TokyoPop, a Pop Media Holdings company and global manga leader, has been selected as a participant in Cannes Marché du Film’s Shoot the Book! Rendez-Vous publishing adaptation initiative (www.shootthebook.fr).
Founded in 2014 as a joint venture between SCELF, Institut Français and Film Paris Region, and joined by the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2019, Shoot the Book! is an opportunity for select literary and audiovisual works to be presented to film producers for licensing consideration. The final titles are chosen by an elite international jury and are sourced from publishers from all around the world.
With the Cannes Film Festival being hosted entirely online this year due to the global coronavirus pandemic, the Shoot the Book! Rendez-Vous is also being held virtually and features a wide variety of publications across all genres.
Goldfisch
The first of TokyoPop’s titles to be included is Goldfisch, the action-packed manga series from Nana Yaa. Originally published in German, all three volumes are also available in English from TokyoPop as a part of their International Women of Manga line, and in French from nobi nobi !
Synopsis: Say hi to Morrey Gibbs! A fisher-boy in a flooded world overrun with dangerous mutated animals known as “anomals”, he’s got his own problems to worry about. Namely, how everything he touches turns to gold! Sure it sounds great, but gold underpants aren’t exactly stylish — or comfortable!
Together with his otter buddy and new inventor friend Shelly, Morrey’s on a quest to rid himself of his blessing-turned-curse and undo the tragedy it caused. That is of course, if they can dodge the treasure-hungry bounty hunters…
Nana Yaa
Born in 1991, Nana Yaa won first place in the manga competition Manga Magie at the early age of 17 and caught the attention of late-night talk show host Stefan Raab, who had her on his show TV Total. She is now among the most productive artists in the German manga scene and has already published numerous amateur manga and short stories, including the Boys Love webcomic CRUSHED!! In addition to her contributions to anthologies by the independent publisher Schwarzer Turm, her first full-length work, Patina, was published by Droemer Knaur in 2016.
Kamo
Also selected for consideration is Ban Zarbo’s popular shounen manga series Kamo: Pact with the Spirit World. Released initially in German as Kamo: Pakt mit der Geisterwelt, the three volume series can also be found in English from TokyoPop as another founding title in the International Women of Manga imprint.
Synopsis: Born with a failing heart, Kamo has fought death his whole life, but to no avail. As his body weakens and he readies to draw his final breath, he’s visited by a powerful spirit named Crimson who offers him a deal: defeat and capture the souls of twelve spirits in exchange for a new heart. It seems too good to be true… and maybe it is.
A pact with the spirit world; what could possibly go wrong?
Ben Zarbo
Ban and her twin sister, Gin (Undead Messiah), were first introduced to anime and manga as young girls by their mother. Even then, Ban aspired to one day become a manga creator, and at 24 years old her dream was realized. Kamo: Pact with the Spirit World is based on Ka-Mo, which Ban had previously self-published in 2014 and is largely influenced by Caribbean myth as inspired by her Dominican heritage.
“TokyoPop is proud to support diverse creators whose stories are dynamic and fresh – and fortunately Shoot the Book! at the Cannes Film Festival has recognized that Nana Yaa’s Goldfisch and Ban Zarbo’s Kamo are both such stories,” said Stu Levy, founder and CEO of TokyoPop.
Shoot the Book! meetings between publishers and producers will be held on June 24 & 25 through Marché du Film online (www.marchedufilm.com).
Learn more about TokyoPop titles and creators at www.tokyopop.com
Disney Channel has ordered a third season of its frog-out-of-water animated comedy Amphibia ahead of its season two premiere on Saturday, July 11 (8:20 p.m. EDT/PDT), on Disney Channel and DisneyNOW. The new episodes will be hopping with guest stars from fan-favorite toons and movies — from Kermit the Frog to George Takei (and many more).
Popular actress and longtime Disney Channel star Brenda Song (Dollface) voices the lead role of independent and fearless teen Anne Boonchuy, who is magically transported to the fantastical world of Amphibia, a rural marshland full of frog-people. Created and executive-produced by Annie Award-winner Matt Braly (director/storyboard artist, Gravity Falls), the series is inspired by his heritage, family and childhood trips to Bangkok, Thailand.
Starring alongside Song is Justin Felbinger (Miles From Tomorrowland) as Sprig Plantar, who forges a once-in-a-lifetime friendship with Anne; Amanda Leighton (This Is Us) as unpredictable pollywog (a.k.a. tadpole) Polly Plantar, the youngest member of the Plantar family; and Disney Legend Bill Farmer (the voice of Goofy) as overprotective and traditional grandfather Hop Pop. Amphibia is a production of Disney Television Animation.
The new season will premiere as part of Disney Channel’s new Saturday night animation programming block this summer, which will also include new episodes of Big City Greens and The Owl House.
“Matt’s vision, authentic storytelling and undeniable passion for his characters have brought the fantastical world of Amphibia to life for kids and families around the world,” said Meredith Roberts, SVP/GM, Television Animation, Disney Channels. “We are excited for viewers to follow Anne and the Plantars as they go on new adventures in season two and unravel more mysteries through season three.”
Season two guest stars include Kermit the Frog (The Muppets); Jenifer Lewis (black-ish); George Takei (Star Trek: The Original Series); Kristen Schaal (Gravity Falls); Hugh Bonneville and Michelle Dockery (both from Downton Abbey), Tress MacNeille (voice of Daisy Duck); Marlow Barkley, Mia Allan and Ella Allan (Single Parents); Haley Tju (Big Hero 6 The Series); Keith David (The Princess and the Frog); Susan Egan (Disney’s Hercules); and Flula Borg (Pitch Perfect 2).
As season two picks up, Anne and the Plantars are on a quest to unlock the mysteries of the music box as they leave the cozy confines of Wartwood for the distant city of Newtopia. On their journey, they will visit exotic new locations, uncover hidden secrets and experience unexpected reunions as they continue to search for a way to get Anne home. The new season will include an homage to Disney’s hit Gravity Falls, featuring guest voices performed by the series’ creator/executive producer Alex Hirsch.
A new short-form series, Chibi Tiny Tales, spotlighting chibi-style versions of favorite Disney Channel characters embarking on wild adventures together, will continue to roll out Sundays on Disney Channel YouTube. The first six shorts highlight Anne and the Plantar family. In two new Theme Song Takeover shorts debuting later this year, Sasha and her Toad Army conquer the theme song with their own lyrics, while Sprig transforms the theme song into an 8-bit videogame.
Amphibia t-shirts and pop sockets are currently available at Amazon.com/DisneyChannel, including an exclusive t-shirt designed by creator and executive producer Matt Braly.
Keeping the party rocking and rolling on after its high-not PVOD launch, DreamWorks Animation’s Trolls World Tour is coming to home video in a bonus-feature rich release available on Digital today (June 23) and on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD on July 7. To snare-kick off the release, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment is hooking up Trolls groupies with an exclusive clip which reveals a cut scene from Queen Barb’s battle with the Classical Trolls.
The storyboard sequence (drawn by story artist Colin Jack) is set up by producer Gina Shay, director Walt Dohrn and co-director David P. Smith, and centers on Pennywhistle — the tiniest instrument in Symphonyville — who takes an inopportune snack break from her job as the city’s security officer, just when some unwelcome guests drop in.
Synopsis: Queen Poppy (Anna Kendrick), Branch (Justin Timberlake) and the rest of your favorite Trolls are back for another musical adventure that’s bigger — and louder — than ever before! In Trolls World Tour, Poppy and Branch discover that their kingdom is only one of six musical realms — Funk, Country, Techno, Classical, Pop and Rock — that were once united in perfect harmony. When the power-hungry ruler of the Rocker Trolls threatens to silence all other music so her tribe can reign supreme, Poppy and Branch must embark on an epic quest to unite the realms of Trollskind, before the songs in their hearts are lost forever!
Read more about all the toe-tapping special features of the Trolls World Tour home release at the link above, and learn more about the making of this hit sequel in Tom McLean’s story for the April ’20 issue of Animation Magazinehere.
Netflix and Pearl Studio announced today that newcomer Cathy Ang, Grammy winner Phillipa Soo (Hamilton, Moana), newcomer Robert G. Chiu, Ken Jeong (Crazy Rich Asians), John Cho (Searching), Ruthie Ann Miles (All Rise), Emmy nominee Margaret Cho, Kimiko Glenn (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse), Artt Butler and two-time Golden Globe winner Sandra Oh (Killing Eve) will be joining in the voice cast of director Glen Keane’s animated feature Over the Moon.
