Actor, casting director and voice actor Danny Goldman, who brought to life Brainy Smurf on the classic 1980s cartoon The Smurfs and reprised the role for several specials as well as in stop-motion send-ups on Robot Chicken, died Sunday night at age 80. The news was shared by his long-time agent, Doug Ely, in a Facebook post, sharing that Goldman died at home under hospice care after suffering two strokes around New Year.
“Danny was truly one of a kind. He always had strong opinions and didn’t mind telling you about them. He was incredibly funny. He loved to root for the little guy and help wherever he could. He had a huge heart. We lost a good one today. He will be missed,” Ely wrote.
Goldman’s earliest notable role was in 1970’s MASH; he also had recurring roles in The Good Life and Busting Loose, and appeared as a questioning medical student in Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein in 1974. The New York City-born actor scored roles on many of the top TV series of the ’70s, including CHiPs, Happy Days, Hawaii Five-O and The Partridge Family before making his mark in animation with NBC’s The Smurfs (1981-89). Goldman also lent his voice talents to Bruce Timm’s Batman: The Animated Series for Warner Bros. and the toy line-inspired 1993 series Mighty Max, produced by Film Roman. His most recent acting credit was on hit CBS crime drama Criminal Minds in 2012.
Nickelodeon Latin America announced that the premiere of The Casagrandes on April 3, secured the No. 1 spot in key markets in the region. The show topped rankings on Nickelodeon in Argentina, Mexico and Brazil, including all kids pay TV channels with kids 7-14 (according to Kantar IBOPE Media). Additionally, the show’s short-form content on Nick Play, the network’s app, generated over 130K video views.
[casagrandes stats pic]
The new series follows the adventures of a multi generational Mexican-American family and is a spinoff of the Emmy Award-winning The Loud House. The Casagrandes tells the story of 11-year-old Ronnie Anne, who moves to the city with her mom and older brother to live with their big, loving family: The Casagrandes.
The show airs Fridays at 6 p.m. in Mexico, 3 p.m. in Colombia, 4 p.m. in Venezuela and Chile, 19:30 (7:30 p.m.) in Argentina and 18:00 (6 p.m.) in Brazil on Nickelodeon Latin America.
Titmouse, Inc. is one of the several super-busy animation houses that has been able to make a smooth transition to this new COVID-19 “work-from-home” period. The thriving studio, which has three locations in Los Angeles, New York City and Vancouver, was founded in 1999 by Chris and Shannon Prynoski. Among the many shows they are currently working on are Tigtone, Ballmstrz: 9009, Archibald’s Next Big Thing, Bless the Harts, Cleopatra in Space, Green Eggs and Ham and the much-anticipated Penn Ward/Duncan Trussell series The Midnight Gospel, which premieres on Netflix on April 20. We were very pleased when studio head Chris Prynoski answered a few of our questions about how he’s keeping Titmouse in flight during these challenging times:
Animag: We know your busy production pipeline is humming as usual. How have social distancing and work-at-home policies impacted the shows that are currently in production?
Chris Prynoski: It’s been weird for sure. In some ways, it can be more efficient. Like you can attend more meetings in a day because there’s no drive time between client locations. The physical connection of being in an edit room together or pitching gags in a story meeting is definitely missed. It’s harder to share a gag you just doodled on a post-it with everyone. You have to hold it up to your webcam or take a pic with your phone and text it, etc. Productions are all moving forward, but the dynamic is different as we’ve had to shift our creative methods a bit.
Which technologies do you use to share huge animation files?
We use everything from Google Drive to specialized file sharing and review services like Egnyte, Frame.IO and Wiredrive. Some staff also have VPN access to connect to our servers.
Will you still be able to deliver all the shows on time or will they be slightly delayed?
So far, we are holding schedules without much delay. Time will tell if schedules need to be extended. If this goes on for a very long time, then there will likely be some impact on our timelines. It’s hard to say how much at this point.
How do you keep a positive spirit and inspiring work environment despite all the challenges?
We communicate a lot. I’ve never been on so many video conference calls! Shannon sends out funny and heartwarming emails to the whole crew, filling them in on the state of the studio. I’ve also been playing D&D games with the staff from all three of our locations remotely. We are fortunate to work in cartoons and lucky we get to laugh every day!
Chris Prynoski has a video call with Chris Allison, a storyboard artist, while working from his home.
Any tips for fellow animators who are trying to get through this difficult period?
If you’re not located in a city like Los Angeles, New York, Vancouver, etc., this is actually a great opportunity to break into the industry. With all the work being done remotely, your physical location matters less than it did four weeks ago.
Are you hiring — and if so, what skill sets are you looking for?
We are always looking for talented artists! Skills vary depending on the gig. Draftsmanship and professionalism are always appreciated! Check out our careers page where you’ll find more than 25 open positions: https://titmouse.net/careers/
As shelter-at-home and coronavirus prevention lockdown orders are being extended, Walt Disney Studios is shifting Pixar original Soul from its planned June 19 domestic release to November 20. The Thanksgiving holiday window was originally set aside for Disney Animation fantasy-adventure Raya and the Last Dragon, which has been bumped to March 21, 2021 — comfortably between the February launch of Locksmith Animation’s debut Ron’s Gone Wrong and Sony’s Lin-Manuel Miranda musical Vivo in April.
Directed by Pete Docter (Inside Out, Up) and Star Trek: Discovery writer Kemp Powers, Soul centers on a middle-school band teacher (voiced by Jamie Foxx) whose big chance to play at the best jazz club in town is thwarted when small misstep takes him from the streets of New York City to The Great Before – a fantastical place where new souls get their personalities — where he teams up with a precocious soul (Tina Fey) who doesn’t see the appeal of life on Earth.
Raya and the Last Dragon is the feature directorial debut for Disney story artists Paul Briggs and Dean Wellins (Big Hero 6, Frozen), and is written by Adele Lim (Crazy Rich Asians). Inspired by Asian myths and cultures, the film follows Raya, a lone warrior from the fantasy kingdom of Kumandra, who teams up with a crew of misfits in her quest to find the Last Dragon — thus bringing light and unity back to their world. Cassie Steele will voice Raya, and Awkwafina plays Sisu, the Last Dragon.
With numbers still coming in, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment is seeing record weekend and opening day numbers for the digital rental debut of DreamWorks Animation sequel Trolls World Tour. Released Friday, the colorful, musical adventure reportedly took in 10 times UPHE’s previous top digital title, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, which made $2-3 million domestically on its first day. The animated outing is also expected to soar past Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame, which had a first week total of $30M.
