Animation Magazine

Tag: featured

  • Nancy Kanter Exiting Disney Channels After 20 Years

    Longtime Mouse House leader Nancy Kanter is leaving her post as EVP, Content and Creative Strategy for Disney Channels Worldwide next year after 20 years with the company. Kanter will make her exit at the end of January 2021. The announcement was made by her perennial colleague, President & CCO Gary Marsh, in a company email.

    The colleagues have agreed to a long transition period that gives Marsh time to assemble a comprehensive plan for Disney Channels’ future. Kanter is not expected to retire — rather, the longtime children’s entertainment champion who helped launch preschool destination Disney Junior is reportedly ready for new challenges. She originally joined Walt’s crew in 2001 as VP Original Programming, Playhouse Disney; was promoted to SVP in 2004 and expanded the role to Playhouse Disney Worldwide in 2008. Kanter was named EVP Original Programming & General Manager of Disney Junior Worldwide in 2012, and expanded her role to cover content for kids 2-14 with her current title in 2017.

    Marsh’s email, in full:

    “I wanted to share some news with you.

    Nancy Kanter, our trusted partner and creative leader for nearly 20 years, has decided to leave Disney Channel at the end of January 2021.

    With her extraordinary talent and passion for storytelling, she helped us create stories for audiences who are just beginning to understand the power of stories. Without a doubt, paramount among her many achievements is building one of the most culturally relevant channels and brands in the global kids’ television business, Disney Junior. At every turn, Disney Junior is a reflection of what matters most to Nancy – entertaining narratives driven by original characters who bring the magic and heart of classic Disney into entirely new stories.

    Another of Nancy’s remarkable and enduring accomplishments is leading the creation of a new way to showcase the most beloved character in the entire Disney universe, Mickey Mouse, to preschoolers and their parents — with the CG-animated series Mickey Mouse Clubhouse which went on to become one of our most important franchises…ever.

    Nancy also shepherded the development of another remarkable series for Disney Junior, Doc McStuffins. And it was Nancy who, early in the development of the series, called for the lead character to be visualized as a young Black girl, and we proudly celebrated Doc as she became a role model for all kids, and especially girls of color. The series won the prestigious Peabody Award, and was cited by critics as “one of the most important shows in the history of television.”

    Her legacy also includes the Emmy Award-winning Sofia the First and its groundbreaking spinoff Elena of Avalor, and the recently launched Mira, Royal Detective. Each of these series is a testament to Nancy’s stewardship of culturally accurate and universally appealing stories with themes that are resonant and authentic to our diverse audiences.

    In her expanded role as the head of creative content and strategy for DCWW, Nancy drove the successful development of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series for Disney+, delivered Disney Channel’s first original movie, Secret Society of Second Born Royals to Disney+, and expanded upon the success of the Disney Channel Original Movie Zombies and Descendants franchises with the most recent movies that delivered even more viewers than their predecessors.

    At our TV Animation studio, Nancy championed Disney Channel’s Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur and the animated fantasy-comedy The Owl House (our #1 animated series with girls and kids) and Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against the Universe and The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder for Disney+.

    In her Disney tenure, it’s clear that the content Nancy has championed is world-class and vast – far too extensive to list here. But beyond the specific content, her enduring legacies are the people she’s mentored, and the culture she’s helped nurture – both of which embody and embrace Nancy’s commitment to honesty, integrity and excellence in every aspect of work.

    I have no doubt she will continue to explore her passion for great stories in the next chapter of her impressive career. She’s not leaving us for many months, so we’ll have plenty of time to celebrate her before she departs. For now, though, please join me in wishing her a magical journey ahead.”

    Kanter responded:

    “There’s no question that the 19+ years I have spent at Disney Channel have been among the most productive and rewarding of my career. I could not be more proud of the content I’ve had a hand in creating and the teams I’ve been fortunate enough to lead. I will leave next year looking forward to continuing to create content that will have a lasting impact on the lives of kids and families around the world via today’s expansive entertainment landscape. I thank the leaders across the company for having given me the opportunity to not only grow as an executive but also as a contributor to the enduring legacy of great Disney storytelling that will live on for generations to come.”

    [Source: Deadline]

  • Watch: Hulu Unsheathes First ‘Crossing Swords’ Teaser

    Watch: Hulu Unsheathes First ‘Crossing Swords’ Teaser

    If you like your adult animated comedies with an adorable stop-motion twist, prepare yourself for the medieval, bloody and full-frontal antics of Hulu’s new original series: Crossing Swords. Premiering June 12, the new 10-episode series from Robot Chicken producers John Harvatine IV and Tom Root, featuring an all-star voice cast, has dropped its first official teaser trailer.

    Synopsis: Patrick is a good hearted peasant who lands a coveted squire position at the royal castle however his dream job quickly turns into a nightmare when he learns his beloved kingdom is run by a hornet’s nest of horny monarchs, crooks and charlatans. Even worse, Patrick’s valor made him the black sheep in his family, and now his criminal siblings have returned to make his life hell. War, murder, full frontal nudity — who knew brightly colored peg people led such exciting lives?

    Crossing Swords 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 McClendon-Covey.

    The series is created and written by Harvatine and Root, and directed by Harvatine.

  • News Bytes: 93rd Oscar Rules, ‘One Day at a Time’ Gets Animated, Premios Quirinos & Cardiff Animation Fest Go Online and More

    News Bytes: 93rd Oscar Rules, ‘One Day at a Time’ Gets Animated, Premios Quirinos & Cardiff Animation Fest Go Online and More

    ‘Trolls World Tour’ Intrepid PVOD Release Nears $100M
    Universal’s decision to take DreamWorks Animation’s highly anticipated family sequel into homes at the 48-hour rental price of $19.99 during the COVID-19 theatrical shutdown has reportedly racked up an estimated $95M in rental fees in the title’s first 19 days. With VOD terms in the studio’s favor at an estimated 80%, Universal is banking an estimated $77M in revenues before marketing expenses. However, this uncharted territory raises questions about what effects this will have on the film’s revenue downstream, vis-a-vis cheaper rental release windows, home entertainment — and what it means for the future relationship between studios and cinemas.

    The PVOD experiment was so successful that Universal Pictures announced Tuesday it will continue to release first-run movies on demand as well as in theaters. In retaliation, AMC Theatres — the largest chain in the U.S. — announced that it will no longer screen any Universal films in its 1,000 locations worldwide: “This radical change by Universal to the business model that currently exists between our two companies represents nothing but downside for us and is categorically unacceptable to AMC Entertainment,” CEO Adam Aron wrote to Universal chairman Donna Langley.

    The studio responded with the following statement:

    “Our goal in releasing Trolls: World Tour on PVOD was to deliver entertainment to people who are sheltering at home, while movie theatres and other forms of outside entertainment are unavailable. Based on the enthusiastic response to the film, we believe we made the right move. In fact, given the choice of not releasing ‘Trolls: World Tour,’ which would not only have prevented consumers from experiencing the movie but also negatively impacted our partners and employees, the decision was clear.

    Our desire has always been to efficiently deliver entertainment to as wide an audience as possible. We absolutely believe in the theatrical experience and have made no statement to the contrary. As we stated earlier, going forward, we expect to release future films directly to theatres, as well as on PVOD when that distribution outlet makes sense. We look forward to having additional private conversations with our exhibition partners but are disappointed by this seemingly coordinated attempt from AMC and NATO to confuse our position and our actions.”

    ASIFA-Hollywood Announces 2020 Faculty Grant Recipients
    The recipients appointed for the fourth annual grants by the org’s Animation Educator’s Forum, selected from applicants across Australia, Brazil, India, Turkey, the U.K., Canada and the U.S., are:

    • Zoya Baker (New York University), to help fund Memory Herbarium, an interactive animation installation which celebrates the relationships between people and plants through augmented reality, storytelling and co-created animation.
    • Mindy Johnson (CalArts), to conduct in-depth research which formally documents the lives and accomplishments of key pioneering women who developed and expanded the earliest techniques, artistry and production methodologies within animation.
    • Nazil Eda Noyan (Bahcesehir University, Turkey), providing funds towards the making of A Tender Dream, a short musical Animated Film inspired by Mihiri Müşfik, the extraordinary first woman painter in Turkey.
    • Jack Parry (Deakin University, Australia), to help finance phenomenological research into the creative animation experience of “shared reality.”
    • Kevin Sandler (Arizona State University), to assist in completion of Scooby-Doo: The Art and Business of an Animated Icon (Duke University Press), debating the nature of children’s entertainment, free-market regulation vs. governmental censorship, dwindling network viewership and the effects of media conglomeration upon diversity, quality and consumerism.

