Toon2Tango GmbH & Co. KG., the kids and family entertainment venture headed by long-time television and movie industry experts Ulli Stoef and Jo Daris, announced it has both been awarded with E.U. funding and secured an equity stake from a U.S. social media platform and original content provider for its new preschool edutatinment series, Hey Fuzzy Yellow!, created and developed by Måns Swanberg and Toon2Tango.
Hey Fuzzy Yellow! has been specially selected for funding by Creative Europe, the European Commission’s flagship program to support the culture and audiovisual sectors. The media strand of the Creative Europe program, which supports the European film and audiovisual industries to develop, distribute and promote European works, has selected Hey Fuzzy Yellow! for funding totalling 500,000 euros.
In a further show of support for the new series, Curiosity Ink Media has acquired an equity stake in Hey Fuzzy Yellow!. Based in the U.S., Curiosity Ink Media is the original content generator and prolific storytelling division of Grom Social Enterprises, a media, technology and entertainment company dedicated to family-friendly programming, web filtering technology and safe social media for kids. In securing the stake, Curiosity and Grom are partnering with Toon2Tango to co-produce Hey Fuzzy Yellow!.
“The continuing interest from multiple players in the creative field in Hey Fuzzy Yellow! underlines not just its strength as an edutainment property, but the humor, fun and originality that will ensure it stands out in the highly competitive preschool marketplace,” comments Daris, Toon2Tango’s Chief Creative Officer. “We’re looking forward to amusing and engaging viewers everywhere with this unique new property.”
Aimed at the youngest audiences and focused on independent thinking and self-expression through exploration, the spirited new series takes viewers along with Fuzzy Yellow and other colorful friends as they combine curriculum-driven content with unconventional, comical characters and situations — accompanied by plenty of music.
“We are thrilled to collaborate with internationally acclaimed Toon2Tango to bring this series to life for a global audience,” says Russell Hicks, Chief Content Officer of Curiosity Ink Media. “Each episode will be developed and crafted to bring fun, excitement and catchy songs that grownups will love just as much as their preschoolers. Hey Fuzzy Yellow! is a series for younger kids that invites parents and caregivers in for a one-of-a-kind co-viewing opportunity rarely seen in programming today.”
As well as the just-announced E.U. funding and equity support from Curiosity Ink Media, Hey Fuzzy Yellow! has secured financing and programming commitments from several international broadcasters. It will enter production this year.
This April, Crunchyroll will celebrate the 25th anniversary of Cowboy Bebop with a limited edition Blu-ray box set on April 4, just in time for the show’s quadranscentennial. Each set will exclusively include a special metallic collector’s box, several art cards, and a never-before-seen 25th anniversary retrospective video that will be new to the special features.
Originally debuted on April 3, 1998, the neo-noir Space Western follows the crew of the Bebop — a motley lot of intergalactic loners teams up to track down fugitives and turn them in for cold hard cash. Spike is a hero whose cool façade hides a dark and deadly past. The pilot Jet is a bruiser of a brute who can’t wait to collect the next bounty. Faye Valentine is a femme fatale prone to breaking hearts and separating fools from their money. Along for the ride are the brilliant, but weird, hacker Ed and a super-genius Welsh Corgi named Ein.
Cowboy Bebop was created and animated by Sunrise studio, directed by Shinichiro Watanabe, and ran for 26 episodes.
Cowboy Bebop – The Complete Series 25th Anniversary Limited Edition Box Set Exclusives
Special metallic collector’s box
Five art cards of the galaxy’s finest crew. Swap one with the cover for a slick custom look!
Never-before-seen 25th anniversary video
Cowboy Bebop – The Complete Series 25th Anniversary Limited Edition Box Set Special Features
Session #0
Audio commentaries with Japanese & English voice actors, director Shinichiro Watanabe and composer Yoko Kanno
Cast and crew interviews, including Cartoon Network producer Sean Akins
20th Anniversary: Interview With Koichi Yamadera (voice of Spike Spiegel)
A 25 Year Retrospective Memo from Bebop: The Dub Sessions Remembered
Dinner Aboard the Bebop
Ein’s Summer Vacation
“Tank!” music clips
Textless opening and ending songs
Cowboy Bebop: The Complete Series 25th Anniversary Limited Edition
Supergirl has an honest discussion with her cousin Superman in an all-new official clip from Legion of Super-Heroes. The latest in Warner Bros. Animation’s DC Universe Movie line is coming to Digital, 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray Combo and Blu-ray starting February 7, from Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment.
In the clip, “I Don’t Belong Anywhere,” Supergirllaments her struggles putting behind recent tragedies and adjusting to her new life on Earth. And after consideration, Superman offers a solution that will open Supergirl’s eyes to a whole new perspective.
Kara/Supergirl is voiced by Meg Donnelly (American Housewife, The Winchesters), while Darren Criss (Glee, The Assassination of Gianni Versace) reprises his role as Superman.
Synopsis: Welcome to the 31st century and the Legion Academy, where a new generation hones their powers with hopes of joining the Legion of Super-Heroes. Devastated by tragedy, Supergirl struggles to adjust to her new life on Earth. Taking her cousin Superman’s advice, Supergirl leaves their space-time to attend the Academy. There, she quickly makes new friends, as well as a new enemy with old ties: Brainiac 5. But a nefarious plot lurks in the shadows – the mysterious group known as the Dark Circle seeks a powerful weapon held in the Academy’s vault. Find out if the budding heroes can rise to the challenge in this all-new DC Universe Movie!
The voice cast also features Matt Bomer as The Flash, Jensen Ackles as Batman, Cynthia Hamidi as Dawnstar, Gideon Adlon as Phantom Girl, Ely Henry as Bouncing Boy, Robbie Daymond as Timber Wolf & Brainiac 4, Yuri Lowenthal as Mon-El, Eric Lopez as Cosmic Boy & Chemical King, Darin De Paul as Brainiac & Solomon Grundy, Ben Diskin as Arms Fall Off Boy & Brainiac 2, Victoria Grace as Shadow Lass, Jennifer Hale as Alura, Daisy Lightfoot as Triplicate Girl and Zeno Robinson as Invisible Kid & Brainiac 5.
Legion of Super-Heroes is directed by Jeff Wamester (Justice Society: World War II) from a screenplay by Josie Campbell (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power). Producers are Jim Krieg (Batman: Gotham by Gaslight) and Kimberly S. Moreau (Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles). Butch Lukic (Batman: The Long Halloween, Superman: Man of Tomorrow) is supervising producer. Sam Register is executive producer.
Nickelodeon Animation Studios has agreed to voluntarily recognize The Animation Guild as the bargaining representative for production workers at the studio. Production workers at Nickelodeon overwhelmingly decided to unionize in early December 2022 and requested voluntary recognition.
To date, this is the largest bargaining unit of production workers to organize under The Animation Guild, says the union. The proposed unit would cover 177 employees in specified classifications including production managers, production coordinators, post-production assistants, asset production coordinators and more.
The Organizing Committee which led the drive to unionize production workers at the studio states:
“The organizing committee is overwhelmingly thrilled that Nickelodeon Animation Studios has decided to voluntarily recognize their production workers as members of The Animation Guild. By doing this, the studio has shown that they are willing and ready to recognize the hard work, time, and love we pour into our productions. We are so excited to work with them and our artist colleagues to come to an agreement that reiterates their support for what we do.”
