During Saturday’s Wondercon@Home panel, Hulu revealed more of the stop-mo world of Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K., which premieres May 21 on the platform.
Co-creators Jordan Blum and Patton Oswalt (also voice of M.O.D.O.K.) answered fan-submitted questions alongside cast members Melissa Fumero (M.O.D.O.K.’s daughter, Melissa), Aimee Garcia (wife Jodie), Ben Schwartz (son Lou) and Jon Daly (Super-Adaptoid) and reveal some special guest stars for the debut season … drumrolls, please:
Jon Hamm as Iron Man
Whoopi Goldberg as Poundcakes
Nathan Fillion as Wonder Man
Bill Hader as Angar the Screamer and The Leader
The free virtual panel also sneak peeked a brand new clip, which you can catch at the end of the video:
Synopsis: Megalomaniacal supervillain M.O.D.O.K. has long pursued his dream of one day conquering the world. But after years of setbacks and failures fighting the Earth’s mightiest heroes, M.O.D.O.K. has run his evil organization A.I.M. into the ground. Ousted as A.I.M.’s leader, while also dealing with his crumbling marriage and family life, the Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing is set to confront his greatest challenge yet!
The series also stars Wendi McLendon-Covey as rival mad scientist Mmonica, Beck Bennett as new A.I.M. boss Austin Van Der Sleet and Sam Richardson as henchman Gary. Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K. is created and written by executive producers Blum and Oswalt. Brett Crawley, Robert Maitia, Grant Gish, Joe Quesada, Karim Zreik and Jeph Loeb also serve as executive producers.
Read all about the show in the upcoming May ’21 issue of Animation Magazine, available soon!
The new kaiju showdown Godzilla vs. Kong (WB/Legendary) battled its way to a monster-sized pandemic debut. The pic took in an estimated $121.8 million from 38 overseas markets — the biggest international opening for a movie since the start of the COVID-19 crisis. The actioner scored about $12.4M from 891 IMAX screens (9.7% of the int’l B.O.), making it likewise the biggest IMAX opening weekend since December 2019.
As could be expected, China was the biggest market for Godzilla vs. Kong at $70.34M. Directed by horror helmer Adam Wingard, the effects-heavy blockbuster hit No. 1 in all its release territories. Other top markets were Mexico and Australia ($6.3M), Russia ($5.8M), Taiwan (%5.2M) and India ($4.8M). The new Monster Universe entry’s opening pulls ahead of 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters and about matches up to 2017’s Kong: Skull Island.
Domestically, Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon was edged out of the No. 1 spot in its third weekend by Universals’ Nobody, pulling $3.5M from 2,212 theaters to the new champ’s $6.7M. The warrior princess was immediately followed by WB’s Tom and Jerry ($2.5M). DreamWorks/Universal’s The Croods: A New Age came in at No. 6 in its 18th week. Wonder Woman 1984 (WB) closed out the top 10 in its 14th week with $245k.
As far as worldwide cumulative rankings, Godzilla vs. Kong rocketed straight to No. 4. The Avatarre-release is up to $51.7M worldwide, bringing the 2009 blockbuster’s recaptured B.O. record to $3.32 billion. The top performing animated titles are Tom and Jerry ($85.4M, No. 6), Raya and the Last Dragon ($82.6M, No. 7), Fantawild’s Boonie Bears: The Wild Life ($77.7M, No. 8)), Light Chaser’s Nezha Reborn ($56M, No. 9) — coming to Netflix April 12 and Studio Khara’s Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time ($45.3M, No. 11). Directed by Hideaki Anno and also dubbed Shin Evangelion, the latest franchise entry set an IMAX opening day record in Japan last week.
Netflix returned to this year’s all-virtual AnimeJapan 2021 to showcase its diversifying slate and fan-favorite voice cast for fans in Japan and around the world. Netflix strengthens its ongoing commitment to become a home for fans and creators around the world, noting it will premiere around 40 new original anime titles this year — close to double the number of titles brought to fans last year.
During the virtual stage event, Netflix announced the upcoming worldwide release of Record of Ragnarok (premiering June 2021), an anime adaptation of the hugely successful manga of the same name. The story about the epic fight for the fate of humanity will join an ever expanding slate of anime, including previously announced titles like the comedic, slice-of-life series The Way of the Househusband (premiering April 8) or the hit videogame adaptation RESIDENT EVIL: Infinite Darkness (premiering later this year).
Netflix also gave fans and press a new glimpse at upcoming projects Yasuke (premiering April 29) and Eden (May 27), revealing a new trailer and the launch date for Eden as well as a special artwork by Yasuke’s character designer, Takeshi Koike. Both projects are brand-new stories brought to life by a wealth of international creators, further strengthening Netflix’s ambitions to diversify their lineup of original anime by working with top creators from both in and outside of Japan.
The stage event also included appearances from Japanese voice talents Kenjiro Tsuda (The Way of the Househusband), Marika Kono (Eden) and Toshiyuki Morikawa (RESIDENT EVIL: Infinite Darkness). All three were excited about the global launch of their series and to get closer to overseas anime fans.
Record of Ragnarok
Netflix Anime 2021 highlights: Record of Ragnarok (global premiere: June 2021) is the story of 13 gods from across the globe and 13 of the world’s most notable humans fighting it out in one-on-one battles to decide the fate of humanity. Based on the manga created by Azychika, Shinya Umemura and Takumi Fukui, an earnest battle of transcendental rage begins! www.netflix.com/recordofragnarok
Director: Masao Okubo | Series Composition: Kazuyuki Fudeyasu | Character Design: Masaki Sato | Music: Koji Takanashi |Animation Production: GRAPHINICA | Voice Cast: Miyuki Sawashiro, Tomoyo Kurosawa, Tomokazu Seki, Hikaru Midorikawa, Wataru Takagi
Yasuke (global premiere April 29): In a war-torn feudal Japan filled with mechs and magic, the greatest ronin never known, Yasuke, struggles to maintain a peaceful existence after a past life of violence. But when a local village becomes the center of social upheaval between warring daimyo, Yasuke must take up his sword and transport a mysterious child who is the target of dark forces and bloodthirsty warlords. www.netflix.com/yasuke
Director, Creator, Executive Producer: LeSean Thomas (Cannon Busters) | Character Design: Takeshi Koike | Music & Executive Producer: Flying Lotus Animation | Production: MAPPA | Voice of Yasuke & Executive Producer: LaKeith Stanfield
Yasuke art by Takeshi Koike
Eden (global premiere May 27): Thousands of years in the future, a city known as “Eden” is inhabited solely by Artificially Intelligent robots whose former masters vanished long ago. On a routine assignment, within the depths of the city, two maintenance robots accidentally awaken a human baby girl from stasis questioning all they were taught to believe– that humans were nothing more than a forbidden ancient myth. Together, the two robots secretly raise the child in a safe haven outside Eden. www.netflix.com/eden
Director: Yasuhiro Irie (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood) | Producer: Justin Leach | Character Design: Toshihiro Kawamoto | Concept Design: Christophe Ferreira | Screenplay: Kimiko Ueno | Background Art Director: Clover Xie | Music: Kevin Penkin | Animation Production: CGCG
The Way of the Househusband (global premiere April 8): Feared among the yakuza as “The Immortal Dragon”, Tatsu is a legend of the underworld with an impressive number of defeated rival gangs under his belt. However, hoping to wash his hands of his past, Tatsu gets married and devotes himself fully to the way of the househusband by diligently undertaking the cooking, cleaning, washing and grocery shopping each day. On the other hand, there’s one person who’s not happy about Tatsu’s new domestic life — his tough, former yakuza underling, Masa. As Tatsu tries his best to pursue the way of the househusband, one assassin after another tries their hand at taking him out! www.netflix.com/thewayofthehousehusband
Based on a story by Kosuke Oono | Director: Chiaki Kon (Nodame Cantabile, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal) | Series Composition: Susumu Yamakawa | Theme Song performed by UchikubiGokumonDoukoukai – opening song, “Shufu no michi” / ending song, “Kiwami meoto kaido” | Animation Production: J.C.STAFF | Cast: Kenjiro Tsuda, Shizuka Ito, Kazuyuki Okitsu
RESIDENT EVIL: Infinite Darkness (2021): In 2006, there were traces of improper access to secret Presidential files found in the White House’s network. American federal agent Leon S. Kennedy is among the group invited to the White House to investigate this incident, but when the lights suddenly go out, Leon and the SWAT team are forced to take down a horde of mysterious zombies. Meanwhile, TerraSave staff member Claire Redfield encounters a mysterious image drawn by a youth in a country she visited, while providing support to refugees. Haunted by this drawing, which appears to be of a victim of viral infection, Claire starts her own investigation. The next morning, Claire visits the White House to request the construction of a welfare facility. There, she has a chance reunion with Leon and uses the opportunity to show him the boy’s drawing. Leon seems to realize some sort of connection between the zombie outbreak at the White House and the strange drawing, but he tells Claire that there is no relation and leaves. In time, these two zombie outbreaks in distant countries lead to events that shake the nation to its very core. www.netflix.com/residentevil_anime
Original Work/Production/Supervision: Capcom Co., Ltd. | Full 3DCG animation production: Quebico | Production: TMS Entertainment
We had the chance to talk to London-based animation director Samuel Mark Player who recently finished his poignant and powerful short The Queen’s Heart. Player made the stop-motion short working from home during the 2020-2021 lockdown period in the U.K. He says, “I made this short about drag, poignant moments in queer history, gender identity and the importance of chosen family, and the story means a lot to me.” Here is more from the talented 23-year-old creator:
Sam Player
Animag: Can you tell us a little bit about the inspiration for your short?
