Animation Magazine

Tag: featured

  • Funimation Brings ‘Violet Evergarden the Movie’ to Select Theaters March 30

    Funimation Brings ‘Violet Evergarden the Movie’ to Select Theaters March 30

    Funimation, the leading distributor of anime globally, today announced it is releasing Violet Evergarden the Movie — the second feature-length film in the franchise and the touching finale to Kyoto Animation’s beautiful anime series Violet Evergarden. Presented in Japanese with English subtitles, Violet Evergarden the Movie is in select theaters in the U.S. and in Canada on March 30. Pre-sale tickets are available for the movie on March 19. For more information, follow #VioletEvergarden.

    The movie concludes Violet’s story as a young woman and former child soldier reintegrating into society after the war who searches for her life’s purpose. Employed as an Auto Memory Doll hired to write other people’s thoughts into letters, Violet seeks to understand the meaning of the words “I love you,” said to her by Major Bougainvillea, the person she held dearest and lost during the War’s final days. Violet Evergarden the Movie is the final chapter in Violet’s story as she discovers that while writing the emotions of others, she may have neglected her own. When a terminally ill boy requests her services for his family, her own feelings about love and loss resurface. Now she must confront her past and the death of the Major.

    “Violet Evergarden is an incredible anime that has only gained in popularity since its debut in 2018, and we’re proud to bring the final moving story to audiences,” said Mitchel Berger, Senior Vice President, Global Commerce at Funimation Global Group. “With the film, Kyoto Animation continues to deliver a visually stunning and deeply moving universal story about love and loss.”

    You can watch KyoAni’s Japanese language trailer for the movie here.

    Violet Evergarden the Movie
    Violet Evergarden the Movie
  • Nickelodeon Greenlights ‘The Patrick Star Show’ SpongeBob Spinoff for Summer

    Nickelodeon Greenlights ‘The Patrick Star Show’ SpongeBob Spinoff for Summer

    Nickelodeon has given the official greenlight to The Patrick Star Show (13 episodes), the second spinoff of the number-one animated series SpongeBob SquarePants. Produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studio, The Patrick Star Show is a family sitcom starring Patrick and the rest of his family as they are constantly disrupted by Patrick’s wild whims and surreal imagination. The series will debut this summer on Nickelodeon.

    “Nickelodeon is diving deeper into Bikini Bottom to give fans a look at our lovable young adult Patrick Star and his entire family with a sitcom only he could imagine up,” said Ramsey Naito, President, Nickelodeon Animation. “This second original spinoff allows us to expand our reach, tell new stories and connect with our audience around the world who continue to love these characters.”

    The Patrick Star Show follows a younger Patrick Star living at home with his family, where he hosts his own show for the neighborhood from his television-turned-bedroom. His little sister, Squidina, works behind the scenes to make sure Patrick’s show is always running smoothly, while his parents, Bunny and Cecil and his grandpa, GrandPat, each support Patrick in their own hilariously absurd ways. The Star family’s unpredictable adventures often inform, integrate, and sometimes even interfere with Patrick’s TV show, but one thing is for sure: his bizarre life always makes for great television!

    The Patrick Star Show
    The Patrick Star Show

    Longtime voice of Patrick Star, Bill Fagerbakke lends his voice as the young adult Patrick alongside new cast members: Tom Wilson (SpongeBob SquarePants, Back to the Future) as Cecil Star, Patrick’s fun-loving, happy-go-lucky dad who always puts his family first; Cree Summer (A Different World, Inspector Gadget) as Bunny Star, Patrick’s loving, sea star mom who is a kooky oddball; Jill Talley (SpongeBob SquarePants) as Squidina Star, Patrick’s eight-year-old little sister who sees herself as Patrick’s executive producer for his imaginary TV show; and Dana Snyder (The Penguins of Madagascar, Chowder) as GrandPat Star, Patrick’s genius grandpat, the most intelligent member of the Star family. Summer also voices Grandma Tentacles, Squidward’s grandma.

    Additional cast members include veteran actors Tom Kenny (SpongeBob SquarePants), Rodger Bumpass (Squidward Tentacles), Carolyn Lawrence (Sandy Cheeks), Clancy Brown (Mr. Krabs) and Mr. Lawrence (Plankton).

    SpongeBob SquarePants alums Marc Ceccarelli, Vincent Waller and Jennie Monica are co-executive producers of the series. The Patrick Star Show is developed for television by Claudia Spinelli, SVP of Animation Development, Nickelodeon, with production overseen by Kelley Gardner, Vice President, Current Series, Animation, Nickelodeon.

    The greenlit comes as the first-ever SpongeBob SquarePants spinoff, Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years, debuts today on Paramount+. The Patrick Star Show is part of Nickelodeon’s strategy to be the home of the biggest franchises kids and families love, and it expands Nickelodeon’s growing portfolio of influential properties that already includes SpongeBob SquarePants, PAW Patrol, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Blue’s Clues & You!, Kamp Koral, the all-new animated Star Trek: Prodigy, The Smurfs partnership and the recently announced Transformers co-production.

  • 100 Years of Disney Exhibition Planned for Philadelphia in 2023

    100 Years of Disney Exhibition Planned for Philadelphia in 2023

    In celebration of the centennial of The Walt Disney Company, SC Exhibitions has begun production on an exhibition that showcases the company’s history and rich legacy, to premiere at The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia in February 2023.

    The exhibition will feature galleries with hundreds of artifacts and an immersive environment of sight and sound spanning 15,000 square feet, showcasing stories and characters from The Walt Disney Company’s last century, according to SC Exhibitions CEO Dieter Semmelmann.

    Historian and Co-Curator Paula Sigman Lowery, an internationally recognized expert on Walt Disney and The Walt Disney Company, commented, “It’s thrilling to bring Disney’s crown jewels – art, memorabilia, costumes, props and one-of-a kind treasures – to public view – and to explore the story of one of the world’s most creative entertainment companies. Many of these objects have never before been seen outside the company’s archival, animation, and Imagineering vaults.”

    “As we approach the 100th Anniversary of The Walt Disney Company, we at the Walt Disney Archives are incredibly excited about traveling a new and unique exhibit marking a century of unparalleled innovation and storytelling with the world,” said Rebecca Cline, director of the Walt Disney Archives. “This groundbreaking exhibition will celebrate the wonder of Disney, from 1923 to the present and into the future.”

    Larry Dubinski, President & CEO of The Franklin Institute, added, “The Franklin Institute is thrilled to debut this world premiere exhibition in Philadelphia during the remarkable 100th anniversary of The Walt Disney Company. We look forward to celebrating the legacy of a creative empire synonymous with imaginative storytelling, innovation, discovery, and wonder that spans generations and delivers widespread, undeniable global appeal.”

    The exhibition will also be the third collaboration between SC Exhibitions and Studio TK, a Berlin-based collective of architects, visual artists and experts of entertainment technology who specialize in aiding the creation of brand exhibitions.

    “It’s great to work at The Franklin Institute again, where our ‘Marvel: Universe of Super Heroes’ exhibit drew hundreds of thousands of visitors in summer 2019 to the galleries. It’s a big honor to develop the design for the 100th anniversary exhibit of The Walt Disney Company with the Walt Disney Archives,” said StudioTK exhibition designer Tobias Kunz.

    The as-yet-untitled “Disney Centennial” exhibition will launch in February 2023 at the Franklin Institute, with a second, parallel staging for territories outside the U.S. set to have its global premiere the following month, says Semmelmann.

  • EFM: Riki Unveils New ‘Finnick’ Poster & International Sales

    EFM: Riki Unveils New ‘Finnick’ Poster & International Sales

    Russian animation powerhouse Riki Group has launched sales for its upcoming animated feature Finnick at the European Film Market, participating as part of the Roskino national delegation. Set to introduce global audiences to a jocular new fantasy friend this year, the movie has already attracted interest from distributors in the Baltic States, Latin America, France and Spain, and entered negotiations with sales agents in multiple territories.

    The studio’s first original feature project, following the success of movies based on its series franchises Kikoriki and The Fixies, the CGI comedy adventure centers on a 13-year-old girl named Christine who befriends Finn, a magical and mischievous spirit who lives in her new house. Finn has a knack for nasty jokes and loves to play tricks on people. Despite their differences, this unlikely duo teams up to unravel a series of mysterious events and save their city.

    Finnick
    Finnick

    As the movie prepares for its Winter 2021 debut, following an early market screening at the Cannes market, Riki Group is already considering expanding the story to a spinoff TV series.

    To mark the EFM sales launch, a new poster featuring Finnick‘s heroes as well as all the magical “Finns” — creatures that have lived alongside human beings for millions of years, helping to create the heart and meaningful memories that make a house a home.

    The online 2021 EFM runs through Friday, March 5. Learn more about the studio at riki-group.com.

    Finnick
    Finnick
  • Neighborhood Spirits: Elizabeth Ito Shares the Inspiration Behind ‘City of Ghosts’

    Neighborhood Spirits: Elizabeth Ito Shares the Inspiration Behind ‘City of Ghosts’

    ***This interview originally appeared in the April ’21 issue of Animation Magazine (No. 309)***

    If you’ve been looking for a beautifully imagined, smart and thoughtful new animated children’s show, your prayers have been answered in the form of Elizabeth Ito’s City of Ghosts, which premieres this Friday, March 5 on Netflix. The new offering is a clever, documentary-style hybrid animation series in which a group of kids discover stories around their city by communicating directly with the ghosts who inhabit it. Ito, an Emmy-winning director and writer on Adventure Time and creator of the short Welcome to My Life who has also worked on Phineas and Ferb, Hotel Transylvania, Bee Movie, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, was kind enough to answer a few of our questions about her debut series:

    Elizabeth Ito
    Elizabeth Ito

    Animag: Congrats on your fantastic new show. Can you tell us a little bit about how it all came to be?

    Elizabeth Ito: It feels like it was a lifetime ago. A couple of years ago, when I was brought into Netflix, I thought we were going to make my 2014 short Welcome to My Life into something bigger, but that property was tied up with Cartoon Network. So, they asked me to come up with another idea that I would be as interested in. I was thinking about how many neighborhoods in Los Angeles are changing and noticing how things are disappearing, whitewashed and gentrified. I also have two small kids, and wanted to create a calmer show — something for more introverted, quieter people! That’s how I came up with the idea for City of Ghosts, which explores the history that exists in L.A. from the perspective of these intuitive kids. My mandate was to come up with something I couldn’t do anywhere else. So it was both exciting and scary!

    Have your own kids seen the show?

    Yes; they are four and six years old. They’ve seen all the episodes and know different lines from the show. For me, the best part is that they like it!

    City of Ghosts
    City of Ghosts

    Not only does the show look quite different from other children’s shows, its writing process is quite original, too. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

    When I first started, I wanted to explore how to write something that was a mix of fiction and non-fiction, but we don’t do that often in children’s animation. So I wanted to get somebody who came from the documentary side. Joanne Shen is a friend of mine from CalArts who is married to a documentary producer-writer, so I called her on a whim. I had to find out how to incorporate that into the show, and build a team and build a template that would work. She was one of the first people that came onboard.

    Then we had to figure out our pipeline and the schedule for what we were doing. The next person I contacted was Jenny Yang, who is a comedy writer who worked for The Daily Show. I reached out to her because she knows a lot about issues that are going on in the city. That’s when I found out that she has a background in urban planning and policy and studied it at UCLA. We worked with her on a couple of sessions where we discussed the overall issues in the city. We tried to stay away from really volatile issues. I wanted the stories to focus on appreciating different cultures. We didn’t want parents not to watch it. We also wanted to veer towards something that kids would want to watch, and we wanted to be informed enough to discuss the particular subjects in each episode.

    City of Ghosts
    City of Ghosts

    You were one of the first projects launched at the then-new Netflix Animation studio in Hollywood, right?

