The Walt Disney Studios announced Friday that Pixar’s Onward will be available to buy digitally and on Movies Anywhere beginning today at 5 p.m. PST / 8 p.m. EST ($19.99), and on Disney+ on April 3 in the U.S.
The film premiered in theaters on March 6 and earned rave reviews from audiences, including a 95% Verified Audience Score on RottenTomatoes. With cinemas currently impacted by closures due to the global health crisis, Disney will offer the film ahead of schedule to purchase on digital platforms in the U.S.
“While we’re looking forward to audiences enjoying our films on the big screen again soon, given the current circumstances, we are pleased to release this fun, adventurous film to digital platforms early for audiences to enjoy from the comfort of their homes,” said director Dan Scanlon and producer Kori Rae.
Synopsis: In Onward, teenage elf brothers Ian and Barley Lightfoot (voices of Tom Holland and Chris Pratt) get an unexpected opportunity to spend one more day with their late dad, embarking on an extraordinary quest aboard Barley’s epic van Guinevere. Like any good quest, their journey is filled with magic spells, cryptic maps, impossible obstacles and unimaginable discoveries. But when the boys’ fearless mom Laurel (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) realizes her sons are missing, she teams up with a part-lion, part-bat, part-scorpion, former warrior – a.k.a. The Manticore (Octavia Spencer) – and heads off to find them. Perilous curses aside, this one magical day could mean more than any of them ever dreamed.
The Princess and the Frog
Meanwhile, Freeform is inviting viewers to go on a “socially distant” adventure with their favorite Disney Princesses this weekend with a two-day Freeform’s FunDay Princess Weekend. Fans can tune in from 8 a.m. Saturday, March 21 through Sunday, March 22 and Tweet along with each other using #FunDay.
The lineup is:
Saturday, March 21
8:00 a.m. – “Oz the Great and Powerful”
11:00 a.m. – “The Princess Diaries”
1:40 p.m. – “The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement”
4:20 p.m. – Disney’s “Pocahontas”
6:20 p.m. – Disney’s “The Princess and the Frog”
8:25 p.m. – Disney’s “Frozen”
10:55 p.m. – “Matilda”
Sunday, March 22
7:00 a.m. – “Oz the Great and Powerful”
10:00 a.m. – “The Princess Diaries”
12:40 p.m. – “The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement”
New York City-based creative studio Nice Shoes has hired creative director Ninaad Kulkarni as part of its growing experiential division. Kulkarni is a visionary 3D artist, immersive storyteller and animation filmmaker with a background in traditional and 3D animation. In 2019, he was selected as part of the highly coveted Forbes “30 Under 30” India class.
Kulkarni joins Nice Shoes having worked with top brands in the industry such as Audi, and brings a vast creative skill set across motion design, animation, color grading and VR to his new post. Drawn to the constantly changing virtual reality and immersive technology space by its inherent artistic liberties, Kulkarni embraces the endless creative possibilities afforded by the open spatial boundaries.
Kulkarni established himself as a nontraditional filmmaker to watch following the success of his thesis short film KCLOC. This artful visual exploration of the concept of time was showcased at the MoMA, winning the prestigious Red-Dot Award, Society of Motion Pictures and Television Engineers Award and the AT&T Film Award, as well as being selected for screening at over 130 international film festivals. His most recent project, a collaborative virtual reality film The Other SideVR, is the first-ever immersive experience based on the Partition of India, which fuses traditional woodcut printmaking techniques and 3D animation. He’s currently working to expand the experience, adding more stories and interviews as well as launching it to a wider audience.
“As creators and storytellers we hold a great responsibility and strength to impact audiences and bring positive change. Embracing next reality extensions we are also able to build deeper empathy for rooted stories that we bring to the world,” said Kulkarni. “I’m thrilled to be joining the Nice Shoes team of talented artists, technologists and producers that are truly pushing the boundaries of what is possible with immersive entertainment.”
Kulkarni studied at the National Institute of Design, India and earned his M.F.A. in Computer Art from the School of Visual Arts in New York. In addition to producing stand out work across XR, animation and live action filmmaking, he also has been tapped for his industry expertise as a host for panels and video series at the NAB Show over the past three years, and was scheduled to return to discuss The Future of Storytelling prior to NAB Show 2020’s cancellation.
Pull on your boots and get ready to giddy-up: The trailer for DreamWorks Animation’s Spirit Riding Free: Riding Academy has left the corral ahead of the series launch April 3, exclusively on Netflix.
There’s never a dull moment as Lucky, Pru and Abigail are preparing to leave Miradero on their exciting adventure as they move away to boarding school at Palamino Bluffs Riding Academy! But moving far from home definitely comes with challenges as the girls are faced with fresh responsibilities and experiences. From meeting their new competition, the BUDs, to fitting in among their fellow Foals (first-term students) their transition to the academy is anything but easy. Along the way, the PALs will make new friends and explore their individual talents as they grow up and discover their new home together.
Riding Academy features a talented voice cast, featuring Amber Frank (Emma’s Chance) as Lucky, Sydney Park (The Walking Dead) as Pru, Bailey Gambertoglio (Bubble Guppies) as Abigail, Darcy Rose Byrnes (The Young and the Restless) as Maricela, Nolan North (Deadpool) as Jim Prescott, and Kari Wahlgren (Rick and Morty) as Aunt Cora.
This season also features great guest stars including Rhys Darby (Voltron: Legendary Defender) as Headmaster Perkins and Rob Riggle (Modern Family) as Sergeant Major Schumann.
Copenhagen-based Rokoko is pursuing its vision to give all creative teams access to easily applicable and intuitive animation tools, opening up its massive “Motion Library” marketplace of motion-capture clips to the public, via the free-to-use Rokoko Studio. Users can access thousands of professional created mocap assets, from studios behind major productions like Wonder Woman and League of Legends, each for $6 or less.
The Motion Library will also be available natively within Maya 2020.1 at launch.(Free trial available here.)
Now, everyone from VFX artists to game devs to architects can join with Unity and Maya users – who can browse the Motion Library natively through plugins – and access the marketplace via Rokoko Studio, giving them all the benefits of professional mocap clips, without the need for a mocap system. Whether it’s a person walking naturally or a hero roundhouse kicking a foe, users can select a clip that fits their needs, preview the clip within Rokoko Studio, and then download and import it directly into an external platform. Once purchased, those assets can be used indefinitely, across multiple projects.
“At Autodesk, we’re always looking for ways to make the tough parts of production smoother for our customers,” said TJ Galda, senior product line manager, Autodesk. “By partnering with Rokoko, we’re making what’s usually a costly and time-consuming step easier than ever before.”
To celebrate the launch, Rokoko and Autodesk teamed up with SuperAlloy Interactive’s Eric Jacobus, a stuntman best known for his work as Kratos in SIE Santa Monica Studio’s God of War. Users will receive 50 original assets created specifically for this launch, offering a wide range of clips for use in any digital scenes – including physically intensive and high-impact movements – perfect for artists looking to add realism to their action-oriented projects.
While the Motion Library will continue to see a steady influx of professionally created mocap assets increase its catalog, in the coming months, the marketplace will expand significantly.
Upcoming features include:
Anyone can become a publisher and sell their assets directly on the marketplace, regardless of the mocap hardware they are using, including both optical and inertial. Once uploaded, users can then set their own prices and sell directly to others.
A new social component will enable visitors to “like” and comment on assets, improving their visibility and increasing the reputation of the creator.
Staff picks chosen and promoted by Rokoko will highlight the best from professional and amateur creators.
