Digital Media FX News Archives

Monday - March 5, 2001
- Digital Media FX Brings Power of Imagination to Life
- Release Charts: Animated, FX, and Anime DVDs
- A Challenge to the WB - "Market The Iron Giant Special Edition!"
- News Link of the Day - When Disney Met Dali

Digital Media FX Brings Power of Imagination to Life
(by digitalmediafx.com) Every day, the power of imagination is impacting the lives of people worldwide. Now Digital Media FX, a free online magazine for animators, FX artists, students, and enthusiasts, is capturing some of that imagination and bringing it to life for readers of Digital Media FX magazine.

Located at www.digitalmediafx.com, Digital Media FX is a new online publication updated 365 days a year with original news, content, and interactive features.

The publication is the brainchild of Joe Tracy, whose last online publication, Animation Artist Magazine, was named one of the top 2,500 sites on the Web by Smart Computing Magazine.

"Websites often make the mistake of automating the whole process, effectively removing any personality the site might otherwise portray," says Tracy, who is also author of the book Web Marketing Applied. "What makes ventures like Digital Media FX successful is that they have a personality and a true community feel. Digital Media FX is about the people that visit the site, not the technology that goes into the site. If you honor and respect each visitor then they will honor and respect you."

Tracy is a strong believer in customer service, knowing visitor needs, and regularly interacting with visitors. By doing so, Tracy asserts that there is a such thing as visitor loyalty and the ability to create a real community online. But gaining loyalty begins with giving visitors more than press releases from other companies. The content must be original.

"Digital Media FX is updated daily with information I want to read about; something other sites don't offer," says Scott Zirkel, an animator in San Antonio, Texas, who took part in beta testing Digital Media FX. Zirkel is also a regular poster to the new state-of-the-art interactive forums at Digital Media FX. "I read through the Digital Media FX forums daily to find out behind the scenes info on upcoming films and shows," he says. "It's also a great place to learn about animation and the people are eager to help with any critiques or questions."

Digital Media FX is updated 365 days a year at www.digitalmediafx.com.

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Release Charts: Animated, FX, and Anime DVDs
(by digitalmediafx.com) It's a good week for animation fans who have been waiting for some past direct to video animated features to arrive on DVD. Here's the list of animated, FX, and anime DVDs being released tomorrow:

Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (Animated - 1998)
Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost (animated - 1999)
All Dogs Go To Heaven (Animated - 1989)
All Dogs Go To Heaven 2 (Animated - 1996)
The Secret of NIMH (Animated - 1982)
The Secret of NIMH 2 (Animated - 1998)
Shadowraiders - Uncommon Heroes (Animated - 1998)
Jumanji (Live Action with FX - 1995)
Stuart Little: Widescreen Edition (Live Action with FX - 1999)

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A Challenge to the WB - "Market The Iron Giant Special Edition DVD"
(by digitalmediafx.com) For well over a year, Warner Bros. has been quietly working on a special edition DVD (on and off) for the critically acclaimed animated film, The Iron Giant. The collector's edition DVD is expected to be released in late July or early August for the two year anniversary of the movie's release. The problem is that Warner Bros. hasn't officially made the announcement.

When Warner Bros. originally released The Iron Giant in 1999, it was criticized for waiting until the last minute to mount a marketing campaign for the movie, thus losing the edge of building an anticipation for the film. History appears to be repeating itself as the collector's edition DVD is set for release this summer, yet a marketing campaign hasn't started to support the release.

The Iron Giant Collector's Edition DVD is expected to contain a wealth of bonus material not found on the original DVD release. This includes deleted scenes like a dream sequence the Giant has that gives hints about his past. In the deleted scene, the Giant is in the junkyard having a bad dream that is transmitted to Dean's TV while Dean is watching a late night talk show.

Digital Media FX will keep you posted of any new developments surrounding the DVD release.

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News Link of the Day - When Disney Met Dali

According to The Boston Globe:

"Packed away in a storage box somewhere in Southern California is a tiny spool of color film barely 15 seconds long that is unique in the history of 20th century art. It shows two bizarre figures, humanoid heads deformed by 'persuasive and triumphant madness' dali quotemounted upon the backs of tortoises. As they converge, the space between them takes on the shape of a bell that turns into a ballerina. In the last moment, her head abruptly becomes a baseball that disappears into the bleak, mountainous Catalonian landscape.

This 53-year-old snippet of nitrate film is all that remains from a forgotten animation project called Destino..."

Click here for the full story.

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