Author: Ryan Ball

MGM announced today that it has greenlit two feature-length productions that extend Stargate SG-1, the popular sci-fi series that originated on Showtime and recently ended its run on the SCI-FI Channel. The films, Stargate: The Ark of Truth and Stargate: Continuum, are being made for television and home video distribution.

“Stargate SG-1 is to MGM Television what the James Bond, Pink Panther and Rocky franchises are to our feature film unit,” says Charles Cohen, senior exec VP of MGM. “We are committed to continuing to release new SG-1 content and its Stargate Atlantis spin-off, and we’re also steadfast in our dedication to extending the franchise. Stargate is an indelible brand for MGM and we will support it well into the future.”

Based on the 1994 theatrical release titled Stargate, the series first aired in 1997 with Richard Dean Anderson taking over Kurt Russell’s role of Major General Jack O’Neill, a soldier chosen to lead interstellar missions using an ancient portal discovered in Egypt. Late in the series’ run, Anderson stepped aside to let Farscape stars Ben Browder and Claudia Black bring a fresh vibe to the show.

Browder, Black and fellow SG-1 cast members Amanda Tapping, Christopher Judge and Michael Shanks are all confirmed to return for both movies, which are being written and produced by series scribes Brad Wright and Robert Cooper.

Cooper will direct Stargate: The Ark of Truth, which will bring a conclusion to the Ori conflict that has dominated storylines of the past two seasons of the series, leaving the team free to embark on new adventures in Stargate: Continuum. In the second film, Teal’c and Vala inexplicably disappear into thin air and Carter, Daniel and Mitchell must race back to a world where history has been changed and the Stargate program has been erased from the timeline. As they try to convince the authorities of what is happening, a fleet of goa’uld motherships arrives in orbit and threatens to enslave the human race.

Abby and Ty Archer are special agents who use fascinating and possibly nauseating scientific facts to battle vile villains in Grossology, the new animated series debuting Saturday, Jan. 13, at 6 p.m. (EST) on Discovery Kids. Described by Discovery as a sort of C.S.I for kids, the show blends action, humor and science to solve the mysteries kids really want to know a bout, like why lice take up residence in people’s hair, why our bodies makes boogers and why people pass gas.

Working for a top-secret government agency known as the Bureau of Grossology, our intrepid agents are aided by the infamous Lab Rat as they face off against criminals too disgusting for the adults to handle. Baddies include Sloppy-Joe, the world’s filthiest thief, and Lance Boil, a former grossologist who has gone to the ‘gross side’ and wants revenge.

Saturday’s premiere will offer two episodes back to back. First, Abby and Ty will investigate an epidemic of giant, mind-controlling head lice at Ringworm High in ‘Club Parasites.’ The second installment, ‘When Y Gotta Go,’ will find our heroes out to stop Lance Boil as he uses an infrasound ray gun to cause fluctuations in people’s bowels so he can go on a looting spree. Future episodes will have the secret agent siblings taking on mutant hagfish, transformed termites and a giant gas-powered robot named Fartzilla.

Toon Disney is set to kick off its new Saturday and Sunday afternoon block, “The Great Toon Weekend.” Starting Saturday, Jan. 27, the lineup will lead off with Toon Disney’s Big Movie Show at 12 p.m., followed by five hours of programming showcasing popular series based on Disney’s animated feature.

Following the Big Movie Show, the new afternoon lineup will feature back-to-back episodes of Aladdin at 2 p.m., followed by two-packs of Timon & Pumba, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, The Emperor’s New School and Lilo & Stitch.

Disney’s 24-hour animation cable channel enjoyed its highest primetime ratings ever in 2006. The Dec. 22 Toon Disney premiere of Warner Bros.’ The Polar Express was the channel’s most-watched movie ever, attracting 1.35 million total viewers. Overall, viewership for the Big Movie Show feature went up 11% over the previous year among kids 2-11, and by 13% among kids 6-11.

Toon Disney is advertiser-supported and currently available in more than 59 million U.S. homes and on multiple Toon Disney channels worldwide. Part of the Disney-ABC Television Group at The Walt Disney Co., the channel showcases a variety of Disney’s classic and contemporary animated series and movies, plus action/adventure programming under the Jetix brand.