    At first, we were set up on the space on Sunset Boulevard, down the street from big studio offices. It was a great learning experience for me. We had to set up this office for all these creators. Nothing was built yet, and little by little Netflix started to grow. I actually prefer working in a smaller space with a smaller crew. It made me learn a lot about what I thrive on and how to build a crew that works well with me. We were one of the smallest teams. I could count all the board artists and directors on my two hands. It helped us work very efficiently. Of course, we only had six episodes to produce.

    Which other animation studios did you work with on the show?

    I worked very closely with my husband’s [Kevin Dart] studio Chromosphere and the French animation studio TeamTO (Mighty Mike, PJ Masks), which I worked with on Welcome to My Life. I had a great experience with them and they’re stylistically parallel to how I like to work. For the overall look of the show, we knew we wanted to have live-action backgrounds. It was fun to come up with this new process with Chromosphere. We would meet with people that we’d want to interview in different neighborhoods … Leimert Park, Boyle Heights, Venice, Santa Monica, Koreatown, Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Highland Park, Echo Park. Some were real places, and some were made up or composites.

    City of Ghosts
    City of Ghosts

    Can you tell us about the various animation tools you used to create the visual?

    We explored different tools; there’s so much out there. When I was at Sony, they were using new technology that helped plan the lighting for a 3D character in a real place. It would be great to know that there is the possibility that we can do this. But we had to strike a balance between what would be cool versus how much we could afford. We looked at modeling things in Quill in the VR space, but we didn’t do it in the end because they were too technical or cost too much to do. The nice thing was that Chromosphere figured out a pipeline which allowed us to do compositing after we were done. We used Maya and After Effects and some proprietary tools.

    How did the production deal with the city’s COVID-19 restrictions?

    We were lucky because all of the stuff that needed in-person interactions like the photo shoots and records were finished on the last week before people were told to stay home. The timing was just like Indiana Jones grabbing his hat from under a shutting door in the very last moment! Of course, the post process was tricky, too. Normally you can just go over the material and ask them to adjust certain things. If you haven’t met with them or worked with them before, it’s not easy when your first interaction is giving written notes or doing it over the phone. I’m really glad that we weren’t figuring out the story notions, tweaking the animatics or writing the show remotely, because it’s easy to miscommunicate when you’re doing it over the Internet.

    City of Ghosts
    City of Ghosts

    When did you realize you wanted to work in animation?

    When I was in high school, all my friends were doing academic summer programs, but I applied to the California State Summer School for the Arts. They had all these different kinds of art you could study, and I picked animation because I thought that would be interesting. On the first day, I was really scared, but I loved that animation combined so many different things: writing, music and drawing.

    Who are some of your biggest animation influences?

    I have been watching Miyazaki movies forever. When I think about children’s programming that I admire, Jim Henson comes to mind immediately. He was this brilliant, creative spirit that made so many things that inspired my imagination and formed my sense of humor. Then, there are experimental animators like Norman McLaren and Oskar Fischinger. I also think Michel Gondry’s music videos are so clever.

    City of Ghosts
    City of Ghosts

    What do you hope audiences will take away from your show?

    I am so excited for people to see it. I hope they feel they really learn something new, something that they didn’t know before, in an entertaining way. I also hope they find a story that they can relate to and that they see themselves represented on TV. That they see someone that reminds them of themselves. The biggest thing is that I hope families feel that they can watch this show together and laugh and talk about it.

    You’ve been one of the vocal champions of having diversity in animation both on the screen and behind it. What is your take on the progressive climate in 2021?

    I am really excited about the diversity in animation today. It’s interesting because Mister Rogers is someone who has emerged as everyone’s favorite dude now. There is this feeling of appreciation for this fundamental caring attitude that he had. That’s what we want to show people: How to be gentle and understand our feelings. I’m excited to be in the position that I am currently. It hits home with me as I also have two kids at home myself.

    City of Ghosts
    City of Ghosts

    I feel that kids deserve more respect, especially when I think of some of the children’s programming of my youth, which was about selling us toys. I mean, they were sort of entertaining us. You could show us any over-the-top, loud garbage, and we would be drawn to it as kids. I am excited that it’s not about that anymore and kids are able to judge content just as we are as adults. Sure, there are times that you just want to watch something trashy. It’s fine to have that as long as we have the other stuff, too, which is what I enjoy making — material that is deep, personal and a calming force and not about driving people to buy stuff. The more I can be part of that, the better I feel about what I’m putting out there and doing for my own kids.

    City of Ghosts debuts on Netflix on March 5.

  • ‘Asterix’ Conquers Netflix in New 3D Series from French Auteur Alain Chabat

    ‘Asterix’ Conquers Netflix in New 3D Series from French Auteur Alain Chabat

    In a company blog post Wednesday morning, Netflix’s Director of Original Animation (Global Independent TV) Dominique Bazay revealed that the streamer is welcoming a new 3D-animated series starring the beloved fighting Gaul of French comics, Asterix! The series is being created in partnership with publisher Hachette’s Les Editions Albert René (France) and is due to debut in 2023.

    “I’m excited to announce that Netflix and France’s leading publisher are teaming up to present Asterix, an iconic figure of French popular culture, to a new generation of worldwide viewers … I have been talking with Celeste Surugue at Albert Rene for years about how to bring Asterix to Netflix. We built a great relationship of trust and mutual respect around our love for these characters,” Bazay wrote. “I’m French Canadian, and like most francophones around the world, I grew up with Asterix, his sidekick Obelix and loyal companion Dogmatix. I watched the animated specials and read the books religiously. If you’d told the eight-year-old me that one day I’d help bring these characters to life… I wouldn’t have believed you!”

    The series will be directed by French auteur and playwright Alain Chabat, who wrote and directed the super successful Asterix live-action movie Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra — the third highest-grossing feature in French history. Alain Goldman of Legende Films will produce.

    Bazay further revealed that the series will be adapted from one of the 60-year-old comic’s classic volumes, Asterix and the Big Fight: “…The Romans, after being constantly embarrassed by Asterix and his village cohorts, organize a brawl between rival Gaulish chiefs and try to fix the result by kidnapping a druid along with his much-needed magic potion. I’m not giving anything away when I tell you, it doesn’t go as planned.”

    Created by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo, Asterix first appeared in 1961, and their adventures have been published in 38 volumes in 111 languages (a 39th is coming this year) and adapted in 15 feature films since 1967. Their story is one of barbarian pride, as the small but mighty Gaul warrior and his colorful fellow villagers fight to keep their home free from the incompetent Roman conquerors.

    Asterix series announcement © Les Editions Albert René
    Asterix series announcement © Les Editions Albert René
  • Don’t Touch That Dial! FOX Re-Ups ‘Simpsons’ for 33rd and 34th Seasons

    Don’t Touch That Dial! FOX Re-Ups ‘Simpsons’ for 33rd and 34th Seasons

    FOX has renewed its Emmy Award-winning, record-setting Animation Domination staple The Simpsons for its 33rd and 34th seasons on FOX, carrying the series into 2023 and a total of 757 episodes. As cartoon patriarch Homer Simpson hopefully put it, “Woo Hoo! With any luck the show will soon be older than I am.”

    “Everyone at The Simpsons is thrilled to be renewed once more, and we are planning lots of big surprises,” creator & exec producer Matt Groening added. “Homer will lose a hair, Milhouse will get contact lenses, and Bart will celebrate his tenth birthday for the thirty-third time.”

    “It’s a sincere pleasure to announce the Season 33 and 34 pick-ups for The Simpsons. We keep hoping that, eventually, they’ll get it right,” said Charlie Collier, CEO, FOX Entertainment. “Profound respect for and congratulations to Matt, Jim, Al and the many other wonderful partners working really hard to finally elevate The Tracey Ullman Show. As they say, ‘practice makes perfect.’”

    The longest-running primetime scripted show in television history, The Simpsons exploded into popular culture in 1990 and has remained one of the most groundbreaking and innovative entertainment franchises, recognizable throughout the world. (“My biggest move was in the very beginning when I decided to never uncross my fingers,” said executive producer James L. Brooks.) Homer (Dan Castellaneta), Marge (Julie Kavner), Bart (Nancy Cartwright), Lisa (Yeardley Smith) and Maggie are instantly identifiable television icons. Rounding out this cast of characters are many beloved Springfield residents, including tavern proprietor Moe Szyslak (Hank Azaria) and nuclear power plant owner Mr. Burns (Harry Shearer). 

    The Emmy Award-, Annie Award- and Peabody Award-winning animated comedy began its 32nd season this past September and will celebrate a landmark 700th episode with the all-new episode, “Manger Things,” airing Sunday, March 21 (8:00-8:30 p.m. ET/PT).

    “Original, brilliant, outrageously funny, prophetic… there aren’t enough positive adjectives to describe this genius comedy which continues to entertain viewers of all ages,” commented Dana Walden, Chairman of Entertainment, Walt Disney Television. “Jim Brooks, Matt Groening and Al Jean lead a team of all-stars who hold such a high bar for themselves and leap over it with each spectacular episode. On behalf of everyone at our studio and the millions of fans of The Simpsons around the world, I want to thank our wonderful partners at FOX for making this a truly great day.”

    On the next all-new episode, “Yokel Hero,” airing this Sunday, March 7 (8:00-8:30 p.m. ET/PT), Cletus becomes a singing sensation, while Homer becomes a new man. Then Cletus turns on his fans, ruining everything. Albert Brooks makes a guest-voice appearance.

    This season, The Simpsons is averaging 7.0 million viewers across all platforms, marking a +146% lift from Live + Same Day. Television’s most-followed program, with 63 million social media fans, The Simpsons’ Season 32 premiere last September was its highest-rated return in five years, most-watched launch in six years and most-streamed premiere ever on Hulu and FOX NOW.

    The Simpsons is a Gracie Films Production in association with 20th Television. Brooks, Groening, Al Jean and Matt Selman are the executive producers. The Gracie Films Worldwide Brand Division develops and produces the licensed content for the series. Keep up with the show @TheSimpsons on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

  • Animation Vets Jennifer Coyle & Leo Matsuda to Helm ‘Hello Kitty’ Hybrid Flick

    Animation Vets Jennifer Coyle & Leo Matsuda to Helm ‘Hello Kitty’ Hybrid Flick

    New Line is ready to get purring on its animation/live-action hybrid Hello Kitty feature, having picked up the rights from Sanrio in 2019. The studio has appointed accomplished animation talents Jennifer Coyle and Leo Matsuda to make their feature directorial debuts with the Japanese pop culture icon’s first big screen project. Lindsey Beer of Known Universe penned the script; her upcoming projects also include Disney’s Bambi remake, Hasbro franchise flick M.A.S.K. and comic-book movie Silver Sable.

    Most recently serving as supervising producer on HBO’s adult animated series Harley Quinn, Coyle is also known for her work as a producer, director and showrunner for the DC Super Hero Girls franchise and as a director across six seasons of Bob’s Burgers (earning Primetime Emmy and Annie Award nominations) and The Spectacular Spider-Man. She has also worked as a storyboard artist for over 20 years on series including Men in Black, Dilbert, The Wild Thornberrys, As Told by Ginger, King of the Hill, several Scooby-Doo! videos and the Hellboy animated movies.

    A talented Disney animation artist, Matsuda’s name came to the fore when he conceived and directed the thought-provoking short film Inner Workings, which screened in front of Moana in 2016. In 2018, DreamWorks Animation picked up two feature projects from the rising talent — kids’ book adaptation Sputnik and an original folktale concept titled Yokai Samba, which is now in development at Nickelodeon. Matsuda’s credits include DreamWorks’ Abominable, Disney’s Ralph Breaks the Internet, Zootopia, Big Hero 6 and Wreck-It Ralph, and The Simpsons Movie.

