Author: Mercedes Milligan

‘Mausie’ Takes Top Dusty Award for Animation

The winners of the 27^th Dusty Film & Animation Festival, which took place Tuesday night at the SVA Theatre in New York City, have been announced. Highlighting the work of more than 100 filmmakers and animators graduating from the BFA Film and BFA Animation departments in 2016, the awards were:

For Animation:

Outstanding Animated Film: Winners: Hsuan Ho and Silver Paul, Mausie and The Order of the Golden Sun

Outstanding Achievement in Character Animation: Winner: Montana Hall, Monster

Outstanding Achievement in Animation Production Design: Winner: Ivan Viaranchyk, Night Shadows

Special Jury Award for Comedy in Animation: Winner: Kristina Martin, Sprigs and Parsley in: Coffee Table

For Film:

Outstanding Film: Winner: Aurora Alänge, Syskon

Outstanding Achievement in Directing: Winner: Kishan Savjani, Rubaroo

Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography: Winner: Anthony Carella, Syskon

Outstanding Achievement in Editing: Winners: Erin DeWitt and Tobias Belliard, Apocalypse Mambo

Outstanding Documentary: Winner: Juana Hodari, Tomasa

Gotham Sound Grant: Recipient: Ashley Avila

New York Women in Film & Television Award: Maya Cozier

IFP Award: Recipients: Enrico Granato and Luigi Rossi,

Human Spirit Award: Recipient: Philippa Fort, Pippa

For Screenwriting:

Outstanding Achievement in Screenwriting: Winner: Evan DeCarlo, Marry Me on Mulberry Mountain

“We are excited to celebrate the successes of our students with many guests from the worlds of film and animation,” said Reeves Lehmann. Annie Flocco added, “We’d also like to extend a big thank you to our many generous sponsors and supporters, some of whom have been with us for many years, and to the spectacular SVA Theatre crew for collaborating on another year of stellar events.”

Hosted by media personality Valerie Smaldone, the 27^th Dusty presenters included notables from the world of film, television and animation, including Josh Singer, Trudie Styler, Mark Osborne, Chris Newman, Laurens Grant, Ti West, Michael Simmonds, Howard Beckerman, Tom Sito, Mark Ulano, Aaron Yanes and Neil Burger.

Headlining sponsors include AbelCine, Adorama Rental Co, Animation Magazine, B&H Photo, Bryan Singer – Bad Hat Harry, Carlos Saldanha – BottleCap Productions, Dig It Audio, Randall Emmett – Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films, Foto Care, Gotham Sound, IFP, New York Women in Film & Television, Nice Shoes Creative Studio, Nickelodeon, Rota6, SCS Agency, the SVA Campus Store, Technicolor PostWorks New York and Toon Boom Animation. One hundred percent of the sponsors’ donations will benefit thesis film and animation students in the form of grants and in-kind awards.

27th Dusty Film & Animation Festival

May 12, 2016
Trailer: ‘Voltron’ Premieres June 10 on Netflix

The universe’s greatest protector will rise again in DreamWorks Animation’s all-new series Voltron Legendary Defender, premiering June 10 exclusively on Netflix. This rebirth of a fan-favorite science fiction franchise will launch with an hour-long original story, “The Rise of Voltron,” with 10 episodes to follow.

Though it is instantly recognizable to classic Voltron fans, Executive Producer Joaquim Dos Santos and Co-Executive Producer Lauren Montgomery (The Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender) have re-engineered core elements of the original show using all of the twenty-first-century technology and storytelling innovation at their disposal. With a killer mix of old and new animation techniques, creative transformations of the characters and designs and inventive plot expansions, DreamWorks Voltron Legendary Defender honors the show’s venerated history while amplifying its strengths and scope tenfold.

Voltron Legendary Defender

May 12, 2016
Animation Vets Launch Cloud-Based Studio Artella

A new global collaboration platform for animated film, videogame and virtual reality content production called Artella has arrived on the scene. Founded by animation veterans Bobby Beck (formerly at Pixar), Carlos Baena (formerly at Pixar and Paramount) and Shawn Kelly (Industrial Light & Magic), Artella is an end-to-end web browser-based platform that empowers artists to assemble teams from anywhere in the world to tackle projects of any size and scope.

“The world is full of talented creative people who have the tools in their home to make great content, but lack the professional network. We simply wanted to find a way to bring them together from anywhere in the world and to give way to a new form of collaborative production studio,” said co-founder Bobby Beck. “By taking care of the technical production pipeline and communication challenges, Artella allows artists to focus on being their full creative selves so they can make incredible content.”