The Animation Guild has an existing collective bargaining agreement with Nickelodeon Animation Studios that covers more than 400 artists, including CG technicians, storyboard artists, character designers and writers. No negotiation dates have been set yet. However, the Negotiations Committee will expand to include representatives from the production bargaining unit.
“I am glad that we were able to reach an agreement where Nickelodeon Animation Studios recognized both the determination of the animation production workers and our long-standing productive labor relations relationship,” says Steve Kaplan, Business Representative of The Animation Guild, IATSE Local 839. “I look forward to bargaining a successor agreement.”
Brian Keane, EVP Production & Operations for Nickelodeon Animation Studios, comments, “Nickelodeon Animation Studios supports its talented and dedicated production workers who play an instrumental role in the making of our content. The studio’s collaborative relationship with The Animation Guild spans many years, and we look forward to bargaining an agreement with the union covering this new group of employees.”
Founded in 1952, The Animation Guild today represents more than 5,000 artists, technicians and writers in the animation industry, advocating for workers to improve wages and conditions.
This morning, Netflix unveiled its 2023 Kids & Family slate, providing new photos and release date confirmations for a number of exciting toon titles across both features and series.
Based on the book by Kate DiCamillo (The Tale of Despereaux, Flora andUlysses), the animated feature film The Magician’s Elephant has been dated for release on March 17. Directed by veteran animator and VFX artist Wendy Rogers (Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, FlushedAway) from a screenplay by Martin Hines (Toy Story 4), the movie is produced by Netflix Animation and Animal Logic.
When Peter (voiced by Noah Jupe), who is searching for his long-lost sister named Adele (Pixie Davies), crosses paths with a fortune teller in the market square, there is only one question on his mind: is his sister still alive? The answer, that he must find a mysterious elephant and the magician (Benedict Wong) who will conjure it, sets Peter off on a harrowing journey to complete three seemingly impossible tasks that will change the face of his town forever and take him on the adventure of a lifetime.
The cast also features Sian Clifford, Natasia Demetriou, Dawn French, Brian Tyree Henry, Aasif Mandvi, Mandy Patinkin, Miranda Richardson, Cree Summer and Lorraine Toussaint. Julia Pistor is producing.
Adam Sandler’s post-Hotel Transylvania animated feature project has announced its title Leo and set its streaming premiere for November 22. The coming-of-age musical comedy is being directed by W/M Animation founders Robert Marianetti & David Wachtenheim and TV Funhouse creator Robert Smigel, produced by Sandler’s Happy Madison banner.
Leo explores the last year of elementary school — as seen through the eyes of a class pet. Jaded 74-year-old lizard Leo (Adam Sandler) has been stuck in the same Florida classroom for decades with his terrarium-mate turtle (Bill Burr). When he learns he only has one year left to live, he plans to escape to experience life on the outside, but instead gets caught up in the problems of his anxious students – including an impossibly mean substitute teacher. It ends up being the strangest but most rewarding bucket list ever…
The stellar comedy cast also includes Cecily Strong, Jason Alexander, Rob Schneider, Sadie Sandler, Sunny Sandler, Jackie Sandler, Heidi Gardner, Nick Swardson, Nicholas Turturro, Robert Smigel, Jo Koy and Stephanie Hsu.
Netflix also unveiled a new image for The Monkey King, coming this year. Directed by Oscar nominee Anthony Stacchi (The Boxtrolls, Open Season), produced by Peilin Chou (Over the Moon, Abominable, Kung Fu Panda 3), executive produced by Stephen Chow and written by Open Season scribes Steven Bencich, Ron J. Friedman and Rita Hsiao, this new adaptation of the classic Chinese tale is produced by Netflix Animation.
The Monkey King is an action-packed family comedy that follows a monkey and his magical fighting Stick as they team up on an epic quest where they must go head to head against gods, demons, dragons and the greatest enemy of all — Monkey’s own ego!
The voice cast features Jimmy O. Yang, Bowen Yang, Jolie Hoang-Rappaport, Jo Koy, Ron Yuan, Hoon Lee, Stephanie Hsu, Andrew Pang, Andrew Kishino, Jodi Long, James Sie and BD Wong.
On the series side, young toon fans can look forward to more of the Oddballs when Season 2 drops on February 24. New images were debuted today for the 2D comedy-adventure’s next chapter, created and executive produced by James Rallison and Ethan Banville.
Oddballs follows James, a bubble-shaped boy, whose observations on life fuel his comedic rants at everyday annoyances and elevates them to laughably absurd heights. Along with his best friends Max (a talking crocodile) and Echo (a girl who claims to be from the future), James’ ridiculous schemes to question norms often result in disaster.
Cast: James Rallison, Julian Gant, Kimberly Brooks, Gary Anthony Williams and Carl Faruolo.
Upcoming interactive comedy-adventure We Lost Our Human also received a release date (March 21) and released new imagery, revealing more of Pud and Ham’s epic quest through a human-free world.
The adventure begins when two pets wake up one day to discover that every human on Earth has disappeared! Desperate to find their owner, Pud the Cat and Ham the Dog venture out into the world for the first time ever, and wind up on a wild trip through the universe. Discovering strange new worlds, bizarre creatures and general mayhem, this grumpy cat and overly-hyper dog soon realize that every choice they make has huge consequences and the journey to find their beloved owner is anything but ordinary.
Starring the voices of Ben Schwartz, Ayo Edebiri, Adrienne C. Moore and Lauren Tom; executive produced by Chris Garbutt and Rikke Asbjoern.
Corrections: A previous version of this article attributed writing credits to Leo that have not been confirmed by Netflix.
Co-producers for Monkey King previously listed were based on outdated information.
Today, the Visual Effects Society (VES), the industry’s professional global honorary society, announced the nominees for the 21st Annual VES Awards, recognizing outstanding visual effects artistry and innovation in features, animation, television, commercials and video games. Awards will be presented on February 15 at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles.
Avatar: The Way of Water leads the feature film field with a VES Awards record-breaking 14 nominations. Another awards season frontrunner, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is the top animated contender with six nominations. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power leads the broadcast field with seven nominations.
Nominees in 25 categories were selected by VES members at 27 in-person and virtual nomination events conducted worldwide. This year marks the presentation of the first VES Emerging Technology Award, which celebrates the creators of the technology behind the visuals and honors the inventors of a novel and uniquely innovative tool, device, software or methodology of outstanding value to the art and science of visual effects, gaming or animation.
“We’re honored to keep shining a light on remarkable visual effects artistry and innovation,” said VES Chair Lisa Cooke. “In all of our nominees, we see best in class work that elevates the art of storytelling and exemplifies the spirit of adaptation and ingenuity — talents that have kept audiences engaged and uplifted, now, more than ever. The VES Awards is the only venue that showcases and honors these outstanding global artists across a wide range of disciplines, and we are extremely proud of all our nominees!”
Select category nominees below; visit vesglobal.org to see the full list of nominees in all 25 categories.
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
Avatar: The Way of Water – Richard Baneham, Walter Garcia, Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, JD Schwalm
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore – Christian Mänz, Olly Young, Benjamin Loch, Stephane Naze, Alistair Williams
Jurassic World: Dominion – David Vickery, Ann Podlozny, Jance Rubinchik, Dan Snape, Paul Corbould
The Batman – Dan Lemmon, Bryan Searing, Russell Earl, Anders Langlands, Dominic Tuohy
Top Gun: Maverick – Ryan Tudhope, Paul Molles, Seth Hill, Bryan Litson, Scott Fisher
The African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) announced the winners of the 14th annual AAFCA Awards, honoring outstanding achievement in film. Winners are voted on by AAFCA’s 100-plus members.
