Calling all sleuths: Shout! Kids will bring the exciting, family-friendly animated tale Sherlock Holmes and the Great Escape to DVD and digital platforms on March 23, 2021. In this fun twist on a Sherlock Holmes tale, the main characters are animals, with Holmes as a dog and Watson as a cat.
In the late 19th century, Mack, a heroic outlaw who stole from the rich to give to the poor, was loved and respected by the people. When the world’s greatest dog-tective, Sherlock Holmes, assisted in catching Mack, the people were angry with him for arresting their hero! But four years later, Mack has escaped from prison. While Sherlock is on the case to recapture Mack, he discovers the heartbreaking reason behind the outlaw’s escape, and decides to let him fulfill his final wish before Mack’s voluntary surrender to the police. However, everyone’s plans change when Mack’s daughter is kidnapped. Sherlock must employ all his wits if he is to rescue Mack’s daughter and save the day.
Directed by Hong Kong filmmakers Matthew Chow and Toe Yuan, the charming mystery adventure was produced by Golden Scene and Simage Animation & Media.
A new 2D-animated sci-fi series exploring out-of-this-world conspiracy theories is ready to blow some minds when Chrononaut (Crononauta) debuted on YouTube December 21. Aimed at teens and adults, the 8 x 6′ Spanish-language toon follows a grizzled, time-traveling hero tasked with stopping a cataclysmic invasion. The show is written and directed by indie creator Martin Felice.
Chrononaut chronicles the adventure of John Titor: a survivalist and combat expert from the future sent to our time to prevent a Reptilian uprising that will leave humanity on the brink of extinction.
The series is produced by animation development studio Wokzord with support from the School of Communications of Duoc UC Institute in Santiago, and funded by the Chilean Ministry of Arts, Cultures and Heritage.
In keeping with the sci-fi theme, the production team launched a high-altitude balloon with an image of John Titor, capturing images of the character from Earth’s stratosphere. The feat marked the first continuous filming of space achieved in Chile, sending the Chrononaut over 33 kilometers up!
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has released its first official clip from the next animated DC Universe Movie, Batman: Soul of the Dragon, arriving January 12 on Digital and January 26 on 4K Combo Pack & Blu-ray.
In the clip, Bruce Wayne (voiced by David Giuntoli of Grimm) makes the arduous trek to find O-Sensei (Big Trouble in Little China‘s James Hong) and his mysterious martial arts training school.
An all-new original from Warner Bros. Animation, DC and WBHE, Batman: Soul of the Dragon does a deep dive into Elseworlds vibes by putting Batman in the midst of the swinging 1970s. Faced with a deadly menace from his past, and along with his mentor O-Sensei, Bruce Wayne must enlist the help of three former classmates – world-renowned martial artists Richard Dragon, Ben Turner and Lady Shiva – to battle the monsters of this world and beyond. The film is rated R for some violence.
Read more about the movie and home video details here.
GKIDS has unveiled its English dub trailer for legendary animation house Studio Ghibli’s latest feature, Earwig and the Witch, marking the world debut of six-time Grammy-Award winner Kacey Musgraves’ English language cover of the film’s original theme song, “Don’t Disturb Me.”
The preview also highlights the voices of the English language cast, which includes Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Gosford Park) as “The Mandrake”, Kacey Musgraves’ first vocal acting role as “Earwig’s Mother,” Dan Stevens (Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, FX’s Legion) as “Thomas” the cat, and Taylor Paige Henderson as “Earwig.”
Synopsis: Growing up in an orphanage in the British countryside, Earwig has no idea that her mother had magical powers. Her life changes dramatically when a strange couple takes her in, and she is forced to live with a selfish witch. As the headstrong young girl sets out to uncover the secrets of her new guardians, she discovers a world of spells and potions, and a mysterious song that may be the key to finding the family she has always wanted.
The latest film from the legendary Studio Ghibli (Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke and more) is directed by Goro Miyazaki (From Up on Poppy Hill, Tales from Earthsea) and produced by studio co-founder Toshio Suzuki, with planning on the feature from Academy Award-winner Hayao Miyazaki. Based on the children’s novel by Diana Wynne Jones (Howl’s Moving Castle), the film marks Studio Ghibli’s first 3DCG animated feature.
Cyber Group Studios has secured a raft of international deals with leading international broadcasters and platforms. “In these challenging times, we are proud to be working even more closely with our partners around the world. The team has committed to make sure that our programs would get the proper exposure in spite of the absence of physical markets. In this perspective, we are very proud to have launched our first Online Cyber Meetings and Screening with great success!” said Raphaëlle Mathieu, Senior Vice-President Sales, Acquisitions and New Media.
Award-winning adventure-comedy Gigantosaurus (156 x 11′; HD 2D/CGI) — now airing S1 on NEtflix, Disney+ and top international networks — is currently in production on S2 & S3 simultaneously. Meanwhile, the first season has been picked up for Channel 5 (Singapore), DR TV (Denmark), KAN (Israel), Knowledge Network (English-speaking Canada), PTS (Taiwan), RTVE (Spain), RTS (Switzerland), TV Azteca (Mexico), TVP (Poland), SVT (Sweden) and Star Channel (Greece).
Brand-new comedy now in production 50/50 Heroes (52 x 11′), commissioned by France Televisions and pre-sold to The Walt Disney Co. (Germany,Eastern Europe). Plus:
In North America, HITN/EDYE (U.S.) acquired Leo the Wildlife Ranger and Mia, DHXTV (English-speaking Canada) acquired Sadie Sparks, and TeleQuebec acquired Droners.
In Latin America, EBC TV (Brazil) has acquired The Pirates Next Door, Mirette Investigates and Zou S2; Canal Once (Mexico) picked Mirette Investigates and The Pirates Next Door; and Señal Colombia renewed another season of Zou.
In Europe, TVP (Poland) also picked up the series Tom Sawyer and Zorro: The Chronicles, while TG4 (Ireland) has acquired Taffy S1 and Sadie Sparks, and Discovery Italy has acquired Ernest and Rebecca.
In Asia, Channel 5 (Singapore) also acquired Zou S3, Mini Ninjas S2 and Mirette Investigates; and True Visions (Thailand) picked up Zak Jinks and Leo the Wildlife Ranger.
In the Middle East, several package deals were closed with major broadcasters in the United Arab Emirates MBC Shahid and Majid; while KAN (Israel) has acquired Sadie Sparks in addition to Gigantosaurus.
Pokémon Journeys: The Series
The Pokémon Company International announced updates in platform availability for Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution in select global markets, and it also launched the next 12 episodes of the animated Pokémon Journeys: The Series on Netflix in the U.S.
In the next 12 episodes of Pokémon Journeys: The Series, available on Netflix U.S. now, Pokémon fans can continue to watch Ash, Pikachu, Goh and friends in their adventures across multiple regions in the Pokémon world. (Trailer)
Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution introduces a new CGI style to animated Pokémon movies and is inspired by one of the most popular stories in the long-running franchise. Fans can check the iTunes, Google Play and Amazon Prime Video platforms for regional availability and pricing details.
The Fixies
PTS has signed a deal with Riki Group to acquire the distribution rights forThe Fixies for Taiwan. The agreement secured by the series’s sales agent Play Big was announced within Asia TV Forum where Riki participates annually to expand its activities in Asia by presenting its projects to local consumers. PTS is operated by the Public Television Service Foundation, which is a nonprofit, as an independent public service broadcaster. The series will be broadcasted on the nationwide channel PTS, as well as PTS 3 and PTS Taigi. PTS has taken exclusive Free TV rights.
The popular kids’ edutainment CG animated series, which is owned and managed by Riki Group and produced by Aeroplane Production Studio, is now working on a new season. Previous seasons have been picked up in over 160 countries and have totaled over 25 billion views on VOD platforms worldwide. Tencent Video who had great success with The Fixies brand now invests in the production of the new season. The series will be released simultaneously in Russia and China. In addition, Tencent commissioned Hebei TV to create a new TV sci-fi game show for kids: Fixie Lab.