    Ibero-American Animation Quirino Awards Announce Key Dates for Online Version
    The online awards ceremony will be streamed through the Quirino Awards YouTube channel on June 27 at 8 p.m. CET (3 p.m. AST/BST, 1 p.m. CST), capping off the “Quirino Month” of activities and events structured around the Co-Production and Business Forum.

    From May 26 to June 10, the Forum will organize digital meetings between nearly 90 companies (producers, distributors, broadcasters, sales agencies, etc.) Highlights also include a promotional presentation by the Ibero-American Animation League on May 28, and the La Liga Award pitch for Chilean series project Firsts created by Bernardita Ojeda (Pajaro/Typpo Creative Lab), selected at Ventana Sur’s Animation! event in December. More details will be announced at Quirino’s press conference on May 25.

    Cardiff Animation Festival Brings New Events Online During Lockdown
    In addition to bringing the bi-monthly Cardiff Animation Nights indie shorts screenings online via YouTube (reaching three times their usual audience!), CAF has set some exciting virtual events for animation fans of all ages as well as professionals for May.

    Cardiff Animation Kids takes over the livestream on Saturday, May 2 at 10:30 a.m. (BST), featuring the world premiere of Alisa Stern’s stop-motion short Sum of Its Parts. Following on at 4 p.m., animation director Lorraine Jordan will give a live masterclass from Ireland, presented in collaboration with ScreenSkills, to discuss life in lockdown, balancing short film passion projects with major feature film roles, and shares what she’s learned on her impressive career journey which has taken her to Cartoon Saloon (Puffin Rock, The Breadwinner) and around the world.

    On Tuesday, May 5 at 6 p.m., aspiring animators and artists looking to brush up their skills can join the online character design workshop with Welsh animator/multi-disciplinary visual and performing artist Kyle Legall, presented in collaboration with Cinema Golau. Legall began his career making animated films about black history and his community in Butetown, Cardiff, writing, directing, designing and animating short films for Channel 4 and S4C.

    ‘One Day at a Time’ to Do Animated Special Amid Coronavirus-Related Production Shutdown
    Pop TV’s reimagining of the Norman Lear classic will air the tooned up episode this spring, as all of Hollywood’s live-action filming remains halted. Exec producer/co-showrunner Gloria Calderón Kellett, whose husband is a cartoonist, brought up the idea.

    The animated special centers on a visit from Penelope’s conservative family. Penelope dreads that with the election coming up, they won’t be able to avoid fighting over politics. The Alvarez family spends the episode discussing strategies of how to get through it, illustrated through fantasy sequences. Jonas Diamond, EP & Co-Owner of Toronto’s Smiley Guy Studios is overseeing the animation. One Day at a Time is produced by Sony Pictures Television.

    Awards Rules & Campaign Regulations for 93rd Oscars
    COVID-19 is shaking up Academy Awards seasons. Due to the closure of all L.A. County movie theaters, films released on commercial streaming/VOD are now eligible for Best Picture under these provisions:

    • The film must be made available on the secure Academy Screening Room member-only streaming site within 60 days of the film’s streaming or VOD release.
    • The film must meet all other eligibility requirements.

    These rule exemptions will be removed after theaters reopen. However, to ease the theatrical release process, the Academy will expand qualifying theaters beyond L.A. to additional cities such as New York, the Bay Area, Chicago, Miami and Atlanta. Film festivals that have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic may provide films online through either a transactional pay wall or password-protected entry.

    Notable campaign regs changes include a lift on the bar to using quotes from Academy members not directly associated with the film on advertising (still applies to governors, Awards & Events committee members). All screeners must include closed captioning. This is the last year that the distribution of DVD screeners, physical music CDs, screenplays and hardcopy mailings will be allowed, as part of the Academy’s sustainability effort. Film companies can now send notices of availability for song and bake-off materials on the Academy’s streaming platform after nominations.

  • Animation Veteran Maureen Mlynarczyk Dies at Age 47

    Animation Veteran Maureen Mlynarczyk Dies at Age 47

    We’re saddened by the recent death of animation veteran Maureen Karen Mlynarczyk, who passed away in February at the age of 47 after a two-year battle with colon cancer. The beloved animation timer received an Emmy in 2017 for her work on Adventure Time with Finn & Jake and also received five Emmy nominations for her contributions to Adventure Time, Steven Universe, The Cleveland Show and Camp Lazlo.

    Born in Washington D.C., Mlynarczyk spent most of her childhood in Westfield, N.J. She received her B.A. from Skidmore College and her M.F.A. from UCLA. She began working in the animation industry in the early 2000s as a timing director and sheet timer on TV shows such as Recess, Rugrats, Fillmore, What’s New Scooby-Doo?, American Dragon: Jake Long, Camp Lazlo, Family Guy and Veggie Tales, and features such as Rugrats Go Wild and The Simpsons Movie.

    Over the past two decades, she lent her sheet timing and animation timing talents to a wide variety of animated shows including Futurama, Drawn Together, American Dad!, Adventure Time, Clarence, The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, Steven Universe, Big Mouth, Craig of the Creek, Disenchantment and Victor & Valentino.

    She is survived by her partner Andrew Dubel, her parents Peter and Catherine Mlynarczyk, and her sisters and brothers-in-law Karen and John Vagelatos, Elizabeth and Christopher Salinger. In lieu of flowers, well-wishers are asked to donate to the Animal Care Centers of New York (ACC), where Maureen both worked and adopted her two cats: www.nycacc.org.

    Sources: Legacy.com, Cartoon Brew

  • Funimation, Bigscreen Bringing Hit Anime Movies to VR Screenings

    Funimation, Bigscreen Bringing Hit Anime Movies to VR Screenings

    Top global anime brand Funimation (a subsidiary of Sony Pictures Television), has teamed up with Bigscreen, the leading virtual reality software platform, to program an ongoing slate of popular anime films, from My Hero Academia: Two Heroes to Attack on Titan and more, for Bigscreen’s massive VR audience. The virtual anime movie theater launches with over 30 movies, with additional new releases and popular titles added throughout the year.

    To kick off the launch, Funimation and Bigscreen have programmed special weekend screenings of films starting May 1 with fan favorite Your Name.

    “Anime has never been more popular and we’re pleased to be working with Bigscreen to bring new releases and classics to their audience,” said Colin Decker, General Manager of Funimation. “Anime has always been built around community and shared experiences. Enabling fans to connect through the magic of VR is a natural expression of our commitment to connect fans with the art and culture of anime through innovative experiences.”

    The special live film screenings that begin May 1 are a chance for viewers around the country to co-view the movie in virtual reality. Bigscreen supports infinite concurrent viewers to watch live together in groups of up to eight people per theater room. The films are broadcast live on a pay-per-view basis at 6 p.m. Pacific (9 p.m. Eastern) and cost $3.99.

    In addition to live events, Bigscreen also has an on-demand movie catalog of hundreds of 2D & 3D movies. After the virtual theatrical screening, films will become available on-demand (VOD). For the full list of upcoming screenings and showtimes, visit bigscreenvr.com/events.

    “We are excited to partner with Funimation to host anime film screenings in VR,” said Darshan Shankar, CEO and Founder of Bigscreen. “Our unique platform enables people to hang out with anime fans from around the world and watch their favorite anime together.”

    In Bigscreen’s virtual world, users can customize personal avatars, hang out in a virtual lobby and voice chat with other movie fans. Movies are streamed on screens inside virtual cinemas, providing a social movie watching experience. Users can enjoy films alone or invite up to seven friends to join them in a theater.

    Bigscreen can be downloaded for free from bigscreenvr.com and runs on the Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift, Oculus Go, HTC Vive, Valve Index, all SteamVR headsets and all Microsoft Windows Mixed Reality headsets.