“AAFCA is deeply honored to recognize some of the most captivating films and performances of the year,” said AAFCA President & Co-Founder Gil Robertson. “These thought-provoking stories of strength, determination and courage lift us and entertain us. It’s an honor to recognize the incredible, visionary work both in front of and behind the camera of this year’s AAFCA Award winners.”
Henry Selicks’ Afropunk infused, supernatural stop-motion feat Wendell & Wild was awarded Best Animated Feature. Released by Netflix in October and produced by Netflix Animation, The Gotham Group and co-writer/producer/voice star Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions, the film was also nominated for Best Picture.
The tender 2D piece New Moon — which centers on a boy and his mother as they sit outside listening to the radio in the moonlight, discussing their dreams — added the AAFCA’s Best Animated Short prize to its list of film festival accolades. Directed by Jérémie Balais, Jeff Le Bars and Raúl Domingo, the film is adapted from the play A Boy and His Soul by Colman Domingo, who adapted the piece for animation with his husband, Raúl.
New Moon
Other top winners included historical drama The Woman King, which won Best Picture and Best Director for Gina Prince-Bythewood, Till (Best Actress – Danielle Deadwyler, Emerging Face Award – Jalyn Hall; special achievement Impact Award) and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Best Supporting Actress – Angela Bassett, Best Song – Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up”; Building Change Award – prod. des. Hannah Beachler, Ashley Boone Award – prod. Nate Moore)
Winners and special honorees will be celebrated at the 14th Annual AAFCA Awards on March 1 at the Beverly Wilshire, a Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills.
AAFCA, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2023 will be announcing additional special events and programming in the coming months.
Invisible Universe, an internet-first animation studio, today announced its new franchise for preschoolers: Lovie. Launching on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram, it stars Lovie, a five-year-old, heart-shaped girl that changes color based on their feelings and teaches young children how to navigate emotions through her adventures in the fictional town of Charmvale.
Lovie
The new IP was developed by five Invisible Universe execs with backgrounds in children’s entertainment, who combined have 10 kids under 10 years old. The brand promotes social-emotional development for preschoolers and offers relevant lessons about the importance of sharing, handling disagreements and making friends. Followers will get to know Lovie and her friends and family, all animated in the shapes of hearts, stars, flowers and clouds to match their personalities.
“As a parent, I know how important it is to create brands that can be both entertaining for kids and serve a purpose in their development,” said Tricia Biggio, Co-Founder and CEO of Invisible Universe. “With Lovie, we’re tapping into the comedy of Bluey with the lessons of Pixar’s Inside Out, and I think parents and kids alike will fall in love with the characters. My kids already have!”
Lovie
Looking at TikTok and YouTube Shorts as the next frontiers for IP development, the studio is doubling down on children’s content for these avenues. Since 93% of parents want kids’ entertainment that addresses emotional and mental health according to a 2022 UTA IQ study, the new franchise aims to address that need and reach both kids and their parents on the platforms they are already spending time on.
Marking Invisible Universe’s eighth IP franchise, Lovie comes to the digital screen following the success of characters like Qai Qai (Serena Williams’ daughter’s doll brought to life, recently turned into a children’s book, The Adventures of Qai Qai), Clydeo (Jennifer Aniston’s animated dog and foodie), Squeaky & Roy (the long-lost toys of Charli and Dixie D’Amelio) and Ember (the daughter of the ruler of the underworld). While first launching on social platforms, Invisible Universe expands its franchises to publishing, long-form content, toys, games, music and more.
Kids and families can follow along with Lovie’s adventures starting today, on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram.
Cartoondom’s most impactful Gen X slackers are doin’ stuff again — specifically, bringing their hit adult animated relaunch to home entertainment. The Paramount+ series Mike Judge’s Beavis & Butt-head Season 1 arrives on DVD on March 14 in a three-disc set comprising all 12 episodes of the new show, as well as the Paramount+ original movie Beavis & Butt-head Do the Universe.
Synopsis: Nearing their 30th anniversary, Mike Judge’s Beavis & Butt-head, America’s favorite culture critics, are back. They now have more than just music videos to make fun of — reality TV, the internet and Mixed Martial Arts will all be crossing their TV screen! Brought back by creator Mike Judge, Beavis and Butt-Head are dumber than ever.
This release will also feature Beavis & Butt-head Do the Universe, where Beavis and Butt-Head go on a Space Shuttle mission in 1998, fall into a black hole, and reemerge on Earth in 2022, where they are pursued by the NSA, the Governor of Texas and a highly-intelligent version of themselves from a parallel universe.
Mike Judge’s Beavis & Butt-head stars the voices of creator Mike Judge (King of the Hill), Piotr Michael (Lightyear), as well as Chris Diamantopoulos (The Three Stooges), Kosha Patel (The Newsroom), Jayden Libran (The Happytime Murders), Mary Birdsong (Succession), Brian Huskey (Veep), Tru Valentino (The Rookie), Ally Maki (Wrecked) and Toks Olagundoye (Castle).
The new series is executive-produced by Mike Judge, Lew Morton and Michael Rotenberg, and Chris Prynoski, Shannon Prynoski, Ben Kalina and Antonio Canobbio for animation prodco Titmouse.
Hulu today dropped the official trailer for the third season of its acclaimed reboot of 1990s cartooon classic Animaniacs! While this will, alas, be the final season of the multi-Emmy-winning comedy from Steven Spielberg and Sam Register, the preview promises a suitably epic conclusion to the Warner Siblings’ movie lot misadventures.
Animaniacs
And of course, Pinky and Brain will be there too — ‘narf said.
Animaniacs Season 3 premieres on Hulu with 10 all-new episodes on February 17.
Synopsis: Yakko, Wakko and Dot return with an all-new season of laughs, songs, pop culture parodies and enough zany antics to fill a water tower (or at least 10 episodes!). Pinky and Brain’s never ending plans to take over the world journey them to the ends of new lands, deserts and even the space time continuum. And, while new friends Starbox and Cindy continue their play date, the Warner siblings must battle their way out of a video game, learn the secrets of being a teen influencer and escape a mad scientist’s island all while finding time to teach us about the threat of global warming!
Animaniacs features returning original voice stars Rob Paulsen as Yakko and Pinky, Jess Harnell as Wakko, Tress MacNeille as Dot and Maurice LaMarche as the Brain (among others).
Spielberg and Register (President, Warner Bros. Animation & Cartoon Network Studios) return as executive producers; Amblin Television Co-Presidents Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey also serve as executive producers. Wellesley Wild serves as showrunner and executive producer, Gabe Swarr serves as co-executive producer.
Animaniacs is produced by Amblin Television in association with Warner Bros. Animation.
This morning, ASIFA-Hollywood announced that nominees for this year’s 50th Annie Awards (annieawards.org), celebrating excellence in animation and VFX across movies, series, shorts and more. The nominations span over 30 categories, including a new Limited Series contest. The winners will be announced at an in-person ceremony held at UCLA’s Royce Hall on Saturday, February 25.
Netflix has a significant presence this year, with three feature film contenders the Best Feature race and another in the Indie Feature category. In fact, festival favorite and major hit for the streamer Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is the most-nominated title over all, receiving nine nods including Best Feature and Best Director. Netflix series and special productions like Love, Death + Robots Vol. III, The House and Oni: Thunder God’s Tale are also multi-category nominees.
