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August, 2021:

The Horse of a New Generation

So, My Little Pony fandom (and the Internet in general!) have been exploding now that Netflix has released the first full trailer for the upcoming My Little Pony: A New Generation. This is Generation 5, if you’re keeping count, and unlike previous generation shifts, this one actually connects to the previous one — as the storyline of Generation 4 (My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic) takes place in this story’s past history. This is also the first generation of official pony that will be completely animated in CGI. Here’s what we learned from Wikipedia: “My Little Pony: A New Generation is an upcoming computer-animated fantasy comedy film directed by Robert Cullen and Jose Ucha… The film will center on Sunny Starscout, an outcast and young earth pony who sees hope in Equestria where friendship and harmony have been replaced with paranoia and mistrust, and where all three species of ponies live segregated from one another. However, when she meets a lost unicorn named Izzy, the two embark on an adventure involving musical numbers, a jewel heist, conspiracy theories, and ‘the world’s cutest flying Pomeranian’ as they travel to new lands while facing their fears and turning enemies into friends.” There’s a series planned to follow the feature film, but we don’t know much about it yet. What we DO know is that A New Generation is scheduled to drop on Netflix on September 24th.

image c. 2021 Netflix

Cats That You Can’t See — At Least Yet

For those of us of previous generations, this might be a bit hard to follow. But we’ll let Animation World Network explain it: “What’s the kitty been smoking? Fan favorite actress Mila Kunis (That 70’s Show, Family Guy, Bad Moms) has released the new animated series Stoner Cats, by far the highlight of this past month. Kunis teamed with Chris Cartagena (The Grinch), Sarah Cole (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse), and Ash Brannon (Toy Story 2) under the Orchard Farm Productions banner to create the show, which features (surprise, surprise) a bunch of weed smokin’ felines.” Here’s the fur-rub though: “Interestingly, the first episode of the series was released as 10,420 NFTs on July 28th, which sold out within 30 minutes. Each episode was sold for .35 ETH, or approximately $8 million in cold hard American dollars. While NFTs are still new, strange, and misunderstood by many, there is a huge market for those wanting to own a piece of entertainment history.” Got all that? Here’s hoping they eventually release the series through other avenues as well.

image c. 2021 Orchard Farm Productions

Don’t You Monkey with the Monkey

All right… We’re just going to let this new graphic novel from Random House Studio for young readers speak for itself: “It’s Wednesday! Which means it’s time for Jim Panzee’s weekly Wednesday walk. He wakes up, stretches a little, grabs his stress orange, and sets off. Jim’s favorite part of the walk is the blissful silence. When he’s alone, he can hear all the jungle sounds. Until . . . his best buddy, Norman, decides to join him. And before he knows it, Jim is followed by every animal in the jungle. It’s all just too much. Now Jim and his not-so-helpful friends are on a quest across the jungle to find another stress orange before it is too late!” Got all that? Turns out there’s a whole series of Grumpy Monkey books written by Suzanne Lang and illustrated by Max Lang. Grumpy Monkey: Freshly Squeezed is available now in hardcover.

image c. 2021 Random House Studio

Take Me Out To More Ball Games

The furriest baseball team around is back with two new illustrated graphic novels by John Steven Gurney. In Fuzzy Baseball Volume 3: R.B.I. Robots, “The Fernwood Valley Fuzzies have a baseball game set with the undefeated and impeccable Geartown Clankees. The Clankees perform like well-oiled machines…mainly because they are robots in disguise just wanting to fit in and feel the love of good sportsmanship deep inside their gears.” Mean while in Volume 4: Di-No Hitters, “The Ferntown Fuzzies are about to face a team of Dinosaurs, the Triassic Park Titans, in a match for the ages. The blast-from-the-past team is sure to deliver a few curve balls for the Fuzzies with their vintage style, gigantic gear, and ‘un-evolved’ practices.” Both volumes are available now from Papercutz.

image c. 2021 Papercutz

Friendship is… Just off the Coast

Sheesh — The Epic! imprint from Andrews McMeel definitely manages to keep coming up with interesting Furry material for young readers. Unicorn Island is an illustrated novel written by Donna Galanti, with art by Bethany Stancliffe. “When Sam arrives in Foggy Harbor, population 3,230, all she can see is a small, boring town that’s way too far from home. And knowing that she’s stuck there all summer with her grumpy Uncle Mitch only makes things worse. But when Sam discovers a hidden trapdoor leading to a room full of strange artifacts, she realizes Foggy Harbor isn’t as sleepy as it seems. With the help of a new friend, Sam discovers an extraordinary secret beyond the fog: An island of unicorns whose fates are intertwined with hers.” It’s available now in hardcover.

image c. 2021 Andrews McMeel Publishing

Oh, Diddley…

Look, folks, we can’t make this stuff up. (If we could we’d be writing it instead of reporting on it!) Check out the first Adventures of Team Pom graphic novel, called Squid Happens. “When oddballs Agnes, Roberta and Ruby discover a shared passion for synchronized swimming, the trio become Team Pom. But between snack time, their favorite TV show, and raising pigeons, it can be hard to find time to practice. This crew of self-proclaimed weirdos are tired of their loser status in the pool. But on their way to gain the respect and free snacks they deserve, they stumble upon a lonely giant squid. Will he be the secret weapon they need for synchronized swimming stardom? Will they be able to outwit the sinister strangers in bowler hats, or will they end up with ink on their faces?” Anthropomorphics includes all kinds of animals… Squid Happens is written and illustrated by Isabel Roxas, and it’s available now from Flying Eye Books.

image c. 2021 Flying Eye Books