Licensing Works! has been appointed the North American licensing agent for animated series Molang by Paris-based production and distribution house Millimages. The 104 x 3’30” 2D HD series airs on Disney Junior, with season one sold to 143 countries worldwide (season two is currently in production). Molang is also available on the Disney Junior website and has a strong social media presence through Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.
Licensing Works! will introduce licensees to the brand, which features a delightfully chubby white rabbit character, to licensees at the Licensing Expo in Las Vegas and will be seeking L&M partners in all key categories, including toys, collectibles, plush, games and puzzles, costumes, publishing and stationery, apparel and accessories, party goods, consumables, home and room decor, jewelry and tech accessories — plus QSR promotions and advertising tie-ins.
Created by Hye-Ji Yoon, Molang — “The Happiness Property” — is a dialogue-free series entered on two super cute characters: Molang, a joyful, eccentric and enthusiastic rabbit; and his best friend, Piu Piu, a shy, discreet and emotional little chick. Designed to appeal to everyone from preschoolers to teenagers, Molang delivers adventures that embody the virtues of happiness, friendship, mutual respect and solidarity.
Leading preschool IP creator Ludou has appointed Jazwares as the new Global Master Toy partner for CG-animated preschool hit Chuggington. Jazwares is one of the top names in toys and entertainment, having won many accolades from the global industry.
Jazwares’ Chuggington range will be unveiled to retailers this month, and will feature characters from the popular series — which has sold to broadcasters in over 178 countries. Products in the line will include collectible characters, playsets and feature toys.
Moving away from traditional track systems of train play, the Jazwares range will focus on the destination in the show to allow young fans to build their own Chuggington worlds and recreate their favorite adventures. The toy line will rollout at retail beginning in Spring 2017.
ASIFA-Hollywood has this year earmarked nearly $150,000 for animation-based programs and events. The budget breakdown includes $15,000 for Community Assistance, $29,000 for Film & Art Preservation, $58,000 for Education, $23,000 for Outside Events & Sponsorships, $6,000 for Worldwide Outreach and $19,000 for Floating Funds to be used as needed.
“Just two or three years ago, we could not have done any of this,” remarked Frank Gladstone, ASIFA-Hollywood executive director. “But, over time, our finances have become much more stable and now we can do what nonprofits are supposed to do, return funds to benefit the community.”
ASIFA-Hollywood is now the largest chapter of the international ASIFA organization, and supports a wide range of animation activities and preservation efforts through its membership. Current initiatives include the Animation Archive, Animation Aid Foundation, film preservation, Animation Educators Forum, the Animation Center building project, special events, screenings and animation festival support. The chapter also puts on the annual Annie Awards — the 44th edition is set for February 4, 2017.
The Weinstein Company has announced it is picking up worldwide rights (excluding China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau) to Light Chaser Animation’s freshman animated feature The Guardian Brothers — originally titled The Little Door Gods. Leading the English-language voice cast will be Meryl Streep as narrator, Mel Brooks, Nicole Kidman and Zendaya. The film is directed by Gary Wang and produced by Zhou Yu. Alibaba Group released Guardian Brothers in China in January.
Co-chairman Harvey Weinstein pointed out in the announcement, “Everyone who knows me, knows I’m determined to build our animation division for film and television. This is going to be a huge area for our company and ‘The Guardian Brothers’ is just the beginning of our plan to bring the caliber of film associated with TWC to animation.”
The Guardian Brothers centers on a Chinese family facing the possible closure of its centuries-old family wonton soup shop. When their grandmother passes away, the restaurant is left in the hands of a young girl named Raindrop (Zendaya) and her mother (Kidman). Meanwhile in the Spirit World, times are also tough, and two brother Guardians (beings who watch over and protect humans) are forced into retirement. When the retired Guardians find out that Raindrop and her mother are fending off rivals bent on sabotaging the business, they decide to come to the rescue.
In the last week, Weinstein Co. also picked up Toonbox and Red Rover’s The Nut Job 2. It will be shopping both titles at the Cannes film market.