FandangoNOW reported Monday afternoon that Trolls World Tour took a long lead in the service’s most popular streaming titles, helping it attain its best weekend in the VOD platform’s history. The title is officially FandangoNOW’s most pre-ordered title of all time, best-selling opening day film and best-selling film during its first three days of digital release.
The service’s top 10 list Mon.-Sun. runs:
Trolls World Tour
Bad Boys for Life
Sonic the Hedgehog
Birds of Prey
The Invisible Man
Dolittle
The Call of the Wild
Like a Boss
Bloodshot
Jumanji: The Next Level
“Following weeks of anticipation for its home premiere, Trolls World Tour is now FandangoNOW’s streaming debut champ, with the best preorders, first day and opening weekend sales we’ve ever seen,” commented FandangoNOW Head Cameron Douglas. “We’re pleased that families looking for a much-needed entertainment break are enjoying DreamWorks Animation’s latest movie on our service.”
Trolls World Tour is currently the No. 1 title across all major VOD platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, DirecTV, FandangoNOW, Google Play, Vudu, Xfinity and YouTube. (Find out where to catch the flick at WatchTrolls.com.)
The Walt Dohrn-directed sequel (which you can read all about here) was on the verge of its theatrical release when COVID-19 precautions started shutting down cinemas around the world, with marketing in full swing as well as promotional partnerships, celebrity engagements for Troll voicers Justin Timberlake, Anna Kendrick, etc., and merchandising, which influenced the studio to go all-in on a VOD launch rather than push back a big screen release.
While digital/video revenue figures are not monitored in real-time by a central system like theatrical box office — instead relying on individual platform’s weekly reports directly to studios — the”new normal” of blockbuster digital-first opens may harken in a new era of transparency.
Netflix has entered into a first-look deal for live-action and animated series with BOOM! Studios, the publisher behind best-selling, Eisner Award-winning and fan-beloved comic-book franchises such as Lumberjanes, Something Is Killing the Children, Once & Future and Mouse Guard.
BOOM! Studios CEO and Founder Ross Richie and President of Development Stephen Christy will executive produce all shows developed through the pact.
This new partnership expands on the close collaborative relationship already built by the two companies. Netflix and BOOM! are working together on the upcoming feature film of Cullen Bunn & Jack T. Cole’s psychological-horror graphic novel Unsound, directed by David F. Sandberg (Shazam!) and adapted by BloodList and Hit List-making screenwriter Sklar James. BOOM! also debuted a graphic novel series tied to fantasy-adventure Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance in 2019.
“BOOM! characters are innately special; they’re colorful, diverse and varied and their stories have the power to ignite something in all of us,” said Brian Wright, Vice President, Original Series at Netflix. “We can’t wait to bring these stories from the page to the screen to fans in every corner of the world.”
“We generate 20-plus new original series a year and are thrilled to partner with a company that is as prolific as we are,” said Richie. “BOOM!’s unique partnership model of controlling the media rights to our library benefits creators by positioning them to be packaged with high-end directors, screenwriters, and producers. We’re thrilled to continue our track record of translating our best-selling award-winning library with the best TV talent in the business but now with the undisputed leader of the new streaming era.”
Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal: Age of ResistanceThe Unsound
Ahead of the highly-anticipated Season 2 premiere this Friday, Atomic Cartoons and Netflix has revealed first-look character images of the monstrous makeovers given to actors Catherina O’Hara and Bruce Campbell in The Last Kids on Earth.
O’Hara voices Skaelka: This female monster was a vicious warrior in the monster dimension: scary savage and fiercely ferocious. Skaelka is extremely enthusiastic. She’s always ready to rumble and forever eager to use her ax. She is obsessed with decapitation – and is forever bummed that Jack won’t let her chop off zombie heads.
Catherine O’Hara is an Emmy and multiple CSA-winning actress with a long list of VO credits in addition to her well-known work with SCTV and in Christopher Guest comedies like Best in Show and A Mighty Wind. She recently voiced Grandma Frump in MGM’s The Addams Family; other animated feature credits include The Nightmare Before Christmas, Frankenweenie, Monster House, Over the Hedge and the English dub of When Marnie Was There, along with TV toons Skylanders Academy, Glenn Martin DDS and guest spots on The Magic School Bus Rides Again, Harvey Beaks and Sofia the First. O’Hara can be seen in Emmy-nominated comedy Schitt’s Creek, and is providing a voice for U.S.-Chinese CG flick Extinct (2021).
Campbell plays Chef, the grouchy monster who cooks all the bizarre concoctions at Joe’s Pizza. He’s still learning how to cook with Earth food. His cuisine is less than tasty, but he challenges Dirk (one of the kid survivalists) to competitive cook-offs!
Bruce Campbell is immediately recognizable for playing Asley “Ash” J. Williams in The Evil Dead film/TV franchise, Bubba Ho-Tep, the ’90s Xena and Hercules adventures, Burn Notice and more. He has also lent his distinctive voice to many animation and videogame projects, recently playing King Edmund on Tangled: The Series; his credits list includes Cars 2, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters, The Ant Bully, The Replacements, Tachyon, Hellboy: The Science of Evil, CoD: Advanced Warfare – Exo Zombies and Dead by Daylight.
From Atomic Cartoons and based on the New York Times bestselling book series by Max Brailler, The Last Kids on Earth is a fun and lighthearted series about Jack Sullivan and his band of suburban middle schoolers living in a decked-out treehouse, playing video games, gorging themselves on candy and battling zombies. Season two — premiering this Friday, April 17 — will feature the voices of Mark Hamill, Rosario Dawson, Catherine O’Hara, Bruce Campbell, Keith David and Nick Wolfhard.
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will host a virtual panel – an in-depth discussion amongst filmmakers and voice actors, including actor Joel McHale and Mortal Kombat game co-creator Ed Boon – to celebrate the Digital release of Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge on Tuesday, April 14. The panel can be viewed at 5:00 p.m. PT/8:00 p.m. ET on the Mortal Kombat YouTube page, as well as the brand’s Twitter channel and Facebook page.
Prior to the panel, a community viewing party for Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion’s Revenge – led by Patrick Seitz, voice of Scorpion – will start at 3:00 p.m. PT/6:00 p.m. ET. Seitz will be live-tweeting (@Seitz_Unseen) throughout the 80-minute film, offering personal thoughts about his role and the Mortal Kombat experience. Fans are encouraged to purchase the Digital version of the film from their favorite online retailer, and then cue up the film to watch and simultaneously follow Seitz’s commentary on Twitter. (Remember: Scorpion’s Revenge is rated R for bloody violence and some language!)