The studio partners have also launched the official trailer for the pic, which you can find below, followed by Animation Magazine‘s exclusive interview with Keane from the Annecy Festival issue.
Over the Moon follows the adventures of a young girl (voiced by newcomer Cathy Ang) who dreams of meeting the Moon Goddess.
The film, which is slated to premiere on Netflix this fall, is produced by Gennie Rim (Dear Basketball) and Peilin Chou (Abominable), co-directed by John Kahrs (Paperman) and written by the late Audrey Wells (The Hate U Give, Under the Tuscan Sun). It features songs by Christopher Curtis, Marjorie Duffield and Helen Park and a score by Steven Price (Gravity).
Produced by Pearl Studio and Netflix, Over the Moon follows the adventures of a young girl named Fei Fei who builds a rocket ship to the moon to prove the existence of a legendary Moon Goddess. There she ends up on an unexpected quest, and discovers a whimsical land of fantastical creatures.
Clockwise from top left: Director Glen Keane, producers Gennie Rim, voice star Cathy Ang and producer Peilin Chou
“I love characters that believe the impossible is possible,” said Keane during a recent online event. “I like that in my own life. We all face impossible odds in our life, now more than ever, and nothing can stop a character that sees the goal. For Ariel, it was to live out of the sea somehow, and for Fei Fei it’s to build a rocket to the moon. I felt like I had to do this movie. I get that girl.”
Keane, who received an Oscar for directing the late Kobe Bryant’s short Dear Basketball, added that there was something very exciting about discovering a country like China through the perspective of this young protagonist. “I think there’s something wonderful about telling a story from the point of discovery where you are learning something new,” he said. “Peilin took us on a little tour in China, and we visited this wonderful little water town that became the town for Fei Fei. People would invite us into their homes and we got to have dinner with a Chinese family in their home. I had never known what it was really like in China, and the people were so warm and friendly. And what was, I guess the most inspiring to me, was how everything happens around food and the dinner table.”
Over the Moon
Chou noted that the film was Audrey Wells’ final project before she passed away from cancer in 2018. “She was so excited about that idea, about a strong girl that loves science and was interested in doing that,” says the producer. “But beyond that, she really connected with the story thematically because she was going through her own journey in her life. We didn’t find out until a year or so of developing the project with her, that she shared with us that she was sick and she didn’t have a lot of time left. And so she really, really wanted to leave this movie behind as a love letter for her own daughter and her husband to talk about what happens when people pass on, that love still really lasts forever. And we were really fortunate that she was still with us at the first screening. So she really got to see a version of this film, which she absolutely loved, and was so, so happy and excited about.”
Over the Moon
Rim mentioned that the idea for the film came through Shanghai-based Pearl Studio and became realized thanks to the Netflix partnership. “It’s actually been an incredible journey,” she noted. “We followed Glen’s creative process and talked about the storytelling and the freedom of creativity. I think it’s definitely a Glen Keane film through and through, and he’s had so much support from both sides. I think we’re just all really excited to see the world experience this film in this way.”
Asian Authenticity
Both Rim and Chou emphasized the importance of working on a movie that offered an honest and original representation of Chinese families and culture to the U.S. and the world.
“I definitely grew up at a time where I never saw anyone that looked like myself in U.S. movies or on television,” said Chou. “So, it’s meaningful to me to be able to bring this type of story and the culture also, which very much is a part of who I am and how I grew up.”
Over the Moon
Keane noted that working with Netflix, Pearl and Sony Imageworks offered much creative freedom in terms of the film’s visual styles. “Netflix is a really unique studio in that there isn’t a house style,” he explained. “There’s a leaning into each creative’s personal vision. We did this film at an amazing speed. We were the first ones in this little Netflix animation studio. Within four or five months, had the entire movie up with the eight songs written and storyboarded. Everything was happening really fast. There was this confidence that this was going to stick. This was our film.”
Chou added that while the film’s characters and experiences are very specific to China, overall the movie is universal and globally relatable. “Audiences will get to see a real Chinese family, real characters with depth and the same longings and desires and hopes for their children and themselves as everyone around the world. We’re all just people and connected in that same way. So I hope people will see that and feel connected to that. In a way, it’s kind of like being able to visit China through an animated film and really experience the people and the culture.”
Glen Keane
A Lunar Voyage to Remember: Q&A with director Glen Keane
Animation Magazine: Although we have only seen a few drawings from Over the Moon, there is a lot of early buzz surrounding your new movie. Can you tell us a little bit about how you became involved with the project?
Glen Keane: It’s interesting because we were supposed to offer a work-in-progress session
about the movie at this year’s Annecy Festival, and my involvement with the project began at Annecy in 2017. I was giving a talk about thinking like a child and how the key to creative longevity is holding on to your childlike creativity, and believing that the impossible is possible. I found out later that sometime during my talk, Peilin Chou (CCO of Pearl Studio and former development exec at Disney) and Melissa Cobb (VP of Kids and Family at Netflix) leaned over to each other and said, “He has to direct this movie!”
The heroine of Over the Moon is a 12-year-old girl who builds a rocket to the Moon, and she reminded me so much of the other characters I had animated throughout my career. When my producer Gennie Rim and I read the script, we felt compelled to do it. This is Audrey Wells’ swan song. [The screenwriter died in 2018 from cancer at the age of 58.] It tells such a beautiful story. So, this movie became one of the first animated projects set up at Netflix.
Over the Moon
You have spoken a lot about your love for hand-drawn animation. How are you enjoying directing this CG-animated feature?
There was a moment where Peilin was saying, we want you to make this movie your own, and we know you love hand-drawn. But after doing Tangled I realized how much drawing is infused in CG if you want it to be. It can be the foundation to everything that you do. So, we decided to take all the power of drawing and design, the beauty of the lighting and the design and colors and textures that CG can bring. We decided to do it in CG. Now I look at the film and cannot imagine that we could have done it any other way.
How is the work divided between the studios?
Gennie Rim (producer): Most of our team right now is at Sony Pictures Imageworks in Vancouver. We are wrapping up the film there. In terms of Pearl Studio in Shanghai, most of our team were there during the early stages, vis-dev stage, helping out with the design and consulting throughout.
Glen Keane: It’s a very international production. We have people in Holland, in Spain, France, Canada, China. It was truly a new model of doing animation not only internationally, but within a studio system — unique the way Netflix and Pearl collaborated on this project.
What are some of the standout qualities of this movie that makes it special to you?
My favorite animated movie is Peter Pan: There’s this wonderful moment when Peter Pan takes Wendy, Jonathan and Michael out of the window of their home, and they fly across London. That idea that you can fly has always been a big part for me. I have flying dreams! As I read the script, the idea of building a rocket to the Moon really captured my imagination.
When I was seven years old, I had a birthday party, and my dad told us, “I don’t know if any of you might be interested, but I was talking to NASA and they’ve built a rocketship. It’s all top secret, so I can’t show it to you. But it’s in our backyard and I can blindfold you and give each one of you a ride on it.” So we were blindfolded and went outside, and sat in the cockpit and you could hear ground control talking as the rocket took off and you could feel the wind in your face.Then, we finally landed, my mom took the blindfold off. My parents had set up a lawn chair and they had just carried us in the air. They had used a ham radio to recreate the sound of the ground control. That was the most wonderful thing and I never forgot that experience.
I feel like animation is like that. It takes you on this ride that everyone is going to believe it. So much of the story in Over the Moon is like Wizard of Oz, and believing Dorothy goes up in the tornado and visits Oz. Our movie is the same kind of adventure that we want to take audiences on. I love the fantasy, the imagination, the desire to make believe, but deeper than that it was something that Audrey was writing from this deep, heartfelt need. Our main character is going to the Moon to meet a Moon Goddess, and just like Dorothy, she has to go through this experience to be able to deal with the problems she is facing at home.
Over the Moon
Can you tell us a little bit about the movie’s visuals and your sources of inspiration for the overall look?
The movie has quite a unique look of its own. We went to China and spent time in these water towns, because we wanted the film to have an authentic look and have the qualities of the real world we were animating. Our production designer, Celine Desrumaux (The Little Prince, Age of Sail) had just returned from a backpacking trip through China. She fell in love with the textures and details of the real China, not the stereotypical ideas of what people imagined China to be.