(from left) Meryl Streep, Mel Brooks, Nicole Kidman and Zendaya
Russia Plans Tax Cut for Local Animation Industry
The international success of Russian produced toons like the Snow Queen movies, Kikoriki and Masha and the Bear have spurred government action to boost the industry.
Palo Alto-based Eonite Perception has completed a $5.25 million seed round of equity funding from leading Silicon Valley venture capitalists and angels to finance taking Eonite’s 3D mapping and tracking technology to the virtual reality and augmented reality markets. In addition, Peter Nieh of Lightspeed Venture Partners and Rick Thompson of Signia Venture Partners will join the company’s board of directors as observers.
Eonite launched with two products: Vantage Head Tracker — an inside-out positional tracking system from tethered and mobile VR and AR headsets that supports six degrees of freedom, jitter free, and runs at very low latency on a mobile class CPU; and Reality Insight SDK — a home scale, real-time, 3D scanning and reconstruction SDK and unity plugin, supporting persistent virtual content, occlusions and shadows.
Both products are build on Eonite’s 3D mapping and ego-tracking system, which uses commodity dense depth sensors and has three key capabilities that enable it to operate in the real world: sub-millimeter accuracy, low latency, and robust global localization.
“Artificial perception is the means by which machines understand the real world,” says Eonite Perception Founder and CEO Youssri Helmy. “Our technology works in the real world and immediately enables new applications like inside-out head tracking for VR headsets, and we are delighted to have venture capitalists and angels of this caliber help us build the company and bring out these solutions to market.”
Eonite Perception was founded in December 2015 in Palo Alto by Chief Science Officer Dr. Anna Petrovskaya (part of the core team that built the Stanford autonomous car “Junior”), CEO Youssri Helmy, and CTO Peter Varvak. The company was built on the many years of research by both Dr. Petrovskaya and Varvak focusing on artificial perception in robotic and consumer applications.
Contributors to the $5.25 million equity funding round include Lightspeed Venture Partners, Signia Venture Partners, Presence Capital, The VR Fund, Rising Tide, CLI Ventures, Andy Bechtolsheim (co-founder of Sun Microsystems and current founder, Chief Development Officer and Chairman of Arista Networks), Amr Awadallah (Founder and CTO at Cloudera), Greg Castle, Greg Richardson, Nader Shenouda, and others.
A gallery exhibition of highly interactive art from around the world will be a special feature of SIGGRAPH 2016, taking place July 24-28 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Southern California and taglined “Render the Possibilities.” This year’s Art Gallery, “Data Materialities,” represents a unique collection of 10 installations created between 2003-2016.
“We have made a special effort to bring back large-scale, highly immersive displays for the ArtGallery. Our title, ‘Data Materialities,’ illustrates the fact that in 2016, we are all constantly surrounded by networks, information, and data,” said SIGGRAPH 2016 Art Gallery Chair Jonah Brucker-Cohen.
“Whether these stimuli consist of electromagnetic frequencies or physical wired connections, networks are everywhere, consuming and permeating our offices, homes, schools, and public indoor and outdoor spaces. ‘Data Materialities’ exposes this plethora of data and transforms it to incarnations of tangibility that not only showcase their complexity, but also allow us to relate to them on a human scale. By injecting humor and kinetic energy to this year’s exposition, the Art Gallery will make light of these data platforms and present them on a grand scale to reveal their ubiquity.”
Highlights of the exhibition include:
Submergence
(Chris Bennewith, Liam Birtles, Oliver Brown, Gaz Bushell, and Anthony Rowe; Squidsoup)
A large, immersive, walkthrough experience that uses up to 8,064 individual points of suspended light to create feelings of presence and movement within physical space. This video from YouTube user Nick Hunter shows the installation at the Geneva Mapping Festival.
Pixelbots
(Paul Beardsley, Disney Research Zürich)
A new kind of display in which pixels are represented as small colorful mobile robots called “Pixelbots,” which create cartoon-like images or animations. Pixelbots can be seen on the Disney Research YouTube channel, where they present a “Story of the Universe” animation, including a fish, a dinosaur, and a human.