Additional features and categories will be introduced in the near future at no cost.
“Our goal with the Motion Library marketplace is to create a centralized hub and a resource for mocap users and creators,” said Jakob Balslev, founder and CEO of Rokoko. “Motion capture shouldn’t belong exclusively to companies with big budgets, it should be accessible to everyone. We can’t wait to see some of the possibilities this marketplace will open up.”
Rokoko’s Motion Library first debuted in September 2018 exclusively for Unity users. The inclusion of the Motion Library within Rokoko Studio marks the first time the marketplace will be available to the public. The Motion Library is also available as of today natively within Autodesk’s Maya 2020.1, and additional plugins will be announced soon.
A strange new animated world awaits anime fans in Tower of God. A Crunchyroll and WEBTOON Production, based on the comic series created by SIU and published by WEBTOON, this dark fantasy-action series follows the journey of a young man as he battles his way through the mysterious tower, building friendships, discovering the rules that govern the tower and facing unimaginable terrors, as he strives to find the only friend he’s ever known.
Crunchyroll is introducing viewers to the twisting world of Tower of God with a new promo video and the reveal of the series’ colorful characters and accomplished voice cast. Get to know them below!
Endorsi Jahad
Endorsi Jahad (Character Voice: Rie Suegara) One of the princesses of Jahad. Climbs the tower as a Regular. Though she’s an attractive and fashionable girl, she is also proud and strong-willed. Of the Regulars climbing the tower together, she is exceptionally strong.
“The character Endorsi Jahad is a touch sadistic (laugh). She loves to fan the flames… But maybe that’s part of her plan. She’s also a clever character who possesses a lot of delicacy. Due to how she was pushed around by fate, she was also forced to become stronger. That’s the kind of girl she is.” — Rie Suegara
Anaak Jahad
Anaak Jahad (Character Voice: Akira Sekine) The girl who wields “The Green April,” one of the legendary “13 Month Series” weapons only bestowed upon the princesses by King Jahad. Her lizard-like green skin and tail set her apart, and she is extremely physically capable.
“Despite being strong, she also has a weak side, and though she’s fierce, she also has a cute single-minded side to her. I remember thinking she was a very charming girl when I read the original work! How will she grow throughout the numerous encounters she has in the tower? I hope everyone enjoys it!” — Akira Sekine
Khun Aguero Agnes
Khun Aguero Agnes (Character Voice: Nobuhiko Okamoto) Originally from the Khun family, one of the “10 Families.” With strong combat capabilities, he is a strategist whose family’s internal struggle for power tempered his strategic abilities and sharp mind. He is the first friend Bam made inside the tower and one of the people he trusts most.
“He’s smart. He’s a strategist. It’s a fun role that involves figuring out how to incorporate as much of his true meaning as possible while aloofly striking poses. I’d like to tell those who are about to watch the series to try to feel it rather than use their heads to comprehend it.” — Nobuhiko Okamoto
Rak Wraithraiser
Rak Wraithraiser (Character Voice: Kenta Miyake) A proud warrior bursting with confidence. Having formed a team with Bam and Khun immediately upon meeting them, they are bound by a powerful bond. Normally he is hot-headed and violent, but he also cares for his friends. Nicknamed “gator.” Has a habit of calling others “___ turtle.”
“In this series, I’m providing the voice for a big, strong, and loud giant gator named Rak. In Tower of God, mysteries lead to more mysteries, and there are many mysteries and backgrounds that compel the characters to climb the tower, but the character Rak that I play is unrelated to any mysteries. He’s a what-you-see-is-what-you-get, arrogant, powerful, loud, and sometimes cute character. Turtles, enjoy the show!” — Kenta Miyake
Yuri Jaha
Yuri Jahad (Character Voice: Mariko Honda) One of the princesses of Jahad. Possessing both top-class strength and experience, she has an extensive combat record as a “High Ranker,” one who has reached the highest level of the tower. She expresses an interest in the “Irregular” Bam who is not bound by the rules of the tower, and when Bam is forced into taking a harsh test immediately upon entering the tower, she lends him the legendary weapon “The Black March” granted to her by King Jahad.
“The Yuri I play is a carefree and (physically) strong girl. She acts according to her instincts and is short-tempered and quick to anger. Which causes a lot of trouble for the character Evan who looks after her. Thank you for your work… Evan (laugh). The best part of Tower of God is all the characters bursting with uniqueness! Enjoy the show!” — Mariko Honda
Families seeking more streaming entertainment options should keep in mind the vast selection of short and feature-length films available from the National Film Board of Canada, streaming animation, documentary and fiction selections through NFB.ca.
Animation lovers of all ages can explore the Cartoons for Kids section, featuring a variety of titles from heartwarming classics to humorous edutainment and general animated silliness. Titles include Kaj Pindal’s Peep and the Big Wide World, Les Drew’s The Dingles, Janet Perlman’s Monsieur Pug and Cordell Barker’s The Cat Came Back, among many others.
NFB has recently added a number of new titles, including new animated webseries The Great List of Everything. Based on the French-language comic book by Cathon & Iris Boudreau and Francis Papillon, the 13 x 2′ series centers on caricatures of Cathon and Iris — two curious, quirky and imaginative young women who love to uncover fun facts about everyday objects, from postage stamps to pasta noodles.
In addition, the NFB is participating in this year’s International Festival of Films on Art (known by its French acronym FIFA), which is being presented online. Three live-action NFB productions will be featured beginning Wednesday, March 18, until midnight on Sunday, March 29. These are feature-length poetry adaptation Higher Than Flames Will Go, feature documentary Luben and Elena and short doc Open Sky: Portrait of a Pavilion.
Now available to watch free on Vimeo, Reach the Sky is a musical stop-motion short carrying an uplifting pro-2SLGBTQ message — complete with diversely representative (and utterly charming) crocheted puppet stars.
The animation follows three queer friends in three queer cars that become separated by an unexpected queer fork in the road. Falling into diverging journeys to discover self-love, community and a fabulous legacy of queer icons.
Directed by Daniel Sterlin-Altman (Hi, It’s Your Mother), incorporating the crochet dolls of Chason Yeboah, and set to Thom Gill’s arrangement of the Rita MacNeil song “We’ll Reach the Sky Tonight,” recorded by the Queer Songbook Orchestra.
Reach the Sky has had more than 30 international screenings on four continents, including NEWFEST (NYC), OutFest (LA), Inside Out (Toronto), as well as festivals in Berlin, Mumbai, Japan, Russia, Mexico and many others.
Another major motion picture release has been shelved due to the coronavirus pandemic, with Universal Pictures pulling Illumination Entertainment’s family animation sequel Minions: The Rise of Gru from its summer dates (July 3 U.S., late June in some territories).
The news follows the temporary shuttering of Illumination’s Mac Guff studio in Paris due to the COVID-19 lockdown in France.
“In response to the severity of the situation in France, we are temporarily closing our Illumination Mac Guff studio in Paris. With this decision we are abiding by the French Government’s guidelines and doing everything possible to slow the spread of the virus as we care for our artists and their families,” said Illumination founder & CEO Chris Meledandri. “This means we will be unable to finish Minions: The Rise of Gru in time for our planned global releases in late June and early July. While we all grapple with the enormity of this crisis, we must put the safety and protection of our employees above all. We look forward to finding a new release date for the return of Gru and the Minions.”