Samuel Mark Player: The inspiration for The Queen’s Heart came from the rich history of the LGBTQ+ community and all the amazing drag queens, queer people and the transgender community who fought for the rights we have today. It is an original story, but I took inspiration from the lives of people like Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, who lived through events like the Stonewall Riots which were hugely influential in the progression of LGBTQ+ rights. I was also really inspired as well by more modern representations of our history and community, like the hugely diverse Pose and It’s a Sin.
Did you study animation at school?
Yes – I graduated from The Arts University Bournemouth in 2019 with a degree in Animation Production, which was great as it allowed me to study different forms of animation while homing in on the skills I wanted to develop. I creatively produced that year’s Stop Motion Grad Film Undead Indeed and learned a lot about how to make an animated short, particularly with a small budget and big aspirations – which is this film all over!
When did you decide to pursue animation?
For as long as I can remember I have been interested in animating. As a kid, I would use the family camcorder to make little animations with my action figures or LEGO, and as I got older, I realized that people actually did this for a job?! So, I knew that it was what I wanted to do. Who wouldn’t want to spend their time creating their own worlds and giving them life?!
The Queen’s Heart
Why did you choose stop-motion animation as your medium?
In my eyes, stop-motion is the most accessible form of animation to anyone. All you need is a camera and a subject, and anyone can do it! I love how tangible it is; everything on screen had to be made by someone, moved by someone, and it’s all real. I think that this gives another layer of depth to the story you’re telling and really brings it to life. I think that’s also a reason that the film is resonating with people, because it’s telling an important story through a poignant art form.
How long did it take you to finish your short and how much did it cost?
In all, the film took about 14 months to complete from start to finish. During the first U.K. lockdown I worked on it full-time, and since then I have been working on it during any free time I could find. I managed to make the film for less than £1,000 (about $1,400) and I was fortunate enough to run an online fundraiser to help raise the money for the original score. It was supported by many members of the LGBTQ+ and stop-motion communities, which really meant a lot to me. Beyond the score, everything else was self-funded.
Which animation tools did you use?
I animated the film using Dragonframe, which I love to use as it is so easy to go back through the frames you’ve taken and make sure that the flow of motion is exactly how you want it. I created my own X-sheets using Excel and did the post-production editing in After Effects and Premiere Pro.
The Queen’s Heart
What are you proudest of?
The thing I’m most proud of with the film is how it has already resonated with the LGBTQ+ community. I told this story because it is one that I care deeply about, and especially in the light of some of the recent trailblazing shows that I mentioned, it is really wonderful to hear stories of how other people are relating to and enjoying the short. We all have a responsibility to make sure that we educate ourselves on our history, and so to get to combine this with my love for animation and storytelling is something I am really quite proud of.
What was your biggest challenge?
My biggest challenge was definitely the scope of the project and managing to do it all from home, and almost entirely by myself. I was really grateful for the help of other artists during pre-production while designing concepts for the film, but the nature of stop-motion is that everything needs to be physically built and animated, and because I worked on the film almost entirely during lockdown, I had to do it all myself. Everything you see on-screen was sculpted, constructed and animated by me — and with over 5,000 frames, it was definitely a challenge!
What do you hope audiences will get out of the short?
I want people to be able to watch this film and see what the LGBTQ+ community went through to get to where we are today, to get a better understanding of the people that fought for our rights, and what they lost along the way. There was so much love in a community that received so much hate. And, I hope people use my piece to help them learn about the amazing pioneers that came before us. I hope that it may inspire people to educate themselves, to share it with a friend or family member, to learn something and maybe be inspired to learn more.
The Queen’s Heart
Can you tell us about the short’s powerful music?
I knew that I wanted the score for this film to be an original piece with a central theme that changed and developed with the story. It needed to be light and fun during the happy moments, and equally dark and somber when the story needed it to be. I collaborated with an incredible composer called AJ Churchill (www.ajchurchill.com) who perfectly understood what I was looking for. The music is just as important as the visuals when it comes to telling the story, so I was thrilled with how AJ’s beautiful score helped me tell mine, and I am so glad to hear that people have been enjoying it, too!
Who are your animation heroes?
Nick Park has always been one of my animation heroes. The fact that he started his career making his own short film and telling the stories he wanted to tell is so inspiring to me. All of the characters he creates are so captivating and the way he balances humor without subtracting from the emotional moments is incredible. I also adore the work of Glen Keane; the way he animated has such a flow and his characters have so much life! His sketches are so beautiful and the way he uses loose lines to create the shapes and form of what he is animating is such an art in itself. It is almost a shame his original sketches aren’t what end up on screen!
What was the biggest lesson you learned as you made this short?
The biggest lesson I’ve learnt while making The Queen’s Heart is that you can make some of your best work while facing creative constraints. I made this film at a time where no art supply shops were open, and we were not even able to leave our homes. I had to make things with what I had to hand, learn to do things I couldn’t do before and, ultimately, I think that is what has made this short so special to me. I’m excited to take what I have learnt from this film and push it further in my future projects.
With offices in Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Greece, Turkey and Eastern Europe, Planeta Junior represents entertainment content from some of the top producers around the world, including ZAG, ON Animation, SuperProd, Cottonwood, Studio 100, Animoka, Mobo and SAMG. Founded in 2000, the company’s roster includes hits such as Miraculous, Gormiti, Milo, Pucca, Squish, Mutant Busters, Heidi and Maya the Bee. We recently had a chance to chat with Paula Taborda dos Guaranys, content director of Planeta Junior, about the company’s productions and initiatives for the rest of 2021. Here is what she told us:
Animag: Can you tell us how long you’ve been with Planeta Jr?
Paula Taborda dos GuaranysI started with Planeta Junior in January of last year, so it’s been about one year.
What kind of animated content do you look for when you’re buying shows or commissioning material?
Planeta Junior’s business is very extensive, so there’s an opportunity for a variety of content. When we’re buying for our AVOD channels, we’re looking for shows that will positively impact the viewer. We’re speaking to children from a very young age, so we feel it’s important that we’re teaching valuable lessons while entertaining. It’s no different when we’re commissioning material, but we also have to consider Planeta’s consumer products and editorial arms, so we look for properties that can be exploited 360. We’re looking for shows that stand out, that are unique and that, above all, engage children.
What are your most popular shows right now?
When it comes to L&M, no show compares to Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir. It is a distinctive show that combines excellence in production with greatness in sales. From our portfolio, we’ve been receiving very positive feedback for Milo, Superpigs and Planeta Junior’s first original series, Tilly, The Power Within.
Tilly, The Power Within (Planeta Junior)
What can we look forward to seeing from Planeta Junior in the months ahead? What are you excited about?
Hopefully, more and more original productions. I came to Planeta Junior with the exciting task of creating a portfolio of original content. We’ve just brought our first original series to Kidscreen, and we’re seeing a great reaction. We’ll continue to develop more and expand our target audience to encompass all ages, from preschool to young adults.
What is your take on the global animation scene in 2021?
Last year with the pandemic and the shift to staying at home, we’ve noticed an increase in co-viewing activities and search for educational content. We feel this will continue in 2021 and maybe even longer.
How did COVID-19 and the subsequent stay-at-home era impact your job and studio overall?
Like many other businesses, Planeta Junior had to adapt to the restrictions of working remotely. Several of our studio partners had the infrastructure in place that allowed for a seamless transition to the home office. Others suffered a more significant impact, and we had to deal with production delays. Both our internal team and external partners rose to the occasion, and we could mitigate most losses. But more than a business impact, it’s a personal struggle for each one of us. For a while last year, I had both my parents admitted to the hospital with COVID-19. It was a difficult time to prioritize work, but Planeta Junior was incredibly supportive and accommodating. They have both recovered since.
Milo (Fourth Wall in assoc. with Planeta Junior)
What do you look for in an animated show?
