Animation Magazine

Author: Ryan Ball

  • Fox Latin America, Axe Launch City Hunters

    In a rather strange pairing, Fox Latin American Channels has teamed with Axe, Unilever’s brand of fragrances for men, to create an animated series titled City Hunters. Produced in Buenos Aires for global distribution, the original production of Fox Factory and content development division Axe Attractions premieres on Fox in Latin America on Monday, Oct. 23, at 11 p.m.

    City Hunters explores the world of seduction as an apprentice studies the art of conquering women under an expert on the subject. Axel, a hopeless young man who has been dumped by his girlfriend, has his life turned around when he meets Dr. Lynch, a master creator of men’s fragrances who was the quintessential ’70s playboy. Lynch is a member and the current guardian of Lodge X, a top-secret group that for more than two thousand years has been devoted to the study women and how to get them. Before Lynch can pass on his secrets to Axel, he must first turn the diamond in the rough into a ‘Seductor Absolutis”a man capable of conquering all different kinds of women.

    ‘To produce animation of this quality is something that would have been unlikely until recently in Latin America,’ says Hern’n L’pez, president of Fox Latin American Channels and managing director of Fox Channels U.K. ‘But to have found a partner such as Unilever and an idea like City Hunters fills us with joy.’

    Cristian Cores, marketing regional manager of Axe, adds, ‘In Axe’s team we believe that it is possible to generate entertainment content relevant to the consumer and transmit brand value at the same time. This is the spirit that led us to develop City Hunters.’

    City Hunters is directed by Carlos Baeza, who has helmed several episodes of The Simpsons, and the character designs are inspired by the work of world-famous Italian illustrator Milo Manara. Nine episodes fo the series will air on Mondays at 11 p.m. on Fox.

  • Toon Disney Premieres Bambi II

    Basic cable outlet Toon Disney will host the world television premiere of Bambi II on Friday, Nov. 3. The long-awaited sequel to one of the most beloved animated features of all time was released directly to home video in February and sold more than 2.5 million DVDs during its first week at retail. Toon Disney will also air the basic cable debut of Kronk’s New Groove, the sequel to Disney’s 2000 toon feature The Emporer’s New Groove. on Nov. 8. Both films will air in the network’s Big Movie Show slot at 5 p.m. (ET/PT).

    Bambi II is directed by Brian Pimental a writer on A Goofy Movie, Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast. Produced by DisneyToon Studios, the 2D feature followup has Bambi reunited with his father (voiced by Patrick Stewart), who must raise the young deer and teach him to be a Great Prince of the Forest like himself. Reconnecting with sweet doe Faline, Bambi finds himself challenged by a young buck with budding horns and faces even greater obstacles as he learns the ways of the forest.

    In Kronk’s New Groove, another direct-to-video followup, Patrick Warburton reprises the role of loveable henchman Kronk, who has realized his lifelong dream of becoming a chef and camp counselor. But when his father (voiced by John Mahoney from TV’s Frasier) comes to visit, he has to win Pop’s approval by pretending he has settled down with a wife and family. David Spade, John Goodman, Eartha Kitt and Wendie Malick also revisit their respective roles for this outing, which also features the voice of Tracey Ullman.

  • Piven, Shannon Join Igor Cast

    Emmy-winning Entourage star Jeremy Piven and Saturday Night Live alum Molly Shannon have signed on to lend their voices to Exodus Film Group’s CG-animated feature Igor. The comic thespians will join Steve Buscemi, John Cleese and Christian Slater in the independent production, which the Weinstein Co. will distribute theatrically.

    Directed by Tony Leondis (Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch) Igor is described as a playfully irreverent comedy about a mad scientist’s hunchbacked lab assistant who has big dreams of becoming a scientist in his own right and winning first place at the annual Evil Science Fair. Slater will voice the title role while Buscemi plays Scamper, a super-intelligent and ill-tempered lab rabbit, and Cleese voices the character of Dr. Glickenstein, Igor’s evil master. Piven joins the mix as Igor’s nemesis, Dr. Schadenfreude, and Shannon takes on the role of Eva, a giant, indestructible monster that Igor creates.