Leo and Tig
The Made in Moscow delegation to ATF alsor reported a slate of deals for Soyuzmultfilm short films and TV series in China, including Claymotions, Mr. Theo, Cat & Dog and The Adventures of Peter and Wolf; the studio’s Rockoons, The Secrets of the Honey Hill and brand-new series I’ll Get You! have also aroused interest in the region. Meanwhile, brandf4rent is in negotiations to bring Monsikids to Korea, having already sold the series to Beijing Joy Culture Media for China, and also presented Klaxon Production’s series Flora & Team to agreeable buyers.
The delegation also featured animation companies Agama Film (Fairy-Teens), Digital Television Russia (Puppies & Kittens, Leo and Tig, Bee-be-bears, Heroes of Envell), Open Alliance Media (Jinglekids, Doctor Dinosaurus, Tommy The Little Dragon, My World), Parovoz (Amazing Cafe, Spaceport, Tweetville, Boo the Cat and the Good Boy), Media Foundation (Sportaniya, Jumper Treasure Hunting) and AA Studio (Mystery of Haunster).
Outside ATF, Leo and Tig has also just premiered in Italy on DeAJunior (Sky); Digital Television Russia inked the sale of Season 1 rights to the channel, owned by one of Italy’s largest publishing houses De Agostini Editore. The series debuted on Italian pubcaster Rai YoYo this summer, and is receiving licensing support from agent MDL and partners such as Play Press, Diramix, Mondadori, Grabo Balloons. The series is produced by Parovoz or DTR.
The God of High School
Loading has struck a partnership with Crunchyroll to bring 50+ of the brand’s anime titles to Brazilian primetime linear TV, including Crunchyroll Originals such as The God of High School and Tower of God. Among the dozens of titles, Loading will launch with Berserk, GOBLIN SLAYER and a number of other acclaimed shows. Going way beyond the shonen staples, the programming will also feature a late-night exclusive block for mature viewers, with explicit violence. And finally, Loading will also dub a number of titles in partnership with Crunchyroll, including fan-favorites such as 91 Days and given.
“We’re excited to bring Brazil’s anime community even more of their favorite series through our partnership with Loading,” said Brady McCollum, Head of Global Operations and International. “With more than 3 million subscribers and 70 million registered users, Crunchyroll is committed to the global growth of anime and our new partnership with Loading will provide another way for fans to engage with the series they love.”
Pluto TV
Speaking of Brazil, ViacomCBS Networks International has officially launched leading free streaming service Pluto TV in the country. Pluto TV Brazil offers audiences a diverse line-up of premium, curated linear channels and content from major media partners worldwide. Pluto TV offers ease of access, for free, with no registration required across mobile, web and connected TV devices. Users in Brazil can now access Pluto TV via the pluto.tv website, by downloading the app on iOS and Android, and across connected TV devices including Android TV, Samsung TV Plus, ROKU, Chromecast and Apple TV.
Pluto TV Brazil currently has 27 channels (including three Pop-Up channels specially developed for year-end and Christmas festivities) that include curated content in Portuguese to entertain audiences of all ages. Next week, Pluto TV in Brazil will add three new channels to reach 30 channels. By the end of 2021, Pluto TV in Brazil will have more than 60 channels and thousands of hours of content within a variety of genres and formats that include movies, series, reality shows, anime, lifestyle, competitions, nature, police, and children’s content – all for free, no subscription needed. Currently, Pluto TV has a global audience of nearly 36 million monthly active users, and an international footprint that spans three continents and 24 countries throughout the U.S., Europe, and Latin America.
Peppa Pig
VOD365, a leading provider of branded OTT TV channels via Freeview, YouView, Freesat, mobile and smart TV devices, is to launch its kids’ channel Ketchup TV in the U.S. The preschool destination will be available via streaming service Roku and will also be accessible as premium apps Amazon Fire, iOS, TVOS, Android, Desktop and Android TV with more platforms set to launch Q1 2021.
The Ketchup TV expansion will give American kids unlimited free streaming of globally recognized shows including Peppa Pig, My Little Pony, PJ Masks, Mighty Express, Thomas & Friends, Barbie, and many more.
Kartoon Channel
Genius Brands International continues the rapid expansion of its premiere children’s entertainment destination, Kartoon Channel!, partnering with its second television manufacturer, LG Electronics USA, to offer Kartoon Channel! for free across all LG Smart TVs, effective immediately. The deal with LG Electronics USA follows the recent partnership with Samsung, which has made Kartoon Channel! available across all Samsung Smart TVs.
“Serving up Kartoon Channel! to kids and parents through new technology-enabled mediums is an important part of our strategy,” commented Jon Ollwerther, General Manager of Kartoon Channel! & EVP of Global Business Development at Genius Brands. “We look forward to announcing a number of similar agreements over the next twelve months. Through this strategy, we are capitalizing on the evolution in viewer habits, which we believe will position us at the forefront of this rapidly evolving market. As the second largest player in the U.S. TV market, LG is a very important platform for Kartoon Channel! viewers that we’re thrilled to add to our distribution.”
Filled with adventure and life-long friendships, the new preschool series Dino Ranch will make its U.S. debut January 18, 2021 on Disney Junior and in DisneyNOW. The animated series, produced by Industrial Brothers and Boat Rocker Studios, follows the Cassidy family as they tackle life in a fantastical, “pre-westoric” setting where dinosaurs roam. As the young explorers learn the ropes, they discover the thrill of ranch life while navigating the great outdoors through unpredictable challenges.
In addition to an irresistible blend of dinosaurs and ranchers, the series has four key themes at its core and celebrates outdoor fun, embraces nurturing and friendship, demonstrates the strength of teamwork and personal growth, and promotes the importance of family and community.
The sun rises. A Pterodactyl crows. Dinosaurs roar … and a dedicated family of dinosaur-riding Dino Ranchers hits the saddles to race off for another day of fun-filled, free-range roping ‘n’ riding, dinosaur-driven fun!
Dino Ranch – the ultimate playground – is a working farm and dinosaur sanctuary. It is home to the tight-knit Cassidy family which includes adopted siblings Jon, 10, the eldest and the leader, he is a fast-talking, wide-eyed young cowboy who fancies himself the fastest lasso in the west; super-caring Min, 8, a young dino doctor in-training; and Miguel, 6, a super smart, deep thinking, soft-spoken inventor with big ideas. All are training to be ranchers under the sure and steady guidance of their Pa and Ma, Bo and Jane.
Accompanied by their own distinctive dinosaurs, Jon’s speedy raptor Blitz; Min’s big-hearted Brontosaurus Clover; and Miguel’s tiny but mighty triceratops Tango – all also very much part of the family – they discover the thrill of ranch life while navigating the great outdoors through unforeseen challenges. As the three little Dino Ranchers learn the ropes, every day is filled with unpredictable adventures – because at Dino Ranch, trouble can loom like a T-Rex on a moonless night!
“I grew up in ranch country as a boy and saw that the adults depended on the children to handle big important jobs, just as much as each other, so I had always been interested in doing a story about kids on a family ranch,” explained Matt Fernandes, Creative Director and Co-founder of Industrial Brothers and the creator of Dino Ranch. “I have always had a love of dinosaurs too and the idea of mixing them with ranchers felt really fresh and unique for this age group. Watching our Dino Ranchers interact and bond with their dinosaurs as if they were puppy dogs is what makes the show so appealing and is what drives all our stories.”
Jon Rutherford, President Boat Rocker Studios Kids & Family and President Boat Rocker Rights, said, “Just like the dino hatchlings we’ve been incubating Dino Ranch for a while now, and a ton of passion, time, creativity and resources have been spent on producing a top-notch series and building a new franchise. We are really excited that our show is going to finally air on Disney Junior and we can’t wait to see children’s reactions to the first few episodes. We’re all confident it will be a huge success!”
Packed with comedy and adventure, Dino Ranch introduces kids to problem-solving, the foundations of forging life-long friendships, strengthening family and community bonds, and taking care of animals.
The first two episodes, each featuring two 11-minute stories, will debut Monday, January 18 at 12:30 p.m. ET/PT on Disney Junior and in DisneyNOW. Following the premiere, new episodes will debut Mondays at 12:30 p.m. ET/PT on Disney Junior and in DisneyNOW.
As a special gift for fans around the world, Crunchyroll is going to deliver all episodes of Onyx Equinox on Saturday, December 26 so fans can fully enjoy the entire series over the winter break. This special winter drop will add episodes six through 12 to the platform, including episodes dubbed in Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, French and German.