I’ve always valued entertaining shows, but that contained essential values and presented kids with good examples. We’re looking out for stories that contain both humor and kindness. That accurately reflects the diverse world children are living in. We care about authentic representation and aspirational qualities.
What are some of your favorite animated shows/movies of all time?
Lately, I’ve been very impressed by Netflix’s Hilda. It’s a show based on the British comic series about a fearless little girl who imagines a fantastic universe in her own backyard. The animated series is stunning; original and intriguing. It’s a gift to parents and children alike. In the same fashion, Netflix’s Christmas animated movie, Klaus, provides a unique spin on the classic Santa Claus’ tale, speaking to all age groups.
What do you love about your job?
I love my job! [Laughs] I love being a part of the process that culminates in a child’s favorite show or series. The idea that we’re participating in kids’ lives, that we’re somehow adding to that experience of growing up, is inspiring to me. That’s also why I feel so strongly about creating authentic stories that reflect positive values. Whenever we do focus groups, I am excited to hear the children’s reaction, even when it’s negative! What are their takes on the color? The design? We’re doing it for them, so that’s one of my favorite parts: Getting to the end, when they can open the present we’ve carefully crafted and wrapped for them. It makes every all-nighter worth it.
What is the best way to approach you?
Through email! I’m always keen to read and evaluate pitches, and though I receive many, many projects, I make sure to go through every one of them. I must admit that because of the volume of submissions, it may take a while to respond. But be confident if you send me something, I will read it. I do take my time to look over the project and provide personalized feedback.
The ONE Campaign, the global health and anti-poverty organization co-founded by Bono, today launched Pandemica, an animated series created to raise awareness of the critical importance of global vaccine access in ending the pandemic. The series features characters voiced by Patrick Adams, Samuel Arnold, Bono, Connie Britton, Penélope Cruz, Meg Donnelly, Danai Gurira, Nick Kroll, Laura Marano, Kumail Nanjiani, David Oyelowo, Phoebe Robinson, Michael Sheen, Wanda Sykes and Calum Worthy.
“Pandemica is a compelling illustration of the inequality around the world,” said Oscar-winning actress Cruz. “I hope that everyone who watches this series will use their voice and take action to ensure that no one gets left behind.”
“We’re all trapped in Pandemica, but only some can get out. This virus thrives on inequality, and right now billions of people around the world are seeing the promise of a vaccine, but not the opportunity to receive it,” said actor/voice actor Oyelowo (The Midnight Sky, Star Wars Rebels). “We must step up and do what it takes to end this pandemic for everyone, everywhere.”
The premise: Pandemica is like a pandemic purgatory – no one is sure how long they will be stuck there or if they can ever leave. The fastest way to end the COVID-19 pandemic is to ensure vaccines are available to everyone, everywhere. But, people living in the world’s poorest countries are being left behind.
Less than 1% of doses administered globally have gone to people in low-income countries while a handful of wealthy countries have enough vaccines to inoculate their entire populations and still have more than 1 billion doses left over. That includes 550 million excess doses secured by the U.S. alone. And, without every country able to roll-out vaccinations, we could see twice as many deaths.
“Pandemica‘s animated world animates a simple truth – that where you live shouldn’t determine whether you get these life-saving shots,” said Bono, lead singer of U2 and co-founder of ONE and (RED). “Even while many of us still wait our turn, we need to commit to making sure that billions of people around the world aren’t left at the back of the line. It’s the right thing to do, obviously, but it’s also the only way out of this pandemic for all of us. If the vaccine isn’t everywhere, this pandemic isn’t going anywhere.”
Gayle Smith, President and CEO of ONE, added, “This virus has waged war on the world, and we need to fight back with all we’ve got. Vaccine access isn’t just about what’s fair, it’s also about what’s smart – we can’t end a global pandemic until we stop the virus from spreading and mutating everywhere.”
The series will be released in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Nigeria, South Africa, Senegal, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Italy. Episodes can be found subtitled or translated into French, German, Italian, Dutch, Spanish and Pidgin English. This series will be promoted globally in partnership with Vox Media, Discovery, and BuzzFeed. In Germany, the series will be promoted and distributed in cooperation with the digital production company Brainpool Live Artist & Brand (BLAB).
Acclaimed and influential manga and anime creative legend Satoshi Kon will finally be celebrated in a dedicated documentary, helmed by multi-genre French filmmaker Pascal-Alex Vincent (Baby Shark, Candy Boy, Miwa: Looking for Black Lizard).
Author of several comics, a TV series and four feature films, Satoshi Kon (1963-2010) redefined the landscape of Japanese animation with his globally celebrated, visionary work. From thrillers and romances to comedy and science fiction, Kon tackled myriad genres to paint a fascinating portrait of 21st century Japan in animated triumphs Paranoia Agent, Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers and Paprika.
Satoshi Kon [photo: Kevin Clark / The Washington Post / Getty Images]Satoshi Kon: la machine à rêves (The Dream Machine) will pull insights and anecdotes from interviews with Kon’s key collaborators and other leading creatives in Japanese animation, such as Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell) and Mamoru Hosoda (Mirai). The documentary will also give voice to Western filmmakers influenced by Kon’s work, from Paris to Hollywood.
Satoshi Kon: The Dream Machine is coming soon to French theaters from Carlotta Films and Allerton Films.
This year’s Virtual Animation Dingle presented by JAM Media took place throughout this week, delivering an incredible lineup of guests and speakers from a virtual Dingle Town — including the iconic Dick Mack’s Pub, the Phoenix cinema and usual festival haunts. Over 2,500 participants tuned in to the Festival across all the platforms.
Festival co-founders Maurice Galway and John Rice of JAM Media welcomed Tánaiste and Vice President of Ireland Leo Varadkar to officially open the 9th Animation Dingle Festival on Wednesday.
“Ireland has built a strong reputation internationally as a centre of excellence for animation and I’m proud to continue to honor the work of the growing legion of award-winning Irish animators,” said Varadkar, who also serves as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. “Over the years, Animation Dingle has succeeded in fostering Irish and international industry relationships. The caliber of attendees this year alone speaks to the strong collaborative working relationship Ireland has established with the global sector and I look forward to seeing the industry continue to flourish and grow as a result of events such as these.”
Wolfwalkers
“The animation industry in Ireland has been a long cornerstone of our vibrant entertainment industry, it has seen significant growth in the last decade, and it’s now an integral part of our digital creative economy,” noted Eileen Bell, Senior Business Development Adviser at Enterprise Ireland. “In 2020 alone, Enterprise Ireland supported more than 80 Irish companies in the broad animation, media, digital entertainment, game development and advertising sector. Those companies generated over €180 million in exports last year. Animation Dingle has played a key role in that success story and Enterprise Ireland is delighted to support in this year’s virtual event.”
The Big Pitcher event sponsored by DreamWorks Animation went virtual also, and JAM Media sought to uncover the next big, upcoming Irish Animator. A panel of top industry judges selected Nova by Kirsten Hennessy (Athlone IT) as the winning pitch of 2021.
The 2021 Murakami Award was bestowed on Robert Cullen, Creative Director & Founder, Boulder Media.
The inaugural Virtual Animation Dingle Festival came to a close on Thursday night with the YouTube Kids Animation Dingle Awards, emceed by Alison Spittle, with audiences around the globe tuning in to find out the winners. This year, the Festival received submissions from 26 countries and exhibited animation from Ireland, U.K., France, Canada, U.S., China and beyond, and the adjudication process selected nominees across all award categories. Two estimable jury panels selected the winners in student and professional categories.
