Cartoon Network has set a premiere date for the new animated series Teen Titans Go! The new take on the famous teens will debut on Tuesday, April 23, at 7:30 p.m. and will be rebroadcast during the DC Nation block on Saturday mornings at 10:30 a.m. (ET/PT) beginning April 27.
The character-driven comedy series focuses on the funny that happens in between saving the world and living together as teenagers without adult supervision. The comedic mayhem of the animated series is punctuated by pranks and the occasional need to fight crime, but it will also deal with the everyday issues of adolescence. With epic staring contests to decide who does the laundry, a series of quests and battles to construct the perfect sandwich or fighting crime in Jump City, one thing is for sure, these Titans will always be ready for an adventure inside the house and out.
The principal voice cast from the original Teen Titans series, based on DC Comics characters, will reprise their roles in Teen Titans Go!, with Scott Menville as the voice of Robin, the slightly power-mad perfectionist and leader of the Teen Titans. Hynden Walch voices Starfire, an alien struggling to fit in; Tara Strong voices Raven, the sardonic, deadpan demon girl; Greg Cipes returns as the slightly dim but always loveable loafer, Beast Boy; and Khary Payton provides the voice of Cyborg, a laidback kid who is half teen, half robot.
Teen Titans Go! will be part of the Tuesday night block of programming on Cartoon Network which also includes Johnny Test (7:00 p.m. ET/PT) and The Looney Tunes Show (8:00 p.m. ET/PT). Teen Titans Go! can be seen again on Saturday mornings during the DC Nation block alongside Beware The Batman, which will premiere this summer. Green Lantern: The Animated Series and Young Justice Invasion will end their run on March 16.
Teen Titans Go! is produced by Warner Bros. Animation with Sam Register (MAD, Teen Titans, Batman: The Brave and The Bold) serving as executive producer with Michael Jelenic (ThunderCats) and Aaron Horvath (MAD) as producers.
Ratings champ Disney Channels Worldwide presented its plans for 2013-2014 to sponsors and advertisers yesterday at its Kids Upfront presentation held at New York’s Hudson Theatre.
“We remain focused on delivering distinctively Disney quality programming to kids and families around world and are invigorated by the remarkable viewer response we’ve seen across all key demographics over the past year,” noted Gary Marsh, president and chief creative officer of Disney Channels Worldwide.
He announced that the 24-hour Disney Junior channel, which accepts select sponsorships, will begin reporting Nielsen ratings as of April 1, 2013. The channel marks its first anniversary this month.
Marsh also told advertisers that Disney XD will expand its Marvel Universe programming block with two new animated series, one starring the hugely popular super hero The Hulk and another starring The Avengers. For 2012, Disney XD soared to its biggest year in the channel’s history (including its 10 years as Toon Disney). Marvel’s Ultimate Spider-Man season two debuted in January 2013 and to date, is Disney XD’s #1 animated series in Kids and Boys 2-11 and Boys 6-11.
At the event, Marsh presented the first in an exciting series of cartoon shorts featuring the funny antics of Mickey Mouse, one of the most popular characters in the world. Produced by Disney Television Animation, the Mickey Mouse shorts preview began yesterday (March 12) on Disney.com and will begin rolling out Friday, June 28 on on Disney Channel, Disney.com and WATCH Disney Channel, among other platforms.
The 2013-14 slate also includes new episodes of the animated series Gravity Falls and Phineas and Ferb for Disney Channel; and new seasons of the Disney XD series Ultimate Spider-Man. Most of the animated shows have already been announced, but here are some of the animation highlights from the company’s press release:
DISNEY CHANNEL
Star and the Forces of Evil. (working title) This animated comedy adventure introduces Star Butterfly, a fun-loving magical teen princess from another dimension who — after a few bold skirmishes with other-worldly monsters — is sent by her Royal Parents to live with the Diaz family on Earth. Eden Sher provides the voice of the lead character. Production has begun for a scheduled Fall 2014 premiere. Artist and writer Daron Nefcy is the series creator and co-executive producer. Dave Wasson is co-executive producer and director and Jordana Arkin is story editor.
Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel
Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel. The highly-anticipated animated adventure that assembles characters from two hugely popular Disney and Marvel franchises, Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel, premieres this summer on Disney Channel and Disney XD. Marking the first crossover animated special for Marvel and Disney properties, the epic television event will follow Spider-Man, Iron Man, Thor and Hulk as they enter Danville after Dr. Doofenshmirtz’s latest “inator” scheme accidentally removes their powers and immobilizes them. Now it’s up to Phineas and Ferb to team up with the Marvel Super Heroes to help them regain their powers and defeat Marvel Super Villains – Red Skull, Whiplash, Venom and M.O.D.O.K. – who are working together with Dr. Doofenshmirtz to use his power-draining technology to create mayhem. Phineas and Ferb creators and executive producers Dan Povenmire and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh designed Marvel’s Super Heroes and Super Villains including Red Skull, Whiplash, Venom and M.O.D.O.K. to fit the Danville world of the Emmy Award-winning series.
Wander Over Yonder
Wander Over Yonder. Premiering in summer 2013, this animated comedy, created, directed and executive-produced by Emmy-winning producer Craig McCracken (The Powerpuff Girls, Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends), is about best friends and epic enemies, set in surreal places across the universe. Wander is an overly-optimistic intergalactic traveler who, along with his loyal but bullish steed Sylvia, goes from planet to planet helping people to live free and have fun, all against the evil reign of Lord Hater and his army of Watchdogs. The voice cast includes Jack McBrayer (30 Rock, Phineas and Ferb), Keith Ferguson (Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends) and Tom Kenny (SpongeBob SquarePants).
DISNEY XD
Marvel’s Avengers Assemble
Marvel’s Avengers Assemble. This animated series follows the great adventures of Marvel’s favorite super heroes, Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Hawkeye, Black Widow and Falcon. A special one-hour preview will be presented on Sunday, May 26, followed by the series premiere on Sunday, July 7. Starring are Adrian Pasdar as Iron Man, Fred Tatasciore reprising his role as Hulk, Roger Craig Smith as Captain America, Travis Willingham as Thor, Troy Baker as Hawkeye, Laura Bailey as Black Widow and Bumper Robinson as Falcon. Man of Action Studios (Ben 10, Generator Rex) —comprised of Joe Casey, Joe Kelly, Duncan Rouleau and Steven T. Seagle—are executive producers.
Marvel’s Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.
Hulk and the Agents S.M.A.S.H. In this never before seen team up of Hulk, his cousin She-Hulk, A-Bomb, Red Hulk and Skaar, Marvel’s mightiest super heroes form an eccentric family living under one roof, working together to tackle threats that are too enormous for other heroes to handle. From trying to house break their giant red pet T-Rex to stopping Ego the Living Planet from crashing into the Earth, the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. must learn to balance Hulk-sized action with everyday family-sized problems. The series premieres Sunday August 11 (11:00 a.m., ET/PT). Starring are: Fred Tatasciore as Hulk, Clancy Brown as Red Hulk, Eliza Dushku as She-Hulk, Ben Diskin as Skaar and Seth Green as A-Bomb. The creative talents of Paul Dini (Batman: The Animated Series, Lost) and Henry Gilroy have been tapped for this series.
DISNEY JUNIOR
Henry Hugglemonster
Henry Hugglemonster. This animated series, premiering in April on the 24-hour Disney Junior channel, follows the adventures of fun-loving five-year-old Henry Hugglemonster, the middle child in a madcap monster family. Based on the book series I’m a Happy Hugglewug by Niamh Sharkey, the series is produced by Brown Bag Films (Doc McStuffins). The guest voice cast includes Geri Halliwell, Brenda Blethyn and Brain Blessed. Cathal Gaffney and Darragh O’Connell are the executive producers, along with Niamh Sharkey. The series is a production of the Brown Bag Films (Doc McStuffins).
Sheriff Callie’s Wild West
Sheriff Callie’s Wild West. This animated series, debuting in September 2013 on the 24-hour Disney Junior channel and programming block, is the first western for preschoolers, with Mandy Moore (Disney’s Tangled) as the voice of a kitty cat sheriff whose job is to ensure that the town of Nice and Friendly Corners remains the friendliest town in the West. The series was created by Denis Morella and George Evelyn and developed for television by Holly Huckins. Morella, Evelyn and Huckins serve as executive producers. It is a production of DHX Media in association with Disney Junior.