Artella allows creative teams to establish their own virtual studios and present their projects to a global network of collaborators — including writers, directors, storyboarders, voice talent, animators, composers, software engineers and other creative professionals at every level of the industry. In addition to offering communication, file management and review tools and template-based workflows for different types of projects, the platform seamlessly integrates with widely used software like Autodesk’s Maya, Adobe Premiere and Photoshop, and The Foundry’s Nuke.

See www.artella.com for more information.

Artella

May 11, 2016
‘Paddington 2’ Production Embarks This Fall

Studiocanal has confirmed that Paddington 2 will kick off production in the U.K. this October. The sequel is on sale at the Marche du Film in Cannes this year and will see producer David Heyman (Harry Potter) and director Paul King return to their posts, with King co-writing with Simon Farnaby. It is not yet confirmed that voice of Paddington Ben Whishaw and co-stars Hugh Bonneville and Sally Hawkins will return, but a U.K. release date of November 24, 2017 has been set.

Studiocanal will distribute Paddington 2 in the U.K., France, Germany and Australia/New Zealand — it is also fully financing the production.

Paddington was very well reviewed and proved a box-office smash, pulling in $267 million worldwide to make it the highest grossing non-U.S. studio released family film ever. The $55 million-budgeted production was released in the U.S. by Weinstein/Dimension and took in $76.7 million at the box office.

Paddington

May 11, 2016
Disney Scraps Infinity Console Business

Disney is stepping away from the video game publishing arena, deciding to shutter its Disney Infinity console business and taking a $147 million write off in its second fiscal quarter earnings. Variety reports that chairman and CEO Bob Iger has said that the console gaming game was too unpredictable.

Disney Infinity launched in 2013 and performed well, but later iterations and titles lagged significantly in sales. Disney Infinity’s SVP and General Manager told Variety via Twitter that there will be two final releases for the console: Alice Through the Looking Glass this month and Finding Dory in June.

Disney Infinity

May 11, 2016
Cheesecake Factory Gets Animated for ‘The Kitchen Speaks’

The Cheesecake Factory restaurant chain is introducing online audiences to The Kitchen Speaks, a seven-part animated series featuring an “all-star cast” of kitchen utensils: upbeat Whisk, overwhelmed Board, frazzled Pan, happy-go-lucky Bowl, sharp-witted Knife and newbie Grater.

The Kitchen Speaks is a quirky campaign following the daily activities of kitchen tools prepping for the prep, showing a natural fear of microwaves, tolerating new employees and generally supporting one another on their “Made Fresh” journeys.

The Cheesecake Factory CMO Donald Evans (who spent 11 years with Disney and Pixar) worked with the Pereira & O’Dell agency and commercial animation studio House Special to create the spots. The series will run online leading up to National Cheesecake Day on July 29 and 30 through video partners including Hulu, YouTube and Drawbridge as well as the brand’s social channels.

The Kitchen Speaks

May 11, 2016
Odin’s Eye Falls on Chinese Film ‘Foodiverse’

Australia-based sales agent Odin’s Eye Entertainment will be launching Chinese animated feature Foodiverse on the international market this week at Cannes. The 3D film, currently in production, is set in a universe of foodies, where traditional foods are pitted against sinister powers intent on sweeping flavor and fun from the kitchen.

Foodiverse is written and directed by Liaoyu Chen and produced by Beijing Phenom Films, The Gate Studio, United Entertainment Partners, Exchange and Joyspoon. Odin’s Eye is handling all rights outside of mainland China. Presale agreements have already been made with Captive Entertainment in the Philippines and Dexin Film in former Yugoslavia territories.

The film is slated for delivery in the second quarter of 2017. Odin’s Eye is also shopping international animation titles Bad Cat, Kikoriki: Legend of the Golden Dragon and Throne of Elves.

Foodiverse

May 11, 2016
Exclusive Clip: Mickey Mouse Gets ‘Entombed’ May 13

Our plucky pals at Disney Channel have given us a sneak peek at the newest Mickey Mouse short cartoon, which premieres Friday, May 13 at 7:55 p.m. The new toon, “Entombed,” sees Mickey and Minnie getting separated inside a spooky tomb under the legendary Valley of the Kings in Egypt.