    Upcoming Live Anime Events on Bigscreen: (6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET)
    May 1: Your Name
    May 8: My Hero Academia: Two Heroes
    May 15: Akira
    May 21: The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya
    May 29: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
    June 5: Sword of the Stranger
    June 12: I Am A Hero

    Anime Movies Available for VOD on Bigscreen:
    Your Name
    Planetarian: Storyteller of the Stars
    The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya Movie
    The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
    Steins Gate Movie
    Strike Witches Movie
    Fairy Tail Dragon Cry Movie
    Fairy Tail the Movie: Phoenix Priestess
    Ghost in the Shell: The New Movie
    Akira
    Attack on Titan Parts 1 & 2
    Shin Godzilla
    I Am A Hero
    Parasyte Parts 1 & 2
    My Hero Academia: Two Heroes
    Boy and the Beast
    Triguns Badland Rumble
    Death Note: Light Up the New World
    Death Note
    Death Note: The Last Name
    Psycho-Pass: The Movie
    Eden of the East: Air Communication
    Eden of the East: King of Eden
    Eden of the East: Paradise Lost
    Assassination Classroom The Movie: 365 Days’ Time
    Garo: Divine Flame
    Black Butler: Book of the Atlantic
    Sword of the Stranger
    The School Idol Movie: Over the Rainbow

    Your Name.
    Your Name.
  • DreamWorks ‘Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts’ S2 Claws Back June 12

    DreamWorks ‘Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts’ S2 Claws Back June 12

    DreamWorks Kipo and The Age of Wonderbeasts will return to Netflix worldwide on June 12, for a second season filled with adventures through the whimsical, weird, post-apocalyptic world of Las Vistas. To announce the highly-anticipated, 10-episode second season, DreamWorks Animation has released a new teaser and poster.

    Synopsis:

    After spending her entire life living in an underground burrow, a young girl named Kipo (Karen Fukuhara) is thrust into an adventure on the surface of a fantastical post-apocalyptic Earth. She joins a ragtag group of survivors as they embark on a journey through a vibrant wonderland where everything trying to kill them is downright adorable.

    Following the season one finale, all is not well on the surface. With the burrow people under Scarlemagne’s mind control and her father his prisoner, Kipo must quickly learn to master her newly-discovered mute abilities in order to save them. As she and her friends split up on a dangerous rescue mission, Kipo’s journey of self discovery unearths mysteries of the past that change everything she thought she knew.

    The series is created and executive produced by Radford Sechrist (story artist, How to Train Your Dragon 2) and executive produced and developed for television by Bill Wolkoff (writer, The Man Who Fell to Earth).

    The cast features Karen Fukuhara (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power) as the enthusiastic and curious “Kipo;” Sydney Mikayla (General Hospital) as “Wolf,” a weapon-wielding survivor who knows the ins and outs of the surface; Coy Stewart (The Blacklist) as the happy-go-lucky “Benson;” Deon Cole (black-ish) as “Dave,” a talking insect who has the jarring ability to suddenly age a full life cycle without warning; and Dee Bradley Baker (Star Wars: The Clone Wars) as the adorable mutant pig “Mandu”.

    Sterling K. Brown (Frozen II) returns as Kipo’s father “Lio Oak;” Dan Stevens (Legion) as the power-hungry “Scarlemagne;” Jake Green (The Boss Baby: Back in Business) as mod frog “Jamack;” and Lea DeLaria (Orange Is the New Black) as Timbercat “Molly Yarnchopper.” Amy Landecker (Transparent) joins as the mysterious “Dr. Emilia.”

  • Netflix Returns to the Rainbow Kingdom in ‘True: Terrific Tales’

    Netflix Returns to the Rainbow Kingdom in ‘True: Terrific Tales’

    Guru Studio has announced that the colorful characters of its preschool series True and the Rainbow Kingdom will be back for more adventures on May 12, with True: Terrific Tales — a collection of eight classic fairy tales with a True-ly inspired twist.

    Through the magic of the Story Spinner, True and her friends create their own versions of Pinocchio, Little Red Riding Hood and other popular classics. The eight shorts include “Three Little Yetis”, “Grizeldalocks, “The Fishy Poof Touch”, “Little Red Riding Mila”, “Bartleochio”, “Cat and the Poofstalk”, “Rock Critter Prince” and “Rainbowella.” Each magical adventure is filled with big laughs, familiar faces and its own positive message for children.

    This latest release from True and the Rainbow Kingdom comes on the heels of the successful launch of last month’s Easter special, True: Wuzzle Wegg Day. The show has very quickly built a dedicated global fanbase with its timely message of empowering children to be mindful, compassionate and respectful of all living things.

    Consumer products for True and the Rainbow Kingdom, including storybooks, activity books, costumes, and plush are all available now on Amazon.

    The series is produced by Guru Studio (PAW Patrol, Abby Hatcher, Justin Time, The Breadwinner), based on the artwork of FriendsWithYou and is Executive Produced by world-renowned artist Pharrell Williams.

    Add True: Terrific Tales to your Netflix watch list here.

    Learn more about Guru at www.gurustudio.com

  • ‘Thomas & Friends’ Crowns 75th Anniversary Bash with ‘Royal Engine’ Special

    ‘Thomas & Friends’ Crowns 75th Anniversary Bash with ‘Royal Engine’ Special

    Mattel is officially kicking off worldwide celebrations for the 75th anniversary of the iconic global preschool brand, Thomas & Friends. The momentous year for the iconic No.1 Blue Tank Engine will include exciting partnerships, engaging apps and e-books, brand-new music and new episodic content and specials — including Thomas & Friends: The Royal Engine, featuring a special introduction by Harry, The Duke of Sussex.

    The first Thomas & Friends story was created 75 years ago by the Rev. W. Awdry for his son, Christopher. Today, Thomas is just as beloved by children as he was when he first chugged down the tracks in 1945.

    “Since the beginning, Thomas & Friends has celebrated friendship and teamwork through storytelling which has cultivated fan love across generations. In this milestone 75th year, we are releasing more storytelling content than ever before to engage the next generation of fans,” said Chuck Scothon, SVP and GM of Infant and Preschool, Mattel. “While families are spending more time at home, we are able to offer new content to enjoy together across videos, books, apps and through music and podcasts and are thrilled that we could partner with leading platforms like Calm and Caribu along with Netflix and Harry, The Duke of Sussex to bring this content home for fans.”

    Anniversary year content kicks off on May 1 with a new 22-minute celebratory special, Thomas & Friends: The Royal Engine, which pays homage to the show’s British heritage and features Her Majesty The Queen and HRH The Prince of Wales as a child. In it, Thomas travels to London for the first time on a mission to take Sir Topham Hatt to Buckingham Palace. The Royal Engine includes a special introduction from Harry, The Duke of Sussex. Actress Rosamund Pike voices a new character, Duchess of Loughborough, and said it was “an absolute honour” to guest star in the 75th anniversary special.

    Also releasing this year as part of Series 24 are 2 x 22’ specials under the title Thomas & Friends: Marvelous Machinery. The specials have an exciting invention theme, new and unusual characters including a flying car, and a world-class technology fair celebration. In addition, 20 x 11’ new episodes will debut. All of this content will be on Netflix in the U.S.

    To supplement Series 24 episodes and specials, the brand will release four all-new made-for-YouTube series, with episodes debuting weekly. These include Thomas’ Magical Birthday Wishes, a kid-friendly nod to anniversary year celebrations.

    Plus, action sports and stunts crew Nitro Circus and Thomas & Friends are teaming up for an epic train adventure. At Nitro Circus, a “train” involves a lot more motorcycles, ATVs, and plenty of gnarly crashes. So the crew brings in some friends to help jump a “train” over a train, and that train is pulled by none other than Thomas the Tank Engine himself. Check out this stunt on Quibi’s Life-Size Toys series, premiering May 25.

    New audio content includes a 46 x 5′-10′ Thomas & Friends Storytime podcast for kids, launching May 12; birthday album with three new celebratory songs (May 8) as well as more than 50 new songs through the year with accompanying music videos, and a kids’ themed sleep story/meditation partnership with sleep app Calm (May 4).

    Joining the 207 million Thomas & Friends books sold over the decades, Random House Books for Young Readers (U.S.) is releasing Thomas & Friends: Best Birthday Ever — storybook packaged with stickers, a poster and a party game — while Egmont (U.K.) is releasing three titles celebrating the brand’s heritage, Thomas’ birthday and The Royal Engine special. Family activity/video-calling app Caribu is teaming up with the brand and Kevin Jonas, who will give readings of classic Thomas & Friends books every week in May starting today.

    Of course, it’s not a party without gifts! Thomas & Friends is celebrating this milestone year with several new birthday-themed toys. Birthday Wish Thomas is a push-along Thomas train with a cargo cart and light-up birthday cake candle, and includes music and phrases including “Happy Birthday.” Golden Thomas is decorated with festive balloons and beats a party drum as he moves along the track and Celebration Thomas, Percy and Nia engines have shiny metallic finishes.

    Learn more about 75th Anniversary celebrations at ThomasAndFriends.com.