The 7D
The 7D. This animated series presents an innovative, comedic look at the Seven Dwarfs before Snow White’s arrival, this time in a contemporary storybook world designed for viewers age 2-7 and their families. Slated to debut in 2014 on Disney Junior channels and programming blocks around the world, it takes place in the whimsical world of Jollywood, where Queen Delightful relies on the 7D – Happy, Bashful, Sleepy, Sneezy, Dopey, Grumpy and Doc – to keep the kingdom in order. Standing in their way are two laughably evil villains, Grim and Hildy Gloom, who plot to take over the kingdom by stealing the magical jewels in the 7D’s mine. With seven very distinct personalities, the 7D always manage to save the day and send Grim and Hildy running back to their evil lair to try another day. The executive producer is Tom Ruegger. Alfred Gimeno is the director and Sherri Stoner is the story editor. The characters are designed by Noah Z. Jones.
Gary Wang, the man behind on-line video venture Tudou has unveiled a new Beijing-based animation studio to focus on domestic feature projects. Wang, who sold his online venture to Youku, told The Wall Street Journal that he is hiring L.A. and San Francisco directors, storyboard artists and senior animators to work at his new studio.
“I get the impression that everyone there is excited about the Chinese market,” said Wang, who was born in China but moved to New York in 1993 to attend high school and then to study computer science at John Hopkins University. He told the paper that he has already secured hundreds of thousands of dollars from international investors for his latest project and that the output will be mainly aimed at domestic audiences.
Wang’s studio will be a new domestic competitor in a landscape dominated by Hollywood features such as DreamWorks Kung Fu Panda and Madagascar 3. Recent home-grown pictures such as Legend of a Rabbit have failed to find a large audience in the country. DreamWorks will be one of Wang’s major competitors since it’s already building Oriental DreamWorks near Shanghai, a joint venture owned alongside China Media Capital, Shanghai Media Group and Shanghai Alliance Investment. Not surprisingly, among DreamWorks’ upcoming co-ventures in China is the third outing for Kung Fu Panda.
Watch out all you young whippersnapper toons. Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks’s 85-year-old character, Mickey Mouse, is coming back in a new short-form series of 2D cartoons. You can sample Mickey’s brand new look today during a special preview today (Tuesday March 12) at 3 p.m. ET/noon PT, exclusively on Disney.com. You can check it out here: http://di.sn/i9L.
This new series of 19 cartoon shorts will begin rolling out on Friday, June 28 on Disney Channel, Disney.com and WATCH Disney Channel. An online game, “Mickey Delivery Dash,” also debuts today on Disney.com. The announcement was made today by Gary Marsh, president and chief creative officer, Disney Channels Worldwide.
“By bringing Mickey’s comedic adventures to life with vitality, humor, inventiveness and charm, the entire Disney Television Animation team of artists, animators and directors have worked to capture the essence of what Walt Disney himself created 85 years ago,” said Marsh.
Since his creation in 1928, Mickey Mouse has continued to be a timeless favorite, a character that embodies joy, innocence and impishness. While the direction and pacing of the new “Mickey Mouse” cartoon shorts are fresh and contemporary, they are at the same time homage to the art direction and storytelling of Walt and his animators in the 1920s and ’30s.
Emmy Award-winning artist and director Paul Rudish (Dexter’s Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls) is the executive producer and director. Aaron Springer (SpongeBob SquarePants, Gravity Falls) and Clay Morrow (Dexter’s Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls) are directors, and Joseph Holt (The Powerpuff Girls) is the art director. The series is produced under the supervision of senior VPs Eric Coleman and Lisa Salamone at Walt Disney Television Animation (TVA).
With the slapstick feel of classic Mickey Mouse, the series of cartoon shorts presents Mickey in a broad range of humorous situations that showcase his pluck and rascality, along with his long-beloved charm and good heartedness. Each cartoon short finds Mickey in a different contemporary setting including Santa Monica, New York, Paris, Beijing, Tokyo, Venice and the Alps, facing a silly situation, a quick complication and an escalation of physical and visual gags. The stories also feature genuine, heroic moments as Mickey explores and experiences life with his comical partners: Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy, and Pluto.
