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Television

Eat at the Bear’s

Nov 19th, 2012
by rodney.
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Shirokuma Cafe literally translates from Japanese as Polar Bear Cafe. It’s a manga series created by Aloha Higa, following the story of a little coffee house in Japan — run by a polar bear, and frequented by any number of zoo animals. The three main characters are Polar Bear, lazy young Panda, and lovesick Penguin. (Most of the animal characters in the series are simply naked after their species.) The manga has been running since 2008, but just this year a new anime series based on it came to TV thanks to Studio Pierrot. You can find out more at Anime News Network, or check out an actual episode at Crunchyroll.

image c. 2012 Studio Pierrot

Battle Bears Coming to a Bigger Screen

Oct 8th, 2012
by rodney.
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We’ve mentioned before about Battle Bears, the popular mobile-device video game created by Ben Vu of Sky Vu Entertainment. In case you need a refresher from the source: “Battle Bears is a tongue-and-cheek action comedy featuring Oliver Bear and his friends who are charged with saving the world from the Huggables, a possessed horde of enemy pink bears out to hug you to death, unless you fend them off with an arsenal of unusual artillery that includes anything from the Unicorn Horn Crossbow to the BearZooka.” Well now Sky Vu Entertainment have inked a deal with Wildbrain Entertainment to create a Battle Bears TV series as well as an extensive consumer product line. Wildbrain is a division of DHX Media Ltd, which is not only the home of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic but also “one of the world’s foremost producers of animation and family entertainment”. Read all about it at Cartoon Brew.

image c. 2012 Sky Vu Entertainment

The 80’s… They Haunt Us!

Sep 18th, 2012
by rodney.
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On the heels of the announcement that ALF is going to be a movie, word has been making the rounds that Sony Pictures have green-lit a movie adaptation of the 1983 fantasy/crime drama TV series Manimal. In case you haven’t heard of that one: “Manimal followed Dr. Jonathan Chase, a wealthy doctor with a mysterious past, who morphed into animals in order to help the police fight crime”. Winner huh? Well apparently not: The show was cancelled after only 8 episodes aired on NBC. Guess that’s what happens when you go up against Dallas. Anyway, according to The Hollywood Reporter, “Glen A. Larson, one of the most prolific TV producers of the ’80s (Magnum P.I., Knight Rider, Battlestar Galactica), created the show and is attached as a producer on the feature.” The film is likely to be another combination of live action and CGI. Check out the rest of the article here to find out more.

image c. 2012 NBC

 

Dog with a Blog

Sep 12th, 2012
by rodney.
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Admit it: You’re gonna notice a title like that, yes? Dog with  a Blog is a new mid-season replacement sitcom series picked up  by the Disney Channel.  Here’s part of the press release: “In the premiere episode, Bennett [the dad] adopts a shelter dog in the hopes that it will inspire Tyler and Avery [the siblings] to get along and bond over taking care of him. That happens – to some extent – when the kids discover that their seemingly ordinary dog can talk.  From that moment on, Tyler and Avery agree on one thing: Stan’s ability to speak must be kept a secret from everyone, even their parents. As the kids learn to work together to keep Stan’s secret safe, they soon find that his canine point of view, whether in the home, in the yard or in the park, helps them navigate their new sibling situation and, ultimately, becomes the tie that binds the family.” The series comes to Disney Channel on Friday, October 12th. Starting on September 18th, regular posts from the talking and Internet-savvy dog himself will be available at SeeStanBlog.com.

image c. 2012 The Disney Channel

Ha! It Kills Us!

Aug 14th, 2012
by rodney.
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Word is out around Hollywood that 80’s favorite ALF will be coming to the big screen finally. In case you need a refresher: “ALF stands for Alien Life Form, and the ’80s sitcom centered on a friendly furry alien creature (a puppet) who crash landed on Earth and took up with the Tanners, a suburban family. ALF, whose name was later revealed as Gordon Shumway, is sarcastic and has an appetite for cats. He courts trouble with government forces that are on his tail.” According to the article in Hollywood Reporter (and elsewhere), Jordan Kerner — who produced last year’s hit movie The Smurfs — was pegged by Sony Pictures to produce the new picture. Again, it will be a live-action feature film with ALF himself as a CGI character. Tom Patchett and Paul Fusco, creators of the original TV series,  will be involved as co-producers. Paul Fusco was also ALF’s main puppeteer and voice actor, and he’s expected to be the character voice for the new film as well. So far there’s no word as to a main script writer, a director, or a planned release date… but watch your cats just in case.