The Kinetic Story Teller
(Tine Bech, Independent Artist)
An installation investigating how art, technology, and playfulness can create new systems of communication by materializing data through kinetic interaction – and offer people new ways of connecting with each other in public spaces. Two beautiful swings light up and display people’s social media messages on screens, encouraging participants to connect while they play.
Plinko Poetry
(Peiqui Su and Deqing Sun, New York University)
A playful, interactive installation with roots in both the famous TV game show “The Price Is Right” and experimental blackout poetry. Every player can be both a winner and a poet. Drawing source text from current @nytimes and @FoxNews tweets, players can absurdly re-contextualize news headlines that are often overloaded with meaning.
Guru Arcade — the “indie plus” game developer house at Guru Studio on Toronto — has appointed accomplished games artist Lyndsey Gallant as Creative Director. The outfit has just released its first iOS game, Pop Rocket Rescue, since setting up shop in 2014.
Gallant joins Guru Arcade as the latest step in her impressive career of many years developing and designing games with XMG Studio, racking up nearly 20 shipped titles to her name. She will be tasked with the creative oversight and artistic leadership of Guru Studio’s interactive division in her new role.
In addition to her professional experience, Gallant has demonstrated her dedication and enthusiasm for the games industry as a speaker and workshop leader at numerous events, including Casual Connect USA. She is also an active volunteer and mentor a for a number of gaming-centric organizations.
“I truly believe that gaming is the next great frontier of art”, said Gallant in the announcement. “I’m absolutely passionate about pushing this type of content to its greatest potential – the possibilities for Guru Arcade are unlimited!”
A finalized poster for LAIKA’s latest animated feature Kubo and the Two Strings has been revealed, with Focus Features set to release the film nationwide on August 19, 2016. The poster features young hero Kubo (voiced by Art Parkinson of Game of Thrones), flanked by the magic-imbued warrior Beetle (Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey) and wise guardian Monkey (Oscar winner Charlize Theron).
You can keep track of Kubo ahead of its theatrical release with trailers, games and more at KuboTheMovie.com.
Synopsis:
Kubo and the Two Strings is an epic action-adventure set in a fantastical Japan from acclaimed animation studio LAIKA. Clever, kindhearted Kubo (voiced by Art Parkinson of “Game of Thrones”) ekes out a humble living, telling stories to the people of his seaside town including Hosato (George Takei), Akihiro (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa), and Kameyo (Academy Award nominee Brenda Vaccaro). But his relatively quiet existence is shattered when he accidentally summons a spirit from his past which storms down from the heavens to enforce an age-old vendetta. Now on the run, Kubo joins forces with Monkey (Academy Award winner Charlize Theron) and Beetle (Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey), and sets out on a thrilling quest to save his family and solve the mystery of his fallen father, the greatest samurai warrior the world has ever known. With the help of his shamisen – a magical musical instrument – Kubo must battle gods and monsters, including the vengeful Moon King (Academy Award nominee Ralph Fiennes) and the evil twin Sisters (Academy Award nominee Rooney Mara), to unlock the secret of his legacy, reunite his family, and fulfill his heroic destiny.
Director: Travis Knight
Writers: Marc Haimes and Chris Butler (“ParaNorman”)
Disney Junior Europe, Middle East, Africa & Australia/New Zealand has snapped up Claude, a new 52 x 11 animated series from BAFTA-winning and Emmy nominated studio Sixteen South (Lily’s Driftwood Bay, Pajanimals, Big City Park). Claude has just gone into production at the Belfast-based studio, and is set to air in 2017.
Aimed at children at the upper end of preschool age, the show centers on an extra-ordinary dog named Claude, who lives with his owners Mr. and Mrs. Shinyshoes at 112 Waggy Avenue. Every day when the Shinyshoes step out for work, Claude embarks on an amazing adventure with his best friend, Sir Bobblysock (who is, in fact, a bobbly sock). Claude’s world is full of colorful characters, like Miss Highkick-Spin the dance teacher, Belinda Hintova-Tint the hairdresser and Lord Turret of Armslength Keep (the local castle).
