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New Adventures in Redwall

Thanks to Animation Magazine we learned about some new games coming to Steam, based on Brian Jacques’ world-famous Redawall series of anthropomorphic fantasy books. “The Scout Anthology, available now for PC, PS5 and X|S on Steam, is a narrative puzzle-driven action-adventure in three acts following young mouse recruits in Mossflower on a mission to save their home from pirates. For the cute and cozy casual gaming crowd, Feasts & Friends (for the PC, coming soon) savors the peaceful town of Lilygrove as players forage for ingredients, craft recipes, and meet charming characters.” Both of them were created by Forthright Entertainment and Soma Games.

image c. 2024 Forthright Entertainment

Quack to the Future?

We caught this announcement from several places. Here it is from World of Reel: “Pixar is developing a new movie, this one set to be the first musical in the toon company’s history. The movie is titled Ducks and its main characters are exactly what the title suggests. Pixar’s upcoming slate already includes Elio, Toy Story 5, and Inside Out 2 — the latter being released this summer, the other two in 2026. Ducks seems to be eyeing a 2027 launch.” You’ll know when we do!

image c. 2024 Pixar Animation Studios

Netflix Heard The Call

More from that article at Cartoon Brew. This time it’s a new “hybrid” (live action / CGI) feature called Woody Woodpecker Goes To Camp. “Netflix hasn’t released many details about the film yet, but the streamer did say that accomplished kids and family TV director Johnathan Rosenbaum (Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock, R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour) is helming from a screenplay by Cory Edwards, Jim Martin, and Stephen Mazu… A brief logline reads: ‘After getting kicked out of the forest, Woody thinks he’s found a forever home at Camp Woo Hoo — until an inspector threatens to shut down the camp’. The only casting details shared so far indicate that Eric Bauza is involved, presumably as Woody’s voice.” We can all find out more when the film arrives on April 12th.

image c. 2024 Netflix

You’re A Star!

Thanks to Cartoon Brew, we found out about several interesting new animated films coming soon to Netflix. Among them is Thelma the Unicorn. “Thelma is a small-time pony who dreams of becoming a glamorous music star. In a pink and glitter-filled moment of fate, Thelma is transformed into a unicorn and instantly rises to global stardom. But this new life of fame comes at a cost.” Don’t know much about this one otherwise, but it’s directed by Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite, Nacho Libre) and Lynn Wang (Unikitty!), and it’s due on May 17th.

image c. 2024 Netflix

Foster’s Not Home, but…

This came to us out of nowhere, but now we’re very, very curious. John Krasinski has written, produced, and directed a new live-action/CGI fantasy film called IF, starring Cailey Fleming. She plays a young girl who discovers that she has the ability to see people’s imaginary friends (known as IFs for short). She also discovers that the mysterious Man Upstairs (played by Ryan Reynolds) has the same ability. Now a group of IFs are begging these two special humans to help them find new kids to be with now that their own have grown up and abandoned them. As you can see from the trailer, there’s a lot of anthropomorphic interest here. It’s scheduled to be released next May.

image c. 2023 Paramount Pictures

Time for a Tiger’s Tale?

For a while now we’ve been following the news that Lawrence Yep’s popular fantasy novel The Tiger’s Apprentice was being made into a feature film. Not certain what happened to that project over the course of a pandemic and several Hollywood strikes, but now we’re getting word that a different animated movie based on the novel is making its way to Paramount+ next February. And this time we even get a teaser trailer! “Based on the popular children’s book series of the same name by Laurence Yep, the film follows Chinese American teenager Tom Lee, whose life changes forever when he discovers he is part of a long lineage of magical protectors known as the Guardians… In the film, with guidance from a mythical tiger named Hu, Tom trains to take on Loo, a force that is as powerful as a Guardian but has evil intentions of using magic to destroy humanity. To fight against Loo, Tom must reunite all twelve Zodiac animal warriors and master his own newly discovered powers.” There’s more details and an interesting cast list over at Animation World Network.

image c. 2023 Paramount+

So Who DID Come First?

Hitting at an interesting idea from several angles at once, Canadian production house Wind Sun Sky have given us Future Chicken, a new environmentally-themed presentation for children that’s arriving as a podcast, a streaming series, an interactive web site, and so forth. Here’s an announcement from Animation Magazine: “Wind Sun Sky Entertainment partnered with the Ontario Water Centre’s social enterprise ClearWater Farm are gearing up for the November 5 launch of Future Chicken — a new animation property designed to help children counter ‘climate doomism’ with hope, inspiration and empowerment — with the announcement of a coop-load of trailblazing green guest stars. This new global platform will launch with a digital series, a podcast, YouTube shorts, a Roblox experience and more. Featuring a variety of entertaining learning experiences for kids aged six to nine years old, the property revolves around a time-travelling eco-superhero chicken from 2050 named Potato, a.k.a. Future Chicken, who travels alongside other amusing characters, including a gossipy mushroom with a love of travel and an egg who wears rocket-pants.” Typical stuff that, of course. The official web site has a whole lot more.

image c. 2023 Wind Sun Sky

On the Throne in the Palace of the Kingdom of the…

20th Century Studios just dropped the first trailer for The Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, the fourth film in the “new arc” of ape science fiction movies. (For what looks to be an interesting film, they sure saddled it with a clunky-sounding title. Come on, people! What’s wrong with Kingdom of the Apes?) The official synopsis goes like this: “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is set several generations in the future following Caesar’s reign, in which apes are the dominant species living harmoniously and humans have been reduced to living in the shadows. As a new tyrannical ape leader builds his empire, one young ape undertakes a harrowing journey that will cause him to question all that he has known about the past and to make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike.” It’s directed by Wes Ball (The Maze Runner), who meanwhile is now getting to work on an adaptation of The Mouse Guard! Kingdom is set to be released in theaters on Memorial Day (May 24th) in 2024.

image c. 2023 20th Century Studios

Finally Starting to Get Crabby

So to speak… We’ve been hearing about the new CGI film Under The Boardwalk for a while, but mostly about its release getting delayed again and again. (Seems to be a trend these days.) Now thanks to Cartoon Brew we found out it’s actually coming out — in a rather rushed manner, with almost no advertising. The movie will be coming to Paramount+ streaming in a few days, and today it begins a limited run in theaters… while also today, Paramount released the very first trailer to the Internet. ““When timid Jersey crab Armen meets bold tourist sea crab Ramona, it causes shell-shocking tension in the community. But when the duo are swept away by a storm, they embark on an epic journey to find home. Their courage unites their families, paving the way for great summers to come, Under the Boardwalk.” Director David Soren is known for animated films like Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie and Turbo.

image c. 2023 Paramount Pictures