The Despicable Me/Minions films have been a top box-office performer since launching in 2010, and claimed the No. 1 grossing animated franchise crown in 2017 with the release of Despicable Me 3 — which took in $1 billion worldwide. The first Minions prequel (2013) earned $1.159B.
Illumination Mac Guff’s current slate also includes Sing 2 (scheduled for July 2, 2021) and Nintendo/Universal’s Mario movie (2022).
Disney+ has clued customers in to what they can expect when the service launches in the U.K. on March 24. The popular service will debut across the pond with 26 original series and movies, including the first two episodes of fan favorite Star Wars spinoffs The Mandalorian and Star Wars: The Clone Wars Season 7. On March 27, viewers will get the third episode of Mando and kick off double episode drops each Friday for The Clone Wars.
The streamer is priced at £5.99 a month in the U.K. and €6.99 in Europe; Disney+ is also set to launch in Italy, France, Germany and Spain.
Lambert the Sheepish Lion
April Disney+ (U.S.) animation highlights:
Friday, April 3
Library Titles: Shorts All in a Nutshell, Don’s Fountain of Youth, Donald’s Dog Laundry, Double Dribble, Dragon Around, Elmer Elephant, How to Play Football, Lambert the Sheepish Lion, On Ice, Out of Scale, Pluto’s Party, Sea Scouts, The New Neighbor, The Small One; TV Fish Hooks S1-3
Originals: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Ep. 707 “Dangerous Debt” Taken prisoner by the Pykes, Ahsoka and the Martez sisters attempt to escape.
Friday, April 10
Library Titles: Playtime with Puppy Dog Pals S1
Originals: A Celebration of Music from Coco An inside look at the musical production of “Coco: A Live-to-Film Concert Experience”, performed at the historic Hollywood Bowl. Star Wars: The Clone Wars Ep. 708 “Together Again” Ahsoka bargains for the sisters’ freedom and makes a startling discovery.
Friday, April 12
Library Titles: PJ Masks S3
Friday, April 17
Library Titles: Shorts Let’s Stick Together, Pluto’s Purchase; TV Mickey and the Roadster Racers: Nutty Tales S1-2
Originals: Star Wars: The Clone Wars Ep. 709 “Old Friends Not Forgotten” Anakin and Obi-Wan must decide whether to help Ahsoka pursue Maul or rescue Palpatine.
Thursday, April 23
Library Titles: Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventures S3
Friday, April 24
Library Titles: Disneyland “Man in Space” & “Mars and Beyond”
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Maximum Venom
April Disney TV animation highlights:
Thursday, April 2
8:00-8:30 A.M. EDT (Disney Channel) Fancy Nancy “Bon Voyage, Nancy!/Nancy’s New Friend” Nancy is disappointed when a family car trip isn’t the epic adventure she imagined. | Nancy learns about autism when she befriends Lionel’s favorite cousin Sean. George Yionoulis guest stars as Sean.
Friday, April 3
10:30-11:00 A.M. EDT (Disney Channel)Puppy Dog Pals “A Light for the Lighthouse/Music City Mishap” When the pugs find out that the light on Bob’s favorite lighthouse isn’t working, they go on a mission to fix it. | While in Nashville, Bingo and Rolly find a lost guitar and go on a mission to return it to its rightful owner. Singer/songwriters Darius Rucker and Jennifer Nettles guest star as musician Ramblin’ Rhodes and Capo, respectively.
11:00-11:30 A.M. EDT (Disney Channel)Mira, Royal Detective “The Undercover Princess Mystery/Mystery at the Fashion Show” Mira goes undercover to find the precious Gem of Jalpur. Shavanie Jayna guest stars as Princess Shivani. | When a dress that Priya made for a fashion show goes missing, Mira discovers that it’s hiding in plain sight.
1:30-2:00 P.M. EST (Disney Junior)Elena of Avalor “Crash Course” Gabe recruits a flashy wizard, Bronzino, to teach his guards magic, but learns that there are no shortcuts to success. James Monroe Iglehart (Broadway’s Aladdin) guest stars as Bronzino. Melissa Fumero (Brooklyn Nine‑Nine) and Arturo Castro (Broad City) return as Antonia and Felipe, respectively.
Saturday, April 4
9:30-10:00 A.M. EDT (Disney XD)DuckTales “Challenge of the Senior Junior Woodchucks!” SEASON 3 PREMIERE Huey races against Violet in a challenge to be named Senior Junior Woodchuck, while Scrooge and the family search for a secret Woodchuck treasure. Stephen Root (Office Space) guest stars as J.W. Guidebook.
10:00-10:30 A.M. EDT (Disney XD)DuckTales “Quack Pack!” The family is not quite themselves as they discover the planned family photoshoot might just be a part of a bigger “wish” gone wrong. Don Cheadle (Marvel’s Avengers franchise) returns as Donald and Bill Farmer (Mickey Mouse Mixed-Up Adventures) guest stars as Goofy.
Friday, April 10
11:00-11:30 A.M. EDT (Disney Channel)Mira, Royal Detective “The Case of the Wrecked Recital/The Case of the Vanishing Vessels” When Prince Neel’s sitar goes missing, Mira must track it down before Great Aunt Rupa finds out. Sarita Choudhury (Homeland) guest stars as Great Aunt Rupa. Mira goes on a mysterious underground adventure to find toy boats for a race.
Saturday, April 11
9:30-10:00 A.M. EDT (Disney XD)DuckTales “Double-O-Duck in You Only Crash Twice!” A spy video game turns dangerously real as Launchpad and Dewey must stop F.O.W.L. agent Steelbeak’s plan to destroy Duckburg.
Friday, April 17
11:00-11:30 A.M. EDT (Disney Channel)Mira, Royal Detective “The Mongoose Cousin Mystery/The Marble Egg Mystery” Mikku and Chikku’s cousins visit Jalpur for a kite festival. Sunita Mani (GLOW) stars as Neeti and Preeti, the mongoose cousins. When the Prince loses a precious marble gift from the Queen, Mira sets out to find it.
Saturday, April 18
9:30-10:00 A.M. EDT (Disney XD)DuckTales “The Lost Harp of Mervana!” The family joins a zen mermaid society to find a missing mystery, but Louie is convinced the seemingly innocent mermaids have a villainous agenda of their own. Retta (Parks and Recreation) guest stars as the Mystical Harp.
Sunday, April 19
9:00-10:00 P.M. EDT (Disney XD)Marvel’s Spider-Man: Maximum Venom “Web of Venom” SEASON 3 PREMIERE When Spider-Man and Max Modell experiment on a sample of Venom symbiote, it escapes and unleashes a weapon of unknown purpose.
Friday, April 24
11:00-11:30 A.M. EDT (Disney Channel) Mira, Royal Detective “The Case of the Secret Gift-Giver/Mystery at the Cooking Contest” When townspeople start receiving anonymous gifts, Mira searches for the secret gift-giver. | Pinky’s dishes for the Queen’s cooking contest seem to be sabotaged. Aarti Sequeira (The Next Food Network Star) guest stars as Chef Shoba.
Saturday, April 25
9:30-10:00 A.M. EDT (Disney XD)DuckTales “Louie’s Eleven!” Louie plans a break-in at a high-class party so the Three Caballeros can play as Donald tries to get past the party’s no-nonsense planner. Bernardo de Paula (Rio 2) and Arturo del Puerto (Fear the Walking Dead) return as José de Carioca and Panchito Pistoles, respectively.
