Clawing Back

Mr. Vinton might have been leveraged out of his previous studio, but that doesn't mean he's out of the game.

Vinton Entertainment, Inc., the Portland animation studio run by Oscar winner Will Vinton and a partner, announced a co-production deal with Gnosis Moving Pictures for a series of animated features directed by Vinton.

The movies include "The Quest," a previously announced comedy co-written by Vinton and set in outer space that will feature the voice of John Cleese, the comedy legend best known as a founding member of Monty Python. The other pictures include "Jack Hightower," based on a graphic novel from Dark Horse Comics of Milwaukie and featuring a macho secret agent who's been shrunk to the size of a hotdog. "Moby & Dick" is inspired by the classic novel and is about the bond between fathers and sons. "Nicholas" is based on L. Frank Baum's "The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus" and will be produced in a mixture of 3D stop-animation and CGI. ...

I broke bread with a lawyer from Disney today, and we fell to discussing how red hot animation is, how Disney is producing more television cartoons, and (of course) the boffo biz that Frozen has done on seven continents.

Which probably explains why Mr. Vinton is climbing back into the ring. People with money want to be in the world's most profitable film segment, partnered with folks who have a track record making that kind of product.

Will Vinton fills all the requirements: He's run an animation studio; he has a track record that is decades long; he has projects lined up like Boeing airliners on a tarmac. So good luck Will! May all your coming features be mega hits! (Even the Baum project).