Turner, Virgin Expand Program Offer
UK customers can count on more animated hits to brighten their screens thanks to a new long-term partnership that includes Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Cartoonito and more.
VIDEO: Interview with Turner’s Christina Miller
President and GM for Cartoon Network, Adult Swim & Boomerang talks to TV Kids about reimagining classic toons, finding the next big thing and inspiring young viewers.
Shanghai Disneyland Plans Toy Story Land
Walt Disney Co. and Shanghai Shendi Group will add a seventh themed area to the newest Disney park in 2018, inspired by the Pixar mega-hit.
Everyone’s favorite (and most regal) lemur is back for a fourth season of CG comedy hijinks as all-new episodes of DreamWorks’ All Hail King Julien debuts exclusively on Netflix on Friday, Nov. 11. Check out two new clips below and get ready to be royally entertained.
In season four, King Julien discovers he’s a terrible judge of character, Maurice isn’t really a lemur, Clover is a fantasy novelist and Mort activates his own clone army. The party rages on when newcomers Pam, Koto, Morticus Khan and Brosalind arrive in the kingdom — and hits a massive cliffhanger ending.
This year, three of the 10 all time highest-grossing animated movies hit theaters, highlighting the influence of these films. And in a time when the roles of women in film, both on and off-screen, are being discussed with increasing depth and energy, renowned animation school California Institute of the Arts will be exploring how female characters are represented in this particular medium with the second annual Animated Woman Symposium on Gender Bias in Animation.
The Symposium will take place on December 9 at 5 p.m. in Langley Hall on the CalArts campus in Valencia, California. Highlights of the event will include premiere screenings of original short films, discussions and an exhibition exploring past and present incarnations of female animated characters.
Symposium originator Erica Larsen-Dockray is special faculty in CalArts’ Experimental Animation Program in the School of Film/Video. She designed and teaches the popular class, The Animated Woman, which is the source of the symposium’s visual work and topics for discussion.
“It has been such a pleasure to work with these students who are a delightfully diverse group coming from a variety of backgrounds and artistic practices,” said Larsen-Dockray. “Their projects reflect important perspectives from marginalized communities as they investigate animated characters and issues of biases, which in many cases, has impacted them directly.”
This year, students from CalArts programs ranging from Character Animation, Experimental Animation and Sound Design to Stage Management and Fine Art, are taking part in the class and symposium. Their work includes original animated films, installations, drawings, paintings, songs, zines and keynote presentations—and feature critical and often satirical takes on topics such as “the nerd girl,” magic as a gendered plot device, body hair, female superhero sidekicks, tomboys and more.
Female students, faculty and alumni of CalArts have made (and continue to make) a major impact on the industry, as highlighted in a 2015 Los Angeles Times feature on the rise of women in college animation programs. In 2012, Brenda Chapman (alongside fellow alum and co-director Mark Andrews) became the first woman to receive a Best Animated Feature Oscar for Disney-Pixar’s Brave.
On the airwaves, CalArts alumna Daron Nefcy is the creator and executive producer of multiple Annie nominee Star vs. The Forces of Evil on Disney Channel/Disney XD. When the show launched in 2015, Nefcy became the second ever woman to create a Disney Channel animated series, and the first in 18 years. Star has been renewed for a third season.
Fox Animation continues its kids’ and youth bookrightsacquisitions run by picking up Margaret Dilloway’s Momotaro: Xander and the Island of Lost Monsters, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The adaptation will be a fully animated feature.
Published by Disney-Hyperion and featuring illustrations by Choong Yoon, Dilloway’s venture into children’s fantasy taps into the author’s Japanese heritage. The story follows a creative sixth grader named Xander Miyamoto who suffers through his teacher’s lectures and racial harassment from his classmate. His plans to spend spring break playing computer games with his best friend, Peyton, are interrupted when a strangely prophetic comic book foretells the biggest adventure of the boys’ lives — a journey rife with danger, strange monsters and folkloric tests of their mettle.