100,000 Acres of Pine
The Student categories winners are:
BEST IRISH (Sponsored by RTÉjr) – The Pursuit, Iobhar Stokes Rodriguez
“A really captivating film, wonderful soundscape. Loved the hand drawn feel and detail.” — Suzanne Kelly, Head of Children’s and Young People’s Content, RTÉ
BEST INTERNATIONAL (Sponsored by CBBC) – 100,000 Acres of Pine, Jennifer Alice Wright, Denmark
“Impressive, fantastic designs, characters and backgrounds, great atmosphere, lighting and sound effects. I love the animation style which feels classic but very contemporary at the same time.” — Patricia Hidalgo, Director of Children’s + Education, BBC
Best DIRECTOR (Sponsored by Brown Bag Films) – Forest, Dermott Burns
“This just looks beautiful!!! Really vivid!” — Eimear O’Mahony, Executive Producer Children’s & Young People’s Content, RTÉ
BEST WRITER (Sponsored by Darrell Macqueen) – Husky, Darragh Scott
“I liked the bold style. The story was dramatic and compelling.” — Will Collins, Screenwriter (Wolfwalkers) Special Honourable Mention for The Press Conference, Daniel McNicholl
BEST DESIGN/ART DIRECTION (Sponsored by JAM Media) – Forest, Dermott Burns
Husky
BEST ANIMATION (Sponsored by Milkshake) – Husky, Darragh Scott BEST 2D (Sponsored by Cartoon Saloon) – Ruslan, Jack McHugh, Conor McNally Best 3D/CGI (Sponsored by Boulder Media) – Coat, Matthew Duddy, Glenn O’Neill BEST STOP MOTION (Sponsored by Aardman Animations) – Pearl Diver, Margrethe Danielsen, Norway BEST MUSIC/SOUND DESIGN (Sponsored by Enterprise Ireland) – Husky, Darragh Scott
“The sound mix and music underscore work perfectly with the visuals. With such a simple look it has created a deep emotional and thoroughly enjoyable film.” — Louise Bucknole, VP Programming Kids, ViacomCBS Networks International, UK & Ireland, Milkshake
BEST STING (Sponsored by EGG Post Productions) – Dingzilla, Tahyne Litte and Veronica Koskinen, University of Dundee
As well as the YouTube Kids Animation Dingle Student Awards, the Festival also runs their annual YAOTY (Young Animator of the Year) competition sponsored by Disney Channels:
YAOTY WINNER (Sponsored by Disney Channels) – Old Fool: Look to the Sky, by Jude O’Brien Special Mention to Look to the Sky, Shayna Gail Velasquez
Her Song
In 2021 the Festival introduced some brand-new award categories, and the winners are:
Best Irish Professional Short (Sponsored by IDA) – Her Song, Éabha Bortolozzo, Jack Kirwan
“Powerful Irish story, an affecting film, emotive, dark, sad and painful.” — Dr. Steve Henderson, Director, Manchester Animation Festival
Inaugural Best International Professional Short (Sponsored by Nickelodeon) – Kapaemahu, Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer, Joe Wilson
“A stunning piece. Such a fascinating story beautifully told. The warm lighting, earth tones and gentle boil on the characters alongside the masterful camera work gives the whole piece a strong sense of movement and direction. The close up shot of the young boy at the end is breathtaking.” — Kyle Jenkins, Channel 5 Broadcasting
Inaugural Best Animated Short Audience Choice Award (Sponsored by Lighthouse Studios) – Forest, Dermott Burns, Belfast School of Art
Inaugural Best Animated Feature Audience Choice Award (Sponsored by GFM Animation) – Wolfwalkers, Tomm Moore & Ross Stewart, Cartoon Saloon Forest
“Animation Dingle are delighted to have YouTube Kids as title sponsor to our Student Awards and I want to congratulate every student from across the 26 countries who entered, was shortlisted and who won an award this year! Inspirational animators, viewing all of your work was an absolute pleasure and an honor, thank you!” said Maurice Galway, Co-founder and Director of Animation Dingle.
‘We’re amazed at the international digital footfall that this year’s Animation Dingle Festival has been able to attract. Audiences from all over the world are flocking to see the best in class of Irish and International animation. The content has never been stronger and it is wonderful to be able to bring the magic of Animation Dingle to the world. We look forward to continuing to grow the festival digitally over the coming years along with reinstating the physical event,” added John Rice, Co-founder of Animation Dingle and CEO Jam Media.
Jessica Walter, an Emmy-winning actress and Golden Globe nominee known to animation fans as the voice of mom/boss Malory on Archer, has died at 80 years old in the sixth decade of her remarkable career. The stage, screen and V.O. booth performer passed away in her sleep in New York City, her lifelong hometown.
Walter’s daughter, Brooke Bowman (SVP Drama Programming, Fox Entertainment), said in a statement: “It is with a heavy heart that I confirm the passing of my beloved mom Jessica. A working actor for over six decades, her greatest pleasure was bringing joy to others through her storytelling both on screen and off. While her legacy will live on through her body of work, she will also be remembered by many for her wit, class and overall joie de vivre.”
Walter started her career in N.Y.C., appearing in numerous Broadway productions and earning the Clarence Derwent Award for her turn in Photo Finish. She also performed for Playwright’s Horizons and the Los Angeles Theater Centers — where she starred in Tartuffe opposite her husband, Ron Leibman, who passed in 2019 — and in the multiple Tony Award-winning Broadway revival of Anything Goes in 2011.
Walter’s TV dance card filled up through the 1960s, largely with appearances in live-action dramas, flexing her comedy chops on Love, American Style in early ’70s. She guest starred on crime drama Ironside in 1974 and starred in the spin-off Amy Prentiss, for which she won the Emmy Award. Her notable live-action credits also include her Golden Globe-nominated turn in Play Misty for Me, The Flamingo Kid, Trapper John M.D., The Streets of San Francisco and, of course, her Emmy- and SAG Award-nominated portrayal of Lucille Bluth in Arrested Development.
Star vs. The Forces of Evil – Miss Heinous (Disney TV)
The multifaceted actress made her big animation debut in the 1986 Hanna-Barbera series Wildfire as the villainess Lady Diabolyn. A few years later, she starred as Fran in the novel Jim Henson Co. sitcom Dinosaurs (1991-94). In-demand as always, in more recent years she played Meteora / Miss Heinous on Daron Nefcy’s Disney toon Star vs. The Forces of Evil (2015-18). However, she is best known to animation fans for her most recent and longest running role on the FXX adult animation hit Archer, as hardline spy org head and maternal source of psychological issues Malory Archer. Walter earned two Annie Award nominations, two individual Behind the Voice Actor Awards nominations and shared two additional ensemble BTVA nominations for the role.
Additional animation voice credits include The Pirates of Dark Water, The Magic School Bus, The Life and Times of Juniper Lee, Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, Justice League Action and Harley Quinn.
Dinosaurs – Fran (ABC) / Wildfire – Lady Diabolyn (Hanna-Barbera)
Adam Reed, creator and executive producer of Archer, said in a statement: “The Archer family is heartbroken to lose Jessica Walter, our beloved colleague and friend. Jessica was a consummate professional, an actor’s actor, and the exact opposite of Malory Archer – warm, caring and kind, with an absolutely cracking sense of humor – and it was both a privilege and a true honor to work with her over these many years. She will be greatly missed, but never forgotten.”
On Twitter, co-star H. Jon Benjamin (voice of Sterling Archer) remembered Walter as “an unparalleled talent. So funny. So insanely good in everything she was in. Wonderful to be around,” adding “I will miss her.” Aisha Tyler (Lana Kane) called the late actress “a queen in every way: kind, classy, incredibly talented, generous with love & support. And so insanely funny.”
Amber Nash (Pam Poovey) shared on Instagram: “I was so lucky to have had the opportunity to work with and know Jessica. She was the best of us. She would wait for a moment and then blow us all out of the water with the funniest thing you’ve ever heard. I learned so much from Jessica. A classy gal indeed.”
Walter is survived by Bowman and by a grandson, Micah Heymann. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Guiding Eyes for the Blind: https://give.guidingeyes.org/Donate.
Archer voice cast photo shared by Amber Nash. L-R: Lucky Yates, Judy Greer, Jessica Walter, Aisha Tyler and Nash.
Atomic Cartoons, the Kids and Family Division of Thunderbird Entertainment, and Penguin Young Readers, along with creator Max Brallier, are proud to announce two new milestones in The Last Kids on Earth franchise: An interactive special episode of the Daytime Emmy Award-winning animated series will begin streaming April 6 on Netflix. On the same day, The Last Kids on Earth: Thrilling Tales from the Tree House, the first-ever graphic novel in the bestselling series, will also hit store shelves.
In the interactive special, titled Happy Apocalypse to You, when Jack, Dirk and Quint try to throw June a birthday party, it turns into an action-packed thrill ride. Viewers will use their remote controls to decide what the gang will do as they encounter angry wretches, ferocious maulers, fearsome octogrutes, zombies and more, on the way to the birthday extravaganza. This is a chance for fans of the series to help make June’s birthday a blast, but not get eaten in the process. To produce the interactive episode, Atomic leveraged interactive Netflix technology that requires viewers to make choices using their remote control to advance the story.
“With audiences calling the shots, we can’t wait to see what kind of adventures – and calamities – they’ll cook up for Jack, June, Quint and Dirk in this thrilling interactive special episode of The Last Kids on Earth,” said Matthew Berkowitz, Chief Creative Officer of Thunderbird and Atomic Cartoons, and Series Executive Producer. “We have been so honored by the response our series has received so far, and we’re excited to see how fans of The Last Kids on Earth enjoy having the power – and responsibility – of deciding the fates of their favorite characters on screen!”