Top 5 Most-Nominated Films
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (Netflix) – 9 nominations
Turning Red (Disney/Pixar) – 7
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (Universal/DreamWorks) – 6
The Sea Beast (Netflix) – 6
The Bad Guys (Universal/DreamWorks) – 5
Top 5 Series & Specials
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Hare (Apple TV+) – 7 nominations
The House (Netflix) – 6
Oni: Thunder God’s Tale (Netflix) – 6
Love, Death + Robots (Netflix) – 5
BAYMAX! (Disney+) – 3
The winners of the 2023 Juried Awards were also announced, honoring unparalleled achievement and exceptional contributions to animation:
The Winsor McCay Award in recognition of lifetime or career contributions are being presented to three recipients –
Pete Docter, animated feature writer/director and Pixar CEO
Evelyn Lambart (posthumously), early National Film Board of Canada collaborator, including her significant series of short films
Craig McCracken, prolific, influential television series creator
The June Foray Award for significant and benevolent or charitable impact will be awarded to Mindy Johnson, author, historian and educator.
The Ub Iwerks Award for technical advancement affecting the animation industry will be presented to Visual Effects Reference Platform, initially developed by Nick Cannon and Francois Chardavoine to eliminate incompatibilities between digital content creation software.
The Certificate of Merit Award for service to the art and industry will be presented to John Omohundro.
And the nominees are…
Annie Award for Best Indie Feature nominees: My Father’s Dragon, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, Charlotte, Little Nicholas: Happy as Can Be
Undone“Rectify” – Tornante Company and Amazon Studios
Annie Awards Best TV/Media – Children nominees: Abominable and the Invisible City, The Owl House, Big Nate, We Baby Bears, Moominvalley
BEST STUDENT FILM
Au revoir Jérôme! – Student director: Adam Sillard, Gabrielle Selnet & Chloé Farr | Gobelins, l’école de l’image
Birdsong – Student director/producer: Michelle Cheng | California Institute of the Arts
Synchronie Passagère – Student director: Julia Le Bras-Juarez | Supinfocom Rubika
The Most Boring Granny in the Whole World– Student director: Damaris Zielke | Student producer: Jiayan Chen | Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg GmbH
The Soloists – Student directors: Mehrnaz Abdollahinia, Feben Elias Woldehawariat, Razahk Issaka, Celeste Jamneck & Yi Liu | Gobelins, l’école de l’image
BEST FX – TV/MEDIA
Cars on the Road“Road Rumblers” – Pixar Animation Studios – Christopher Foreman, Elana Lederman, John Lockwood, Jae Jun Yi, Justin Ritter
Love Death + Robots“Bad Traveling” – Blur Studio for Netflix | FX Production Company: Blur Studio – Kirby Miller, Igor Zanic, Joseph H. Coleman, Steven Dupuy, Josh Schwartz
Prehistoric Planet“Coasts” – BBC Studios in association with Apple | FX Production Company: MPC
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse – NoneMore Productions and Bad Robot Productions | FX Production Company: NoneMore Productions – Peter Baynton, Raymond Pang, Martial Coulon
The House– Nexus Studios for Netflix | FX Production Company: Nexus Studios – Germán Díez, Álvaro Alonso Lomba, Hugo Vieites Caamaño
BEST FX – FEATURE
Avatar: The Way of Water – 20th Century Studios / Disney Studios | FX Production Company: Wētā FX – Johnathan M. Nixon, David Moraton, Nicholas Illingworth, David Caeiro Cebrian, Alex Nowotny
Lightyear – Pixar Animation Studios | FX Production Company: Pixar – Carl Kaphan, Cody Harrington, Hope Schroers, Jon Barry, Nate Skeen
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio – Netflix Presents A Double Dare You! Film / A ShadowMachine Production in association with The Jim Henson Company | FX Production Company: MPC – Aaron Weintraub, Warren Lawtey, Alireza Malmiri, Baptiste Malbranque, Mikhail Donchenko
Minions: The Rise of Gru – Illumination – Frank Baradat, Simon Pate, Milan Voukassovitch, Milo Riccarand
The Sea Beast – Netflix | FX Production Company: Sony Pictures Imageworks – Spencer Lueders, Dmitriy Kolesnik, Kiel Gnebba, Oleksandr (Alex) Loboda, Jeremy Hoey
BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – TV/MEDIA
Entergalactic – Netflix / Mad Solar / Khalabo Ink Society / Edelgang – Aziz Kocanagullari
Oni: Thunder God’s Tale“The Mighty Storm Gods” – A Netflix Series / A Tonko House Production – Toshihiro Nakamura
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse – NoneMore Productions and Bad Robot Productions – Tim Watts
The House – Nexus Studios for Netflix – Kecy Salangad
BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – FEATURE
Turning Red – Pixar Animation Studios – Teresa Falcone
Turning Red – Pixar Animation Studios – Eric Anderson
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio – Netflix Presents A Double Dare You! Film / A ShadowMachine Production in association with The Jim Henson Company – Tucker Barrie
The Bad Guys – DreamWorks Animation – Jorge Capote
The Bad Guys – DreamWorks Animation – Min Hong
BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – LIVE ACTION
Avatar: The Way of Water – 20th Century Studios / Disney Studios | FX Production Company: Wētā FX – Daniel Barrett, Stuart Adcock, Todd Labonte, Douglas McHale, Stephen Cullingford
Beast – Universal Pictures, RVK Studios, Will Packer Productions | FX Production Company: Framestore – Alvise Avati, Chris McGaw, Bora Şahin, Krzysztof Boyoko, Laurent Benhamo
Finch – Amblin Partners, Apple Original Films | FX Production Company: MPC – Simon Allen, Harinarayan Rajeev, Paul Nelson, Matthias Schoenegger
Jurassic World Dominion – Amblin Entertainment & Universal Pictures | FX Production Company: Industrial Light & Magic – Jance Rubinchik, Alexander Lee, Rich Bentley, Antoine Verney Carron, Sally Wilson
Peacemaker – HBO Max | FX Production Company: Wētā FX – Michael Cozens, Mark Smith, Kai-Hua Lan, Selene McLean, Richard John Moore
BEST CHARACTER ANIMATION – VIDEO GAME
Cuphead – The Delicious Last Course– Studio MDHR – Chad Moldenhauer, Hanna Abi-Hanna
God of War Ragnarök– Santa Monica Studio
Horizon Forbidden West – Guerrilla – Richard Oud, Jan-Erik Sjovall, Guerrilla Animation Team
Moss: Book II – Polyarc – Richard Lico
Potionomics – Voracious Games – Emily Lattanavong , Anguel Bogoev
BEST CHARACTER DESIGN – TV/MEDIA
Amphibia“The Hardest Thing” – Disney TV Animation – Joe Sparrow
Entergalactic – Netflix / Mad Solar / Khalabo Ink Society / Edelgang – Meybis Ruiz Cruz
Love Death + Robots“Jibaro” – Blur Studio for Netflix – Alberto Mielgo
Oni: Thunder God’s Tale“The Demon Moon Rises” – A Netflix Series / A Tonko House Production – Rebecca Chan
Spirit Rangers “Belly of the Beast” – Laughing Wild / Netflix – Marie Delmas
Oni: Thunder God’s Tale“The Demon Moon Rises” – A Netflix Series / A Tonko House Production – Daisuke ” Dice” Tsutsumi
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse – NoneMore Productions and Bad Robot Productions – Peter Baynton, Charlie Mackesy
BEST DIRECTION – FEATURE
Turning Red – Pixar Animation Studios – Domee Shi
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio – Netflix Presents A Double Dare You! Film / A ShadowMachine Production in association with The Jim Henson Company – Guillermo Del Toro, Mark Gustafson