Claude is based on the best-selling series of children’s books by Alex T. Smith, published by Hachette Children’s Group and available in 16 languages across five continents. Sixteen South is adapting Claude for television in a distinctive hand-drawn 2D style to reflect the books’ unique visual style.
The latest film from Academy Award-nominated Dutch studio Job, Joris & Marieke has arrived online through The New Yorker Screening Room. The heartfelt 10-minute short, Otto, tells the story of a woman who in her longing to be a mother ends up stealing a young girl’s imaginary friend.
The CG-animated film premiered in the official selection at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival and continues to tour the festival circuit. Otto has picked up awards at the Holland Animation Film Festival, Spokane International Film Festival, Eindhoven Film Festival and Vilnius International Film Festival.
Leading Canadian kids streaming platform AmebaTV has signed a deal with Blue Socks Media to take on 20-plus episodes of the Emmy-winning live-action and animation preschool series Raggs for its growing library of on demand kids and family entertainment. Newly available are updated versions of half-hour Raggs episodes, edited to a faster-paced 22 minutes and including an animated nursery rhyme introduction. Also included is the Emmy-winning “Dinosaur” episode.
Raggs stars five high-energy canine characters — Raggs, Trilby, Pido, B. Max and Razzles — and their wisecracking pet cat, Dumpster. The furry friends hang out in their clubhouse and learn important concepts through stories focusing on key preschool educational and pro-social lessons, overseen by developmental psychologist and industry expert Dr. Shalom Fisch.
The educational series is based on original characters created by advertising executive Toni Steedman to entertain her young daughter, Alison. The brand has since expanded internationally and includes DVDs, toys, books and tours.
AmebaTV is currently available on Xbox 360, Roku, LG Smart TV, Sony, Amazon Fire, web and on iOS and Android devices. The service recently expanded through North America with an updated app for Xbox 360 with both SVOD and AVOD services.
Leading online auction house Auctionata will present “Icons of Animation & Illustration” on Friday, May 27, offering an extensive collection of vintage animation art, production cels, limited edition prints and unique drawings, with starting price ranges beginning at just $100. The sale is organized in partnership with pop art and animation gallery Choice Fine Art and curated by its president, Ari Goldman. The auction can be followed live at Auctionata.com or via the Auctionata Live iPhone app.
“Icons of Animation & Illustration” will include pieces from iconic studios like Disney, Hanna-Barbera and Warner Bros., featuring beloved characters. An exemplary item is a production cel and drawing of Bugs Bunny from 1982, signed and inscribed, “Eh — What’s up, Doc?” by Mel Blanc ($450). And on the heels of the new adaptation’s release, the auction is led by “Mowgli & Kaa,” an original production cel from 1967’s The Jungle Book ($500).
Other highlights include a selection of works related to Charles Schulz’s Peanuts: hand-painted cels, drawings and concept art like “You the Dog” (1992, $1,200), “Play Ball” (1995, $1,200) and “Snoopy for Metlife” (1992, $400). Also on offer are masterful works on paper by Frank Follmer, illustrator for Disney’s Snow White, Pinocchio and Fantasia ($3,000).
Representatives of top brands and major merchandise partners will convene on Las Vegas this summer for Licensing Expo 2016, and trade association LIMA will be presenting the annual Licensing Awards amidst the show action on June 21. The nominees are in, reflecting ongoing trends in licensing — mainly the strength of character & entertainment, corporate trademarks, sports, fashion and collegiate brands.
Coming on particularly strong this year is Star Wars, riding high on the global success of The Force Awakens. Animated kids brands like Peppa Pig, My Little Pony and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles also continue their strong presence on the scene this year, backed up with nominations.