Geared towards kids age 6-14 and families, and produced in 2D animation, the design esthetic for the Mickey Mouse cartoon shorts reaches back almost 80 years and borrows reverentially from the bold style of his 1930s design, but not before adding a few contemporary touches. Designs for other characters have a similar approach, favoring a “rubber-hose” cartoon style for more exaggerated animation. Background designs closely reflect the graphic design sense of 1950s and 1960s Disney cartoons. For those true eagle-eyed Disney fans, the production team has also included the occasional homage to other icons from the storied Disney heritage.
In the first cartoon short, “Croissant de Triomphe,” Mickey must deliver croissants to Minnie’s cafe, battling street traffic and other Parisian obstacles along the way.
Stories in the upcoming cartoon shorts include: “Yodelberg” — Mickey longs to visit Minnie atop her mountaintop chalet but quickly realizes that the threat of avalanche has made the trek up the mountain more challenging than usual. In “No Service,” Mickey and Donald try to buy lunch from a beachside snack shack but are unceremoniously turned down because of the classic “No shirt, no shoes, no service” admonition (of course, Mickey doesn’t wear a shirt and Donald doesn’t wear shoes!).
CG and vfx software developer Luxology has announced the release of MODO 701. The company says this new major release of Modo will significantly enhance the modeling, sculpting, animation, effects and rendering workflows and continue to add value with a number of new features.
Over the last year, the development team has listened to a huge amount of customer feedback and subsequently made significant enhancements to the core functionality in this new version. Among the new highlights:
Procedural particle engine with an easy to use pre-set workflow.
Audio playback and a sound channel modifier, bringing animations to life.
Schematic improvements, reducing scene graph complexity.
Simplified complexity of materials and layered shaders.
Large scene performance improvements by as much as 175x.
Preview render synchronization improvements, over 50x faster in large scenes.
New Python interpreter, making python execution many times faster.
Unlimited network rendering.
Additionally, following a substantial internal engineering effort and with the assistance of partner, The Foundry, Modo will soon be available on Linux, bringing it to all three platforms.
“We’ve made such big improvements to the existing architecture of the software in MODO 701 that 601 users will notice a huge leap forward,” says Brad Peebler, co-founder of Luxology. “We’ve also added some really cool functionality like the new particle system. This release will truly deliver on the philosophy that perfection comes through refinement. As always, we have pushed the limits and can’t wait to find out what you all think.”
Last week, 56 animated projects from 20 European countries were the subject of panels, screenings and financing talks at the 15th edition of Cartoon Movie, the co-production forum takes place each year in Lyon, France. More than 700 animation professionals from the record number of 40 countries had the opportunity to discover many European feature films in various stages of development, including the latest projects by renowned directors such as Sylvain Chomet, Torill Kove, Enzo d’Alò, Raúl García, Jannik Hastrup, Jean-François Laguionie, and Patrice Leconte.
According to the organizers, the pitching sessions for the various titles attracted record number of attendees. Here is the list of the top 10 most attended feature presentations:
1. Louise in the Winter (directed by Jean-François Laguionie)
2. MUSIC! (Patrice LeConte)
3. Rise of the Zelphire (Arthur Qwak)
4. Beyond Beyond (Esben Toft Jacobsen)
5. The Island of Lost Children (Dominique Etchecopar)
6. CAFARD (Jan Bultheel)
7. My Mommy is in America and She Met Buffalo Bill (Marc Boréal & Thibaut Chatel)
8. The Prince and the Demon Kings (Pascal Morelli)
9. Capture the Flag (Enrique Gato)
10. Loulou’s Secret (Eric Omond)
The majority of the films were targeted at family audiences though there was also a sample of choices for adults (16%) and preschoolers (7%). The dominant technique in Europe remains 3D computer (48%) with a continuing presence of movies in 2D (23%) and stop-motion (11%). Stereoscopic 3D starts to show signs of fatigue in Europe, falling to 25% of the total, compared to 38% last year.
France led the list of countries with 17 projects, followed by the Nordic Countries (10), Germany (5), Spain (4), and the United Kingdom and Poland with 3 films each. The projects had a total budget of 303 million Euros and 75 hours of animation.