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On – Marcel the Movie LLC – Dean Fleischer Camp, Kirsten Lepore, Stephen Chiodo
My Father’s Dragon – Cartoon Saloon for Netflix – Nora Twomey
Wendell & Wild– Netflix Presents A Monkey Paw Production / A Gotham Group Production – Henry Selick
BEST MUSIC – TV/MEDIA
Love Death + Robots“The Very Pulse of the Machine” – Blur Studio for Netflix – Rob Cairns
Oni: Thunder God’s Tale“Onari’s Kushi Power” – A Netflix Series / A Tonko House Production – Zach Johnston, Matteo Roberts
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse – NoneMore Productions and Bad Robot Productions – Isobel Waller-Bridge, Charlie Mackesy
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio – Netflix Presents A Double Dare You! Film / A ShadowMachine Production in association with The Jim Henson Company – Alexandre Desplat, Roeban Katz, Guillermo del Toro, Patrick McHale
Mad God – Tippett Studio – Dan Wool
The Bad Guys– DreamWorks Animation – Daniel Pemberton
The Sea Beast – Netflix – Mark Mancia, Nell Benjamin, Laurence O’Keefe
Oni: Thunder God’s Tale“The Demon Moon Rises” – A Netflix Series / A Tonko House Production – Robert Kondo, Rachel Tiep-Daniels, Lia Tin, Yohei Hashizume, Masa Inada
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse – NoneMore Productions and Bad Robot Productions – Mike McCain
The House – Nexus Studios for Netflix – Niklas Nilsson, Alexandra Walker
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN – FEATURE
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio – Netflix Presents A Double Dare You! Film / A ShadowMachine Production in association with The Jim Henson Company – Curt Enderle, Guy Davis
Mad God – Tippett Studio – Phil Tippett
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish – DreamWorks Animation – Nate Wragg, Joseph Feinsilver, Claire Keane, Wayne Tsay, Naveen Selvanathan
The Bad Guys – DreamWorks Animation – Luc Desmarchelier, Floriane Marchix
The Sea Beast – Netflix – Matthias Lechner, Jung Woonyoung
BEST STORYBOARDING – TV/MEDIA
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners“Let You Down” – CD Projekt Red in association with Netflix – Kaneko Yoshiyuk
Zootopia+“The Godfather of the Bride” – Walt Disney Animation Studios – Maurice LaMarche (Character: Mr. Big)
BEST VOICE ACTING – FEATURE
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio – Netflix Presents A Double Dare You! Film / A Shadowmachine Production in association with The Jim Henson Company – David Bradley (character: Geppetto)
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio – Netflix Presents A Double Dare You! Film / A Shadowmachine Production in association with The Jim Henson Company – Gregory Mann (character: Pinocchio)
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On – Marcel the Movie LLC – Jenny Slate (character: Marcel)
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish – DreamWorks Animation – Wagner Moura (character: Wolf)
BAYMAX!“Sofia” – Walt Disney Animation Studios – Cirocco Dunlap
Big Nate “The Legend of the Gunting” – Nickelodeon Animation Studio – Mitch Watson, Emily Brundige, Ben Lapides, Sarah Allan
Love Death + Robots“Bad Traveling” – Blur Studio for Netflix – Andrew Kevin Walker
The House – Nexus Studios for Netflix – Enda Walsh
Tuca & Bertie“The Pain Garden” – The Tornante Company ○ Lisa Hanawalt
BEST WRITING – FEATURE
Turning Red – Pixar Animation Studios – Domee Shi, Julia Cho
Eternal Spring (長春) – Lofty Sky Entertainment Inc. – Jason Loftus
Inu-Oh– Science SARU – Akiko Nogi
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On – Marcel the Movie LLC – Dean Fleischer Camp, Jenny Slate, Nick Paley, Elisabeth Holm
BEST EDITORIAL – TV/MEDIA
Amphibia“All In” – Disney TV Animation – Andrew Sorcini, Yoonah Yim, Jennifer Calbi, Julie Anne Lau, Louis Russell
Green Eggs and Ham“The Sam Who Came in from the Cold” – Gulfstream Pictures/ A Stern Talking To/A Very Good Production in association with Warner Bros. Animation for Netflix – Margaret Hou
Karma’s World“Keys, The Inventor” – 9 Story Media Group, Brown Bag Films and Karma’s World Entertainment for Netflix – Damien Dunne, Ultan Murphy, Emma O’Brien, Fred O’Connor, Aiden McKenna
Star Trek: Lower Decks“The Stars at Night”– CBS’s Eye Animation Productions, Titmouse; Secret Hideout; and Roddenberry Entertainment – Andy Maxwell, Zach Lamplugh, Brandon Brocker, Paul Mazzotta
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse – NoneMore Productions and Bad Robot Productions – Daniel Budin
BEST EDITORIAL – FEATURE
Lightyear– Pixar Animation Studios – Tony Greenberg, Katie Bishop, Chloe Kloezeman, Axel Geddes, Tim Fox
Turning Red – Pixar Animation Studios – Nicholas Smith, Steve Bloom, David Suther, Anna Wolitzky, Christopher Zuber
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio – Netflix Presents A Double Dare You! Film / A ShadowMachine Production in association with The Jim Henson Company – Ken Schretzmann, Holly Klein, Emily Chiu, Hamilton Barrett
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish – DreamWorks Animation – James Ryan, ACE, Jacquelyn Karambelas, Natalla Cronembold, Joe Butler, Katie Parody
The Sea Beast – Netflix – Joyce Arrastica, ACE, Will Erokan, Vivek Sharma, Michael Hugh O’Donnell, Daniel Ortiz
Portland, Oregon animation and live-action studio Deep Sky recently released the first installment of their animated anthology It’s The Little Things to a warm global welcome from viewers. Originally released as the studio’s 2022 holiday short, the carefully crafted 2D film has counted over 500,000 views and over 60,000 likes on Instagram and TikTok.
The piece shows a homesteading frog settling in for a cozy evening in his log cabin during a peaceful winter. The visual style was largely inspired by “cottagecore” aesthetics, combined with a nostalgic perspective of the production team’s memories of winters spent at home. A number of works, including Over the Garden Wall, The Wind and the Willows and Studio Ghibli’s famous food scenes were crucial influences tapped to capture the hygge vibe.
It’s The Little Things
“Through animation, we explore how daily rituals can hold the same sense of delight as a grand adventure, if only we take the time to notice them. Every detail on screen hints at an important piece of a larger world, just as every moment in a day is what makes up the whole of life,” said Gaby West, the creative lead for the project and Art Director at Deep Sky.
Background artist Finn Sylwester cultivated a sense of warmth throughout the interior scenes, inviting the viewer into this slice-of life piece. To match the style developed by the illustration team, animation lead Jack Ellis and animator Adam DiTerlizzi combined traditional and modern animation techniques — custom Adobe Animate brushes were developed specifically to match the delicate vintage-inspired illustration style.
It’s The Little Things
It’s The Little Things
For the multi-faceted studio, animation production was a highly coordinated team effort between not only 2D animators and illustrators, but also other internal production teams. The 3D team helped create complex visual effects without sacrificing the unique quality of hand-drawn animation, while sound design created an intimate, ASMR-inspired experience.