Panelists confirmed for the one-hour chat – which will feature several film clips – include Joel McHale (Community, The CW’s upcoming Stargirl), voice of Hollywood-star-turned-warrior Johnny Cage; Jordan Rodrigues (Lady Bird, The Fosters), voice of Liu Kang; Patrick Seitz (Mortal Kombat X, Aggretsuko, Naruto: Shippuden), voice of Scorpion & Hanzo Hasashi; producer Rick Morales (Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders, Batman vs. Two-Face); screenwriter Jeremy Adams (Supernatural, Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans); and creative consultant Ed Boon (NetherRealm Studios), one of the creators of the game franchise. Joshua Gray, producer and host of Mortal Kombat Events & Professional Tournaments since 2015, will moderate the panel discussion.
Read more about the home release of Mortal Kombat: Scorpion’s Revengehere and check out a brand-new clip below.
Hit animated series Hello Ninja is returning to Netflix for a second season on April 24! The show has quickly become one of Netflix’s most popular preschool series and will premiere 10 all-new episodes featuring everyone’s favorite pint-size ninja heroes exploring new worlds and squaring off against an all-new cast of villains.
Based on the book from N.D. Wilson, international best-selling author of 100 Cupboards and Boys of Blur, Hello Ninja chronicles the magical, problem-solving adventures of BFF’s Wesley, Georgie and their cat Pretzel, through an imaginary world where each episode they save the day by transforming into ninjas.
“Hello Ninja is all about inspiring kids’ imaginations,” said Wilson. “I want kids to watch the show and be more inspired by the world around them — inspired to become fantastic characters in this fantastic world, no matter what obstacles they might face.”
Wilson initially wrote the book for his youngest daughter, who wanted him to take a break from novels. He has just completed a follow up, collaborating again with artist Forrest Dickison, called Hello Ninja, Hello Georgie, which will be published by HarperCollins later this year.
“The response has been overwhelming and we can’t wait for fans to see what’s coming next,” added Wilson’s producing partner, Aaron Rench. “Netflix has been a terrific partner and we are so grateful for the chance to expand this universe in season two.”
Building on the first season’s success, season two expands this enchanting ninja-world with new ninja skills and new adventures in far-flung and fantastical locales. Young fans of the picture book will be especially excited to recognize a new character or two, as well.
The show features a stellar voiceover cast, with Lukas Engel (PAW Patrol) as Wesley, Zoey Siewert (Nina’s World) as Georgie, and Sam Vincent (Ed, Edd n Eddy) as beloved sidekick, Pretzel.
Hello Ninja is produced by Gorilla Poet Productions and Atomic Cartoons. The new season is directed by Michael Dowding. Wilson, Rench, Grace Ledding, Mark Palmer, Jennifer Twiner McCarron and Matthew Berkowitz serve as executive producers.
Wilson and Rench are represented by Ledding’s Agile Entertainment and Doug Stone at Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher.
The zany, absurd, comical home-grown heroes of Bandbudh aur Budbak are coming to Cartoon Network India this month. Starting April 18, the channel will premiere the mischievous duo’s latest hijinx every day at 10:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Bandbudh aur Budbak follows the amusing adventures of 10-year-old Budhdeb and Badrinath. Thick as thieves, they inevitably find themselves at the center of all ruckus, usually getting off scot-free with sheer luck or an irrational explanation. Brimming with whacky capers and whimsical antics, the show offers a perfect light-hearted respite from everyday humdrum.
“Our portfolio is packed with shows from different genres that appeal to every fan. Investing in the home-grown animation, Bandbudh aur Budbak, was a decision driven solely by what our fans love,” said Abhishek Dutta, Network Head of Cartoon Network and POGO in South Asia.
“The show has unique and memorable characters that evoke laughter in commonplace situations. The world of these central characters has a definitive Indian context, and features world-class animation, making the show absolutely relatable. In that sense, we continue to be truly glocal with our newest offering for our viewers, and we’re confident that they will love it.”
As Cartoon Network becomes the new home for Bandbudh aur Budbak, the show will be launched with extensive promotions on social media and digital avenues. In addition to Hindi, the new show will also be available in Tamil and Telugu.
Abhishek Dutta, South Asia Network Head Cartoon Network and POGO
SWaN & Legend Venture Partners and Sugar23 announced their investment and creative collaboration with Mindshow, a 3D animation studio built on proprietary, cutting-edge technology that produces animation at the speed of live action. The partnership will provide a new medium and process for creative expression for top-tier talent, support rapidly increasing content pipelines in the animated space and bring projects to market much more quickly.
Mindshow is lead by CEO Gil Baron, an experienced leader with a demonstrated history of implementing cutting-edge tech, and Executive Producer Sharon Bordas, who joined the company as Head of Studio back in 2019.
“From the moment Sharon and I sat down with Michael [Sugar], Sugar23 and the team at SWaN & Legend, we knew they saw the future in the same weird and wonderful way we do,” said Baron. “We couldn’t be more excited to have them as our partners in bringing new kinds of technology, creativity and talent to the world of 3D animation.”
Michael Sugar, an Oscar-winning producer and founder of Sugar23, commented, “We’re incredibly excited to announce our investment in Mindshow. Both of our teams were left literally speechless after seeing Mindshow’s presentation.”
“We can’t wait to hit the ground running to bring some exciting new ideas to life with this truly groundbreaking technology and this collaborative, wicked-smart team,” added Fred Schaufeld, co-founder of SWaN.
Established in 2017 and quickly becoming an industry favorite, Sugar23 is a venture creation company with interests in premium content creation, technology, eSports, celebrity management, business consulting, brand incubation and investment.
SWaN & Legend Venture Partners supports the continued evolution of Mindshow alongside Sugar23. Co-founder and Managing Director of SWaN, Schaufeld is also an owner of the Washington Capitals (NHL), Washington Nationals (MLB), Washington Wizards (NBA), Washington Mystics (WNBA), Professional Fighter’s League, Team Liquid (eSports), Capital City Go-Go (NBA G League) and the Capital One Arena.
WarnerMedia announced it will air the half-hour special, Sesame Street: Elmo’s Playdate, simultaneously across HBO, HBO Latino, TBS, TNT, truTV, Cartoon Network and Boomerang on Tuesday, April 14 (7:00-7:30 p.m. ET/PT). The special will also air on PBS KIDS at the same time, and will later air internationally in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom.
Part of Sesame Workshop’s Caring for Each Other initiative, the special is aimed at helping kids and families around the world feel connected in this time of uncertainty and features everyone’s favorite Sesame Street friends and celebrity guests including Lin-Manuel Miranda, Anne Hathaway and Tracee Ellis Ross.