Darlene Caamaño Loquet is overseeing the project for Fox, which is currently seeking a scriptwriter for the adaption.
Portfolio Entertainment has wrapped up its MIPCOM 2016 negotiations by securing multiple sales for its kids’ catalog, including DOKI and The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot about That!
National Geographic Channel has acquired the first season of DOKI (26 x 30) for its kids block in the Middle East and North Africa, while Studio U7’s Channel Ryzhy in Russia has purchased the first and second season of the series (52 x 30). DOKI is an animated series that centres around curious Doki and his friends who travel the world to answer important preschool questions.
Video and entertainment service, PlayKids, has also bought the SVOD rights to DOKI (10 x 11) for the UK, Ireland, US and Canada. PlayKids has also picked up season one of the Dr. Seuss-inspired preschool series The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That! (10 x 11) for its SVOD service in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.
“We’re thrilled to see these children’s titles land on new platforms and channels internationally,” said Jonathan Abraham, Director of International Sales and Acquisitions, Portfolio Entertainment. “These recent sales showcase Portfolio Entertainment’s rich library of kids content that continues to be favourites around the world.”
London-based digital distribution and content management company MoMedia has signed on four new digital-first IP brands in the kids’ entertainment category. Added to the company’s local and worldwide transactional EST and SVOD roster — which already includes Outfit7’s Talking Tom and Friends and Zinkia’s Pocoyo — are Indian YouTube brand ChuChu TV, Hooplakidz Network!, language-education platform Badanamu and Brazilian music project Lottie Dottie Chicken (Galinha Pintadinha).
ChuChu TV claims to be the third-most watched YouTube channel brand in India, with 5.7 million subscribers and over 5.8 billion video views. YoBoHo, now part of Vancouver-based Broadband TV (BBTV), specializes in creating original digital children’s content for its Hooplakidz Network!, which consists of 30-plus channels and characters tailored to children of all ages and stages. Yoboho’s content reaches more than 3 billion views per year, of which Hooplakidz represents 2 billion.
Korean outfit Calm Island’s Badanamu is an integrated digital and physical platform built solely for educational use. Its assets include 200 unique educational videos, 200 storybooks with full interactive apps, 150-plus learning games, IQ and level testing, and multiple intelligence learning algorithms. Brazilian app creator and developer Zeroum has signed with MoMedia for the distribution of the Brazilian music-video phenomenon, Lottie Dottie Chicken, which is now one of YouTube’s top 20 children’s brands.
In separate SVOD/EST deals, MoMedia has also signed up BAFTA-winning CBBC series Operation Ouch (44 x 26 mins) from Genevieve Dexter’s Serious Lunch, produced by All3Media prodco Maverick Television; and Creative Media Partners’ (‘CMP) first title, HD CG animated comedy Sindbad & The 7 Galaxies (26 x 11 mins). Both shows will now be distributed via MoMedia to digital platforms including iTunes and Google.
The first English-language film based on the global animation and game phenomenon, Yo-Kai Watch: The Movie will make its US television premiere on Saturday, November 12 at 9 a.m. ET/PT on Disney XD. The movie will have encore airings Nov. 13 at 5 p.m. and Nov. 14 at 3:45 p.m. The TV event on the heels of a limited theatrical run was announced by brand creator LEVEL-5 abby Inc.
Featuring the voice talent from the hit TV series, Yo-Kai Watch: The Movie follows Nate Adams and his Yo-kai friends, Whisper and Jibanyan, as they’re transported to the past to help Nate’s grandfather, Nathaniel, battle evil Yo-kai and invent the Yo-kai Watch. Yo-Kai Watch: The Movie also introduces a new Yo-kai — Hovernyan, a floating blue cat who is Nathaniel’s heroic companion.
