PLYMPTON'S "IDIOTS AND ANGELS" TO PLAY AT TRIBECA

"Idiots and Angels," a David Lynchian dark comedy by Oscar-nominated Bill Plympton, is among the three animated feature films to be screened at this year's Tribeca Film Festival, which opens in New York later this month. To run from April 23 to May 4, the fest will present 121 feature films from 31 countries and 79 short films from 30 countries. Part of the showcase "Encounters," Idiots and Angels is a 78-minute experimental drama about a morally bankrupt man scrabbling to hide the good in himself -- which manifests itself in a pair of angel wings that just won't go away. Showtimes are 5:30 p.m. Saturday, April 26 at AMC 19th Street East Theater 1; 9:30 p.m. Sunday, April 27 at Village East Cinema 1; 11 p.m. Wednesday, April 30 at AMC Village VII Theater 6; and 8 p.m. Saturday, May 3 at Village East Cinema 1. The voices of several A-list actors are featured in Aristomenis Tsirbas' Terra, a youth-oriented adventure drama. When the last remaining humans exhaust Earth's resources, an alien girl on the idyllic planet Terra must fight the earthlings who want to inhabit her planet! Also part of "Encounters," the 80-minute film includes the voices of Evan Rachel Wood, Brian Cox, James Garner, Danny Glover, Amanda Peet, David Cross and Luke Wilson. Terra can be seen at 4 p.m. Sunday, April 27 at BMCC Tribeca PAC; 8 p.m. Monday, April 28 at Village East Cinema 7; 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 30 at AMC Village VII Theater 3; and 1:30 p.m. Saturday, May 3, at BMCC Tribeca PAC. Part of the "Discovery" program, the 82-minute Sita Sings the Blues features a variety of colorful animation techniques. In this comedic adaptation, writer-director Nina Paley wittily interweaves the story of Sita, the leading lady of the ancient Sanskrit epic Ramayana, with the story of a modern American woman struggling to keep her marriage afloat. Also in the film are Annette Hanshaw, Reena Shah, Sanjiv Jhaveri, Aseem Chhabra, Bhavana Nagulapally and Manish Acharya. Sita Sings the Blues will be shown at 8:15 p.m. Friday, April 25 at AMC Village VII Theater 7; 3:45 p.m. Sunday, April 27 at AMC 19th Street East Theater 3; 10:45 p.m. Monday, April 28 at AMC Village VII Theater 1; 1:45 p.m. Thursday, May 1 at Village East Cinema 2; and 3 p.m. Friday, May 2 at AMC Village VII Theater 3. Animated shorts screening at Tribeca include: 7 Cities (dir. Reza Hemmatirad; 15 min., 2008, Short Narrative Competition) John and Karen (dir. Matthew Walker; 4 min., 2007, Short Narrative Competition) An animated animal couple tries to resolve their problems. With James Bachman and Emma Cunniffe. Last Time in Clerkenwell (dir. Alex Budovsky; 4 min., 2008, Short Narrative Competition) "Birds Rule!" Yellow Sticky Notes (dir. Jeff Chiba Stearns; 6 min., 2007, Short Documentary Competition)An animated meditation on the life-consuming "to-do list" is expressed through Yellow Sticky Notes. The United States premiere of this award-winning short, also written by Stearns. Zombie Gets A Date (dir. Leetal Platt; 3 min., 2008, Short Student Competition)It's a dinner to remember. With Hamilton Longyear. The Tribeca Film Festival was founded in 2001 following the World Trade Centre attacks to assist Lower Manhattan's economic and cultural revitalization. For more information about animated films screening at Tribeca, visit www.tribecafilmfestival.org/filmguide/?3311=171576.

Scene from Bill Plympton's feature drama Idiots and Angels.

"Avatar" Media Flyer Posts Inaccurate Dates for New Episodes (UPDATED)

(UPDATED April 11, 2008) Nickelodeon has contacted Toon Zone News to state that information in a media flyer available on-line is out-of-date and inaccurate. There is still no information on when new episodes of Avatar will air, and no new information about future Avatar projects yet.(Original story follows, with link to flyer removed)Avatar: The Last Airbender will get a four-part finale this May, and Nickelodeon will launch a "global gaming event" linked to the show this fall, according to a media flyer put together by the network.Nickelodeon will also produce three original one-hour TV movies for broadcast in the fall of 2009 to accompany next year's planned release of M.

