TOON TALK

Toon In to U.S./Soviet Animation: U.S and Soviet cartoons will join together in the spirit of glasnost, as California-based animation studio Film Roman and the Soviet Union’s American Soviet Kinoinitiative (ASK) open a new, jointly owned animation facility in Moscow this spring. The agreement marks the first U.S./Soviet partnership of an animation studio. Film Roman, owned by Emmy- and Oscar-winning animation artist Phil Roman, and which is the company responsible for all Garfield projects, has just released with Soviet studio Soyuzmultfilm “Lucky Start,” the first animated co-production between U.S. and Soviet companies. It is under consideration in this year’s Academy Awards’ animated shorts category.