It’s The Little Things will continue with seasonal installments “celebrating the romance and beauty of the everyday.” The next video is set to premiere in Spring 2023.
China Bridge Content, a New York-based content and consulting firm founded by 12-time Emmy Award-winning creator Josh Selig, has announced its latest project to be the animated children’s comedy Buffalo Nanny.
Currently in development with projected delivery in Q2 2024, Buffalo Nanny is a show about the joy, chaos and comedy of taking care of a fearless, agile and rambunctious baby girl. Aimed at children from preschool to age 7, the show was inspired by the personal experience of Selig and his wife, Chen Chen, raising their own baby daughter.
Synopsis: Bebop is a mischievous — and very fast — baby who loves to explore and get involved in anything and everything. Her devoted caregiver, a gentle water buffalo named Otis, has his hooves full trying to keep her safe and out of trouble! Each day, Otis picks up Bebop from her family’s home and they head off to the beach, a museum or a playdate… where things soon spin out of control due to Bebop’s free-spirited nature.
Once, Otis took Bebop to a local farm where she climbed onto the back of an ostrich and led a stampede of sheep, goats and chickens through the middle of town! Another time, Otis took Bebop to watch a space launch and Bebop managed to crawl into the rocket and blast off to Saturn! Whatever happens, Otis always manages to corral Bebop and bring her safely back home.
“In creating this new comedy, Chen and I drew from our own personal experiences raising our baby daughter. We have included non-stop physical comedy in each and every scene which we believe is the absolute key to making a preschool comedy that can succeed in Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas,” said Selig, Founder & President of China Bridge Content.
Created by Chen Chen (Peaches & Creaminal, Luo Bao Bei) and Selig (Wonder Pets! Small Potatoes), Buffalo Nanny was designed in Kingston, Jamaica by Gary and Kenny Plummer(Peaches & Creaminal). The theme song was written and performed by David McWane of ska-punk band Big D and the Kids Table.The show features an educational curriculum with a focus on “First Times” and “Community.”
China Bridge is actively looking for co-producers, distributors and broadcasters to work with on the series.
The Animation Showcase has released the entire list of 15 Oscar Shortlisted films in the Best Animated Short Film category, in anticipation of the upcoming 95th Academy Awards ceremony. The collection is now accessible to watch worldwide until the Oscar nominations announcement on Tuesday, January 24.
“While the feature films are widely accessible from theatrical release and major streaming platforms during the Award Season, the short films are often much more difficult to access. Therefore, we couldn’t be more proud to feature the complete collection of Shortlisted Animated Shorts for free, available to all the members of the animation and motion picture industry,” said Benoit Berthe Siward, The Animation Showcase CEO. “This means that for the third year in a row, our platform is the only place in the world where to watch all the shortlisted shorts, alongside The Academy Screening Room.”
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On [c/o A24]Additionally, high profile contender Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (A24), the moving debut animated feature directed by Dean Fleischer Camp, will also be exceptionally accessible to watch worldwide for all industry members of the platform until the Oscars nomination announcement on Jan. 24, alongside exclusive bonus content and featurettes.
Bonuses, Making-ofs, Q&A and Featurettes are also streaming exclusively on the platform, offering insights into most of the animated shorts as well as some of this year’s best animated features. These include a 36-minute special on Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (titled Handcarved Cinema) as well as a making of for Henry Selick’s Wendell & Wild, also from Netflix; DreamWorks’ The Bad Guys Q&A and Pixar features Turning Red and Lightyearmaking-ofs.
In addition to streaming animated projects, the industry-only Animation Showcase streaming platform curates acclaimed short films from filmmakers around the world and gives an opportunity to the animation and motion pictures community to discover or rewatch feature films for a limited time.
Last year, the platform provided streaming access for the industry to three-time Oscar-nominated animated documentary Flee, and handled the premiere & worldwide release of 2022 Oscar winning animated short The Windshield Wiper.
All animation industry members and students can easily join the platform by visiting the sign-up portal to request membership and submitting their email address and proof of work in the industry (e.g. IMDb, LinkedIn, Vimeo).
Today at the Television Critics Association Press Tour, PBS KIDS announced the production of two new engaging and educational animated series: Lyla in the Loop, a comedy introducing youngsters to computational thinking concepts, and STEM series Weather Hunters, starring Al Roker.
“Lyla in the Loop focuses on the important skills of creative thinking and problem solving through a thoughtful and adventurous approach that meets children in a funny and relatable way,” said Sara DeWitt, Senior Vice President and General Manager, PBS KIDS. “We’re so excited to be partnering with Mighty Picnic and Pipeline Studios to bring this inventive new series to families across the country.”
DeWitt added, “We’re so excited to be working with Al Roker and his team to bring important weather and Earth science lessons to kids through Weather Hunters. We know that parents and kids are looking for content about weather and climate; this show is fresh, funny and forward-thinking, and will help kids understand how weather affects their lives every day.”
Lyla in the Loop
Aimed at kids 4-8, Lyla in the Loop is created by Emmy-winning producer Dave Peth (Odd Squad, Peg + Cat, Scribbles and Ink, Design Squad), founder of media production and consulting company Mighty Picnic. Pipeline Studios, the Emmy-winning children’s content studio (Elinor Wonders Why, Alma’s Way, Bubble Guppies) is animating the series. Funding was provided by a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and a grant from the U.S. Department of Education as part of the Ready to Learn Initiative. The series will be complemented by digital content for kids, families and teachers.
“The message of Lyla in the Loopis that everyone has what it takes to be a creative problem-solver,” says Peth. “If you keep asking questions, trying new things, and working together, you’ll find more solutions than you could have imagined – and have a lot of fun along the way.”
Series executive producer & head writer Fracaswell Hyman adds: “In a world where representation matters, Lyla in the Loop features a Black girl who feels there is no problem too big or too small to solve. Lyla leans in when problems occur or obstacles appear. She is curious, imaginative and although she sometimes dives in head first without looking, her tenacity and creativity when it comes to problem-solving makes it clear that she will eventually resurface triumphant. Lyla’s loving family, friends and fantastical companion, Stu, create a warm environment that will attract viewers and invite them to emulate Lyla when challenges come their way.”
Synopsis:Lyla in the Loop centers on Lyla’s family and diverse community. In addition to Lyla, the show features her mom, dad, 5-year-old brother Luke, 12-year-old twin sisters Liana and Louisa, and best friend Everett Phan, who all live in an apartment building and neighborhood bustling with activity. Stu, a fuzzy blue creature with a big smile helps Lyla tackle all kinds of challenges — like building the best-ever train set for her brother Luke, creating an extra-special sandwich for her family’s restaurant, Loops Lunch, and searching for a missing package sent by an Auntie in Jamaica (with delicious spice buns and other traditional treats inside!).
In every adventure, Lyla and Stu introduce and explore foundational computational thinking concepts, leading to some comedic disasters and creative solutions, all while helping others in their community. The series will support a wide range of learners, modeling flexible approaches to finding and designing solutions, and creative self-expression.
“Lyla is a character I would’ve loved to see on television when I was seven,” says series story editor Monique D. Hall. “She’s a little Black girl who isn’t afraid to be her full, smart, and silly self. She and Stu get into all kinds of fun messes, but they always manage to find clever ways out of them — even if it takes a few tries. You’ll definitely want to be in the loop for whatever adventure Lyla, Stu and the rest of the Loops Crew get into next!”