NICK NAMES MARK TAYLOR SENIOR VP, GENERAL MANAGER

Nickelodeon / MTVN Kids and Family Group has promoted Mark Taylor to senior vice-president and general manager of Nickelodeon Animation Studio, responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of Nickelodeon's Burbank Animation Studio, the largest producer of television animation in the United States.
He will report to the group's president for animation, Brown Johnson, and executive vice-president for production, Alison Dexter, the network announced Tuesday.
"Mark has been a talented and energetic driver behind our flourishing animation business," said Johnson. "He continues to raise the industry bar when it comes to creating an environment that attracts the best and brightest artists in the business and a studio that offers them a creative workplace with today's most cutting-edge technology."
Added Dexter: "Mark has traveled the globe to bring Nickelodeon some of the most innovative animation partners in the world. And here at home, he's played a key role in building our Nicktoons Studio into the most prolific producer of television animation in the U.S."
Based in Burbank, California, Taylor's expanded role as senior vice-president includes production oversight of all current Nicktoon series, including SpongeBob SquarePants; The Fairly Oddparents; Nick Jr.'s Go Diego Go, Dora the Explorer and Ni Hao Kai-Lan; and the new series starring and co-created by Amy Poehler, The Mighty B.
Taylor has also been a driving force behind the expansion of the network's CG production unit, tripling the size of the in-house CG staff and partnering with leaders throughout the world to deliver theatrical quality animation to Nick. This year, the studio expects to deliver almost 30 hours of CG animation, including upcoming series The Penguins of Madagascar, in partnership with DreamWorks SKG Animation.
An 11-year veteran of Nickelodeon, Taylor joined Nickelodeon as vice-president and general manager in 1997, and was a key member of the original team responsible for the vision and design behind the 72,000 square foot studio, which celebrated its 10th anniversary in March.
He was responsible for creating Nick University, an annex program for studio employees offering courses in everything from management training to foreign language to advanced art classes. Taylor also lead the charge in creating a longtime studio partnership with George Washington Elementary School in Burbank, implementing programs such as "Read and Animate" and an after-school art program.
Before joining Nickelodeon, Taylor was vice-president of animation production for Columbia/TriStar Television. He was responsible for all operations of the Columbia/TriStar animation division, including overseeing the production of the hit animated series Project G.E.E.K.E.R. for CBS and Jumanji for UPN.
Taylor began his career in animation at Jetlag Productions, Alchemy and DIC Animation City. His production credentials include the animated series The New Adventures of T-Rex, The Littlest Pet Shop, Conan the Adventurer and King Arthur and the Knights of Justice.
Taylor holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of California, Los Angeles and a Bachelor of Arts degree from California State University, Northridge. He lives in Woodland Hills, California with his wife and three children.

Canadians Strike in Newest "South Park"

The World Canadian Bureau will lead Canadians in a strike in the new South Park episode "Canada On Strike!" on Wednesday, April 2, Comedy Central said today.The episode will feature Danes flocking to the U.S. to take the place of striking Canadians, and the South Park boys working to broker a settlement.

Welcome to the Big Cartoon DataBase Columbia Pictures Cartoon Information Page. From here you can find cast and crew lists for all the Columbia Pictures animated films, Columbia Pictures shorts, and complete episode guides for Columbia produced TV shows. Columbia has a long-standing place in Animation History, and is still quite active today.

Tokyo Anime Fair Sets Record Attendance

Attendance at the Tokyo Intl. Anime Fair rose 18% over last year, setting a record with 126,622 visitors. Public attendance rose 22%, while attendance by foreign business visitors rose 12%.

Cartoon Network Confirms "One Piece" Will Not Return to Schedule

A representative of Cartoon Network confirmed for Toon Zone News that the anime series One Piece will not be returning to their schedule at this time. The representative stated that all their new episodes of One Piece have been aired already, and the series will not be repeated. The network will be replacing it in their programming lineup.FUNimation Entertainment had not responded to a request for comment as of press time.

NY Times On The Cartoon Violence By The RoP

I doubt the Times meant to highlight exactly how violent the RoP actually is, but, they did! Editors must have been drunk due to Obama’s rapidly declining poll numbers. The Times gives a good time-line, and exposes the violence inherent in the RoP, particularly against the men who drew the cartoons.

Several men were arrested for plotting to kill Kurt Westergaard. There are bounties on the heads of Westergaard and his editor, Fleming Rose. Westergaard has to constantly move to avoid the RoP disciples.

In Egypt the speaker of the Parliament claimed Danes had violated the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which seemed a little rich coming just a few weeks after the European Parliament, which itself complained about the cartoons’ re-publication, condemned Egypt for the sorry state of its human rights.

Muslims threatened an art showing. A Berlin opera had to be cancelled. And we all know the violence, including arson and murder, that occurred at the time. But, this was 2005! Geez, move on.

“It was not about mocking a minority but a religious figure, the Prophet, so it was blasphemy, not racism,” Mr. Rose said of the cartoons. “The idea of challenging religious authority led to liberal democracy, whereas the singling out of minorities, as minorities, led to Nazism and the persecution of the bourgeoisie in Russia. So this distinction is crucial to understand.”

And in Islam, blasphemy is punishable by death. No appeals, no lengthy trials, just death.

Meanwhile, per Rusty at The Jawa Report, we find that the newest Osama tape includes a rant about, you got it! the cartoons

About 2 minutes in bin Laden claims:

that despite your publishing of the insulting drawings, you haven’t seen any reaction from the one and a half billion Muslims

Except for the violent demonstrations, the killing, the harming, the arson, the attempted murder.

What’s funny is that he rails against the U.S. for intentionally killing women and children, which he “testifies” that he has seen, and then compares that with the Mohammad cartoons. Which is worse? The Mo cartoons, of course!

How to Draw Cartoon Animals : How to Draw a Mammal's Face

KidsCo Channel Signs Asian Carriage Deals

Children's channel KidsCo will launch in South Korea, Singapore, Palau, and the Philippines on March 20, World Screen reports. The network, a joint ventures of NBC Universal, DIC Entertainment and Nelvana Enterprises, is planning to expand into forty territories in Europe and Latin America over the next 18 months. KidsCo airs live-action and cartoon series from the DIC and Nelvana libraries.