According to the folks at the House of Mouse, “Entombed” director Dave Thomas was inspired to create this short after a visit to a recreation of King Tut’s tomb. Lots of little details like the style of the gags, pacing and music pay tribute to 1930s cinema — with the added retro touch of Minnie Egyptian outfit, which is modeled on Elizabeth Taylor’s iconic costume from Cleopatra. Don’t miss “Entombed” when it makes its broadcast debut!

Mickey Mouse: Entombed

May 11, 2016
MIFA Pitch Picks Revealed

MIFA market organizers have whittled down over 400 project submissions to the 35 most promising concepts for feature films, short films, transmedia properties, TV specials/series and the Animation du Monde section, celebrating the creativity of emerging animation producing countries. The MIFA Pitches will be presented June 15 and 16 at the Imperial Palace, Ravel A&B alongside the Annecy festival (June 13-18).

Full MIFA Pitches program information available here.

Feature Films
Tito e os passaros (Brazil) Directors: Gustavo Steinberg, Gabriel Bitar
Super Vinamotor (France) Directors: Francois Leroy, Stephanie Lansaque
Memorias de un hombre en pijama (Spain) Directors: Carlos Fernandez, Paco Roca
Solo Lobo (Hungary) Director: Zoltan Miklosy
Nimuendaju (Brazil) Director: Tania Anaya

Short Films
La Soupe aux singes (France) Director: Alix Fizet
Traces (France) Directors: Hugo Frassetto, Sophie Tavert
Entre sombras (Portugal) Directors: Monica Fernandes Dos Santos, Alice Guimaraes
Le Nouveau (France) Director: Eric Montchaud
Trona Pinnacles (France) Director: Mathilde Parquet
La Lampadaire (Bulgaria/France) Director: Emma Vakarelova
Vieille peau (France) Director: Julie Rembauville
Carpelle (France/Hungary) Directors: Sarolta Szabo, Tibor Banoczki

TV Series and Specials
Plantheon (France) Director: Thomas Pons
O diario de Alice (Brazil) Director: Diogo Viegas
Mille et un Moyen Age (France) Directors: Paul Bourgois, Jeremy Boulard
Little Idle Hands (U.K.) Director: Felix Massie
Flee (Denmark) Director: Jonas Poher-Rasmussen
Urikito 3024 (France) Director: Melanie Duval
The Jan & Rai Show (Australia) Director: Lluis Sanchez Jorge

Transmedia
Chez Simone (France) Director: Alwa Deluze
Elemented (Canada) Directors: Daniel Gies, Emily Paige
Gagarine: Cosmic Trip (France) Director: Daniel Khamdamov
Before You Wake – Discover Tesla’s Secret Invention (Croatia/Serbia) Director: Branislav Brkich
Astrononeko (France) Directors: Axel Rousseau, Clement De Ruyter
Nothing Happens (Denmark) Director: Uri Kranot

Animation du Monde
Nuna: La Agonia del Wamani (Peru) Director: Jimmy Carhuas
Step into the River (China) Director: Weijia Ma
Dog Days (Georgia) Director: Vakhtang Tato Kotetishvili
A Crow (Georgia) Director: Sandro Katamashvili
Fairy Wheels (South Africa) Director: Clea Mallinson
Khamsa (Algeria) Directors: Khaled Chiheb, Messaoud Rouag, Kamal Zakour
Island (China) Director: Mengqian Chen
Mad Peter (China) Director: Ginger (Yiqing) Liu
Riga’s Lilac (Latvia) Director: Lizete Murovska

Annecy

May 10, 2016
Kids’ CBC Greenlights ‘Wandering Wenda’

Kids’ CBC has greenlit Wandering Wenda, a new 26 x 8 animated series from Breakthrough Entertainment. Inspired by best-selling author Margaret Atwood’s children’s book The Wide World of Wandering Wenda, the series follows young Wenda and her two best friends on their magical adventures. Production by Breakthrough and PIP Animation began in November 2015, with broadcast slated for winter 2017.

“I’m delighted that Wenda has wandered her way into the wild world of television and wish her well on her adventures,” said Atwood.

Young viewers will be transported to an exhilarating world of action, adventure and alliteration as they follow Wenda, Wu and Wesley Woodchuck on a series of wild, weird and wonderfully exciting adventures. No matter where Wenda wanders, she always finds herself mixed up in the middle of mayhem, and when the going gets tough she uses her words. By changing words, she shapes her adventure and adapts the world around her to get out of sticky situations. Each episode is a whimsical, globe-trotting adventure of sound, word and letter exploration aimed at young readers.