In the debut graphic novel, Thrilling Tales from the Treehouse, the kids and their monster buddies are hanging out in their tree house, when Jack launches into an epic, totally-heroic, super-rad story of one of his many post-apocalyptic adventures. Of course, after he’s finished, everyone’s eager to one-up his tale with a story of their own. Soon, Quint, Dirk, June and Skaelka, and even Globlet, regale the group with sometimes outrageous, often hilarious details of their action-packed escapades during the Monster-Zombie Apocalypse.
This graphic novel includes six brand new Last Kids on Earth short stories by Max Brallier, featuring full-color art by Anoosha Syed, Xavier Bonet, Lorena Alvarez, Jay Cooper, Christopher Mitten and The Last Kids on Earth series illustrator Douglas Holgate. Their stories are capped off by a special double-length feature, which will finally reveal the mysterious whereabouts of two villainous villains to prep readers for the seventh book in the series, coming Fall 2021.
“The behind-the-scenes journey that brought The Last Kids on Earth to life on screen has been incredible. And now, together with Atomic Cartoons, we’re taking another exciting step forward, giving viewers the power to control the destiny of their favourite characters,” said Brallier, author of the book series and creator of the animated series. “And being able to time the streaming premiere of our new interactive episode with the launch of the next book in the series, means we’re able to offer fans a double whammy of excitement, laughter and – of course – zombies and monsters.”
The Last Kids on Earth is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling book series. The IP was acquired by Thunderbird Entertainment in 2017. The animated Netflix series debuted in September 2019 with a special 66-minute episode that went on to win a 2020 Emmy Award in the category of “Outstanding Special Class Program.” Season 2 began streaming in April 2020, and Season 3 launched in October 2020. The series features a star-studded voice cast, including Mark Hamill, Rosario Dawson, Catherine O’Hara, Keith David, Bruce Campbell, Garland Whitt, Montse Hernandez and Charles Demers, in addition to Nick Wolfhard voicing the lead character Jack Sullivan.
The franchise also has launched a toy and merchandise line based on the series with Jakks Pacific, and a t-shirt line with Hot Topic. A video game based on the series, The Last Kids on Earth and the Staff of Doom, is currently in production with Outright Games, set to launch in June 2021. (Trailer.)
Atomic Cartoons is an artist-driven, multifaceted studio with locations in Vancouver, Ottawa and Los Angeles producing content for partners around the globe, including the Emmy Award-winning series Beat Bugs (2017, 2019) and the Peabody Award and Television Critics Association Award-winning Molly of Denali (2020), which also won a Kidscreen Award for Best Inclusivity (2021). Thunderbird and Atomic also have a division dedicated to global distribution and consumer products.
Margaret Wise Brown’s lyrical and popular children’s book The Runaway Bunny tells the story of a baby bunny who desperately wants to break free and see the outside world. The nearly 80-year-old book features iconic illustrations by Clement Hurd and has been namechecked on classic TV shows like Cheers for its ability to make even the most hardhearted of adults break down in tears.
Nevertheless, the book’s plot is simple and doesn’t feature the kinds of twists and turns that might entice most filmmakers to adapt it for the screen. The creatives who jump on board would have to find a way to fill in the story without pulling the tale too far off track. Enter director/producer Amy Schatz and director of animation Maciek Albrecht, the Emmy-winning creative team behind the Classical Baby series and the Good Night Moon & Other Sleepytime Tales special, whose animated adaptation of The Runaway Bunny debuts on HBO Max today (March 25).
“It’s a classic book and we set out to actually bring the book itself to life,” says Schatz. “The goal was to try to figure out how to make a film which was inspired by and actually captures the illustration, style and the poetry of the book. The challenge was really that it’s a picture book, and it takes maybe 10 minutes to read. So, the main question was, how do you make a film that brings to life a short picture book that’s really a quiet little story, a moment in time, an interaction between a mother bunny and her baby bunny playing in a field of grass? When you have something so beloved, and so classic, you have to make sure you get it right. Our goal was to stay as true to the tone and quality of the book, but to expand it and bring it to life as a film.”
The Runaway Bunny
A Musical Tale
Schatz brought in a cast of skilled vocal performers. Since the book itself already had a kind of ephemeral quality, the director also decided that music would be a powerful way to preserve the feeling of the book while giving the story and animation a chance to expand. The soundtrack features songs by many A-list singer-songwriters. Ziggy Marley recorded “What a Wonderful World”; Mariah Carey updated her classic “Always Be My Baby”; Rufus Wainwright performs a lullaby called “Goodnight, My Angel”; Kelly Rowland is featured on “Make You Feel My Love”; and Rosanne Cash sings “You Are My Sunshine,” which was a hit for her father. Tracee Ellis Ross narrates the story. “They all did it in their home studios and we were lucky to get them to do it,” says Schatz.
With the look of the book in mind, Albrecht went on a search for animators who had a skill and affinity for hand-drawn animation. His search led him to every corner of the planet. There were crew members from Poland, Vermont, California, Turkey, Russia, the Philippines and Colombia as well as other locations. And after carefully analyzing the original bunny drawings of the book, he also discovered there were certain differences between the bunnies from page to page.
Albrecht and Schatz found that when they followed the look of actual bunnies too closely, the eyes of the bunnies made the facial characteristics of the animals look mean or angry, so they worked on preserving the look of the original illustrations. While some other elements in the adaptation were not entirely hand drawn, all the bunnies were.
The Runaway Bunny
“We had about 10 animators from all over the world,” says Albrecht. “It’s a very difficult thing to find someone who can do something like this. And everybody has their own way of drawing. I think it still has the same spirit as the book, having some differences from sequence to sequence. It has a little imperfection. This was such an incredible opportunity to go back to hand-drawn animation. The biggest part was organization, how to actually do it, trying to get everybody working online (because of COVID).”
“Like any great children’s book, this one has deep messages for us,” says Schatz. “It’s about childhood. It’s about growing up. It’s about becoming independent. It’s about parenting and about love. And it’s a really timeless story about unconditional love, about how a child wants to test his or her independence and about a parent saying, ‘I’ll be here for you through thick and thin.’ It has this message of, ‘I will always be there for you, no matter where you go. And no matter what you do, I’ll be there.’ I think we always want to put stuff into the world for kids and for all of us that has some deep meaning to it. Especially during our times, having something beautiful to put into the world when it’s been such a difficult year. It was particularly meaningful to have this project, which is full of just a kind of gentleness.”
Global kids and family content distributor Jetpack Distribution announces it has acquired the worldwide rights for New Zealand-based Vinewood Animation’s Welcome to Cardboard City. The deal includes seasons one and two (each 10 x 5′) and the multi-award winning nine-minute special Fire in Cardboard City.
Aimed at kids six and up and their families, Welcome to Cardboard City is an epic action-comedy … made out of cardboard. Each season consists of two story-arcs spread over five episodes, all with cliffhanger endings. The show is produced with a combination of 3D animation and motion capture.
Each instalment features mini-blockbuster stories, slapstick hilarity and razor-sharp dialogue. In Cardboard City, giant robots attack, aliens make unwelcome contact and radio-active slime turns everyday bungling heroes into bonafide super-powered superheroes. Guest stars have included Jacinda Ardern (Prime Minister of New Zealand) and Ian Brown (The Stone Roses).
WELCOME TO CARDBOARD CITY
“Welcome to Cardboard City is such an innovative and hilarious concept, we were pretty hooked from the start. The series and special has received global critical acclaim, incredible recognition through awards and festivals and an almost cult following. And it’s easy to see why,” said Jetpack CEO Dominic Gardiner. “Comedy animation is hugely important for the world’s kids and their families right now. I want everyone to see this show.”
Welcome to Cardboard City has aired on TVNZ in New Zealand (where it was a ratings winner) and the special has been bought by various networks across Europe including HBO Europe, NBC Universal, YLE and RTP. The series won Best Children’s Television Show at the New Zealand Television Awards 2019.
The globally successful short film special Fire in Cardboard City. Which has won awards at film festivals around the world including Tribeca, L.A. Shorts, Naples, San Diego, Berlin and Amazon.com. The New Yorker requested the film for their prestigious Screening Room short film website.
Co-creator Phil Brough reflected, “Matthew [Heath] and I were sitting around one day thinking about what the hardest job in the world would be. We came up with a firefighter in a city made of cardboard. We wrote the script for Fire in Cardboard City that night. The next day I sat down to animate it. A mere five years later, I finished. Much to our surprise, people loved it. The short film travelled the world, won dozens of awards and spun off into the TV series Welcome to Cardboard City. Amazingly we still love doing it and can’t wait to make more.”
Homelessness, multicultural representation, autism, refugee crises and addiction are just a few of the social issues fearlessly tackled by Sesame Street for over a half a century. On Monday, April 26 (8-10 p.m. EDT), ABC presents Sesame Street: 50 Years of Sunny Days, a two- hour documentary special produced by TIME Studios, highlighting the 50-year impact of this iconic show and the nonprofit behind it, Sesame Workshop.