    The feature will be an extension of the short Igor: Holy Frijoles, which is currently in production at Exodus. Producing the pic are Exodus president John D. Eraklis and veteran animation exec Max Howard, who has collaborated on such animated blockbusters such as Disney’s The Lion King and Aladdin, and Warner Bros.’ Space Jam and The Iron Giant. The screenplay was written by Chris McKenna, who is currently writing for his third season on the Fox animated TV show American Dad. Eric Robinson, VP of production and development, is overseeing Igor on behalf of The Weinstein Co.

    No stranger to animation, Piven recently lent his voice to the Harv character in Disney/Pixar’s Cars and can be heard as Rock Rivers in last year’s home video feature Scooby-Doo in Where’s My Mummy? On TV, he has voiced Elongated Man on Justice League and worked on episodes of Rugrats and Duckman. Shannon has done a couple episodes of FOX’s American Dad and voiced the part of Jackie Frost in the 2005 home video feature Here Comes Peter Cottontail: The Movie. Most recently, she was Patience the Vampire in Sci Fi Channel’s animated adaptation of Mike Mignola’s Dark Horse comic The Amazing Screw-On Head. She can next be seen in the period piece Marie Antoinette, which opens on Friday.

    The Weinstein Co. will showcase Igor at next month’s American Film Market. Exodus Film Group’s CG-animation slate also includes The Hero of Color City, which will be distributed by Magnolia Pictures, and Amarillo Armadillo. The studio is also in pre-production on the live-action film Bunyan & Babe, which features comedic actor Eddie Griffin as the voice of the CG-animated Babe the Blue Ox.

  • Replacements Tops Disney Channel Shows

    Disney Channel’s latest original animated series, The Replacements, has become the network’s highest rated animated show among kids 6-11. In addition, the episode ‘Halloween Spirits’ aired on Saturday, Oct. 4, and was the week’s most watched broadcast and cable offering in the demographic, pulling in approximately 1.39 million viewers.

    In The Replacements, orphans Riley and Todd come across a comic book ad for the Fleemco Co., which promises a new set of parents for $1.98. Their quirky new family consists of a British international spy mom named Agent K, a daredevil dad named Dick Daring and C.A.R.T.E.R., a cynical talking spy car who used to be Agent K’s partner. Riley and Todd soon realize that they can replace any adult in their life simply by making a call to Fleemco owner Conrad Fleem.

    The series is created by children’s author and illustrator Dan Santat (The Guild of Geniuses) and is exec-produced by Jack Thomas (The Fairly OddParents) and directed by Heather Martinez (SpongeBob SquarePants). It premiered on Sept. 8 and was Disney Channel’s most-watched animated series premiere on record with kids 6-11 (2.06 million) and tweens 9-14 (1.53 million), according Neilson data.

  • Indie Sealed Gets Theatrical Run

    Phil Nibbelink’s independently produced 2D-animated feature, Romeo & Juliet: Sealed With a Kiss, will begin a limited theatrical run on Friday, Oct. 27. Nibbelink, a former Disney Animator, spent five years taking on the Herculean task of animating the film by himself using Flash to keep the hand-drawn look alive and well in the age of CG.

    Set in the aquatic world of seals, Romeo & Juliet: Sealed With a Kiss is a retelling of Shakespeare’s classic tale about two star-crossed lovers from warring families. When Juliet’s father gives her hand in marriage to the monstrous elephant seal Prince, Juliet must fake her death in order to be reunited with Romeo. The plan, however, goes afoul and our heroes embark on a desperate race against time with some help from friends Friar Lawrence and a kissing fish named Kissy.

    While at Disney, Nibbelink animated on The Fox and the Hound, The Black Cauldron, Basil the Great Mouse Detective and Oliver and Company, and was a directing animator in London on Who Framed Roger Rabbit. He later teamed with Steven Spielberg to form Amblimation in London, where he directed An American Tail: Fievel Goes West and We’re Back. In 1998, he started Phil Nibbelink Prods. with his wife, Margit Friesacher, as producer. After making direct to video films such as Puss in Boots and Leif Ericson: The Boy Who Discovered America, the duo dove into making a 77-minute 35mm animated family film with Nibbelink handling all the animation and lending his voice to the production.