During the 15th Cartoon Movie, participants voted the winners of the Cartoon Movie Tributes 2013, the awards for outstanding contribution to the development of European animation film over the last year. The winners were Peter Lord for European Director of the Year (The Pirates! Band of Misfits), TF1 International for Euro Distributor of the Year (The Rabbi’s Cat, Aya de Yop City) and Les Armateurs for Producer of the Year (Kirikou and the Men and the Women, Ernest & Celestine).
The Rhône-Alpes Region also gave a special Personality of the Year award to Benjamin Renner. Trained at La Poudrière – the prestigious animation school located in Valence—the director won the Cartoon d’Or award with his short A Mouse’s Tale (2008) and debuted with César-winning Ernest & Celestine.
Cartoon MovieCartoon MovieCartoon MovieCartoon Movie
Lucasfilm has announced that Star Wars: Clone Wars has ended its run on Cartoon Network.
“As we enter into an exciting new era focused on the next Star Wars trilogy, Lucasfilm has decided to pursue a new direction in animated programming,” the company wrote on its website Monday. “We are exploring a whole new Star Wars series set in a time period previously untouched in Star Wars films or television programming. You can expect more details in the months to come.”
“After five highly successful and critically acclaimed seasons of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, we feel the time has come to wind down the series. While the studio is no longer producing new episodes for Cartoon Network, we’re continuing production on new Clone Wars story arcs that promise to be some of the most thrilling adventures ever seen. Stay tuned for more information on where fans can soon find this bonus content.”
Lucasfilm has also also decided to postpone Star Wars Detours, an animated series from Seth Green, Todd Grimes and Matthew Senreich, the team behind Cartoon Network/Adult Swim’s Emmy-winning show Robot Chicken.
Clone Wars has had a strong following on Cartoon Network and its fifth season averaged 1.7 million total viewers. Under the direction of Dave Filoni, the show first debuted in August 2008 as an animated feature, which also played theatrically Even after being moved to Saturday morning last year, Clone Wars remained the No. 1 show among boys 9- 14, and has shown continued strength among kids 2- 11 and 9-14, especially among boys.
The Clone Wars series on Cartoon Network, like that movie, take place in a fictional Stars Wars galaxy in the same time period as the Star Wars movies Attack of the Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith (2005), the last feature release.
After Disney acquired Lucasfilm in October, industry observers were assuming that any future animated spinoffs of the franchise would land on Disney-run channels, especially Disney XD, which specializes in boy-targeting action fare.
French toon studio Alphanim, which was established in 1997 and has been part of the Gaumont Group since 2007, is being rebranded as Gaumont Animation. The first deal to be unveiled under the new Gaumont Animation banner is a development and production agreement with France Televisions and DreamWorks Classics for Noddy, a 3-D CG-animated (52 X 11’) series based on Enid Blyton’s famous preschool character.
Originally created in 1949, Noddy is one of the most popular and enduring children’s characters of all time. Attending the upcoming MIP-TV as Gaumont Animation, the announcement was made today by Pierre Belaïsch, managing director of the newly branded company and Christophe Riandee, Vice CEO of Gaumont.
“This is an exciting time for Gaumont Animation as we expand our development efforts to include both original content, such as Dude, That’s My Ghost which was recently delivered to Disney XD, and classic properties, such as Calimero and now Noddy with France Televisions and DreamWorks Classics,” says Belaïsch. “I am confident that with our new strategic game plan, new shows and new name we are moving into a very rewarding period for our company. As we continue to gain international prominence, we will continue to refine our goals while always providing world-class programming for an ever-growing global audience.”
“With the renaming of Alphanim to Gaumont Animation, and the creation of Gaumont International Television in 2011, we are delighted to be recognized as an independent studio with a unique vision for expansion into the television and animation arenas, along with our continued growth and overall success in the movie business,” comments Riandee.
Al Jazeera Children’s Channel (JCC) recently announced a new free TV agreement with Disney, Middle East and North Africa (MENA). JCC, a member of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, has acquired the rights to a selection of Disney’s most popular kids and family content, including Disney and Disney/Pixar movies as well as Disney Channel’s live action and animated series in the Middle East and North Africa.
Through this deal, JCC will offer popular Disney toons such as Phineas and Ferb, Kim Possible, Lilo & Stitch, Pixar movies such as A Bug’s Life, Toy Story and Cars, and live-action sitcoms such as Zeke and Luther. JCC’s preschoolers channel will feature shows such as Handy Manny, Little Einsteins and Jojo’s Circus.