Onyx Equinox follows Izel, an Aztec boy who is saved from death by the gods and forced to act as “humanity’s champion” in a journey that takes him across ancient Mesoamerica. In the series so far, the journey to save humanity has not been easy for Izel and his friends Yaotl, a jaguar-like emissary of Tezcatlipoca, the powerful warrior Zyanya, the twins Yun and K’in, and the priestess Xanastaku.
The episodes dropping on Saturday will reveal the identity of a few mysterious characters and follow Izel and his friends as danger closes in all around them on their quest to close the five gates of the Underworld in order to fulfill the bet set in motion by Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca.
Fans interested in diving even deeper into the series can catch the Onyx Equinoxcompanion podcast hosted by creator and showrunner Sofía Alexander. Each episode features a mix of creative staff every week with new episodes premiering through February, as Sofía and the team discuss the inspiration and creative process behind each episode.
Viewers can also catch this video from Crunchyroll hosts Dulce and Ryuyin in Latin America to learn more about the universe of Onyx Equinox, along with five things fans might have missed in the first few episodes.
Egyptian-born comedian, writer, critic and doctor Bassem Youssef (The Daily Show, Tickling Giants) is working on an adaptation of his upcoming children’s book The Magical Reality of Nadia with Austin, Texas-based Powerhouse Animation Studios. The “humorous and heartfelt” story inspired by Youssef’s own experiences centers on a young girl navigating prejudice and finding friendship.
In the book, fact-loving Nadia is determined to win a contest to design a new exhibit at the local museum, but is caught off guard when a new kid teases her about her Egyptian heritage. Things take a magical turn when the hippo amulet she wears starts glowing, and turns out to hold a secret: the spirit of an ancient Egyptian teacher named Titi, trapped inside 2,000 years ago.
Written with Catherine R. Daly (Petal Pushers) and illustrated by Douglas Holgate, the first Nadia book will arrive from Scholastic Kids in February.
Youssef will serve as executive producer of the series and provide the voice of Titi. Powerhouse CEO & CCO Brad Graeber and writer Daniel Dominguez are also executive producing the series, which is aiming for a streaming platform pick-up.
Well known for the breakout Netflix adult animated series like Castlevania, Seis Manos and Blood of Zeus, Powerhouse’s kids TV credits include The Adventures of Kid Danger (Nickelodeon) and It’s a Small World: The Animated Series (Disney online exclusive). The studio is also at work on Mattel’s Masters of the Universe: Revelation for Netflix, executive produced by showrunner Kevin Smith.
A heart surgeon in his home country who used his skill to help wounded Tahrir Square protesters in 2011, Youssef became a household name as the host of groundbreaking political satire show Al Bernameg (The Show) from 2011-2014, earning comparisons to The Daily Show‘s Jon Stewart. He has appeared on that series as well as The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by TIME in 2013.
ASIFA-Hollywood announced today its selection of Juried Awards recipients for the 48th Annual Annie Awards. The Juried Awards honor career achievement and exceptional contributions to animation.
The Winsor McCay Award for career contributions to the art of animation are being presented to three recipients – Willie Ito, animation designer whose career began at Warner Bros., then for 20 years at Hanna Barbera and eventually at Disney TV; Posthumously to Sue Nichols, one of the few women who had a voice in the development of classics like Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Mulan and Brave; and Bruce Smith, influential character animator, director and producer of both feature films Bebe’s Kids, shorts Hair Love and the groundbreaking television series, The Proud Family.
The June Foray Award for significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation will be awarded to animator and art director, Daisuke “Dice” Tsutsumi for his work initiating the Totoro Forest Project as well as Sketchtravel, a sketchbook passed from one artist to another through 12 countries over more than four years, benefitting charities that the participating artists determine.
The Ub Iwerks Award for technical advancement that has made a significant impact on the art and industry of animation will be presented to Epic Games for its Unreal Engine, the world’s most open and advanced real-time 3D creation tool that continues to make important technological inroads into cinematic storytelling, including previsualization and fully rendered animation pipelines.
The Special Achievement Award recognizing the unique and significant impact on the art and industry of animation will be presented to Howard, the documentary about lyricist and storyteller, the late Howard Ashman, who, with music by Alan Menkin, penned lyrics for Little Shop of Horrors, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin.
A trio of music industry icons have joined the cast Sing 2, with Universal welcoming Bono, Halsey and Pharrell Williams to its talented animated animal world. The sequel is set to hit theaters in a year, on December 22, 2021.
Next holiday season, the new chapter in Illumination’s smash animated franchise returns with big dreams and spectacular hit songs as can-do koala Buster Moon and his all-star cast of animal performers prepare to launch their most dazzling stage extravaganza yet …in the glittering entertainment capital of the world. There’s just one hitch: They first have to persuade the world’s most reclusive rock star — played by legendary music icon Bono, making his animated film debut — to join them.
Buster (Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey) and his cast have turned the New Moon Theater into a local hit, but Buster has his eyes on a bigger prize: Debuting a new show at the Crystal Tower Theater in glamorous Redshore City.
But with no connections, Buster and his cast — including harried mother pig Rosita (Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon), rocker porcupine Ash (Scarlett Johansson), earnest gorilla Johnny (Taron Egerton), shy elephant Meena (Tori Kelly) and, of course, porcine provocateur extraordinaire Gunter (Nick Kroll) — have to sneak their way into the world-famous Crystal Entertainment offices, run by a ruthless mogul wolf named Jimmy Crystal (Emmy winner Bobby Cannavale).
In a desperate attempt to get Mr. Crystal’s attention, Gunter spontaneously pitches an outrageous idea that Buster quickly runs with, promising that their new show will star lion rock legend Clay Calloway (Bono). Problem is, Buster has never met Clay, an artist who shut himself away from the world more than a decade ago after the loss of his wife and hasn’t been seen since.
As Gunter helps Buster dream up an out-of-this-world theatrical masterpiece, and the pressure (and sinister threats) from Mr. Crystal mount, Buster embarks on a quest to find Clay and persuade him to return to the stage. What begins as Buster’s dream of big-time success becomes an emotional reminder of the power of music to heal even the most broken heart.
Sing 2 is written and directed by acclaimed returning filmmaker Garth Jennings and additionally features new characters played by music superstars Pharrell Williams and Halsey, Black Panther’s Letitia Wright, and comedians Eric Andre and Chelsea Peretti.
The film is produced by visionary Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri and by Janet Healy. Sing 2 combines dozens of classic rock and pop hit songs, electrifying performances, breathtaking artistry, and Illumination’s signature humor and heart into the definitive feel-good cinematic event of next year.
Scheduled for March 9-11, the 2021 edition of European animated features confab Cartoon Movie has announced this year’s diverse slate of selected projects. The Cartoon jury met online at the beginning of the month to discuss the submissions, opting to include 55 films.
Starseed (Aparte Film)
The selection roster includes new works by familiar names. Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles director Salvador Simó is back with Caramel’s World, about a deaf child living in a refugee camp in the Sahara (Koniec Films, Spain). nWave (Belgium) offers a new CG family comedy directed by Ben Stassen and Benjamin Mousquet: Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness. And Denis Do (Funan) follows his acclaimed feature directorial debut with Sorya, about a Cambodian teenager who finds a path to stardom (Special Touch Studios, France).
Checkered Ninja 2 (A Film Prod.)
The European industry will also get a closer look at Jonas Poher Rasmussens’ true story refugee tale Flee, Miyu Prod.’s Haruki Murakami adaptation Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, A. Film sequel Checkered Ninja 2, two projects directed by Marona’s Fantastic Tale helmer Anca Damian — Starseed and The Island — and a new mid-century fantasy adventure from Czech stop-motion legend Jiří Barta, Golem.
Get to know all the Cartoon Movie 2021 projects online.
***This article originally appeared in the December ’20 issue of Animation Magazine (No. 305)***
From the early days of Oswald and Bugs, rabbits have always been wonderful subjects for animators. The eighth Pixar SparkShorts film, Burrow introduces us to a wonderful new lagomorph heroine who is trying to dig out the perfect home for herself. The 2D short, which is directed by Coco animator Madeline Sharafian and produced by Mike Capbarat, was expected to run before Pixar’s Soul in theaters — but could debut straight to Disney+ in November.