Sesame Street: Elmo’s Playdate will also be available on HBO NOW, HBO GO, HBO On Demand and partners’ streaming platforms, as well as part of the HBO offering on HBO Max at the time of its launch.
“WarnerMedia recognizes how difficult these isolation efforts are for families, especially ones with children,” said Bob Greenblatt, Chairman, WarnerMedia Ent. and Direct-to-Consumer. “With Sesame Street: Elmo’s Playdate airing simultaneously across our networks, we are confident that this special will bring family members together for a unique in-home viewing experience that will provide laughter, joy and relief during this challenging time.”
“We hope Sesame Street: Elmo’s Playdate will entertain and delight families at a moment when so many are feeling isolated and overwhelmed by current events,” said Steve Youngwood, Sesame Workshop’s President, Media & Education and Chief Operating Officer. “With help from our distribution partners around the world, this special will encourage parents and kids to gather and relax as a family — in a way that only the Sesame Street Muppets can.”
The half-hour special follows Elmo, Grover, Cookie Monster, Abby Cadabby and a few famous friends as they find new ways to play and learn together. Celebrating everything from the EMTs, doctors and other everyday heroes who are helping families through the health crisis to the simple pleasures of baking cookies at home, the playdate takes the form of a cozy video conference that will feel very familiar to today’s viewers.
Celebrities and Sesame Street friends will sing songs, play games and take silly dance breaks. Tracee Ellis Ross plays a game of “Elmo Says,” Lin-Manuel Miranda pops in for a few rounds of “Old McDonald Had a Farm,” Anne Hathaway and Elmo get moving with “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes,” and more. Kids will love getting a visit from their Sesame Street friends, and caregivers will appreciate how the special models playful learning opportunities they can use at home.
Sesame Workshop is committed to supporting families through this unprecedented time of uncertainty with the new Caring for Each Other initiative. As the situation evolves, www.sesamestreet.org/caring will be updated to meet the changing needs of caregivers and young children. Caring for Each Other resources are designed to help parents provide comfort and manage anxiety, create routines, foster playful learning at home, and keep kids physically and mentally healthy.
Families can also watch Sesame Street episodes on HBO, PBS stations and the PBS KIDS 24/7 channel, with an expanded offering of free on-demand episodes of Sesame Street on PBS KIDS digital platforms. Additionally, over 110 Sesame Street ebooks are available for free on all major ebook platforms.
Lakeshore Records is set to release Here We Are: Notes For Living On Planet Earth — Apple TV+ Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, featuring music by Alex Somers (Honey Boy, Captain Fantastic, How to Train Your Dragon), a frequent collaborator with Sigur Rós and Jónsi (Jónsi & Alex), exclusively on Apple Music on April 17 — the same day the film debuts. The album will then release on all other digital platforms on June 19.
“This film is a really sweet portrait of a day in the life of a curious child. A reminder of how everything can be new and alive at any moment if we only look up, shift our perspective, and remain open like children so often do,” said Somers. “The music is a collection of slow and dreamy reverb drenched piano, strings, choir melodies underpinning the spectrum of potential one good day can hold. Thanks for listening!”
Produced by Somers and Sindri Már Sigfússon, the score provides an emotional and ethereal backdrop to the short film utilizing keys, strings and a haunting choir by Alaska Reid. Ahead of the release, Animag got to wrap our ears around the original track “Here We Are.” Take a listen:
In celebration of Earth Day, Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth follows a precocious seven-year-old (voiced by Jacob Tremblay) who, over the course of Earth Day, learns about the wonders of the planet from his parents (voiced by Chris O’Dowd and Ruth Negga) — and from a mysterious exhibit at the aptly titled Museum of Everything. The insightful and poignant short film is narrated by Academy Award and Golden Globe winner Meryl Streep. The 36-minute film is based on the #1 New York Times Bestseller and 2017’s #1 TIME Best Book of the Year by Oliver Jeffers, which has also sold over 1 million copies to date.
From the multi-BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning, Oscar-nominated independent animation studio, Studio AKA, the special is written by BAFTA winner Philip Hunt (Ah Pook Is Here, Lost and Found) and Oscar winner Luke Matheny (God of Love, Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street, Ghostwriter); directed by Hunt, and executive produced by Oscar nominee and BAFTA winner Sue Goffe (A Morning Stroll, Varmints, Lost and Found, Hey Duggee), Hunt and renowned author Oliver Jeffers (Here We Are, Lost and Found, The Day the Crayons Quit).
OST track list:
01. Spins Around Us
02. Here We Are
03. Find Your Way
04. Patterns Of Stars
05. Very Far Away
06. Own Light
07. Floating In Space
08. The North Star
09. See Stars
10. Our Atmosphere
11. Land & Sea
12. Far Distance
13. Light Source
14. Clear Night
15. Before You Know It
16. Long Way
17. Not Around
18. Found Us
19. Not Too Late
20. Achernar
21. In Frozen Water
22. It Will Be Gone
23. Our Weather
24. Constellations
25. Tree Rings
26. Whenever You Get Lost
27. No One Lives Here
28. Into Place
Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve been in touch with many of our friends in the animation community to find out how they are coping with the new stay-at-home era and how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected their work and lives in general. We were very pleased to get an update from CEO P. Jayakumar and his team at Toonz Media Group, which just this week announced a new partnership with Keith Chapman, the creator of PAW Patrol and Bob the Builder, to work on his new 52 x 11′ series Paddypaws & Pals. Founded in 1999, Toonz Animation is located in Trivandrum, India and produces over 10,000 minutes of 2D and CG animated projects through its studios in Turkey, New Zealand, Spain and Ireland.
“The Coronavirus pandemic resulting in lockdowns across the world has certainly been challenging for all of us personally and professionally!” writes Jayakumar in an email. “For us it has been a rollercoaster the last few weeks after the coronavirus lockdown. Not only have we had to spring our survival strategy during lockdown — keeping in mind the safety and productivity of teams working from four continents — but also for a workforce of over 500 artists handling animation production on several projects with complex systems, data rooms and software now to be reinstated in their homes.”
He points out that the safety and health of the studio’s employees, partners and clients has always been a priority for everyone: “All our plans have been pragmatic without compromising the safety of our artists and their families, ensuring that panic and uncertainty are overcome with unique solutions to manage virtual functioning. Our admin, system admins and ops teams have been heroes! I am happy to note we are currently not reporting any major delays on our productions. Productivity is reported at about 80%, morale is high and no cases of infection reported from our artists and families. Currently at various stages of production are TV series Zoonicorn, Not the End of the World, Paddypaws & Pals and others.”