image c. 2012 Alien Productions

A Different Kind of Monster Battle

Aug 9th, 2012
by rodney.
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If you haven’t seen it so far, Kaijudo: Rise of the Duel Masters is the latest “re-imagining” of a classic product line to premier on The Hub network — in this case back in June. Kaijudo is a new version of the Duel Masters series by Wizards of the Coast (which, like The Hub, is a division of Hasbro Toys). This time around, the creators of this new show (specifically Andrew Robinson and Henry Gilroy from The Hub) wanted to have a different take on the “young kids and their fighting pet monsters” genre. The creatures of Kaijudo come to Earth from another dimension, and they can’t just be called up or sent back by the flip of a card. What’s more, our hero — a young boy named Ray, voiced by Scott Wolf) — has a special power of empathy with the monsters, and so he is very connected when they are hurt or made to suffer.  According to the creators, they wanted a show where the heroes, the villains, and even the companion monsters show much more personality than shows like these have seen in the past.  Have they succeeded? Find out for yourself. New episodes of Kaijudo currently air on The Hub on Saturdays at 8 pm Eastern, 5 pm Pacific. Check out the official Kaijudo web page from The Hub as well.

image c. 2012 by The Hub

This Year’s Winning Frog

Aug 7th, 2012
by rodney.
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The July issue of Animation Magazine featured the 2012 Pitch Party, which has become an annual event.  The idea is simple: Entrants purchase a 1/16th-page ad in the magazine, and submit a one-panel “pitch” for a new animated TV series or feature. A panel of animation industry experts, the staff of Animation Magazine, and on-line readers each get a chance to pick their favorites.  Those industry folk this year included names from Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, PBS, and the Hub among others. And the top pick from both those bigwigs and the Animation staff was Jimmy Legs: The Down and Out Frog, created by Daniel Contois — the story of a cartoon frog living in America following a nuclear apocalypse. Oh what fun! And you can see the development of it at Dan’s web site.  But there were plenty of other entries of possible interest to furry fans, including Detective Cats (web site), Little Monsters (web site), Road Kill Heroes (web site), Swamp Stalkers (web site), Mad Cow (web site), Samurai Chinchilla (web site), and Bad Penguin (web site). And of course check out Animation’s web site to find out more about this year’s Pitch Party, and next year’s too.

image c. 2012 by Daniel Contois

 

Dragons on TV

Aug 1st, 2012
by rodney.
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After a few years and much talk, Dreamworks Animation are ready to premier their new TV series Dragons: Riders of Berk.  Re-named from the more simple Dragons, this new series brings us further adventures of the young viking Hiccup, his dragon friend Toothless, and other characters from the Ursa Major Award-winning feature film How to Train Your Dragon. Jay Baruchel (as Hiccup), America Ferrera (as Astrid), and several other voice actors from the feature film reprise their roles for this new TV series. Unlike previous Dreamworks series like The Penguins of Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness, this new Dragons series will be shown on Cartoon Network instead of Nickelodeon. A special preview episode will air on Cartoon Network starting Tuesday, August 7th. Check out their Wikipedia entry too.

image c. 2012 Dreamworks Animation

Friendship is Magic on the Printed Page

Jul 16th, 2012
by rodney.
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Back from San Diego Comic Con with sore feet and lots of stuff to tell you about!

First up: Among the many things at SDCC dedicated to My Little Pony — Friendship is Magic was the news that IDW Publishing will release a brand-new full-color MLP-FIM comic book series, starting up in November. The lead artist for the series is Andy Price, who since the announcement of the comic has been answering a flood of questions over on his Deviant Art page. According to him (and IDW, whom your trusty ed-otter spoke to at the con), the series will feature brand-new in-canon stories of the inhabitants of Equestria, not adaptations of the existing TV episodes. Various artists have been commissioned to create the covers for each issue. Mr. Price made it a point to note that his art for the series will be all hand-drawn and hand-colored. Check out his site or the IDW site for more news on a release date for the first issue.

image c. 2012 IDW Publishing
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