In the main

Mainframe Entertainment, in its post-acquisition days by U.S.-based IDT Entertainment, has three computer-generated series in the works: Beat Freaks (26 x 11) about underachieving teenage monsters (produced with Toronto's Spin Entertainment); Binomes, a 26 x 11 action series set in a computer for preschoolers; and, Popeye's Voyage: The Quest for Pappy, a 3D animated holiday special made for King Features Syndicate and Fox.

In the Popeye project, called the first CGI production for the spinach-eating icon, our hero takes to the high seas to rescue the father who abandoned him as a child. Distribution by Mainframe is in the U.K., Australia and Canada.

Mainframe is also working on Tony Hawk S.H.A.D.E., a three-part CGI television miniseries and feature-length video release based on the famed skateboarder.

Animated business

Vancouver animator Bardel Entertainment will transform the Dragons toy line (by Mega Bloks) into an animated video called Dragons, set to launch this fall. According to the producers, the Dragons story "unlocks a world of mythology, mighty armies, warriors and sorcerers."

Betty makes U.S. breakthrough

Atomic Cartoons in Vancouver has presold its new series Atomic Betty to Cartoon Network in the U.S. The 52 x 11 animated series is a coproduction between Atomic, Breakthrough Films and Television (which brokered the CN deal) and France-based Tele Images.