Jayakumar points out that the studio’s business strategy is focused on continuity in the short term, while keeping an eye on the long-term goals — focusing on immediate resource requirements and delivery schedules. He adds, “We’ve been using Skype, Zoom Conference, Google Teams, etc. to stay connected with our colleagues and clients all over the world. This has been a good time to experiment with various softwares, using their free and limited period versions. We are having quick and open communication, between the business heads on a daily basis, as well as creative huddles between our development and pre-production teams who have been working collaboratively from their homes in India, Spain and Ireland. Staying at home without the hustle and bustle of an office space and long commutes has been quite productive in terms of the flow of creativity.”
He points out that the human resources strategy has been critical in managing the studio’s artists and other staff working from the safety of their homes and continuing to deliver as efficiently as possible. “The HR team has been constantly communicating through newsletters, intranet, WhatsApp and direct phone calls to ensure everyone’s wellbeing, passing on useful information to keep our teams positive, hopeful and healthy. E.g.: the importance of physical exercise even in confined spaces, not to be stuck in a rut, slumped over our laptops or on a couch for long periods of time. Letting them know that help was always at hand if needed. We recently concluded a company-wide ‘virtual town hall meeting’ hosted by me along with my senior colleagues via Zoom Conference.”
The studio has also taken an active role in giving back to the community at this difficult time. “We’ve been offering free online programs for children at the Toonz Academy and providing a substantial fee discount for all students whose immediate family members are part of the healthcare services and police workforce,” he says. “This is our way of showing deep gratitude for the selfless service they’ve been providing. Helping others and making gratitude a part of our daily lives is a great way to keep ourselves motivated. It gives us a sense of purpose beyond our routine work, thus improving overall productivity.”
“The pandemic and lockdowns have created a strange, paradoxical situation for everyone in the entertainment industry,” Jayakumar concludes. “Because people are at home and in lockdown, there has been an exponential increase in demand, but the creators are locked down as well! Hence, it has been interesting to come up with innovative ways to meet the demand and continuing ‘Business as Usual’ from the comfort of our homes! The upside is that we have been able to spend more than usual quality time with our families, and also attempt at furthering one’s cooking skills— all part of our survival strategy! My mantra is, ‘Be prepared for any eventuality but never stop hoping for the best!’”
You can learn more about Toonz Media Group and all its upcoming projects at toonz.co
The Board of Trustees of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation approved on April 8 the awarding of Guggenheim Fellowships to a diverse group of 175 writers, scholars, artists and scientists — including Pia Borg, associate director of the Experimental Animation Program at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), who was awarded a fellowship in Film and Video.
Appointed on the basis of prior achievement and exceptional promise, the successful candidates were chosen through a rigorous peer-review process from almost 3,000 applicants in the Foundation’s 95th competition.
“It’s exceptionally encouraging to be able to share such positive news at this terribly challenging time,” said Edward Hirsch, President of the Foundation. “A Guggenheim Fellowship has always offered practical assistance, helping Fellows do their work, but for many of the new Fellows, it may be a lifeline at a time of hardship, a survival tool as well as a creative one. As we grapple with the difficulties of the moment, it is also important to look to the future. The artists, writers, scholars and scientific researchers supported by the Fellowship will help us understand and learn from what we are enduring individually and collectively, and it is an honor for the Foundation to help them do their essential work.”
The great variety of backgrounds, fields of study and accomplishments of Guggenheim Fellows is a unique characteristic of the Fellowship program. In all, 53 scholarly disciplines and artistic fields, 75 different academic institutions, 31 states and the District of Columbia, and two Canadian provinces are represented in this year’s class of Fellows, who range in age from 29 to 82. Close to 60 Fellows have no full-time college or university affiliation.
Pia Borg (b.1977) is an Australian filmmaker based in Los Angeles. Working with archival footage, CGI animation and performed re-enactments, Borg’s films portray historical and cultural events, chronicling psychological phenomena like false memory syndrome, collective hysteria and the opal fever surrounding extractive industries.
She is the recipient of numerous prizes including the Golden Leopard for best international short (Locarno Film Festival 2014) for the documentary Abandoned Goods. Her latest short film, Demonic,premiered at Cannes Critics Week 2019 and was recently nominated for an Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Award. Her film Silica was installed in the Maltese Pavilion of the 57th Venice Biennale (May-Nov. 2017) and was awarded prizes at AFI fest, Ann Arbor, 25 FPS and Tacoma Film Festival.
Her animated works Footnote (2004) and Through the Hawthorne (2014; commissioned by Wellcome Trust) have been selected for prestige festivals including Cannes, Annecy, SXSW, ITFS, Ottawa Int’l Animation Festival, Hiroshima Animation Festival, Animafest, Clermont-Ferrand, Fantoche and more.
In 2015, Borg was named as one of the 25 New Faces of Independent Film in Filmmaker magazine. She has recently had solo screenings of her films at REDCAT, Los Angeles, Museum of Moving Image, New York, ICA, London and Cineteca, Mexico City. In 2014, she joined the faculty of California Institute of the Arts, where she is currently the Associate Director of the Experimental Animation Program.
This year’s Film and Video Fellows also include digital media theorist and game designer Patrick Jagoda, co-founder of the Game Changer Chicago Design Lab and the Transmedia Story Lab; Jeffrey Sconce, Assoc. Professor in the Screen Cultures program at Northwestern University (author – Haunted Media: Electronic Presence from Telegraphy to Television, Technical Delusion: Electronics, Power, Insanity); and Pamela Wojcik, Professor in Film, TV & Theater at the University of Notre Dame and former President of the Society for Cinema and Media Studies (author – Guilty Pleasures: Feminist Camp from Mae West to Madonna; The Apartment Plot: Urban Living in American Film and Popular Culture, 1945 to 1975; Fantasies of Neglect: Imagining the Urban Child in American Film and Fiction).
CalArts School of Art alumni J. Stoner Blackwell, Cammie Staros and Valerie Tevere, as well as recent visiting artist and Herb Alpert Award in the Arts recipient Lloyd Suh, also received fellowships.
Since its establishment in 1925, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation has granted more than $375 million in Fellowships to more than 18,000 individuals, among whom are scores of Nobel laureates, Fields Medalists, poets laureate, members of the national academies, winners of the Pulitzer Prize, Turing Award, Bancroft Prize, National Book Award and other internationally recognized honors. Created by Senator Simon and Olga Guggenheim in memory of their son, the Foundation has sought since its inception to “further the development of scholars and artists by assisting them to engage in research in any field of knowledge and creation in any of the arts, under the freest possible conditions.”