2016 LIMA Licensing Awards nominees:
Best Licensed Program
Character/Toy Brand
Barbie – Mattel
Crayola – Crayola
Hello Kitty – Sanrio
My Little Pony – Hasbro
Paddington Bear – Paddington and Company Limited/The Copyrights Group Limited
Shopkins – Moose Toys/The Licensing Shop
Snoopy – Peanuts Worldwide
Digital
Candy Crush Saga – King Digital Entertainment/Striker Entertainment
Hit It Rich Slots & Elvira – Zynga
LINE Friends – LINE Friends Corp.
Skylanders – Activision Publishing
Film/Television/Entertainment – Animated
Boonie Bears – Fantawild Animation, Inc.
Frozen – Disney Consumer Products and Interactive
Masha and the Bear – Masha and the Bear
Minions – NBCUniversal Brand Development
Paw Patrol – Spin Master
Peppa Pig – Entertainment One
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Nickelodeon
Film/Television/Entertainment – Live Action
AMC’s The Walking Dead – AMC/Striker Entertainment
Jurassic World – NBCUniversal Brand Development
Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron – Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media
Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media
Location-Based or Experiential Initiative
Alien vs. Predator – Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products and Universal Studios Hollywood
AMC’s The Walking Dead – AMC and Parque de Atracciones de Madrid/Striker Entertainment
Discovery Adventures – Discovery Communications/PPW Sports and Entertainment (China) Limited/APAX Group (China)
Discovery at Sea – Discovery Communications and Princess Cruises
Il Mondo di Peppa Pig (The World of Peppa Pig) – Entertainment One/Leolandia
My Little Pony/Equestria Girls – Hasbro/Producciones Tycoon Gou
The Simpsons Land – Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products and Universal Studios Hollywood
Thomas Land – Mattel and Fisher-Price
Retailer
Cost Plus World Market – Downton Abbey
Fei FanTan Suo Outdoor Products Company Limited – Discovery Expedition
Grupo Éxito – Minions
Hot Topic – American Horror Story
Hot Topic – Doctor Who
Saks Fifth Avenue – Empire
Spirit Halloween – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Target – Peanuts
Toys”R”Us – Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Best Licensed Products
Digital – apps, software, video
Aristocrat Technologies – AMC’s The Walking Dead slot game
Ludia Games – Jurassic World: The Game
Pocket Gems – Mean Girls Senior Year interactive mobile game
Stern Pinball – KISS pinball machine
Story Toys – The World of Eric Carle/The Very Hungry Caterpillar apps
Zynga – Wizard of Oz slots
Publishing/Social Expression/Back-to-School
Blueprint Collections – Shopkins stationery
Crayola – Crayola Color Alive – Minions
Cross – Star Wars pens and journals by CrossS
Francis Lincoln – Walter Foster – Breaking Bad Cookin’ up some Colour, Yo’
Galison-Mudpuppy – Andy Warhol for Galison-Mudpuppy product assortment
Moleskine – Moleskine Batman Limited Edition Collection
Wonder Forge – Disney Imagicademy hands-on learning products
VIZ Media, the premiere publisher, distributor and licensor of Japanese anime and manga in North America, is proudly marking its 30th Anniversary this summer. While details of exciting celebratory activities for fans are forthcoming, the festivities begin with an all-new official website launched at www.VIZ.com.
Founded in San Francisco in July of 1986, VIZ Media is dedicated to bringing the best in manga, anime and global entertainment to English-speaking audiences around the world. After 30 years of successfully bringing in-demand content to fans of all ages, VIZ Media now has the largest library of any English publisher, and continues to grow with a focus on diversifying its award-winning catalog with licensed properties outside the anime and manga sphere, as well as developing original content.
“VIZ Media has been at the forefront of the manga and anime industry for 30 years,” says President and CEO Ken Sasaki. “Throughout its history, the company has pioneered new paths to bring the best in popular entertainment to as wide an audience as possible. We look forward to continuing our ceaseless commitment to developing high quality, unique content for fans across the globe.”
The completely refreshed VIZ.com was created in partnership with Mule Design as an interactive web destination which can offer users increased functionality, seamless interoperability and a host of easy-to-use new content features that are accessible across all platforms — including mobile devices and tablets.