The Dual Academy will be back in action five days a week on Cartoon Network as back-to-back episodes of the second season of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX air each weekday afternoon starting next week. Beginning Tuesday, Jan. 16, the installments will run at 4:30 p.m. during the Miguzi programming block.

The latest incarnation of the popular anime series, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX debuted in October of 2005 and is aimed at younger viewers. The series takes place a generation in the future and is set on a secluded island that is home to Duel Academy, the most prestigious duelist training school in the world. For many years, there have been class conflicts as the higher-ranked dorms tease the lower classmen. However, the status quo gets turned on its head ass one of the greatest duelists of all time arrives with the incoming class.

Daily Variety reports that video-game centric cable network G4TV has ordered 14 episodes of Code Monkeys, an animated series from Adam de la Pena, creator of Adult Swim’s Minoriteam and Comedy Central’s Gary Busey reality show I’m With Busey. Designed to look like a 1980s Super Nintendo video game, the toon comedy is set to air this spring.

Code Monkeys will follow the surreal adventures of an oddball group of 1980s game designers led by two guys named Dave and Jerry. The series will make references to classic games and will feature late president Ronald Reagan as a recurring character. The look of the show is similar to that of Empire Square, a British animated series that made its U.S. debut on cable music channel Fuse in 2005. Created by Blur drummer Dave Rowntree and music industry insiders Ant Cauchi and Lloyd Salmons, that program also mimics the blocky graphics of more video games from several generations back.

Producing through his Monkey Wrangler Prods., de la Pena is writing and directing episodes of the show and is also voicing the lead character. He is also reportedly developing another animated series titled Think Tank for Fox Broadcasting Corp. Co-written by Andy Sipes and Matt Mariska, the show will revolve around members of a mysterious organization that has been orchestrating pop culture for the past 50 years. De la Pena’s previous writing credits include a stint on Comedy Central’s puppet prank call series Crank Yankers.

CanWest Global Communications Corp. has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire TV broadcaster/distributor Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc. Together with GS Capital Partners, a private equity affiliate of Goldman, Sachs & Co., CanWest has formed a new acquisitions company that will pay approximately $1.95 billion to take control of all of Alliance’s outstanding Class A voting and Class B non-voting shares. In addition to boasting a lineup of 13 specialty television channels, Alliance Atlantis distributes such animated series as Dragon Booster, Connie the Cow, Henry’s World, Peep and the Big Wide World and Lunar Jim (which it co-produces with the Halifax Film Co.).

‘Today’s transaction is consistent with CanWest’s strategy to enhance its existing television business and expand its presence in the fast growing specialty television sector,” Canwest president and CEO Leonard Asper said yesterday. “The combined expertise of CanWest and Alliance Atlantis will enable us to produce even better Canadian content, promote it more effectively and provide greater access to more viewers across more platforms.’

Alliance’s Class A voting and Class B non-voting shareholders will meet to vote on the arrangement this spring, though shareholders representing approximately 80% of the Class A voting shares have already agreed to vote in favor of the acquisition. The Arrangement is also subject to court approval and other customary conditions, including the receipt of regulatory approvals.

Under the agreement, Alliance Atlantis’ specialty television business and CanWest’s Canadian television business will be combined and managed by CanWest. The formal combination of the broadcast operations will occur sometime in 2011.

DECODE Ent. has pre-sold Gizmo, its new animated series in production, to Canada’s YTV. Developed by Singapore’s Scrawl Studios and the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) in co-production with DECODE, YTV and Hong Kong animation company Agogo Ent. Ltd., the sci-fi comedy is scheduled to be delivered this fall.

Gizmo centers on a dysfunctional crew of alien robots who crash-land in the backyard of two Earthling siblings. DECODE has worldwide distribution rights for the iterantional effort.

‘International co-production such as this has helped many of our animation companies level up quickly,’ says Seto Lok Yin, director of industry development for the MDA. ‘Therefore, I am confident that Scrawl will ride on this success and continue to produce quality Made-by-Singapore content.’

Scrawl previously collaborated with the MDA and Agogo on the 2D-animated series Nanoboy. Decode and YTV recently entered into an agreenment to produce the multi-platform property Urban Vermin, an action comedy about two raccoon brothers who have become fierce competitors in pilfering the neighborhood garbage bins.

In other Decode news, the company is set to introduce the second season of its hit animated series Franny’s Feet. Produced by DECODE in association with Thirteen/WNET New York, the show about a little girl who walks a mile in other people’s shoes will have its season two premiere on PBS Kids on Feb. 3.