    The Hello Kitty movie will be produced by Beau Flynn and his FlynnPictureCo., who pursued the rights for five years, with New Line Cinema/Warner Bros. Chanel Bowling will oversee the production for FPC, with Brener, Clia Khon and Paulina Sussman overseeing for New Line. Known Universe is executive producer.

    Coyle told Deadline, “This is not only a rare chance to bring a beloved character to life, but also to spread the message of love, friendship and inclusivity that Hello Kitty stands for. The world so needs her brand of joy and happiness.”

    Matsuda added, “Growing up in Brazil with a Japanese family, I was surrounded by the whimsy of Hello Kitty and it served as a reminder that it’s okay to be different. Along with Jen, FlynnPictureCo. and New Line, I am delighted by this incredible opportunity to work with one of the most universally beloved characters and expand their relatable Sanrio stories even further.”

    [Source: Deadline]

  • Trailer: Toonified ‘No Activity’ S4 Sets Paramount+ Premiere

    Trailer: Toonified ‘No Activity’ S4 Sets Paramount+ Premiere

    ViacomCBS’ imminent new Paramount+ streaming service announced the season four premiere for original half-hour comedy No Activity on Thursday, April 8, with subsequent episodes dropping weekly .As previously announced, the fourth season of the former CBS All Access show will take an animated turn.

    The series is co-developed, executive produced and written by Patrick Brammall and Trent O’Donnell. Brammall reprises his role as Special Agent Nick Cullen, who is finally realizing his dream of joining the FBI, only to quickly discover being an FBI “special agent” isn’t what he expected it to be.  When he’s assigned to a seemingly dull observation detail, he finds a potential career case in the form of an emerging cult. When a large scale operation takes aim at the cult, it’s unclear which side will break first. Despite the promotion, Cullen’s path continues to cross with former partner Judd Tolbeck’s (Tim Meadows), who is also adjusting to life with a new partner of his own.

    Joe Keery, Sunita Mani, Jason Mantzoukas, Bob Odenkirk and Amy Sedaris return and will be joined by an exciting group of new guest stars, including Louie Anderson, Kevin Bacon, Jillian Bell, D’Arcy Carden, Rob Delaney, Elle Fanning, Will Forte, Kimberly Hébert Gregory, Udo Kier, Lamorne Morris, Oscar Nuñez, Hannah Simone, June Squibb and Samara Weaving.

    No Activity is produced by CBS Studios in association with Funny Or Die, Jungle and Gary Sanchez Productions, with animation production services provided by Flight School, and is based on the Stan original series produced by Jungle. In addition to Brammall and O’Donnell, the series is also executive produced by Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Joe Farrell, Mike Farah, Joe Hardesty and Jason Burrows. Nina Pedrad, Steve Toltz and Becca Kinskey serve as co-executive producers. As in previous seasons, O’Donnell will also direct.

    The first three seasons are available to binge.

    No Activity
    No Activity
  • ‘Soul’ and ‘Wolfwalkers’ Dominate 48th Annie Awards Nominations

    ‘Soul’ and ‘Wolfwalkers’ Dominate 48th Annie Awards Nominations

    This morning, ASIFA-Hollywood announced the nominations for its 48th Annual Annie Awards, recognizing the year’s best in the field of animation across 36 categories.

    “What an odd year this has been! While animation has fared better than much of the entertainment industry, the situation around the pandemic has thrown all of us for a loop,” remarked Frank Gladstone, Annies executive producer. “We had no idea what to expect going into award season. To then see a year where we had more submissions than ever before was a huge and most welcome surprise. Though it might have initially seemed a little counter intuitive, now we are approaching the Annies with optimism and the new year with a renewed sense of community.”

    Feature films Soul and Wolfwalkers are tied for the most nominations with 10 each, while series Hilda and shorts Shooom’s Odyssey, Lamp Life and To: Gerard tie in the TV/Media competition with three nominations apiece. The winners will be announced in a virtual ceremony on Friday, April 16 at 7 p.m. PT.

    In the Best Feature race, it’s doubled odds for Pixar Animation Studios with Onward (dir. Dan Scanlon) and Soul (Pete Docter & Kemp Powers), as well as DreamWorks Animation with The Croods: A New Age (Joel Crawford) and Trolls World Tour (Walt Dohrn). ASIFA-Hollywood opted to give its fifth nomination slot to Netflix/BRON Animation’s The Willoughbys (Kris Pearn). Onward, Croods and Soul (winner) were also nominated for the Golden Globe; the HPFA opted for Over the Moon and Wolfwalkers as its outlier nominees. Last year, Annie and Oscar agreed on four out of five of their nominees in this category.

    The great part of an all-animation awards show, however, is that there’s more room to celebrate the year’s amazing films! In the Best Indie Feature category, voters will decide between Aardman/StudioCanal’s A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (dir. Will Becher & Richard Phelan), Maybe Movies’ Calamity Jane (Rémi Chayé), Rock’n Roll Mountain/Tip Top/GKIDS’s On-Gaku: Our Sound (Kenji Iwaisawa), Science SARU/GKIDS’s Ride Your Wave (Masaaki Yuasa) and Cartoon Saloon/Melusine’s Wolfwalkers (Tomm Moore & Ross Stewart). Last year, one of Annie’s indies made the Oscar nomination cut (I Lost My Body).

    Nominated for Best Direction – Feature are Rémi Chayé (Calamity Jane), Glen Keane (Over the Moon), Masaaki Yuasa (Ride Your Wave), Pete Docter & Kemp Powers (Soul) and Tomm Moore & Ross Stewart (Wolfwalkers).

    Once again, the Annie nomination voters have eschewed the big studio titles in selecting the Best Short Subject nominees: Cannes selection Filles Bleues, Peur Blanche (Blue Fear) by Lola Halifa-Legrand and Marie Jacotey (Miyu Prod.), OIAF winner Kkum by Kang Min Kim (open the portal), Sundance winner Souvenir Souvenir by Bastien Dubois (Blast Prod.), The Places Where We Live by Bernardo Britto (from FX’s CAKE) and Don Hertzfeldt’s half-hour World of Tomorrow Episode Three: The Absent Destinations of David Prime. Just like last year, there will be zero correlation between the Annie and Oscar short picks — in fact, none of these very worthy nominees are even on the Academy’s shortlist.

    As previously announced, this year’s juried awards will be presented to Willie Ito, Sue Nichols (posthumously) and Bruce Smith, receiving the Winsor McCay Award; Daisuke “Dice” Tsutsumi, June Foray Award; Epic Games Unreal Engine, Ub Iwerks Award; and documentary Howard, Special Achievement Award.

    Nominees in additional categories are:

    Best TV/Media – Preschool
    Buddi “Snow” Unanico Group
    Muppet Babies “Wocka-a-bye-Fozzie” Oddbot / Disney Junior
    Stillwater “The Impossible Dream  / Stuck in the Rain” Apple / Gaumont / Scholastic
    The Adventures of Paddington “Paddington Digs a Tunnel to Peru” Blue Zoo / Nickelodeon 
    Xavier Riddle and the Secret Movie: I Am Madam President 9 Story / Brown Bag

    Best TV/Media – Children
    Hilda “Chapter 9: The Deerfox” Silvergate Media for Netflix
    Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles “Finale Part 4: Rise” Nickelodeon Animation Studios
    She-Ra and the Princesses of Power “Heart Part 2” DreamWorks Animation
    Star Wars: The Clone Wars “Shattered” Lucasfilm Animation
    Victor and Valentino “The Lonely Haunts Club 3: La Llorona” Cartoon Network Studios

    Best TV/Media – General Audience
    Close Enough “Logan’s Run’d / Room Parents” Cartoon Network Studios
    Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal “Coven of the Damned” Cartoon Network Studios
    Harley Quinn “Something Borrowed, Something Green” Eshugadee Prod. in assoc. with Warner Bros. Animation
    Rick and Morty “The Vat of Acid Episode” Rick and Morty LLC
    The Midnight Gospel “Mouse of Silver” Titmouse Inc. for Netflix

    Best Special Production
    Baba Yaga Baobab Studios
    Libresse / Bodyform – #wombstories Chelsea Pictures
    Nixie & Nimbo Hornet
    Shooom’s Odyssey Picolo Pictures
    The Snail and the Whale Magic Light Pictures

    Best Sponsored
    Erste Group “Edgar’s Christmas” Pasion Animation Studios
    Max & Maxine Hornet
    The Last Mile Nexus Studio
    There’s a Monster in My Kitchen Cartoon Saloon, Mother
    Travel the Vote Hornet

    Best Student Film
    10,000 Acres of Pine Luce Grosjean | The Animation Workshop |Students: Jennifer Alice Wright
    Coffin Luce Grosjean | Gobelins, l’école de l’image | Students: Yuanqing Cai, Nathan Crabot, Houzhi Huang, Mikolaj Janiw, Mandimby Lebon, Théo Tran Ngoc
    La Bestia Luce Grosjean | Gobelins, l’école de l’image | Students: Marlijn Van Nuenen, Ram Tamez, Alfredo Gerard Kuttikatt
    Latitude du Printemps Patrick De Carvalho | Rubika | Students: Sylvain Cuvillier, Chloé Bourdic, Théophile Coursimault, Noémie Halberstam, Maŷlis Mosny, Zijing Ye
    O Black Hole! Nicola Cowee | National Film and Television School, UK | Students: Renee Zhan, Jesse Romain

    Best FX for TV/Media
    Fast & Furious: Spy Racers “Sirocco Fire Explosion” DreamWorks Animation | Nominees: Chris Browne, Brand Webb, Russell Richardson, Ardy Ala, Reggie Fourmyle
    Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous “Welcome to Jurassic World” DreamWorks Animation | Nominees: Emad Khalili, Ivan Wang
    Lamp Life Pixar Animation Studios | Nominees: Greg Gladstone, Keith Daniel Klohn, Matthew Wong
    Tales of Arcadia: Wizards “Killahead, Part Two” DreamWorks Animation | Nominees: Greg Lev, Igor Lodeiro, Brandon Tyra, Cui Wei, Ma Xiao
    Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy (Siege) “Episode 6” Rooster Teeth Productions for Netflix | Nominees: Masanori Sakakibara

    Best FX for Feature
    Over the Moon Netflix / Pearl Studio | Nominees: Ian Farnsworth, Brian Casper, Reinhold Rittinger, Zoran Stojanoski , Jennifer Lasrado
    Soul Pixar Animation Studios | Nominees: Tolga Göktekin, Carl Kaphan, Hiroaki Narita, Enrique Vila, Kylie Wijsmuller
    The Croods: A New Age DreamWorks Animation | Nominees: Amaury Aubel, Domin Lee, Alex Timchenko, Andrew Wheeler, Derek Cheung
    Trolls World Tour DreamWorks Animation | Nominees: Zachary Glynn, Landon Gray, Youxi Woo, John Kosnik, Doug Rizeakos
    Wolfwalkers Cartoon Saloon / Melusine / Apple Original Films / GKIDS | Nominees: Cartoon Saloon VFX Team

    Best Character Animation – TV/Media
    Alien Xmas Netflix Presents Fairview Entertainment / Sonar Entertainment / Chiodo Bros. Productions | Nominee: Kim Blanchette
    BoJack Horseman “Good Damage” Tornante Productions, LLC for Netflix | Nominees: James Bowman
    Cosmos: Possible Worlds “Vavilov” Starburns Industries | Nominee: Dan MacKenzie
    Hilda Silvergate Media for Netflix | Nominee: David Laliberte
    Lamp Life Pixar Animation Studios | Nominees: Lucas Fraga Pacheco

