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The nominations for the BAFTA’s have been announced. Of particular interest is the Short Animation category, the nominations of which are:
The Happy Duckling - Gili Dolev.
Mother Of Many - Sally Arthur, Emma Lazenby.
The Gruffalo - Michael Rose, Martin Pope, Jakob Schuh, Max Lang.
The awards take place on Sunday 21st February. For further details and a complete list of nominations in all categories see http://www.bafta.org/

The 17th International Festival of Animated Film Stuttgart invites international advertising agencies, filmmakers and production companies to submit their films to their international competition Under Commission.
Under Commission is the competition for commissioned animations. Prizes are awarded in the categories animated music video, commercials and TV trailer. Any animated commissioned film of the categories commercial spot, music video and TV ident including computer generated animation and combinations of life action and animation completed after October 01, 2008 may participate. There is no entry fee.

A series of Charlie Chaplin animations has been greenlit with a proposed 104 silent CGI animated shorts.
The £7million project – which has the blessing of the Chaplin estate – will be done in 3D CGI by French company Method Animation. The six-minute episodes have been inspired by sketches from Chaplin’s shorts, but will also feature original ideas.
Aton Soumache, chairman of Method Animation, said: “We've been working for more than a year on the graphics concept to find an original way of adapting Chaplin's world.

Disney and Marvel have completed the deal that they announced last August, in which Disney revealed a plan to purchase the comic book entertainment company for $4.3 billion. The agreement was made final when Marvel’s shareholders approved the deal. The Walt Disney Company now has rights to over 5,000 characters from Marvel’s extensive comic history.

Beatrix Potter’s children’s classic Peter Rabbit is set to star in a new animated series. The series will include Potter’s most famous characters, including Jemima Puddle-duck, Benjamin Bunny and Mr. Jeremy Fisher.
Frederick Warne is part of the Penguin publishing company and has been the publisher and protector of Potter’s classic tales since they were first published. Warne has had a 25-year relationship with its licensing agent, The Copyrights Group, which is now owned by Chorion.
“As Beatrix Potter’s original publisher and guardian of Peter Rabbit and his friends, Frederick Warne, working with Chorion, will ensure that these timeless characters remain relevant and treasured by children in the future,” says Stephanie Barton, managing director of Frederick Warne.

A producer from Uruguay who uploaded a short film to YouTube in November 2009 has been offered a $30m (£18.6m) contract to make a Hollywood film.
Fede Alvarez's short film "Ataque de Panico!" (Panic Attack!) features giant robots invading and destroying Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay.
The film is 4 mins 48 seconds long and was made on a budget of $300 (£186).
"I uploaded (Panic Attack!) on a Thursday and on Monday my inbox was totally full of e-mails from Hollywood studios," he told the BBC's Latin American service BBC Mundo.

At a star-studded Asian TV Awards ceremony in Singapore, ‘Little Krishna’ (13 x 22’) was awarded the Best Animation Title 2009.

Now in its 14th year, the award ceremony is regarded the most prestigious event in the Asian TV industry, with its winners consistently going on to achieve international success. Last year’s Animation winner, the Australian production Dogstar, went on to sell to more than 20 countries worldwide.

The show is already a huge success on Nickelodeon India, and has crossed international boundaries to win the hearts of kids as far away as Brazil.

Aardman’s co-founder and Executive Chairman David Sproxton has been appointed chairman of Britain’s largest short film festival, Encounters.

The Academy Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee has shortlisted the 15 semi-finalists for their best Visual Effects award, from which the nominees will be chosen.

Elzie Crisler Segar, the creator of Popeye, has been commemorated in Google’s hall of fame with a Google Doodle for what would have been his 115th birthday.