Friday Link Fest

Here on Friday, we wrangle various animation stories, starting with a game company that's moving into Cartoonland:

Electronic Arts Inc. recently signed a deal with animation company FUNimation Entertainment, to create an animation feature film based on Mass Effect, an immensely popular video game franchise. ...

Electronic Arts is diversifying its portfolio by leveraging its most popular gaming franchises to production houses for turning them into theatrical wonders. This suggests that Electronic Arts will not only generate revenue from the sale of video games but will also benefit from movie releases. ...

Law.com lays odds regarding the Kung Fu Panda lawsuit:

One generally assumes that these kinds of cases brought against movie studios are meritless, because they usually are," says Barton Beebe, a professor of copyright law at New York University School of Law. "But as alleged, Gordon's facts are very strong."

Others aren't so sure. "I think he probably has a strong enough case to get to discovery," says Wendy Selzer, a fellow at Harvard Law School's Berkman Center. "But there needs to be more evidence of access and substantial similarity here."

Then there is Genndy Tartakovsky's animated Priest prologue from a couple of days ago:

Tom Waits and Terry Gilliam lend their voices to an upcoming animated featurette.

Gilliam and Waits are providing voices for a 30-minute short called The Monster of Nix, by Dutch artist/director Rosto.

The film is an animated musical about Willy, “a troubled boy who fights the destructive force of an all-devouring monster in the village of Nix.”

Our friends at CN roll out a new Thundercats trailer:

...The animation for the series is being produced by Studio4°C, a Japanese animation studio that previously worked on "The Animatrix" and "Batman: Gotham Knight." ...

Lastly: Another century, another amusement park.

"Today marks a significant milestone in the history of The Walt Disney Company," said Robert A. Iger, president and CEO of The Walt Disney Company. "Our Shanghai resort will be a world-class family vacation destination that combines classic Disney characters and storytelling with the uniqueness and beauty of China. Working with our Chinese partners, the Shanghai Disney Resort will be both authentically Disney and distinctly Chinese."

Those Chinese Communists have certainly come a long way, becoming capitalist running dogs of the Mouse. I wonder if any of Walt's characters will be wearing Mao suits?

Have yourselves a bountiful weekend.