To toast the movie, LEVEL-5 abby is making the second season of the TV series available for free on YouTube for a limited time, starting with the first five episodes on Nov. 14 with additional adventures added throughout he month on the official Yo-Kai Watch YouTube channel. Each of these episodes will reveal special QR codes that can be scanned into 3DS games Yo-Kai Watch 2: Bony Spirits and Yo-Kai Watch 2: Fleshy Souls, as well as the iOS/Android apps Yo-Kai Watch Land and Yo-Kai Watch Wibble Wobble.
Fans can also collect secret passwords hidden in each episode and enter them at yo-kai-world.com to enter sweepstakes for over a thousand prizes, including exclusive Hovernyan Yo-Motion Medals. One grand prize winner will receive a package including Nintendo 3DS games, Hasbro toys and a custom voice greeting from their favorite Yo-kai.
New episodes of Yo-Kai Watch season two currently air on Disney XD every Saturday at 8:30 a.m. ET/PT. Immediately before the movie’s debut on Nov. 12, a new episode “Whisper’s Secret Past” will explore the secret origins of Nate’s beloved Yo-kai butler.
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A record setting 27 films have been submitted for consideration in the Animated Feature Film category for the 89th Academy Awards. A major increase over last edition’s 16 contenders, this year’s crop is dominated by imported and international co-production titles, which last year made up a narrow minority.
Several of these films have yet to have their required L.A. qualifying theatrical run. In order to have five nomination slots in the category, 16 films must qualify. Films submitted in the Animated Feature Film category also may qualify for Academy Awards in other categories, including Best Picture, provided they meet the requirements for those categories.
Nominations for the 89th Oscars will be announced on Tuesday, January 24, 2017. The ceremony will be held on Sunday, February 26, 2017, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, and will be televised live on the ABC Television Network.
Baobab Studios’ ‘Invasion!’ Arrives on Daydream
Award-winning VR animation lands as a launch title on Google’s Daydream platform for high-quality mobile VR — catch Invasion! and a first look at Baobab’s next episode, Asteroids!, for Playstation VR, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Gear VR.
Immersed in China: An Interview with Toony Wu
Kevin Geiger gets the scoop from up-and-coming local VR animation director and knowledgeable entrepreneur Wu on the current state and future of one of the world’s hottest VR markets.
Vergie Banks Unveils Art, New Animation Series
Louisiana native known for her signature “red tricycle” debuts a new series of pieces and animation in collaboration with UL Lafayette and ArtSpark.
European CG studio TeamTO has secured a distribution agreement with Taikong Works for all rights to its debut theatrical feature Yellowbird in China — a triumphant first deal for TeamTO’s Beijing office, established in June of this year.
Taikong Works will distribute Yellowbird throughout China across all platforms, including cinemas, digital media and traditional broadcast. A theatrical release is planned for Chinese New Year in January. Taikong Works, a strong branding and licensing entity in the country, will also roll out ancillary rights and promotions alongside the theatrical run.
Yellowbird, featuring the voices of top Hollywood talent Seth Green, Elliott Gould, Christine Baranski and Dakota Fanning, has been sold by Simon Crowe of SC Films International to over 50 markets worldwide, and has seen theatrical release in 35 countries.
Headed by experienced Franco-Chinese film industry veteran Shu Ye, TeamTO’s Beijing office was established to create partnerships between its own studios in France and Chinese animation companies, with the intent to co-produce premium content for global audiences.
“The traditional relationship where international companies outsource to Chinese animation companies is quickly evolving into a more bilateral relationship, with co-production, co-finance, and co-distribution in a global market of high-quality projects flowing in both directions,” commented Guillaume Hellouin, President of TeamTO.
Stoopid Buddy Stoodios and Cartoon Network Enterprises have teamed up with WeLoveFine to launch a fresh Robot Chicken merchandise collection, featuring a special assortment of T-shirts and other items to be sold at conventions, online and at select retailers.