***This article originally appeared in the April ’20 issue of Animation Magazine (No. 299)***
A magical backpack serves as a portal to a world of monsters in Ollie’s Pack, a new show debuting on Nickelodeon in April. The 2D-animated show is created by Pedro Eboli (Cupcake & Dino) and Graham Peterson (Rick and Morty) and produced by Nelvana studios in Toronto.
Eboli and Peterson met at the Vancouver Film School and have been friends for over a decade. The series originated from Monster Pack, an original short produced at Birdo Studio for Nickelodeon’s 2013 International Animated Shorts Program. “Ollie’s Pack first came to be from a series of idea sessions between the two of us,” Eboli and Peterson tell us in an email interview. “We started off with a question that we felt we could explore in a compelling and meaningful way: ‘What if a kid was bestowed a great power but had no instruction manual on how to use it or control it?’ That was eventually followed by: ‘Now, what if there was no evil to fight with it?’ The one thing that stayed pretty consistent throughout the development process were the characters’ personalities, their friendship and the dynamic between them.”
The two creators are big aficionados of sci-fi and pop culture. “We felt inspired at the time to tell a compelling science-fiction story with a supernatural vastness to it,” says Peterson. “It can be easy to get carried away sometimes with that, so we always come back to the most important ideas that the characters need to be the focus of the story, and the issues relatable and grounded, and that it needs to be funny. This allowed us to poke fun at our own seriousness, while still feeling fun and heartfelt, and those tend to be some of the best moments in the show.”
Ollie’s Pack
Clean Lines, Memorable Monsters
The show is produced using Toon Boom Harmony software for all animation and VFX work, and overall about 225 people work on the show, including management and voice actors. The producers point out that the overall look of the show was a constant evolution of the style and tone from the first pitch all the way to the development process.
“For the short, the backgrounds had a slight expressionist approach in both the off-kilter lines and focus on bold colors and a fully textured and painterly color style,” they note. “The goal was to make the locations elaborate and full because of the limited scene count to help expand the world and also to contrast the character designs. While it worked for the short, the show needed both a more production-friendly style of backgrounds, but also something that reflected the updated character designs and storytelling we were going for. We wanted to go for thinner and cleaner lines to ground the world in reality a bit more, while also still keeping it full and intricate with details.”
Pedro Eboli and Graham Peterson
The challenge was to do so without making it too sharp and graphic or overdoing the details and depth, which puts lots of strain on the artists. “We love painterly textures, so we tried to keep small amounts of it where we could to help create depth and some looseness to the backgrounds,” says Eboli. “The goal was for the color pass to keep the bold colors we love, and then push for more environmental tone and lighting pass to help express mood, ambience and the feel of the grandness of the world, while still feeling grounded in the lines. The designers did a wonderful job balancing all of this on the show.”
As audiences get ready to unpack their backpacks for the summer, the producers hope they will have a connection to Ollie’s world and the characters they have created. “We really explore some timely and relatable issues in our stories, and we hope that our audience can see themselves, a family member or a friend in those situations and can get some perspective out of that,” they note. “Mostly, we’d like to see our audience sitting down to watch the show to catch a funny and heartfelt story and follow along with characters that could easily be like their friends and neighbors in real life and just have a bunch of laughs!”
Ollie’s Pack premieres on Nickelodeon in April. It will debut internationally later this year.
In light of the millions of impacted families across America, Cinedigm is offering new customers a 60 day free trial for its flagship streaming services: CONtv, a genre and fandom movie service with over 10,000 film, television and digital comic book titles, as well as The Dove Channel, a family entertainment streaming service with thousands of uplifting titles families can enjoy together to lift their spirits. This offer, combined with the broadened availability of Cinedigm’s seven live linear and ad-supported networks, is designed to help meet the rapidly rising demand on Cinedigm’s OTT services, which have seen total viewership surge an estimated 185% over the last week. Customers can secure their access for CONtv and Dove via www.contv.com/offers/contv202 & www.dovechannel.com/offers/dove2020
Cinedigm also offers diverse ad-supported, 24/7 streaming channels via a variety of smart TV and set-tops, such as Comedy Dynamics (stand-up specials), Bambu (Chinese-language genre films & series), Docurama (documentary films), Hallypop (South Asian music, culture and K-Pop) and CombatGo (combat sports/MMA).
Rainbow Rangers
Nickelodeon is expanding the daily broadcast of preschool hit Rainbow Rangers, the CG animated adventures of “Earth’s first responders” created by Genius Brands International, to 26 airings per week: four times daily Monday-Friday on Nick Jr. The series premiered on Nick Jr. in November 2018 with five airings per week and has consistently achieved high ratings with its target demo of Girls 2-5. The additional airings of Rainbow Rangers, which represents a five-fold increase (400+%), are complemented by content available via VOD platforms and the brand’s robust YouTube channel, where viewers have consumed over 22.5 million minutes of Rainbow Rangers content in the last year.
In the international market, Rainbow Rangers season one debuted last summer across Latin America on Nickelodeon LatAm, as well as in Italy on Cartoonito. Genius Brands is currently in negotiations with key broadcasters and licensing agents worldwide. Several hundred product SKUs are planned to rollout to retail in 2020, according to Genius Brands Chairman & CEO Andy Heyward.
Invention Story
Mondo TV Iberoamerica scored its first sales in the U.S. market for all three seasons of hit girls’ series Sissi the Young Empress and season one of its brand-new action-comedy Invention Story. U.S. Hispanic pay TV leader Vme Media has picked up the shows for distribution on its English-language network, Primo TV, for a two-and-a-half-year period starting in 2020. The territories covered will include the United States, Puerto Rico and all U.S. territories and possessions. Primo TV is the first English-language network targeting U.S. bicultural Hispanic Gen Z viewers (6-16) and their families with inspirational and educational programming.
Ricky Zoom
Entertainment One is sending its hit preschool series Ricky Zoom scooting to airwaves on China’s CCTV-14 children’s channel, starting March 23. From March 23-27, 10 episodes will screen each day starting at 11:20 a.m. The show has already proven a favorite for children and families since debuting in mainland China in June 2019 on Youku, where the speedy adventures of the little motorbike pals raced to 100 million views in the first 12 days. A report by Children’s Content Observation ranked the show No. 2 for foreign animation on Youku in 2019, exceeded only by Peppa Pig S7.
Around the world, Ricky Zoom is number one on Nick Jr. in the U.K. and Clan in Spain, and revs up top performances on Treehouse (Canada), RAI (Italy) and across LatAm. A second season is currently in production, due for delivery in November. eOne and global master toy partner TOMY will soon launch toys inspired by Ricky and his Bike Buddies; additional licensed merch will roll out in 2020 and 2021.
Supa Strikas
Moonbug continues to expand into Asia, announcing that its hit sports-themed series Supa Strikas has been licensed to Disney India. The South African digital/linear animation brand follows a leading football (soccer) team as they journey across the globe and into outer space on their quest to win the prized Super League trophy. Moonbug’s Head of EMEA Nicolas Eglau points out that the show is already a top performer on Disney Southeast Asia and on Cartoon Network across Africa.
Supa Strikas, which debuted in 2009, is available in 27 languages and in over 100 countries worldwide. The show can be enjoyed across a variety of platforms, including: YouTube, Amazon, DisneyXD, Cartoon Network, ETV, MBC, TVP, Crave, Suria, Studio 23 and Zoom among others.
K-On!!
The beleaguered Japanese studio Kyoto Animation has made a remarkable gesture of generosity during the COVID-19 crisis, announcing that it will make 17 of its critically acclaimed anime series and movies free to watch online. The rollout began Monday, with new content arriving daily through the month, with another doubly helping on March 30 and a triple scoop on March 31. The Japanese-language content is streaming via NicoNico at https://anime.nicovideo.jp/special/seishun-anime/index.html (H/T to SoraNews24)Schedule:
3/16: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, K-On!
