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Television

Colorful and Collectible. Of Course!

Nov 25th, 2014
by rodney.
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It seems to be a hot time to re-imagine 1980’s toy and cartoon lines for a the new millenium. Next up? Popples. Here’s the pitch from the masters themselves, Saban Brands: “Popples are fun, lovable, brightly-colored and adorable creatures that transform from fluffy balls to furry friends and back again. Saban Brands will re-launch the franchise with a fresh and modern look for a new generation of kids. The launch will be paired with a line of consumer products including apparel, accessories, plush and more. Popples made its original debut in the U.S. in 1985 with a Saturday morning television show, followed by a successful toy line.” Saturday morning, eh? Are they gonna try to bring that back too? Either way, look for it at a TV or toy store near you in 2015.

image c. 2014 Saban Brands

image c. 2014 Saban Brands

Ordinary House Pets… NOT

Nov 24th, 2014
by rodney.
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More from MIPCOM. Aurore Damant is a former Gobelins student (if you don’t know who they are, every animation fan should!) who is now a professional character designer and art director. His latest project is called Zip Zip, produced in France by Go-N Productions. The premise is simple: A group of forest animals see that human civilization is encroaching on their habitat, and they figure if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. And so they conspire to disguise themselves as regular domestic house pets using zip-up costumes. Easy, yes? The show has debuted in France and it’s currently looking for international buyers to distribute it. Mr. Damant has several screen shots up on his blog to see.

image c. 2014 Go-N

image c. 2014 Go-N

Animals of a Different Color: Lots of Them!

Nov 23rd, 2014
by rodney.
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MIPCON is taking place in Europe, and that means there are several new animated TV series looking for distribution in, among many other places, North America. And of course many of them are more than a little bit anthropomorphic. One of the ones that is generating a lot of buzz is called Zafari, from Ink Global. This is from Animation World Network: “Zafari is the brainchild of David Dozoretz – an animation visionary who worked alongside George Lucas on the Star Wars prequels and also contributed to major movies such as Jurassic Park, Forrest Gump, Moulin Rouge, X-Men 3, J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek and Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. With a multi-million euro budget in place, this sumptuous animation tells the story of a group of animal friends who live together in Zafari – a land that’s home to a collection of unique inhabitants who have all been magically born with the skin of other animals. The series follows the adventures of Zoomba – a little elephant with zebra stripes – as he explores and makes sense of the world. Zafari concentrates on the themes of inclusivity and friendship, inspiring kids that everybody is unique in some way and that our differences should be celebrated.” Currently there isn’t a lot on the Zafari home page, but still if you go there you can see the proposed opening credits.

image c. 2014 Ink Global

image c. 2014 Ink Global

Human Dinos vs. Dragon Wizards

Nov 22nd, 2014
by rodney.
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DinoFroz is a 2D animated TV series created by Orlando Corrati and animated by Mondo TV Studios in Italy. “The series depicts the adventures of Tom, a 12-year-old boy and his friends who, after playing a board game, are teleported to a world where they can transform into dinosaurs using stones called Rockfroz.” And more importantly, they can use their new-found dinosaur powers to try and defeat an army of evil magic dragons who are determined to rule all worlds — including ours! All of this also (hopefully) serving in the sales of tie-in toys. You can see both show and toys advertised and summarized over on YouTube. DinoFroz is currently seeking distribution in North America.

image c. 2014 Mondo TV

image c. 2014 Mondo TV

He Likes to Move It

Nov 6th, 2014
by rodney.
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Over at Animation Scoop there’s an article about the new Dreamworks animated TV series for Netflix, All Hail King Julien. It’s in the Madagascar/Penguins universe of course, but it’s sort of a prequel. “Set before the Zoosters arrive in Madagascar, King Julien holds court over a colorful cast that includes fan favorites Mort and Maurice, along with a host of all-new jungle dwellers. The series features a talented voice cast that includes television legend Henry Winkler (Happy Days) as Julien’s regal predecessor, Uncle King Julien, alongside Emmy-winning actor Danny Jacobs as King Julien, Andy Richter (Conan, Arrested Development) as Mort, Kevin Michael Richardson (Family Guy) as Maurice, and India de Beaufort (One Tree Hill) as Clover, the king’s special-ops expert.” This is the second Dreamworks animated TV series on Netflix, following Turbo FAST, and the studio plans on creating no less than 10 additional Netflix series by the end of 2016. Meanwhile, Julien will be available for download on December 19th.

image c. 2104 Dreamworks

image c. 2104 Dreamworks Animation

The Raccoon on TV!