The CalArts grad attracted a lot of fans with her student short Omelette seven years ago. She tells us that growing up in the Bay Area, she was fascinated by rabbits from a very young age. “’Rabbit’ was actually my childhood name,” Sharafian recalls. “I grew up near a National Park, and I recall seeing cottontail rabbits on the trail heads, poking their heads out. I was also obsessed with cut-aways and Wes Anderson movies. So I wanted to combine all of those things in an animated short. I also felt that digging down and feeling isolated from others worked well as a metaphor.”
Madeline Sharafian
Sharafian, who worked on Cartoon Network’s We Bare Bears before getting hired at Pixar, starting the initial storyboarding phase of her short in November of 2018. “Like all SparkShorts projects, we had six months on Pixar clock time, which is close to a full year of Earth time,” she jokes. “I was grabbing artists at the studio to work on Burrow between their projects. We had close to 34 people on the short. We knew we had to do all the backgrounds in Photoshop, and we wanted a traditional watercolor look. Artist and Illustrator Ana Ramírez González is so talented with textures and brushes, and we tried out different things to achieve the right 2D look.”
The short’s animation was done in TVPaint. “All my student films were done in TVPaint,” says the director. “It needed to be simpler and flatter so that the colors would pop up against those detailed backgrounds to maintain that hand-drawn feeling. We had to do these small lines stitched together, and it all had to be hand-drawn because it was too hard to automate the process.”
Sparked by Spirited Away
Sharafian says the year 2001 was a big turning point for her. That’s when she was in middle school and saw both Miyazaki’s Spirited Away and Pete Docter’s Monsters, Inc. in theaters. “I didn’t realize animated movies could make you feel this amazing,” she recalls. “I felt like a changed person after I saw those movies. That’s when I set my goal to work in animation.”
Citing author-illustrators such as Beatrix Potter (another big rabbit fan) and Richard Scarry as other huge sources of inspiration, Sharafian adds, “Of course, I am also a major Miyazaki fan. I remember there was a scene in My Neighbor Totoro when the two girls were looking at these acorns, and I just loved how shiny those acorns were. Recalling that scene, I kept adding shiny highlights to the ladder in the short!”
Burrow
Looking back at her SparkShorts experience, Sharafian says she loves the fact that artists in the program are allowed to work quite independently without much executive oversight. “I kept looking over my shoulder, but they are really behind you no matter what you decide to do,” she says. “The amount of time you have on your project is so short, so you can’t really overthink anything. You just have to commit and move on. Everyone who worked on the project was so excited to work on a 2D-animated project. People were coming out of the woodwork just to do one or two shots. The art team was really excited, because in CG-animated movies you don’t get to see the concept art in its original form on the big screen, but it’s different in 2D projects.”
As Burrow and its hard-working animals are finally making their way out to the world, Sharafian says making short films on her own before Pixar was a great way to build confidence. “I didn’t want to burn the team out, so we tried to find as many shortcuts as we could,” she says. “We needed to be as clever as we possibly could be. But it paid off because we actually found time to add a little button (epilogue) where we see Rabbit in the bathtub. We hadn’t originally planned that, but we moved quickly and the team had extra gas in the tank, so everyone wanted to keep going and push for that extra bit.” So much like a clever, fast-moving rabbit who is working diligently on a trail head.
Burrow will debut alongside Soul on Disney+ on December 25. For more info, visit pixar.com/sparkshorts.
We had to bid farewell to an awfully large number of talented men and women who worked in the animation and visual effects business in 2020. We honor their memory on these pages and share our gratitude for the many artistic contributions they made to our world. A big thanks to animation veteran, author and educator Tom Sito, who is producing a virtual Afternoon of Remembrance on Saturday, January 30 at noon (PST) to honor these animation luminaries.
Patricia Alice Albrecht. American actress, writer and poet, best known for her role as Phyllis “Pizzazz” Gabor in the series Jem, as well as her roles in The New Yogi Bear Show, The Snorks and New Kids on the Block. Died Dec. 25, 2019, age 66.
Michael Angelis. British actor known for narrating the Thomas & Friends series, from 1991 to 2012. Died May 30, age 76.
Michael Angelis
Román Arámbula. Mexican artist who drew the Mickey Mouse comic strip. Died March 19, age 83.
Kelly Asbury. Prolific animator and director of five features — Shrek 2 (co-directed with Conrad Vernon), Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Gnomeo and Juliet, Smurfs: The Lost Village and UglyDolls. He also worked on The Little Mermaid, The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach, The Prince of Egypt, Chicken Run, Shrek, Wreck-It-Ralph, Frozen, Sherlock Gnomes, Beauty and the Beast, Toy Story, Kung Fu Panda and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. Died June 26, age 60.
Kelly Asbury
Julie Bennett. Actress who voiced Cindy Bear on The Yogi Bear Show and several Yogi Bear movies. Also recorded voices for UPA, Warner Bros, MGM, Format Films and Hanna-Barbera. Died March 31, age 88.
Julie Bennett
Dorris Bergstrom. Assistant animator at Filmation, Hanna-Barbera, Warner Bros. and Disney. Died Oct. 24, age 97.
Chadwick Boseman. Hugely popular actor best known for playing Black Panther in four MCU films. He also portrayed Jackie Robinson in 42, James Brown in Get on Up and Justice Thurgood Marshall in Marshall. His final film, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom was released in December. Died Aug. 20, age 44.
Kobe Bryant. Beloved sports icon, 18-time NBA All Star who helped the L.A. Lakers to five championship wins. Writer, producer and star of the Oscar-winning animated short Dear Basketball, directed by Glen Keane. Died Jan. 26, age 41.
Dear Basketball
Alfred Budnick. Background artist who worked on shows such as Scooby’s Laff-A-Lympics, Ghostbusters, She-Ra: Princess of Power, BraveStarr, The Critic, Garfield and Friends, Oh Yeah! Cartoons, Family Dog and Hey Arnold! Died Feb. 29, age 81.
Marge Champion. Actress and dancer who served as the model for Disney’s Snow White, the Blue Fairy (Pinocchio) and Hyacinth Hippo (Fantasia). Died Oct. 21, age 101.
Marge Champion
Curtis Cim. Character designer and story artist on shows such as Godzilla, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, Super Friends, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Ghostbusters, She-Ra, Dragon Tales, Courage the Cowardly Dog, The Wild Thornberrys, Static Shock, Ozzy & Drix, King of the Hill and Curious George. Died March 10, age 65.
Ron Cobb. American-Australian cartoonist, artist and film designer, who worked on numerous major films including Dark Star, Star Wars, Alien, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Conan the Barbarian, Back to the Future and Total Recall. Died Sept. 21, age 83.
Doug Crane. Veteran New York-based animator who worked at Terrytoons, Hanna-Barbera, MTV, Filmation and Oriolo Films, among others, and was a professor of animation at School of Visual Arts. Among his many credits are Spider-Man, Godzilla, Beavis and Butt-Head, Raggedy Ann & Andy, Heavy Metal, Super Friends, The Smurfs, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, She-Ra, BraveStarr, Downtown and feature documentary Chicago 10. Died Dec. 17, age 85.
Doug Crane
Bill Davis. Animator, illustrator and pottery artist, co-founder and president of The Davis Artworks and Artbear Pigmation. Created animation for Sesame Street, Reading Rainbow, Free to Be You and Me, Raggedy Anne and Andy, Winky Love and more. Author of Creating 2D Animation in a Small Studio with his wife, Colleen. Died Jan. 13, age 66.
Jason Davis. Actor best known for voicing Mikey Blumberg on Disney’s Recess. Died Feb. 16, age 35.
Gene Deitch. American-born Czech illustrator, animator, comics artist and film director best known for creating toons such as Munro, Tom Terrific and Nudnik, his work on Popeye and Tom and Jerry shorts and directing the Oscar-nominated short Sidney’s Family Tree. Winner of the Annie Awards’ Winsor McCay Award. Died April 16, age 95.
Gene Deitch
William Dufris. Voice actor whose animation credits include Appleseed, Bob the Builder (U.S. dub), Lupin the 3rd, Patlabor: The Movie and Patlabor 2. Died March 24, age 62.