After 95 years, the Guggenheim Fellowship program remains a significant source of support for artists, scholars in the humanities and social sciences, and scientific researchers. In addition to the generous support of Senator Simon and Mrs. Olga Guggenheim, new and continuing donations from friends, Trustees, former Fellows, and other foundations have ensured that the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation will maintain its historic mission. An exceptionally generous bequest in 2019 from the estate of the great American novelist Philip Roth, a Fellow in 1959, is providing partial support for the wide variety of writers supported by the Foundation.
For more information on the 2020 Fellows, visit the Foundation’s website at http://www.gf.org.
California Institute of the Arts has set the pace for educating professional artists since 1970. Offering rigorous undergraduate and graduate degree programs through six schools — Art, Critical Studies, Dance, Film/Video, Music, and Theater — CalArts has championed creative excellence, critical reflection and the development of new forms and expressions. As successive generations of faculty and alumni have helped shape the landscape of contemporary arts, the Institute first envisioned by Walt Disney encompasses a vibrant, eclectic community with global reach, inviting experimentation, independent inquiry and active collaboration and exchange among artists, artistic disciplines and cultural traditions. https://calarts.edu/
Portland, OR-based indie studio LAIKA — the birthplace of critically acclaimed, Oscar-nominated stop-motion features Coraline, ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls, Kubo and the Two Strings and Missing Link — will continue to pay its employees “in full with all benefits” during the coronavirus shutdown. The studio is closed until May 1, at the moment.
LAIKA President & CEO Travis Knight, who directed Kubo, stated in a memo:
“When this ends, and it will end, the world will need storytellers more than ever. The world will need hope and inspiration and empathy and high-spirited joy. The world will need beauty and poetry and restorative works of art. The world will need you
“… Telling stories is one of the prime functions of the human mind and spirit. Good stories open us up to new possibilities, to new ways of thinking, to recognize the shared humanity in which we all participate. That has always been Laika’s reason for being. And it will remain so. And we will do it as we always have. Together.”
The craftsman studio has released a new film every two to three years since 2009, the most recent being last year’s Golden Globe-winning bigfoot adventure Missing Link (directed by Chris Butler). LAIKA has yet to reveal its next project, but you can catch up with their incredible catalog through a variety of streaming platforms as noted in this Where to Watch guide.
Over the past year, I’ve taken a look at laptops that have incorporated the Nvidia RTX line of graphics cards, including this issue’s review of the HP ZBook 17 G6. But it’s been a while since I looked at the workstation cards. My last one was a more in-depth online review using a Titan RTX with pretty stellar results. And given the time since then for the software developers to catch up to the hardware, we’ve seen more and more tools that are speeding up — in big ways.
This month, we are looking at the GeForce 2080 Ti. It’s been out for some time, but it’s worth a look because it is extremely powerful, but less than half the price of its big brother, the Titan RTX. In fact, the performance is surprisingly similar, within certain reasonable parameters.
The 2080 Ti has the same physical profile with a dual cooling fan setup. They use about the same power consumption. The Boost Clock is 1,635 MHz versus 1,770 MHz on the Titan. And it has 11 GB (not too shabby) versus the 24 GB on the Titan. However, when I started running side by side comparisons, at least for tools made for us artists, the results are astonishingly close. In fact, I had to make a concerted effort to build a scene big enough to cap out the 11 GB of RAM on the 2080 Ti so that the Titan RTX would pull ahead in the race — boosted by the ability to hold more stuff in its 24GB.
Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti
In running the OctaneBench 4.0, the 2080 Ti scored a 303.8 against the 304.5 on the Titan. This is basically neck and neck. So, when both cards could pull the entire scenes onto their RAM, the performances are nearly indiscernible. I also found similar performances in V-Ray Next in 3ds Max and Maya, Arnold, Resolve and REDRAY Player. As long as you were keeping it below 11 GB, the cards stayed together. This is a pretty good argument for aiming toward the 2080 Ti for your GPU acceleration needs, for most of your scenes.
The other variable that factors into the price difference is the market the two cards are made for. The Titan RTX does have its fair share of RT cores — the ray-trace accelerators — just as the 2080 Ti does, but it’s the Tensor cores in the Titan that make the difference. These are the ones that accelerate AI and deep learning, compiling data from enormous datasets. Artists who are making pretty pictures and cool visual effects may not need that kind of raw power. So the investment would be similar to installing a nitrous boost in your car when you never leave a school zone. You will never use that power!
So, unless you need to create some serious deep fakes in record time, you are going to get the same type of performance from the 2080 Ti for the majority of your rendering needs as you would with the Titan RTX. It’s still not a tiny investment as far as graphics cards go, but you are getting top notch performance, while saving $1,300.
First thing I have to say is that this laptop is a beast: It has an aluminum and magnesium build, a 17” screen, and inch-thick chassis bringing it up to 7 lbs. out of the gate. It’s definitely in the heavyweight fighting class. And it’s built like a tank, going through tons of trauma and damage tests — including close-proximity explosions. That’s right, explosions! It’s probably not so important in the animation field, but it’s good to know the laptop is that robust.
There are a bunch of ports (two Thunderbolts, three USB 3.0 — one a charging port, HDMI and a Mini DisplayPort.) A Blu-ray/DVD writer provides a happy addition that I’ve been missing in smaller models as of late. My test model has 64 GB of RAM (but it can go up to 128 GB) and an Intel Xeon E-2286M clocking 2.4 GHz with boosts up to 5.0 GHz. For storage, I have 1 TB, but it looks like you can get up to 6 TB of NVMe (non-volatile memory express) storage. That’s a lot of power to carry around in your backpack.
The display on my review model is a UHD DreamColor coming in at 400 nits of brightness. So, the contrast is great, and HP has already established their DreamColor monitor as among the highest rated monitors for color accuracy — and an industry standard for visual effects.
HP ZBook 17G6
There is also some HP-specific hardware centered around collaboration and security. The webcam, which is used for facial recognition login amongst other things, has a physical shutter on it that you can slide shut in case you are an expatriate running from the NSA. You also have the alternate ways of logging in: via fingerprint or simply typing in a password.
For collaboration purposes, a third, forward-facing mic provides a couple of magical things. One, the mic will pick up additional people who are in back of the laptop during a Skype call or Google Hangout. It’s so good that some prefer it over phones designed for conference calls. The other asset is that the third mic is listening to the ambient noise in the room, and it can use that to subtract it from the voice of the user — so, in essence, you have a real-time noise reduction system.