Now that Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem Band have signed with Disney, The Jim Henson Co. is getting a new band together, acquiring rights to the collectible toy and storybook property The Skrumps. The company is developing animated television projects based on the quirky members of a struggling rock band called Grumblebelly.

Created by John Chandler, the Skrumps are a colorful troupe of Skrumpland residents trying to make it as rockers. Henson is working with existing characters like feisty drummer Skrumpy, and has created new crew members including lead singer Wishbone and his No. 1 groupie, Raisins. Brian Henson, Lisa Henson, John Chandler and Craig Bartlett (“Hey, Arnold!”) will executive produce and Bartlett will also be a writer on the project. of lead singer wishbone, a dreamer with rock star ambitions, Skrumpy, the feisty drummer and Raisins, a smart, sensible tomboy who has a crush on wishbone and tags along on his adventures.

The Skrumps will be animated using the Henson Digital Performance Studio, the company’s proprietary animation system which allows puppeteers to animate characters in real time. Hey Arnold! creator Craig Bartlett is writing the television program and will also serve as exec producer, along with Brian Henson, Lisa Henson and John Chandler.

In addition to bringing the property to television, The Jim Henson Co. plans to launch it across all media including the Internet and ancillary platforms including merchandising and publishing. For a limited time, audiences can now meet the characters, send e-cards, download coloring pages and see the world premiere of their rock video, directed by Brian Henson, exclusively at Yahoo! Kids (www.yahookids.com). The three main characters even have their own blogs at the site.

“When you create something like The Skrumps, you hope that people will see them in the same light as other beloved characters in popular culture,’ Chandler comments. ‘I couldn’t be more pleased to see that The Skrumps have found a home at The Jim Henson Co.”

“The Skrumps have a great new look that is very striking,’ adds Lisa Henson. ‘Each character has its own quirky personality with a rich background and they all share strong relationships that feel quite real. In this way, The Skrumps demonstrate the very same qualities that have defined our company’s strongest character groups.’

The company recently launched The Jim Henson Company’s Puppet Up!‘ Uncensored,’ a live puppet improvisational show that has played to sold out crowds in Aspen, Hollywood and Edinburgh, and premiered as a special on cable network TBS. The Company has also announced the creation of Jim Henson Designs, a merchandise collection inspired by Jim Henson’s earliest sketches. More information on the company can be found at www.henson.com.

Disney/Pixar’s Cars took top family film honors, Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest was voted the best movie and Fox’s The Simpsons took the award for TV animation on Tuesday night during the 33rd Annual People’s Choice Awards. The CBS network aired the broadcast, which honored fan favorites from the worlds of film, television and music.

By public Internet voting, viewers chose Cars from the 15 animated feature films that arrived in North American theaters this year in both wide and limited release. Starring the voices of Owen Wilson, Paul Newman, Larry the Cable Guy and host of other celebrities, the CG-animated adventure-comedy about anthropomorphized automobiles was 2006’s top-grossing domestic toon release, though Fox’s Ice Age: The Meltdown earned more worldwide. Warner Bros.’ Happy Feet, another one of the year’s top earners, has taken the most awards from critics’ associations but apparently wasn’t quite as popular as Cars with the fans who voted online. Cars also just received the Golden Tomato Award for animation from rottentomatoes.com, a website that compiles critical opinions from various outlets and rates films as either ‘fresh’ or ‘rotten’ based on the number of positive reviews they receive. Cars got a 76% fresh rating, just nudging out Warner Bros.’ Happy Feet. The latter currently has a 77% fresh rating, but since the film opened late in the year, some of those favorable reviews weren’t counted in the 2006 frame.

In addition to winning Best Movie, the blockbuster Pirates sequel was named the top drama pic and garnered three awards for Johnny Depp, who took both Best Male Star and Best Male Action Star and shares the award for Best On-Screen Match-up with co-star Keira Knightley.

Despite tough competition from fellow fan favorites such as Fox’s own Family Guy, The Simpsons remains an awards-season favorite. The long-running show from creator/exec producer Matt Groening dominates the animation category among nominees in this year’s Writer’s Guild Awards, taking place in New York on Feb 11. In 2006, the series picked up its ninth Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program and is currently in its 18th season with no sign of stopping.