    Best Character Animation – Feature
    Onward Pixar Animation Studios | Nominee: Shaun Chacko
    Soul Pixar Animation Studios | Nominee: Michal Makarewicz
    The Croods: A New Age DreamWorks Animation | Nominees: Rani Naamani
    The Willoughbys Netflix Presents A BRON Animation Production in assoc. with Creative Wealth Media | Nominee: Andrés Bedate Martin
    Wolfwalkers Cartoon Saloon / Melusine / Apple Original Films / GKIDS | Nominee: Emmanuel Asquier-Brassart

    Best Character Animation – Live Action
    The Christmas Chronicles 2 Weta Digital | Nominees: Nick Stein, Caroline Ting, Sebastian Trujillo, David Yabu, Paul Ramsden
    The Mandalorian Image Engine | Nominees: Nathan Fitzgerald, Leo Ito, Chris Rogers, Eung Ho Lo, Emily Luk
    The Umbrella Academy S2 Weta Digital | Nominees: Aidan Martin, Hunter Parks, Craig Young, Viki Yeo, Krystal Sae Eua
    Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made Framestore | Nominees: Anders Beer, Marianne Morency, Hennadii Prykhodko, Sophie Burie, Cedric Le Poullennec

    Best Character Animation – Video Game
    League of Legends Riot Games, Inc. | Nominees: Jose “Sho” Hernandez, Lana Bachynski, Christopher Hsing, Matthew Johnson, Jason Hendrich
    Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales Insomniac Games | Nominees: Brian Wyser, Michael Yosh, Danny Garnett, David Hancock
    Ori and the Will of the Wisps Moon Studios / Xbox Game Studios / iam8bit | Nominees: Jim Donovan, Warren Go, Boris Hiestand, Kim Nguyen, Jason Martinsen
    The Last of Us Part II Naughty Dog | Nominees: Jeremy Yates, Eric Baldwin, Almudena Soria, Michal Mach, August Davies

    Best Character Design – TV/Media
    Amphibia “The Shut-In!” Disney TV Animation | Nominee: Joe Sparrow
    BNA “Runaway Raccoon”Trigger / Netflix | Nominee: Yusuke Yoshigaki
    Craig of the Creek Cartoon Network Studios | Nominee: Danny Hynes
    Looney Tunes Cartoons Warner Bros. Animation | Nominee: Jim Soper
    The Owl House “Young Blood, Old Souls”Disney Television Animation | Nominee: Marina Gardner

    Best Character Design – Feature
    Soul Pixar Animation Studios | Nominee: Daniel López Muñoz
    The Croods: A New Age DreamWorks Animation | Nominee: Joe Pitt
    The Willoughbys Netflix Presents A BRON Animation Production in assoc. with Creative Wealth Media | Nominee: Craig Kellman
    Trolls World Tour DreamWorks Animation | Nominee: Timothy Lamb
    Wolfwalkers Cartoon Saloon / Melusine / Apple Original Films / GKIDS | Nominee: Federico Pirovano

    Best Direction – TV/Media
    Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal “Plague of Madness” Cartoon Network Studios | Nominee: Genndy Tartakovsky
    Great Pretender “Case 1_1: Los Angeles Connection” Production I.G. for Fuji Television Network and Netflix | Nominee: Hiro Kaburagi
    Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart “Mao Mao’s Nakey” Titmouse Inc / Cartoon Network Studios | Nominee: Michael Moloney
    Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles “Battle Nexus NYC” Nickelodeon Animation Studio | Nominee: Alan Wan
    The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse “Hard to Swallow” Disney Television Animation | Nominee: Eddie Trigueros

    Best Music – TV/Media
    Blood of Zeus “Escape or Die”Powerhouse Animation Studios for Netflix | Nominee: Paul Edward-Francis
    Mira, Royal Detective “The Great Diwali Mystery”Wild Canary / Disney Junior | Nominees: Amritha Vaz, Matthew Tishler, Jeannie Lurie
    Star Trek: Lower Decks “Crisis Point” CBS’s Eye Animation Productions / Titmouse / Secret Hideout /Roddenberry Entertainment | Nominee: Chris Westlake
    Star Wars: The Clone Wars “Victory and Death” Lucasfilm Animation | Nominee: Kevin Kiner
    The Tiger Who Came to Tea Lupus Films | Nominees: David Arnold, Don Black

    Best Music – Feature
    Onward Pixar Animation Studios | Nominees: Mychael Danna, Jeff Danna
    Over the Moon Netflix Presents a Netflix/Pearl Studio Production / a Glen Keane Productions Presentation | Nominees: Steven Price, Christopher Curtis, Marjorie Du eld, Helen Park
    Soul Pixar Animation Studios | Nominees: Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste
    The Willoughbys Netflix Presents A BRON Animation Production in assoc.with Creative Wealth Media | Nominees: Mark Mothersbaugh, Alessia Cara, Jon Levine, Colton Fisher
    Wolfwalkers Cartoon Saloon / Melusine / Apple Original Films / GKIDS | Nominees: Bruno Coulais, Kíla

    Best Production Design – TV/Media
    Baba Yaga Baobab Studios | Nominees: Glenn Hernandez, Matthieu Saghezchi
    Shooom’s Odyssey Picolo Pictures | Nominee: Julien Bisaro
    The Adventures of Paddington “Paddington and Halloween”Blue-Zoo Animation Studio / Nickelodeon Animation Studio | Nominee: Negar Bagheri
    To: Gerard DreamWorks Animation | Nominee: Raymond Zibach
    Trash Truck Glen Keane Productions for Netflix  | Nominees: Eastwood Wong, Sylvia Liu, Elaine Lee, Tor Aunet, Lauren Zurcher

    Best Production Design – Feature
    Onward Pixar Animation Studios | Nominees: Noah Klocek, Sharon Calahan, Huy Nguyen, Bert Berry, Paul Conrad
    Soul Pixar Animation Studios | Nominees: Steve Pilcher, Albert Lozano, Paul Abadilla, Bryn Imagire
    The Willoughbys Netflix Presents A BRON Animation Production in assoc.with Creative Wealth Media | Nominee: Kyle McQueen
    Trolls World Tour DreamWorks Animation | Nominees: Kendal Cronkhite Shaindlin, Timothy Lamb
    Wolfwalkers Cartoon Saloon / Melusine / Apple Original Films / GKIDS | Nominees: María Pareja, Ross Stewart, Tomm Moore

    Best Storyboarding – TV/Media
    Archibald’s Next Big Thing “Baritone Tea Part 1”DreamWorks Animation | Nominee: Ben McLaughlin
    Big City Greens “Cheap Show”Walt Disney Television Animation | Nominee: Kiana Khansmith
    Looney Tunes Cartoons Warner Bros. Animation | Nominee: Andrew Dickman
    Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge Warner Bros. Animation | Nominee: Milo Neuman
    Shooom’s Odyssey Picolo Pictures | Nominee: Julien Bisaro

    Best Storyboarding – Feature
    Earwig and the Witch Studio Ghibli | Nominee: Goro Miyazaki
    Over the Moon Netflix Presents a Netflix/Pearl Studio Production / a Glen Keane Productions Presentation | Nominee: Glen Keane
    Soul Pixar Animation Studios | Nominee: Trevor Jimenez
    The Croods: A New Age DreamWorks Animation | Nominee: Evon Freeman
    Wolfwalkers Cartoon Saloon / Melusine / Apple Original Films / GKIDS | Nominee: Guillaume Lorin

    Best Voice Acting – TV/Media
    Dragons Rescue Riders: Hunt for the Golden Dragon DreamWorks Animation | Nominee: Jeff Bennett (Erik the Wretched)
    It’s Pony “Episode 107” Blue-Zoo Animation and Nickelodeon Animation Studio | Nominee: Jessica DiCicco (Annie)
    Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe Walt Disney Television Animation & Disney+ | Nominee: Ashley Tisdale (Candace)
    Tales of Arcadia: Wizards “Our Final Act”DreamWorks Animation | Nominee: David Bradley (Merlin)
    ThunderCats Roar! “ThunderSlobs: Warner Bros. Animation | Nominee: Patrick Seitz (Mumm-Ra, Tyga)

    Best Voice Acting – Feature
    Earwig and the Witch Studio Ghibli | Nominee: Vanessa Marshall (Bella Yaga)
    Onward Pixar Animation Studios | Nominee: Tom Holland (Ian Lightfoot)
    Over the Moon Netflix Presents a Netflix/Pearl Studio Production / a Glen Keane Productions Presentation | Nominee: Robert G. Chiu (Chin)
    The Croods: A New Age DreamWorks Animation | Nominee: Nicolas Cage (Grug)
    Wolfwalkers Cartoon Saloon / Melusine / Apple Original Films / GKIDS | Nominee: Eva Whittaker (Mebh Óg MacTíre)

    Best Writing – TV/Media
    Big Mouth “The New Me”Netflix | Nominees: Andrew Goldberg, Patti Harrison, Andrew Goldberg
    Craig of the Creek Cartoon Network Studios | Nominees: Jeff Trammell, Ti any Ford, Dashawn Mahone, Najja Porter
    Fancy Nancy “Nancy’s New Friend”Disney Television Animation | Nominees: Krista Tucker, Andy Guerdat, Matt Hoverman, Laurie Israel, Marisa Evans-Sanden
    Harley Quinn “Something Borrowed, Something Green”Eshugadee Productions in assoc. with Warner Bros. Animation | Nominee: Sarah Peters
    She-Ra and the Princesses of Power “Heart Part 2″ DreamWorks Animation | Nominee: Noelle Stevenson

    Best Writing – Feature
    A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon Studiocanal and Aardman present in assoc. with Anton Capital Entertainment an Aardman Production for Netflix | Nominees: Mark Burton, Jon Brown
    Onward Pixar Animation Studios | Nominees: Dan Scanlon, Jason Headley, Keith Bunin
    Over the Moon Netflix Presents a Netflix/Pearl Studio Production / a Glen Keane Productions Presentation | Nominee: Audrey Wells
    Soul Pixar Animation Studios | Nominees: Pete Docter, Mike Jones, Kemp Powers
    Wolfwalkers Cartoon Saloon / Melusine / Apple Original Films / GKIDS | Nominee: Will Collins

    Best Editorial – TV/Media
    Cops and Robbers Lawrence Bender Productions for Netflix | Nominees: Brandon Terry, Ezra Dweck, Del Spiva
    Hilda “Chapter 9: The Deerfox”Silvergate Media for Netflix | Nominee: John McKinnon
    If Anything Happens I Love You Gilbert Films / Oh Good Productions for Netflix | Nominees: Peter Ettinger, Michael Babcock
    Lamp Life Pixar Animation Studios | Nominee: Serena Warner
    To: Gerard DreamWorks Animation | Nominee: James Ryan

    Best Editorial – Feature
    A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon Studiocanal and Aardman present in association with Anton Capital Entertainment An Aardman Production for Netflix | Nominees: Sim Evan-Jones, ACE, Adrian Rhodes
    Calamity Jane Maybe Movies | Nominee: Benjamin Massoubre
    Onward Pixar Animation Studios | Nominees: Catherine Apple, Anna Wolitzky, Dave Suther
    Soul Pixar Animation Studios | Nominees: Kevin Nolting, Gregory Amundson, Robert Grahamjones, Amera Rizk
    The Willoughbys Netflix Presents A BRON Animation Production in assoc. with Creative Wealth Media | Nominees: Fiona Toth, Ken Schretzmann, ACE

  • Double Vision: Autour de Minuit Brings Two Innovative Features to Cartoon Movie

    Double Vision: Autour de Minuit Brings Two Innovative Features to Cartoon Movie

    Nicolas Schmerkin, the founder of Paris-based company Autour de Minuit, is having a busy year. Not only is he getting ready for award season with two acclaimed shorts (Alberto Vázquez’s Homeless Home, which is nominated for a Goya prize, and Geoffroy de Crécy’s Annecy Cristal-nominated Empty Places), he is also presenting two movies in development during the virtual Cartoon Movie next week. Oh, and he’s producing Vázquez’s much-anticipated feature Unicorn Wars, which chronicles the age-old war between militarized bears and the dangerous unicorns that threaten them!