Hundred of CalArts students, faculty and alumni as well as entertainment industry executives convened at two events to screen and celebrate the latest batch of student films from the school’s Character Animation and Experimental Animation programs in recent days.
Ranked No. 1 of the Top 50 Animation Schools and Colleges in the U.S. by Animation Career Review, CalArts’ animation alumni include John Lasseter, Pete Docter, John Musker, Henry Selick, Brenda Chapman, Genndy Tartakovsky, Stephen Hillenburg and many more. In fact, the global accumulated box office grosses through January 2015 for animated features from CalArts alumni directors comes to $35.4 billion.
The highly anticipated Character Animation Producers’ Show took place at the Directors Guild of America theater in Los Angeles on May 4, featuring Zootopia co-director Rich Moore as the Guest of Honor. As part of his duties, Moore announced three award winners during the festivities: The Walter and Gracie Lantz Animation Prize (juried by Character Animation faculty) went to David Davis for his film Open Heart; the inaugural Vimeo Award for Outstanding Student Achievement in Animated Filmmaking (juried by Vimeo) went to Xiya Lan for You Look Scary; and the Peers’ Pick Award, voted by the students, went to Ingo Raschka for Video 69.
The 21 character animation films screened in the Showcase were selected from 163 films submitted. They represented a diverse range of themes, narratives and aesthetic approaches — from an original animated musical to an inspirational tale of a crocodile and his toothache. These films can be viewed (along with many others) on the 2016 Character Animation Student Films channel on Vimeo.
A few days earlier, the Experimental Animation Showcase had its chance to shine in front of a full house of students, alumni, faculty and industry players at REDCAT on April 29. The 20 selected films incorporated everything from hand-drawn, stop-motion, CG and hybrid animation techniques.
Ogilvy in collaboration with Oscar-winning animation studio Aardman has redefined the product demonstration with innovative content for Unilever’s laundry brand Persil. A first of its kind animation, Monster Stains, recently launched in cinemas and online to show off Persil’s stain removal power through a narrative lens.
Ogilvy came up with the idea of creating a stop-frame animation using school shirts as the canvas, and tough stains as the paint. A unique palette using 28 common stain-causing substances, from gravy and jam to grass and chocolate ice cream, was created to color the imaginative world of two sweet little monsters who learn to overcome their fears (and get dirty in the process).
It took 10 artists and nearly three months to complete the 60 seconds of animation within the 2 ½-minute short. Each frame of animation was painted on a clean shirt, which was then photographed before the shirt was washed with Persil, dried, ironed and stain-painted all over again a total of 2, 576 times.
“At Aardman we have a history of embracing big challenges and when Ogilvy came to us with such an interesting project, we jumped in with both feet,” said Aardman creative director Merlin Crossingham. “The finished spots are playful stories with delightful characters, created in a truly unique way and we hope you enjoy them.”
Ogilvy used the stain palette to create a bespoke typeface for the campaign, and Kode Media produced, shot and edited the live-action elements in the film. The monster characters also appear in a series of five shorter pieces that will be used across social media and eCommerce.
New York City’s Metrograph cinema will run a week-long premiere engagement for lost Japanese animation treasure Belladonna of Sadness, from May 6 through 12. The newly restored 1973 feature has never before had an official theatrical release in the U.S., and will be rolling out to select theaters around the country thanks to Cinelicious Pics.
Produced by the godfather of Japanese anime and manga, Osamu Tezuka, and directed by Eiichi Yamamoto, Belladonna of Sadness is a psychedelic, explicit, disturbing and visually enchanting mature fantasy tale. The film centers on an innocent young woman who makes a pact with the devil (voiced by Tatsuya Nakadai) to take revenge on the local lord who raped her on her wedding night.
Belladonna of Sadness is a transgressive and intense animated film, newly restored from the original 35mm negative and sound elements. This release also includes eight minutes of footage cut from the original version.
Pick up the May 2016 (#260) issue of Animation Magazine to read more about this long lost film and the process of bringing it back to theaters.