3/17: K-On!! (episodes 1-14)
3/18: K-On!! (ep. 15-24)
3/19: Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions
3/20: Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions -Heart Throb-
3/21: Sound! Euphonium
3/22: Sound! Euphonium 2
3/23: Hyoka (ep. 1-11)
3/24: Hyoka (ep. 12-22)
3/25: Air
3/26: Kannon (ep. 1-12)
3/27: Kannon (ep. 13-24)
3/28: Clannad
3/29: Clannad After Story
3/30: K-ON! The Movie!, The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya
3/31: Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions! Take on Me, Sound! Euphonium: The Movie – Welcome to the Kitauji High School Concert Band, Sound! Euphonium: Todoketai Melody
Nickelodeon has launched #KidsTogether, a global, multiplatform prosocial initiative using its most popular characters and talent to engage with kids and families on tips for staying healthy and also ideas for activities to do together while in the home.
Featuring SpongeBob SquarePants, Blue’s Clues & You!, Henry Danger, Bubble Guppies and The Casagrandes, #KidsTogether is intended to serve as an additional resource for parents while providing kid-appropriate, kid-directed information through original short-form videos, interstitials, downloadable activities and social content, with elements aggregated for easy access on a central online destination, NickHelps.com.
Additionally, Noggin — Nickelodeon’s direct-to-consumer interactive learning service for preschoolers — will be offered for free for three months starting next week to millions of kids in need through the help of national partner organizations, including the National Head Start Association and First Book. Noggin’s free trial period will also be extended to 60 days to all new subscribers, effective at the end of the month. The ad-free educational content on Noggin currently includes over 1,000 iconic, full-length episodes, short-form videos and hundreds of interactive learning games and ebooks featuring preschoolers’ favorite characters and more.
#KidsTogether’s content, available across Nick’s screens starting today and ramping up through the rest of the week and beyond, features:
Original short-form digital and linear content such as SpongeBob practicing social distancing, the Bubble Guppies demonstrating proper hand-washing techniques, and Chickaletta and the PAW Patrol showcasing awesome dance moves to promote physical activity and wellness.
Nick-branded interstitials made in partnership with GoNoodle that encourage kids to get up and get moving, with help from Young Dylan’s beats or by joining Lincoln Loud’s dance party.
Printable Blue’s Clues & You! activity sheets and Bubble Guppies coloring pages, along with offscreen activities and games to help families play and learn together at home.
Noggin shorts on the Nick Jr. channel that provide learning moments for preschoolers in the areas of wellness, social and emotional development, science, math and literacy.
NickHelps.com, a central online destination that will aggregate Nick’s content and provide links to external resources for kids and families.
#KidsTogether rolled out domestically Wednesday across Nickelodeon’s portfolio of platforms, and will extend to Nick’s international markets, as well.
Nickelodeon’s #KidsTogether initiative is part of ViacomCBS and Ad Council’s recently announced #AloneTogether, a national social- and talent-led campaign that educates audiences on the importance of social distancing and drives unity through entertainment.
Among the many interesting animated titles presented at this month’s Cartoon Movie event in France was a movie featuring The Anooki, two popular Inuit characters created by Moetu Batlle and David Passegand. The Anooki duo star in a hit Facebook sticker line and big-screen video-mapped projections on building facades around the world. Produced by Marc Guidoni, the proposed new movie is a live-action/animated hybrid which finds Nooki and Anook traveling the world trying to save the Earth and its animals and plants from environmental dangers.
We had a chance to catch up with one of the film’s writers, Christopher Erbes (a.k.a. Théo de Marcousin), whose credits include Ella, Oscar & Hoo and the Maya the Bee series, to find out more about this interesting new movie. “I first met the Anooki for a series of France TV shorts about six years ago,” he says. “Then I met the ‘real’ Anooki — creators Moetu Batlle and David Passegand — in 2019. They created these animated alter egos about 20 years ago and they travel the world for light festivals, giant projections and inflatable character shows. Then, we started to talk about coming up with a storyline that takes the Anooki around the world for a feature production.”
Theo de Marcousin
Erbes says he loves the animated characters’ apparent 2D fragility in contrast with their strong humor and friendship. “They live in a very graphic and fascinating and pristine world of the Arctic,” he notes. “They are very expressive, and they were featured as some of the first stickers on Facebook and millions are sent every day. It’s actually a huge brand which stands for friendship and ecology.”
The writer was drawn to the movie’s post-apocalyptic storyline and heartfelt message which expresses a deep empathy for nature and animals. “They relive our history and civilization, become a new kind of Adam and Eve, and give us hope,” says Erbes. “The paradox of their little 2D inquisitive and accelerating rhythms lost in our huge beautiful planet is an endless source for dramatic tension and questions. We believe youth and indigenous people may be an essential part of our future solutions.”
Anooki
Erbes says the animation will probably be produced in France and by some partners in Europe. “Many producers, studios and distributors (including American ones) contacted us after our pitch at Cartoon Movie last week,” he adds. “The budget will be European-tight, but it will be enough for a beautiful, inspiring adventure comedy for all ages. It will feature our two animated 2D characters (drawn in white) against the live-action world and natural footage of animals and landscapes. We’re now finalizing the script and financing to start production by the end of 2020, beginning 2021 and a possible delivery date of 2022.”
“The Anooki are the last humans on earth, but everyone can identify with this boy and girl who are on an important quest on our beautiful but suffering planet,” he concludes. “The contrast between the animated characters and the real-life footage is unique and rich: Academy Award-winning nature documentary director Luc Jacquet (March of the Penguins) is helping us with our live-action odyssey. The Anooki share our common history: We also have in common our potential future as a species sharing this planet with many others!”
Cartoon Network Africa started 2020 off on the right foot with Shesha Fest, which let viewers see, for the first time, a melting pot of highly innovative shorts wholly produced in Africa! The block fest, an on-air stunt showcasing local animation, not only captured the imaginations African audiences but made history by outperforming some of Cartoon Network and Boomerang’s favorite shows in the same month.
Shesha Fest launched on January 11, and showcased Garbage Boy & Trashcan, Majitu and Intergalactic Ice Cream — the three winning shorts from Cartoon Network Africa’s Creative Lab competition. The competition began in 2018 as an African venture designed to bring innovative, local short-form content to the channel and its digital platforms, while reinforcing the local relevance of the brand. The result was the first 100% African-animated production led by Cartoon Network, wholly created and produced in Africa in collaboration with the South African animation studio Mind’s Eye Creative.
“As kids content specialists who lead the pay-TV category, we are driven by the ambition to develop local kids’ content that resonates with our local audience. We selected the three winning shorts for their creative strength, story lines and local, original content,” said Ariane Suveg, WarnerMedia’s Programming Director and Head of Kids Content, Africa. “It was crucial to respect and preserve the unique idea of each creator throughout the production journey, making sure that our local fans genuinely connected with each story.”
The three local Cartoon Network African shorts dominated the top three competitive shows across all TV channels for kids aged four to 14 for the month of January, outperforming some all-time favorites. Per DStv-i measurements, at its highest performance, ranking as the #1 show in January, Garbage Boy & Trashcan reached more than 265,000 viewers. Majitu’s highest performance followed closely with 222,000 viewers, while Intergalactic Ice Cream peaked with 179,700 viewers, ranking as the #3 top show for the month.
