AWN reports that Apple has just posted the trailer for Shane Acker’s ‘9′.  The 2005 short-turned-feature sports the voice talents of John C. Reilly, Elijah Wood, and Jennifer Connelly; and is produced by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov. ‘9′ is slated to be released on 9/9/09.  Check it out at Apple.com.

AWN reports that A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS producer Lee Mendelson was recently interviewed on the internet radio show TV Time Machine.  Jim Benson hosted this one-hour trip down memory lane behind the beloved Christmas special.

“The Charlie Brown shows continue on and on,” Mendelson said. “It’s amazing to me how long and enduring this has been. We were lucky that we were producing TV specials in the 60’s and 70’s, where we got a huge audience. Those audiences are now parents and grandparents and they’ve stuck with us throughout the years. It’s been a wonderful and joyful ride for all of us.”

You can catch this special Christmas interview at TVTimeMachine.com

WALL-E may be leading the animation pack for awards and accolades, but MADAGASCAR 2 is the big earner at the international boxoffice this holiday season.   Not really surprising considering WALL-E had a summer release.  However, with the Christmas week upon us, the studios are breathlessly awaiting the end of year numbers. According to The Hollywood Reporter, THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL was overtaken by

“Madagascar 2″ opened No. 1 in Italy ($6.5 million from 463 screens), Australia ($4.4 million from 267), New Zealand ($415,000 from 76) and Hong Kong ($465,000 from 43). In Germany, it held the No. 1 position for a third weekend, with $4.8 million from 742 locations for a market cume of $26.6 million. Market cumes to date include $21.6 million from France, $18.7 million from the U.K. and $12.1 million from Mexico. Overall, foreign gross has reached $218.5 million. 

In the domestic boxoffice, THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX came in third under YES MAN and SEVEN POUNDS, making $10 million its opening weekend according to AWN.

AWN reports that Red Rocket Games has launched into the worldwide game market focusing on small, casual gaming for handhelds, iPhone, and internet.  Co-founders Jung Suh and Scott Yu brought together US game design and Asia’s internet game innovations to create a company that focuses on ”elegant fun without the complexity of controls or steep learning curves.”

“We have an international group of mad scientists here at our Shanghai office, and everyone is tinkering around with the concepts of fun as we develop our first game,” said Jung Suh, CEO of Red Rocket Games. “It’s a great benefit to be here in China and be able to take advantage of the talent and excitement around online gaming, while at the same time having a management team with years of U.S. game development methodology experience garnered from top video game brand companies.”

Red Rocket’s first game will be released in early 2009.

AWN reports that 4Kids Ent. has revealed their new line up for Saturday mornings on The CW television network.  January 3rd starts the new cartoon block running from 7am till 12pm.

On that date, CHAOTIC: M’ARRILLIAN INVASION and SONIC X, two of the most popular series currently airing in the 4KidsTV block on FOX, will make the move over to The CW. In addition, the highly anticipated, live action and adventure Japanese import, KAMEN RIDER: DRAGON KNIGHT and HUNTIK, a new series about a group of “seekers” traveling around the world in search of an ancient amulet with the power to control monsters, will premiere.

4Kids will also be bringing their programing to the web via  streaming portal at 4KidsTV.com.

AWN reports that 2008 was the best year for ratings in their 29 year history. SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, nearly ten years on the air, will be the top ranking show for kids 2 to 11.

Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group’s television properties — Nickelodeon, NOGGIN, The N, Nicktoons Network — will collectively own a dominant 47% of all viewing among kids 2-11 for 2008. This year also marked the best performances ever for Nickelodeon’s digital networks, each which achieved double-digit ratings growth over last year.

The SciFi Channel had its best ever rating in 2008 and is at rated #5 with adults 25 to 54 , and #9 among the 18 to 49 crowd.

2008 marks Sci Fi’s best year ever in all key demographics, most notably the double digit growth among female viewers. Sci Fi has firmly established its mainstream appeal, and the aggressive strategy to broaden reach and attract new viewers yielded the network’s highest reach ever, with new viewers fueling a +3% increase above Sci Fi’s previous highest reach ever record set in 2007.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, “Waltz with Bashir” director Ari Folman has just acquired the rights to a short story titled, “The Futurological Congress”.  The story is

from science fiction writer Stanislaw Lem, and [Folman] intends to write the screenplay and shoot the movie as a live-action/animated hybrid.

“Congress” is set in a futuristic world in which everything appears to glisten — there is an abundance of money and good feeling — but which turns out to have a dark, drug-infused underbelly.

Recently nominated for a Golden Globe, “Bashir” is considered a front-runner for the foreign-language Oscar.  The animated doc depicts Folman’s memories from his time served in the 1982 Israel-Lebanon war.

According to AWN, Laika the Oregon studio bought by Nike giant Phil Knight, is cutting back its staff.  65 people have been let go which means

the company will be left with 280 employees, and their advertising division will not be affected. Knight bought financially-strapped Will Vinton Studios in 2003 and renamed it in 2005. His son, Travis, worked as an animator before the change, and is now an executive there.

The layoffs are due to the shelving of their proposed next feature film, Jack and Ben’s Animated Adventure.  The film’s writer Jorgen Klubien, left last year over creative differences, but the project continued until recently with Barry Cook, director of Mulan.  Coraline, directed by Henry Selick, will be Laika’s first feature film release.  The stop-motion 3-D film opens in theaters February 6th.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Universal and Stuber Productions have picked up ‘Bakugan Battle Brawlers’, a Japanese anime and toy craze, to put on the big screen. They are entering into deal with Spin Master, the toy company responsible for the Japanese craze.  ’Bakugan’ is not only popular oversees, but is one of Cartoon Networks top shows.

No writers are on board, but the studio jumped at the chance to be in business with a toy that has a growing worldwide fan base. It also sparked to the concept and story line, which it believes will translate well into an all-ages action-adventure movie.

‘Bakugan’ follows the popular anime idea of mixing competitive games and toy-like creatures into an ongoing story line.  Such series are ‘Yu-Gi-Oh’, ‘Digimon’, and the very successful ’Pokemon’.  Only time will tell if audiences take to the story of ‘Bakugan’.

AWN reports that 4Kids Entertainment will be laying off 15 percent of its staff across the board.

As a result of the staff cuts, 4Kids will be incurring severance costs of approximately $375,000 in the fourth quarter of 2008. The company has also completed a comprehensive review of its operations and will be taking steps intended to reduce operating expenses by an additional $4 to $5 million in 2009.

These staff reductions and projected cuts in operating expenses, together with the early termination of the 4Kids/Fox Broadcasting Company Agreement effective December 31, 2008, which was announced in November, are expected to result in pretax savings of $15 to $18 million in 2009.

4Kids has offices in New York and San Diego, with international offices in London.