    Duke of Sussex
    Duke of Sussex
  • WOW!’s Rainmaker Consolidates Under Mainframe Studios Banner

    WOW!’s Rainmaker Consolidates Under Mainframe Studios Banner

    As a return to their roots, Mainframe Studios (A Division of WOW! Unlimited Media) announces Rainmaker Studios will be consolidated under the Mainframe Studio header going forward. Originally founded as Mainframe Entertainment, the studio operated as Rainmaker Entertainment for over a decade.

    Founded in 1993, Mainframe created the very first fully-CG TV series, ReBoot. Since then, they’ve produced more than 1,000 half-hours of TV, over 60 feature-length projects, and two theatrical feature films. Since 2014, the company produced television series under the Mainframe brand and long-form projects under the Rainmaker brand. The consolidation under the Mainframe Studios name adds clarity to their core business and pays tribute to the legacy brand Mainframe Entertainment created.

    “This rebrand allows us to really solidify the shift that we’ve had in the last few years from being a mostly service-oriented company to one that is heavily involved in all aspects of the creative process,” said Mainframe President and CCO Michael Hefferon. “We’ve been pushing the boundaries both creatively and technologically, and this is evident in the diverse, innovative projects we’re producing with our amazing partners.”

    Learn more at www.mainframe.ca

  • Ringling Students Mentored by Flight School Scrub Up ‘Wet Dog Corp.’

    Ringling Students Mentored by Flight School Scrub Up ‘Wet Dog Corp.’

    Ringling College of Art and Design and Flight School Studio announced that the first student game from their virtual reality educational partnership, Wet Dog Corp., will come to Steam on May 4.

    Mentored by the award-winning team at Flight School, students from Ringling’s newly-founded Virtual Reality (VR) Development BFA degree program created the game while learning the essentials of pre-production, asset creation and game design. The game will be a free-to-download release. Students involved on the project include AJ Mize, Cain Hopkins and Makayla Hensley.

    Wet Dog Corp. is a simulator-style game set within a megacorporation that pays you to wash dogs. Players race against the clock and clean up mucky pups. Dirty dogs roll in and it’s your job to wash them down, get them dry and send them back out into the world. It’s a simple task… until it’s not. With 13 types of dogs, eight levels and three washing tools, the game was designed entirely by students who paired up with Flight School to gain insights on the game development process and understand the complexities of developing games for VR.

    “This is an exciting partnership for our team at Flight School because we can shape the VR and game industry’s future talent,” explained Brandon Oldenburg, Flight School Studio CCO. “Even better, our team is endlessly inspired by the students’ ambitions and that makes any crew stronger and more innovative. It’s a true win-win for both Ringling and our team, many of whom are Ringling alumni.”

    Additionally, a new cohort of students at Ringling began development on a second VR game under the guidance of Flight School’s leadership earlier this year. Glitch Out VR, previously slated for a beta debut at SXSW Gaming, is being developed remotely by the students, due to coronavirus-related campus closures and the cancellation of SXSW.

    “There is no better way to learn than to actually have some skin in the game,” said Morgan Woolverton, interim department head of Ringling College’s Game Art and Virtual Reality Development programs. “When the students originally committed to the idea of making a product that would ship, they understood that this was an education on steroids. It is a unique educational experience to say the least.”

    Stay tuned for the release of Wet Dog Corp. at via the game’s Steam page.

    Wet Dog Corp.
    Wet Dog Corp.
    Wet Dog Corp.
    Wet Dog Corp.
    Wet Dog Corp.
    Wet Dog Corp.
  • CalArts Student Cartoons Explore Pandemic Through Gen Z Lens

    CalArts Student Cartoons Explore Pandemic Through Gen Z Lens

    California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) students are creating editorial cartoons to comment on the COVID-19 crisis. The project is spearheaded by Ann Telnaes, Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist for the Washington Post, who is visiting CalArts this semester to teach “Commentary Through Cartoons.” When coronavirus closed schools across America in March, she revamped her class to focus on the crisis, and is now mentoring her students through the process of creating visual responses to the pandemic and its repercussions with one-on-one online meetings.

    “Commentary Through Cartoons” is offered in CalArts’ Character Animation Program, of which Telnaes is an alum. “Political cartooning is a vital element of a free press in a democracy,” she commented. With that in mind, students in Telnaes’ class are learning to combine their artistic skills with journalistic research and social and political comment — and to deploy their messages in formats ranging from single and multi-panel cartoons, animation and motion graphics to graphic essays and live-sketching.

    The current health crisis offers students the opportunity to respond to an unprecedented moment in world history. One student has already had a cartoon published by a major metropolitan daily. Erin McDermott submitted a cartoon to The Boston Globe that was published on March 4. The four-panel cartoon addresses the clean air quality in Los Angeles brought on by quarantine conditions and the danger of losing it to newly relaxed air quality controls.

    “Ann has assigned us to watch/read the news for 30 minutes a day and to make sure we ‘second source’ and fact check our findings to make sure they are true,” McDermott told CalArts’ 24700 news site. Telnaes suggested that McDermott submit her cartoon to the Globe. “I did, and within an hour I was contacted by the editor of the Opinion section wanting to include my comic in their print edition. I was so thrilled. This was the first time I had my work published.”

    Telnaes is dedicated to the continuation of editorial cartooning and seeks to inspire new talent to enter the field. She views the class at CalArts as a way to inspire and motivate a new and diverse generation to pursue the profession. Ten out of Telnaes’ 13 students are female and offer perspectives not commonly seen in the mostly male world of editorial cartoons. The cartoons created in Telnaes’ class offer a glimpse into the future of next-gen visual commentary.

    Learn more about the CalArts School of Film/Video Character Animation BFA Program here.

  • Global TV & Streaming News Round-Up

    Global TV & Streaming News Round-Up

    Noggin, the top-ranked preschool subscription service from Nick Jr., has launched across 38 new territories across Central & Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia through Apple TV (apple.com/noggin). The regional launches more than double Noggin’s global footprint, following the service’s initial launch on the Apple TV app in March in over 25 territories, including the U.S., U.K., Germany, France and multiple markets in Southeast Asia. Noggin subscribers can watch online or download long- and short-form Nick Jr. content, featuring favorites like PAW Patrol, Dora the Explorer, Shimmer and Shine, Blaze and the Monster Machines, The Wonder Pets! and more in over 20 languages on the Apple TV app.

    WarnerMedia has fixed a distribution deal with Apple to distribute the soon-to-launch new streaming service HBO Max to iOS devices through the Apple TV app. This latest pact follow alliances with Charter and YouTube TV, outside of WarnerMedia’s AT&T outlets such as DirecTV, U-verse cable and AT&T TV Now. HBO Max is set to arrive May 27.

    Cartoon Network Asia has arranged a special, hungry visitor for Grizz, Ice Bear and Panda in a new episode of We Bare Bears, airing in Japan. Food lover and popular “mukbang” (from the Korean for “eating” and “broadcast”) YouTuber Yuka Kinoshita plays Amanda, the cute and confident love interest of PanPan in the Japanese version of upcoming episode “Summer Love.” A huge fan of Daniel Chong’s show, Kinoshita munched her way through the entire, 11,000-calorie menu of the Princess pop-up We Bare Bears cafe in Tokyo last year. 

    “It was a dream of mine to appear in We Bare Bears, and I was thrilled when Cartoon Network gave me the opportunity. Now I’m hungry for more!” commented the first-time voice over artist.

    Xilam Animation has secured a wave of new deals in Southern Europe across its portfolio of internationally successful content, including a pair of significant package deals which will bring 100 hours of content to Portugal, and new sales in Turkey and Greece.

    • In Portugal, RTP has acquired almost 80 hours of programming: Coach Me If You Can (52 x 13′), The Daltons (195 x 7′), Athleticus (60 x 2’15”); and renewed Floopaloo, Where Are You? S1 & S2 (104 x 13′), What’s the Big Idea? (52 x 5′). Dreamia is taking on 25+ hours of Moka’s Fabulous Adventures (78 x 7′) and Hubert & Takako (78 x 7′) for its pay TV children’s channel Biggs.
    • In Turkey, Warner Media has caught Oggy and the Cockroaches S5-7 and Oggy and the Cockroaches – The Movie (80′), which launched on Boomerang April 6. Local network Minika Cocuk picked up Athleticus and Moka’s Fabulous Adventures, due to launch this summer.
    • In Greece, public broadcaster ERT has inked a free-to-air and VOD deal for Athleticus, Floopaloo, Where Are You? S1 & S2, Zig & Sharko S2 & S3, If I Were an Animal (52 x 5′), Paprika and Oggy and the Cockroaches – The Movie.