The Bitch Pudding Fan Forge, now open for submissions, gives artists the opportunity to submit fan art to be rated and critiqued by the community wth a chance of having their work officially licensed and reproduced on merchandise — and earn a commission on every unit sold.
For the launch of Fan Forge’s first set of fan art goods, special guest judges Robot Chicken creators Seth Green and Matt Senreich will choose their favorite designs to be made into T-shirts. Additionally, judges from Hot Topic, ThinkGeek and ReedPop will choose their favorite designs to be made into T-shirts, as well as select designs to be available in their stores across the country.
All selected Fan Forge artists for this inaugural run will win great prize packages and gift certificates to WeLoveFine.com. Each artist will also be entered to win a signed Robot Chicken puppet, which will be chosen from a random drawing the day the collection is launched. Bitch Pudding will have a monthly upload of fan art merchandise and artists are encouraged to submit and promote their designs to have a chance to get their designs officially licensed and produced on WeLoveFine.com.
Adelphoi Music has teamed up with singer-songwriter Ben Cocks to create a compelling track to accompany a new social activism campaign from Ben & Jerry’s aimed at championing social inclusion at a time of increasing division.
“One Sweet World,” brought to life by animation director Luke Marsh for creative agency Nice and Serious, carries a simple message: an inclusive and welcoming society starts with a belief that we all deserve respect, whatever our backgrounds. Ben Cocks’ catchy folk melody accompanies the spot’s initial melancholic mood with sombre piano, before building to an uplifting emotional climax.
Adelphoi Music worked closely with Ben to create the composition, which has been released in full across all major distribution channels, alongside the online campaign’s European launch.
“This idea of a divided country was something I could definitely recognise in post-Brexit Britain,” explains Ben. “Music is often used to bring people together, so I jumped at the chance to be involved. I needed to help tell the story of a sour world turned sweet, so I kept the changes in harmonies quite subtle to add an element of happiness without it being too jarring. Being musicians themselves, the Adelphoi Music team are a dream to work with professionally and really understand the creative process, which made this collaboration so effective.”
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The legendary star of I Dream of Jeannie Barbara Eden is returning to her genie roots and getting animated star treatment in a brand-new episode of Nickelodeon’s hit preschool series Shimmer and Shine.
In “The Crystal Queen,” premiering Friday, November 18 at 11 a.m. ET/PT, Eden voices Empress Caliana, a quirky genie ruler and mentor to Samira, the genie princess. When power-hungry sorceress Zeta traps Samira in a magical crystal cave, Shimmer, Shine and Leah team up with Empress Caliana to save the day.
Currently the number-one preschool series in its timeslot across all TV, Shimmer and Shine follows the twin genies-in-training on their adventures and highlights a social-emotional curriculum emphasizing teamwork, resilience and overcoming obstacles.
There’s more to celebrate this Thanksgiving week as PBS KIDS dives into the deep sea in a new movie from intrepid explorers of the natural world, Martin and Chris Kratt. Wild Kratts: Creatures of the Deep Sea premieres Wednesday, November 23 on PBS stations nationwide, followed by the world premier of Splash and Bubbles.
“The Wild Kratts movie and PBS KIDS’ new series Splash and Bubbles provide kids with engaging and entertaining ways to learn more about marine animals, while building science skills and supporting social-emotional learning,” said Lesli Rotenberg, SVP and General Manager, Children’s Media and Education, PBS. “With this new programming, PBS KIDS aims to spark kids’ lifelong curiosity and enthusiasm for the ocean, as well as appreciation for the diversity of creatures that call it home.”
Produced by the Kratt Brothers Company, Wild Kratts: Creatures of the Deep Sea features Martin and Chris as they dive down to the most unexplored habitat on Earth: the ocean trenches. There, they must choose between saving their creature friends from the greedy clutches of Gourmand or realizing their lifelong dream of discovering new species that may unlock the secrets of science. Following its on-air premiere, Creatures of the Deep Sea will stream on the free PBS KIDS Video App and on pbskids.org until December 22. A new Wild Kratts game will also be available on pbskids.org and the free PBS KIDS Games App in mid-November.
