Simon Spotlight and Scholastic have announced they will each publish a line of books based on HIT Entertainment's new animated television series RUBBADUBBERS. Simon Spotlight will publish novelty and storybook formats and Scholastic will publish coloring and activity formats. The books will launch in the summer 2004 with Spotlight and Scholastic jointly coordinating sales and marketing efforts.
PorchLight Entertainment has completed negotiations with Penguin Putnam, Inc. and Modern Publishing to license its animated preschool property JAY JAY THE JET PLANE. Under the agreement, Penguin will develop and produce JAY JAY THE JET PLANE story books for the preschooler as well as a variety of novelty books. With a commitment to produce a minimum of eight books throughout 2002, Penguin will adapt story lines from Jay Jay's worldly adventures and include both a Christmas and a spring-themed adaptation.
Will Ryan asks Mike Kazaleh slightly fewer than ten questions regarding getting started in Detroit, comic books and the benefits of working for hire...
Random House Inc. and Classic Media Inc. have purchased, through a bankruptcy court auction, the assets of children's book publisher Golden Books Family Entertainment Inc. for US$84.4 million and the assumption of most of its debt. Industry sources estimate Golden Books' debt is close to $50 million. The Golden Books portfolio features over 500,000 titles including characters like Pat the Bunny and Poky Little Puppy, a vast comic book collection and 3,000 movies, television specials and cartoons.
DIC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. has entered into an agreement to purchase the assets of Golden Books Family Entertainment, Inc., in a deal valued at $170 million. The deal entails a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by Golden Books and its domestic subsidiaries, with DIC petitioning to purchase the companys assets. Golden Books operations will continue as usual during the court and sale process, which is expected to take approximately 60 days. Golden Books assets are quite extensive.
Test your skills and challenge your brain with AWN's Animation Trivia Quiz...
To celebrate the launch of their new site Michael Wiese Productions
is giving away an entire shelf of their best-selling filmmaking books
worth over $275...
Disney has signed a new multiyear book licensing deal with Random House Inc. which sees the end to its 70-year relationship with Golden Books Family Entertainment. The golden spined children's books, which have graced the shelves of bookstores to grocery markets, will no longer feature Disney characters. The decision to sign with Random House came after the terms of their deal with Golden Books were not profitable. The financial terms of the five-year deal were not disclosed due to competitive reasons.
Just in time for the Holidays, AWN's Christmas Gift List, a selection of great, affordable books and videos for children and adults
DISNEY PUBLISHING WORLDWIDE has named STEVE ASTER vice president ofcirculation and global operations, and LISA HOLTON has been promoted tosenior vice president, group publisher for global children's books. ASTERwill manage global operations and production services, which includesmanufacturing, printing, and co-printing, as well as a wide range ofservices to Disney Publishing Worldwide's licensees. Aster joined The WaltDisney Company in 1998 as vice president of circulation for Buena Vista
Taking advantage of the buzz around the upcoming release of the Englishversion of PRINCESS MONONOKE directed by Hayao Miyazaki, which is due to bereleased on October 29, 1999, Stone Bridge Press and Miramax Press are bothreleasing tie-in books. Stone Bridge Press is publishing HAYAO MIYAZAKI:MASTER OF JAPANESE ANIMATION by Helen McCarthy. The book mixes film-by-filmsummaries with insider interviews and discussions of art, plot, productionqualities, and themes. It is a 216 page, 7x9" paperback with more than 70
Art Spiegelman takes us into the world of the Tijuana Bibles, little hand-drawn pornographic pamphlets that provide a subversive peak at America from the 1930s-1950s.
Beginning September 6, 1999, NODDY will air Monday through Friday on PBS stations in the US as part of PBS's "Ready to Learn" service. NODDY debuted in the US in the fall of 1998. The program's success has led to the production of 25 new episodes, bringing the total number of episodes to 65. The new episodes will begin airing in the fall of 1999. Based on the world-renowned children's books by Enid Blyton, NODDY, a show for children ages three to seven, is co-produced by BBC Worldwide, The Enid Blyton Company and Toronto-based Catalyst Entertainment, Inc.
AWN has compiled a list of 65 top animation books for purchase, in association with Amazon.com, the on-line bookstore...
A number of animation books have recently been released just in time for the holiday season. Great Plains Publications has published Gene Walz's "Cartoon Charlie: The Life and Art of Animation Pioneer Charles Thorson," a detailed biography of the Golden Age animation artist filled with many never-before-seen illustrations.
The Ignatz Awards presentation took place on September 26, during the Small Press Expo (SPX) in Bethesda, Maryland. Named after Ignatz, George Herriman's brick-wielding mouse, the awards aim to recognize outstanding work that challenges popular notions of what comics can achieve, both as an art form and as a means of personal expression. A panel of five cartoonists (Michael Cohen, Tom Devlin, Tom Hart, Marc Hempel and Dylan Horrocks) selected the nominations, and winners were voted on by SPX attendees. The winners are:
Golden Books Family Entertainment has signed a deal with animation production company Varga tvc Ltd. (formed last year between Hungarian Varga Studios and TVC London) to produce animated video specials based on the Golden Books titles: "The Poky Little Puppy," "Saggy Baggy Elephant" and "Scuffy the Tugboat." The three videos will be available by Spring 1999. All animation production will take place at Varga tvc's London studio, with a production team that includes writer Bruce Talkington, creative director Dave Unwin and director Ramon Modiano.
Animation historian Jerry Beck describes the ideal library of "essential" books on animation.
Michael Goldman probes the life and times of Marvel's exuberant creator of such titles as Spider Man, The X-Men, The Incredible Hulk and many more.
As the world becomes smaller, individual countries' comics industries are changing. John A. Lent explains.