    Fauna Entertainment (Turkey) has tapped Edutainment Licensing (U.K.) as global distribution partner (excluding China) for Giligilis (25 x 2’30”), a 3D CG non-dialogue preschool series featuring a flock of cute, colorful, funny birds that teach music and rhythm through the Orff Approach. This method of teaching children about music engages their mind and body through a mixture of singing, dancing, acting and the use of percussion instruments like xylophones, metallophones and glockenspiels. Launched on Youtube in 2019 and reaching millions of views, Giligilis has previously been picked up by Israel’s Free TV LulliTV, Kabillion and Tubi TV for the U.S. and JY Animation for China.

    Treehouse Republic (Ireland) has partnered with Bionaut (Czech Republic) to create Hungry Bear Tales — a new 26-episode animated comedy about two bears with a sweet tooth who don’t mind getting into trouble, as long as they wind up with something good to eat. The series is supported by Fís Éireann/ Screen Ireland, RTÉjr, Czech TV, Czech Film Fund, Creative Europe MEDIA and received the support of incentives for the Irish Film Industry provided by the Government of Ireland.

    Athleticus
    Athleticus
    Giligilis
    Giligilis
    Hungry Bear Tales
    Hungry Bear Tales
  • Itsy Bitsy Ent. Bringing Melnitsa’s ‘Moonzy’ to the Americas

    Itsy Bitsy Ent. Bringing Melnitsa’s ‘Moonzy’ to the Americas

    Children’s entertainment producer Kenn Viselman (Teletubbies, 64 Zoo Lane) and film/TV producer Brooklyn Weaver (Extant, Reverie, Run All Night) are teaming up to bring international animation superstar Moonzy to the Americas, under Viselman’s itsy bitsy Entertainment banner (Thomas the Tank Engine, Noddy). Moonzy’s adventures have nearly reached 9 billion views on YouTube, achieving top ratings through parts of Europe and, most recently, bowed in China on CCTV Children’s.

    Moonzy is set to star in a self-titled animated kids’ series, produced in partnership with itsy bitsy, Weaver, Claus Tomming and INK Media, Melnitsa Animation Studio — creators of the character — as well as the series’ award-winning producers Sergey Selyanov and Alexander Boyarskiy and art director Konstantin Bronzi, a two-time Oscar-nominated animator.

    Season I of the Americanized version of Moonzy consists of 108 x 5′ episodes as well as three holiday themed “Mini-Movies” are underway. Based on the global demand for this “moondust & moonbeam-filled ball of pinkish deliciousness,” a 3D animated Season II of Moonzy is already in production.

    “I have been blessed to work, in many capacities, with the most original and exciting children’s properties and creators of all time,” said Viselman, “and yet I have never seen a response like this before. Moonzy is truly a phenomenon. At his core, he is simply filled with Love & Laughter and that is something the entire world is clamoring for right now. I believe Moonzy is positioned to be the biggest furry friend of my career.”

    Weaver commented, “I have never been drawn to a children’s property with the intensity I have with Moonzy. I’m really excited to help Kenn share him and his adventures with our side of the world.”

    In addition to Weaver, Viselman pulled together many of his former Teletubbies Team, including Emilia Nuccio and Marcio França Domingues, who have the experience to deal with the launch of such a popular property.

    The deal includes all rights for broadcast and the general exploitation of the property including merchandising and promotions from the top of Canada to the base of South America and all U.S. possessions worldwide, and was negotiated by Anne Jordan of the Jordan Group in Brentwood California.

    Moonzy
    Moonzy
    Kenn Viselman
    Kenn Viselman
  • VOD365 Scores Exclusive Raft of NBCUniversal Kids Content

    VOD365 Scores Exclusive Raft of NBCUniversal Kids Content

    Video on Demand 365 (VOD365), a leading provider of branded OTT TV channels via Freeview, YouView, Freesat, mobile and smart TV devices, has agreed a major content deal with NBCUniversal.

    Under the terms of the deal, VOD365 picks up exclusive U.K. VOD rights to many of the studio’s globally recognised brands for kids’ channels, and will see over 1,000 episodes spread across channels Ketchup (preschool) and Yaaas! (kids 7+).

    Programming featured in the deal includes global hits from DreamWorks Animation Television: Kung Fu Panda, Pandiva, New Penguins of Madagascar, New Puss in Boots, Puss in Boots Epic Cat Battles, as well as New Shrek, Swamp Talk with Shrek and Donkey, King Julien and Woody Woodpecker (DreamWorks Classics). Ketchup fans will be able to enjoy new episodes of kids’ favorites such as Postman Pat, Noddy, Curious George, Ethelbert the Tiger and Casper’s Scare School.

    “We are extremely pleased to have concluded this deal with NBCUniversal,” said Paul Coster, Founder & CEO of VOD365. “Adding these global hits to the Yaaas! and Ketchup line-ups is a major coup for us and underlines the appeal of our innovative channels to content huge global content providers such as NBCUniversal. We very much look forward to working with them.”

    The agreement follows several recent content deals concluded by VOD365 for their kids channels, with content from Endemol Shine and Aardman all joining the Ketchup stable.

  • Toon Factory Serves ‘Sardine in Outer Space’ on Teletoon+ May 4, Ups New Projects

    Toon Factory Serves ‘Sardine in Outer Space’ on Teletoon+ May 4, Ups New Projects

    French animation house Toon Factory has announced its new series, Sardine in Outer Space, on Canal+ Group’s Teletoon+ channel (Poland) on May 4. At the same time, the studio’s Co-Founder and President, Thierry Berthier, has announced three new projects in development: How to Shrink…, Moods and The Music Traveler.

    “Being a producer doesn’t get better than this when you can bring so much formidable talent into an animated series based on a no less formidable heroine!” commented Berthier. “With the essential support of Teletoon+, we wanted to produce a program that was both funny and clever — like the original comic. I feel that we have succeeded and hope that kids and their parents will embrace Sardine on screen as they have already welcomed her into their families, reveling in her adventures in print.”

    Sardine in Outer Space (52 x 12′) is an animated series for kids 6-10, adapted from the comic of the same name by Joann Sfar (artistic director of the series), Emmanuel Guibert (2020 Angoulême Grand Prize winner and creator of the literary bible for the series) and Mathieu Sapin (part of the writing team led by Babette Vimenet). It will premiere exclusively on Teletoon+ on May 4 with two episodes at 11:30 a.m. (from Monday to Friday) and 5:30 p.m. (all week).

    Sardine is a sparkling young lady who lives with her friends and her uncle, Captain Yellow Shoulder, aboard a spaceship. Intrepid and boundless, this explosive troupe pulls you into their incredible adventures where the only limit is imagination! Between visiting ever more exotic planets and their missions to save the Universe, the horrible mean Supermuscleman and his sidekick Dr. Krock are never far off.

    Co-produced with Red Frog, Caribara Productions, Scope Pictures, the 2D series was directed by David Garcia. With a budget of 6.4M€, Sardine is one of the first animated series produced in UHD. The group Dyonisos wrote and performed the title song and the background music is composed by Olivier Daviot.

    The series is distributed by Mediatoon Distribution, who put Sardine in the spotlight at the last MIPCOM. International buyers are already showing real interest and several contracts have been signed.

    The original Sardine comics were initially published by Bayard Presse between 2002 and 2005. Les Editions Dargaud then picked up the rights and have released 13 volumes since 2007. The adventures of Sardine and Little Lulu now have a cult following and more than 215,000 copies have been sold. The 14th volume, Archificelle Intelligence, will drop May 29.

    How to Shrink (78 x 7′, in development with Canal+) is adapted from the comics by Catherina Leblanc and Roland Garrigue (Glénat), which have sold 165,000 copies of the 15-book collection in France. Toon Factory aims to produce an eccentric 2D comedy targeting 5- to 7-year olds in the form of a game show that pits kids against the monsters that symbolize their fears and “eliminate” them using humor and critical thinking.

    Welcome to How to Shrink, the TV show that shrinks, squashes, flattens, pulverizes monsters and everything that scares children young and old! Witches, ogres, ghosts and hairy monsters had better hold on if they don’t want to finish up flat as a pancake. How to Shrink is a delightful show where kids confront their fears and rid themselves of their monsters. But to do so, they need to learn how to corner them! The kids will be accompanied by a killer team to emcee the show: the intrepid Chloé, Chief Shrinker, who will not be counted out; and her alter ego and faithful pet monster, Souki, who has been tamed to obey her every snap of the fingers. Well … almost every snap.