Airing daily following its premiere, Splash and Bubbles is produced by The Jim Henson Company (Dinosaur Train, Sid the Science Kid) and Herschend Studios, the media arm of Herschend Enterprises (Dollywood, Harlem Globetrotters), and created by John Tartaglia (ImaginOcean, Johnny and the Sprites), is designed to encourage kids ages 4-7 to explore the natural undersea world. Developed with top marine biologists, digital innovators and educators, the series’ curricular focus incorporates themes of diversity, individuality, interconnectedness and the celebration of learning and discovery. Each episode includes two 11-minute animated stories, as well as live-action content. The series is funded in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
In advance of its Nov. 23 premiere, Splash and Bubbles will feature in a suite of digital offerings. Four 11-minute stories will launch on the PBS KIDS Video App and pbskids.org the week of Nov. 14, with additional episodes rolling out weekly until January. And the game “Finball Friends” will debut on www.pbskids.org/splashandbubbles and the PBS KIDS Games App.
Global entertainment company Boat Rocker Media has promoted Samantha Traub to Chief Operating Officer and Michel Pratte to Chief Revenue Officer — the announcement was made by co-Executive Chairmen David Fortier and Ivan Schneeberg, and CEO John Young, to whom Traub and Pratte will continue to report.
Boat Rocker Media creates, produces and distributes content for all platforms, and encompasses Boat Rocker Studios (including Temple Street, Jam Filled Entertainment and Radical Sheep), Boat Rocker Rights, Boat Rocker Brands and Boat Rocker Ventures (including Industrial Brothers and The Outline).
“We are extremely fortunate to have incredible strength and depth of talent within Boat Rocker’s senior ranks,” said Young. “Sam is without a doubt the most dedicated and trusted executive I’ve ever worked with, and Michel’s passion, knowledge and expertise have been instrumental to our success thus far. Both Sam and Michel consistently deliver results and always look out for the best interests of Boat Rocker.”
“We founded Boat Rocker with a strategy to develop our creative content and make smart, strategic acquisitions that would build our portfolio. Sam and Michel have been essential in expanding our global footprint, developing and executing smart deals and growing our business into new sectors, including animation and kids programming,” stated Fortier and Schneeberg.
Traub joined the company — at the time, Temple Street Prod. — in 2007 as Vice President, Business and Legal Affairs, overseeing the structuring of domestic and international productions and co-productions, managing production legal deals and negotiated talent and partnership agreements. Traub provided key strategic and legal support on the company’s behalf in connection with Fairfax Financial’s significant capital investment in Boat Rocker in 2015. Thereafter, Traub was promoted to Senior Vice President, Business and Legal Affairs and General Counsel and in addition to leading Boat Rocker’s legal and business affairs team and managing all legal issues on behalf of the company, played a crucial role in Boat Rocker’s recent acquisition spree and expansion into distribution, kids and family programming, and animation services. In her role as COO, Traub adds to her portfolio management of Boat Rocker Studio’s production team and will oversee human resources and governance issues for the company.
Pratte joined Boat Rocker in 2008 and was quickly promoted to Director, Strategy & Business Development. Over the past eight years, Pratte has spearheaded the building of Boat Rocker’s digital division and corporate development strategy, most recently as Senior Vice President of Boat Rocker Ventures. Pratte was integral to the exponential growth of Boat Rocker’s family and kids division in 2016, including leading the acquisitions of Radical Sheep and Jam Filled Entertainment, and overseeing Jam Filled’s purchase of the principal assets of Arc Productions Ltd. in the wake of Arc’s receivership this past summer. In his new role as CRO, Pratte will oversee Boat Rocker’s Rights, Brands and Ventures divisions while continuing to lead the company’s M&A and corporate development activity.
