Re-Animated, Cartoon Network’s first original production to blend live action and animation, premiered last Friday and became the network’s highest-rated original movie ever with the target demographic of kids 6-11. The two-hour adventure-comedy was particularly popular with boys as it emerged as the most-watched program of the week on Cartoon Network, and the top show among kids 2-11 in its time period among all ad-supported basic cable, according to preliminary data from Nielsen Media Research.
In Re-Animated, Dominic Janes (ER) has an accident involving an amusement park trolley and ends up getting the frozen brain of a famous cartoonist named Milt Appleday, played by Fred Willard. Matt Knudsen plays Appleday’s evil son, who tries to steal the brain back from Jimmy. The live-action cast also includes Bil Dwyer, Micah Karns, Eunice Cho, Rachel Quaintance and Rhea Lando, while Paul Reubens, Tom Kenny, Ellen Greene and Brian Posehn lend their voices to the various cartoon characters.
The movie is created and written by Adam Pava and Tim McKeon, who were writers on Cartoon Network’s hit series Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends and The Life & Times of Juniper Lee. New York-based filmmaker Bruce Hurwit directed the production of Renegade Animation, Appleday Pictures and Cartoon Network.
Re-Animated out-performed all of Cartoon Network’s earlier original movie offerings in the kids 6-11 demo, including November’s Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends: Good Wilt Hunting, August’s Codename: Kids Next Door: Operation Z.E.R.O. and 2001’s Samurai Jack: The Trilogy.
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