    Romeo & Juliet: Sealed With a Kiss is set to debut on Oct. 27 in a handful of theaters in Los Angeles and Northern California. To see a list of theaters, view the trailer and learn more about the movie, go to www.romeoandjulietfilm.com.

  • Teen Titans Movie Set for Feb.

    Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, Raven and Beast Boy are headed to home video with the first feature-length animated Teen Titans movie. Warner Home Video will release Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo on Feb. 6, 2007. In the feature, the young superheroes battle a mysterious and menacing Japanese criminal known as Brushogun, who has sent a high-tech ninja to attack the caped crusaders.

    Created by Marv Wolfman and George Perez, Teen Titans made its comic book debut in 1964 and soon grew into its own monthly comic book series that ran for seven years. The New Teen Titans followed in 1980 and became DC’s most popular comic book of the decade that followed. The revamped version dealt more with the teenage angst aspect and serves as the basis for the animated series, produced under the guidance of Emmy Award winner Glen Murakami. The series bowed in 2003 and has made fans on Cartoon Network in the U.S. and broadcast outlets around the world.

    The Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo will include the extra features Robin’s Underworld Race Challenge and a never-aired episode of the series. The disc will carry the suggested retail price of $19.98. The movie will air on Cartoon Network sometime before the home-video release.

  • New Kong Feature Gets Street Date

    Genius Products LLC announced that it will release BKN’s new animated feature Kong: Return To The Jungle on Nov. 21. BKN’s previous Kong productions, including Kong: The Animated Series, have been produced in 2D but this latest installment is made entirely in 3D CG.

    Kong: Return To The Jungle continues the animated saga based on the 1933 feature that pretty much invented the visual effects film with stop-motion animation by Willis O’Brien. In this latest adventure, Kong and other remarkable inhabitants of Kong Island are captured and transported to a state-of-the-art zoo on the Island of Manhattan. However, this great ape won’t suffer the same fate as his famous ancestor. The feature is produced by Rick Ungar, whose credits include animated incarnations of Marvel Comics’ X-Men, Spider-Man and Fantastic Four properties.

    Genius, which recently handled the home-video release of The Weinstein Co.’s animated feature, Hoodwinked, has also acquired distribution rights to BKN’s CG-animated feature A Christmas Carol. The movie will release it on home video on Nov. 21, one week before it begins its limited theatrical run as part of Kidtoon Films’ series of weekend matinees.

  • Win Xiaolin Showdown Season One!

    The first season of Warner Bros. Animation’s Xiaolin Showdown is available on DVD and we have some copies to give away. Take the “Xiaolin Movie Challenge” for your chance to win!

    In an attempt to break up the team, a powerful, evil wizard has banished the Xiaolin heroes to various martial arts movies. Name all six of the movies and you’re entered to win Warner Bros. Animation’s Xiaolin Showdown Season One!

    Play it Here:

    https://www.dev.animationmagazine.net/wordpress/xiaolin_trivia.html

  • Nick, Sanrio Market Blues Clues in Japan

    Nickelodeon & Viacom Consumer Products will launch the Blues Clues property in Japan through a creative partnership with Sanrio, the character licensing group behind the hugely successful Hello Kitty brand. Sanrio has been named the master licensee for Blues Clues in Japan and will join Nickelodeon in creating a limited-edition Blue’s Clues and Hello Kitty line of products for tweens and young adults.

    The blue canine star of Nickelodeon’s popular preschool series will be adapted by Sanrio into Hello Kitty‘s familiar world and product range with the new line, which will debut in the spring of 2007 and will be available for a short time only at select retailers. Sanrio holds the master license for Blue’s Clues across toys, apparel, packaged goods, home furnishings, stationery, gifts, accessories, consumer electronics, party supplies and sporting goods. Blue’s Clues merchandise will roll out in Japan in the summer of 2007.