JCC’s board member and acting general manager Haya bint Khalifa Al Nassr said, “Through this agreement, we at JCC look forward to enriching the first Arab children’s channel with a wide range of entertaining shows for our audience. In line with our child-centric strategy, we will continue to address the needs of Arab children and households by creating or acquiring content that is entertaining, culturally appropriate and supports their learning and development.”
Didier Vanneste, Disney’s country manager, MENA commented: “We continually look for opportunities to bring our hit stories and beloved characters to wider local audiences, and look forward to working with JCC to deliver this broad range of popular kids and family programming to viewers across the Middle East.”
DQ Entertainment’s The Jungle Book won the Best Indian Animated TV Series Award at the Infocom/Assocham EME ceremony last weekend. Creative director Siddharth Vasudev, received the honor on behalf of this team at DQE at the event.
“We are delighted to receive this special recognition for The Jungle Book as the Best Indian Animated TV Series, which is a validation of the dedication and hard work by DQE,” says Tapaas Chakravarti, DQE’s chairman and CEO. “This recognition will definitely motivate us to achieve even greater heights to continue producing and distributing highest quality animation content for television and feature films.
The Jungle Book currently airs in 165 countries across the globe, and has over 100 licensees worldwide in key categories such as publishing, gaming, digital, apparel, accessories, home furnishings, back-to-school, games, puzzles, amusement, Halloween, seasonal products and more. The series, which is inspired by Rudyard Kipling’s beloved children’s classic tale, is now into its second season.
Dublin-based animation studio Brown Bag Films has launched a new digital division that will focus on the company’s tablet, mobile and web ventures as well as developing new IP.
Digital media entrepreneur Dylan Collins (Fight My Monster, Box of Awesome) has joined the company as non-executive director to help with the initiative.
Brown Bag is the acclaimed studio behind CG-animated series as Doc McStuffins (Disney Junior), Peter Rabbit (Nickelodeon) and Emmy-nominated Octonauts (CBeebies). The studio’s latest show is Henry Hugglemonster which comes from the company’s original IP development efforts and will debut on Disney Junior in April. Brown Bag Digital will build on this remarkable track record by producing digital content for its own IP as well as working with rights holders on licensed intellectual property.
Cathal Gaffney, CEO of Brown Bag Films noted, “Our digital division allows us to move increasingly into the consumer space which is an important strategic step as we seek to own more of what we produce. The huge amount of expertise we’ve built up over the years producing the biggest kids TV shows in the world makes this a very natural and exciting direction for us.”
Brown Bag Films employs over 130 full time staff from its Dublin and LA offices. For more information, visit www.brownbagfilms.com.
Richard Comely and George Freeman’s popular comic-book hero Captain Canuck is being adapted into a five-part animated series by Toronto’s Smiley Guy Studios. The lead character will be voiced by Kris Holden Reid and Paul Amos will provide the voice of his nemesis Mr. Gold.
Toronto comic book artist Kalman Andrasofszky and creative directors Dean Henry and Paul Director are also on board the new project. Sam Chou is animation director on the Smiley Guy Studios production for Fadi Hakim and Alex Sengupta’s Captain Canuck INC. The Canadian superhero is also the star of a new live-action feature based on a script by Arne Olsen (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie and Cop and a Half).
Leishman and Comely first introduced Captain Canuck in July of 1975. The character, which is often described as a cross between Captain America and Flash Gordon, wears a maple-leafed costume and fights crime in a futuristic world where Canada is the most powerful country in the world. He is an agent of the Canadian Intl. Security Organization (CISO).
Disney’s much-anticipated prequel to The Wizard of Oz followed the yellow-brick road all the way to the top of the box office this past weekend. The Sam Raimi-directed feature delivered an estimated $80.3 million domestically and $150.3 million worldwide, making it the third highest March opening movie of all-time, right behind Alice in Wonderland and The Hunger Games.
Oz: The Great and Powerful features terrific visual effects created by the team at Sony Pictures Imageworks, Luma and Evil Eye. The pic, which reportedly cost about $215 million to produce, was released day and date in about 80% of the global marketplace. Russia emerged as the highest selling territory with $15 million followed by the U.K. ($5.7 million), Mexico ($5.1 million), Australia ($5 million), and Germany ($4.2 million). The film, which received mixed reviews (rating 61% on RottenTomatoes.com) proved to be critic-proof at the box office.
