Company Town

* Cable: Time Warner Inc., continuing its efforts to streamline operations, is folding its Time Warner Telecommunications unit into Time Warner Cable. The unit, previously part of Time Warner Entertainment, oversaw the company’s wireless, cellular, paging and data businesses. Dennis Patrick, who was chief executive of the telecommunications unit, was named a senior adviser to Time Warner Chief Executive Gerald M. Levin on corporate strategy and potential alliances in cable and telecommunications.

* Animation: Walt Disney Co. plans to produce direct-to-home video programs for its television animation unit. Disney said it will hire 200 artists for the studio, which will have offices in Toronto and Vancouver. Disney said it was attracted to Canada--where it already owns the marketing rights to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Canada’s national police force--by the pool of animator talent there. Disney did not disclose the size of its planned Canadian investment or the projects set for production there. Video pre-production and production will be done in Canada, although script and post-production will remain in the United States.