Your Guide to the World of Furry Fandom
So we found out about Wild Life, a new animated TV series coming to SYFY’s TZGZ lineup on September 26th. Animation Scoop put it like this: “It’s an adult, post-apocalyptic, talking animal, animated comedy… or as it’s been called by the creative team, “It’s like if The Walking Dead smoked a bunch of Adventure Time and binge-watched Friends.”” Wow, that’s a lot to take in. AS has an interview with series creator Adam Davies and his mates.
image c. 2020 SYFY
Thanks to Furry.Today we found out about Curse of the Sea Rats — a new multi-player animated game currently in development. This “ratoidvania” (their word for it) adventure is interesting because the animation is actually hand drawn. Here’s what the web site says: “Curse of the Sea Rats is an epic hand-drawn ratoidvania starring a group of heroes transformed into rats by a pirate witch. Help Douglas, Buffalo, Akane, and Bussa to rescue the Admiral’s son, capture the evil pirate Flora Burn and break the magic spell. Curse of the Sea Rats packs all of the best features from the Metroidvania genre featuring beautiful 2D hand-drawn animation and 3D environments, combined with unique real-time combat mechanics, and of course, lots of rats!” The web site features a press kit, plus more information on the current Kickstarter campaign.
image c. 2020 Petoons Studio SL
Arctic Dogs (2019) didn’t exactly blow up the box office or impress the critics much. (Ye EdOtter is still trying to figure out how the planned action-adventure film Arctic Justice: Thunder Squad morphed into this silly comedy…) Apparently though, Arctic Dogs has been very popular on Netflix — enough so that a spin-off series of animated shorts called Arctic Friends has been created. According to Animation Magazine: “Arctic Friends follows the exciting adventures of Swifty, the arctic fox who has finally achieved his dream job: Be the best delivery dog at Arctic Blast Delivery Service. With the help of his best friend PB the polar bear, Jade the red fox, and the ABDS team, this crew is ready to deliver at any cost! Constantly thwarted by the nefarious mastermind Otto Van Walrus and his mischievous puffins, Swifty must outsmart these villains to ensure that all packages are delivered to their rightful recipients.” The series recently premiered on Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video.
image c. 2020 Iervolino Entertainment
Okay, this has us scared… We just came across this article at Slash Film: “Gary Dauberman is producing Stray Dogs, a movie based on an upcoming Image Comics title from Tony Fleecs [My Little Pony] and Trish Forstner. Plot details aren’t readily available, but the project is described as Silence of the Lambs meets Lady and the Tramp. [!] The Hollywood Reporter has the scoop on the Stray Dogs movie, reporting that Paramount Animation and Gary Dauberman have picked up the rights, with Game Night writer Mark Perez tackling the script.” Image Comics is set to release the Stray Dogs comic in 2021, so we’ll know more of what we’re in for then.
image c. 2020 Image Comics
And another “ridiculously cute” (to quote one critic) full-color graphic novel for young readers: Bunbun & Bonbon, Volume 1 — Fancy Friends, written and illustrated by Jess Keating. “Bunbun has it all: a delightful Bunbun nose, a winning Bunbun smile, a ridiculously cute Bunbun tail, and not one, but two adorable Bunbun ears. But Bunbun doesn’t have a friend — until Bunbun meets Bonbon. Learning how to be fancy and eating donuts for lunch are two of the duo’s many adventures in this irresistible young graphic novel by acclaimed author and illustrator Jess Keating. Hop hop hooray!” Previews has more.
image c. 2020 Scholastic
And more new stuff from MacMillan Publishing. Dungeon Critters is a new full-color fantasy graphic novel written by Natalie Riess and illustrated by Sara Goetter. “Join the Dungeon Critters — a tight-knit squad of animal companions — on a wild adventure investigating a sinister botanical conspiracy among the furry nobility. As they risk their lives traveling through haunted dungeons, swamps, and high society balls — they also come closer together as friends. Motivated by rivalries, ideals, and a lust for adventure, these critters navigate not only perils and dangers of the natural world, but also perils and dangers…of the heart!” MacMillan has preview pages on line. Look for it later this month.
image c. 2020 First Second
For a while now we’ve been hearing about the new film out of Tomm Moore and Cartoon Saloon, the folks who brought us Song of the Sea. Well now Wolfwalkers has a brand new trailer — and an upcoming release on Apple TV. “In a time of superstition and magic, a young apprentice hunter, Robyn Goodfellowe, journeys to Ireland with her father to wipe out the last wolf pack. While exploring the forbidden lands outside the city walls, Robyn befriends a free-spirited girl, Mebh, a member of a mysterious tribe rumored to have the ability to transform into wolves by night. As they search for Mebh’s missing mother, Robyn uncovers a secret that draws her further into the enchanted world of the Wolfwalkers and risks turning into the very thing her father is tasked to destroy.” Looks as if the release is going to be complicated. Furry.Today has the trailer and more info.
image c. 2020 Cartoon Saloon
“Brought to you by the New York Times bestselling author of the My Big Fat Zombie Goldfish series!” Now there’s a fact you’re not going to hear very often, are you? It’s Agent Moose, a new full color graphic novel for young readers written by Mo O’Hara and illustrated by Jess Bradley. “Agent Moose, the best (worst) secret agent in the Big Forest, and his slightly-more-intelligent sidekick Owlfred are on the case in this new full color graphic novel chapter book series… Something fishy is going on at the South Shore. Folks just disappear and are never seen again. But when Agent Moose learns that a key witness has gone missing, he and Owlfred ride to the rescue. Will they find the missing turtle before time runs out?” Find out more over at MacMillan Publishers.
image c. 2020 Feiwel & Friends
They’re still a thing, and they just keep getting stranger. This we got from Animation World Network: “Rovio Entertainment has released the first season of Angry Birds Bubble Trouble, a bite-sized 3D-animated series where the young Angry Birds flock – Red, Bomb, Chuck, Stella and Silver – let their imaginations ‘go wild’ in their bubble garden. They play games and solve problems together, while getting into all kinds of trouble.” The first season of 1-minute animated shorts is up now on Amazon FreeTime Unlimited. The AWN article includes an introductory video, which shows just how odd this series can be!
image c. 2020 Rovio Entertainment