William Dufris
Tony Eastman. Emmy-nominated animator, storyboard artist and director. He was an animator on the feature A Soldier’s Tale, directed the pilot for Nickelodeon’s Doug, and worked on shows such as Codename: Kids Next Door, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Daria, Beavis and Butt-head, Sheep in the Big City, Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law and Kablam! He also directed numerous commercials at The Ink Tank and J.J. Sedelmaier Productions. Died Nov. 2, age 77.
Tony Eastman
Rob Gibbs. Story artist for Pixar, who worked on features such as Toy Story 2, Monster, Inc., Finding Nemo, WALL·E, Up, Brave, Incredibles 2 and Onward. He directed two episodes of Cars Toons: Mater’s Tall Tales and was one of the writers of Air Mater. He was the father of Mary Gibbs, who voices Boo in Monsters, Inc. Died April 24, age 55.
Rob Gibbs
Juan Giménez López. Argentine comic-book artist and writer of Metal Hurlant, L’Eternauta magazines, Time Paradox and the comic series Metabarons. Died April 2, age 76.
Mark Glamack. Emmy-nominated animator, writer, director and producer who worked on shows such as He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, She-Ra: Princess of Power, G.I. Joe, Godzilla, Spiderwoman, A Flintstone Christmas, Life with Louie, All Dogs Go to Heaven, Scooby’s Laff-A-Lympics, Yogi’s Space Race and The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour. Died May 29, age 73.
Mark Glamack
Danny Goldman. Character actor and casting director best known for providing the voice of Brainy Smurf (The Smurfs, Robot Chicken). Died April 12, age 80.
David Hemblen. British actor known to longtime Marvel fans as the voice of Magneto on X-Men: The Animated Series. Died Nov. 16, age 79.
Ed Henderson. Artist and animator who worked on The Fox and the Crow series, Disney’s Sleeping Beauty and the animations for Houston’s Astrodome scoreboard, and designed maps and replicas of the Astroworld theme park. Died Jan. 25, age 95.
Harry “Bud” Hester. Animator/assistant animator for Disney, Bob Clampett Studios and Hanna-Barbera; Business Agent of The Animation Guild, IATSE Local 839. Died Feb. 3, age 92.
Sir Ian Holm. Award-winning British actor best known for his roles in Alien (Sam), The Hobbit (Bilbo Baggins) and The Fifth Element (Father Cornelius) as well as Time Bandits, Brazil and Chariots of Fire. He voiced Chef Skinner in Ratatouille. Died June 19, age 88.
Cullen Blaine Houghtaling. Supervising director for such hits as Ace Ventura, Spider-Man and the Pink Panther show, animation director successes include The Simpsons, 101 Dalmatians: The Series and Timon & Pumbaa. He won two Emmys for his work with Tiny Toon Adventures for Warner Bros. Died Dec. 2, age 85.
Blair Kitchen. Canadian storyboard artist, animator and designer who worked on the movies The Book of Life and Ferdinand, and many series including Tales of Arcadia, Looney Tunes Cartoons, Wayside, Busytown Mysteries, Johnny Test, Scaredy Squirrel, Welcome to the Wayne, Spliced, The Ripping Friends and Hoze Houndz. Died Jan. 5, age 43.
Blair Kitchen
Bill Knoll. Assistant animator, timing director and animation director at Hanna-Barbera, Marvel, Disney TV, Warner Bros. and other studios on shows such as G.I. Joe, The Transformers, The Real Ghostbusters and Animaniacs. Died July 22.
Helen Komar. New York-based illustrator, cartoonist and animator who worked on Popeye the Sailor Man, Casper the Friendly Ghost, Spider-Man and The Incredible Mr. Limpet, Fritz the Cat, Raggedy Ann & Andy, The Soldier’s Tale and Daffy Duck’s Quackbusters. Died Nov. 27, age 93.
Hana Kukal. Czech-born Canadian animation director, animator, character designer and storyboard artist who worked on series such as The Raccoons, Rupert, Max and Ruby, Katie & Orbie, PAW Patrol, Pound Puppies, Dirtgirlworld and the features FernGully: The Last Rainforest and Eight Crazy Nights. Died Nov. 5, age 59.
David Lander. Actor, best known for playing Squiggy on Laverne and Shirley, who also voiced numerous animated characters including Henry the Penguin on Oswald. Other credits include Batman: The Animated Series, Tom and Jerry: The Movie, Johnny Bravo, 101 Dalmatians: The Series and The Garfield Show. Died Dec. 4, age 73.
Nancy Lane. Ink and paint artist and animation checker who worked on Raggedy Ann & Andy, Doug, Beavis and Butt-Head Do America and 101 Dalmatians: The Series. Died Nov. 20, age 80.
Rodolfo Marcenaro. Pioneer in animated advertising cartoons born in Genova, Italy. He worked in publishing and television (Studio K, Tipofilm, TVS) and set up a company specialized in electronic art with his sons in the 1980s. Made a comics version of the Communist Manifesto for Edizioni Ottaviano in Milan in 1976 and was a cartoonist for numerous dailies and magazines. Died Nov. 9, age 83.
Syd Mead. Widely celebrated and influential industrial designer and neo-future concept artist, known for his designs for sci-fi classics such as Blade Runner, Aliens, TRON, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Blade Runner 2049, Tomorrowland, Elysium and Turn A Gundam. Died Dec. 30, 2019, age 86.
Syd Mead
Lee Mendelson. Iconic animator, voice actor and director who began his career working on Disney’s Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo and Bambi, and went on to produce A Charlie Brown Christmas, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and numerous other Peanuts TV specials and series. He directed A Boy Named Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Come Home, Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown and Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown and provided the voices for Snoopy and Woodstock. He also produced Cathy, Garfield and Friends and Mother Goose & Grimm. Died Dec. 25, 2019, age 86.
Lee Mendelson
Luis Alfonso Mendoza. Known as the Spanish-language voice of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, he was one of Mexico’s most popular voice actors and Latin American dub stars. Other roles included Dragon Ball’s Gohan, the title character in Count Duckula and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ Leonardo. Died Feb. 29, age 55.
Luis Alfonso Mendoza
Vatroslav Mimica. Acclaimed Croatian director and screenwriter of animated and live-action films, whose distinctive style helped establish the “Zagreb School of Animation.” Credits include The Inspector Returns Home, The Lonely, The Fireman and Typhoid. Died Feb. 15, age 96.
Vatroslav Mimica
Maureen Karen Mlynarczyk. Emmy-winning animation timing director, who worked on shows such as Mission Hill, What’s New Scooby-Doo, Family Guy, VeggieTales, The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, American Dad!, The Cleveland Show, Clarence, Craig of the Creek, Adventure Time, Disenchantment, Steven Universe, Summer Camp Island and Big Mouth. Died Feb. 16, age 47.
Maureen Karen Mlynarczyk
Francisca Moralde. Worked in cel service at Disney, Hanna-Barbera and Kroyer Films. Died April 8.
Sue Nichols. Designer, storyboard and visual development artist best known for her work on Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Mulan, Fantasia 2000, The Emperor’s New Groove, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Lilo & Stitch, Piglet’s Big Movie, Enchanted, The Princess and the Frog, Moana and UglyDolls. Died Sept. 1, age 55.
Sue Nichols
Kumiko Okae. Japanese actress who voiced Elena in The Dog of Flanders, Haru’s mother in Studio Ghibli’s The Cat Returns and Jenny in Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew. Died April 23, age 53.
Dominic Orlando. Storyboard artist and supervisor who worked on shows such as The Fairly OddParents, CatDog, Dora the Explorer, Rugrats and SpongeBob SquarePants. Died May 14.
Joan Orloff. Inker, cel painter and Ink & Paint Supervisor at Disney Feature Animation and Filmfair, among other studios. Died July 16.
Juan Padrón. Cuban director and writer of many animated films, including the popular Quinoscopio anthologies, Elpidio Valdes and Vampires in Havana movies. Was known as the “Walt Disney of Cuba.” Died March 24, age 73.
Martin Pasko. Canadian comic-book and animation writer, who wrote for Superman in various media and recreated Doctor Fate. His TV animation career included writing episodes of Thundarr the Barbarian with Steve Gerber, as well as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Teen Wolf, Berenstain Bears, G.I. Joe and My Little Pony. Died May 10, age 65.