“We are extremely thrilled to see the positive way our local audience responded to our local African animated shorts. Cartoon Network is very proud to have worked with such great talent on the continent in creating their own authentic stories that have resonance and relatability. Initiatives like Cartoon Network Africa Creative Lab, and Shesha Fest is only the start, but shows our strong willingness to partner with, and support, the African animation industry,” Suveg concluded.
Intergalactic Ice CreamGarbage Boy & TrashcanMajitu
With a reported 120,000 entertainment union members out of work as a result of social distancing measures to stem the spread of the COVID-19 virus, the IATSE General Executive Board approved $2.5 million in donations to three entertainment charities Tuesday. The funding will go to the Actors Fund, the Motion Picture and Television Fund and the Actors Fund of Canada.
Matthew D. Loeb, International President of the IATSE, said, “These charities have been assisting and supporting IATSE members and entertainment industry workers for a very long time. They understand the needs of these workers, and are perfectly situated to act as our partners to help those experiencing hardship caused by the current health crisis.”
The IATSE is also working with employers on emergency measures and actively lobbying the federal government to ensure that displaced entertainment workers are included in relief.
Deadline reports that studio responses to production shutdowns vary broadly as the industry scrambles to find solutions for out of work crew. Some employers have promised two-week severance pay to full-time production staff, while others have offered promises to hold jobs secure until work resumes.
The Animation Guild (IATSE Local 839) posted a coronavirus FAQ to its blog on Friday, stating: “The safety and wellbeing of the animation community is a top priority. We have been actively reviewing California state, federal and global recommendations as we navigate this unprecedented situation. We recognize that many members may have questions and concerns and we’d like to address some of the most pressing issues.”
Guild members can find information on TAG’s plans as well as a quick reference to California’s enhanced benefits for workers affected by COVID-19. TAG is also encouraging all union employers to allow employees to work remotely during this emergency.
Independent animators in the U.S. now have a chance to snag funding for their projects. Despite cancelling the 2020 festival, the third edition of the GLAS Animation Grant is going ahead and has just opened for applications. For the 2020 cycle, two separate $2,500 grants (made possible with the support of an anonymous donor) are to be awarded to two individual filmmakers living and working in the United States to create independent short films.
GLAS has extended the deadline through to May 1, 2020. Full criteria and application requirements can be found here.
ViacomCBS and Sky announced their first co-production partnership on Wednesday, teaming up for preschool CG animated series Pip and Posy (52 x 7′). The show will premiere exclusively on Channel 5’s free-to-air strand Milkshake! and Sky’s on-demand service Sky Kids in the U.K. Multiple Oscar-nominated Magic Light Pictures (The Gruffalo, Room on the Broom, Revolting Rhymes and recent hit The Snail and The Whale) is producing, with animation services provided by Blue Zoo.
Pip and Posy follows a mouse and a rabbit whose lives revolve around a wonderful world of play. Packed with warmth and humor, the series is a joyful celebration of their great friendship, its laughter and games, its ups and downs. The series deals with emotions, resilience and feelings in a relatable way for preschoolers to learn about themselves, all centred on creative play from a child’s point of view.
Currently in production, the series is based on characters from Nosy Crow’s popular collection of story books by multi award-winning illustrator Axel Scheffler and author Camilla Reid. Pip and Posy is Magic Light’s first ever preschool series and sees the continuation of the production company’s 13 year association with Scheffler, which has produced seven high-profile animated specials based on his hugely successful book collaborations with author Julia Donaldson.
Pip and Posy will premiere on Milkshake! and be available on demand on Sky Kids in early 2021. It will then also air on Nick Jr. a year later.
“Pip and Posy is a delightful animation series that captures the essence of how young children play, think and feel, and fits perfectly with our portfolio of educational and fun programming. The series teaches preschoolers the importance of friendship and societal wellbeing through imaginative storytelling and creative play,” said Louise Bucknole, VP Programming Kids, ViacomCBS Networks U.K. “We have a long-running and close relationship with Sky, so it’s very exciting to have commissioned our first co-production together, enabling us to bring the very best of British animation to Milkshake! from world class producers Magic Light Pictures.”
Lucy Murphy, Director of Kids at Sky U.K. & Ireland, said, “Pip and Posy is a playful series that will be loved by young children and their families. This addition to Sky Kids, plus our recent raft of original commissions, demonstrates our ambition to feature a range of premium British programming for under-twelves. We bring our customers the very best kids TV alongside our partner channels and this co-production with Milkshake! evolves our close relationship with ViacomCBS.”
“We’re really excited to be producing our first-ever preschool series and proud to be working with Milkshake! and Sky,” said Michael Rose, co-founder of Magic Light Pictures. “Axel Scheffler creates truly enchanting worlds and we can’t wait for viewers to join Pip and Posy for their fun and adventures.”
Pip and Posy has been jointly commissioned by Bucknole for Milkshake! and Murphy for Sky Kids with the participation of ZDF, Germany. The series is executive produced by Michael Rose and Martin Pope and produced by Vici King for Magic Light Pictures. The showrunner at Magic Light is Jeroen Jaspaert (Stick Man, The Highway Rat) and Blue Zoo’s director is Matthew Tea.
Magic Light Pictures holds the global distribution and merchandising rights to Pip and Posy (excluding publishing) and is developing a full licensing program to complement the new series.
Last year, Milkshake! pledged to double its content investment, which will lead to 50 new U.K.-originated hours per year from 2021.
Sky Kids offers families 11 kids’ channels and over 5,000 episodes of on-demand viewing as well as the Sky Kids app, a safe space for younger kids focussed content, games and art tools with parental controls including a sleep mode so parents can moderate screen time. This is complemented by the pin protected Safe Mode on Sky Q, so there’s no danger of children straying into any areas of content that are not right for them.
***This article originally appeared in the April ’20 issue of Animation Magazine (No. 299)***
The eccentric family at the center of Lois Lowry’s 2008 book The Willoughbys is not your average, normal one — at least not the kind of happy units we’re used to seeing in children’s literature. That’s why it was so important for writer/director Kris Pearn and his team at Canada’s Bron Studios to preserve the offbeat humor and askew vision of the material in the new animated feature based on the property. The movie follows the misadventures of the mistreated Willoughby children as they learn to survive their neglectful parents (voiced by Jane Krakowski and Martin Short) and make a life for themselves with the aid of their nanny (Maya Rudolph) and Commander Melanoff (Terry Crews).
The Willoughbys
“What I loved about the book was its subversive sense of humor, which reminded me of the novels of Roald Dahl and Mordecai Richler,” says Pearn, who also directed Sony’s feature Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 and has worked as a storyboard artist on DreamWorks’ Home, Sony’s Open Season and Hotel Transylvania, and Aardman’s Arthur Christmas, Shaun the Sheep Movie and Early Man. Pearn was tapped by the film’s producers Luke Carroll and Brenda Gilbert (one of the founders of Burnaby, British Columbia’s Bron Animation) to write and direct the movie with co-director Rob Lodermeier about five years ago. Netflix will premiere the movie on April 22nd.
Pearn says both the book and the movie’s comedy comes from the oddball Willoughby characters’ struggle to react to their familiar tropes. “As a father of two kids, I remember what it was like before they arrived on the scene,” he notes. “Rubbish parenting was funny to me. The idea that the mysterious nanny might be a bit sketchy was funny. My kids, who are 17 and 20 now, have bounced around a lot with me,” he explains. “They’ve lived all over the world. I remember when they were weird and awkward, and now they’re beautiful adults. In a way, the movie is celebrating the independence of the Willoughby kids and embracing their efforts to break out on their own.”