In the second act of the movie, we are on the Moon. I showed Celine the cover of Pink Floyd’s album The Dark Side of the Moon, where there is this white light hitting this prism and you see all these bright colors coming through. Celine created a world that was so unique and breathtaking that is pure color. The idea is that the world on Earth is reflected light, while the Moon world is all source light. Another influence was the work of Spanish artist Joan Miró from the early 1900s. We used his imaginative colors and organic shapes as inspiration.
What about the design of the characters?
Well, I knew I wanted to draw and design some of the characters in the movie, and I did. Disney gets so deeply ingrained in you after you spend 40 years there. I was looking at the designs and thinking, it’s almost there, but there needs to be something more. I had seen Brittany Myers’ work on the internet: She had done a wonderful painting of Ariel (The Little Mermaid). There was something different and better about her approach. She was pushing and stretching things in a new way. So I started to imitate her way of drawing and I liked what it was doing for me.
Our producer Gennie asked me if I’d like her to work on the movie. She has a way of building the right team. So we brought her and Jin Kim, with whom I had worked on Tangled, and we designed these characters. They are three-dimensional, soft characters that feel like they have blood in their veins. It’s something that I learned from the Nine Old Men at Disney. It’s so much about sincerity in the eyes of the characters. So much of the performance is about animating the moment of discovery when an idea happens, and you can truly see it in their eyes.
It has been such a strange and difficult year for everyone. What do you hope audiences will take away from this movie when it screens in the fall?
To me, it’s amazing Gennie and I got to do this wonderful film with Kobe Bryant, Dear Basketball, which expressed something that was so personal and such a life message for him. For this movie, Audrey Wells wrote this story knowing that she wasn’t going to be around much longer, and she put this movie in our hands to communicate that message. It’s such a privilege, and we took that very seriously, wanting this film to be as entertaining, fun, emotional and deeply applicable to our own lives.
Ultimately, the film is about opening yourself up to love somebody new. We knew it had to be a musical, and so it features eight songs by our team (Christopher Curtis, Marjorie Duffield and Helen Park). The story is told through these songs. I want people to come away from the movie singing the songs, which are truly wonderful. I would also like them to value the importance of love and cherishing the people in your life.
Aardman Animations icons Nick Park, Peter Lord and Sam Fell gave worldwide audiences the scoop on the Chicken Run sequel on the 20th anniversary of the film’s release (June 23, 2010). In a special feature recorded for the Annecy Online animation festival (online.annecy.org), the trio discussed details about the upcoming movie, which will go into full production in 2021 and will be released on Netflix.
Chicken Run 2 will be directed by Sam Fell (Flushed Away, ParaNorman), exec produced by Lord, Carla Shelley and Karey Kirkpatrick and produced by Steve Pegram (Arthur Christmas). The script is by Kirkpatrick, John O’Farrell and Rachel Tunnard. Park will be creative consultant on the movie.
Here is the official logline:
Having pulled off a death-defying escape from Tweedy’s farm, Ginger has finally found her dream – a peaceful island sanctuary for the whole flock, far from the dangers of the human world. When she and Rocky hatch a little girl called Molly, Ginger’s happy ending seems complete. But back on the mainland the whole of chicken-kind faces a new and terrible threat. For Ginger and her team, even if it means putting their own hard-won freedom at risk – this time, they’re breaking in!
L-R Nick Park, Peter Lord & Sam Fell (Annecy Online presentation)
“Fans around the world have waited patiently for a sequel idea worthy of Chicken Run, so we’re delighted to announce, on the 20th anniversary, that we’ve found the perfect story,” says Lord, Aardman co-founder and creative director. “Netflix feels like the ideal creative partner for this project too: they celebrate the filmmaker, which means we can make the film we want to make — the one we really care about — and share it with a global audience.”
Lord and Park also reminisced about the making of the 2010 classic, which remains the highest-grossing stop-motion animated film of all time ($224.8 million worldwide box office). Park said the idea for the original movie was based on just a sketch he had made of a chicken digging his way out of the chicken coop: “In a way, that sketch said it all — The Great Escape with chickens.”
Lord mentioned that he and his team felt the 20th anniversary of the original title was a good time to embark on the sequel. “We discussed doing the sequel many times in the past, but we had never found an idea that we loved enough, but the idea was always in the back of our minds, and every three or four years, we’d have a go at it,” added the studio co-founder. “We felt that now is the perfect story and the right time.”
Fell said that Ginger was one of his favorite characters in the first movie. “I wanted her to achieve her goal and to feel the green grass under her feet,” he explained. “So with the sequel, we were thinking about the next chapter in her story. She got what she wanted, and she has peace on this beautiful island, which is kind of like chicken paradise, where they ended up at the end of the first movie. She is settled there with Rocky and they hatch an egg together and out pops a little chicken called Molly. What happens is, Molly grows up really quickly, like kids do. She is now thinking about what’s out there and she outgrows the island. Ginger knows that the world finds chickens delicious, and so she doesn’t want to engage with what’s out there at all. At the same time, there is some new threat to chicken-kind I which is developing over the hill on the mainland.”
Fell promised that there will be lots of fun and games and clever contraptions along the way as well. “There are lots of fun gadgets, and we’re moving into paying a tribute to Mission: Impossible, as there are elements of a heist, and we’ll see how they’re going to pull this off!”
Aardman is also working on The Big Fix Up, a new Wallace & Gromit story developed in collaboration with Fictioneers using the latest immersive technologies including augmented reality. The studio is also currently working on its first project with Netflix, Robin Robin, a 30-minute musical tale featuring an all-new cast of characters and set to debut in late 2021.
Studio 100 Film has let the international trailer for Maya the Bee – The Golden Orb out of the hive and onto its YouTube channel. The brand-new, third movie starring the famous little bee will be released into cinemas in 2020 and 2021.
Maya the Bee – The Golden Orb is produced by Studio 100 Media, in co-production with Australian animation company Studio B Animation and in association with Flying Bark Productions. Munich-based Studio 100 Film is the international sales agency for worldwide rights. To date, the movie has been sold to Australia, the US, Canada, Brazil, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Ex- Yugoslavia, CIS Territories and the Baltics, Turkey, Israel, the United Kingdom and South Korea.
“The Australian/German co-production of Maya the Bee – The Golden Orb has provided yet another fantastic opportunity to tell a story with our much-loved, empathetic Maya, who bravely accepts the challenge to help others despite being faced with some tricky obstacles,” said Tracy Lenon, Producer at Studio B Animation. “Maya’s BFF, Willie, truly shines in this adventure to offer an uplifting, funny tale which will have children and their families laughing out loud. The teams in Australia and Germany have worked incredibly hard to ensure that the loyal Maya audience will be inspired with the highest quality animation of which they have come to expect.”
“Maya the Bee’s adventures have delighted audiences around the world and this new film will bring old and new characters together in a fun-filled, comedic story which will appeal to younger and older audiences,” commented Thorsten Wegener, producer and Head of Operations at Studio 100 Media. “Recent challenges to working life have led to our Australian and German teams staying at home to work remotely while finishing the film. It’s quite extraordinary that all this could be achieved with only a small delay on delivery.”
Maya the Bee – First Flight and Maya the Bee – The Honey Games, the first two theatrical features of the beloved bee, were sold to more than 130 countries around the globe and both were the most successful German animated film according to the international box office in 2015 and 2018.
Maya the Bee – The Golden Orb synopsis: When Maya, a headstrong little bee, and her best friend Willi, rescue an ant princess they find themselves in the middle of an epic bug battle that will take them to strange new worlds and test their friendship to its limits. Learn more at studio100film.com.
Johnny Depp will voice the character “Johnny Puff” in the new animated series Puffins from Iervolino Entertainment S.p.A., the global film & television production company founded by producer Andrea Iervolino and co-owned with Monika Bacardi.
Puffins follows the adventures of a group of cute little birds, servants of the wily walrus Otto. The main characters of the series are five Puffins: Johnny Puff (voiced by Depp), Tic and Tac, Didi and Pie. They live with a tribe of puffins in the vast and technological Tana. The stories range from the bold missions of Otto, to multiple situations related to the small, fun problems of everyday life, addressing the issues of social impact in a childish way.
In an effort to promote positive messaging, themes such as gender and race equality and environmental protection are among the important and universal issues addressed in the puffin community throughout the series. Amidst the absurd situations and hilarious gags, kids will be entertainingly introduced to these important themes resonating in society today.