Lisa Poitevint. Animation checker at Disney Feature Animation on films such as The Little Mermaid, Oliver & Company and The Black Cauldron. Died Jan. 15, age 87.
Anatoly Prokhorov. Key force in commercial and artistic animation in Russia, best known for founding the Petersburg Animation Studio and creating the Kikoriki franchise (known as Smeshariki in Russia). He also co-produced more than 30 films, including Aleksey Khatitidi’s Oscar-nominated short Gagarin, and co-produced Cartoon Network’s Mike, Lu & Og. Died Aug. 30, age 72.
Anatoly Prokhorov
Quino. (Né Joaquín Salvador Lavado.) Argentine creator of the globally popular comic strip Mafalda, which centered on an inquisitive six-year old girl with a mop of black hair. Died Sept. 30, age 88.
Quino
Rebecca Ramsey. Trailblazing visual effects producer whose dozens of credits include Watchmen, The Hunger Games and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. She also worked on Life of Pi, Spider-Man 3, Pirates of Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. Died March 7, age 53.
Rebecca Ramsey
Helen Reddy. Singer of the iconic song “I Am Woman” and “Angie Baby,” who is best remembered by animation fans as the star of 1977 movie Pete’s Dragon. Died Sept. 29, age 78.
Helen Reddy
Nick Rijgersberg. Canadian animation director and storyboard artist who worked on series such as The Country Mouse and the City Mouse Adventures, For Better or for Worse, The Busy World of Richard Scarry, The Little Lulu Show, The Ren & Stimpy Show, The Raccoons, Caillou, Punky Brewster and Bratz: Starrin’ & Stylin’. Died April 20, age 60.
Nick Rijgersberg and his friend Snoopy
Cesar Romero. Stop-motion costumer and puppet maker at Screen Novelties who worked on shows such as Robot Chicken, SpongeBob SquarePants, Adventures of Sam & Max, Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack and The Tortoise and the Hare. Died April 23, age 47.
John Rooney. Canadian animation exec, executive director of TAAFI (Toronto Animation Arts Festival Intl.), director of programming at Corus Kids & Family and Teletoon, responsible for launching Cartoon Network and Adult Swim in Canada. He also worked as a consultant for Mattel, WildBrain, Zodiak Media and Epic Story Media. Died Dec. 10, Age 50.
John Rooney
Pamela Ross. Manager of New York’s Actors Playhouse and production manager at animation studio Jumbo Pictures who worked on shows such as Doug, The Cramp Twins and 101 Dalmatians: The Series. Died April 2, age 55.
Joe Ruby. Co-creator of Scooby-Doo, Shaggy, Fred, Velma and Daphne and co-founder of Ruby-Spears Productions (with partner Ken Spears). Ruby and Spears launched their own production company in 1977, which was behind popular toons such Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?, Dynomutt, Jabberjaw, Mister T, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Superman, Thundarr the Barbarian, Fangface and The Plastic Man Comedy-Adventure Hour. Died Aug. 28, age 87.
Joe Ruby
Adam Schlesinger. Emmy and Grammy Award-winning songwriter and founding member of Fountains of Wayne. Created songs for Elmo The Musical, Sesame Street, Bubble Guppies, The Fresh Beat Band and Robert Smigel’s Saturday Night Live cartoons for J.J. Sedelmaier. Died April 1, age 52.
Gary Schumer. Effects animator at Walt Disney Animation (Mulan, Tarzan, Lilo & Stitch, Brother Bear) and animation teacher at Ringling College of Art and Design.
Jerry Slick. Sound designer on Bud Luckey’s animated Sesame Street shorts, cinematographer and documentary filmmaker. Died March 17, age 80.
Ed Smith. New York animator who worked on John Hubley’s Moonbird and The Tender Game, as well as Simple Gifts, The Soldier’s Tale, KaBlam!, Between the Lions and Metropia. Died April 14, Age 95.
Ken Spears. TV writer, producer and sound editor who with Joe Ruby created the Scooby-Doo franchise for Hanna-Barbera and co-founded TV production company Ruby-Spears. Together, they produced shows such as Dynomutt, Fangface, Captain Caveman, Jabberjaw, The Barkleys, The Houndcats, The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show, Thundarr the Barbarian, Saturday Supercade, Mister T, Alvin and the Chipmunks and Superman. Died Nov. 6, age 82.
Ken Spears
Norm Spencer. Canadian actor who voiced Cyclops in X-Men: The Animated Series and Spider-Man: The Animated Series. Other credits include The Busy World of Richard Scarry, Silver Surfer, The Dumb Bunnies, Grossology and Rescue Heroes. Died April 31, age 62.
Herbert Stott. Layout artist, background artist and art director for classic cartoons such as Pink Panther, The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries, Muppet Babies, Pinky and the Brain and Fritz the Cat. Died Feb. 8, age 85.
Marty Strudler. Designer and background and layout artist at DePatie-Freleng, Bakshi, Hanna-Barbera and Warner Bros. His many credits include The Deputy Dawg Show, Lidsville, Wizards, The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cats, various Pink Panther shorts, Dungeons and Dragons, Muppet Babies, Tiny Toon Adventures, Freakazoid!, Pinky and the Brain, Animaniacs and The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries. Died Oct. 15, age 91.
Marty Strudler
Ann Sullivan. Longtime animator who got her first job at an animation paint lab at Disney in the ’50s. She went on to apply her brush and palette to Disney classics such as The Little Mermaid, The Lion King and Lilo & Stitch. Died April 13, age 91.
Ann Sullivan
Rudy Tomaselli. Founder of New York City’s commercial arts company Cel-Art who worked as animation checker on shows such as Downtown, Codename: Kids Next Door and Beavis and Butt-Head. Died April 26, age 87.
Albert Uderzo. Renowned French comic-book artist who created the hugely popular character Asterix with writer René Goscinny. The Gaulois warrior, his powerful friend Obelix, his pet Dogmatix and their friends have featured in 10 popular animated and live-action features. Died March 24, age 92.
Albert Uderzo
Pino Van Lamsweerde. Italian-born Belgian animation designer and director who worked on movies and shows such as Heavy Metal, The Nutcracker Prince, The Legend of White Fang, Code Lyoko, Dragon Hunters, Spirou and Asterix in Britain. Died April 17, Age 79.
Phillip Walsh. Emmy-nominated writer and producer of shows such as Beakman’s World, Recess, Pound Puppies, Teamo Supremo and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Died Sept. 20.
Fred Willard. Popular actor, comedian and writer best known for his roles in mockumentaries such as This Is Spinal Tap and Best in Show. In animation, he lent his voice to characters in movies such as such as Chicken Little, Monster House, WALL·E and Planes: Fire and Rescue and TV shows like Hercules, The Simpsons, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, King of the Hill, The Loud House and Milo Murphy’s Law. Died May 15, age 86.
Fred Willard
David Wise. Prolific writer who worked at Hanna-Barbera, Filmation, Disney and Warner Bros. He wrote for a wide variety of series including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Zorro, Batman: The Animated Series, Speed Racer, Chip ‘n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers, Jem, The Biskitts, Godzilla, Transformers, He-Man and Star Trek: The Animated Series. Died March 3, age 65.
David Wise
Bill Wolf. Timing and animation director at Disney, Bagdassarian, Marvel and Klasky-Csupo whose TV credits included Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Duckman, Wild Thornberrys, Rugrats, All Grown Up and The Boondocks. Died March 24.
Hikari Yono. Voice actress best known for voicing Samui in Naruto and Kaolinite in Sailor Moon Crystal. She was also part of the voice cast of Basilisko, Ghost in the Shell, Lupin the 3rd, Mobile Suit Gundam, Tiger & Bunny and many others. Died Nov. 15, age 46.
WarnerMedia’s Adult Swim has revealed a first look at Final Space Season 3, hinting at the continued misadventures of creator Olan Rogers’ cosmonaut crew. The nail-biting teaser is a psychedelic-meets-sci fi tumble through the edges of the galaxy, where our heroes are set to encounter some powerful entities, dangerous spacescapes and a fair number of plasma explosions. New episodes will arrive in early 2021.
Survival. Is. Everything.
