In case you haven’t got the word yet: Cartoon Network will be premiering a brand new Looney Tunes Show on Tuesday, May 3rd. They’ve set up a web site with lots of pictures, video clips, and even a fan discussion board. Needless to say there’s already a lot of discussion (to put it mildly) on places like Cartoon Brew about the ups and downs of the new show and the new character designs.
Television
Strangeness from the World of Advertising
Recently DirecTV has been running a series of ads featuring a very, very rich gentleman from Russia, showing off his indulgences — including, of course, DirecTV. But the thing that has seemed to get the most attention in the ads is sort of in the background: A little, miniaturized giraffe the fellow has for a pet. Everyone seems to have noticed the little guy, and they’re talking about him on line. So much so that someone (presumably DirecTV) has given the “petite lap giraffe” his own web site! “Welcome to world wide famous Sokoblovsky Farms. The best and only breeders of Petite Lap Giraffes” says the introduction. There are lots of funny pseudo-Russian-isms used, of course (“To be clicking here!”). In addition to historical backgrounds and information about purchasing your own lap giraffe, there is also a 24-hour “Giraffe-Cam” where you can watch the petite bull Vladamir in his enclosure. Yes really.
image c. 2011 petitelapgiraffe.com
Dragons and Pandas coming to TV
Not long after announcing that the sequel to the wildly popular film How to Train Your Dragon will be released to theaters in 2013, Dreamworks Animation let it be known that a brand new How to Train Your Dragon weekly TV series will be premiering on Cartoon Network in 2012. IGN has a lot of information about the new series up on line. Although we’ve been told that the TV series will feature the same characters in the same world as the feature film, it’s not been announced if any of the cast or crew from the feature will be working on the new series. And speaking of television: Don’t forget that sometime this fall, the much-delayed Kung Fu Panda TV series Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness is set to premier on Nickelodeon.
Polar Bears Pushing Beer
Empresas Polar is a well-known brewer of cerveza (beer) in Venezuela. Recently they decided to create a campaign bringing their company logo, a polar bear, to life. Enter The Character Shop, an outfit famous for their creation of animatronic characters for use in advertising — a great many of which are anthropomorphic animals. They helped Empresas Polar create the character of Pedroso the Polar Bear for their new line of TV commercials. And the people of Venezuela seem to be taking to them — and Pedroso, the 7-foot tall bear himself — quite well. The Character Shop has a page dedicated to their creation of Pedroso, and of course you can see some of his actual commercials on YouTube.
Friendship is Magic
The was a lot of talk late last year among animation fans about The Hub, a new cable channel created as a joint venture between Discovery Channel and the Hasbro toy company. The Hub was started as direct competition for the likes of The Family Channel. As such, they show original animated TV series during the day — almost entirely based on various Hasbro toy lines — an sit-com re-runs at night. One of the current flagships of the former is My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, a flash animation series. It was developed for television by Lauren Faust, who is well-known in animation circles for her work on Powerpuff Girls and Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends with her husband, Craig McCracken. Here’s the series description from Wikipedia: “The series stars a unicorn pony named Twilight Sparkle, who has been known to be a pupil of the world’s ruler Princess Celestia. Seeing the young pony buried in books, the princess gives her the task of making friends, sending her, and a young dragon named Spike, to Ponyville. There, they meet some interesting ponies, including tomboyish Rainbow Dash, glamorous Rarity, hard-working Applejack, timid Fluttershy, and hyperactive Pinkie Pie. Together, they explore the ins and outs of the town, solve various problems, and make even more friends. Every day is a lesson for Twilight, but none as important as the magic of friendship. At the end of each episode, Twilight relays a report to her mentor Celestia, telling her what friendship has taught her.” The series is animated by Studio B Productions in Vancouver, Canada.
The Gruffalo
Another in the “how’d we miss this?” category… The Gruffalo is an award-winning children’s book from the U.K., written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. It was first published in 1999 by Macmillan Children’s Books. It tells the tale (via a mother squirrel giving her children a bedtime story) of a mouse walking through the woods. When he is threatened in turn by a predatory fox, snake, and owl, he scares each of them off by telling them he is on his way to meet his friend the “Gruffalo” — a monstrous creature who is much more dangerous than any of them. He’s making it all up, of course, and he thinks he’s so clever… until he runs into the real Gruffalo. After the book became enormously popular in the U.K. and elsewhere, Magic Light Pictures and Studio Soi made The Gruffalo into a 30-minute CGI film, which was broadcast on U.K. television for Christmas 2009. It featured (among others) the voices of Helena Bonham Carter (as the mother squirrel), John Hurt, and Robbie Coltrane (as the Gruffalo). The BBC has a trailer for the show on-line, and there’s also a making-of video from Magic Light.
image c. 2011 Axel Scheffler
Tiny Warriors looking to take on the World
Tiny Warriors is a new 2D animated series in development at Toonzone Studios. Created by David Feiss (who brought us the hit TV series Cow and Chicken), this new show tells the tale of four young animals — Taekwand0 Monkey, Kendo Porcupine, Aikido Elephant, and Kung Pow Chicken — who study together in a forest dojo under the tutelage of Master Moose. In order to protect the ultimate martial arts move, “The Ancient Touch”, our heroes must band together and fight against Master Moose’s former friend and now arch-rival, the Gerbil. You read it here folks. Tiny Warriors is currently seeking distribution, as well as licensing agreements for the massively popular martial-arts tie-in market.
TUFF Puppy is coming your way
Butch Hartman is a busy busy man. The creator of the hit Nickelodeon shows The Fairly OddParents and Danny Phantom has yet another 2D animation show called T.U.F.F. Puppy, premiering this September on Saturday mornings. According to Animation Magazine, the show “…follows the adventures of the enthusiastic Dudley Puppy who is recruited to work for the mysterious Turbo Underground Fighting Force (T.U.F.F.) along with the sophisticated Kitty Katswell (think a feline version of Emma Peel!).” Our heroes find themselves in a constant battle with the master super-villain known as Verminious Snaptrap.
image c. 2010 Nickelodeon
Orangina Goes Furry… Again
After blowing everyone’s mind with this commercial a couple of years ago, the French advert campaign for the beverage known as Oragina has done it again. That is, created a commercial with an amazing amount of sexy, anthropomorphic appeal. Only now it’s an entire set of short commercials, each with a different species. Taking off on the assertion that Oragina is “all natural” with no artificial ingredients, the ad campaign spoofs ads for various other “all natural” products, with Orangina standing in. Among them are: Orangina as a hair care product (featuring a lady afghan hound), Orangina as a deodorant (featuring an athletic bear), and Orangina as a feminine hygiene product (featuring a naked lady panda). An ad for Orangina as an aftershave lotion (featuring a male cougar and his… friend) is raising quite a few eyebrows. In fact, some nations in Europe have already banned it from TV. (If you can’t follow the links here, just go to YouTube.com and search on “Orangina”. You’ll find all of this and more.)