    Moods (78 x 7′, in development), created by Séverine Vuillaume and Nathalie Resnikoff, is inspired by the sometimes surprising emotional reactions of children 3-5 — the reasons for their anger, tears, agitation and incomprehension, which can be both tender and mischievous. The series is inspired by innovative educational methods that help children discover and learn how to control their emotions in small daily conflicts.

    The “Moods” are 12 small characters who embody their emotions and live them 100%! Watch out for trouble with these strong personalities! How can Fury be calmed down when angry, Timid be relaxed when tense, Sniff be soothed when tears are flowing or Sulker be drawn out of a funk? Like the children who are confronted on a daily basis with such situations, Moods are overcome by the flow of their emotions. By helping each other, they will learn to cope with their feelings.

    The Music Traveler (12 x 26′, in development) is a collection of musical fables — a poetic quest to enchant the imagination, created by comics artist Smain. The series will be narrated by various well-known artists, with a real orchestra recording the music and each story being presented in its own graphic style.

    Toon Factory also continues its global distribution activity through sister company, Toon Distribution. They are currently shopping Chi, My Kitten (51 x 11′), a 3D follow-up to Chi, a Cat’s Life due for release in October 2020, with a second season planned for 2021. Based on the best-selling manga by Konami Kanata (2 million+ copies sold in France by Glenat), the in France by the Canal Plus group. The adventures of this adorable little kitten created in 2004 are animated by Madhouse, the celebrated Japanese studio created in 1971 (Perfect Blue, Wolf Children, Okko’s Inn). 

  • Major Fests Partner with YouTube for We Are One: A Global Film Festival

    Major Fests Partner with YouTube for We Are One: A Global Film Festival

    Tribeca Enterprises and YouTube jointly announced today We Are One: A Global Film Festival, an unprecedented 10-day digital film festival exclusively on YouTube, bringing together an international community of storytellers to present festival programming for free to audiences around the world.

    Set to begin on May 29 on YouTube.com/WeAreOne, the festival will feature programming curated by the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, Guadalajara International Film Festival, International Film Festival & Awards Macao (IFFAM), Jerusalem Film Festival, Mumbai Film Festival (MAMI), Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Locarno Film Festival, Marrakech International Film Festival, New York Film Festival, San Sebastian International Film Festival, Sarajevo Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, Sydney Film Festival, Tokyo International Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, and more, immersing audiences in stories from around the world and providing a voice for filmmakers on a global stage.

    Core to the DNA of film festivals is the belief that artists and creators have the power to bring people together and create meaningful connections during a time when the world needs it most. Through We Are One: A Global Film Festival, audiences will not only get a peek into different cultures through a new lens, they’ll be able to support local communities by directly donating to organizations helping the relief efforts for those affected by COVID-19. The festival will benefit the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as local relief partners in each region.

    “We often talk about film’s uniquely powerful role in inspiring and uniting people across borders and differences to help heal the world. All of the world needs healing right now,” said Tribeca Enterprises and Tribeca Film Festival Co-Founder and CEO Jane Rosenthal. “We Are One: A Global Film Festival unites curators, artists and storytellers to entertain and provide relief to audiences worldwide. In working with our extraordinary festival partners and YouTube we hope that everyone gets a taste of what makes each festival so unique and appreciates the art and power of film.”

    “One of the most unique and inspiring aspects of the world staying home is our ability to come together and experience an event as one, and We Are One: A Global Film Festival is just that,” said Robert Kyncl, Chief Business Officer, YouTube. “Along with Tribeca Enterprises and our incredible partners, we are bringing fans the opportunity to experience the curated programming each of these festivals provides as part of our ten-day long event. It’s an event that’s never been done before and we’re proud to be the home for this fantastic content that is free to fans around the world.”

    “We are proud to join with our partner festivals to spotlight truly extraordinary films and talent, allowing audiences to experience both the nuances of storytelling from around the world and the artistic personalities of each festival,” said Pierre Lescure, President of the Cannes Film Festival, and Thierry Frémaux, Cannes Film Festival General Delegate.

    We Are One: A Global Film Festival will run from May 29 – June 7 on YouTube.com/WeAreOne. Programming will be available for free, and will include films, shorts, documentaries, music, comedy, and conversations. A full schedule will be available closer to the festival start date.

  • Animated People: Ivan Owen Pays Tribute to Lotte Reiniger

    Animated People: Ivan Owen Pays Tribute to Lotte Reiniger

    Along with a bump in interest in breadmaking and TikTok dance performances, the new stay-at-home era has unleashed a lot of artistic creativity in many households. Washington state-based artist and inventor Ivan Owen recently shared Anew, his charming, laser-cut silhouette animated project with us.

    “As my son’s school is closed the rest of the year and I’m working from home, we’re both taking on new projects to pass the time — including using a laser-cutter we have in the garage,” Owen tells us. “During this time I’ve made my first silhouette animation using laser-cut wooden characters, a home-built light table and a webcam. It’s inspired by the work of Lotte Reiniger and I posted the completed animation to YouTube.”

    A scene from Anew, without and with backlighting from the light table.
    A scene from Anew, without and with backlighting from the light table.

    Owen, who is also the inventor of a widely used 3D-printed prosthetic hand, points out, “My light table was also made using a laser-cutter. My past work is primarily in the intersection between digital fabrication and assistive technologies (I co-invented the first 3D printable prosthetic hand) but more recently I’ve been moving towards animation.”

    According to Owen, the work on the short was spaced out across a month, but he estimates that it took about 40 or 50 hours in total from designing/building the puppets through to the finished animation. He says the piece was partially influenced by the themes explored in a play titled Pupa, written by Dr. Emma Fisher and performed at the Belltable theater in Limerick, Ireland. (Additional information on Pupa can be found here.)

    Puppets and props were designed using Fusion360 and Adobe Illustrator; wooden pieces were cut out using a Glowforge Pro laser cutter. Some puppets/parts were created at multiple scales.
    Puppets and props were designed using Fusion360 and Adobe Illustrator; wooden pieces were cut out using a Glowforge Pro laser cutter. Some puppets/parts were created at multiple scales.
    Owen used an old, heavy combination sewing machine/desk as the base for the light table. The supports for the translucent white acrylic were designed in Fusion360 and cut out using a Glowforge Pro.
    Owen used an old, heavy combination sewing machine/desk as the base for the light table. The supports for the translucent white acrylic were designed in Fusion360 and cut out using a Glowforge Pro.

    He adds, “I was also inspired by BWV 208 – ‘Sheep May Safely Graze,’ written by Bach and arranged and performed by Martha Goldstein. This was the music used in the animation and Goldstein made it available under a Creative Commons Attribution license, which is just such a lovely gift they gave by making their performance available for use. The work of Lotte Reiniger was also a huge source of inspiration. About a year ago, Dr. Fisher introduced me to her work and [told me] that Reiniger was the first person to create a feature-length animated film.[*] My hope is to collaborate with Dr. Fisher and possibly others to recreate some of Reiniger’s techniques using modern fabrication technologies.”

    Owen says he is also thinking about how a lot of us are in a place of waiting during social distancing, what that waiting means to different people, and how it may change all of us.

    Watch Anew on YouTube, where Ivan Owen and Dr. Emma Fisher just last week released a new hybrid short, I Am a Hill.

    *Editor’s note: Lotte Reiniger’s The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) is the oldest surviving animated feature. The first known animated feature film, The Apostle (1917) by Quirino Cristiani, is considered lost.

    The light table was illuminated by two (not too expensive) kitchen under-cabinet lights from the hardware store.
    The light table was illuminated by two (not too expensive) kitchen under-cabinet lights from the hardware store.
    Without a tripod, Owen used a gooseneck mount for the 1080p webcam and clamped it to a sturdy floor lamp, keeping it reasonably stable. The images were animated in iStopMotion (for Mac/iOS by Boinx Software).
    Without a tripod, Owen used a gooseneck mount for the 1080p webcam and clamped it to a sturdy floor lamp, keeping it reasonably stable. The images were animated in iStopMotion (for Mac/iOS by Boinx Software).
  • Disney+ Debuts ‘Rise of Skywalker’ May the 4th, Female-Led Star Wars Series in the Works

    Disney+ Debuts ‘Rise of Skywalker’ May the 4th, Female-Led Star Wars Series in the Works

    The final chapter of the Skywalker saga, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, will begin streaming two months early on Disney+ in honor of May the 4th, affectionately known by fans around the world as “Star Wars Day.” For the first time ever, fans will be able to stream the complete Skywalker saga all in one place. Meanwhile, Variety reports that a new Star Wars series centered on female characters is in the works from Russian Doll co-creator Leslye Headland.