    Schmerkin, who won the 2010 Oscar for Best Animated Short for Logorama and has produced numerous well-known shorts such as Decorado, Metamorphosis and I Want Pluto to Be a Planet Again, was kind enough to give us the scoop on Shadows and The Midnight King, two innovative and highly original features he’s pitching at Cartoon Movie in March.

    Shadows is adapted from a brilliant comic book written by Belgian author Vincent Zabus and illustrated by French talent Hippolyte. “The comic is itself an adaptation of a theater play created years previously by Vincent Zabus together with African migrants, based on their own stories of exile,” says Schmerkin. “It seems that every time this narrative is adapted into another medium (from true stories onto a theater stage, turned to a graphic novel, then to a film), it gains further depth and universality.”

    Nicolas Schmerkin
    Nicolas Schmerkin

    The producer discovered the book in a comic-book store in Clermont-Ferrand during the city’s short film festival three years ago. He recalls, “I was immediately in awe of both the storytelling and the colorful illustrations. I showed the book to Nadia Micault, a talented director and accomplished artist we’d been working with on several shorts and music videos. I was sure that she would love to join this kind of project, and she did. We started the development very recently, mid 2020, when our Belgium co-producers Vincent Tavier and Hugo Deghilage from Panique! started to raise funds and find subsidies for the writing phase.”

    According to Schmerkin, everything moved quickly from that point on. “We started the pilot for the Cartoon Movie in October when we got some development money from Europe (Media) and France, and here we are now, with a pilot and a script, ready to start pre-production as soon as we get the financing,” he explains.

    Shadows
    Shadows

    A Potent Mix of Magic and Realism

    The producer says he loved the original comic book’s colorful drawings and was struck by the power of the story and how it tackled social issues such as exile, migration and family uprooting and mixing in a dark fairy tale with humor, surrealism and songs. “Shadows is about a 14-year-old boy and his nine-year-old sister who have to leave their home village and embark on an adventure as they look for their father and better prospects,” notes Schmerkin. “Based on true stories, and without sugarcoating or bowdlerizing heartbreaking realities, the immense power of this work is the way it tells a universal story. Animation will bring a touch of softness and a more poetic dimension to the story. The visual universe brings enormous potential to the storytelling for different age groups: While children can connect to the siblings’ relationship and quest, adults will understand the social and political issues.”

    Visually, the film will combine some CG elements with a 2D look. “The director works a lot with paper and watercolor and does wonderful backgrounds with a lot of detail and hatching, similar to an engraving style,” says Schmerkin. “Her input will definitely be determining the style of the film, close to her illustrations. Perhaps the closest references would be Miyazaki’s works. At the development stage we are mainly working with both our studio ADV in Paris and our studio Schmuby/Borderline in Angouleme, where we have gathered a great team of experienced talents in feature animations. Most of them have worked on acclaimed feature films such as The Red Turtle and The Bears’ Famous Invasion of Sicily.”

    The budget for Shadows is estimated to be around 6 million euros ($7.3 million). Autour de Minuit is co-developing the film with its Belgian partners and long-time friends Panique!, the studio behind movies such as A Town Called Panic and Ernest & Celestine. The producer believes that a third country will probably be necessary to finance the production. “We are already very lucky and honored to have great interest from sales agent Grégoire Melin and his team from Kinology. The project definitely seems to be spiking interest and enthusiasm, the Cartoon Movie will be the first big meeting with the market and we look forward to presenting all our work and development up to now.”

    The Midnight King
    The Midnight King

    A Boy’s Demons

    Autour de Minuit’s second feature at Cartoon Movie is The Midnight King, an intriguing feature about a young boy who leaves his troubled home for an enchanted forest, only to discover that the woods are cursed and his fears have followed him there. The timeless, fantastical tale is directed by Oscar nominee Chris Lavis (NFB’s Madame Tutli-Putli) and Maciek Szczerbowski.

    “The Midnight King was born out of our long history of collaborating with the musician Patrick Watson, who created the soundtracks and landscapes for our film Nightmare and our VR experience Gymnasia,” says Lavis. “In the development of our films we are generally first inspired by fragments of scenes or images. We collect these fragments, hoping that they will challenge us to create a story around them. For The Midnight King, we also had Patrick’s musical explorations to work with. To our delight, the story revealed itself out of that soup: a musical odyssey about a runaway boy and a girl with silver eyes and legs of glass.”

    From there it was a question of finding collaborators and producers who were just as excited to be on the journey with Lavis and his team. “We had been searching for years for the right project to bring to Luc Déry and Kim McCraw at micro_scope in Montreal, and had long admired Nicolas Schmerkin’s eye for films and his studio’s talent roster from our years on the festival circuit,” says the helmer. “They all came on board early and we’ve been developing the movie together ever since.”

    Lavis says he has no preferred techniques or dogmas except perhaps one — that the story should always drive the method. “As the story is revealed, so is the method,” he explains. “Because we began the process by drawing — usually we build props and puppets — it became obvious to us that the most emotionally and visually satisfying way of telling the story we wanted to tell was in the medium of drawn, 2D animation.”

    The director says this required a leap in thinking. “It was like starting all over again,” he points out. “At first, we thought all the tricks we had learned from stop-motion (from live video animatics to puppet and set building) would be worthless in 2D, but we’ve found just the opposite. Thanks to the affordability of 3D scanners and new production pipelines that integrate CG and 2D, we’ve discovered that many of our stop-motion techniques flow right into a modern 2D pipeline.”

    The Midnight King
    The Midnight King

    Among the inspirations for the feature, Lavis cites Hayao Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke, Sylvain Chomet’s The Triplets of Belleville and Disney’s The Rescuers. “All three are features with bold, personal drawing styles,” says Lavis. “However, once we started developing the pipeline with our collaborators, the more we were able to leave these initial references behind and find our own voice in the medium.”

    The filmmaker estimates the feature’s budget to be around 10 million dollars. He adds, “It will be a co-production between Canada, France and probably a third country. We are now focused on finishing a two-minute pilot.”

    Of course, the animated movie landscape keeps getting busier and more competitive. We had to ask Lavis why he thinks The Midnight King stands out? “Many of this century’s most experimental, outrageous and courageous films have come from artists working in animation,” he responds. “However, there is also a side to our business that is extremely conservative and risk-averse. Feature animation, in particular, has suffered from the perception that animated films must target either an adult or child audience. This false divide limits funders and creators alike. The Midnight King doesn’t fit neatly into either box. We seek an intergenerational, ‘crossover’ audience, children and adults who hunger for an experience that reaches across mediums and categories and speaks to them personally.”

    As in many of Autour de Minuit’s projects, music plays an important role in Lavis’ feature. “Animation’s dirty secret is just how important music and sound is to the success and emotional weight of a film,” he explains. “Luckily, we believe, the songs Patrick Watson has written for The Midnight King are some of the best work he’s done in his life. But the prospect of an animated musical is still daunting. For this film we’ve never been more reliant on sound, because Patrick is a co-writer who is building the movie with us from the ground up. That’s frightening and exciting, as all creation ought to be!”

    You can find out more about the French studio at autourdeminuit.com.

  • News Bytes: The Latest Awards, Festivals, Panels and Events Updates

    News Bytes: The Latest Awards, Festivals, Panels and Events Updates

    Who could have predicted that setting a precedent for virtual events would lead to a constant battle to make room in our inboxes? … Buckle up!

    Friday: View Conference Presents 12 Oscar-Contending Directors in Discussion

    Presented in partnership with OGR Torino, Pixar, Cartoon Saloon, Netflix and DreamWorks, the free online preVIEW panel “Animated Features Oscar Contenders: A Directors’ Discussion brings together extraordinary filmmakers Glen Keane (Over the Moon), Pete Docter & Kemp Powers (Soul), Tomm Moore & Ross Stewart (Wolfwalkers), Joel Crawford (The Croods: A New Age), Walt Dohrn (Trolls World Tour), Kris Pearn (The Willoughbys), Dan Scanlon (Onward), Gitanjali Rao (Bombay Rose), Will Becher & Richard Phelan (A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon) for a conversation with Animation Magazine‘s own Ramin Zahed. Friday, March 5 (10 a.m. PST / 5 p.m. GMT / 19h CET), register here.

    March 27: “Dragon Ball Super: Battle of the Battles” Global Fan Event

    The fans have voted and the top 10 DBS fights of all time will be revealed later this month! Special guest Ian Sinclair (English voice of “Whis”) joins hosts Justin Rojas (Toei Animation) and Lauren Moore (Funimation) to count down each legendary fight and rehash an English dub video clip from the series. The showdown kicks off Sat., March 27 (5 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. CT / 8 p.m. ET / 10 p.m. BRT / 3/28 2 a.m. CET) in simulcasts on the Toei Animation Twitch channel and Funimation YouTube channel.

    Annecy Reveals 2021 Poster

    Due to the COVID pandemic, the illustrious French animation festival pushed its big 60th anniversary and African animation tribute plans to this year, and have opted to assign the poster design once again to Jean-Charles Mbotti Malolo.

    “Annecy loves supporting creators. It’s an integral part of our DNA. Jean-Charles Mbotti Malolo is a regular at Annecy and his latest film Make It Soul, presented at the 2018 Festival, summarized the festive and energetic spirit of the event,” said artistic director Marcel Jean. “We will remember when Jean-Charles and his friends invaded the stage to dance joyously as the credits finished rolling out, carrying the spectators along for the ride. This poster is also a reminder of this magical moment that only Annecy holds the secret.”

    Malolo commented: “I am immensely honoured to work on the poster again for the 2021 edition. I would really have loved to collaborate a second time with Simon Roussin, like last year, but he was already committed to a personal project. I felt the need to do this poster on paper, maybe to push myself to return to a more traditional art form on a daily basis, but also because screens have taken up even more place in our lives since the current health crisis began. The theme is similar to 2020, so I kept to our guideline, the pantsula, a traditional South African dance that symbolises the modern view I have of Africa. I wanted to link this with a unique character: an older woman, independent, free and joyous, who is enjoying the sun’s rays reflecting on the lake. Last year’s Festival was online, let’s hope we can all join the pantsula dancers on the Annecy pontoons this June 2021!”

    Annecy
    Annecy

    Artizen Teams with Tribeca for Black Realities Grant

    Black artists working in film, VR/AR and “all screen-based projects” are invited to submit projects for the new grant, which will award $10,000 and a World Premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival to the winner. Applications are open until March 22. More information https://www.artizen.fund/grant/black-realities-grant“>here.

    PGA Awards

    The Producers Guild of America announced the TV specialty category nominees for the 32nd awards, taking place virtually on March 24. Under consideration for Outstanding Children’s Program are Animaniacs (S1), Carmen Sandiego (S3), Looney Tunes Cartoons (S1), The Power of We: A Sesame Street Special and Star Wars: The Clone Wars (S7).

    BAFTA Games Awards

    Nominees across 17 craft areas were announced via Twitter @BAFTAGames, with the top contenders including The Last of Us Part II with 13 nominations (the most in BAFTA Games Awards history), Ghost of Tsushima (10), Hades (8), Spider-Man: Miles Morales (7), Dreams (6), Animal Crossing: New Horizons and all Guys (5 each), Cyberpunk 2077, Half-Life: Alyx and Sackboy: A Big Adventure (4 each). Winners — including the public-voted EE Game of the Year — will be revealed live online on March 25. See the full list of nominees here.

