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Return to the Pridelands!

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

The Panda and His Friends in Public

“In 2009, Han L. Lee released an character inspired clothing line entitled The Public Zoo. The Public Zoo is a collaboration of fashion and art. The art on the clothing is heavily inspired by Japanese and Korean character art.” There you have it, right from the artist’s web site. It’s all based around an imaginative panda name Hickup, and his friends like Hopkido the Ninja Rabbit and Miso — the hamster in a cup. All of which are available as prints, household items, and also as wearable art of course.

image c. 2014 by Han L. Lee

image c. 2014 by Han L. Lee

A Fat Pampered Cat

Frans Vischer grew up using his drawings as a way to communicate after his parents immigrated with him to America from Holland. That practice from an early age won him the sponsorship of animation legend Chuck Jones, an admission to CalArts… and eventually a job in animation for himself. Over the years he’s worked on such films as Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Cat’s Don’t Dance, and The Princess and the Frog. More recently he’s parlayed his talents into his own line of illustrated children’s book.  In the first, Jimmy Dabble, a young farm-boy befriends his barnyard animal friends and later saves the day with his unusual method of doing chores. For his second book, Mr. Vischer introduced the world to Fuddles — a proudly over-sized cat, based on the author’s own real-life household companion. He’s also introduced a line of Fuddles prints. You can find them and more at his web site, including a look at his upcoming third book, A Very Fuddles Christmas.

image c. 2014 by Frans Vischer

image c. 2014 by Frans Vischer

Furries From Around The World

East coast artist David DePasquale is a visual development and character designer, with a notable talent for designing animal-based characters. His latest project is an alphabet flash-card series of prints with different animals from different countries all over the globe. His blogspot web site has many of his most current sketches, and his 2014 portfolio was recently uploaded as well.

image c. 2014 by David DePasquale

image c. 2014 by David DePasquale

Of Bears and Pots and Deep Deep Thoughts

Psycologist, hypnotist, and philosopher, A.B. Curtiss is also and accomplished author with several award-winning books to her name.  And several of her fiction books just happen to be of interest to furry fans. Legend of the Giant Panda (illustrated by Mirto Golino) is exactly what it sounds like: A mythic telling of how pandas got their distinctive black and white markings.  Hallelujah, A Cat Comes Back is a “cat book of virtues”, where a young tom gives us the feline wisdom brought down to him from his wise granny-cat. Illustrated with a collection of Victorian feline prints. Dragons Guard The Zoo is a collection of poems on many subjects, including animals real and fanciful. And In the Company of Bears (illustrated by Barbara Stone) has been described as a “children’s philosophy book”, in which bears are used to illustrate soothing rhymes about accepting people for what they are. All of these and more are available on Amazon and at Ms. Curtiss’ web site.

image c. 2014 A.B. Curtiss

image c. 2014 A.B. Curtiss

Hamsters and Dragons. All Right!

James Cartwright is a comic creator and writer who has recently started releasing his material on the Internet. Hamsters (illustrated in full-color by Mike Ratliff) is described simply as “Two hamsters venture outside their cage to escape from the clutches of their evil owner, a nine-year-old girl.” Gotcha! Then there’s Rocky Mountain Fire Lizard (also in full color by Pellegri), which goes like this: “As railway tracks are laid across Colorado’s rocky terrain, a dragon awakes from its slumber. A farm boy and privileged girl chase after the monster to be the first to collect the bounty on the creature’s head.” You can find out more about Cartwright Comics, including links to buy them, at the Journal of the Lincoln Heights Literary Society (whew!).

image c. 2014 by Cartwright Comics

image c. 2014 by Cartwright Comics

 

Black and White. Shaken, not Stirred.

“He goes by ‘Panda’, but NO ONE, not even me, knows his true name. I am just one of the many CIA agents that follow him along on his adventures. He’s either saving the world.. or destroying it!” So goes the introduction to Panda & Me, an original art “adventure series” created by artist Sandra Fremgen. After working for years in the gift industry as an illustrator and designer, Sandra decided to create something for herself. And you can see the results (and also buy them as prints) at the official Panda & Me web site. Sign up for her newsletter and she’ll even send you an original sketch.

image c. 2014 by Sandra Fremgen

image c. 2014 by Sandra Fremgen

Tales of the Seal Folk

[Back from CaliFur, and we have so much to talk about!]

Over at Cartoon Brew they have premiered the brand-new trailer for the upcoming animated film Song of the Sea, directed by Tomm Moore. Like Moore’s previous film The Secret of Kells, this new feature will be hand-drawn in a traditional 2D fashion with a highly stylized design. And, like that first film, this new one is based on the legends and lore of Ireland — in this case, the story of the Selkies, magical beings who are seals in the ocean but can shed their furry skins to become humans on the land. “Song of the Sea tells the story of Ben and his little sister Saoirse – the last Seal-child – who embark on a fantastic journey across a fading world of ancient legend and magic in an attempt to return to their home by the sea. ” As with The Secret of Kells, Songs of the Sea has been picked up by GKIDS for distribution in North America. Now if we could just get a firm date for its release!

image c. 2014 GKIDS

image c. 2014 Cartoon Saloon

Furry Game Seeks Funding

We’ll let the creators of Beast’s Fury speak for themselves: “Beast’s Fury will be a 2D, arcade-style fighting game featuring anthropomorphic characters. It is currently being developed by a small, passionate team of individuals who are both gaming enthusiasts and professional programmers. The game will not only involve action, but also features engaging story lines, intriguing characters, exotic arenas, and a killer soundtrack! Inspired by famous 2D fighters such as the Street Fighter series and Skull Girls. If you have any burning questions about the project, drop us a line on our Facebook page!” They also have a current Kickstarter campaign, seeking out funding to help them hire more animators. Which in turn will help them get their game demo up and running and out in the wider world much quicker.

image c. 2014 by Ryhan Stevens

image c. 2014 by Ryhan Stevens