San Francisco - Independent animation network aniBoom announced on Friday that it has closed a $10 million second round of venture capital financing.

Los Angeles - Online animation community MyToons.com announced on Monday the launch of HD Animation, which it says makes it the first animation website to showcase members' animation in HD online. The service also allows users to embed and share HD animations at full resolution on pages outside MyToons.com.

San Francisco - Independent animation network Aniboom said on Monday that it has partnered with casual games publisher I-play to develop animated serial content for mobile, online and television based on I-play's most popular games. The first series in development is based on "Turbo Subs," a restaurant franchise-building game that counts millions of downloads.

New York - Fix8, a division of Mobinex that provides 3D avatar animation technology, announced on Thursday that it has raised an additional $2 million in its first round of financing, from South Korean wireless network operator SK Telecom.

Tiburon, Calif. - Big Bear Entertainment, a creator of animated music videos -- also known as "Video Mods" -- has raised $550,000 in a first round of funding, PEHub.com reported, citing a regulatory filing.

Burbank, Calif. - DIC Entertainment, a distributor of children's TV programming, on Tuesday announced the launch of its first online video channel, KewlCartoons.com, which will feature new and classic cartoons from the company's library of over 3,000 episodes. DIC titles include "Inspector Gadget," "Dino Squad," "Horseland," "Sonic the Hedgehog" and "Care Bears." The company also plans to launch new property sites this year for brands including "Eloise," "Beginner's Bible" and "Inspector Gadget."

San Antonio, Texas - MyToons.com, an online community where animators can post and share original animated videos, cartoons and other content, on Wednesday announced that it has partnered with YouTube to create a MyToons-branded YouTube channel.

Los Angeles - Japanese video game developer Capcom has partnered with Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan to create a 3D animated film based on its "Resident Evil" game franchise, which to date has sold 33 million units worldwide. "Biohazard: Degeneration" is scheduled for release in the second half of 2008. A trio of live-action movies based on "Resident Evil" have already been released; "Resident Evil: Extinction" has so far earned $50 million at the U.S. box office since its release on Sept. 21, Variety reports.

Los Angeles - Aniboom, a multi-platform animation network that features the work of independent animators from around the world, announced on Thursday that it is launching a branded, ad-supported animation channel on the Joost streaming TV service. The content will include original shorts created by some of the 3,000 animators who have partnered with the Aniboom Creators Studio to pitch and produce content for revenue-share opportunities.

Santa Monica, Calif. - Electric Farm Entertainment on Thursday debuted its original animated Web series, "Afterworld," on News Corp.'s MySpace social network, the Los Angeles Times reported. The show will span 130 2-3 minute episodes, and was produced for around $3 million -- making it the most expensive series to run on the site. Some of the show's episodes have previously premiered on YouTube, where they drew more than 1 million views. The MySpace series will be free to view and supported by advertising. "What we're trying to do is create a unique form of entertainment as well as an original business model," Stan Rogow, one of the principals in Electric Farm Entertainment, told the Times.

New York - Aniboom, an Israel-based online community of more than 2,500 animators from 70 countries, has launched its own YouTube channel to feature the creations of its members, Reuters reported. The company has chosen ten animators to each create a Web series of up to eight episodes. "The main dream, if you like, is that the next South Park will come out of Aniboom," CEO Uri Shinar told Reuters. Founded in 2005, the company raised $4.5 million in first round funding in February from Israeli venture firm Evergreen.

Sausalito, Calif. - Sony Pictures Entertainment announced on Monday that it has re-launched its Grouper video-sharing site as Crackle, which will now focus on developing user-generated content for wider distribution.

Las Vegas - Microsoft on Monday introduced Silverlight, a new plug-in that allows media firms to deliver video, animation and games over the Web. Similar to Adobe's Flash browser plug-in, Microsoft's Silverlight will work with Apple's Safari and Mozilla's Firefox browsers. Media companies that have announced support for Silverlight include Major League Baseball, Netflix, Brightcove, Akamai, Limelight Networks and Pinnacle Systems.

Bristol, England - Aardman Features, the U.K.-based animated film studio behind movies like "Chicken Run" and "Wallace & Gromit," announced that it has signed a new three-year deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment.

*A correction has been made to the original version of this story.

Washington - JibJab, the California-based producer of digital parody cartoons, on Wednesday night released its latest musical satire entitled "What We Call the News" at the Radio and Television Correspondents Dinner in DC.

Sacramento, Calif. - Digital Music Group, Inc. (DMGI) said on Thursday that it has signed a long-term digital distribution agreement with BKN International, an animation company whose properties include "The Gumby Show," "Clutch Cargo" and "Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse." Under the deal, DMGI will deliver BKN's current and upcoming TV shows and films to North American digital video distributors, and also add them to its own DMGI Kids channel.

Los Angeles - TV production company Endemol USA ("Big Brother," "Fear Factor," "Deal or No Deal") announced that it has acquired JoeCartoon.com, a producer of original animation content, Variety reported.

Santa Monica, Calif. - Canadian film studio Lionsgate announced on Tuesday that it has partnered with Habbo, to allow members of the online teen community to provide feedback on a potential filmmaking endeavor. Habbos will be able to view ten different animated shorts based on the Habbo World -- featuring styles ranging from CGI to Flash to 2D animation -- and vote on whether Lionsgate should produce and distribute a longer feature film based on one of the styles for release on DVD and the Internet.