    The Last of Us 2
    The Last of Us 2

    RTS Programme Awards

    In further awards news: BBC Children’s In-House Productions / A Productions series JoJo and Gran Gran (CBeebies) is the sole animated show nominated in the RTS Children’s Programme category this year, for the episode “It’s Time to Go to the Hairdresser’s”. The charming toon is up against FYI Investigates (Sky Kids) and IRL with Team Charlene (CITV). A virtual awards ceremony is set for March 16.

    FMX 2021: Tickets on Sale

    Taking place May 4-6, with recorded sessions available through July, the Conference on Animation, Effects, Games and Immersive Media has also announced program additions covering Territory Studio’s CG black and white recreation of 1930s Wilshire Blvd. in a real-time LED rear projection for Mank, how NVIZ was applied to create the most intense scenes of The Midnight Sky, and the new visual language of Netflix’s live-action/CGI hybrid series The Liberator. Tickets available here.

  • UK’s Secret Story Draw Unlocks Animation Opportunities for Underrepresented Groups

    UK’s Secret Story Draw Unlocks Animation Opportunities for Underrepresented Groups

    A brand new and unique initiative, The Secret Story Draw, has launched to find new talent in the animation industry. The scheme is dedicated to placing illustrators and animators from underrepresented ethnic groups in some of the country’s best animation studios. Entries are now open at www.thesecretstorydraw.org, and applicants must be 18 years or older at the time of the competition closing date, which is May 28, 2021, with winners to be announced in June 2021.

    The Secret Story Draw sees some of the U.K.’s most renowned children’s writers provide an anonymous story written exclusively for the initiative, with budding animators and illustrators invited to bring the stories to life. The author of each story will remain anonymous until the winners are revealed in June.

    Announced writers contributing stories include: Keith Chapman (PAW Patrol, Bob The Builder), Frank Cottrell-Boyce (Runaway Robot, Millions, Sputnik’s Guide to Life on Earth), Gillian Cross (The Demon Headmaster), Adam Redfern (The Adventures Of Paddington), Dan Freedman (Jamie Johnson, Unstoppable), Swapna Haddow (Dave Pigeon!), M.G. Leonard (Beetle Boy), Mark Lowery (Socks Are Not Enough, Charlie and Me, Roman Garstang series), Will Mabbitt (The Unlikely Adventures of Mabel Jones), E.L. Norry (Son of the Circus), Sam Sedgman (The Highland Falcon Thief) and Chitra Soundar (Where Is Gola’s Home).

    The Secret Story Draw
    The Secret Story Draw

    The Secret Story Draw organizers have recruited a stellar panel from the television and film industries, with winners earning themselves a paid internship with one of the top animation studios in the U.K. Internships will run for at least three months and will be panel from the television and film industries, with winners earning themselves a paid internship with one of the top animation studios in the U.K. Internships will run for at least three months and will be based in the studio or remote working as agreed by the participating studio. Current studios taking part include: Aardman, Blue Zoo Animation Studio, DNEG, Factory, Fourth Wall, Jellyfish Pictures, King Bert, Hopster and Moonbug.

    “Finding ways to make our industry more diverse is not a new debate, but finding real, tangible solutions has been frustratingly slow. I am immensely proud therefore to be part of The Secret Story Draw initiative that pro-actively supports the vast amount of talent from under-represented communities in accessing and progressing through the children’s media industry,” said Jamila Metran, Director of Kids Networks for Sony Pictures Television and Chair of The Secret Story Draw judging panel. “Doing everything we can to ensure input from an inclusive creative workforce is vital if we want to make the quality, authentic content that speaks to the diverse viewing community we serve, and we need increased diversity behind the scenes just as much as we need it on screen.”

    Jamila Metran
    Jamila Metran

    In addition to Metran, announced judges include: Axel Scheffler (The Gruffalo), Elliott Palmer (Producer and consultant, King Bert Productions), Steve Harding-Hill (Creative Director, Aardman Animations), Tom Beattie (Head of Kids and Family, Tiger Aspect), Tom Box (MD, Blue Zoo), Tom Brass (Creative Director, Jellyfish Pictures), Jackie Edwards (Head of Fund, Young Audiences Content Fund – BFI), Louise Bucknole (VP Kids Programming U.K. & Ireland, Nick Network and Milkshake!), Adam Campbell (Director of Product, Azoomee), Ted Ty (Global Head of Character Animation, DNEG), Laura Henry-Allain MBE (creator, CBeebies characters JoJo and Gran Gran), Jodie Hodges (literary agent for children’s authors, United Agents), Darren Nartey (Acquisitions Manager – Films and Kids, ITV) and Selom Sunu (illustrator and character designer).

    The Secret Story Draw is in association with various industry partners including the DCMS funded Young Audiences Content Fund, which is managed by the BFI and supports the creation of unique and distinctive content for young audiences, BAFTA Kids, The Children’s Media Conference, ScreenSkills and Macmillan Children’s Books.

    While entrants are working and honing their skills inside one of these industry leading companies, they’ll also have access to an established industry mentor, who will nurture them to make the most of the opportunity and help them make decisions about their future growth and direction. Furthermore, a series of money-can’t-buy creative workshops will be offered by industry insiders dedicated to giving entrants the inside track on everything they need to know to take their talent to the next level. Mentors, sessions and speakers will be announced in due course.

    Illustration and animation in the children’s media industry still has some way to go to truly offer meaningful employment opportunities for underrepresented ethnicities. The Secret Story Draw’s mission is to ensure that the people creating content for young people in this country are as representative as possible.

    For more information, entry guidelines or to find out how companies and individuals can support the initiative, visit www.thesecretstorydraw.org

    The secret story draw – Why is this important from Jollywise on Vimeo.

  • ‘Kamp Koral’: Visiting SpongeBob and Friends’ Early Years

    ‘Kamp Koral’: Visiting SpongeBob and Friends’ Early Years

    ***This article originally appeared in the April ’21 issue of Animation Magazine (No. 309)***

    After more than two decades ruling the airwaves from his undersea bromeliad home, SpongeBob SquarePants is finally getting a spinoff show that will give viewers a fuller understanding of their porous pal’s misspent youth.

    Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years
    Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years

    Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years debuts its 13-episode first season March 4 on the new Paramount+ streaming service, the same day that the feature that inspired it — The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run — gets its U.S. debut on the same service. Loyal SpongeBob viewers will be glad to know that the original’s creative hands are also guiding Kamp Koral, which is co-executive produced by Marc Ceccarelli, Vincent Waller and Jennie Monica, and reunites original series voice cast members Tom Kenny as SpongeBob, Bill Fagerbakke as Patrick, Rodger Bumpass as Squidward, Clancy Brown as Mr. Krabs, Carolyn Lawrence as Sandy and Mr. Lawrence as Plankton.

    The CG-animated show puts younger versions of these classic characters into the pressure cooker of summer camp, providing new creative opportunities for the show’s veteran creators.

    “The nice thing about camp is that it’s an entirely different world with an entirely different set of dials and whistles we can use on SpongeBob,” says Waller.

    “We were also able to introduce some new characters into this world, too, that allowed us more weird or different dynamics than we usually do,” says Ceccarelli. “It’s like a jumpstart to our creativity, putting somebody in a different space like that.”

    Vincent Waller and Marc Ceccarelli
    Vincent Waller and Marc Ceccarelli

    Return of the Comedy Champs

    Ceccarelli and Waller wanted the show to retain the broad appeal and quality of the original series, and wanted to steer clear of being perceived as a “babies” version of the show. So while Sponge on the Run used child actors for the younger versions of SpongeBob and pals, the original series cast returned for Kamp Koral.

    Waller says there was some trepidation among the cast at first about the idea, but once they read the scripts and saw the visuals, they were all in. “They’re like, ‘Okay, all right, we’re doing the same thing, it’s just shaped a little bit different and fun to look at in a different way,’” he says.

    “Some of them are aging themselves down vocally and a few of the other ones we do a little bit of pitch magic to them, to get them into a younger-ish sort of area — but it’s still our comedy actors, you know, being able to do the kind of comedy that we’re used to doing with them,” says Ceccarelli.

    Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years
    Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years

    The premise puts the characters into what Ceccarelli describes as a bit of a pressure cooker. “All the kids are kind of trapped in the same environment,” he says. “Especially our leads — we put them all in the same cabin.”

    Outside the camp, there are some wild hillbilly type characters, including narwhal siblings Nobby and Narlene, voiced respectively by Carlos Alazraqui and Kate Higgins. Ceccarelli describes them as tricksters: “They come in and are constantly messing with the kids, but the kids love them because they’re so genuine.”

    Rodger Bumpass, who voices Squidward, says there was some discussion early on about whether the actors would try to pitch up their voices. “But we decided that we would just do our regular acting for the characters, and that helps us,” he says.

    Kamp Koral casts Squidward as a junior counselor, which plays perfectly to the character’s foibles. “He’s in something of a position of authority, as opposed to his position at the Krusty Krab, and being ever so slightly older than the rest of the kids, he gets to wield his power over them, and basically it just translates as another arena for his frustration,” says Bumpass. “It’s a wonderful consistency with the performance of Squidward from the classic show, but with nuances that helped me spread my wings as far as different things to do in this show.”

    Rodger Bumpass
    Rodger Bumpass

    Kamp Koral deviates from the original by using CG animation instead of traditional 2D. Waller says he was nervous about the quality of CG animation going into the project, but his concerns were put to rest by the quality of work produced by the show’s India-based crew at Technicolor.

    “As soon as I saw what we’d cobbled together with our new amazing crew — SpongeBob and Patrick standing in their cabin, at their camp —  I wanted to go and sit in that cabin, I wanted to go and smell that wood. I wanted to go be there,” he says.

    “I’ve actually been surprised at how much of the aesthetics of 2D that we love, that we’ve been able to actually port over to the CG world,” says Ceccarelli. Technology allows the show’s animators to sculpt and alter digital models themselves, where previously the same effect would have required the construction of new or specialized models.

    “That’s really opened up all kinds of possibilities to try and get some of the bigger, cartoonier types of expressions and movements that we love to do in the 2D show,” Ceccarelli says.

    Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years
    Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years

    Bigger Elasticity

    Ceccarelli lauds the animators’ ability to translate the look and feel of the original into CG. “We’re trying to have the same sort of crazy, wild posing that you get in the regular 2D show,” he says. ”It’s gonna look a lot different than a lot of CG shows out there, because our models are so elastic, and we do so much with them in an attempt to bring a lot of the same kind of humor out of the visuals.”

    Bumpass says he loves the nuances that come from the CG style, citing a moment where Squidward has an Ed Norton from The Honeymooners moment in which he prepares to play a horn by readying his mouth with exaggerated lip movements that looked great and gave him a chance to play with sound. “They just go on into abstraction about it and I love those beats,” he says.

    Incorporating unusual and low-tech effects is a hallmark of the original series, and continues with Kamp Koral. “Don’t be surprised if everybody turns into a puppet in one scene, or there’s a live-action person matted into an episode where you wouldn’t expect them to be,” says Ceccarelli. ”We’re always trying to find ways of making it funkier and more multimedia.”

    But at the end of the day, what makes Kamp Koral work is the same thing that makes the original SpongeBob SquarePants work: Making kids and adults laugh.

    “We want your parents to be able to sit next to you and watch it and laugh,” says Waller. “Maybe they get a different joke than you do, but they’re laughing at the same time you’re laughing.”

    Kamp Koral premieres on the new Paramount+ streaming service on March 4.

  • FOX Animation Expands to Mondays with ‘Housebroken,’ ‘Duncanville’ S2

    FOX Animation Expands to Mondays with ‘Housebroken,’ ‘Duncanville’ S2

    This summer, FOX’s growing animation lineup extends to Mondays with the series premiere of all-new pet paws-itive comedy Housebroken on May 31 (9:00-9:30 p.m. ET/PT), followed by Duncanville (9:30-10:00 p.m. ET/PT). A special two-episode Season Two debut of Duncanville will air Sunday, May 23 (8:30-9:00 PM ET/PT and 9:30-10:00 PM ET/PT), after which the series moves into its Monday time period.