Wandering Wenda

May 10, 2016
‘Only Yesterday’ & ‘Boy in the World’ Arrive July 5

GKIDS announces that pre-ordering is now available for the home entertainment release of Isao Takahata’s Only Yesterday and Ale Abreu’s Boy & the World. Both titles on Blu-ray and DVD will be available in stores and online July 5.

Only Yesterday is set in 1982 and follows Taeko (voiced by Daisy Ridley), a 27-year-old, unmarried woman living in Tokyo. Deciding to travel to visit relatives in the country, the nighttime train ride inspires memories of her young years to flood back: he first crush, the onset of puberty and the frustrations of her school days. At the station she is met by young farmer Toshio (Dev Patel), and encounters with him begin to reconnect he to her former longings. Directed by Takahata and produced by Hayao Miyazaki, Only Yesterday receives its first North American theatrical release with a new Studio Ghibli produced, English-language version through GKIDS in celebration of its 25th anniversary.

Boy and the World from Brazilian artist Ale Abreu is an Academy Award-nominated masterpiece of music, color and visual innovation. The story follows a young boy named Cuca, whose cozy rural life is shattered when his father leaves for the big city, prompting the lad to embark on a quest to reunite his family. As Cuca’s journey progresses, Abreu’s animation takes on greater complexity as the boy’s small world expands. The film illustrates the clash between village and city, hand crafted and mechanized, rich and poor — and throughout the tumult, the heart and soul of the people.

Only Yesterday / Boy & the World

May 10, 2016
Genius Brands Inks Widespread Broadcast and Digital Deals

Genius Brands International continues to grow its global distribution footprint with multiple license agreements freshly signed for its animated kids series Warren Buffett’s Secret Millionaires Club and Thomas Edison’s Secret Lab, as well as new music-based tween series SpacePOP.

GBI has licensed short form content, including webisodes from Warren Buffett’s Secret Millionaires Club and all-new music videos from SpacePOP and Thomas Edison’s Secret Lab to kids content digital platform batteryPOP, and has licensed SpacePOP to On-Demand kids destination Toon Googles. Additionally, the Company has licensed U.S. broadcast rights to two animated series, Secret Millionaires Club and Thomas Edison’s Secret Lab to STARZ and Qubo, the only 24/7 over the air network for kids.

“With these new agreements, we are in a position to maximize exploitation and exposure in the market for our content across pay and terrestrial television as well as digital, and in turn to drive retail sales of consumer products based on the brands,” said GBI’s SVP of Global Content Sales Andrew Berman. “We look forward to continuing to build our global network of media partners, collaborating to bring our diverse range of entertainment and derivative consumer products to young audiences everywhere.”

SpacePOP

May 10, 2016
NFB Presents Canada Animation Day in L.A.

East Los Angeles College, Cinema Without Borders and the National Film Board of Canada will present the National Film Board of Canada Animation Day on Saturday, May 21 as the second edition of the annual East Los Angeles College International Animation Festival. The event will take place at East Los Angeles College in Monterey Park, California in the S1 Art History Lecture Hall.

The ELAC International Animation Festival seeks to give an in-depth and entertaining introduction to contemporary international animation through short film screenings, analyses and Q&As with a panel of well-known experts, as well as a tribute to an international animation artist working in the U.S. industry.

The Ma 21 program begins with an appetizer reception at 11:30 a.m. (catered by Polka Restaurant), followed by opening remarks and an introduction from Maral Mohammadian, Producer at the NFB’s English Animation Studio (via Skype). The screenings will comprise Oscar winning NFB films through the decades: Norman McLaren’s Neighbors (1952), Co Hoedeman’s The Sand Castle (1977), Eunice Macaulay & John Weldon’s Special Delivery (1978), Eugene Fedorenko’s Every Child (1979), Chris Landreth’s Ryan (2004) and Torill Kove’s The Danish Poet (2006).

The discussion panel will be moderated by artist Mike Libonati, who runs ELAC’s animation department, and includes Italian-American animator Cinzia Angelini, industry pioneer Sarah Baisley, effects animator and CSUN teacher Lee Crow, Animation Magazine Editor-in-Chief Tom McLean, Maral Mohammadian, and 11-year Disney Feature Animation veteran Bill Recinos.

NFB Canada Animation Day will wind up with “The Making of Mila: Creating a Quality Animated Film via the World Wide Web” presented by Cinzia Angelini, “Return of a Legend: A Tribute to Phil Roman” in honor of the studio founder and Windsor McCay Lifetime Achievement Award winner — who will be given a CWB/ELAC Diploma of Honor, and closing remarks including plans for the 2017 and 2018 events to celebrate Latin American and South East European animation.