Next Friday (March 15), animation fans can look forward to catching Goro Miyazaki’s charming period pic From Up on Poppy Hill in theaters, which gets a limited release in various cities in the U.S. via indie studio GKIDS.
NVIDIA has introduced a new line of NVIDIA Quadro professional graphics products that offer top workstation performance and capabilities for professionals in manufacturing, engineering, medical, architectural, and media and entertainment companies.
Built on the efficient and fast processing power of the Kepler architecture, the new lineup includes:
NVIDIA Quadro K4000. A high-end card that delivers blazing-fast performance for graphics-intensive applications. Has 3 GB of onboard memory, multi-monitor support and stereo capability in a single-slot configuration.
NVIDIA Quadro K2000. A midrange card that offers outstanding performance with a broad range of professional applications. Comes with 2 GB of onboard memory to hold large models and multi-monitor support for enhanced desktop productivity.
NVIDIA Quadro K2000D. A variant of the Quadro K2000, with native support for two dual-link DVI display connectors for interfacing with ultra-high-resolution medical imaging displays.
NVIDIA Quadro K600. An entry-level card with great performance and certifications for leading professional applications. Equipped with 1 GB of onboard memory, comes in a low-profile design for maximum usage flexibility.
“NVIDIA Quadro with Kepler architecture offers no-compromise workflow acceleration for customers with exacting computing and graphics demands,” said Sandeep Gupte, NVIDIA’s senior director of the professional solutions group. “Kepler offers a future-safe GPU solution, whether professionals are integrating more realism and physics into their manufacturing designs or dealing with the complex demands of 4K workflows in broadcast and film.”
The new pricing for the new NVIDIA Quadro products are as follows: Quadro K4000, $1,269; Quadro K2000 and Quadro K2000D, $599; Quadro K600, $199. patents issued, allowed or filed, including ones covering ideas essential to modern computing. For more information, go to www.nvidia.com.
Bryan Singer’s vfx-laden take on the fairy tale classic Jack the Giant Slayer failed to work its magic on the U.S. box office numbers and ended up making only $26 million over the weekend. Nevertheless, the Warner Bros. release, which was reportedly made for over $200 million was the number one pic in theaters. Overall, it was a weak period for movies, since the total take was about $100 million, which is 37% less than 2012’s numbers.
The pic, which scored only 52% on the rottentomatoes.com review compilation site, featured lots of dazzling visual effects, created by companies such as Digital Domain, Gentle Giant, Hatch, MPC, Mova, Rodeo Effects, Soho Effects and The Third Floor.
The only animated feature playing in the top 10 this weekend was Weinstein Company’s CG-animated space comedy Escape from Planet Earth. The high-energy 3D pic landed at the No. 6 spot with a $6.6 weekend estimate. Directed by Cal Brunker, the film has brought in over $43.1 million during its three weekends in release.
Next Friday, Sam Raimi’s Oz the Great and Powerful, which promises lots of eye candy, courtesy of the vfx wizards at Sony Imageworks, Luma and Evil Eye, will shake up the cinematic scene.
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences is planning a special evening to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Robert Zemeckis’ Oscar-winning feature, Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The event will take place on April 4 at 7:30 p.m. at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Among the panelists scheduled to appear at this special tribute are director Robert Zemeckis, associate producers Don Hahn and Steve Starkey, actress Joanna Cassidy (Dolores), voice actor Charles Fleischer (Roger Rabbit), supervising animator Andreas Deja and screenwriter Peter S. Seaman.
Oscar-nominated director Rich Moore (Wreck-It Ralph ) will moderate the panel. A new digitally restored version of three movie will also be screened Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) received Oscars for Film Editing, Sound Effects Editing and Visual Effects, and a Special Achievement Award for Richard Williams’ animation direction. It was also nominated for Art Direction, Cinematography and Sound.
DreamWorks Animation has teamed up with Angry Birds powerhouse Rovio Entertainment to deliver a new mobile game based on its upcoming pic The Croods. The game finds the family breaking out of the Stone Age with the use of a new revolutionary tool: the IDEA! The Croods will hunt and gather their way through spectacular new landscapes as they tame fantastic and never-seen-before creatures. The game’s tagline is “Help The Croods survive the wild…and each other!”