    “It is incredibly heartwarming that Blue has been invited to become part of Hello Kitty’s fantastic world,” says Traci Paige Johnson, co-creator, exec. Producer and director of design for Blue’s Clues. “Hello Kitty was a tremendous inspiration in the creation of Blue’s Clues and has been one of my favorite characters since childhood.”

    Sanrio Far East Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sanrio, inked a multi-year deal last June to represent Nickelodeon’s multi-billion dollar global franchises SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer, as well as Comedy Central’s South Park in Japan. SpongeBob SquarePants merchandise launched in select retailers in January and has already generated $20 million at retail, according to Nickelodeon and Viacom Consumer Products.

    Combining animation and live-action, the award-winning Blue’s Clues series invites young viewers into a computer-generated storybook world to help solve the day’s puzzles. Created by Traci Paige Johnson, Todd Kessler and Angela C. Santomero, the show airs on Nickelodeon Japan and recently celebrated its 10th anniversary on the air in the U.S. Syndicated to 120 countries and translated into 15 languages, the property has raked in approximately $3.6 billion at retail since 1998.

  • Nicktoons Sets Skyland Premiere

    Those who caught the hour-long Skyland special back in January can look forward to next month’s launch of the half-hour series on Nicktoons Network. The outlet’s first foray into sci-fi will premiere Saturday, Nov. 18 at 9 p.m. (ET) during 3 Headed Monster programming block. An encore presentation of the original special, ‘Dawn of A New Day,’ will be followed by an all-new episode airing at 10 p.m.

    Skyland is set in the year 2451, when the earth’s shattered crust has turned into millions of planetary fragments. In this floating world, the Great Wall of China and the Empire State Building stand side-by-side, and the Eiffel Tower is visible from the Great Pyramid of Cheops. The story revolves around Mahad and his sister Lena, two extraordinary children who struggle to free their mother from the Guardians, the tyrannical caste that rules over the new world order.

    Created by Emmanuel Gorin, Alexandre de la Patelli’re and Matthieu Delaporte, and produced by France’s Method Films, the show combines hand-drawn images with 2D and 3D animation. Montreal-based Kaydara developed the software used in the production, which features motion-capture character animation.

    The first season of Skyland consists of 13 episodes, which will air Saturdays at 9 p.m. (ET) on Nicktoons. In the premiere episode, ‘Manipulation,’ Mahad and Lena fight against the enemy when a solar phenomenon has unusual effects on Seijin powers. This allows a sect of the Sphere to take control of Dahlia, a strong member of the pirates, in an effort to learn the coordinates of the pirate hideout.

  • Toll, Stasis Shine at Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror Fest

    The spirit of Roger Corman was ever-present in Las Vegas over the weekend as Movie Nation Festivals presented the 2006 Festival of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror & the Supernatural at the Plaza Hotel & Casino. Dedicated mostly to low-budget horror and sci-fi movies, the four-day event also featured screenings of several animated shorts, including The Toll, a CG-animated comedy from Portsmouth, New Hampshire-based production entity Hatchling Studio.

    Written and directed by Zack Pike, The Toll is an animated mockumentary that turns the camera on a troll who lives under a bridge and expounds on work, life and love, slowly painting the self-portrait of a monster in denial. The short debuted at this year’s Comic-Con in San Diego and is currently making the festival rounds. Based in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Hatchling Studios offers animation, interactive and post-production services, and created the short to spotlight its CG capabilities.

    Another animated stand-out at the fest was Jason A. Hite’s Stasis, the first part of science-fiction saga inspired by Metropolis, Frankenstein, The Matrix and the designs of H.R. Giger. The stop-motion film takes viewers into the bowels of a biomechanical world where deceased humans are kept in cryostasis chambers, waiting to be thawed and revived by advances in medical technology. Viewers watch as the body of one woman is extracted and invaded by ‘bio-drones,’ which resurrect her as one of their own. A sculptor by trade, Hite makes Halloween masks for a living and was able to apply his skills to his first animated project, an atmospheric and nightmarish vision of rebirth. He tells us he’s currently working on the second part, and also has a feature in development. You can learn more about Stasis and see Hite’s portfolio at www.hitestudios.com.