Puffins will be a mobile-first, short-content format animated series consisting of 250 five-minute episodes, produced by Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi.
The episodes will be produced between the Iervolino Entertainment Studios in Rome and Iervolino Studios in Serbia and utilize expert animators ranging from storyboarders, directors, animators, designers and directors of photography in both countries. Collaboration between the two related studios strengthens the production pipeline through the various processing stages of the project. Production work will begin later this summer.
The character of Johnny Puff will embody characteristics of Johnny Depp and allow for unique merchandising opportunities globally.
Depp and Iervolino recently collaborated on the movie Waiting for the Barbarians, which comes out next month (Samuel Goldwyn Films). The film is an adaptation of J.M. Coetzee’s prize-winning novel of the same name, starring Depp, Mark Rylance and Robert Pattinson and directed by Ciro Guerra.
“We’re so happy to reunite with Johnny for a second project,” commented Iervolino. “Experiencing a new and avant-garde project like this short series, alongside Johnny, has given me even more conviction to champion experimental genre and format fusions. Because making this type of content is new for me, I am beyond grateful that Johnny has shown belief in the project and is taking such an active part of it, sharing his thoughtful artistic ideas that are providing real added value to the Puffins universe.”
Paramount Pictures is cutting the highly-anticipated The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run from its theatrical release calendar as COVID-19 uncertainties continue to disrupt the movie biz. Sources told Deadline that the pic — directed by Tim Hill and featuring a full CG makeover for SpongBob and his Bikini Bottom friends courtesy of Mikros Animation — will now head straight to home release on PVOD in early 2021 before hitting CBS All Access.
Sponge on the Run was originally slated to arrive in theaters Memorial Day weekend before being rescheduled for August 7.
Following The SpongeBob Movie (2004; $141 million worldwide) and hybrid flick Sponge Out of Water (2015, $325.1M), Sponge on the Run marks the beloved Nickelodeon cartoon’s big screen full CG debut. Featuring series stars Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Clancy Brown, Rodger Bumpass, Carolyn Lawrence, Mr. Lawrence, Jill Tilley, Mary Jo Catlett and Lori Alan, along with celebrity co-stars Awkwafina, Reggie Watts, Matt Berry, Snoop Dogg and Keanu Reeves, the movie sends SpongeBob and Patrick on an epic rescue road trip to the Lost City of Atlantic City to rescue our absorbent yellow hero’s beloved pet, Gary, “snailnapped” by Poseidon.
You can read more about the project in Ramin Zahed’s recent feature story for Animation Magazinehere.
The release bump was initially reported by Variety.
In advance of its series premiere, FOX Entertainment has renewed the all-new animated comedy The Great North for a second season. The series comes from Bob’s Burgers creator Loren Bouchard, and is created, written and executive-produced by Bob’s Burgers writers and executive producers Wendy Molyneux and Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin and writer Minty Lewis (Regular Show).
“Wendy, Lizzie, Minty and Loren delivered a show that embodies our animation brand so strongly, they left us no choice but to give this stellar series an early renewal ahead of its midseason debut,” said Michael Thorn, President, Entertainment, for FOX Entertainment. “Of course, we’d also like to thank our friends at 20th, who continue to be tremendous partners.”
The Great North follows the Alaskan adventures of the Tobin family, as a single dad, “Beef” (Nick Offerman), does his best to keep his weird bunch of kids close – especially his only daughter, “Judy” (Jenny Slate), 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), and his fiancé, “Honeybee” (Dulcé Sloan), her middle brother, “Ham” (Paul Rust), and 10-year-old-going-on-50 little brother, “Moon” (Aparna Nancherla). While their mother is not in the picture, Judy seeks guidance from her new boss, “Alyson” (Megan Mullaly) and her imaginary friend, Alanis Morisette (guest-voicing as herself), who appears to her in the Northern Lights.
Bento Box Entertainment serves as the series animation studio The Great North.is a 20th Century Fox Television production.
Follow the series on its way to premiere on facebook.com/GreatNorthFOX or on Twitter @GreatNorthFOX.
The Visual Effects Society (VES), the industry’s global professional honorary society, announced the Society’s newest Lifetime members and this year’s recipient of the VES Founders Award. The names of this year’s VES Fellows, Honorary members and inductees into the VES Hall of Fame will be announced at a later date. The honorees and Hall of Fame inductees will be celebrated this fall (details are TBD amidst the evolving COVID-19 public health orders, with an abundance of caution).
Venerated industry executive Ray Scalice was named recipient of the 2020 VES Founders Award. The Society designated visual effects producer Debbie Denise, professor and FMX founder Thomas Haegele, visual effects supervisor Richard Hollander, VES and model shop supervisor/special effects artist Eugene “Gene” P. Rizzardi, Jr. with Lifetime VES memberships.
“Our VES honorees represent a group of exceptional artists, innovators and professionals who have had a profound impact on the field of visual effects,” said Mike Chambers, VES Board Chair. “We are proud to recognize those who helped shape our shared legacy and continue to inspire future generations of VFX practitioners.”
Ray Scalice
Founders Award Recipient: Ray Scalice for his sustained contributions to the art, science or business of visual effects and meritorious service to the Society. For more than 40 years, Scalice has served in executive management positions with Lucasfilm, Industrial Light & Magic, Disney and Pacific Title Digital. Currently, and with more than 80 film credits, Scalice holds the position of General Manager/Executive Producer for Pixel Magic. Scalice started his career at the Walt Disney Company in 1976 and within a year, he was promoted to finance manager of the entertainment development division, and began his ascension in pivotal executive positions.
A founding member of the Visual Effects Society, Scalice has served in multiple leadership roles, including many years on the Awards Committee and as co-chair of the Business, Labor & Law Committee, and as a member of the global Board of Directors. Scalice is also an instructor/lecturer on the Motion Picture Industry for the school of business at Woodbury University.
Debbie Denise
Lifetime Member: Debbie Denise for meritorious service to the Society and the global industry. Executive producer Denise has been involved with the visual effects and animation industry for almost 30 years. Inspired to enter the VFX business after watching Who Framed Roger Rabbit, she joined Industrial Light & Magic where she worked with Ken Ralston, Robert Zemeckis and Steve Starkey, producing the visual effects for Death Becomes Her and Forrest Gump. After moving to Sony Pictures Imageworks with Ralston, they continued their longstanding relationship with the filmmakers on Contact and Cast Away.
Denise has shepherded many groundbreaking films through Sony Pictures Imageworks as Executive Vice President of Production for the visual effects and animation on such films as The Amazing Spider-Man, Alice in Wonderland, Watchmen, Superman Returns, Academy Award-nominated Stuart Little Harry Potter, Men in Black II, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 and Hotel Transylvania.
Thomas Haegele
Lifetime Member: Thomas Haegele for meritorious service to the Society and the global industry. After working as a freelance artist and Creative Director, Professor Haegele established Polygon, one of the first German production houses for professional computer animation. He is the co-founder of Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg, and was a professor for Animation and Digital Imaging for more than 25 years. He served as the Director of the Institute of Animation, Visual Effects and Digital Postproduction, as well as the Deputy Managing Director of the Filmakademie, which has become synonymous with excellence in high-end animation, VFX and post-production education, consistently producing top talent to the global marketplace. Haegele is also the founder and conference chair of FMX, Europe’s most influential Conference on Animation, Effects, Games and Transmedia.
Richard Hollander
Lifetime Member: Richard Hollander, VES for meritorious service to the Society and the global industry. Hollander is a freelance visual effects supervisor, currently working on Avatar 2 and Avatar3. As President of the Film Division and Senior Visual Effects Supervisor at Rhythm & Hues Studios, he presided over film production of visual effects for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Superman Returns, Garfield, 300: Rise of an Empire, Cat in the Hat and The Chronicles of Riddick, among others. Prior to that he was a founding partner, Vice President and Visual Effects Supervisor at VIFX.
Hollander is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture of Arts and Sciences, serving on the Sci-Tech Council and the Executive Committee for the Visual Effects branch, and has co-chaired the Digital Imaging Technology Sub-Committee. He is a founding and long serving board member of the Visual Effects Society and a VES Fellow, and is the recipient of a Scientific and Technical Achievement Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Gene Rizzardi
Lifetime Member: Eugene “Gene” P. Rizzardi, Jr. for meritorious service to the Society and the global industry. Now retired, Rizzardi is an acclaimed model shop supervisor and special effects artist, who operated his own model and prop company, Modelwerkes and Special Effects. He started his work in the special effects department as miniature and model maker in the late 1970s when he worked on Scared to Death, Megaforce, V, V: The Final Battle and The Hugga Bunch, which garnered him an Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects. Further credits include Demolition Man, Apollo 13, Titanic, Alien: Resurrection, Godzilla, American Beauty and Dinner for Schmucks.