All of this is fabulous, but for our purposes, it’s the Quadro RTX card that kicks things up another level. Either in the 3000 with 6 GB, the 4000 with 8 GB or the 5000 with 16 GB, each of these cards are specifically geared to accelerate ray tracing, deep learning and AI. With an OctaneBench score of 165 — most of the scores above are based on multiple cards. And while it may not rate near the 2080 Ti and Titan RTX, it’s pretty impressive for something in a laptop.
The 17” G6 lives up to its name as a mobile workstation. It’s powerful and it’s heavy duty. I mentioned that it is a beast, so that means it won’t be cheap. You can start around $2,500, but it will quickly escalate. The model I’m testing specs out to around $6,500. But if you are serious about your work and you need to be on the go, your ROI is going to be immeasurable.
Todd Sheridan Perry is a VFX supervisor and digital artist who has worked on many acclaimed features such as Black Panther, The Lord of the Rings, Speed Racer and Avengers: Age of Ultron. You can reach him at todd@teaspoonvfx.com.
Ahead of the Disney Junior U.S. summer premiere of the much anticipated Chuggington from Herschend Entertainment Studios (HES), young fans are invited to explore the fantastical train world like never before with the launch of a series of animated/live-action hybrid shorts, beginning Monday, April 13 at 8:25 a.m. ET/PT on Disney Channel and DisneyNOW.
In the 26 x 1.5’ series, Discover Chuggington: All Aboard, real kids are transported into the fictional 3D world of Chuggington and interact with the characters and world through activities, adventures and music.
“HES is making a substantial commitment to this much-loved brand and our incredible creative team have developed a truly dynamic approach to this series of shorts to inspire kids’ imaginations and bring them into the world of Chuggington in a fun and all-new, engaging way,” commented Natalie Setton, HES’ Vice President Commercial, Content Distribution, & Licensing. “We are thrilled to unveil the series shorts on Disney Junior in advance of the U.S. premiere this summer.”
The upcoming Chuggington series introduces an all-new audience to the much-loved trio of young, trainee trains — the eager Wilson, daring Koko and loyal Brewster — as they embark on exciting adventures and learn valuable lessons about teamwork, friendship and fun in the world of Chuggington. Award-winning, Emmy-nominated Michael G. Stern (Doc McStuffins, Sofia the First) is the head writer and co-executive producer for both the new interstitials and long-form series, together with key creative and production personnel from earlier seasons. Julie Phillips, HES’ Vice President of Production and Development, also serves as executive producer.
HES acquired Chuggington from Ludorum PLC in December 2018. The company is supporting the franchise relaunch with new episodic content, interstitials and music, all new creative assets, and a new website and app, with direct-to-consumer campaigns, promotional events, global brand partnerships and merchandise in the works. Alpha Toys is the global master toy partner. Herschend will also be leveraging their portfolio of media, themed entertainment and experience-based businesses to integrate and promote the brand.
The original Chuggington continues to be enjoyed by preschoolers on A-list broadcast networks and key streaming platforms in over 178 countries across the globe. Fan engagement for Chuggington is high across digital, with over 2.5 billion watch time minutes on YouTube and 34% year-on-year growth.
Launched in 2016, Herschend Entertainment Studios is the media arm of Herschend Enterprises, which develops and produces 360 franchises of wholesome entertainment for television, film, licensing and other media. Its current media properties include Chuggington, Splash and Bubbles (in partnership with The Jim Henson Company) and The Keys to the Kingdom.
Fuse Media, a cross-platform entertainment media brand serving a multicultural Millennial and Gen Z audience, today unveiled a new programming line-up bolstered by both original and renewed series. The slate of originals – which includes many returning series and several concepts that originated on digital before coming to linear TV – leans into music culture to create an expanding collection of engaging, empowering, and unifying programming.
Among these is Fuse’s first (and continuingly successful) foray into adult animation, Sugar and Toys, which has been renewed for a second season. The mash-up of Saturday morning cartoons, social commentary and music culture parody has made its mark by speaking directly to the trends and issues most relevant to a millennial audience.
“Our expanded content slate reflects an unwavering commitment to entertain and empower a young, multicultural audience through the unifying theme of music culture,” said Fuse Media Chief Content Officer J-T Ladt. “Now more than ever, our audience is looking for aspirational content with a purpose and by incubating our formats digitally, we’ve been able to listen to them and adapt along the way.”
The new and returning content is complemented by Fuse Media’s recently announced Be Changecall-to-action, social responsibility initiative, which launched on March 30. Its first iteration, Be Change: Be Home, is a series of an-air interstitials, graphics, digital and social media messaging aimed at keeping Fuse’s audience informed, active and mentally stimulated while practicing social distancing. In the coming months, additional content will roll out to educate, inform and empower this audience to impact change around different issues, many of which are also addressed in the returning, award-winning Fuse Docs series of documentaries.
Also, building off its 2019 Fuse Multicultural Insider report, which gave insight on inclusion and a modern look at the multicultural relationship between brands and consumers, for 2020 Fuse will release a continuation titled Empowerment. Going Beyond Representation and Inclusion. This year’s study – again commissioned by Fuse with NRG – explores what the new definition of empowerment is to young Millennials and Gen Z audiences, and what their expectation is of brands and content partners who are looking to be considered a trusted empowering partner. For example, the soon to be released survey showed that entertainment is the No. 2 form of empowering content, with music as the No. 1 form of delivery.
Sugar and Toys(Season 2, 6×30) – Creators Carl Jones and Brian Ash (producers, Black Dynamite and The Boondocks) are at it again, in the new season of Fuse’s Sunday night adult animation series. Sugar and Toys brings a wild new twist on the Saturday morning cartoons we all grew up with – but a whole lot less innocent. Adult comedy, social commentary and music culture parody crash the cartoon party, speaking directly to the trends and issues most relevant to a young audience, and bookended by host and multi-platinum rapper and actor KYLE (Netflix’s The After Party, www.superduperkyle.com). It is executive produced by Aengus James, Colin King Miller, Jordan Allen-Dutton, Jones and Ash, with Kyle Harvey serving as co-executive producer, and produced by This is Just a Test and 245 Enterprises.
New original series:
Bust It Open (5 x 30′) – A game show spin on the popular unboxing genre where talent try to out-guess each other on pricing to win streetwear items.
Genius X Fuse(10 x 30′; premiered March 18) – The world’s biggest collection of song lyrics and music knowledge hits linear TV for the first time, hosted by Rob Markman.