National Film Board of Canada

May 10, 2016
Artspace Celebrates Moonbot’s Fifth Anniversary

Shreveport, Louisiana’s Artspace venue will welcome the delightful characters and three famous animators to Northwest Louisiana to celebrate the fifth anniversary of Moonbot Studios with Phases: A Moonbot Retrospective. The public is invited to enjoy an exhibit featuring Mr. Morris Lessmore and his Fantastic Flying Books, The Numberlys and Ollie as well as a showcase of personal works by more than 20 Moonbot animation artists in “The Art Side of the Moon,” which kick off with a free reception hosted by Shreveport Regional Arts Council on May 20 at 5:30 p.m. The exhibitions run through August 13, 2016 at Artspace.

Must-see artwork and special events will include never-before-seen concept art from Moonbot film, book, app and video game projects; seven short films on theater-size screens (including Oscar winner The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore); The Art Side of the Moon showcase; a reading room for perusing titles from William Joyce and the Moonbot team; an interactive iPad display of The Numberlys and MoonBeeps apps; a large working zoetrope; a display of Moonbot’s awards; Make-and-Take Steam animation projects; and free talks and workshops with Joy Ang, Bruce Smith and Ralph Eggleston.

Joy Ang is an animation artist who has worked on projects for Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon and Marvel Comics; she will give a free talk June 16 and registration-only workshop June 17. Bruce Smith’s credits include Walt Disney’s Tarzan and The Princess and the Frog; he will be in residence July 6-8. And Ralph Eggleston is a Pixar veteran who has worked on For the Birds, Inside Out, Wall-E, Monsters, Inc. and Toy Story; he will be on hand August 3-5.

Additional information and registration can be found online at shrevearts.org and artspaceshreveport.com.

Phases: A Moonbot Retrospective

May 10, 2016
VFX Producer Chad Hudson Joins FuseFX

Accomplished VFX producer Chad Hudson, whose credits include The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones, has joined FuseFX. Based at the studio’s Los Angeles facility, Hudson is diving into a diverse production team creating effects for Fox’s Sleepy Hollow and pilots for CBS and Amazon, among other TV projects in the works.

Hudson comes to FuseFX from Rhythm & Hues, where he worked on commercial and television projects, including as vfx producer on Game of Thrones episode “The Dance of Dragons,” which won the 2016 Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects. He also contributed to 10 episodes of The Walking Dead and the theme park attraction The Marvel Experience.

Previously, Hudson filled vfx roles with Lionsgate and Universal Pictures, his credits including Jurassic World and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Parts 1 & 2, and a previous three-year stint at R&H during which he was vfx coordinator on Oscar winner Life of Pi, Grown Ups 2 and Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters.

FuseFX

May 10, 2016
Daily News Bytes

What We Learned About Beauty and the Beast at Its 25th Academy Reunion
Animag contributor Bill Desowitz dishes on the Disney celebration, which featured Angela Lansbury among the cast and crew gathered onstage.

There’s Nothing Like It in Comics … How Love and Rockets Broke the Rules
For 35 years, Los Bros Hernandez have mesmerized indie comics readers with their in depth stories, paving the way for edgier fare in the mainstream.

Tales of Zestiria the X Animation Set to Air This July
Bandai Namco announces the series will air in Japan this summer, with animation produced by Ufotable, which provided all in-game animated scenes in Zestiria.

DirecTV Cinema to Debut Jackie Chan Animation Before Theaters
Smash hit chinese feature Monkey King: Hero Is Back will bow on DirecTV Cinema ahead of its U.S. theatrical release.

Futuresource Event: New Content Horizons Los Angeles
On the heels of a successful London event, the L.A. edition will explore opportunities in the broadcast and video entertainment content landscape.

Beauty and the Beast

May 10, 2016
Eddie Redmayne Starring in Aardman’s ‘Early Man’

Aardman Animations and production partner StudioCanal announce that Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA-winning actor Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything, The Danish Girl) has come on board director Nick Park’s prehistoric comedy-adventure Early Man. Redmayne will be voicing “Dug,” and is the first cast member to be revealed as production begins.

“Not only is Eddie a joy to work with, his versatility and boundless energy have really helped to bring my new character to life,” said Nick Park. “He embodies the cheeky charm, fun and plucky wit of Dug and I’m sure he’ll get along brilliantly with Dug’s sidekick Hognob.”

