News written by Jari Ketola (August, 1999)

Special Edition produced under the auspices of Rob Clampett, son of series creator Bob Clampett

(Company Press Release)

CHATSWORTH, Calif.--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--Aug. 11, 1999-- Image Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ: DISK - news), a leading licensee and distributor of DVDs in North America, today announced an October 12, 1999 release date for the DVD of Bob Clampett's Beany and Cecil - The Special Edition. This tribute to Beany (the boy with the propeller cap) and Cecil (the seasick sea serpent) takes place on their 50th anniversary in show business.

This special edition includes four full episodes from the series and additional clips from Time For Beany, a live program that not been seen since its original airing fifty years ago. Original 35mm kinescope negatives were pulled from the vaults for this special tribute. The show won three of the first television Emmy awards for best children's program. Devoted followers of the program included Albert Einstein, Groucho Marx, Jimmy Stewart and Frank Zappa. Beany and Cecil creator Bob Clampett and key performers Stan Freberg and Walker Edmiston recount those years and more in audio commentaries included on the DVD release.

In the early 1960s Beany and Cecil starred in an animated series loved by a whole generation of baby boomers. This DVD Special Edition includes 12 cartoons transferred from original 35mm camera negatives. Beany and Cecil star in a scathing satire of 'you know who' in the episode titled ``Beanyland,'' bop around the Hungry Island with beatnik painter Go Man Van Gogh in ``The Wildman of Wildsville'' and visit the Isle of No Bikini Atoll in ``Cecil Meets the Singing Dinosaur.''

Minerva Expands its Technology Commitment to DVD Development

(Company Press Release)

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 9, 1999--Minerva Systems, Inc., the leading provider of high-quality MPEG digital video publishing systems, announced it has completed the purchase of the DVD disc building technology of its best-selling Minerva Impression authoring software from Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.

The purchase of the Samsung DVD engine gives Minerva complete control over its award-winning DVD product line.

``Samsung has been a dedicated partner who enabled us to provide our customers with a revolutionary DVD solution,'' said Ian Locke, director of Software Business Development at Minerva. ``Owning the technology will now give us greater flexibility and independence to expand our DVD product offering.''

The Samsung DVD engine is an integral part of the Minerva Impression authoring environment. It creates the multiplexed video objects (VOB files) and all the navigation data that is required for DVD title playback in commercial set-top DVD players. Direct control of the Samsung DVD multiplexing technology will allow the development of more sophisticated features for the production of interactive video-rich media and to provide DVD output capabilities to other Minerva products.

It's been rather quiet on the DVD front lately, so here's a look at what titles have been announced lately:

Fox:
Mrs. Doubtfire (postponed to 11/2)

Alliance:
Chasing Amy (9/28), From Dusk Till Dawn (9/28), Halloween H20 (October)

Artisan:
The Blair Witch Project (10/26)

Sony Music:
John Denver: The Wildlife Concert (9/7), Alice In Chains Unplugged (9/21), Ricky Martin - The Video Compilation (9/21)

Pioneer:
DragonBall Z - Betrayal (10/12), DragonBall Z - Collision (10/12), Iain - DEUS (10/12), Altius - On Air Extreme Sports #4 (10/19), Bittersweet (10/19)

Image:
RoboBox (Robocop Boxed Set) (10/12), Marx Brothers Box Set (10/12)

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You can now pre-order Matrix for a mere $12.99 from Reel.com!! Make sure you reserve your copy today!

Pre-order Matrix here!

Listen.com and Encoding.com announced today that they will work together to enable consumers to find new, legal downloadable music faster than ever. Listen.com is the Internet's comprehensive music download directory and encoding.com is the leading provider of audio and video encoding solutions for the Internet.

Unapix Home Entertainment announced that it has entered into an agreement with Digital Theater Systems (DTS), to develop What-A-Blast / Architecture In Motion, an innovative DVD program, utilizing DTS Digital Surround(TM) technology.

Here's a snippet from Business Wire:
"What-A-Blast / Architecture In Motion is a mind blowing entertainment experience, all done in DTS Digital Surround(TM). This full-length music video production, set to the original Tangerine Dream soundtrack, features devastating implosions of buildings, bridges and smokestacks, and includes a special mix by Robert Margouleff and Brant Biles, one of the premier surround sound design teams in the world."

Read the full story here.

Warner Home Video is planning to release the sci-fi hit movie of 1999, Matrix, as both a rental and filled DVD title on September 21st. Doing this Warner hopes it will encourage salivating sci-fi fans to make Matrix the first DVD selling over one million copies.


The DVD, to sell for $24.98, will be housed on a DVD-ROM, enabling users to access additional information on the Internet, similar to DVD editions of New Line's ``Lost in Space'' and MGM's ``Ronin.''

By accessing the Internet through the disc, users can read the screenplay, view over 700 storyboards and view the scenes. A live Webcast with the picture's stars will be held 30 days after the DVD hits store shelves. Directors Andy and Larry Wachowski reportedly shot scenes for the DVD as production on picture progressed.

A Warner Home Video spokesman said the picture's sci-fi subject matter, box office success ($333 million and counting worldwide) and extra features could make it the biggest-selling DVD to date. The current record holder is the special edition of MGM's ``Tomorrow Never Dies.'' ``Titanic'' berths on DVD Aug. 31, so it will be an extremely tough competition between the two.

(information from Yahoo! News)