The documentary features special guests including W. Kamau Bell, Gloria Estefan, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Whoopi Goldberg, Christopher Jackson, John Legend, Lucy Liu, Olivia Munn, Questlove, Chrissy Teigen and Usher. Additional participating celebrities to be announced at a later date. The special can be viewed the next day on demand.
For over 50 years, Sesame Street has addressed and explained diversity, equity and inclusion around the globe by using the universal tools of music, empathy and celebrity. Through its iconic shows and targeted outreach, Sesame Workshop has found ways to make these daunting and seemingly impossible conversations accessible to people of all ages, usually delivered with the help of a furry friend. Sesame Street: 50 Years of Sunny Days reflects upon the efforts that have earned Sesame Street unparalleled respect and qualification around the globe, including addressing their responsibility to social issues that have historically been seen as taboo such as racial injustice.
This special also chronicles the creation and introduction of a Black family of Sesame Street Muppets, Wes and Elijah Walker, a father-and-son duo who are at the heart of Sesame Workshop’s new racial justice initiativeComing Together. Working with experts, Sesame Workshop has designed developmentally appropriate resources to help guide children toward becoming an upstander to racism, available at the dedicated web page.
For TIME Studios, the production is directed by Rebecca Gitlitz and executive produced by Alexa Conway and Ian Orefice.
Continuing its strong growth over the last decade, global creative company BUCK has opened an office in Amsterdam to build new relationships with European talent, brand and creative partners and unlock around-the-clock strategy, ideation, design and delivery for marketing, advertising, brand development, and original content creation across media and screens of all sizes. This expansion onto the continent marks the studio’s fourth location, following Los Angeles, New York and Sydney.
“We are excited to see what opportunities our maker-approach to a creative company produces in the European market,” commented Ryan Honey, Co-Founder and Co-CCO of BUCK.
Executive Creative Director Vincent Lammers (previously Creative Director and Partner at Amsterdam-based Ambassadors) heads up BUCK’s new Dutch operation.
“I’ve had a bit of a crush on BUCK since my art school days and their relentless pursuit of creative excellence and collaborative, ego-free way of working has been an inspiration ever since,” said Lammers “I couldn’t be more proud to be a part of bringing this to Amsterdam and create a home for all the incredible talent out here in Europe. It’s a bit of a dream job.”
Vincent Lammers
Lammers is joined by Executive Producer Chance Woodward, previously of MediaMonks, Leo Burnett and Crispin Porter + Bogusky. Woodward’s deep experience in integrated production makes him a strong fit for BUCK’s collaborative, multidisciplinary approach.
Creative Director Richard Gray was brought back to Europe from the Los Angeles office to lead the creative team together with Lammers. He brings a wealth of experience having previously worked on award winning projects like Apple’s “Share your Gifts” and Tinder’s “The Invention of Together.”
With offices in Los Angeles, New York, Sydney and Amsterdam, BUCK operates as a single creative entity that can address local markets and cultural nuances while tapping into a diverse staff of 300 creative makers, thinkers, dreamers and doers.
BUCK’s recent collaborations for nearby brands like Tony’s Chocolonely and Oatly drew on the Amsterdam team’s deep knowledge of European advertising and culture while crafting work for the global stage.
Tony’s Chocolonely
“BUCK’s success comes from not only working with the best talent in the world, but some of the nicest people as well,” said Jan Jensen, Chief Talent Officer. “Our Amsterdam office is no different — exploring new creative opportunities while remaining true to our core culture and what makes BUCK so special.”
“Our drive to find the best global talent and creative opportunities has grown beyond our three offices,” added Ryan Honey. “With many of our current artists already based in Europe, it made a lot of sense for us to open up a studio there and give them a home base.”
Founded in 2004, BUCK has built a reputation for outstanding craftsmanship and innovation through collaboration with a wide range of clients, including Apple, Instagram, IBM, Nike, Airbnb, PayPal and Pepsi. BUCK’s trophy case includes an Emmy, several gold Cannes Lions, Clios, pencils, cubes and over 150 other awards.
The Producers Guild of America held its virtual 32nd annual Awards ceremony Wednesday evening, presented by General Motors. Celebrating the year’s motion picture and television achievements, the 2021 PGAs honored Dana Murray in the animated feature category for Disney-Pixar’s Soul.
As announced over the weekend, The Power of We: A Sesame Street Special scored a win for HBO Max in the children’s program category, while virtual Burning Man experience BRCvr won the second annual Innovation Award for new media.
Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures
The Croods: A New Age – Producer: Mark Swift
Onward – Producer: Kori Rae Over the Moon Producers: Gennie Rim, Peilin Chou
Women in Animation (WIA) is proud to announce the opening of its 2021 Spring Mentorship Program with a special focus on mentoring women of color through its proven series of Mentor Circles. With the organization’s ongoing commitment to reach 50/50 by 2025, the WIA Mentorship Program connects women and gender non-binary individuals at all levels and across a variety of industry roles to great mentors who can help them achieve their career goals through guidance on taking the next steps on their professional paths.
Collaborating in mentorship efforts for the first time with Black N’Animated (blacknanimated.com), LatinX in Animation (latinxinanimation.org) and Rise Up Animation (linktr.ee/Riseupanimation), the WIA 2021 Spring Mentorship Program seeks to directly advance career opportunities for women of color in the animation industry. While applicants are not limited to people of color, they are strongly encouraged to apply through these partnerships. As part of the collaboration, each organization recruited and referred industry mentors from their networks, adding to WIA’s already robust pool of mentors.
“We’re very excited to be partnering with WIA for their Mentor Circles program. By having more mentors of color in these types of spaces it emphasizes that women of color, especially black women, are leaders in this industry – as they are often overlooked. They are and always have been here, and are an inspiration for up and coming animation professionals.” — Waymond Singleton and Breana Williams, Co-Founders, Black N’Animated.
“LXiA is thrilled to partner with WIA in building pathways for more diverse voices in the animation industry, specifically for women of color. Opportunities like these that are intentional and intersectional are often limited to a smaller cohort. With WIA’s reach and the collective communities their Mentor Circles engage, we’re excited to scale our joint impact and support a vibrant generation of animation professionals.” — Bryan Dimas, co-founder and co-director of LatinX in Animation.
“Rise Up Animation is honored to be able to partner with WIA on the 2021 Spring Mentor Circles. Mentoring the next generation of creative people of color and especially women of color in animation is a gift that we get to pay forward as industry professionals. We need to raise those diverse voices up now!” — Monica Lago-Kaytis, co-founder of Rise Up Animation.
WIA Mentor Circles offer a unique learning experience where up to ten mentees are matched with an industry mentor according to experience level and interest, and the circle will meet over a four-month period. Mentors share their knowledge, skills, information and perspective to foster personal and professional growth as an individual, and also among one’s peers. The personalized nature of mentoring allows mentees to steer the content of the discussion to issues and goals that are most relevant to them.
All WIA mentors receive training, experience and support from Mentor Coach Aydrea Walden to empower them with the tools needed to lead and foster talent. In the life experience range, the 2021 Spring mentor pool is a diverse set: 73% are women/non-binary, at least 48% are BIPOC and 40% are internationally based.
“I’m super excited to see this round of circles reflect the amazing range of perspectives, voices, and talents that can help the animation industry continue to grow and thrive. Every single person has an amazing story to share and something unique, personal, wonderful, and important to bring to the table. I wouldn’t have been able to achieve the things I’ve achieved without some amazing mentors, and I’m thrilled to help more women connect to mentors who can help them reach their goals,” says Walden.
A silver lining to the COVID-19 quarantine was the shift to virtual meetings for Mentor Circles, inspiring WIA’s launch of a proprietary online platform to organize and manage an even wider scale of mentors and mentee groups. With 45 mentors offering their time and expertise to the 2021 program, WIA expects to benefit up to 400 mentees in this round of Circles.
Since its initial operational year of 2014, the WIA Mentorship program has grown exponentially, starting with eight one-on-one pairings in the first round and reaching 631 mentees in 2020. To date, the program has benefited more than 1,000 mentees.
“The WIA Mentorship Program is really at the core of what WIA is about. We’re so proud of the tremendous success of this program and the many careers the program has supported and inspired over the years. We’ve received endless feedback from both mentees and mentors about how the program has had a profound impact on their lives,” says WIA President Marge Dean.
Mentee applications will be accepted starting March 31, 2021, and for the first time, WIA members and members of any of the Mentorship partner organizations can apply for free.
“We realize that our members’ financial challenges may be daunting in these pandemic times, and that mentorship support is more valuable than ever in this moment, so we diligently adjusted our budget allocations to allow for wider mentee participation without charging for access to this program in 2021,” adds Dean.