    The funniest animated short screened out of competition since it was made by filmmakers involved with the festival. Nougat from Tibor Szakaly and Bill Filala takes place during a fourth-grade pageant in which kids relate the nature and history of popular confections by dressing ups as such sweets as chocolate and caramel. Unlike his cheery counterparts, the kid who has to be nougat is depressed because few people know what nougat really is or even how it’s spelled. As the short goes on, his despondency turns to wrath as he seeks to prove the true power of nougat by invoking the dark arts. The twisted humor of the film is enhanced by its appropriately crude paper cut-out animation style.

    On the live-action side, one of the better entries was a feature titled A Mexican Werewolf in Texas, a tongue-in-cheek flick about a small border town terrorized by the mythical Chupacabra. Well made on a low budget by director by Scott Maginnis, the film is surprisingly character driven and features some fun rubber creature effects also created by Maginnis. Another highlight was a screening of Robert Sidney Mellette’s 2000 black comedy Jacks or Better, in which four long-time poker buddies reveal dark secrets while a dead body hangs on the kitchen wall.

    This is the second year for the Festival of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror & the Supernatural, a presentation of Movie Nation Festivals. For more information, go to www.movienationfestivals.com.

  • Toonami Has Hellboy for Halloween

    Having been translated for the big screen by acclaimed director Guillermo del Toro, Mike Mignola’s Comic-book series Hellboy is set to make its animated debut on cartoon Network. The all-new movie Hellboy: Sword of Storms will premiere on Saturday, Oct. 28, at 9:30 p.m. (ET/PT) during the Toonami block.

    In Mignola’s mythology, Hellboy is a demon summoned by Nazis to wage war during the final days of World War II. Rescued by the Allies, our hero was instead raised to fight evil as a member of a clandestine supernatural task force. In the animated telepic, all hell breaks loose when a university professor opens a forbidden scroll and become is possessed by the twin demons of thunder and lightning, who seek to return to the world to wake their brothers, the dragons. Hellboy, along with a folklore expert and a psychic, travels to Japan to investigate and finds the Sword of Storms, a weapon that can defeat the demons can also return them to Earth. Mignola co-wrote the screenplay and Phil Weinstein and Tad Stones directed the project. Mignola also served as creative producer along with del Toro.

    Hellboy: Sword of Storms is produced by Film Roman and distributed worldwide for television and home video by Starz Media LLC, which licensed all animation rights to the franchise from Revolution Studios. Live-action feature film rights to the property have been picked up by Universal, which is moving forward with a sequel written and directed by del Toro.

  • Over the Hedge Hits Home

    DreamWork’s hit animated feature Over The Hedge arrives on home video today, complete with a new animated short and a bevy of behind-the-scenes bonus features. Considering the recent retail success of Disney’s The Wild, Hedge should do quite well on disc, adding to the $318 million it generated from worldwide ticket sales over the summer.

    Based on the comic strip of the same name by Michael Fry and T. Lewis, Over the Hedge finds a raccoon named R.J. (Bruce Willis) with a literal deadline of one week to replace an ominous bear’s spring food supply. In order to complete the task, he recruits a small band of forest animals to loot a suburban housing development that has cropped up over the winter. Like the comic, the movie offers a satirical look a suburban life and how the animal world might view the absurdity of human excess. The film is directed by Tim Johnson (Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, Antz) and first-timer Karey Kirkpatrick, a writer whose credits include The Rescuers Down Under, James and the Giant Peach, Chicken Run and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

    The feature is accompanied by the new toon short Hammy’s Boomerang Adventure, starring the hyperactive squirrel character voiced by Steve Carell. The short’s director, Will Finn, a storyboard artist on Over the Hedge, provides optional commentary. Other DVD extra features include feature commentary by Johnson, Kirkpatrick and producer Bonnie Arnold; a Verm-Tech Institute Infomercial with exterminator Dwayne LaFontant; and the featurettes Behind The Hedge featurette, Meet The Cast and The Tech of Over The Hedge, There’s also a virtual playground of programming and creative activities for kids, including set-top games and a tutorial on how to draw Hammy. The disc can be had for the suggested retail price of $29.99.

