The International Licensing Expo, held every year in Las Vegas, is a great change to get a first look at cool upcoming new movies as various merchandise companies compete to get a chance to serve the movie studios with new character-themed lunchboxes, t-shirts, cel phone app’s and more. The folks at ComingSoon.net and Cartoon Brew recently presented a report on this year’s expo, with the latter of course mostly looking at animated films of note. Among them are two from Dreamworks, Madagasgar 3 and Rise of the Guardians, and one from Illumination, the Lorax. In Madagasgar 3, hitting theaters next June, Alex the Lion and his friends join a traveling circus in hopes of getting back to New York City. Rise of the Guardians (formerly The Guardians of Childhood) is based on an upcoming book by William Joyce (creator of Rolie Polie Olie and Meet the Robinsons). It tells the story of four childhood heroes — Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and Jack Frost — who join forces to prevent The Boogeyman from sending the world into eternal darkness. It’s scheduled for release in November of 2012. And of course The Lorax is based on the popular (and shamelessly controversial) children’s book by Dr. Seuss, telling the story of a forest spirit who attempts to save his home from destruction by industry. It’s coming to theaters next March from Universal Pictures.
The Tiger and the Girl
Fans of the Twilight series and fans of animal transformation would do well to check out the novels of Colleen Houck. Her first book, Tiger’s Curse, introduces us to a teenage girl named Kelsey. She’s been given a very unusual assignment: Accompany a rare white tiger as he is shipped back to his native India. As soon as she lands though, things begin to get strange right away. Turns out that Ren, the former circus superstar, is not actually a tiger at all: He’s an Indian prince trapped under a bizarre magical curse which only allows him to assume his human form for 24 minutes a day. What’s more, Kelsey has been chosen by a powerful Indian goddess to be the girl who is destined to help Ren defeat the curse. Some assignment! Splinter released Tiger’s Curse in hardcover last January, and recently they released Tiger’s Quest, the second book in the series. In it, Kelsey must return to India to assist Ren’s less-than-savory brother Kishan, who has also fallen prey to the tiger’s curse. You can find out about these books and more in the series at Colleen Houck’s web site.
Buster Wilde: Weerwolf
Folks who have been following on-line comics for a while, especially anthro comics, might recall a particular one called Buster Wilde: Weerwolf. As written and drawn by Scott Zellman, it tells of the trials and tribulations of an ordinary heterosexual human guy who, once bitten, keeps transforming into Buster — a decidedly queer werewolf with a party-all-night attitude! No it’s not pornographic and yes, it’s very much for adults only. Originally available exclusively on the Buster site at Furnation.com, FurPlanet and Bad Dog Books have announced that it will now be released as a black & white trade paperback later this June. Mr. Zellman has also been re-printing the original Buster strips in a larger format up on BadDog’s site.
Thundercats: The Original Series
More news from Warner Brothers and Cartoon Brew: In anticipation of the brand new Thundercats TV series coming to Cartoon Network this July, Warner Brothers will release the original 1980’s Thundercats series to DVD on July 12th. Thundercats: The Original Series, Season 1, Part 1 is a 2-disc set that features the first 12 episodes, “as well as a special featurette entitled Feel the Magic, Hear the Roar, where fans speak out about their incredible passion for the classic animated series.”
Back Down to Fraggle Rock
Archaia Entertainment and the Jim Henson Company have recently announced that Arcaia will be releasing Fraggle Rock Classics: Volume 1 in soft-cover this August or September. This new full-color edition collects the original Fraggle Rock comic book series which began in 1985. It includes stories such as “The Magic Time Machine” and “The Doozer Who Wanted to be a Fraggle”. Jake Myler illustrated the brand-new cover.
image c. 2011 Archaia Entertainment
The Turtles are Back!
IDW Publishing have recently announced that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles make their return to regular comic books this coming August, with one of the original Turtles creators on board. According to their announcement, Kevin Eastman is creating the new ongoing full-color series, along with writer Tom Waltz and artist Dan Duncan. All four of the original turtles are back — Donatello, Leonardo, Raphael, and Michaelangelo — along with their human friends April and Casey, and their mentor — the rat known as Splinter. They pit their ninja skills against a new villain, a mutant alley cat known as Old Hob. The first issue of the new series — which is set to premier this August — will feature one of four available covers, each with a different turtle, created by Sam Keith (The Maxx). There will also be a limited edition variant cover by Kevin Eastman available, as well as a super-rare “Kevin Eastman hand-sketched variant cover”. Then in September, IDW adds to the line by bringing us Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Ultimate Collection, Volume 1. This new hardcover book collects the original Mirage Studios black & white TMNT comics issues #1 – #7, as well as the Raphael one-shot, created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird.
The Adventures of Bigby Wolf
By now people should be aware that the comic book series Fables — created by Bill Willingham and published by DC Comics’ Vertigo imprint — is a very unusual take on the fairy tale genre, to say the least. That trend continues with a brand-new hardcover graphic novel. Here’s how they describe it on Amazon: “Fables: Werewolves of the Heartland is a riveting original graphic novel that is both an integral part of the Fables mythology and an entry point to the long-running, best selling series. Bigby Wolf takes center stage in the most brutal, action-packed Fables story to date. Sent out into modern day America at large, Bigby’s on a quest for possible locations for a new Fabletown. In his wanderings, Bigby stumbles across a small town named Luperville, somewhere in American’s vast heartland, that, amazingly enough, seems to be populated by werewolves. These werewolves are descendants of a World War II German project to create an army of werewolf super soldiers, some of whom who were infected with Bigby’s tainted blood. And even more unfortunate the fact that they’ve captured, caged and tortured the most popular and important canine in history: Bigby Wolf”. Fables: Werewolves of the Heartland was written by Bill Willingham, and illustrated by Jim Fern, Craig Hamilton, and Ray Snyder. Look for it this coming October.
Top Cat on Facebook
More interesting news from Cartoon Brew: If you haven’t heard, Illusion Studios in Mexico is currently working to animate a new hand-drawn 3D cartoon film starring Hanna Barbera’s famous character Top Cat — and his friends, of course. Don Gato y su Pandilla is set to premier this fall… and now it turns out the film has its own Facebook page. True, it’s in Spanish, but it might be worth a “Like” to keep track of the film’s progress.
image c. 2011 Illusion Studios
Tom & Jerry Live on Stage
In Argentina (of all places!) the brand new stage musical Tom and Jerry Live recently premiered at the Teatro Lola Membrives in Buenos Aires. From there, the producers plan to take the show on tour through Chile and Peru for the rest of 2011. According to them, “Under the direction of Leandro Panetta, Tom, Jerry, Spike and the gang go on stage, recreating classic cartoons with songs, chases, jokes, games and stunts. Tom and Jerry travel from opera to medieval times, then run and chase from the living room into the garden. Actors, dancers, singers and acrobats on stage guide to the public in this magical world where Friendship is always the result of each and every encounter persecution.” Cartoon Brew says that the production is based on specific cartoon shorts, including The Two Mouseketeers, The Cat Above the Mouse Below and the Gene Kelly sequence from Anchors Aweigh.
image c. 2011 CartoonBrew.com