Autodesk unveiled updates to Maya, 3ds Max and MotionBuilder today, bringing artists throughout the creative pipeline powerful new tools that accelerate and streamline their workflows. Among these updates is the much-anticipated USD plugin for Maya. First announced at SIGGRAPH 2018 as a joint effort with Pixar, Animal Logic, Luma Pictures and Blue Sky Studios, USD is now seamlessly integrated in Maya, enabling artists to load and edit massive datasets at lightning speed. Maya’s animation, modeling, and rendering tool sets also see significant updates, bringing even more power, flexibility and creative freedom to the daily work of professional artists.
With this update, Maya artists gain:
Seamless USD Integration: Full USD integration allows artists to load multiple gigabytes of data within seconds and work directly with the data using Maya’s native tools. Robust referencing functionality, nondestructive data editing workflows, and support for complex variants on top of USD increase pipeline efficiency and collaboration and help teams scale for high-volume data workflows.
Powerful Animation Tools: Animation tool updates help artists animate faster and in fewer clicks. A new Ghosting Editor allows artists to quickly see animation spacing over time, making it easier to pinpoint necessary edits and how poses work together in animations. Improvements to the Time Editor, including support for cached playback and additive animation clips, and new filters in the Graph Editor bring artists a smoother animation experience overall.
Modern Rigging Workflows: This update introduces several procedural, topology-independent rigging workflows. Component Tags and Deformer Falloffs provide modern methods for defining membership and weighting, as well as seamlessly sharing that data between geometry and deformers. Maya’s extensive deformation toolset also gets bigger with new Solidify and Morph deformers.
Autodesk Maya 22 – Component Tags
Community-Inspired Modeling Updates: A new Sweep Mesh tool enables artists to procedurally generate geometry and adjust attributes with a single click. Using the new Game Vertex Count plugin, game artists are able to more accurately estimate how assets in Maya impact their in-game vertex count budgets before exporting them to game engines. Additional updates enhance the overall modeling experience and include pivot improvements; an upgraded extrude thickness tool; faster lasso selection; and match, translation, and scaling enhancements to provide artists with precise control over scene transforms.
Fast and Flexible Rendering with Arnold 6.2: Standard in Maya, Arnold 6.2 introduces new imagers for light mixing, bloom effects, and denoising for an upgraded post-processing experience. Additional benefits include GPU improvements, enhanced USD support, and integration with OpenColorIO v2, enabling artists to take advantage of OCIO’s native implementation of ACES (Academy Color Encoding System) and processing improvements directly in Arnold.
Python 3: Python 3 is the new default for Maya on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS.
Improved First Experience: A faster and more modern user experience offers reduced startup time and customizable preferences, splash screen improvements, and intuitive script editor enhancements that help artists work more efficiently and with greater control.
Users can learn more about Maya 2022 in the Catch Up with Maya virtual event on Thursday, March 24 starting at 9 a.m. PT / noon ET or by reading the announcement blog post. Autodesk will also present a Twitter AMA on Maya USD on Weds., March 31 at 9 a.m. PT / noon ET.
Autodesk Maya 22 – USD integration
“Increasing support for open-source standards is a huge area of focus for Autodesk across industry verticals. The M&E team has put a great deal of effort into our USD integration as the standard is proving crucial for innovation in visual effects and animation, today and into the future,” said Jocelyn Moffatt, Industry Marketing Manager, Entertainment. “Across tools, our goal is to simplify the complexities of working with massive datasets, aid in collaboration between artists and studios, and help teams push their creative limits by managing technical pipeline challenges.”
“At Luma Pictures, we’re big believers in the power and usefulness of open-source projects, so we jumped at the opportunity to collaborate with Autodesk on USD for Maya,” said Paul Molodowitch, Lead Pipeline Technical Director, Luma Pictures. “It was a complicated project to tackle, since it involved unifying the work of two separate codebases, and overseeing the contributions from many other sources, but they’ve risen to the challenge and have been great leaders and partners — willing to take the extra time and effort in order to communicate and cooperate, and keep everyone working on the same project toward the same goal, which has really laid the groundwork for both a great product, and a great community.”
Autodesk 3ds Max (courtesy Rashed Abdullah)
The latest updates to 3ds Max optimize creative workflows with powerful new texture baking, modeling and rendering capabilities as well as upgraded security features designed to protect scene integrity.
Improved Protection Against Malicious Scripts: Security improvements powered by the Scene Security Tools plugin include Malware Removal that automatically detects and eliminates malicious scripts from scene files and startup scripts. Scene Script Execution offers further protection against malicious scripts embedded in 3ds Max scene files.
Enhanced Workflow Efficiency: To help artists maximize time and productivity, new enhancements have been added to popular modeling tools, including the Relax Modifier, Smart Extrude, Slice Modifier, Extrude Modifier, Symmetry Modifier, and AutoSmooth tools.
Arnold Rendering Upgrades: Workflow improvements accelerate rendering processes, including a new render configuration window with faster QT-based UI; quicker and more responsive QT-based Quicksilver render settings; and the ability to sync Viewport bloom settings to Quicksilver settings. Working directly from the Arnold RenderView, artists can now relight images using light mixing, denoise images, and add bloom effects.
Bake to Texture Improvements: Simplified navigation and selection of baked map types allow users to bake frequently used maps in a few clicks without requiring complex material setups.
New Floating Viewport Features: All floating viewports can now be viewed full screen without a border using a simple hotkey shortcut.
More information about 3ds Max 2022 available here.
Autodesk 3ds Max 22 – Arnold light mixer
Finally, MotionBuilder gains a number of updates to help artists and developers work faster and more efficiently, without compromising creativity.
Python 3: Python 3 is the new default for MotionBuilder on Windows and Linux.
Developer-Focused Improvements: The MotionBuilder Python Command Line tool has been significantly improved, opening the door to new capabilities like file processing and rendering from the Command Line. Additionally, the MotionBuilder API has been expanded based on developer feedback, it’s now easier to manage multiple script tabs in the Python Editor, and the startup experience can be customized to differentiate between different projects and tool versions.
Workflow Enhancements: A slew of updates improve the overall animation experience and reduce the number of steps animators need to take to achieve the result they want. Among these updates is the ability to now visualize real Quaternion Rotation properties within the FCurve Editor, a new “Add to Body Part” property that simplifies the key framing process for character extensions, and time-saving updates in the Character Controls that reduce the number of actions required to expand IK auxiliaries when selecting individual effectors.
The MotionBuilder 2022 release notes are available here.
Maya, 3ds Max, and MotionBuilder 2022 are available as standalone subscriptions or with the Autodesk Media & Entertainment Collection.
Warner Bros. Animation has pulled another sneak peek at Justice Society: World War II out of the trenches! In the succinctly titled “Nazis?” clip, modern day Flash/Barry Allen (voiced by Matt Bomer) zips through a war-torn village before encountering the mid-century menace in the flesh, and quickly comes to the rescue of the threatened townsfolk by kicking some Axis in super speed.
The latest feature-length DCU animation comes home through Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on Digital starting April 27 and on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack and Blu-ray on May 11.
The special is directed by Cassi Simonds (Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures), written by co-exec producer Ann Austen and Nate Federman from a story by Charlotte Fullerton. Executive producers are Soulie, Adam Bonnett and Christopher Keenan. Mainframe Studios (Barbie Princess Adventures) provided the animation.
Accompanying the new movie is Barbie & Chelsea The Lost Birthday & More!, an album featuring songs from Barbie & Chelsea The Lost Birthday, as well as other previously unreleased tracks sung by both Barbie and Chelsea will also be available across digital streaming platforms beginning on April 16. Mattel has also released a line of dolls and playsets inspired by the special: Barbie & Chelsea Story Set ($19.99), Chelsea Jungle River Play Set ($29.99), Chelsea And Accessory Assortment ($9.99), Sisters & Pet Accessory Assortment ($14.99) and the Chelsea Surprise Playset ($19.99).
New on Netflix animation highlights for April include:
April 3 Escape from Planet Earth
April 6 The Last Kids on Earth: Happy Apocalypse to You — Netflix Family
April 12 New Gods: Nezha Reborn — Netflix Film
April 16 Arlo the Alligator Boy — Netflix Family Barbie & Chelsea: The Lost Birthday Fast & Furious Spy Racers, Season 4: Mexico — Netflix Family
April 19PJ Masks, Season 3
April 27 Go! Go! Cory Carson, Season 4 — Netflix Family
April 28 Headspace Guide to Sleep — Netflix Documentary
April 29 Yasuke — Netflix Anime
April 30 The Mitchells vs. The Machines — Netflix Family
Tucked away in the most westerly point of Ireland on the Wild Atlantic Way, lies Animation Dingle in Dingle Town, presented by Jam Media. No stranger to guests and celebrities, Dingle welcomes strangers to its shores. Animators gather there annually to be part of this unique, boutique festival — named one of Animation Magazine‘s Top 25 Events Not to Be Missed!