    Also debuting on home video today is Little Robots: Big Adventures, a 40-minute compilation of episodes from the stop-motion animated BBC preschool series that airs on Cartoon Network in the U.S. Created by Create TV & Film and produced by animation house Cosgrove Hall Films, the show follows the adventures of Tiny and his diminutive android friends. The disc from Fox Home Entertainment lists for $14.98.

  • 4Kids Signs TMNT Partners

    With an all-new CG-animated feature hitting theaters on March 23, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are ready to make another assault at retail as well. In mounting a massive licensing program, 4Kids Ent. has teamed with some major players in the toy, interactive entertainment, publishing and apparel industries. Among them, Playmates Toys has been names master toy licensee and Ubisoft will make video games based on the jump-started franchise.

    Titled TMNT, the upcoming feature from Imagi Animation Studios, Warner Bros. Pictures and The Weinstein Company rejoins Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael after they have defeated arch nemesis Shredder and have grown apart as a family. But when strange things begin to brew in New York City, rat sensei Splinter gets the band back together to stop Tech-industrialist Max Winters from taking over the world with his army of ancient monsters.

    Simon & Schuster will handle publishing efforts based on the film and Giant has signed on for apparel. In addition, more than 35 world-renowned companies have licensed rights to the property in such categories as food & beverage, health & beauty, home furnishing, stationery & paper and electronics.

  • New E3 Takes Shape

    The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has announced that the new E3 Media and Business Summit will be held July 11-13, 2007, in Santa Monica, Calif. The scaled-back event will be invitation only, focused more on press events showcasing the latest in video-game software and technology.

    Gone are the days of huge displays with scantily clad booth babes competing for attention with game demos on jumbo screens while gunfire and explosions blast from giant speakers and Army soldiers repel from helicopters outside. The new E3 will primarily consist of intimate meetings in premier hotel suites and meeting rooms with media, retailers, developer partners and other invited guests. In addition, the nearby Barker Hangar will be converted into a software showcase where attendees will be able to casually try out upcoming titles.

    “By combining suite-based meetings with the software showcase in a controlled and business-like environment, we believe we will successfully fulfill our primary objective of giving high-level media the best of all worlds’the chance to engage in highly personal, one-on-one dialogue with leading game company executives, as well as the chance to demo games on their own time and to check out offerings from both the best known and emerging game publishers and developers,” says ESA president Douglas Lowenstein.

    The expo will also feature a daily luncheon conference session with top executives and analysts, and a Serious Games showcase. ESA is exploring the idea of including an independent games showcase and keeping the highly “Into The Pixel” video game art competition and exhibition. For more information about the ESA, please visit www.theESA.com.

  • Edgar & Ellen Sells to Nick Int’l Channels

    Star Farm Prods.’ animated series Edgar & Ellen has been acquired for broadcast by Nickelodeon channels in France, Italy, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Australia. Announced at MIPCOM in Cannes, France, the deal includes all 26 episodes of the show and six holiday specials. The series currently airs on Nicktoons Network in the U.S. and Nickelodeon in the U.K.

    Aimed at kids 8-12, Edgar & Ellen has two slightly twisted siblings constantly pulling pranks on one another in their large, gothic manor. The property started as a series of shorts that aired on Nicktoons. Two of the shorts are also available for viewing in Animation Magazine’s web-based film festival, World Animation Celebration Online (www.animationmagazine.net/wac).

    The TV series will feature a mix of animated segments varying in length and will incorporate musical elements and ideas submitted by kids at www.edgarandellen.com. About 10% of the content will be influenced by fan input because Nickelodeon wants to have a show that kids can interact with much in the way they do cell phones, iPods and websites. In addition, new animated content will continue to evolve as back-stories of the secondary characters are told through Edgar & Ellen’s online community.

  • FOX Raises Dreadful Children

    According to The Hollywood Reporter, 20th Century Fox TV has made a pilot order for Two Dreadful Children, an animated series from Kitchen Confidential creator/exec producer Dave Hemingson. The FOX network has a number of toon concepts in development in hopes of expanding its Sunday night ‘Animation Domination’ block, which currently includes The Simpsons, King of the Hill, Family Guy and American Dad.