Animation Guild Ratifies Nickelodeon Renewal Agreement
Nick Animation Studios employees “strongly ratified” a new two-year contract, which includes 10 sick days per year on top of 2015 AMPTP-Animation Guild wage and pension agreements. The Viacom studio and Animation Guild have had a contract since 2002.
VIDEO: Finding Dory – Dory’s Origin
Disney Movies Anywhere shares how Dory’s character came to be, with director Andrew Stanton and some sweet pieces of concept and story art thrown in.
CLIP: How to Meet an Alien in ‘Arrival’
Amy Adams maker her first risky attempt at extraterrestrial communication as linguist Dr. Louise Banks in Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi thriller, out Nov. 11.
SAMG Animation (South Korea) and its Moscow-based distribution and licensing agency partner CLS Media announce that animated property Vroomiz has made it onto the top 10 most popular toy products for boys in Russia, per the latest study from Yandex.Market.
Vroomiz is joined in the top 10 by brands such as Cars, Star Wars, Spider- Man, Robocar Poli, Chuggington and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; and leaves behind Tom and Jerry, Iron Man and Fireman Sam.
According to the these studies, there is no intersection among the 10 most popular brands in toys category for boys and girls, with boys strongly preferring transport-themed toys and girls preferring dolls. Boys prefer transport and robots, girls – doll brands.
Yandex.Market counts over 760,000 different products based on popular characters, excluding the original sources (books, movies and computer games). The most characters could be found among the toy product – every tenth item (totaling more than 400,000) uses a character’s image.
Vroomiz is created by SAMG Animation studio. CLS Media is SAMG’s exclusive partner for Vroomiz in Russia and CIS. The Vroomiz animated series is broadcast by leading Russian kid’s TV channels and is gaining strong ratings. Season three of the show premiered this fall on EBS in South Korea; the Russian premiere of the new season is scheduled for the end of 2016/beginning of 2017 on Carousel.
The BBC’s preschool channel CBeebies is coming to young audiences in East Africa through a new deal between BBC Worldwide and pay TV platform Zuku TV. The kids’ channel is available now, running 24/7, and offering popular UK commissioned shows including Go Jetters, Sarah and Duck and Hey Duggee.
CBeebies is now available in 78 international territories. Earlier this year, CBeebies arrived in North Africa through beIN. The channel is also already available in South Africa, where it performs well.`
“The channel is home to some of the most entertaining and educational programs for young children and given that the African continent has one of the youngest populations globally, we’re excited to be able to give new viewers on the Zuku platform access to such popular kids’ programs,” said Joel Churcher, BBC Worldwide’s Johannesburg-based general manager for Africa.
“Our partnership with BBC Worldwide and launch of the CBeebies channel comes at an ideal time when the children are home for the Christmas break,” said Jay Chudasama, CEO, Zuku TV said. “Following the success of the channel in South Africa, we’re confident that CBeebies will perform well with our customers across the Zuku platform.”
Big Bad Boo Studios has secured a multi-year deal with Big Bad Boo Studios’s children channel, CCTV-14, for its animated comedy series 1001 Nights. Aimed at kids ages 6-9, the show retells the tales of Sharhzad, from Aladdin to Sinbad and all the rest.
1001 Nights will premiere on CCTV-14 Nov. 10, and will join the CCTV Kids livestream VOD service offerings.
“We’re thrilled to partner with CCTV and very excited to be featured on their children’s channel,” said Aly Jetha, CEO of Big Bad Boo. “Many of the original stories of 1001 Nights, like Aladdin, take place in China, so we are hoping that the local audience finds our stories relevant, fun and entertaining.”
1001 Nights airs in more than 80 territories worldwide, with broadcasting partners including Disney Channel, Cartoon Network and Al Jazeera Children’s Channel. Big Bad Boo is negotiating with agents in Asia to expand the licensing presence of the property, which is heading into its third season.