    Featuring the voices of Emmy Award-winner Lisa Kudrow (Friends, The Comeback), Emmy Award winner Tony Hale (Veep, Arrested Development) and Will Forte (The Great North), animated comedy Housebroken follows a group of neighborhood pets and stray animals as they work through their issues inside and outside their therapy group. Honey (Kudrow), a standard poodle, opens her living room for the group to come and support each other through the misery, mayhem and majesty that is being a pet. Honey also struggles with her own problems, such as her arranged (by her human) marriage with Chief (Nat Faxon, The Way Way Back), a sloppy St. Bernard who enjoys eating socks and licking himself.

    The group includes:

    • Shel (Forte), a sex-positive tortoise with intimacy issues and a knack for choosing unconventional partners.
    • Tabitha (Sharon Horgan, Catastrophe), an aging Persian cat beauty queen, trying to adjust to life off the cat show circuit.
    • The Gray One (Jason Mantzoukas, The Good Place), a street smart cat who lives with about thirty other cats and has his one eye on Tabitha.
    • Chico (Sam Richardson, Veep), a chonky, co-dependent and very naive cat.
    • Diabo (Hale), the group’s newest member, an anxious, sweater-wearing terrier whose OCD causes him to hump everything twice.
    • Elsa (Clea DuVall, Veep), a power hungry, know-it-all corgi, and fake service dog, who drives Honey crazy.
    • Nibbles (guest voice Bresha Webb, The Last O.G.), a psychopathic hamster who is mourning the loss of her mate (whose face she ate… and everyone knows it).
    • Max (Hale), George Clooney’s pig, a former actor and current status obsessed a-hole.
    • Bubbles (guest voice Greta Lee, Russian Doll), a horny, teenage goldfish who lives with Honey and Chief, and heckles the animals any chance she gets.
    • Tchotchke, a silent, and possibly magical, slow loris with a mysterious past, who uses a tiny cocktail umbrella to express his emotions.
    • Jill (guest voice Maria Bamford, Big Mouth), Honey and Chief’s human owner.

    Housebroken is an irreverent look at human behavior, but told through the filter of an offbeat group of neighborhood pets. Throughout the series, the show centers on the pets’ dysfunctional relationships and their skewed world view, while exploring relevant societal issues in fun and unique ways. Produced by Kapital Entertainment and FOX Entertainment, the show is created and executive-produced by Gabrielle Allan, Jennifer Crittenden and Clea DuVall. Sharon Horgan, Clelia Mountford, Aaron Kaplan and Dana Honor also serve as executive producers. The series is animated by Bento Box Entertainment.

    From Emmy Award and Golden Globe winner Amy Poehler and Emmy Award winners Mike and Julie Scully, Duncanville follows a spectacularly average 15-year-old boy, his family and friends. In the series, Duncan (Poehler) can see adulthood on the horizon: money, freedom, cars, girls… but the reality is more like: always being broke, driving with your mom sitting shotgun and babysitting your little sister. He’s not exceptional, but he has a wild imagination in which he’s never anything less than amazing. Poehler also voices Duncan’s mother, Annie, and Emmy Award winner Ty Burrell voices Duncan’s father, Jack. The series also features the voices of Emmy Award nominee Riki Lindhome as Duncan’s 12-year-old sister Kimberly; Emmy Award nominee and Grammy Award winner Rashida Jones as Mia, Duncan’s on-again, off-again crush; Grammy Award and Golden Globe Award nominee Wiz Khalifa as Mr. Mitch, the universally loved teacher/guidance counselor, occasional gym coach and school nurse; Joy Osmanski who voices Jing, Duncan’s six-year-old sister; and Betsy Sodaro, Yassir Lester and Zach Cherry as his friends Bex, Yangzi and Wolf, respectively.

    The adventures continue in the Season Two premiere of Duncanville airing Sunday, May 23 (8:30-9:00 p.m. ET/PT), when the Harris family takes their first vacation. The episode features Parks and Recreation stars Adam Scott, Aubrey Plaza, Retta and Nick Offerman making guest voice appearances. Other storylines in the new season include Duncan saying the one thing no kid should ever say to their dad, which shifts their power dynamic; Duncan and Kimberly being sent to therapy camp; Jing and Jack starting a child birthday band together, with Annie managing them; and Duncan racing stock cars. Catch up on Season One on FOXNOW and Hulu.

    Duncanville is produced by 20th Television; Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group; and FOX Entertainment. Mike Scully, Julie Scully and Amy Poehler co-created and executive-produce the series with executive producer Dave Becky. The series is animated by Bento Box Entertainment.

  • VES Awards: ‘Mandalorian,’ ‘Soul,’ ‘The Witches’ & ‘Project Power’ Top Nominees

    VES Awards: ‘Mandalorian,’ ‘Soul,’ ‘The Witches’ & ‘Project Power’ Top Nominees

    Today, the Visual Effects Society (VES), the industry’s professional global honorary society, announced the nominees for the 19th Annual VES Awards, the prestigious yearly celebration that recognizes outstanding visual effects artistry and innovation in film, animation, television, commercials and video games and the VFX supervisors, VFX producers and hands-on artists who bring this work to life.

    The Mandalorian garners the most nominations and leads the broadcast field with 13 nominations. Soul is the top animated film contender with five nominations. Project Power and The Witches are the most-nominated features with three each. Nominees in 25 categories were selected by VES members via 32 virtual nomination events conducted across the globe.

    Due to the pandemic, this year’s VES Awards will be produced virtually. The ceremony will stream worldwide on April 6 or 7, depending on the time zone. 

    “Traditions find a way to persist,” said Lisa Cooke, VES Board Chair. “With vision and a lot of hard work, we are proud to host our annual celebration of the artistry, ingenuity and passion of visual effects practitioners around the world – virtually. We are seeing best in class work that elevates the art of storytelling and engages the audience in new and innovative ways. The VES Awards is the only venue that showcases and honors these outstanding artists across a wide range of disciplines, and we are extremely proud of all our nominees!”

    “Autodesk is proud to sponsor the Visual Effects Society Student Award for a 12th year, supporting incredible up-and-coming talent in the VFX and animation industry,” said Jocelyn Moffatt, Entertainment Industry Marketing Manager, Autodesk. “In a year fraught with disruption and adapting to new ways of learning and collaborating remotely, it is truly inspiring to see the level of creativity and ingenuity in each of every one of this year’s student submissions. Autodesk extends a huge congratulations to this year’s nominees.”

    Select category nominees can be found below; the full list of nominees can be ound on the VES website.

    Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature
    Onward | Dan Scanlon, Kori Rae, Sanjay Bakshi, Vincent Serritella
    Over the Moon | Glen Keane, Gennie Rim, Céline Desrumaux, David Alexander Smith
    Soul | Pete Docter, Dana Murray, Michael Fong, Bill Watral
    The Croods: A New Age | Joel Crawford, Mark Swift, PGA, Betsy Nofsinger, Jakob Hjort Jensen
    Trolls World Tour | Walt Dohrn, Gina Shay, PGA; Kendal Cronkhite-Shaindlin, Matt Baer

    Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature
    Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey | Brad Parker, Roma Van Den Bergh, Eric Guaglione, Carlos Monzon, Stefano Pepin
    Project Power | Ivan Moran, Leslie Hough, Joao Sita, Matthew Twyford, Yves Debono
    Tenet | Andrew Jackson, Mike Chambers, Andrew Lockley, David Lee, Scott Fisher
    The Midnight Sky | Matt Kasmir, Greg Baxter, Chris Lawrence, Max Solomon, David Watkins
    The Witches | Kevin Baillie, Sandra Scott, Sean Konrad, Glenn Melenhorst, Mark Holt

    Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode
    Lovecraft Country “Jig-A-Bobo” | Kevin Blank, Robin Griffin, Pietro Ponti, Francois Dumoulin
    Star Trek: Discovery “Su’Kal” | Jason Michael Zimmerman, Aleksandra Kochoska, Ante Dekovic, Ivan Kondrup Jensen
    The Mandalorian “The Marshal” | Joe Bauer, Abbigail Keller, Hal Hickel, Richard Bluff, Roy Cancino
    Timmy Failure | Rich McBride, Leslie Lerman, Nicolas Chevallier, Anders Beer, Tony Lazarowich
    Westworld “Crisis Theory” | Jay Worth, Elizabeth Castro, Bruce Branit, Joe Wehmeyer, Mark Byers

    Outstanding Visual Effects in a Real-Time Project
    Assassin’s Creed Valhalla | Raphael Lacoste, Jean-Sebastien Guay, Virginie Cinq-Mars ,Thierry Beaumont
    Cyberpunk 2077 | Jakub Knapik, Małgorzata Mitręga, Piotr Suchodolski, Krzysztof Krzyścin
    Ghost of Tsushima | Jason Connell, Matt Vainio, Jasmin Patry, Joanna Wang
    Spider-Man: Miles Morales “Reactor Finale” | Gavin Goulden, Jess Reed, Bryanna Lindsey, Mike Yosh
    The Last of Us Part II | Neil Druckmann, Eben Cook, Erick Pangilinan, John Sweeney

    Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial
    Arm & Hammer “Once Upon a Time” | Kiril Mirkov, Solomon Tiigah, Vanessa Duquesnay, Prashanth Paramasivam
    Burberry “Singin’ in the Rain” | Fabian Frank, Ryan Hancocks, Rob Richardson, Alex Lovejoy
    Hornbach “It Seems Impossible Until You Do It” | Ben Cronin, Tomek Zietkiewicz, Amir Bazzazi, Bruno Fukumothi
    PlayStation “The Edge” | Diarmid Harrison-Murray, Tom Igglesden, Alex Gabucci, Tom Raynor
    Walmart “Famous Visitors” | Chris “Badger” Knight, Lori Talley, Yarin Mares, Matt Fuller
    Xbox “Us Dreamers” | Dan Seddon, Elexis Stearn, Fabian Frank, Zhenya Vladi
    Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project
    Asteroid Hunters | Antoine Durr, Jini Durr, Bert Poole, Neishaw Ali
    The Bourne Stuntacular |  Salvador Zalvidea, Tracey Gibbons, George Allan, Matthías Bjarnason, Scott Smith
    Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway | Ryan Donoghue, Becky Train, Blaine Kennison, Nick da Silva, Corban Prim
    The March | Aruna Inversin, Peter Nelson, Kevin Williams, Sean Kealey

    Outstanding Animated Character in a Photoreal Feature
    Die Känguru-Chroniken; Kangaroo | Claudius Urban, Sebastian Badea, Dorian Knapp, Ruth Wiegand
    Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey; Don Juan Diego | Eric Guaglione, Shuchi Singhal, Adrien Annesley, Mahmoud Ellithy
    The One and Only Ivan; Ivan | Valentina Rosselli, Thomas Huizer, Andrea De Martis, William Bell
    The Witches; Daisy | Jye Skinn, Sarah Fuller, Marco Iannaccone, Fredrik Sundqvist

    Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature
    Onward; Dad Pants | Kristopher Campbell, Jonas Jarvers, Rob Jensen, Jacob Kuenzel
    Over the Moon; Chang’e | Siggi Orri Thorhannesson, Hyesook Kim, Javier Solsona, Alan Chen
    Soul; Terry | Jonathan Hoffman, Jonathan Page, Peter Tieryas, Ron Zorman
    The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run; SpongeBob | Jacques Daigle, Guillaume Dufief, Adrien Montero, Liam Hill

    Outstanding Animated Character in an Episode or Real-Time Project
    The Crown “The Balmoral Test”; Imperial Stag | Ahmed Gharraph, Ross Burgess, Gabriela Ruch Salmeron, Joel Best
    The Mandalorian “The Jedi”; The Child | John Rosengrant, Peter Clarke, Scott Patton, Hal Hickel
    The Mandalorian “The Marshal”; Krayt Dragon | Paul Kavanagh, Zaini Mohamed Jalani, Michal Kriukow, Nihal Friedel
    Timmy Failure “Mistakes Were Made”; Total | Maxime Masse, Hennadii Prykhodko, Luc Girard, Sophie Burie
    Outstanding Animated Character in a Commercial
    AFK Arena “Toilet”; Uzgahk | Chloe Dawe, Brad Noble, Tim van Hussen, Simon Legrand
    Arm & Hammer “Once Upon a Time”; Tuxedo Tom | Shiny Rajan, Silvia Bartoli, Matias Heker ,Tiago Dias Mota
    Far Cry “Legacy”; Anton | Maxime Luere, Leon Berelle, Rémi Kozyra, Dominique Boidin
    Legends of Runeterra “Breathe”; Darius | Maxime Luere, Leon Berelle, Rémi Kozyra, Dominique Boidin
    TK Maxx “The Lil Goat” | Kiril Mirkov, Silvia Bartoli, Chris Welsby, David Bryan

  • Trailer: Powers Gather and Heroes Rise in ‘DOTA: Dagon’s Blood’ March 25

    Trailer: Powers Gather and Heroes Rise in ‘DOTA: Dagon’s Blood’ March 25

    Netflix has hatched the official trailer for its new original anime series DOTA: Dragon’s Blood, set to launch globally on March 25. The series is based on the hugely successful global video game franchise DOTA 2 by Valve.