Picked up for TBS in 2018, Final Space is a serialized intergalactic space saga about an astronaut named Gary (voiced by Rogers) and his adorable, planet-destroying friend, Mooncake (also voiced by Rogers) — who, it turns out, is on the powerful Lord Commander’s (David Tennant) most wanted list. The series follows their adventures as they embark on a quest to save the universe and unlock the mystery of “Final Space,” picking up a growing crew of shipmates on the way.
The voice cast also features Fred Armisen, Tom Kenny, Tika Sumpter, Steven Yeun, Coty Galloway, Ron Perlman, Gina Torres, Shannon Purser, Keith David, Conan O’Brien, Ashly Burch, Claudia Black, Ron Funches, Jane Lynch, Tobias Conan Trost, Alan Tudyk, John DiMaggio, Vanessa Marshall, Christopher Judge, Caleb McLaughlin and Andy Richter.
Animation for the series is handled by ShadowMachine and Boat Rocker Media’s Jam Filled Entertainment.
Season 2 premiered on Adult Swim in 2019, with new episodes encoring on WarnerMedia sibling network TBS.
Animation Nights New York (ANNY) is presenting its Annual Festival (Online COVID addition) this Saturday & Sunday, December 19-20. The virtual fest is kicking off ANNY’s monthly screening events with two animation programs, each followed by mixer events at 8 p.m. EST in the ANNY VR Event Space. (No headset is required. All platforms are accessible on PC/Mac/Mobile.)
RSVP to the Annual Festival kickoff event here. Donations are accepted and appreciated.
ANNY plans to continue its monthly screenings, rolling Season 5 of its short film presentations into 2021 and onward to a Best of Fest celebration in the fall. Follow these events at www.animationnights.com.
Armor del Amor
Screening 1 (Sat., Dec. 19; available 3-8 p.m. EST)
“Love Lost & Found”
DAUGHTER. Daria Kashcheeva. Czech Republic, 14:44.
NO REASON. Amanda Bonaiuto. United States, 03:28.
THE CRANE LOVER. Zhang Jinruo. China, 06:47.
YOU USED TO BRING ME FLOWERS. Nofar Schweitzer. Israel, 04:44.
LONE. Samantha Clark. United Kingdom, 04:00.
DANDELION IN THE WIND. Do Thi Ngan Giang. Singapore, 03:33.
SLEDGE. Mickaël DUPRÉ. France, 12:36.
WARMTH MECHANICS. Maria Piskunova. Russian Federation, 01:30.
BILLIE. Maki Yoshikura. United Kingdom, 04:00.
CAFFÈ. Margaret Spencer. United States, 04:48.
JERICHO. Sarah Andrews. United Kingdom, 01:40.
ARMOR DEL AMOR. Kirk Kelley. United States, 01:45.
COPS & ROBBERS. Florian Maubach. Germany, 08:15.
Can I Keep Him
Screening 2 (Sun., Dec. 10; available 3-8 p.m. EST)
“Our House”
GRAVEDAD. Matisse Gonzalez. Germany, 10:30.
HOME: A PORTRAIT OF NEW YORK CITY. John Morena. United States, 2:33.
IHR. Amélie Cochet, Louis Möhrle. Switzerland, 06:10.
RED EARTH. Michael Kenny. Australia, 04:32.
CAN I KEEP HIM?. María Rosario Carlino, Patricia Gualpa. Argentina, 04:28.
RIDE. Richard O’Connor. United States, 1:45.
THE SHADOW OF THE SUN. Ido Hartmann. Israel, 8:17.
BREAK THE FIRE. Mei Li. China, 5:50.
LOVE IS BIGGER THAN ANYTHING IN ITS WAY. Broken Fingaz. 03:39.
QUIET. Maxim Kulikov. Russian Federation, 9:43.
LINES OF OBLIVION. Paola Cubillos. Belgium, 4:03.
The short film programs are curated by Animation Nights New York, with programming by Chitra Roy.
Shout! Studios, the multi-platform entertainment distribution and production arm of Shout! Factory, and Sola Media GmbH have entered into an exclusive movie deal to distribute the new animated family feature Dreambuilders in North America.
“We are very happy to work with our friends at Shout! Studios on Dreambuilders, a film filled with dreams about the challenges of bonus sisterhood; where a young girl has to put things right after making a very wrong decision,” said Solveig Langeland, Managing Director of Sola Media.
Directed by Kim Hagen Jensen (All Dogs Go to Heaven, FernGully) and Tonni Zinck (The Neon Demon), Dreambuilders is a production of First Lady Film, produced by Nynne Selin Eidnes. The distribution announcement was made Friday by Langeland, Melissa Boag, Shout’s Senior Vice President of Family Entertainment, and Jordan Fields, Vice President of Acquisitions at Shout! Studios.
“Dreambuilders is an incredibly unique and engaging story, and we’re very excited to once again partner with Sola Media as we did on the wonderful family films Swift and Snowtime, to distribute it to a North American audience,” said Boag.
Shout! Studios has secured all North American distribution rights to Dreambuilders, including theatrical, digital, video-on-demand, broadcast and home entertainment for cross-platform releases. Shout! Studios plans a strategic launch of this movie across all major entertainment platforms and in all packaged media (Blu-ray/DVD).
“Dreambuilders is a wonderfully inventive story, clever and funny at every turn, that has something profound to say about family and the magic of dreaming,” said Fields. “This is one of those charming family films that parents will thoroughly enjoy watching with their kids.”
Synopsis: Minna’s life is turned upside down when her dad’s new fiancée Helena and her daughter Jenny move in. Her new stepsister Jenny turns out to be horrible and Minna is frustrated. She wants her gone! One night, Minna discovers a world behind her dreams in which the dreambuilders create our dreams on theater stages and finds out how to manipulate Jenny’s dreams. But interfering with people’s dreams has dire consequences and when Minna goes too far one night, Jenny can’t wake up anymore. Minna must enter the dream world one final time to face the dreams she has created in order to save Jenny and her new family.
Read more about the film in Ramin Zahed’s interview with Jensen here.
All-new animated comedy The Great North debuts Sunday, February 14 at 8:30-9:00 p.m. ET/PT on FOX, as part of Sunday’s Animation Domination lineup. The series, which already has been renewed for a second season, was created, written and executive-produced by Bob’s Burgers writers and executive producers Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin, as well as writer Minty Lewis (Regular Show).
The Molyneux sisters serve as showrunners. Bob’s Burgers creator Loren Bouchard is an executive producer, as well.
The Great North follows the Alaskan adventures of the Tobin family, as a single dad, Beef (voiced by Nick Offerman; Parks and Recreation, Making It), does his best to keep his weird bunch of kids close – especially his only daughter, Judy (Jenny Slate, Bob’s Burgers), whose artistic dreams lead her away from the family fishing boat and into the glamorous world of the local mall. Rounding out the family are Judy’s older brother, Wolf (Will Forte, The Last Man on Earth); his fiancé, Honeybee (Dulcé Sloan, The Daily Show); her middle brother, Ham (Paul Rust, Love); and 10-year-old-going-on-50 little brother, Moon (Aparna Nancherla, A Simple Favor). While the children’s mother is not in the picture, Judy seeks guidance from her new boss, Alyson (Megan Mullally, Will & Grace), and her imaginary friend, Alanis Morisette (guest-voicing as herself), who appears to her in the Northern Lights.
Alongside the new series premiere, Animation Domination returns Sunday, Feb. 14 on FOX with all-new episodes of Bless the Harts (7:30-8:00 p.m. ET/PT), The Simpsons (8:00-8:30 p.m. ET/PT), Bob’s Burgers (9:00-9:30 p.m. ET/PT) and Family Guy (9:30-10:00 p.m. ET/PT). The evening kicks off with the series premiere of all-new trivia game show Cherries Wild (7:00-7:30 p.m. ET/PT), hosted by Jason Biggs.
Organizer Reed Midem has confirmed that its spring content confab MIPTV will be held virtually for the second consecutive year, due to the ongoing uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The 58th edition of the Cannes-based event will be held April 12 to 16.
The online market will roll in sister events MIPDoc and MIPFormats. Additional details of enhanced MIPTV Online features, such as personalized one-on-one business meeting tools, will be announced in the coming weeks.