Kris Pearn
A Feline Observer
Looking back at the evolution of the movie, Pearn pinpoints the addition of the cat narrator (voiced by Ricky Gervais) as a pivotal moment. “The creation of an animated movie is always an organic process,” he notes. “In the book, there is a cat, but he is not the narrator. Our producer Luke Carroll came up with the idea of having the story told from this cat’s point of view. Ricky Gervais was attached to the movie as an exec producer, and it just worked out perfectly to have him voice the cat, who is such an interesting, observant creature. He can look at the camera and offer this wide-angle cat’s point of view of the events. That was one of our initial touchstones.”
The addition of production designer Kyle McQueen (Sausage Party) was another key event in forming the project’s overall aesthetic. “Kyle was one of my students at Sheridan College, and we immediately jelled on this idea of creating this wide-angle world with a handmade feeling,” says Pearn. “We were also fortunate to have Craig Kellman as our character designers. I always thought his designs were brilliant, but somehow they got a bit compromised in their translation to big CG-animated movies because of the nature of the technology. But for this movie, I believe we got very close to translating his design language to the final look of the movie and marrying them with Kyle’s production design.”
Character sheet for the Barnaby Twins by Craig Kellman
McQueen says when Pearn told him about the movie and the visual design he was looking for, he was sure he was the right man for the job. “I loved the subversive humor of the book and Kris was great about involving all of us in the creative process and helped me evolve and design the story. We really hit the ground running in the fall of 2016.”
He also points out that he and his team wanted to create something that didn’t feel like what other studios were doing. “It was important for us to strive for this old-fashioned, handmade feel,” says McQueen. “For example, rather than just working with a concrete building, we came up with material that would feel like the building, but also felt like a hand-crafted item. We used things like watercolor paper, washes, yarns, ribbons for grass, coffee grounds for dirt, etc.”
The production designer says one of the big challenges for the production was finding the right artists to work on the picture. “The scope of this film was very ambitious for Bron, which is a smaller studio in Canada,” he notes. “We were happy to find several talented Sheridan interns and recent graduates to work on the movie. I can’t say enough about our team, which absolutely killed it.”
The artists relied on Bron’s original animation pipeline which uses Maya to render. “We had to make some major shader adjustments because the look of the film was so different from the previous projects they had made [Henchmen, Mighty Mighty Monsters]. We had to retrace the textures we wanted to use to get that tactile feeling.”
Kyle McQueen
Nimble Know-How
According to Pearn, about 250-300 people worked on the movie, either at Bron’s studio in Burnaby, British Columbia, or its satellite offices in Duncan and London, Ontario. “One of the things that made this movie interesting was the way smaller studios can do things in a nimbler fashion,” he explains. “There are improvisations that happen along the way, from using XGen for the hair texture or lighting effects that helped us achieve the look. However, breaking the story was one of the most challenging parts of the journey, because the book has a bit of a non-linear flow.”
He adds, “Zeroing in on the cat’s view helped us tell this unconventional story, which is a darker-than-usual movie about kindness and love. I think we live in a pretty mean world today, and the message of the movie is that everybody deserves love. I love that the heart of the movie is about choosing love, and I hope that’s what audiences will take away from the movie, as well as laughing at a few fart and poop jokes along the way!”
Expression sheet for Tim Willoughby
As we get ready to wrap the interview, Pearn mentions that he grew up as the eldest of three boys in a goat farm in the Southern Ontario region of Canada, so he really identifies with Tim, the oldest Willoughby boy in the movie (voiced by Will Forte). “I also got a bit of a cultural shock when I got to the real world. I kind of identify with that feeling of trying to look after your family, but not doing it quite so well,” he admits.
“I am also very optimistic about animation and the current state of our industry,” Pearn says. “There’s so much diversity, not just in terms of human voices, but the types of movies that are being made. I am so happy that movies like I Lost My Body can find their own audience, and someone like Guillermo del Toro can make a weird animated family movie. I look at animation the same way I look at farming. You plant a lot of seeds in the ground, and five or six years later, you get to enjoy the results of your labor!”
You can see an early sneak peek of the movie here:
Reed MIDEM announced Wednesday a new premium online experience available for free to all registered MIPTV, MIPDoc and MIPFormats 2020 clients. MIPTV ONLINE+ will launch on March 30, offering connected access to exclusive content originally programmed for the 57th edition of MIPTV which, together with MIPDoc and MIPFormats, was scheduled to run March 28 – April 2 in Cannes before being cancelled due to the coronavirus (COVID-19).
MIPTV ONLINE+ will enable buyers to stream distributor programs scheduled for the MIPTV Drama Buyers’ Summit and the MIPDoc Screenings Library. The online service will also stream the In Development, MIPDoc and MIPFormats project pitches, as well as MIPTV’s exclusive market intelligence conference sessions, Fresh TV and the Factual and Kids Content Showcases.
“Our clients are unable to come to MIPTV in Cannes, so we are bringing MIPTV to them,” said Lucy Smith, Television Division Deputy Director at Reed MIDEM. “Starting on March 30, delegates from 94 countries will be able to interact with one another online and experience originally scheduled MIP programming from the comfort of their office or home. Nothing replaces face-to-face meetings, but MIPTV ONLINE+ content, networking and access to the international entertainment business community is totally unique.”
In addition, the MIPTV online database, accessed via miptv.com, will be available during the months ahead, allowing users to connect and interact with the MIPTV community.
Details of MIPTV ONLINE+ features will be regularly updated and communicated via www.miptv.com.
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Announces ‘Birds of Prey and the Fabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn’
The “madly inventive, gleefully violent and happily slapdash” (Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal) DC anti-hero romp will arrive on Digital on March 24. Directed by Cathy Yan (Dead Pigs) from a script by Christina Hodson (Bumblebee), the film stars Margo Robbie reprising Harley Quinn, with Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Rosie Perez, Chris Messina, Ewan McGregor and newcomer Ella Jay Basco.
Digital special features include: Birds Eye View Mode, Birds of Prey: Birds of a Feather, Grime and Crime, Wild Nerds, Romanesque, Sanity is Sooo Last Season, A Love/Skate Relationship and Gag Reel.
Fox to Acquire Tubi
Fox Corporation is set to acquire the AVOD service to the tune of $440 million, putting the proceeds of its Roku stake sale toward the purchase. Tubi is currently available on more than 25 digital platforms in the U.S., offering over 20,000 titles from 250+ content providers. Farhad Massoudi will continue to head the service.
Epic Games Acquires Facial Animation Technology Maker Cubic Motion
The move is the latest in the games and tech giant’s continuing quest to perfect digital humans. Cubic Motion has been key to Epic’s buzzworthy Unreal Engine real-time demos including the live character performance for Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (GDC 2016), Meet Mike (2017) and Siren (2018) — the tech has also contributed to triple-A titles including God of War and Marvel’s Spider-Man. Epic last year acquired 3Lateral, another digital humans specialist.
Why Is ‘Angry Birds 2’ So Relentlessly Popular on Netflix?
Polygon’s Jesse Hassenger delves into the “perfect storm of okay-ness” that keeps the CG-animated video game adaptation on the streamer’s recently introduced Top 10. If you missed Animag‘s feature story on the Sony Animation sequel last year, read it here before you watch!
