- Philosophical Stone of Animation.” issues that are facing the industry neers setting out into the wild, Fresh from completing his latest at this seemingly dark and precipi- wild west, many didn’t realize how tour de force Crime and Punish- tous time. long the journey to the promised ment, Piotr offers us insight as to Animation has enjoyed land was or how dry and inhos- why he has devoted thousands of almost supernatural booms for pitable the climate in between. In his life’s hours to creating the mas- over a decade. When television “Debris from Dot Com Crash Hits terful animation that we have all began to fizzle…along came Animators,” Michael Hurwicz takes come to anticipate in his films. cable…when cable began to fiz- a look at animation on the Internet So, what is there to look zle… along came the joys of home and how its rise and fall has influ- forward to? Well, what is going to video…when home video began enced the careers of several inde- happen next? Where will the to lose its cool…along came the pendent animators. We also have industry shift and turn and where animated feature film rush…when a treat in that Eric Oldrin, a will enterprising artists (like those those studios began to dwindle… Webisode producing veteran, is that created Flinch Studios) turn along came the Internet…now sharing his insight on why the up next? These are the answers the Internet is seeming to fizzle Internet hasn’t yet lived up to all that are worth looking forward to. and our next knight in shining that it is supposed to be. You’ll armor is not arriving on the hori- want to read “Finding Lucy,” to Happy New Year to all of you. zon. In fact, he seems to be learn more. retreating with all the former sav- While feature animation Until Next Time, iors as well. While we all know ani- releases are always a “cross your Heather mation is a cyclical industry it is fingers and see” affair, 2001 has a hard to take that with a grain of full slate of potential hits and dis- salt when you are standing in the asters. Fearless Martin “Dr. Toon” unemployment line. It is also hard Goodman is taking another stab at to hear that there are more anima- predicting the upcoming year’s hits tion opportunities now than and misses. Another very interest- ever before… As Ilene Renee ing experiment to check out is Gannaway states in “Down and Joan Kim’s “Outside the Bubble: ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE January20014 [email protected] Another Missing Laugh-O- information on the novels by Mr. Gram Kikuchi and write-ups of Mr. I read with interest “A Silent Kikuchi’s Talk Live get-togethers. Treasure Chest” (Osmond, 4.2) by The web site is maintained by me, ANIMATION WORLD NETWORK 5700 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 600 Andrew Osmond regarding David Cathy Krusberg.