Rizzardi is featured in the 2011 documentary Sense of Scale. He has served for many years on the VES Board of Directors and is a member of the Visual Effects Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Association of Professional Model makers.
Broadway hitmaker Lin-Manuel Miranda (In the Heights) appeared via video chat on Monday’s episode of Good Morning America (ABC) to discuss the filming and streaming launch of his multi-Tony-winning sensation Hamilton on Disney+ and how he and his family are keeping busy during COVID-19 lockdown.
The multitalented entertainer even revealed a new, hush-hush musical animated feature project in the works with Disney. Miranda wrote original songs for the studio’s 2016 hit Moana — including the Oscar-nominated, Grammy-winning tune “How Far I’ll Go.”
“The other thing I’m working on, I’m actually writing a new animated musical with Disney Animation,” Miranda told hosts Michael Strahan, Amy Robach and George Stephanopoulos. “I’m collaborating with the Zootopia guys and Jared Bush, who wrote Moana with me.”
As well as being credited with the final Moana screenplay, Jared Bush co-directed and co-wrote Oscar and Golden Globe-winning feature Zootopia — directed by Byrond Howard (Tangled, Bolt) and Rich Moore (Wreck-It Ralph, Ralph Breaks the Internet).
“It’s set in Colombia, in Latin America — and that’s all I can say before Bob Iger just shows up in my apartment,” he added, referring to the Walt Disney Co. executive chairman.
The untitled project joins Miranda’s busy slate, which also includes songwriting for Sony Pictures Animation’s Vivo — a CG musical comedy which follows a capuchin monkey with a thirst for adventure and a passage for music, who makes the treacherous journey from Havana to Miami to fulfill his destiny. Kirk DeMicco (The Croods) is directing the pic, which is slated for release June 4, 2021.
The filmed production of Hamilton bows on Disney+ July 3.
Pop culture connoisseurs recognize the amazing J.J. Sedelmaier for his influential Saturday TV Funhouse and The Ambiguously Gay Duo shorts for SNL and producing the first season of MTV’s Beavis and Butt-Head. But true animation fans know that the talented Mr. Sedelmaier and his wife Patrice are celebrating the 30th anniversary of their New York-based animation/graphic design studio in July. We had a chance to chat with the Annie Award-winning illustrator, designer, author and film director/producer on this special occasion.
J.J. Sedelmaier
Can you tell us a little bit about how you started out in the business?
J.J. Sedelmaier: I think I always knew I wanted to be a part of the art world, especially comic books. From grade school on, I was steeped in drawing and other creative stuff. My mom was a graphic designer/painter and my dad was a filmmaker (he did the “Where’s The Beef?” ads). They met at Chicago’s Art Institute. So I received plenty of encouragement and support. After I finished college, my strategy was twofold: If I wanted to get into animation, I’d move to the West Coast. If the comic-book industry was what I wanted to explore, I’d move to New York. I had been to NYC visiting relatives just about every Christmas of my life, so I chose NY and comic books. After taking my portfolio around to the few companies in the city, I found that my fantasy bubble of drawing superheroes had popped. Patrice stepped in and encouraged (poked) me to take my work around to more places and people. As soon as I did, I was asked more than once if I was interested in animation… Who knew there was animation in NY? It took off from there.
What was your first job in the animation business?
My first studio job was at Perpetual Motion Pictures (Feb. 1981) working as an inbetweener on Strawberry Shortcake in Big Apple City. From there, I went to Perpetual Animation, then Buzzco, and then R.O. Blechman’s The Ink Tank from May 1984 through 1990. My wife Patrice and I incorporated J.J. Sedelmaier Productions on July 12, 1990.
As you look back, what are the secrets to your success?
Well, first and foremost, having a business partner in Patrice has made the past three decades more worthwhile than anything else I can think of. The level of investment that we have in the company and the industry is unparalleled. Also, our desperate desire to stay at a small, manageable size. It gives you much better control and allows the focus to be on the work as opposed to managing and juggling people. Infinite patience and a basic appreciation of working and collaborating with other people helps most certainly. I get grumpy when the emphasis strays from that and becomes political, etc. There’s absolutely nothing better than when you find a partner or partners to play with on a project. Being in sync and acting as a support system for each other is what it’s all about! And the other cherished decision we made was to do it in White Plains, NY, close to our home. It gave us so much more control over how Patrice and I could balance our personal and business lives.
Ambiguously Gay Duo
What are some of your best career memories?
Too many… but always at the top of the list is all the talented folks I’ve been able to work with. Whether they’re employees, artists, ad agency or network peeps, it’s the people you get to spend your time with! Some of the cartoonists and designers I’ve been lucky to play with are: Al Hirschfeld, Seymour Chwast, Al Jaffee, Don Martin, Patrick McDonnell, Peter de Sève, Bill Plympton, Sue Rose, George Booth, Garry Trudeau, Berkeley Breathed, Lee Lorenz, Sempé, David Levine, Neal Adams, Ed Sorel, M.K. Brown, Rick Meyerowitz, Lenny Glasser, Lou Myers, Gary Baseman, Guy Billout, Joost Swarte, Barry Blitt … these are my idols!
What were some of the biggest nightmares?
Not too many, really. Doing Beavis and expanding from four or five people to 60 was a trip. We found out only after signing on that it had been passed around to just about any studio that would consider it. We were the only ones willing (whacky enough) to take it on, but only because we could do it digitally. I’ve always been thankful for B&BH making us realize so early on that we’re a “small studio” kinda company, and not into being big for bigness sake. I’ve seen so many other studios becoming behemoths and losing sight of their original mission, then imploding.
What are you currently working on?
Finishing up a fourth spot for an award-winning campaign we started two years ago for Regional Hospice in Connecticut. It uses cartoon animation (and even humor), to deal with the difficult subject of hospice care — for old and young candidates.
How do you survive the changing tastes and new technology preferences in the business?
It helps to be known for doing edgy humor and parody. It’s also been very handy to have been able to work in any style and/or technique. Through the years, we’ve done work in an endless variety of 2D styles, CG, stop-motion and live/animation combos. The work we did with Robert Smigel for SNL left us a very special brand.
Favorite animated movies and TV shows of all time?
Films: Disney’s Pinocchio, La Joie de Vivre, An Optical Poem, Yellow Submarine, Iron Giant, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.TV shows: Rocky & Bullwinkle, Ren & Stimpy, South Park, Invader Zim and Family Guy. Animation idols: Winsor McCay, E.G. Lutz, Disney, Tytla, Natwick, Tissa David, Dick Williams, Marv Newland, Bill Plympton, Brad Bird, Rebecca Sugar.
Tek Jansen
Can you offer some advice for animation hopefuls trying to get in the business?
“Don’t be a schmuck.” (you can quote me…) The industry (and any successful production) depends on collaboration as a key component. You may be God’s gift to the world of art, but if no one wants to work with you, all that talent means nothing. And the industry is incestuous, so the word spreads quickly regarding who’s a joy to work with, and who’s a pain.
Enter your work into festivals and competition ! It’s great publicity and PR.
Find the folks who are doing what you consider to be great work, and try to connect. Do your homework though, and be prepared to explain why you dig their stuff and what you can conceivably contribute!
Join your area ASIFA chapter and meet the people in the community you ultimately want to be a part of. It’s not only your opportunity to meet them, but their chance to check you out !
Finally, you can obsess on animation all you want, but also spread your interests and exposure to other realms as well. Film, art, music, history … you should be as well versed in everything as you can be!
The 2020 Palm Springs International ShortFest announced its Festival juried award winners, chosen from the 332 shorts films that were part of the Official Selection. A number of those films were made available online to screen from June 16-22. Awards and cash prizes worth $25,000 including five Academy Award-qualifying honors will be presented to the winners.
Among the Oscar Qualifying Awards offered by ShortFest — which may grant the winners eligibility to submit their short to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Oscar consideration — is Best Animated Short. The winner of this category, juried by Lizzy Hogenzon (director), K.J. Reith (UCLA Film & Television Archive) and Oscar-nominated animator-director Siqi Song (Sister), received a $1,000 cash prize.