Half of U.S. Families with Young Children Now Subscribe to Disney+
U.K. market research firm Ampere Analysis said its findings show the platform has been “disproportionately successful in engaging core audiences in its home market” since launching in November 2019. Disney previously announced that as of February 4, the service had already attracted 28 million subscribers, surpassing initial estimates from analysts.
Looks like leaving offSong of the South was the right idea.
WATCH: Cinesite ‘The Witcher’ VFX Breakdown Reel
The studio’s London team, supervised by Aleksander Pejic working closely with production supe Julian Parry, completed more than 250 shots for the first eight-episode season. Cinesite conjured the fearsome Kikimora and Striga monsters, water effects, a massive NIlfgaard v. Cintra battle, a deadly fire and more intense moments for the Andrzej Sapkowski adaptation. With S2 production on hold due to COVID-19, it might be time for a rewatch.
Disney Junior’s colorful new animated series offers a window to the beautiful colors, music and culture of India.
Cooped-up parents and their preschool kids who are looking for a fresh way to be entertained this week will have a new savior. Her name is Mira, the star of the CG-animated series Mira, Royal Detective, bowing on Disney Junior on March 20 Stateside (March 22 in India).
Developed by Becca Topol (Elena of Avalor), who also serves as story editor, and exec produced by Emmy-nominated industry veteran Sascha Paladino, the beautifully imagined show centers on a resourceful young girl (voiced by Leela Ladnier) who takes on the role of royal detective after being appointed by the Queen. Inspired by the vibrant colors, music and culture of India, the show follows Mira and her friends Prince Neel (Kamran Lucas), cousin Priya (Roshni Edwards) and funny mongoose pals Mikku (Kal Penn) and Chikku (Utkarsh Ambudkar) as they travel their fictitious world of Jalpur, solving mysteries and helping the characters they meet along the way.
The voice cast also features Freida Pinto, Hannah Simone, Jameela Jamil, Aparna Nancherla, Aasif Mandvi, Karan Soni, Maulik Pancholy, Sarayu Blue and Sarita Choudhury.
Mira, Royal Detective
Paladino, who also created Disney’s Miles from Tomorrowland (Mission Force One) and has written for numerous children’s animated shows such as Doc McStuffins, The Octonauts, Wonder Pets! and Sid the Science Kid, says he was thrilled when Disney asked him to run the series about two years ago. “It was a real honor to be asked because it’s an important show, and it combined my love for using children’s TV to explore a culture and help create Disney Junior’s first South Asian protagonist,” he says.
He says he loves the fact that the show takes its inspiration from Bollywood movies and that everyone involved strives to present an authentic and whimsical representation of Indian culture to young viewers. “We watched a lot of Bollywood films to prepare for the show, and one of the hallmarks of these movies is their big, musical numbers,” Paladino says. “So the chance to depict that in animation with dance and lots of characters, using authentic Indian music and instruments was so exciting for me.”
Sascha Paladino
Paladino’s Passage to India
Paladino and some of the other key creatives behind the show actually visited India to get a more accurate, in-person feel for the culture they were hoping to showcase in Mira, Royal Detective. In addition, the film’s animation is produced by Bangalore-based Technicolor India, so they were able to get more feedback and accuracy checks from their animation team in the country throughout the production process.
“We were really inspired by the Indian culture on every level,” says Paladino. “We really wanted to get it right and are striving to represent the design, the music, the storytelling, the dance and choreography in each and every episode. Our animation studio in India is a perfect match, and they are truly our collaborators. They weigh in and give us their feedback on the show. I was lucky enough to go to India and meet with them, and it was incredible to see the pride they take as they’re working on this show that will represent their culture to the world. We don’t take that lightly. It’s a big responsibility, but it’s also a huge privilege to be able to work on a show that is going to have that rich and hopefully as big an impact on audiences.”
Mira, Royal Detective
Not surprisingly, the show also employs a team of experts who offer their feedback on various aspects of Indian music, dance and culture. Shagorika Ghosh Perkins is Mira’s cultural consultant and consulting producer, offering her tips on costumes, music, food and set design to specific holiday traditions and festivals. Amritha Vaz (Miss India America) serves as the music composer. Deepak Ramapriyan (Basmati Blues) is the music consultant on the series and also provides additional orchestration for the song arrangements, while world-renowned musician Zakir Hussain plays tabla on the theme song. In addition, acclaimed Bollywood choreographer Nakul Dev Mahajan (So You Think You Can Dance) is the show’s dance consultant and choreographer.
“It’s been great to work with Amritha Vaz on the show’s music, and it’s very important to her and to us that we use as many authentic Indian instruments such as tabla, sitar, shehnai and others as possible,” says Paladino. “Music expresses so much about any culture, and South Asian culture is no different. For example, Mira is a great tabla player, so audiences will get to see her play that instrument in many of the episodes.”
The show’s look and overall visual style is also a reflection of this quest for authenticity. “We were inspired so much by what we could find online and in real life in South Asia,” says Paladino. “We wanted to reproduce the colors of India, and there’s such an incredible tradition of Indian art through the centuries, and we really wanted to honor that. Although our show is CG animated, we wanted to bring this special stylistic touch to the visuals, so you’ll see mandala patterns in the clouds, or the smoke that comes out a train stack is in the shape of traditional Indian patterns.”
Mira, Royal Detective
An Eye for Details
Series art director Dorothea Gerassimova says when she first met with Paladino about the project, she was fired up by all the possibilities the show offered to really convey the beautiful art, patterns and culture of India. “I was so energized and inspired that I couldn’t sleep at night,” she says. “I think the show gave us such a fantastic opportunity to create this wonderful, stylized world — from the trees to the palace to the marketplace. I was so pleased that I was given free rein to stylize it and asked to create something that didn’t look like anything else on Disney Junior.”
Gerassimova says she loves that the show centers on a strong, smart young girl who is not afraid of challenges. “I love that Mira never jumps to conclusions,” she says. “She always asks questions and wants to look at things closer. She is not a princess, which is very refreshing, and she always works with her team to come up with solutions. I also really admire the show’s emphasis on family values and multigenerational bonds, and the fact that we were able to weave in all the real inspiration we could find about Indian architecture, art, colors, fabrics and patterns. Of course, Indian art and architecture is so detailed, so it was a big challenge to deliver all those intricate ingredients on a tight TV schedule, but I’m very proud of what we were able to achieve.”
Dorothea Gerassimova
Paladino also points out that he is proud of the fact the production offered South Asian voices and talent to be represented in every aspect of the show, from the writers room to the design, boarding, music, choreography and all the voice cast. “One of my biggest jobs was to listen to everyone. This is not my culture, so we wanted to be sensitive and thoughtful so that we could get it right. So much of what I do is giving the South Asian people who work on the show the opportunity to really have a voice.”
He also hopes audiences will be able to enjoy the delicate balancing act he and his team have been trying to pull off. “We wanted to be very specific about the culture: We’re not saying where in India this show is taking place, but we have a lot of specific cultural touches, so we want people to be inspired to learn more about South Asian culture. At the same time, we want the storytelling to feel universal. Every episode is a self-contained mystery, and those are very universal things.”
More importantly, Paladino hopes kids will recognize themselves in the storylines. “The show is about a group of kids who sometimes get along and sometimes don’t, but mainly, it’s about Mira who is extremely thoughtful and sympathetic. She is able to see things from different perspectives. I just hope after seeing our show, kids will think more about how other people see things and will be encouraged to think more about others around them. That’s what Mira does!”
Mira, Royal Detective Premieres on Disney Junior (U.S.) on March 20.
