Archives for the 'Web' Category
Every South Park episode available online for free!
In what could be the best news all week, and its barely Monday, every South Park episode is now available online for free! The official South Park site: www.southparkstudios.com has all 12 seasons available for viewing and the quality is really good too, compared to other internet video sites.
The new beta site also includes a new avatar creator, where you can create your very own South Park characters.
The only catch to the free episodes is that there are short ads embedded into the episodes which cannot be skipped. No big deal though. Toyota is currently sponsoring the episodes.
The launch is a joint venture between co-creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker and Comedy Central; the two will split ad revenue 50/50.
Using the internet and animation for marketing
I’m really surprised that more TV networks, movie studios, etc don’t use the power of the internet and animation to their advantage. A good animation can go viral on the internet quite easily. Get it on youtube and have a few sites pick up on it and the hits start rolling in. The people who see the animation will then pass the word along via IM or social sites like Myspace and Facebook… pretty soon the hype train is rolling at 100mph and people don’t even notice that the animation they just watched was an advertisement.
Then, once the viewer sees the show on TV they’ll say “Oh, that’s that show that was mentioned in that cool animation. Hmm… I wonder what this show is about.” And if the show is good, a new audience member has just been gained — all through the power of the internet, animation and viral marketing.
Here is an example of a Showtime animation for the second season of their hit show The Tudors, premiering Sunday, March 30, at 9PM ET/PT.
I personally haven’t seen The Tudors but am now interested to see exactly what the show is about… hey, Showtime, how about you send over a copy of Season 1 on DVD.
U.K.’s Channel 4 to launch animation website
U.K.’s Channel 4 announced that it has partnered with Aardman Animations and Lupus Films to develop a new online site devoted to animation.
The website, 4mations, will provide a home for animators to view and vote on the latest and greatest animation, upload videos and games for cash prizes, get commissioned to create new work and view classics from the Channel 4 archive.
The beta site launch is scheduled for summer, with a full launch this fall.
Via AWN
HIT Entertainment shows to be added to iTunes UK
HIT Entertainment announced that their programming will be available for purchase and download from the iTunes U.K. store.
Set for an April 2008 launch, the HIT content will feature more than 20 hours of episodic downloads from HIT’s popular children’s shows including Barney, Bob the Builder, Thomas & Friends and Captain Pugwash.
The HIT channel will offer half-hour episodes to download at 1.89 pounds each and will allow users to watch the shows on a PC or Mac, video-enabled iPod, iPhone or Apple TV.
Via AWN
DIC Entertainment launches KewlCartoons.com
DIC Entertainment has launched an online video website, www.kewlcartoons.com, dedicated to new and classic cartoons from DIC’s library of 3,000 half-hours of programming including Inspector Gadget, Dino Squad and Strawberry Shortcake.
The website also features chat and games and is compatible with both PC and Mac users.
Via AWN
iTunes refuses to carry two Sundance animated shorts
iTunes has refused to carry two animated short films: Teat Beat of Sex and Because Washington is Hollywood for Ugly People. Apparently they were rejected because they were too explicit and too political.
The deal was supposed to have included downloads via iTunes, Netflix, and Xbox, but neither film is available from any of the three services.
Karl Cohen, president of ASIFA-SF, commented: “I see this as another stupid act of censorship that illustrates the dangers of having a few corporations in control of our media. Teat Beat of Sex was commissioned for European television by a distributor and it is being shown there, but it’s considered too controversial to show on iTunes, Netflix, and Xbox. Isn’t something wrong with this picture?”
Update via AWN: The Sundance shorts need to go through a review committee for content and technical issues before they can make it into the iTunes store. A Sundance spokesman said that they should have an answer from iTunes by the end of the week and that the festival is pushing to have all the films it submitted online.
Naruto, Death Note and Bleach now available on Amazon Unbox
VIZ Media announced today that three of its animated series — Naruto Uncut, Death Note and Bleach — are now available for download from Amazon Unbox at $1.99 each.
Naruto Uncut features episodes 1-25 dubbed, Death Note features the full series dubbed, and Bleach features episodes 1-25 dubbed. One free episode from each is being offered through Jan. 31, 2008.
Via AWN
Aardman Animations shows now on iTunes UK
Aardman Animations has announced that its TV shows are now available for 1.89 GBP per episode from the iTunes U.K. store.
Shows include the Wallace and Gromit specials: A Close Shave, The Wrong Trousers and A Grand Day Out, along with the series of nine Wallace and Gromit short films. If Wallace and Gromit aren’t you’re cup of tea, you can choose from episodes of Angry Kid, Rex the Runt, and The Pearce Sisters.
Via AWN
Toy Story 2 added to iTunes store
Toy Story 2 has finally been added to the iTunes store, thus completing the collection of Pixar movies. The movie will set you back $14.99 with a file size of 1.03 GB. For those who don’t want to download it and would prefer a DVD, you can find it at any retailer for $19.99.
Aardman Animation’s Creature Discomforts
Aardman Animation has partnered up with the Leonard Cheshire Disability foundation to create a series of TV spots that bring forth the problems faced by disabled people. The name of the campaign is Creature Discomforts. If you live in the UK, you’ll see the commercials on TV. If you don’t, you can view them at the website, which also includes a behind the scenes feature.
Via Cartoon Brew
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