Animation Dingle, run in partnership with Screen Ireland, prides itself on inclusivity; here you can find the best from the animation industry chatting in one of Dingle’s iconic pubs to upcoming student animators. With the assistance of Enterprise Ireland, guests travel by plane, train, bus, car and taxi to get there.
Now, in 2021, the Virtual Animation Dingle Festival has gone global. Running March 24 & 25, tickets are available and all the exciting programs can be found in the digital brochure. This year’s live conference itself is delivering an incredible lineup of guests and speakers, brought to a worldwide audience from a virtual Dick Mack’s Pub.
The virtual festival platform is easy to use. A single Pass allows full access to the best in animated short and feature films, workshop programs, panel discussions and interactive student-centered events. To appeal to its student following, Animation Dingle has integrated Discord onto their platform, allowing students to chat to studio heads, book meetings with them, upload their portfolios for reviewing … everything that they would expect from an annual visit to Dingle Town can be expected via the platform.
Animation Dingle 2021 attendees can mix ‘n mingle in virtual “pubs”
“It’s been an incredible year of viewing work and learning new ways to exhibit film and bring people together. Our virtual festival is bringing Dingle out into the world for all to see,” said Festival Director & Co-Founder Maurice Galway. “Having attended virtual events and festivals myself over the past year, I have been able to assess what it is I would like to see for Virtual Animation Dingle. I hope that you enjoy the platform; we have worked hard to bring you a festival that is easy to navigate, intuitive and easy to enjoy — a one ticket, all-you-can-eat-animation festival experience. We have over 2,500 minutes of digital content.”
‘While disappointed that the physical festival is not possible this year, the opportunity to expand the festival to a global audience is incredibly exciting,” added Festival Director & Co-Founder John Rice. “This year’s lineup of speakers, events and films is stronger than ever and is truly world class. The format remains the same as in previous years; Conference on 24th, followed by workshops, screening and the always fun awards on the 25th. We can’t wait to show the world the magic of Animation Dingle!’
JAM Media’s Galway and Rice are delighted to welcome Tánaiste and Vice President of Ireland Leo Varadkar to officially open the 9th Animation Dingle Festival on Wednesday, March 24.
The Conference itself packs a punch, with Oscar-winning director Don Hall, fresh from his work on Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon and known for his work on Big Hero 6 and Moana, will be heading up a strong line-up of guests including Madeline Sharafian, Oscar-nominated director of Pixar’s Burrow and Steven Clay Hunter, director of Pixar’s OUT.
Chip ‘N’ Dale: Park Life
The Making of Disney’s Chip ‘N’ Dale: Park Life will offer a nuts and bolts look at the development and production of the new Disney+ series produced by Xilam Animation, with director Jean Cayrol, production manager Amelie Muller and Disney execs Shamik Majumdar, Gerardo Orlando, Katie Barba and Orion Ross, who will host the session.
Presented by Enterprise Ireland, an enormously popular guest a few years ago, Peter Lord from Aardman Animations is delighted to be coming back to Dingle to share his insights gleaned over 50 years in the business and, presented by Screen Ireland, Making The Frame Work, which includes a look back at over 20 years of Irish animation. Panelists include Emma Scott, Screen Ireland; Cathal Gaffney, Managing Director Brown Bag Films, COO 9 Story Group; Niamh Herrity, Co-Founder, CEO, Pink Kong; Alan Shannon, CCO, Jam Media; Aisling Conroy, writer, director with And Maps And Plans; chaired by Maurice Galway, Festival Director.
Peter Lord
Presented by The Embassy of France in Ireland, an all female round table discussion Women in the Animation Industry: Steps in the right direction? will bring together industry experts such as Cécile Blondel from Gobelins, Paris; Lithuanian founder & producer of Art Shot, Agnė Adomėnė; Mexican producer Nidia Santiago from IKKI Films in France; Jo Allen, producer for BBC Children’s Acquisitions and Independent Animation; and Eimear O’Mahony, Head of Childrens and Young People’s content in RTE.
John Rice will have a Fireside chat with this year’s recipient of The Murakami Award, Robert Cullen. Rob is the Emmy nominated creative director and founder of Boulder Media and is currently directing his first feature film based on My Little Pony to be released in 2021.
Robert Cullen
The Big Pitcher event sponsored by DreamWorks Animation will now be virtual, but JAM Media will still be spearheading this drive to uncover the next big, upcoming Irish Animator, with the assistance from judges: Tara Sorensen, Head of Creative Development, Apple; Sarah Muller, Head of BBC Children’s Commissioning & Acquisitions; Suzanne Kelly, Group Head of Children’s & Young People’s Programming RTE; Peter Gal, Chief Creative Officer at DreamWorks Animation Television; Louise Bucknole, VP Programming Kids, ViacomCBS Networks International, U.K. & Ireland; and chaired by Mark Cumberton, COO, JAM Media.
Workshops are supported by Screen Skills Ireland and Animation Skillnet. Marie Lum, animator and storyboard artist based in Los Angeles will be giving a workshop live from L.A. titled Deaf, Disabled and Neurodiverse Opportunities in Animation.
Sketch by Marie Lum (marielumart.com)
Allison Rutland is hosting “Animating Characters” as part of Beehive Theatre Workshop Programme. Allison has been working as an animator for over 15 years. She has a background in Fine Art and went to Sheridan College for Computer Animation. She animated on several feature films, such as The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and Where the Wild Things Are. Rutland joined Pixar Animation Studios in 2009, and has animated on Toy Story 3, Brave, Monsters University, Inside Out, Finding Dory, Coco, Incredibles 2 and was a directing animator on Onward.
Mad Max Fury Road’s Brendan McCarthy will be taking a look at The Graphic Novel, while The Screen Composer’s Guild of Ireland are also present with Composing for Animation, a panel conversation with some of Ireland’s leading composers for screen examining how Irish composers and music has responded to the growth in the animation sector. The ever popular Sketch Trail will see students led through live drawing workshops with JAM Media’s Art Director, Borja Espana Guillot. All presented with Discord to maximize interaction and a sense of communication and sharing.
Key events which are front and center for students each year are now inventivity integrated into the platform and on Discord — the festival’s Studio Pub Trail where students can upload portfolios and pitch to studio heads, and studios are actively hiring! You can find Brown Bag Films hiring in Kennedy’s Pub, while Cartoon Saloon are reviewing and hiring in Dick Mack’s Bar, Jam Media are reviewing student portfolios in Foxy John’s Bar and you’ll find Lighthouse Studios offering positions to both professionals and students throughout the festival from McCarthy’s Bar.
Wolfwalkers
Virtual Animation Dingle has it’s usual host of Irish and International Student and Professional Shorts, with feature films including Cartoon Saloon’s Oscar-nominated Wolfwalkers; from France, Calamity from director Remí Chayé; César award winner Josep from director Aurel; and Anca Damian’s Marona’s Fantastic Tale. Most of the feature presentations include Q&As with the directors.
The two-day festival closes with its popular YouTube Kids Animation Dingle Awards hosted by the indomitable and very funny Alison Spittle and followed up with the Boulder Media sponsored Awards Party with live DJ Efa O’Neill. In addition to Robert Cullen receiving the Murakami Award, a stellar lineup of judges will decide the competition winners: Peter Lord of Aardman Animations; Patricia Hidalgo, Director of Children’s + Education, BBC; Orion Ross, Vice President, Original Programming – Animation, Media Networks Europe & Africa at The Walt Disney Company; Suzanne Kelly, Group Head of Children’s & Young People’s Programming RTE; Lousie Bucknole, VP Programming Kids, ViacomCBS Networks International; Eimear O’Mahony, Head of Childrens and Young People’s content in RTE; Sarah Muller, Head of BBC Children’s Commissioning & Acquisitions; Kyle Jenkins, Acquisitions & Programme Manager, Channel 5 Broadcasting; Steve Henderson, Director of Manchester Animation Festival; Mandy Kean, Founder & CEO of Mustard; and Sean Feeney, Head of Production, GFM Animation.
And if that wasn’t enough, there are over 360 directors represented in and out of competition with the best picked animated shorts you’ll find anywhere virtual this year from Ireland and across the globe. An estimated total of 2,500 minutes of content and a shared experience with over 2,000 animators attending and participating in the event.
![Satoshi Kon [photo: Kevin Clark / The Washington Post / Getty Images]](https://www.dev.animationmagazine.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/Satoshi-Kon.jpg)