Ming’s Dynasty (6 x 15′; premieres May 3) – Single-camera sitcom about aspiring rappers Whyte Wine (Calwyn Shurgold) and Young Riesling (Antony Hall) whose mission to make it in Toronto is disrupted by a return to rural Alberta to manage Riesling’s family’s restaurant.
Struggle Gourmet (10 x 30′) – Chef Dariany Santana and a celebrity guest talk about the guest artist’s journey and the meals that comforted them during the hardest days of their struggle – and recreate them with the most expensive ingredients on the market.
Unleashed (WT; 10 x 30′) – Host Jimmy O. Yang (Crazy Rich Asians, Silicon Valley) takes his lovable pug, Toffee, to take pop-culture icons and their furry friends on comedic adventures to LA’s dog-friendly spots.
Returning series:
Big Boy’s Neighborhood (Recently extended for an additional 130 episodes)
Fuse Docs (Season 4)
Fuse Films (Season 2) – Go Back to China (premieres May 16), written and directed by Emily Ting and starring Anna Akana, Richard Ng, Lynn Chen, Kelly Ju and Kendy Cheung, is a humorous, heartfelt portrait of a family business and generational and cultural clashes.
Made From Scratch (Season 2, 10 x 30′)
That White People Shit (Season 2, 10 x 30′)
Digital series:
Like, Share, Dimelo (premieres April 17) – Dominican-American Latina comedians Dee Nasty and Sasha Merci host this bold, yet hilarious, new talk series exploring the issues facing the Latinx community.
Skip the Line – This man on the street trivia show takes place in the lines of the latest and biggest streetwear drops, giving hype beasts a chance at winning the best gear being released.
Hype Market – Each episode will focus on the items to buy, sell, trade, and sit-on via a series of information segments focused on investment, depreciation, and authentication.
Fans of The Simpsons are in for a special treat when the new short Playdate with Destiny premieres on Disney+ this Friday (April 11). The short, which is directed by Simpsons veteran exec producer and writer David Silverman, who also directed the Oscar-nominated 2012 short The Longest Daycare, originally debuted in theaters with the Pixar feature Onward last month.
Note regarding Playdate with Destiny
The beautifully animated short tells the story of how Maggie Simpson falls for a heroic young baby named Hudson in the playground one day. But after a blissful first playdate, destiny (and Homer) comes between the two starry-eyed tykes.
Silverman says the idea for the short came about shortly after the Fox acquisition by Disney and the show’s exec producer James L. Brooks thought it would be a good idea to do another short. “We had a brainstorming session with Jim, Matt Groening, Al Jean, Matt Feldman, Michael Price, Max Price and Tom Gammell and thought it would be a fun thing to do with Maggie, since she is all silent and it’s a fun idea to see her first romance in the short format. So we were off to the races.”
The project began in August of 2018 and the team worked on it for several months before showing it to Disney. “You never know whether something’s working because you’re so close to it,” says Silverman. “But fortunately [Disney exec chair] Bob Iger really liked it, so we added some more jokes and fine-tuned it. Then in the second week of January of this year, we added a few more shots and adjusted the music and that was it.”
The short also has some fun with the Disney acquisition, as it delivers a clever visual joke with Homer sporting two Mickey Mouse ears, which turn out to be two donuts, and you can also spot a silhouette of the famous mouse in the final title card for Gracie Films. “Those two were two of the things we added towards the end of the journey,” says Silverman. “We had a lot of ideas for the opening of the short, but many of them were too complicated. This seems like a quick and elegant way to do a fun fake-out. Al Jean has several ideas, but the whole thing harkens back to the early days of The Simpsons, when Matt was very insistent that the characters’ silhouettes had to be easily recognized, which was also a hallmark of the characters from the silent era, as well as the famous Disney characters.”
The Simpsons
Silverman mentions that some of the most fun parts of the short to animate were the montage sequences. “We had a lot of fun with the montage stuff, when you see Hudson and Maggie in one romantic scenario, and then you see the reality of the situation,” he notes. “I did this scene where Maggie is so desolate and she’s longingly looking at her bottle of milk and she is repeatedly pressing the Y button (why, why, why)..to emphasize the ennui and the tragedy of her loss!”
When asked about some of her favorite guest voices on the series, Silverman mentioned the late Johnny Cash, who voiced Homer’s Spirit Guide in the Season 8 episode (“El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer”) and the late actress Elizabeth Taylor, who contributed to “Lisa’s First Word” and “Krusty Gets Kancelled” during the fourth season of the show. “I thought Johnny Cash was such a great choice to voice the Space Coyote and I got a real kick out of meeting an iconic star like Elizabeth Taylor.”
The multi-Emmy winning producer said he’s also very pleased that The Simpsons will be available to stream in the correct 4:3 ratio on Disney + as opposed to the widescreen 16:9 ratio, which crops out many visual gags completely. “When the original format is cut off, some jokes are definitely going to be affected by not showing it the way they were originally designed for. It can cut off jokes, heads, subtitles jokes because they are forced to fit the 16:9 format. It’s important to keep the integrity of how the show was first presented. Just like I want to see Casablanca, or King Kong or Snow White, Hundred and One Dalmatians and Pinocchio and other favorites in their proper aspect ratio.
The director says he was also very pleased that the film was released theatrically with the Pixar short Onward. “Jim lobbied for the short to play in front of Onward, and I was delighted because there was a certain symmetry since I used to work at Pixar (co-director of Monster, Inc.). I can’t speak to how it all worked out, but I loved Onward and thought they worked very well together, and seemed emotionally connected.”
David SIlverman
When asked about whether anything has changed since The Simpsons joined the Disney family, Silverman said everything is the same, and that things are “business as usual.” “The thing about Disney is that there have been no changes whatsoever. The whole Disney approach is that they’re not going to fix it if it ain’t broke. They have the same approach they took with the other franchises they took over, like Marvel or Star Wars.”
Silverman said he gets a kick out of the fact that The Simpsons has been able to predict some of the events of the past few years. “Well, the truth is that we travel through time,” he joked. “Some things are just jokes that come true. Trump was running for president in 2000 for example. That was a low-hanging fruit. We had no idea he would become president or that he would even be on a reality show on TV. What baffles us most are the sports events that happen. A lot of our writers are sports fans, so when some predictions actually come true those really puzzle us. And sometimes, we do suggestions that happen, like when we proposed that Disney would be buying FOX. So you can say that sometimes, they are predictions and other times they’re suggestions that people listen to!”
Playdate with Destiny will be available to stream on Disney + on Friday (April 10). The streamer also offers The Longest Daycare, The Simpsons Movie and all 30 seasons of The Simpsons to its subscribers.
