– Toons to watch

As to what’s perking on the animated series front, among the upcoming shows in the new and noteworthy department are:

mtv’s Cartoon Sushi’s first short-to-series spawning, Celebrity Death Match, launched last month as Seinfeld bowed out. Eric Fogel’s (The Head) claymation entry takes the Spitting Image spoof theme a step further by casting celebs in wwf bouts. First round was Seinfeld vs. Tim Allen. It’s interesting – beyond a who-could-take-who in the Hilary/Monica scrap – because the show uses a digital camera system which cuts out the film processing wait.

In branding-gets-animated news, Leo (mgm’s lion) will star in The Lionhearts, a series launching this fall. Since this is an icon-based series, the Claster Television promo campaign is suitably bold. There is an interactive Lionhearts Website, 18 on-air spots (with a November sweeps campaign), Leo suits for stations and a Leonine media push. Can a peacock sitoon be far behind?

– OIAF call for entries

July 21 is the entry deadline for the Ottawa International Animation Festival. Informal collaboration over the years between the oiaf, the Holland Animation Film Festival and Fantoche has resulted in the three organizations formalizing the relationship, joining forces to promote indie animation and its practitioners.

The ’98 edition of the Ottawa fest fittingly sports a new logo, which fest director Chris Robinson has dubbed the avenger of independent animation. It’s a round thing framing a Patrick Macnee-esque icon.

In a deal with Cineplex Odeon, 30 more screenings have been added to the lineup over the Sept. 29 to Oct. 4 fest dates.

As to the Animarket, the likes of Pixar and DreamWorks/pdi are among the toon suspects taking part in the trade fair.