    The upcoming fantasy epic tells the story of Davion, a renowned Dragon Knight devoted to wiping the scourge from the face of the world. Following encounters with a powerful, ancient eldwurm as well as the noble Princess Mirana on a secret mission of her own, Davion becomes embroiled in events much larger than he could have ever imagined.

    DOTA: Dragon's Blood
    DOTA: Dragon’s Blood

    DOTA: Dragon’s Blood voice stars Yuri Lowenthal as Davion, Lara Pulver as Princess Mirana, Josh Keaton as Bram, Tony Todd as Slyrak the Ember Eldwurm, Troy Baker as Invoker, Kari Wahlgren as Luna, Alix Wilton Regan as Selemene, Freya Tingley as Fymryn, Stephanie Jacobsen as Drysi, Anson Mount as Kaden, and JB Blanc.

    Ashley Edward Miller (X-Men: First Class, Thor, Black Sails) serves as series showrunner and executive producer. Renowned Studio MIR (The Legend of Korra, Voltron: Legendary Defender) is responsible for animation, with Ryu Ki Hyun serving as co-executive producer.

    Watch DOTA: Dragon’s Blood Book 1 exclusively on Netflix on March 25.

    DOTA: Dragon's Blood
    DOTA: Dragon’s Blood
  • ‘Baby Shark’s Big Show!’ Sets Fin-ominal Nick Premiere for March 26

    ‘Baby Shark’s Big Show!’ Sets Fin-ominal Nick Premiere for March 26

    Nickelodeon’s brand-new preschool series Baby Shark’s Big Show! will make a splash with its spring premieres, beginning Friday, March 26 at 12:30 p.m. (ET/PT), when preschoolers can join the pop culture phenomenon for jaw-some underwater escapades.

    Co-produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studio and SmartStudy, the global entertainment company behind the beloved children’s brand Pinkfong, the 26 x half-hour series follows Baby Shark and his best friend William as they embark on fun-filled comedic adventures in their community of Carnivore Cove, make new friends and sing original catchy tunes along the way. New episodes will air regularly Fridays at 12:30 p.m. (ET/PT) on Nickelodeon.

    “With Baby Shark’s Big Show!, the Nickelodeon Animation Studio team has taken the most popular song on the planet and created a whole new world of characters,” said Eryk Casemiro, Senior Vice President, Nickelodeon Preschool. “It’s a series that celebrates family, friends and adventure through comedy, catchy songs and stories of social-emotional learning.”

    Baby Shark's Big Show!
    Baby Shark’s Big Show!

    In the March 26 premiere, “Baby Tooth/Slobber Slug,” Baby Shark gets his first loose tooth and enlists William’s help to lose it so he can trade it in for a sand dollar. When their antics get the tooth lost for real, they must team up with the Toothfish Fairy to track it down. Then, while Baby Shark and his friends are playing Barnacle Ball, Hank’s pet rock, Rocky, is accidentally sent soaring into the lair of the vicious Slobber Slug and they must stage an elaborate rescue mission.

    Following the premiere, the episode will be available on Nick Jr. On Demand and Download-To-Own services, as well as Noggin, Nickelodeon’s interactive learning service for preschoolers, NickJr.com and the Nick Jr. App, which will also feature short-form content. New episodes will continue to rollout on Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. channels internationally beginning in May.

    Baby Shark’s Big Show! features a swim-sational lineup of voice actors: Kimiko Glenn (Orange Is the New Black) as Baby Shark, Luke Youngblood (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone) as William, Natasha Rothwell (Insecure) as Mommy Shark, Eric Edelstein (We Bare Bears) as Daddy Shark, Debra Wilson (MADtv) as Grandma Shark, and Patrick Warburton (Seinfeld) as Grandpa Shark.

    Baby Shark's Big Show!
    Baby Shark’s Big Show!

    The series is executive produced by Gary “Doodles” DiRaffaele (Breadwinners) and Tommy Sica (Breadwinners), with Whitney Ralls (My Little Pony: Equestria Girls) serving as co-executive producer. The series is produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studio in Burbank, Calif., with production overseen by Casemiro.

    In addition to Nickelodeon and SmartStudy’s partnership to produce Baby Shark’s Big Show!, ViacomCBS Consumer Products is managing consumer products licensing worldwide, excluding China, Korea and Southeast Asia, for the Pinkfong Baby Shark property.

    Pinkfong’s Baby Shark launched on YouTube in November 2015 and took the world by storm, amassing 8 billion views and becoming the most-watched video in the platform’s history. With music, characters, story and dance all combined together, the song certified RIAA Diamond and 11x platinum single for selling over 11 million units in the U.S., and spawned a viral phenomenon #BabySharkChallenge, generating over one million cover videos around the globe.

  • ‘Winnipeg, Seeds of Hope’ Teaser Embarks Ahead of Cartoon Movie

    ‘Winnipeg, Seeds of Hope’ Teaser Embarks Ahead of Cartoon Movie

    One of history’s less-told, inspiring tales is being brought to life in Winnipeg, Seeds of Hope — a new international animated feature co-production between Spain’s Diblitoon Studio and La Ballesta, Chile’s El Otro Film and France’s Midralgar (Marmita Films). The digital 2D, adult-targeted project is among the intriguing projects in development selected for the virtual Cartoon Movie showcase (March 9-11).

    In addition to its presentation to potential co-producers, financial partners, distributors and other prized connections, Winnipeg, Seeds of Hope is in the running for Cartoon Movie’s Eurimages Co-Production Development Award. The film will be presented to the Eurimages jury on March 5.

    Winnipeg, Seeds of Hope relates the fascinating odyssey of 2,400 refugees of the Spanish Civil War, who crossed half the world in order to find a new life in Chile aboard the Winnipeg, a small liner. The voyage was led by the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, together with his second wife Delia del Carril. In a dark time when thousands of Spaniards were forced to flee their country in order to save their lives and were interned in refugee camps, the Winnipeg crossing became a symbol of hope and future. The film centers on one of these “children of Neruda”: a little girl named Julia who escapes Barcelona with her young widower father

    The project, in full development, won the Iberoamerican Animation League Award in 2020. The League is organized by Animation! (Ventana Sur), Pixelatl Festival and the Quirino Awards, in collaboration with the Annecy Festival and its market, MIFA. It has also counted with the financial support of the Chilean Government through CORFO for its development phase.

    Winnipeg, Seeds of Hope was spearheaded by Toni Marin Vila, (executive producer, Wrinkles), an animation veteran of studios like D’Ocon Films and Cromosoma, who became interested in the original graphic novel written by the Canarian author Laura Martel, and decided the historical and emotionally relevant story should be adapted to an animation feature. Vila and his Barcelona-based La Ballesta teamed up with Midralgar (Long Way North, Marona’s Fantastic Tale) in Bordeaux — the port from which the Winnipeg set off — and with El Otro Film and executive producer Marianne Mayer- Beckh (The Prince, Dry Martina, Rara) in Chile — the refugees’ port of arrival. Added to the mix is the expertise of Basque Country’s oldest animation production company, Dibulitoon Studio (Elcano and Magellan: The First Voyage Around the World, Yoko and His Friends, Daddy I’m a Zombie).

    Winnipeg, Seeds of Hope
    Winnipeg, Seeds of Hope

    The film is being directed by Elio Quiroga and Beñat Beitia. Beitia, is a highly experienced graphic creator, director, producer and artistic director of well known animated productions Cher Ami, Yoko and Black Is Beltza, among others. Quiroga, director of live-action dramas Fotos, La estrategia del pequinés and The Dark Hour, has directed animated shorts such as horror-comedy Home Delivery (2007), a Stephen King adaptation presented by Guillermo del Toro; My Name Is María, which qualified for a 2010 Oscar nomination; and Whence Comes the Rain (2019).

    Martel has adapted her original graphic novel, co-writing the script with Beitia and Quiroga. She has written feature films such as Everybody Leaves, and the series iFamily. The composer of the soundtrack is Diego Navarro (Goya-nominated animated feature Capture the Flag, The Photographer of Mauthausen, Passage to Sunrise), also a Canary Islander.

    So, this international twinning project unites a Canarian writer; Basque and Canarian directors; Catalan, Basque, French and Chilean producers; and a Canarian composer, creating a mosaic based on creative collaboration and solidarity. Part of the development, including the creation of the teaser, has been made possible by the participation of Canary Islands enterprise 3Doubles, led by Darío Sánchez (Momonster, ARPO the Robot).

  • Comic-Con In-Person Event Pushed to 2022

    Comic-Con In-Person Event Pushed to 2022

    The streets of San Diego will be quiet again this summer, with the news that Comic-Con International has once again canceled the in-person version of its mega event, and will instead present a 2021 edition of Comic-Con@Home from July 23-25. Attendee badges which were rolled over to 2021 will be automatically transferred to 2022 (unless a refund is requested). The decision follows the recent announcement that sibling event WonderCon in Anaheim would also be replaced with WonderCon@Home, running free of admission March 26-27.

    “It is the policy of the organization to continue to closely monitor information from local and national healthcare officials as it pertains to the COVID-19 pandemic. Never could we have imagined what the world experienced in 2020 and continues to experience today. While we are buoyed by the rollout of the vaccine and the growing number of individuals being inoculated, it appears that July will still be too early to safely hold an in-person event of the magnitude of Comic-Con. For this reason, we have made the challenging decision to postpone Comic-Con 2021 as an in-person gathering until our 2022 dates, and once again hold this year’s celebration as the free online Comic-Con@Home. Unfortunately, the challenges of this past year and the multiple postponements of our two largest events have left us with limited financial resources, so this year the online experience will be reduced to a three-day event, spanning July 23-25, 2021.”

    The organizers added that while a massive con is not feasible this year, they are looking into launching a smaller in-person show later this year. Dubbed the San Diego Comic Convention, details of the three-day November convention will be made available on comic-con.org as plans develop.

    “The past several months have taken a great toll on both families and friends, and we hope this effort is a small move toward a return to gathering as a community to not only celebrate popular art, but also friendship, education, and the enduring spirit of the fandom that is so much a part of Comic-Con. We thank you all for your continued and unwavering support during these most challenging times.”

    You can read the full announcement here.