Oct 10th, 2014
by rodney.
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Rather quickly after the release of the Guardians of the Galaxy feature film this summer, Marvel put out word that an animated TV series was in the works — but that was about all we heard for a while. Now, Marvel has gone so far as to release a “splash page” image and even a short animated “teaser” for the new show, which is slated to premier in 2015. The characters (including fan-favorite Rocket Raccoon) all have the appearance they did in the movie, but there’s no word yet if any of the film’s actors will be voicing their characters for the show. Nor do we know if what we see in the teaser reflects the look and animation style of the actual show. But, it’s more than we had even a month ago! Read all about it over at Slash Film.

image c. 2014 Marvel Studios

image c. 2014 Marvel Studios

The Monsters of Rock?

Sep 24th, 2014
by rodney.
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Back in the 1960’s and 1970’s the late Jim Henson and his associate Jerry Juhl wrote many interesting screenplays for development as projects for The Muppets, and many of them were never produced. Among the latter was a story called The Musical Monsters of Turkey Hollow, which went like this: “Turkey Hollow is a picturesque town where hundreds of years ago, unbeknownst to the citizens, a meteorite landed nearby a small brook on the outskirts of town. One Thanksgiving, while young Timmy Henderson practices his guitar, he’s accompanied by strange, unearthly, musical sounds. That meteorite wasn’t a rock at all but an egg holding seven furry, goofy monsters, each with a unique musical sound. After the initial shock, Timmy befriends the lovable creatures following him all around Turkey Hollow. Not everyone takes a liking to the visitors though and it’s up to Timmy to protect his new friends and save Thanksgiving!” Now Archaia Comics have partnered once again with illustrator Roger Langridge (Snarked, The Muppet Show) to bring these Musical Monsters to life in a brand new full-color graphic novel coming in hardcover this October. What’s more, according to an article in USA Today, Lisa Henson (Jim’s daughter and CEO of Henson Company) has confirmed that the original script is being developed into a holiday TV special — possibly for release as early as this Thanksgiving!

image c. 2014 Archaia Comics

image c. 2014 Archaia Comics

Return to the Pridelands!

Jun 10th, 2014
by rodney.
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Here it is, straight from Variety this morning: “Disney is looking to get new mileage out of its Lion King franchise with a new animated series and TV movie planned for its Disney Channel and Disney Junior cablers. Disney Television Animation is producing The Lion Guard, a series that continues the storyline of the Mouse’s boffo 1994 hit feature. Lion Guard will bow next fall with a TV movie and transition to a regular series in early 2016. ‘We look forward to introducing a whole new generation of kids to both the Disney legacy characters and to new friends and heroes,’ said Nancy Kanter, exec VP of original programming and G.M. of Disney Junior Worldwide. The series incorporates strong environmental and conservation messages as it revolves around lion cub Kion’s role as a member of the Lion Guard group tasked with preserving his family’s natural habitat. Series will revive Lion King characters including Simba, Nala, Timon and Pumbaa. Ford Riley developed Lion Guard and is exec producer.” Keep watching this space for news of the premier!

image c. Walt Disney Television Animation

image c. Walt Disney Television Animation

Downloadable Dreamworks

Mar 17th, 2014
by rodney.
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More from the folks at Cartoon Brew: Dreamworks Animation have announced three new CGI animated series they will be producing as part of their mega-distribution-deal with Netflix — and guess what? All three of them are anthropomorphic, in one way or another. King Julian of course follows the adventures of the crazy lemur from the Madagascar movies and the Penguins of Madagascar TV series; Puss in Boots, who needs no introduction; and Veggie Tales in the House, a new iteration of the well-known faith-based animated TV show. All of this follows the 2D animated series Turbo F.A.S.T., which Dreamworks premiered on Netflix last December. The three new series will be available before the end of 2014.

image c. 2014 Dreamworks Animation

image c. 2014 Dreamworks Animation

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