And another article from Variety. The big news in animation this year has been China: Not only working on farmed-out animation for American productions, but actually hiring American talent to work on home-grown Chinese productions intended for international release (hello, Rock Dog!). China is having its biggest year ever for domestic animation. The film Monkey King: Hero Is Back (yet another adaptation of Journey to the West) has set box-office records for an animated film in China. In the midst of all this the Chinese animation house called Original Force have announced they’re opening an office in Hollywood with the intention of working with American talent to create new films. Cool thing is: Several of them are furry. “Original Force is currently in production on Duck Duck Goose, the story of an unlikely family, directed by Christopher Jenkins, who recently produced DreamWorks Animation’s Home, from a screenplay by Jenkins and Rob Muir. Voice talent includes Zendaya, Greg Proops, and Lance Lim. OldZilla and QQ Speed are in the early stages of production. OldZilla follows King Saurus as he starts to deal with his advancing age and urges his elder monsters to go on one last rampage. Bob Bendetson (The Simpsons) is directing, and co-wrote the script with Art Everett. QQ Speed is based on a popular online game and is a co-production with Tencent Holding, which is behind the game. The action-adventure follows a brother-and-sister racing team and their car equipped with a voice that sounds like their late father’s. John Eng (Rugrats Go Wild) is developing the project and will direct.”
Return of the Roar
More news regarding Disney TV Animation’s upcoming new Lion King spin-off series The Lion Guard, thanks to a recent article in Variety: “Disney will launch The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar, a short prime-time movie focused on the son of Simba, the hero of the original film, in November on Disney Channel. The program will follow Kion, Simba’s second-born cub, as he and a team of animals known as ‘The Lion Guard’ try to keep the peace in the surrounding terrain. Disney intends to launch a Lion Guard TV series on Disney Channel and Disney Junior outlets around the world in early 2016.” In this new series, “Kion breaks tradition by forming ‘The Lion Guard’ out of a varied group of animal friends he thinks are heroic. Typically, only the bravest, strongest lions in the African savanna can be members. In the movie and the TV episodes that follow, the crew will learn how to use unique abilities to solve problems while introducing young viewers to new kinds of fauna.” The article includes a short video clip from Return of the Roar as well. See you in November!
Planet of the Big Cats
Flesk Publications have a novel way of taking pre-orders for the newly-completed graphic novel Tribes of Kai: A Kickstarter campaign. Here’s what they say: “The Tribes of Kai is a multi-layered graphic novel about honor, integrity and the trappings of war in which extreme circumstances call for unbridled decisions and finding the strength to cope with them. This is a barbaric and primitive world where the survival of the fittest is put to the test. Artist Daren Bader and writer Lance HaunRogue bring this world to life with lush detail and an incredible sense of pace, color and lighting. They introduce the Mantakai (Man of Kai), a race of six-limbed, feline/humanoid, anthropomorphic creatures. The dominance of the five individual tribes of Mantakai are threatened by a highly evolved race of reptilian creatures called the Tobognai. Tribes of Kai is an oversized, full-color hardbound book boasting sixty exciting pages of story and pinups by top creators.” Since the goal of printing the book has long since been met, now they’re adding more goodies as each new goal-level is reached.
Fraggles in a Frenzy
Got this right from publisher, thanks to Barnes & Noble: “Return to Jim Henson’s world of Fraggles, Doozers, and Gorgs with an all new story set in beloved Fraggle Rock! When the water supply of Fraggle Rock mysteriously runs dry, the Fraggles will have to journey deep in the caves of Fraggle Rock to find the fabled Everspring where adventure awaits and no Fraggle has ever gone before! Written by New York Times bestselling comic writer Kate Leth (Adventure Time: Seeing Red), this brand new Fraggle Rock graphic novel collects Fraggle Rock: Journey to the Everspring #1-#4.” With art by Jake Myler, it’s available in hardcover from Archaia later this month.
White Bear in a Golden Cage
According to Cartoon Brew, Lionsgate Features is set to release their next animated feature, Norm of the North, on January 15th, 2016 — which would put it in direct competition with the planned release of The Nut Job 2. Lionsgate, of course, is best known in animation circles for the Alpha & Omega films as well as (shiver!) the infamous Food Fight! movie. This time around they present the story of Norm, a polar bear who travels to New York City to try and save his arctic home from development… but winds up distracted by the glamour and glitz all around him. (Sort of “The Bear Who Fell To Earth”.) Directed by Trevor Wall, Norm of the North stars the voice of Rob Schneider (Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo). The article at Cartoon Brew includes the first trailer.
Mutants On The March!
This past spring, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles universe saw the return of one of the famous four’s most-popular and perhaps strangest friends: The Mutanimals, appearing in their own five-issue full-color mini-series by Paul Allor, Andy Kuhn, and Ben Bates. Well now IDW are about to release the series as a Mutanimals trade paperback collection. “Old Hob, Slash, Herman the Hermit Crab, Mondo Gecko, and Pigeon Pete have become a force to be reckoned with. When someone close to the group is kidnapped, the Mutanimals end up on an adventure more wild and dangerous than they could have imagined! What mysteries lurk at…The Null Group?” Look for it on the shelves August 19th, or you can pre-order it over at Things From Another World.
The Rabbit Gets Bigger
It’s no news to anyone by now that Usagi Yojimbo by Stan Sakai is not only one of the most celebrated anthropomorphic comics ever, but one of the most celebrated comics, period! Well now Dark Horse Press have announced that the ronin rabbit’s adventures will soon be presented as they deserve: Bigger, and in full color! No, not a Usagi animated film (yet), but use this to tide you over: The Usagi Yojimbo Gallery Edition, Volume 1. This large format hardcover (12 by 17 inches) features the Usagi origin story Samurai as well as the very first Usagi comic, plus never-before-seen artwork and a new introduction by Stan Sakai. Check it out over at Barnes & Noble.
Island of Adventure
Dark Horse Comics have announced a new 5-issue mini-series written and illustrated by Scott Kolins (Flash, Avengers). In Adam.3 we meet Adam, a super-heroic young man who lives with his family on a tropical island. A most unusual island: Animals of nearly every species live there. They all talk, and they’re all Adam’s best friends. Well, that is until a mysterious and evil alien presence crash-lands on the island. It has the power to mutate Adam’s animal friends into very, very bad things. Check out the interview with the creator over at Comics Bulletin. Issue #1 of this new full-color comic arrives later this month.
Fuzzy Things from the UK
Clangers was a much-loved children’s TV series from the United Kingdom that originally ran from 1969 to 1974. It starred a set of little pink fuzzy creatures who most resemble elephants crossed with mice. They live on an alien world and speak only in swooping whistles — which were usually translated for the young audience by the narrator. Well now the BBC have brought back The Clangers for a much newer generation as part of Sprout, their programming line-up for children. Just like the old version, the new Clangers is created through stop-motion animation of actual fuzzy figures, and now the new episodes are narrated by Michael Palin (of Monty Python) in the UK and none other than William Shatner (!) for release in North America. Sprout has a special web site just for The Clangers so take a look to find out more.