The Croods will debut globally on iOS and Android on March 14th. Fans can check www.rovio.com/theCroods to see the exclusive teaser trailer and keep up to date on all the latest news.
“DreamWorks Animation’s The Croods is filled with wonderful characters and creatures in an incredibly detailed, inventive world — it was just begging for its very own mobile game!” said Petri Järvilehto, EVP of Games at Rovio Entertainment. “It’s been an incredible experience having our two teams working closely together on extending the story to mobile platforms.”
“Rovio set the industry standard in mobile gaming with Angry Birds, and we believe their massive community of active users will go wild for The Croods,” said DreamWorks Animation’s Head of Global Interactive, Chris Hewish. “We’ve developed a close and collaborative relationship with Rovio in which our world class filmmakers created an incredible piece of custom animation on the home screen that introduces players to the game’s beautifully rich aesthetics.”
Meanwhile, Rovio has some big Angry Birds news as well. The popular franchise will launch its animated series online on March 16 on the www.Rovio.com website. Viewers will be able to find out what is happening “deep in the heart of Piggy Island” and learn whether those merciless piggies ever get hold of the birds’ eggs. According to previous reports, there will be 52 episodes that will each last about three minutes and be available on a variety of devices. The company is also working on a CG-animated feature based on the property, which is expected to debut in the mid-2016.
“Our formula was to auction primarily fresh material that had never before been offered for sale, with almost no reserves, and to cross promote it to a new generation of bidders as well as seasoned animation collectors,” said Jim Lentz, director of Animation Art for Heritage. “We plan to continue in this vein and also to continue emphasizing the whole range of animation from 1928-2000.”
Vancouver-based animation studio Slap Happy Cartoons will produce a series of animated shorts for Canadian pubcaster Knowledge Network. The project will feature the network’s popular characters Luna, Chip and Inkie, part of the cabler’s commercial-free children’s block from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. The three playful, and quirky young animal characters learn through play as they explore and discover the world around them.
“As a father of two young kids, I know first-hand how funny and engaging these characters are,” said Josh Mepham, Partner at Slap Happy Cartoons. “We’re honored Knowledge Kids has entrusted us with expanding their world, and in helping to provide preschoolers a safe place to learn, explore and be entertained.”
Founded by Kathy Rocchio, Greg Sullivan, Josh Mepham and Vito Viscomi, Slap Happy Cartoons has offices in Vancouver, B.C. and Los Angeles, Calif. The shop’s clients include Comedy Central, Kids WB!, DHX Media, Canucks Sports and Entertainment, Disney XD, and YTV. For more info, visit www.SlapHappyCartoons.com and www.knowledgekids.ca.
It’s not even a Sweeps Month, but Disney XD’s popular animated series Randy Cunningham, 9th Grade Ninja has lined up a colorful list of guest voices for its new episodes airing in March.
Bobcat Goldthwait, Annie Potts, Sterling Knight, John Witherspoon and Jason Earles are guest starring in upcoming new episodes of the show. On Monday’s episode (March 4 at 7 p.m.), Dickie (Bob Goldthwait), a frozen student from the 1980s is turned into a crazy monster by the Sorcerer, and Randy and Howard must reunite with his lost love, Ms. Ringwald (Annie Potts) before the school is destroyed. In the March 11 outing, Randy Randy must learn a valuable new lesson about respect and humility when after accidentally breaking his sword, he enlists the help of S. Ward Smith (John Witherspoon) to get a custom-made sword. Meanwhile, S. Ward Smith’s protégé, Brent (Jason Earles), believes he was replaced by Howard and wreaks havoc on the school.
Created by Jed Elinoff and Scott Thomas, Randy Cunningham, 9th Grade Ninja debuted on Disney XD last September. The show features the voices of Ben Schwartz, Andrew Caldwell, Kevin Michael Richardson, John DiMaggio, Dave Wittenberg, Tim Curry and Megan Mullally. The animation is produced by Boulder Media in Ireland and Titmouse in Los Angeles.
Randy Cunningham, 9th Grade NinjaRandy Cunningham, 9th Grade Ninja
