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Solve the Mystery. Save the World

Cashmere Sky is an on-line anthropomorphic science fiction comic created by Jared Hudson and edited by Aaron Schweiser. After we found them at Midwest FurFest, we got this from their web site: “Cashmere Sky is a retrofuture character-driven action/drama following two brothers, Arlo and Enzo, who both endure the hardships of coping with loss, finding courage, leadership, and acceptance. It is described as a retro-future world with ‘solarpunk’ tones bringing together an exciting brew of airships, electricity, science, and a race of anthro cat-like people. Our heroes journey will take them from places like a science classroom to terrifying high speed train chases and airship battles.” Check out their list of people they consider their influences too!

image c. 2023 cashmeresky.com

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

Mythological Cuteness

Where have we been? We’ve been missing episodes of Fabulous Beasts (aka There Are Beasts), which started streaming back in April. There’s a detailed preview over at Yu-Alexius. “Known in Chinese as You Shou Yan, the donghua promises to deliver another adorable experience for Chinese animation viewers, especially to the fans of Non-Human (Fei Ren Zai), and All Saint’s Street (Wan Sheng Jie) since both shows feature mythological and supernatural creatures living in the modern day world.” [There’s even more we need to check out! — ye ed-otter] “Based on the popular manhua by Xue Xia Mao Yao Zi, There Are Beasts is produced by Bilibili and animated by Studio FENZ. [The show] follows Sibuxiang, a mythological animal who descends to the mortal world to help his fellow creatures survive in a time of scientific advancement. As Sibuxiang encounters a range of fascinating characters, including Pixiu, Tuye, and the Jue brothers, viewers will be treated to a thrilling blend of mythology and modernity, filled with exciting stories and characters that are sure to capture the imagination.” All of which fails to capture the essence of just how cute these characters and their adventures are. See what we mean over on YouTube.

image c. 2023 Bilibili

Him and All His Furry… Friends?

Lots of people have been talking about the new anime-style TV series that just recently started streaming on Netflix. “Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix is an original animated series mixing alternative Ubisoft characters from beloved franchises such as Assassin’s Creed, Rayman, and Far Cry in a highly-referenced homage to the early 90s.” The story? “Set in the year 1992, the country formerly known as the USA is now called Eden, a technocracy ruled by propaganda and corruption. Super-soldier Dolph Laserhawk has just been betrayed by the love of his life, his boyfriend Alex Taylor, and locked up in Eden’s off-the-grid maximum security prison, Supermaxx. Dolph is forced to lead a team of rebel outcasts on risky undercover missions under the order of the prison’s shadowy Warden.” What that description fails to convey is that there are lots and lots of anthropomorphic characters throughout the series, mostly bad folks but a few good-ish ones. Check out the trailer over at Animation World Network.

image c. 2023 Netflix

By Land AND By Sea

Not Quite Narwhal is the interesting title of a new CGI animated series created by Dreamworks, which recently premiered on Netflix. From Animation World Network: “Adapted for television by co-executive producers Brian K. Roberts (Dragons: Rescue Riders), Nakia Trower Shuman (Fancy Nancy), and Sarah Katin (Curious George), DreamWorks Animation’s take on author Jessie Sima’s New York Times bestseller tackles the subject of identity through the curious and fun-loving Kelp (voiced by Nevin Kar). The blue, big-eyed, aquatic marvel has always believed he’s a narwhal like the rest of his family under the sea, until the day he makes the most amazing discovery – he’s actually a unicorn! Rather than choose one or the other, Kelp embraces being both a narwhal and a unicorn, juggling his day-to-day life as he figures out how to navigate his two worlds: Ocean and land.” The article includes an extensive interview with the author, talking about creating and adapting the work — including its themes of inclusivity and acceptance for people of all types.

image c. 2023 Dreamworks Animation

Every Planet Has One

Chloe is an artist and crafts-maker that we met in the U.K. They sell their interesting wares around the world under the name of Pin & Tonic. [Oh we love it!] That includes not just an ever-expanding line of custom enamel pins (obviously), but also pin-displaying bags and a new line of t-shirts and wind-breakers. “Run by the artist, Pin and Tonic was started to bring fun, colourful, quirky and sparkly designs to life. Each illustration is thoughtfully produced with love and care in the hope you will adore it.” All available on their web site.

image c. 2023 Pin & Tonic

Eco-Conscious Gifts

Recently we spent some time on vacation in the United Kingdom — and we met a lot of furry fans while we were there! Among them was the artist Lyndsey Green. She describes herself as a wildlife illustrator and creator of eco-conscious gifts: “Drawing wildlife, raising awareness about endangered species and the unusual animals you might not find in High Street shops”. Some of her work is collected in portfolios and booklets like Fauna Fusions, The A – Z of Feliformia, and The Tiny Book of Tiny Animals. She even covers more mythical animals in Gryphonology and Jackalopia. Her web site has links to her Shopify.

image c. 2023 by Lyndsey Green

Bear Out Of Nowhere

Driving around Southern California, we saw this on a billboard, of all things. Bearific.com. Knowing nothing about it, we had to investigate! Here’s what we found out about Bearific Books: “Katelyn Lonas is 16 years old and the CEO of her company, Bearific. Currently, she has over 60 published books, which are sold worldwide and available on Barnes & Noble and Walmart. Katelyn has also published five apps on the Google Play Store and has a YouTube channel called Bearific Studios, where she posts drawing videos and cartoons based on her books. She published her first book when she was 9 years old, and it was called Bearific Adventure.” And yes, it’s all about bears. Check out her web site!

image c. 2023 Bearific Books

This Kitty Is Foul

Years ago we stumbled across a trailer for the Turkish animated film Bad Cat, based on the graphic novel Kötu Kedi Şerafettin by Bülent Üstün. Now the film, directed by Mehmet Kurtuluş and Ayse Ünal, has been dubbed into English and picked up by Tubi. “In the film, a profane house cat must deal with the arrival of his illegitimate son, an accidental killing, his owner’s eviction, and more – all within a day of debauchery and mayhem.” As you can probably tell, this features a lot of adults-only content! Animation World Network has the trailer.

image c. 2023 Tubi