Best Animated Short was awarded to The Fabric of You (U.K.), directed by Josephine Lohoar Self.
In the Bronx in the era of 1950s McCarthyism, everybody wants to look the same. Michael, a gay 20-something-year-old mouse, hides his true identity while he works as a tailor. When Isaac enters the shop one day, he offers the escapism and love Michael craves.
Jury statement: “Weaving together strong thematic elements with keen attention to simple detail and a tangible, textural aesthetic, stop-motion animator Josephine Lohoar Self masterfully breathes life into this fully-realized story of love and loss that is both visually impactful and emotionally resonant.”
Special Mention: SH_T Happens (Czech Republic/Slovakia/France), directed by Michaela Mihalyi and David Stumpf.
The caretaker, exhausted by everything, his frustrated wife and one totally depressed deer. Their mutual despair leads them to absurd events, because… shit happens all the time.
The Best Student Animated Short competition ($1,000 cash prize) was juried by Cara Cusumano (Tribeca Film Festival), Angie Driscoll (festival programmer) and Kate Erbland (Indiewire).
SH_T Happens
Best Student Animated Short: Daughter (Czech Republic), directed by Daria Kashcheeva.
Should you hide your pain? Close yourself inside your inner world, full of longing for your father’s love and its displays? Or should you understand and forgive before it is too late?
Jury statement: “Elegant and deadly silent in its emotional power, the jury was moved by this impressively crafted look at a father-daughter dynamic marked by missed connections, mistakes and emotional misunderstandings. With painterly attention to detail that renders movement (especially eye movement) deeply cinematic, this universal story is a welcome reminder to take time for loved ones before it’s too late, and also that it’s never too late.”
Daughter
Special Mention: SH_T Happens (Czech Republic/Slovakia/France), directed by Michaela Mihalyi and David Stumpf.
Jury statement: “With a candy-sweet color palette and not a single spoken word, this film took us on an endlessly unexpected and entertaining journey, bringing us 13 minutes of dark comic absurdity that manage to capture the whole emotional spectrum of human (and deer?) relationships. An utterly unique film that gleefully leans into its title.”
Visit www.psfilmfest.org for more information and to see the other winners.
The winners of this year’s Annecy International Animation Festival were announced today (Saturday, June 20th) online. The program, which was held online this year due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, will continue throughout the end of the month at Annecy.org. Among the top winners this year were Rémi Chayé’s lush and colorful 2D-animated feature Calamity, a Childhood of Martha Jane Cannary and Theodore Ushev’s acclaimed short The Physics of Sorrow, which was also a big prize winner at Ottawa last year. Among the winners on the TV side were Picolo Productions’ Shooom’s Odyssey, Amazon/Torante/Submarine’s Undone and Lupus Films special The Tiger Who Came to Tea.
Here is the complete list of the 2020 winners:
FEATURE FILMS
Crystal for a Feature Film Calamity, a Childhood of Martha Jane Cannary
Rémi Chayé
(France, Denmark; Maybe Movies, Norlum)
Jury Award The Nose or the Conspiracy of Mavericks
Audrey Khrzhanovsky
(Russia, School-Studio Shar)
Jury Distinction Kill It and Leave This Town
Mariusz Wilczynski
(Poland; Bomobnierka, Extreme Options, Iam-Adam Mickiewicz Institute, EC1 Lodz City of Culture, Letko, DI Factory, Gigant Films, Polish Film Institute)
Contrechamp Award My Favorite War
IlzeBurkovskaJocobsen
(Latvia/Norway: Bivrost film & TV, Ego Media)
Contrechamp Jury Distinction
The Shaman Sorceress
Jae-huunAhn
(South Korea, Meditation with a Pencil)
SHORT FILMS
Cristal for a Short Film The Physics of Sorrow
Theodore Ushev
(Canada, National Film Board of Canada)
Jury Award Homeless Home
Alberto Vazques
France, Spain; Autour de Minuit, UnikoEstudioCreativo
Jean-Luc Xiberras Award for a First Film The Town
Yifan Bao
China, ARC Anime Studio
Jury Distinction Freeze Frame
SoetkinVerstegen
Belgium, Akademie Schloss Solitude
Jury Distintion Genius Loci
Adrien Merigeau
(France, Kazak Productions, Folimage)
Off-Limits Award Serial Parallels
Max Hattler
(Germany, Hong Kong: Relentless Melt)
TV AND COMMISSIONED FILMS
Cristal for a TV Production Shooom’s Odyssey
Julien Bisaro
(Belgium, France: Picolo Pictures)
Jury Award for TV Series Undone
Hisko Hulsing
(U.S.; Amazon Prime Video, Torante Productions, Submarine)
Jury Award for a TV Special The Tiger Who Came to Tea
Robin Shaw (U.K., Lupus Films)
COMMISSIONED FILMS
Cristal for a Commissioned Film Lucky Chops “Traveler”
Daniel Almagor, Raman Djafari
Germany, Studio Vogel
Jury Award
Greenpeace “Turtle Journey”
Gavin Strange
(U.K. Aardman Animations)
GRADUATION FILMS
Cristal for a Graduation Film Naked
Kirill Khachaturov
(Russia, Moscow School of New Cinema)
Jury Award Pile
Toby Auberg
(U.K., Royal College of Art)
Jury Distinction Sura
Hae-Ji Jeong
(South Korea, Korean National University of Arts, Knuadis K’Arts)
VR WORKS
Cristal for the Best VR Work Minimum Mass
Raqi Syed, Areito Echevarria
(France, New Zealand; Like Amber, Floreal Films)
Jury Special Distinction Battlescar – Punk Was Invented by Girls
Martin Allais, Nicolas Casavecchia
(USA, France; Atlas, Albyon, 1st Ave. Machine, Ryot, Arte France)
The first images from Studio Ghibli’s debut CG-animated feature, Aya and the Witch, directed by scion Gorō Miyazaki, have been released. Adapted from the novel by Earwig and the Witch by British author Diana Wynne Jones (1934-2011), who also penned the source for Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar-nominated Howl’s Moving Castle, the tale of a bright orphan who pits her wits against life in a mysterious new home and magic-wielding foster parents, is due to premiere on Japanese TV station NHK this winter.
As previously announced, studio co-founder Hayao Miyazaki (Oscar winner for Spirited Away) oversaw the planning for the adaptation helmed by his son, whose previous directing credits include Ghibli features From Up on Poppy Hill and fantasy adaptation Tales from Earthsea and the cel-shaded CG series Ronja, the Robber’s Daughter. The elder Miyazaki got acquainted with CG techniques making the short Boro the Caterpillar for the Ghibli Museum.
Unlike Boro and Ronja, the early images for Aya reveal a full 3D CG production with fleshed-out characters inspired by traditional Japanese anime aesthetics. But, details of the character designs, costumes and meticulously staged backgrounds still hold the atmospheric charm fans have come to expect from Ghibli films.
Politically intrigue is served in a family meal scene from the newly-launched fifth episode of Central Park, available to watch now on Apple TV+. In “Dog Spray Afternoon,” Owen (Leslie Odom Jr.) grapples with a graffiti artist tagging the park, while Helen (Daveed Diggs) plots against Bitsy’s (Stanley Tucci) dog, Shampagne.
Special guest stars in episode 105 include David Herman, Brian Huskey, Janelle James, Phil Lamarr, Andrew Rannells, Rory O’Malley, Tony Shalhoub, Daniel Van Kirk and Kelvin Yu, and guest songwriters include Disney Legend Alan Menken and Glenn Slater.
Central Park follows the Tillermans, a family that lives in Central Park. Owen, the park manager, and Paige, his journalist wife, raise their kids Molly (Kristen Bell) and Cole (Tituss Burgess) in the world’s most famous park, while fending off hotel heiress Bitsy Brandenham and her long suffering assistant Helen, who would love nothing more than to turn the park into condos.
The series is created, written and exec produced by Loren Bouchard (creator, Bob’s Burgers), Josh Gad (voice of Olaf in Frozen) and Nora Smith; Sanjay Shah and Halsted Sullivan are also exec producers. Central Park is produced by 20th Century Fox Television.