Series advisors for Lyla in the Loop include Dr. Amon Millner, Associate Professor of Computing and Innovation at the Olin College of Engineering directing the Extending Access to STEM Empowerment (EASE) Lab, series Curriculum Director; Nermeen Dashoush, PhD and Clinical Assistant Professor, Early Childhood Education, Boston University, Lead Advisor; Yenda Prado, PhD, Education Researcher at University of California, Irvine, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) advisor; V. Scott Solberg, Professor, Department of Counseling and Applied Human Development, Boston University, Career Pathways and World of Work Advisor; Cosette Strong, Strong Consulting Group, DEIA Advisor.
Weather Hunters
Weather Hunters is a new animated science series for kids ages 5-8 from Al Roker Entertainment (ARE), the production company led by beloved Emmy-winning TODAY weatherman and host, Al Roker. The series is designed to support kids’ understanding of weather through adventure and comedy as it follows eight-year-old Lily Hunter, a weather detective who shares her investigations with her family — including dad Al Hunter, voiced by Roker.
“Weather Hunters has been a labor of love and a passion project for more than a decade and I cannot think of a better partner than PBS KIDS to make this dream come true,” says Roker. “When it comes to Weather Hunters , I predict increasing animation with downpours of family friendly storytelling and a rising understanding of weather and climate on your local PBS station, pbskids.org, and the PBS KIDS Video and Games apps.”
Each 22-minute episode of Weather Hunters will explore kid-relatable STEM-based activities and themes, highlighting the wonder of weather within the broad field of science in terms that all learners can understand. Topics include observing and tracking weather patterns, exploring why weather changes can be different around the country and the world, and the connection between humans and the environment. The series will reinforce key weather, climate, and environmental concepts to provide building blocks for further learning. Digital content for kids, parents and teachers will launch along with the series to reinforce the show’s key messages and encourage further engagement.
Created by Roker, Weather Hunters is being produced by New York-based Al Roker Entertainment. Tracie Brennan and Lisa Tucker (ARE) serve as executive producers, along with four-time Emmy Award-winning animation industry veteran, Bill Schultz (The Simpsons, Garfield, Clifford the Big Red Dog). The original series brings together an amazing team of artists and writers for the new 40 half-hour series, including notable animation director Tyree Dilihay (Bob’s Burgers), animation producer/director Jerry Brice, head writer John Semper (Static Shock, Fraggle Rock) and three-time Emmy winner and writer, Carin Greenberg (Tumbleleaf). The production is made possible with funding from Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies and PBS.
The Critics Choice Association (CCA) celebrated the winners of the 28th Annual Critics Choice Awards Sunday night during a gala ceremony hosted by Chelsea Handler. Among the roster of film and television honorees across numerous categories, we were of course most interested to see which film and series took home the animation gold as Awards Season rolls on!
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio scored another accolade for Netflix Animation and its multi-award-winning director, winning Best Animated Feature. This audience and critic-lauded new take on the classic Collodi story about a wooden puppet brought to life has won dozens of honors, including the Golden Globe for animated motion picture, and from critics’ groups across the country.
While Pinocchio was the sole animated breakout in this year’s CCA nominees, it did not come out on top in the Best Song or Best Score competition. These went to RRR tune “Naatu Naatu” and composer Hildur Guðnadóttir for Tár.
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
James Cameron’s blockbuster return to Pandora, Avatar: The Way of Water also continued its critics’ and film society winning streak with the Critics Choice Award for Best Visual Effects. The sci fi epic hit a worldwide box office of $1.9+ billion as of Sunday.
In the television contests, HBO Max adult comedy toon Harley Quinn scored its first official Critics Choice Award for Best Animated Series. The acclaimed DC series won for Best Voice Actress in an Animated Series (Kaley Cuoco, voice of Harley Quinn) at the inaugural Critics Choice Super Awards for genre entertainment in 2021, where it was also nominated for Best Voice Actor (J.B. Smoove as Frank the Plant) and Best Animated Series.
In addition, Janelle Monáe received the SeeHer Award, and Jeff Bridges was honored with the Critics Choice Lifetime Achievement Award.
You can find the full lists of winners and nominees at criticschoice.com.
Anima, the Brussels International Animation Film Festival, which runs from February 17 to 26 at Flagey in Brussels, will, as every year, pay special attention to the youngest film lovers. The program of films for young audiences will open on Saturday, Feb. 18 with the Dutch/Belgian feature Oink (Knor / Un amour de cochon), directed by Mascha Halberstadt.
Described as a “wonderfully anarchic” comedy showcasing stop-motion technical mastery and endearing characters, Oink is directed by Mascha Halberstad (Fox and Hare, Munya in Me). The film follows the adventures of Babs, who dreams of getting a dog for her birthday, but instead receives a little pig. Selected at the Berlinale and awarded the Audience Prize at the Ghent Film Festival in 2022, Oink will be screened for the very first time in French at Anima.
“What a pleasure to present a film that is truly for all audiences. We’re certain that everyone will have a great time with this very badly behaved little pig!,” say Dominique Seutin and Karin Vandenrydt, co-directors of the Anima festival.
The ‘Kids’ festival section will include 11 feature films and nine short film programs. Feature films selected for 2023 offer multigenerational appeal and include four new releases: Three Robbers and a Lion offers families a colorful escape from reality with its bold script and CGI; Little Allan: The Human Antennais a mischievous story of a shy a human boy and his alien gal pal; My Grandfather’s Demons follows Rosa to a mysterious corner of rural Portugal, and Sing a Bit of Harmony will appeal to fans of Japanese animation (and musicals).
Many of the past year’s favorites will also be back in theaters during Anima, including Ernest & Celestine: A Trip to Gibberitia, Icarusand Yuku and the Flower of the Himalayas.
Anima will also offer the best in family-friendly shortswith tailor-made sessions for each age group. The youngest will enjoy the dialog-free Franzy’s Soup Kitchen (3+), while slightly older children will follow the adventures of an invertebrate like no other in Superworm(5+) and of a platypus mad enough to conquer the stars in No-No Goes to Space (6+). And big kids will get lost with 10-year-old Ellie, who discovers the secrets of an island in the middle of a town in Funny Birds (8+).
There will also be plenty of other out-of-competition programs on show, such as A Hedgehog in the Snow, a compilation of animated poems from Fresh out of School, and some great examples of Spanish animation.
The jury for the Young Audience Film Competition will be made up of Karine Miralles (producer; teacher at Labodanim), Carlo Vogele (director, Icarus; former Pixar animator) and Britt Raes (director, Luce and the Rock; teacher at the KASK school).
The 2023 Anima Festival takes place February 17-26.
Crunchyroll, along with partner Aniplex of America, announces tickets are now on sale for Sword Art Online the Movie -Progressive- Scherzo of Deep Night in North America. The film, coming to theaters on February 3, will be available in both English dub and subtitled. A new English dub trailer has debuted in concert with the launch of ticketing.
Tickets and additional film information are available on Fandango.
Sword Art Online the Movie -Progressive- Scherzo of Deep Night is the sequel to the popular sci-fi action adventure film Sword Art Online the Movie -Progressive- Aria of a Starless Night (2021). The Sword Art Onlineseries and the first film are currently available to stream on Crunchyroll.
Synopsis:
This may be a game, but it’s not something you play.