Reed Midem is still planning to go ahead with its more robust fall TV market, the 37th MIPCOM, as a physical event in Cannes from October 11-14. The big Palais blowout will be preceded by kid-targeted market MIPJunior, Oct. 9-10. These will be augmented by a digital component running concurrently. The drama-focused Canneseries is also set to go ahead from April 9-14.
“We have learned a great deal in this extraordinary year. Two points stand out very clearly across all of Reed MIDEM’s events: the need for clear and, when possible, timely decision making, so our partners around the globe can plan for the year ahead; and the need to get back to doing business face-to-face,” said Jerome Delhaye, Director of Reed Midem’s Entertainment Division. “That is why we are confirming plans now for the two biggest annual events in the television calendar. We remain especially optimistic about the second half of 2021 and as such we are focussing all our energies on bringing everyone back to Cannes in October for the business reunion that the industry is so eagerly awaiting.”
Should conditions improve significantly early in the new year, organizers are considering holding a small in-person screenings event in Cannes during MIPTV week alongside the global digital edition.
Don’t miss Animation Magazine‘s Award Season Panel, which went live today (Friday, Dec. 18) on the Animag YouTube channel. Featuring eight amazing directors behind 2020’s best animated movies, this Zoom roundtable is a virtual update to past sessions held each year at the World Animation & VFX Summit, offering fascinating insights, behind-the-scenes stories and creative inspiration free to viewers around the world!
Join directors Joel Crawford (The Croods: A New Age), Walt Dohrn (Trolls World Tour), Glen Keane (Over the Moon), Tomm Moore (Wolfwalkers), Kris Pearn (The Willoughbys), Kemp Powers (Soul), Gitanjali Rao, (Bombay Rose) and Dan Scanlon (Onward) for a lively discussion, moderated by Animag Editor-in-Chief Ramin Zahed.
Watch Animation Magazine‘s Award Season Panel below or add to your watch list here:
***This article originally appeared in the January ’21 issue of Animation Magazine (No. 306)***
One of the L.A. area’s most innovative indie animation studios recently celebrated 25 years in the business. Founded in 1995 by Mo Davoudian, Brain Zoo has worked on a very impressive list of projects, including the studio’s own real-time animated series Nora, Disney/Marvel’s Guardians of Galaxy series, Mortal Kombat 11, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, the Ultimate Spider-Man series, the award-winning short Pepe & Lucas and two Marvel animated features — Iron Man & Captain America: Heroes United and Iron Man & The Hulk: Heroes United.
“The number one quality of Brain Zoo is our flexibility,” says Davoudian. “Creatively and technologically, keyframe or mocap animation, offline rendering or real-time. There are studios around the world in which you can look at their work, and they have a style of their own. Brain Zoo is style-agnostic or, as we like to say, ‘We are your style!’”
Mo Davoudian
He adds, “When you see our work, it goes across the spectrum. From realism to stylized to cartoony, it’s a wide range of capabilities. Second is our hunger for new technologies and techniques. Real-time is relatively new to most animation studios and clients outside of the gaming business. Brain Zoo has been at the forefront of real-time animated productions for the past 20 years. We were the first to use the Unreal Engine 4 on Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy series and Disney’s Doorables web series. Our proprietary tools and pipeline are built for production speed while maintaining high levels of quality. This workflow has given us the ability to produce two full-length animated feature films for Marvel in a seven-month production schedule.”
“Brain Zoo is a creative studio which is not solely focused on animation production,” notes Davoudian. “The company is actively involved in development, design, technology, look dev and production management in multiple industries. We are also in the business of creating original IPs such Pepe & Lucas, Nora and the upcoming D.Y.K. The company is also developing some popular comic-book titles into series and films. We consider ourselves a one-stop creative partner that brings a lot of expertise to the table.”
Nora
The artists at the studio use a variety of CG tools and effects software to produce their work. Davoudian says Brain Zoo has been using Unreal Engine for about 20 years, as well as Maya, After Effects, Unity 3D and, most recently, Blender, which is showing a lot of promise overall. With the COVID pandemic restrictions, the studio has an infrastructure which is built for about 80 employees. Brain Zoo has partnerships with overseas shops that scale its capabilities to about 400.
Early Days
Davoudian began his CG career during an internship semester away from the ArtCenter College of Design, working on game titles such as Phantasmagoria, Wing Commander 3 and TV’s Spider-Man: The Animated Series. This experience gave him solid CG production experience and a great introduction to the business. When he returned to ArtCenter to finish his studies, he decided to start Brain Zoo to create two of his animated projects for school.
Guardians of the Galaxy – Baby Groot Turnaround
“With the help of a couple of partners, we launched the company during the first E3 game conference,” he recalls. “The company started with two divisions; one was the 3D animation department, and the other was at the beginning of a little industry known as the world wide web, where we created websites for companies and entertainment clients. The animation division of the company was involved in music videos, game cinematics, trailers and film VFX. Films like Mighty Joe Young, Armageddon and Meet the Deedles were some of the projects we worked on. Our long-term goal has always been original content and storytelling. Those early years, game cinematics gave us the best outlet to tell stories and establish an effective pipeline that garnered excellence in quality and the shortest time possible on narrative projects.”
As a young boy, Davoudian was hugely influenced by Ray Harryhausen movies such as The 7thVoyage of Sinbad and Jason and the Argonauts at an early age. “They awakened my curiosity, and so began my interest in fantasy films and stop-motion,” he recalls. “Later it was Land of the Lost and the Gumby series. Another big influence, like most people of my generation in this industry, was The Empire Strikes Back. That opening scene with tauntaun running across the snow and leaving footprints and the following AT-AT snow battle scene inspired a lifelong obsession for me. And during my career, I’ve been fortunate to have worked with both Doug Beswick and Harry Walton, who were stop-motion and VFX masters that worked on those early influences at Brain Zoo.”
LEGO Brawl
We ask the Emmy-winning executive creative director to tell us a little bit about what Brain Zoo is working on these days. “I can talk about a couple of projects,” he says. “Wasteland 3 for Microsoft, which is similar to most of the projects we work on from start to finish through the studio. The only thing that we did not do is the audio. We usually design, storyboard, pre-viz, direct, produce assets, animate, light, render, composite and edit on all the projects we produce, with few exceptions. The other project is our next original series titled D.Y.K. (Dangerous Young Killers).”
Reflections on Real-Time
Davoudian admits that outsourcing of animation work is always a challenge, but he believes that it’s a good force for innovation when it comes to production. “The more significant challenge is educating clients on the viability of real-time production,” he notes. “It’s not entirely the same pipeline service providers and distribution clients are used to working with. Large studios have a pipeline that has worked for them for many years. Real-time changes that process quite a bit, and it’s not a proven pipeline or process for them.”
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
He says many of the animation vendors don’t have a real-time pipeline or the experience to work with it. “Real-time has its workflow, and it’s not just ‘push the button and it renders,’” Davoudian explains. “The entire pipeline from assets to animation to lighting and rendering is affected. This scares producers and executives. But what they don’t understand is that the benefits are astronomically greater if you have the right partner.”
Like most of the professionals working in the animation biz today, Brain Zoo has pivoted towards a flexible, virtual studio model. “A company can now get all its productions and clients serviced without having a location,” Davoudian says. “All the tools are there to make this happen. This is huge! Animation is also moving away from just being stylized cartoons for kids. What I see in the animation marketplace, which includes gaming, is a growth in demographics. The 50-year-old generation and younger have all grown up on video games and animation. From Atari to Xbox and PlayStation. We are now globally and generationally gamers and animation consumers. That is a bigger market space!”
Skylanders
He also believes that the industry is ready for major creative changes. “There is so much we can do with new look development and visual styles with today’s technologies,” he offers. “But what I see is the same shapes, styles, lighting and rendering on TV and animated films. The visual effects industry suffers from this as well. You used to be able to tell which studio did the VFX for a movie. As an industry, VFX hit true photorealism in the mid-2000s. Nowadays, everyone uses the same tools, software, techniques and renderers, so the work looks even across the board. You can’t tell which studio did what. So, if the little studio is doing the same quality-level work as a big studio, why do you need the big studio? And with AI and machine learning coming on board, you can be sure any gaps between animation/VFX/gaming studios will eventually evaporate!”