One of the most powerful events of this year’s online Annecy and MIFA program was the Women in Animation panel titled “Black Women in Animation: Looking to the Future,” which went live on Wednesday (and is free to watch at online.annecy.org). Featuring Camille Eden, Nickelodeon’s VP of animation recruitment and development; Karen Rupert Toliver, exec VP of creative at Sony Pictures Animation; screenwriter Misan Sagay (Belle) and writer Jade Branion (The Chi), and moderated by Columbia University professor of film studies Jamal Joseph, the panel was an honest discussion of the challenges of breaking into animation as a Black woman, and what animation executives can do to improve the landscape in terms of diversity and representation.
“We would like to see parity in the field of animation, where we have 50 percent men and 50 percent women, but women of color have a much lower number in the field because of their oppressed history,” said Joseph in the intro. “The face of animation is mainly the face and positioning of white men, and we’d like to reimagine the future through the lens of women of color in animation.”
Each panelist told stories about how she got into the entertainment field, and shared the difficult experiences of starting out being the only Black woman in the room.
Eden recalled that after she graduated from film school in San Francisco State, the opportunities were few and far between. “I applied for a year to get a job at a visual effects company, and even then, I got my foot in the door by getting a job at the security department,” she noted. “I had to literally pitch myself to the producers to take a chance on me. When I moved into animation and recruiting, the number of people of color working in the business was very low. You never saw anyone who looked like you, so I decided to do something about that and reach out to those artists — because there are out there. I embraced the mission to focus on inclusive hiring even before we talked about it as a word. There is so much untapped talent out there.”
Tales of Assimilation
Toliver talked about growing up being the only Black girl in a private school in Dallas, and how she had to accommodate all her white friends, while they told her that they felt uncomfortable being around black people. “I was used to being the only Black person in the room, and I came to Hollywood wanting to make Black films,” she said. “I stumbled into Disney Feature Animation, and I knew how powerful those animated movies were. I was enamored with them, but I could see that there was a big problem with representation. Before Princess and the Frog, there were not any real Black stories told. I remember writing a memo to my boss about how difficult it was to be the only person in the room who thought that was important. Cut to today, and the discussion has quite evolved although we still have challenges. But I was grateful to be in a role that I could make an impact.”
Sagay, who grew up in Nigeria, said she felt very lucky that the first script she wrote was sold and made into a movie. “It used to be that you had to convince people in charge that your voice was relevant and interesting and that there’s an audience for it. Now, the audience is crying out for it. I am currently working on an animated script for Netflix and I find it very exciting, because animation gives you a lot of freedom as a writer.”
She went on to discuss how important it is for children to see themselves represented in animated shows and movies. “I never saw that as a child,” she recalled. “Films are the family portrait of humanity, and it’s like you are looking at a family photograph album and you’re not there, and you’re asking yourself, ‘Where am I?’ It’s feeling completely erased from the narrative as if one doesn’t exist. I feel we minimize the depth of the wound that this creates for the child. Thinking about all the fairy tales we saw, it wasn’t that you weren’t allowed to have a happy ending — you weren’t even allowed to be there.”
‘People Who Look Like Me’
Toliver, who received an Oscar last year for producing the acclaimed short Hair Love, said, “When I had the chance to produce Hair Love, it was such a cathartic, personal experience to be in a room of creative people like me. It’s incredibly important to get [inclusive] images like that out there. We need to bring more people in. Artists write about what they know. We need to create a platform for bringing in new filmmakers where we can tell diverse stories and support them.”
Eden shared the experience of taking her then two-year-old daughter to see Disney’s Princess and the Frog. “I was worried that she may not be able to really enjoy the movie because she was so young, but she was so into that story. She actually shushed me! This was the first time she ever saw a Black princess on the screen. I had never experienced that when I was growing up. We had The Proud Family and Bébé’s Kids, but you are so hungry for more images. I can imagine the fight involved to get those shows on the air back then.”
She added, “In my position, I am going to use my ability, skills and knowledge to help more people get in the room and have a seat at the table … The world is not one color. When you look at the makeup of this world, the majority of people are something else. These are stories that need to be told.”
Sagay pointed out that it was only until the last few years that she got to pitch her projects to a person of color. She remembered a time that she was told by a TV executive that her project (which featured a Black protagonist) wasn’t suitable for Sunday night viewing in the U.K. “They told me this show feels like something that would be shown on Sunday night, and you’re really not Sunday night people! Which meant: Your presence doesn’t make people feel comfortable.’”
Things were much better years later when Sagay got to pitch to a Black woman executive at Warner Bros. “It felt as if I had been walking in lead boots and someone had taken them off, and I could fly,” she said. “It was a magical experience. I walked out of that meeting thinking, ‘So this is what it’s like to be white!’”
The panelists agreed that things started to change about three or four years ago, where authenticity became more important. Toliver said, “We started to have this consciousness that white savior stories were not going to be the only stories being told … Now that we see an opening, we should prove and show to them that when these authentic stories do get out, they’re going to be well received and we are going to need more. The more stories that are told the better because they don’t get scrutinized. You just get to embrace them all, just like you with any mainstream project.”
So what needs to be done? “They need to hire us!,” said Branion. “It must seem like a daunting task, but there’s so much talent out there. Bring us to your writers’ room. Hire Black showrunners, animators, directors.”
Eden also emphasized the importance of making Black employees feel comfortable and welcome at studios. “If someone comes into your organization and they don’t feel comfortable, they’re going to turn around and leave. There’s enough room at the table for others to have a voice. But you need to have an understanding of how to have an inclusive workplace and that comes from the top.”
You can watch this panel and several other important Women in Animation panels featured in the Carte Blanche section of online.annecy.org.
Panelists from left: Jade Branion, Camille Eden, Misan Sagay and Karen Rupert Toliver,
From left, Disney’s The Princess and the Frog, Hair Love, Doc McStuffins and The Proud Family are some of the few animated projects with strong black female protagonists and subject matters.
Comedy Central has picked up Jodie — an upcoming spinoff of fan-favorite MTV toon Daria (itself a spinoff of Mike Judge’s Beavis and Butt-head) starring Golden Globe and multi-NAACP Image Award winner Tracee Ellis Ross (black-ish) as Jodie Landon. The series will center on the character, a friend of Daria and Jane’s in the 1997-2002 show, as she graduates from college and enters a complicated contemporary world. What Daria did for the banality of high school, Jodie aims to do for workplace culture, Gen Z struggles and the artifice of social media, while exploring themes of empowerment along gender and racial lines, shining a wickedly funny spotlight on the issues young Black women face today. (Deadline)
Jodie is created by Grace Nkenge Edwards (Insecure, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), who also serves as head writer. The series is being produced by MTV Studios.
Hulu has placed renewal orders for Solar Opposites and Crossing Swords, swiftly on the heels of their streaming premieres. The platform is home to the largest streaming TV library of Adult Animation, including award-winning hits like Family Guy, Bob’s Burgers, Rick and Morty, Futurama and King of the Hill. The category is a high-driver of engagement on Hulu and currently holds the highest average re-watch rate on the service.
Hulu has renewed 20th Century Fox Television’s adult animated series Solar Opposites for a third season (12 episodes). The series was initially picked up for two-season order. On May 8, new show from Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland and Mike McMahan debuted as Hulu’s most-watched Original comedy premiere to date and was Certified Fresh by Rotten Tomatoes. Read more about the series here.
Hulu has also renewed Stoopid Buddy Stoodios’ adult animated series Crossing Swords for a second season (10 episodes). The first season debuted on Friday, June 12 and is distributed by Sony Pictures Television Studios. Co-creator Tom Root returns as writer/executive producer, and co-creator John Harvatine IV returns as director/executive producer. Voice stars Nicholas Hoult, Adam Ray, Tara Strong, Tony Hale, Luke Evans, Seth Green, Alanna Ubach, Adam Pally, Yvette Nicole Brown, Maya Erskine, Breckin Meyer and Wendi McLendon-Covey will reprise their roles. Read more about the show here.
John Landis
Genius Brands Int’l announced that multi-award-winning, blockbuster film helmer John Landis (Blues Brothers, Three Amigos, Coming to America) has joined the production team the new kids’ animated series Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten as series director. He will be directing lead voice star Arnold Schwarzeneggar in this action-adventure series about superpowered tots, and serve as co-producer alongside Alibaba Group (China), Stan Lee’s POW! Entertainment and Schwarzeneggar’s Oak Productions. The series is developed by Deadpool co-creator Fabian Nicieza. Scripts by Steven Banks (SpongeBob SquarePants).
Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten will premiere as part of Genius Brands’ animated originals lineup on its new Kartoon Channel! AVOD/OTT offering in Q1 of 2021. The series will also be available on Amazon Prime Video (U.S.) and Alibaba’s kids’ platform Youku (China). Concurrently, Genius Brands is actively marketing a full-scale global consumer products retail program anchored with toys, publishing, and apparel.
Berry Bees
Italy-based production and distribution transmedia company Atlantyca Entertainment has signed a number of new broadcast deals for its highly-awaited animated series Berry Bees (52 x 12′). The show premiered on Rai Gulp with an initial 26 episodes last December — the second-half of the season launched May 6, the final episodes completed and delivered by the production team during Italy’s strict coronavirus lock-down requirements.
The first season has been sold to several new broadcast partners, including VRT (Belgium) for the channel Ketnet; AMC Networks International – Central and Northern Europe (Hungary, Romania, Moldova, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia) for Minimax; and MINIKA (Turkey) for Minika GO. Berry Bees is available on the Rai Play digital platform, and has aired on Australia’s NINE Network 9GO since last fall and launched successfully in 2020 on STAN, Australia’s leading online streaming service.
A fun-filled spy-action series for kids 5-9, Berry Bees follows three extraordinarily talented 10-year-old girls named Bobby, Lola and Juliette. Seemingly ordinary school-age children, they have been selected by the B.I.A. (Bee Intelligence Agency) for those special spy missions in which only child agents can be involved. Together the girls are known as the Berry Bees: When the world’s top-secret villains unleash their mayhem and the adult spies are simply not suitable for the case, our heroes become mistresses of disguise, secret undercover agents, astute mentalists and rad martial arts experts who also use awesome berry-themed gadgets to save the day. The series is produced by Atlantyca (worldwide distribution rights), SLR Productions (Australia/New Zealand), Telegael (Ireland/U.K.) and Cosmos-Maya Production (Asia).
Guitar & Drum
9 Story Distribution International has acquired worldwide distribution rights of the new animated series Guitar & Drum. Produced by Punkrobot Animation Studio (Chile; producer of the first Latin American animated short to win the Oscar, Bear Story) and Hype Animation (Brazil), the 52 x 5’ show is aimed at preschool audiences. The series is directed by Punkrobot’s Antonia Herrera and María Elisa Soto-Aguilar, in their directorial debut. Pato Escala (Bear Story, I Am Little Red) and Gabriel Garcia (Tainá and the Amazon’s Guardians) serve as executive producers. Guitar & Drum premiered on Disney Channels Latin America last May.
Aimed at children 3-5, Guitar & Drum follows the adventures of two musical instruments who are also best friends. The series celebrates diversity as an essential part of who we are through a wide range of characters. It addresses cultural topics, personal abilities and different tastes and shows how our differences can empower us to build a better world.
“We are excited to be partnering with the incredibly talented studios Punkrobot and Hype,” said Alix Wiseman, SVP, Distribution & Acquisitions for 9 Story. “Guitar & Drum is a beautiful series with important messages about inclusivity which we’re thrilled to bring to an international audience.”
Kosmix
Emmy Award-winning French animation production and distribution company Dandelooo has closed a deal with Czech animation production company Krutart to acquire exclusive worldwide distribution rights to the new 2D kids’ astronomy series, Kosmix (26 x 5’). Co-produced by Krutart and pubcaster Czech Television, directed by Vojtěch Dudek and Klára Jůzová and targeted at kids 4-8, the series follows the adventures of Kit — a lovable, brave and curious little robot — as he explores the universe in his space travel TV show. Every episode focuses on a different planet or a space object, where our tour guide Kit always finds a new adventure. Through his explorations, he learns how space works and given the fact he is not a very experienced explorer he often runs into trouble but in the end that’s what helps him to learn.
Dandelooo currently has two films in the Official Selection in the Short TV Films in Competition category at this week’s Annecy Online festival — Shooom’s Odyssey and Hungry Bear Tales — as well as a Work in Progress for Mum Is Pouring Rain (co-produced by Laïdak Films). The studio also announced that its new 2D animated series Stinky Dog (52 x 13′, Kids 6-10), commissioned by France Televisions, is set to launch, with two episodes airing on the SVOD platform OKOO during MIFA. Co-produced by Dandelooo, Folivari, France, Belgian production company Panique! and Catalan animation studio Pikkukala, Stinky Dog is based on the famous series of books written by Colas Gutman, illustrated by Marc Boutavant.
Filly Funtusia
The magical world of Filly Funtasia is all set to enchant little ones in Eastern Europe. Imira, the distribution arm of kids and family entertainment major Toonz Media Group, has signed a deal with Hungarian television major AMC TV for broadcast of the hugely popular girls’ brand series. Season 1 (26 x 22′) will air on Minimax, servicing East European countries including Hungary, Romania, Moldova, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Ex-Yugoslavia (Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia).
The Filly brand, with its legacy of 13 years in the market and millions of toys sold, has a tremendous fan base and debuted recently in China as the number one animation series for girls and number two for all animation on the Chinese video streaming platform iQiyi. The vibrant and colourful Filly world conveys important messages on teamwork, mutual respect and remaining curious.
Moonbug Kids
Moonbug, a global entertainment company that develops and distributes values-based content for kids, announced the launch of the Moonbug channel on Sky Kids, part of Sky, Europe’s leading media and entertainment company. Families in the U.K. and Ireland with Sky can now access Moonbug’s most popular kids’ content, ad-free, through the new VOD channel, including global sensation Little Baby Bum, Go Buster, Playtime with Twinkle, Digley and Dazey, Dr Poppy’s Pet Rescue, T-Rex Ranch, Gecko’s Garage, The Sharksons, Supa Strikas and Moonbug’s first original series, Mia’s Magic Playground.
Moonbug’s popular children’s content is focused on great storytelling that helps kids learn and grow by promoting healthy values such as compassion, empathy and resilience. The Moonbug channel is now available in the U.K. and Ireland on Sky Q, and it will be available through Sky Go and the Sky Kids App soon. Moonbug content will be refreshed on a regular basis.
Today, Cartoon Network is marking Juneteenth with a day-long celebration on air and across the network’s social media channels. CN artists have created custom illustrations, highlighting Black characters from its hit animated series, and an on-air spot featuring Craig (Craig of the Creek) will deliver a special message to television viewers.
— Cartoon Network (@cartoonnetwork) June 19, 2020
The conversation will continue on Saturday, June 20, with a Miss Juneteenth social engagement spotlighting Jessica (Craig of the Creek), Bumblebee (DC Super Hero Girls) and Kiki (Steven Universe). Plus, fans can check out a showcase of commissioned art themed on “Black beauty,” created by artists from all corners of the world — including Dapo Adeola, Nicholle Kobi and Vashti Harrison, to name a few — on the Cartoon Network Instagram feed and stories.
Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States. The date is taken from June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers landed at Galveston, TX and announced the end of the Civil War and the emancipation of enslaved people in the state, where President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation hadn’t been enforced. The day is one of appreciating African-American history, and marks a crucial step towards a better, more equitable world for future generations of Black children. (www.juneteenth.com)
Copernicus Studios Inc. has announced a development deal with creator Jim Zub to adapt the Skullkickers comic series, written by Zub and illustrated by Edwin Huang and Chris Stevens, into an animated adventure series.
“Demand for adult animated content is on the rise,” said Paul Rigg, President of Copernicus Studios. “Over the past few years, we’ve seen the popularity of anime and other content for mature audiences increase in North America. Shows like Castlevania, Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal and Rick and Morty are grabbing attention for good reason. It’s a great time to make our mark in this space.”
Skullkickers is a sarcastic send-up of sword & sorcery stories about a trio of mercenaries who kill monsters and cause mayhem in their quest for money, fame and adventure. The series was first published by Image Comics in 2010 and has built a loyal following over the past decade alongside surging interest in fantasy-based entertainment.
Jim Zub is a prolific writer based in Toronto, Canada. Over the past 20 years, he has worked for a wide array of clients, including Marvel, DC Comics, Disney, Capcom, Hasbro and Cartoon Network. Zub’s reputation has risen in comics and gaming with high profile projects including The Avengers, Samurai Jack, Rick and Morty VS Dungeons & Dragons and Conan the Barbarian.
“We have big plans for these head-cracking heroes!” said a keen Murray Bain, Copernicus Co-Founder and VP of Creative. “There’s so much in the books to work with and we’re pumped to unleash that same excitement and a whole lot more in animation. It’s time to kick some skulls!”