    What began in 1977 with George Lucas’ groundbreaking film Star Wars: A New Hope the nine-part saga is available within Disney+’s extensive collection of Star Wars movies and series including The Mandalorian, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Fans can also catch a new eight-episode documentary series Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian and the finale of award-winning animated series The Clone Wars as part of the streamer’s May the 4th lineup.

    In addition to new content offerings, Disney+ will also honor the artistry of Star Wars with a week-long concept art takeover on the service. Like a commemorative gallery, each film and series’ artwork will be updated on May 4th to feature its original concept paintings. From Star Wars: A New Hope to The Mandalorian, the updated art will feature work from celebrated artists such as the legendary Ralph McQuarrie and Academy Award-winning artist, author and production designer Doug Chiang. On the Disney+ home screen, the animated Star Wars brand tile, viewable on web and connected TV devices, gets upgraded with a new animation that honors the signature hyperspace jump.

    Details have yet to be revealed about the new, female-centric series in development with Headland, but the story will reportedly be set in a different point in time from other Star Wars story epochs. Headland is currently under an overall deal with Fox 21 Television Studios. The writer/director/showrunner has helmed multiple episodes of Netflix’s multi-Emmy-nominated Russian Doll; her credits also include the film Sleeping with Other People and TV’s Blunt Talk and Black Monday. 

    Elsewhere in the Disney+ Star Wars galaxy, a third season of The Mandalorian is in the works ahead of the season 2 premiere later this year, an Obi-Wan Kenobi series starring Ewan McGregor is in the works and a Cassian Andor-anchored Rogue One prequel series recently added Stellan Skarsgard and Kyle Soller to the cast alongside Diego Luna.

    From Lucasfilm and director J.J. Abrams, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is the thrilling climactic chapter in the Skywalker saga, bringing the heroic struggle to restore peace and freedom to the galaxy to an epic, resounding conclusion. The film stars Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Anthony Daniels, Naomi Ackie, Domhnall Gleeson, Richard E. Grant, Lupita Nyong’o, Keri Russell, Joonas Suotamo, Kelly Marie Tran, with Ian McDiarmid and Billy Dee Williams.

    [Sources: Disney+, Variety]

    Leslye Headland
    Leslye Headland
  • Extra Wild ETs: Justin Roiland & Mike McMahan’s ‘Solar Opposites’ Lands at Hulu

    Extra Wild ETs: Justin Roiland & Mike McMahan’s ‘Solar Opposites’ Lands at Hulu

    ***This article originally appeared in the May ’20 issue of Animation Magazine (No. 300)***

    Misfit aliens from space trying to adapt to life on Earth have been a popular staple of sitcoms such as My Favorite Martian, ALF and 3rd Rock from the Sun. This spring, a new brood of aliens make their impressive debut in Hulu’s Solar Opposites, the hilarious new animated offering from Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland and former head writer Mike McMahan (Star Trek: Lower Decks).

    The series, which overflows with the inspired lunacy you might expect from the madmen who gave us Rick and Morty, follows a team of four aliens who have crash-landed into suburbia after escaping their exploding home planet. Two of them, Korvo (Roiland) and Yumyulack (Sean Giambrone) believe their new home is awful and polluted, while the other duo Terry (Thomas Middleditch) and Jesse (Mary Mack) love humans, their junk food and pop culture.

    Roiland, who won an Emmy in 2018 for executive producing Rick and Morty (and yes, he also voices both Rick and Morty for that hugely popular show) tells us that he had the idea to center a show on a pair of odd-couple aliens about 14 years ago. “At some point, it was going to be a live-action series, but it never happened,” he recalls. “Mike McMahan and I were trying to develop another show, between the second and third season of Rick and Morty, but everything we did felt really laborious. So, we decided to put that other idea down and try the odd-couple alien pitch again … and then, once we went back to the original premise, everything became very easy.”

    Justin Roiland and Mike McMahan
    Justin Roiland and Mike McMahan

    Loving the Aliens

    “Justin has all these books of random sketches and ideas from years past,” says McMahan. “We flipped through them and landed on a rough drawing of Terry and Korvo, which we used as the inspiration to build out the family. I was a new dad at the time, so I added the kids/replicants and the baby/Pupa character, we were going for a classic sitcom/FOX look from afar, which would get weirder the closer you looked. The tone we wanted to hit was ‘funny and fun over everything else at all times,’ which you can still clearly see in the finished show.”

    McMahan and Roiland then put together the story for the pilot, which is very close to the final version that viewers will get to see on Hulu this month. “We originally had interest from Netflix and Syfy, but those didn’t happen, and then Hulu stepped in,” says Roiland. “We then added [exec producer/writer] Josh Bycel (American Dad!, Happy Endings) along, and things really got moving. It was a lot of work, but everyone is really kicking ass — and it’s been a lot of fun, too.”

    Solar Opposites
    Solar Opposites

    In addition to the show regulars, the series also boasts a phenomenal list of guest voice actors. The first season alone features the likes of Alan Tudyk, Tiffany Hadish, Tom Kenny, Alfred Molina, Christina Hendricks, Rainn Wilson, Eric Bauza, Amanda Leighton, Maurice LaMarche, Miguel Sandoval, Nat Faxon, Natalie Morales, Phil LaMarr and Kari Wahlgren. The show is produced by 20th Century Fox Television and the animation is handled by Green Portal Productions and Vancouver-based Bardel Entertainment, which also handle Rick and Morty.

    Roiland says he and McMahan had a great time brainstorming about the aliens, their weird biology and how they interact with the world in unexpected ways. For example, whenever they get stressed, their bodies begin to emit little creatures that look like a hybrid between a giant virus and a pink booger (they’re called gooblers).

    “It’s funny to think about humanity from the perspective of alien beings,” says Roiland.

    “We are going to have lots of fun with the gooblers, but I can’t tell you more about it because we don’t want to ruin the joke.”

    Solar Opposites
    Solar Opposites

    Overall, both Roiland and McMahan say the show is a bit sillier and looser than their other collaboration, Rick and Morty. “Our process of writing and producing is quicker, but we still strive for the same level of humor and surprises. We have so many ideas about how these aliens survive on the planet. But when you think about it, it’s really an immigrant story,” Roiland points out. “These characters are very new to their environment, and we get to have fun by looking at things we take for granted and build jokes and sketch storylines around those ideas.”

    McMahan says one of their biggest challenges was to always keep the comedy and the tone of the show as light and fun as possible, even when pouring their efforts into making sure everything was professionally executed. “It’s easy for a show to become ‘right,’ but also lose the frivolity that made you like it in the first place. Solar Opposites is always a balancing act between, ‘we have to make a really good, emotionally solid TV episode’ and ‘let’s do some crazy, effed shit that makes us laugh. I’m really happy with how the first season ended up in that regard.”

    Juggling Toons
    Looking back at the past few years, Roiland says the big challenge was juggling the production of Solar Opposites, all of his Rick and Morty duties and launching his own gaming studio Squanch Games in 2016. “Everything was happening at the same time,” he says. “But luckily I had an amazing team. Mike and Josh were amazing and did a great job of running the room day to day. It’s the old adage: You have to surround yourself with talented people and get out of their way. We are having so much fun with this show and our voice cast brings so much to the table: They truly embody the characters and add some hilarious improv material to the show, as well.”

    Roiland, who says he was hugely influenced by shows such as The Simpsons, Beavis and Butt-head, Ren & Stimpy and Liquid Television when he was younger, says fans could see a possible appearance by Rick and Morty on Solar Opposites in the future. “In an infinite multiverse, everything is part of the multiverse, so they could easily be a couple of realities away,” he says.“I have no idea how you would navigate the IP waters, but that would be really friggin’ cool!”

    Solar Opposites
    Solar Opposites

    “Our initial pitch to Hulu always included a heavily serialized element, so there’s a big part of the show that’s always been designed to be binged,” adds McMahahn. “I’ve never worked on a serialized animated comedy, and I don’t see a lot of them, so I heavily nerded out that we got to make a serialized show along with a goofball comedy. What you see on the screen (in that respect) is exactly what I wanted it to be from conception through execution, which is a rare treat for a creator. Also, the art team and the voice actors are insanely talented, everyone gave it their best, and you’ll see that the first season is something special.”

    Roiland says he hopes the audience will get some entertainment and some happiness by watching his new show. “Things are pretty sad out there in the real world, so we hope Solar Opposites and new episodes of Rick and Morty will offer people a little bit of distraction.”