The world’s first VRMMORPG (Sword Art Online) became a game of death. Over a month has passed since 10,000 users were trapped inside the game world. Asuna, who cleared the first floor of the floating iron castle of Aincrad, joined up with Kirito and continued her journey to reach the top floor. With the support of female Information Broker Argo, clearing the floors seemed to be progressing smoothly, but…
Conflict erupts between two major guilds who should be working together – the top player groups ALS (the Aincrad Liberation Squad) and DKB (the Dragon Knights Brigade). And meanwhile, behind the scenes exists a mysterious figure pulling the strings….
In a dangerous battle of death, there is an assault that differs from the threat, and it will involve Asuna and Kirito…!
Sword Art Online (published by Dengeki Bunko) is a light novel series by Reki Kawahara, winner of the 15th Dengeki Bunko Novel Grand prize. The light novel series has enjoyed massive popularity since Volume One was first published in April 2009, with cumulative worldwide sales topping 30 million copies by 2022.
An anime adaptation, Sword Art Online Season 1, aired in 2012, followed by four more seasons to date. In 2017, a theatrical film, Sword Art Online the Movie: Ordinal Scale, was released. Additionally, the franchise has produced a wide-ranging media mix of games, manga, and more.
Sword Art Online the Movie -Progressive- Scherzo of Deep Night
Sword Art Online Progressive is a reboot light novel series, penned by Kawahara himself, offering a deeper look at where it all began: on Aincrad’s first floor.
2021 saw the launch of an all-new animated film adaptation based on the Sword Art Online Progressive light novels. The first film in the series, Aria of a Starless Night, a rebooted Aincrad arc seen from Asuna’s point of view, debuted at No. 1 at the weekend box office in Japan and was a long-running hit, staying in theaters nationwide for 10 weeks.
Sword Art Online the Movie -Progressive- Scherzo of Deep Night
The dangers of jealousy and ambition are laid bare in the atmospheric, supernatural new mixed-technique animated short The Voice in the Hollow — a texturally rich and visually bold take on the old warning “Be careful what you wish for,” set in an African tribal village.
The Voice in the Hollow, which premiered in Hollywood on November 17, is a “masterpiece of real-time animation,” according to Brian Pohl, Technical Program Manager of Media & Entertainment and Academic Dean of the Unreal Fellowship at Epic Games. “Engaging, mesmerizing, and unquestionably indelible, [The Voice in the Hollow is] masterfully executed — and so impressively takes advantage of the rendering capabilities of Unreal Engine 5 that one finds themselves in disbelief that this film was accomplished by such a small team using only a game engine,” Pohl commented.
The Voice in the Hollow
The 10-minute short was created using a combination of hand-drawn and cutting-edge 3D animation techniques and led by a surprisingly small core team of two: Miguel Ortega and Tran Ma, otherwise known as Half M.T. Studios. While Unreal Engine has been utilized by full studios to create real-time pipelines for years, the Epic team believes The Voice in the Hollow is breaking new ground for rendering top quality 3D animation exclusively using a game engine.
“Tran Ma’s artistic prowess is fully on display by creating a robust and wonderfully unique non-CG appearance for her characters and the world that they inhabit that rivals, if not exceeds, the production design of animated films with far greater budgets and staff, while Miguel Ortega’s attention to detail directing style and mastery of emotive subtlety so impressively brings everything to life.”
Created on the heels of Half M.T. Film’s award-winning short, The Ningyo, which told the tale of a search for a mythical Japanese creature, The Voice in the Hollow presents another unexpected story: an African horror fable exploring sisterhood, envy and ancient evil. And despite its vivid colors, it is not for kids. With its intentional Spaghetti Western aesthetic and softened renders, Ortega and Ma “wanted to make a statement with this film,” Ortega noted. “The beautiful visuals and vibrant colors are simply a red herring for the dark tone the film ultimately delivers.”
Ortega, originally from Colombia, and Ma, originally from Vietnam, cast their film using native African actors in Kenya and Tanzania. The short film is produced entirely in Swahili with supporting English subtitles, with voice actors resourcefully discovered from
audiobook translators in Africa and all recordings captured through Skype. Now based in Los Angeles as resident artists and instructors at Gnomon School in Hollywood, the filmmakers hired a local actor for the female mocap performances, while Ortega himself acted the movements required for male characters. This film was created using an impressively small team of artists and actors, with the results of a first-class studio.
The Voice in the Hollow
Supporting Unreal Engine in the creation of their groundbreaking animation workflow, Ortega and Ma used industry-standard software ZBrush and Maya for the character design and creation, with character texturing handled using Adobe’s Substance Painter. Xsens’ Awinda suit and gloves helped provide the motion-capture performances while MocapX captured the facial expressions, which were all later improved upon by some of the film’s contributing animators using Maya.
Environments were sculpted and textured in Gaea, the industry-popular terrain design tool for VFX, games and virtual production, before being layered with Epic Games’ Megascans. For the most convincing fabrics and costumes, Marvelous Designer was used for the design and simulation before being exported as Alembic caches into Unreal Engine 5.
As instructors at Gnomon, the industry-focused school of VFX, games and animation in Hollywood, it was important for Ortega and Ma to document the entire process of the film’s production, from the casting and sound, through the editing and visual effects production. Over 100 hours of making-of footage have been recorded and are all available for worldwide viewing to help other aspiring filmmakers learn from their thought processes and creative workflow. Their entire filmmaking journey can be viewed now on YouTube.
“Miguel and Tran have created a beautiful film, and we’re very proud of their accomplishment,” said Alex Alvarez, Founder & President at Gnomon School. “For 10 months, they live-streamed their weekly progress, and it was a pleasure to watch the film come together. The end result is a testament to their passion and talent, while also an impressive case study on how Unreal Engine 5 empowers independent filmmakers.”
As part of the Winter 2023 TCA Press Tour, Disney+ took to the stage Friday morning to reveal a robust slate of premiere dates and first-looks (alongside Disney Channel and National Geographic). This included a brand-new trailer and key art for the much anticipated Season 2 return of The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, premiering exclusively on the streamer February 1 with 10 new episodes.
The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder picks up the story of its central character, Penny Proud, and her iconicfamily: parents Oscar and Trudy, twin siblings BeBe and CeCe, and grandmother Suga Mama (and Puff!). By Penny’s side is her loyal crew: Dijonay Jones, LaCienega Boulevardez, Zoey Howzer, Maya Leibowitz-Jenkinsand Michael Collins.
Building off the standout success of the series’ debut, Season 2 of continues to tell entertaining and laugh out-loud stories, while highlighting culturally specific experiences of the Black community and addressing universal topics. Various storylines this season touch on self-worth, interracial dating and Juneteenth.
The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder stars Kyla Pratt as the voice of Penny Proud; Tommy Davidson as her dad, Oscar; Paula Jai Parker as her mom, Trudy; JoMarie Payton as Suga Mama; Cedric the Entertainer as Uncle Bobby; Karen Malina White as Dijonay Jones; Alisa Reyes as LaCienega; and Soleil Moon Frye as Zoey.
The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder
As previously announced, the guest star list for S2 includes Gabrielle Union, Chance the Rapper, Leslie Odom Jr., Holly Robinson Peete, Normani, Cortney B. Vance, gymnasts Gymnasts Dominique Dawes, Gabby Douglas and Laurie Hernandez, Maury Povich and more.
The series comes from original The Proud Family creator/EP Bruce W. Smith, executive producer Ralph Farquhar and co-EP and story editor Calvin Brown, Jr. (Da Jammies). Jan Hirota is producer and Annie and Emmy Award winner Eastwood Wong (The Mr. Peabody & Sherman Show, Green Eggs and Ham) is art director. Produced by Disney Television Animation.