Early Man is set at the dawn of time, when prehistoric creatures roamed the Earth. The adventure begins when Plucky caveman Dug, along with his sidekick Hognob, becomes determined to unite his tribe against the mighty Bronze Age civilization to beat them at their own game. The film marks Nick Park’s first feature directing gig since he helmed the Academy Award-winning Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, once again working with screenwriter Mark Burton.

StudioCanal is co-financing the film and will distribute in the U.K., France, Germany, Australia and New Zealand, and handle sales worldwide. The British Film Institute is also a partner on Early Man. Release dates have been set for U.K. (January 26, 2018), France (Jan. 31, 2018) and Germany (March 29, 2018).

Early Man

May 9, 2016
Clip: ‘Steven Universe’ Returns with “In Too Deep”

New episodes of Rebecca Sugar’s hit 2D adventure series Steven Universe return to Cartoon Network this week with the back-to-back episode premiere of “In Too Deep” — a special four-week programming event in which a series of earth-shattering events lead to a whole new world of trouble for Steven and the Crystal Gems.

The calamities commence on Thursday, May 12 at 7 p.m. ET/PT with “Super Watermelon Island” — in which Steven finds out what happened to all those sentient watermelons he created — followed immediately by “Gem Drill,” which takes Steven on a journey deep underground.

The double episode launch will be followed on subsequent Thursday nights at 7 by “Same Old World” on May 19 (Steven flies around the world), “Barn Mates” (Steven helps two friends get along at the barn) and “Hit the Diamond” (Steven and the Gems play an old fashioned game of baseball).

Steven Universe

May 9, 2016
Studio Hari Flexes Global Distribution Arm

After 10 years of growing its CG animated TV production business, Studio Hari has announced the launch of its worldwide distribution division: Hari International. The subsidiary will represent and deliver new series produced by Studio Hari to global audiences from Hari’s headquarters in Paris.

“Hari International’s objective is to build global and integrated brand, sales and marketing strategies by ensuring the optimum exploitation of all the TV, video and merchandising rights,” said Studio Hari co-founder Josselin Charier. ‘It is a major step in our business development: the creation of Hari International will give us the opportunity to integrate all the activities related to our creations, from the artistic development to the commercial exploitation.”

To lead Hari International’s development, the company has hired on Adeline Tormo as Head of Sales. Tormo previously held the post of VP International Sales at Gaumont Animation for eight years.

“Studio Hari has managed to rise to the very top in terms of creativity and production amongst animation companies in Europe and I am particularly flattered to have been able to join their team to develop the distribution subsidiary” said Tormo. “I believe that with our flair for new concepts and our understanding of the demands of the marketplace we will close many successful deals!”

The first title on deck is Grizzy and the Lemmings, which has already been scooped up by Turner worldwide and France Televisions. Hari plans to present several in-development projects at this year’s MIFA market at Annecy in June.

Studio Hari

May 9, 2016
‘Oddbods’ Sees Rising Ratings in U.K.

The quirky, crazy characters of One Animation’s non-dialogue animated comedy Oddbods are proving a major hit in the U.K., according to the latest ratings figures. The show is now one of CITV’s top five shows of 2016 so far, racking up over 5 million views. Data from 2015 also places Oddbods as one of the highest-rated kid’s TV shows of the year in the U.K., despite only premiering there in late autumn.

“Every so often animated characters come along whom everyone just seems to fall in love with,” comments Trudi Hayward, SVP Head of Global Merchandise at ITVS GE. “In the past this has been iconic characters such as Tom and Jerry, or in more recent times the highly successful Minions. Characters and shows like these have a universal appeal because of their conceptual simplicity combined with good old-fashioned fun.”

“Oddbods, which celebrates all the ‘oddness’ in everyday life, is certainly one of these types of show, not least because of the fantastic quality of storytelling and cinema-quality production. But also because the slapstick, dialogue free concept works so brilliantly for the multi-screen generation.”

Oddbods is a sketch-style show following the antics of seven adorably odd characters — from sleepy Zee to angry Fuse. The series currently airs across the globe in 46 x 5 and 224 x 1-minute formats. A 60 x 7-minute format will premiere in the U.K. early this summer. Oddbods is also available online and through social media platforms, including on YouTube where it has surpassed 65 million views. Over the winter, One Animation has secured a number of partnerships and deals to expand the brand into licensed merchandise.

Oddbods

May 9, 2016