    Hemingson, who has written for American Dad and served as consulting producer on Family Guy, is writing and exec producing Dreadful Children. In the show, a set of terrible twins from a redneck family turn out to be geniuses, perhaps giving Family Guy‘s Stewie some competition in that department.

    Another animated pilot in the works at 20th Century Fox TV is an unnamed project from Robert Smigel, Greg Cohen and Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison production shingle. Last year there was talk of a pilot order for an animated series based on the book Stories From a Moron: Real Stories Rejected by Real Magazines. The book was authored by Ed Broth, which may or may not be a pen name for comedian Jerry Seinfeld.

  • GoTV Takes G4TV Mobile

    Video game-centric cable outlet G4TV has come to cell phones via a deal with mobile television company GoTV Networks. The U.S. broadcast home of the gory, animated Happy Tree Friends series, G4TV serves the 18-34 male demographic with programming dedicate to gaming, gadgets, motor sports, music, news and more. G4 programming will be featured across several of GoTV Networks’ subscription-based mobile television channels, expanding G4’s multiplatform strategy beyond podcasting, VOD and broadband offerings.

    “GoTV Networks is committed to delivering cutting-edge programming to the mobile audience,” says Daniel Tibbets, exec VP of GoTV Studios. “With G4’s unique and irreverent approach to videogames and pop culture, we will provide the perfect mix to reach a young and enthusiastic audience.”

    G4TV programming currently available on GoTV channels includes the video-game animation showcase Cinematech, the variety seires Attack of the Show! and the gaming programs Cheat!, Electric Playground and X-Play. The content is oiffered on the on-demand premium subscription channels GoTV Superchannel, Altitude and Hip Hop Official, each of which carry a subscription rate of $5.99 per month.

  • Family Guy’s Brian Goes Blogging

    Family Guy fans can now go online to check out some nuggets of wisdom from the Griffin’s martini-sipping family dog, Brian. The character is featured as a guest blogger on familyguy.com and olivereader.com, posting his first entry today, Oct. 16. In addition to dishing dirt on his dysfunctional family, the talking canine is promoting his upcoming book, Family Guy: Brian Griffin’s Guide to Booze, Broads and the Lost Art of Being a Man.

    Brian will blog for five days, sharing details of being violated by a Borders Books security guard, offering a scintillating review of Danielle Steel’s latest novel and listing all the things he plans to do as a published author, including bedding more women, donning a cardigan sweater and a pipe, starting to call wine “vino” and tricking out his Prius to look like Kit from Knight Rider. among many others.

    Penned by Family Guy and American Dad scribe Andrew Goldberg, Family Guy: Brian Griffin’s Guide to Booze, Broads, and the Lost Art of Being a Man will be released by Harper Paperbacks on Tuesday, Oct. 17, and will retail for $14.95.

  • Trump: The Animated Series?

    For once, it may not be a bad thing for animators to hear the words ‘You’re fired.’ Premiere Publishing Group Inc. (PPG), publisher of Trump Magazine, has announced plans to make an animated series featuring business tycoon and reality TV star Donald Trump. PPG CEO and Trump Magazine editor Michael Jacobson issued a letter of intent on Friday, Oct. 6, between Sobe Life LLC and Trump World Publications Inc. to pursue production on the series, which will also feature other Trump execs in animated form.

    “Our first step is producing two shorts and a pilot to present back to Mr. Trump for approval,” Jacobson comments. “We have interest from major animation houses and television networks to produce the series, and project the shorts and

    pilot to be produced within 90 days, with the series in production first quarter 2007.” Jacobson bought the idea for an animated Trump series from business associate Mitchell Schultz, and retains all rights under a buy/sell agreement.

    Trump won’t be the first billionaire businessman to be animated in his own series. In February of this year, DIC Ent. announced that it is developing a direct-to-DVD animated series with investor Warren Buffet. Now in production, The Secret Millionaire’s Club will consist of 13 titles that promote financial literacy to kids through relatable characters and real-world situations. Featuring the words, voice and likeness of Buffett, the first two installments are scheduled for release this fall.