    “I hope audiences will sit down to watch a show about crazy funny aliens, and then be surprised as they keep watching how serialized and thought-out everything is,” adds McMahan. “In any other time, this show couldn’t exist. To me, the only reason a show should exist on Hulu (or any streamer) is because it feels like a miracle, like you can’t believe what you’re watching. Sometimes that feeling comes from a cancelled show being resurrected. For Solar, it’s the jokes, language, what we can show on screen (Solar is TV-MA, which is crazy what you can do) and the serialized elements. Somehow, this show feels like a classic, broad network sitcom and like an insane cable show that fell out of another dimension, all at the same time.”

    Solar Opposites (eight episodes) premieres on Hulu on May 8. Work has already begun on the second season for the series.

    Solar Opposites
    Solar Opposites
  • ‘Looney Tunes Cartoons’: HBO Max’s Wendezvous with the Wascally Wabbit

    ‘Looney Tunes Cartoons’: HBO Max’s Wendezvous with the Wascally Wabbit

    ***This article originally appeared in the May ’20 issue of Animation Magazine (No. 300)***

    A year after taking Annecy International Animated Film Festival by storm, the new Looney Tunes Cartoons series is finally ready to make a splash on the small screen. Executive produced by Peter Browngardt (Uncle Grandpa, Secret Mountain Fort Awesome) and Warner Bros. Animation president Sam Register, the highly anticipated show will debut on HBO Max in May.

    The new series includes two of the shorts that have already been released independently, the Bugs Bunny/Elmer Fudd episode Dynamite Dance, and the Mummy Dummy outing featuring Porky Pig and Daffy Duck (a.k.a. The Curse of the Monkey Bird). Altogether, the 80 episode season is made up of 11-minute episodes, each showcasing animated shorts that vary in length and include adapted storylines for today’s audience. And yes, the package includes some fun holiday-themed specials as well. Looney Tunes Cartoons also features a fantastic team of voice actors, including Eric Bauza, Jeff Bergman and Bob Bergen.

    Looney Tunes Cartoons
    Looney Tunes Cartoons

    “I am a huge fan of those early Chuck Jones, Bob Clampett and Friz Freleng shorts,” says Browngardt. “When I was in junior high, my brother took me to see a screening of classic Chuck Jones Looney Tunes shorts at the Museum of the Moving Image. He also appeared in person to promote his book Chuck Amuck. That experience changed my life forever. It was the first time I was seeing so many people watch these shorts together and laugh at all these great shorts. It was such an amazing communal experience.”

    Browngardt, who names classics such as Falling Hare, Hare Ribbin’, Buccaneer Bunny and Hair-Raising Hare as some of his favorites, began to develop the idea to reboot the Looney Tunes characters with a deep reverence for their origins in the fall of 2017, and the series began production in 2018. The shorts go back to the roots of the characters.

    Pete Browngardt
    Pete Browngardt

    “The characters’ personalities were wacky, zany and high-energy,” notes the director. “We wanted the shorts to be more surreal and cartoony. Our challenge was how to recreate the old style of animation and characters while bringing that energy and aesthetic to 2020. That language and feel of cartoony animation is not so much around anymore. But that’s how I fell in love with the medium. I used to watch those shorts on TNT and on my older brother’s videotapes.”

    The Emmy-nominated director and his team of 50 work on the cartoons at the Warner Bros. Animation studio in Burbank, but they are also aided by four international studios (Tonic DNA in Montreal, Yowza! in Toronto, Yearim in Korea and Snipple in the Philippines. “It was a really global effort to create these classic cartoons,” says Browngardt. “We had people from all parts of the world working with these characters that are so timeless and well known. They all used a variety of methods — from old-fashioned pencil and paper, all the way to Toon Boom Harmony and Adobe software — to produce the animation.”

    The artists studied all of the classic designs of the characters as inspiration for each one of the shorts. “Every director had their own take on Bugs, Daffy and Porky,” says Browngardt. “We did a lot of drawing and decided to cherry pick from all the characters in time to land on our versions of the characters. We wanted the fluidity and energy. Our characters are more rounded, more squat. We gave Bugs yellow gloves, and Daffy has the longer, thinner bill. Porky is Clampett’s version, with the bigger eyes and head. We definitely did a lot of homework!”

    Looney Tunes Cartoons
    Looney Tunes Cartoons

    Browngardt says he and his team have been thrilled by the positive response of fans at screenings. “As much as I want to take credit, it all comes down not screwing up these beloved, universal characters. I like to say that we are standing on the shoulders of giants, hoping that we don’t lose our balance and fall flat on our faces. The people who made the original shorts invented this art form. They took the baton and ran with it. They learned on the job and had decades to perfect it. They are the Michelangelos of this artform. I just hope that our shorts will make people laugh. If I can get audiences to have that same communal experience that I had when I saw the Looney Tunes in the theater for the first time, that would be amazing.”

    The helmer says he and his team are very excited to share the fruits of their labor after so many years with fans this spring. “It’s so rewarding to be able to share the hard work that so many amazing and talented folks have put into this series over the past two and a half years. I hope that the viewers laugh a lot and fall in love with these characters, just like I did when I was a kid.”

    Looney Tunes Cartoons premieres on HBO Max at launch on May 27.

    Eric Bauza
    Eric Bauza

    A Few Words from the Brilliant Mr. Bauza

    Throughout his career, Eric Bauza has voiced so many remarkable animated characters, it would take several pages to list all his credits. The comedian and former animation artist, who has starred as Scrooge McDuck, the Beagle Boys, Baby Fozzie Bear, Luke Skywalker, Puss in Boots and Stimpy (to name a few), provides the voices of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Marvin the Martian, Tweety and Pepé Le Pew in the new show. We caught up with him to get the skinny on his amazing career:

    Can you tell us how you got the gig on the new Looney Tunes show?

    Bauza: It was by way of an open casting call. The only other time I’ve ever had a chance to audition for these beloved characters was almost 10 years ago for The Looney Tunes Show when I landed the role as Marvin the Martian. It’s pretty rare when WB recasts these characters, unless they are looking to do something drastically different. I felt that this time around they wanted to give them a fresh take. 

    What do you love about this new incarnation of Bugs, Daffy, Tweety and Marvin?

    What I love the most about this run of Looney Tunes is that Sam [Register] and Pete [Browngardt] and the rest of the team went back to the drawing board … literally. In all my years as an actor and decades before as a fan, this is the closest to the original [Looney Tunes] I think we can get as far as design, animation, writing, background painting, voices and music. I’m very honored and proud to be a part of these animated shorts. The show is the ultimate love letter to the Looney Tunes forefathers. We didn’t try to reinvent the wheel on this round, instead we paid homage to what Clampett, Jones, McKimson, Freleng and Avery created. 

    Looney Tunes Cartoons
    Looney Tunes Cartoons

    What was the toughest aspect of this latest gig?

    The toughest part was knowing how accurate the look of the shorts was going to be, so as an actor the challenge is always the right acting of the characters. For me, these characters will always be Mel Blanc. No one can ever replace the mountain of legendary work that he did. But the demand for new Looney Tunes shorts will always need to be met. It’s always been a dream to step into these characters because they meant so much to me as a kid.

    I never went to school for “acting.” I started out in animation on the other side of the glass as a character layout artist — I learned everything about acting through watching cartoons, specifically Looney Tunes. Animation has always been in my blood. In a way, my contribution to Looney Tunes Cartoons is a small thank you to Mr. Blanc for teaching me everything I need to know about character acting. 

    How do you stay sane during these crazy quarantine times?

    We certainly are living in crazy times, aren’t we? I try to stay sane by calling my parents, and checking in with my brother and his family back home in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I keep in contact with close friends and, above everything else, I take care of my son. And yes, he loves Looney Tunes, too! We watch the classics almost every day. Since we are on quarantine, as a voice actor I’m working from home. I have the same microphone I used to audition with from 2007. Still works. They say recording voices from home is the new normal, but hopefully for not too much longer. I miss people, LOL. P.S.: Wash Your Hands. 

    Best advice for those who want to get into the voice acting business?

    It’s acting, acting, acting. If you can do funny voices and impressions, that’s great! But acting is the most important thing about your performance — especially in animation. We don’t have the luxury of using facial expressions or body language to convey emotions. Everything that moves you from our performances in animations comes only from our vocal chords. Even if you’re voicing an animated character, the character needs to be grounded in some kind of reality. Once you nail the acting, then the voice will follow.