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Doot Doo D’Doot D’Doo

If you thought you couldn’t get away from that song before… check out what we just found on Animation World Network: “Nickelodeon is expanding the underwater world of Baby Shark with the greenlight of a new animated preschool series, Baby Shark’s Big Show! (working title), based on the world-famous pop culture phenomenon. Co-produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studio and SmartStudy, the 2D-animated series (26 half-hour episodes) will follow Baby Shark and his best friend William as they journey on fun-filled comedic adventures in their community of Carnivore Cove, meet new friends and sing original catchy tunes along the way… Baby Shark’s Big Show! will debut with an all-new original holiday special this December, with premieres rolling out across Nickelodeon’s preschool platforms in spring 2021. Following the U.S. launch, the series will roll out on Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. channels internationally… Baby Shark launched on YouTube in November 2015 and amassed 5.7 billion views, becoming the second most-watched video in the platform’s history.” Just in case you needed to be reminded of that.

image c. 2020 Nickelodeon

Back In Black

A classic feline furry returns just in time to visit us during lock-down. The adventures of an international anthropomorphic sensation created by writer Juan Diaz Canales and artist Juanjo Guarnido have now been brought together in Blacksad: The Collected Stories Volume 1 — including stories never before published in English. “Celebrate Blacksad’s twentieth year with this comprehensive volume featuring five of the biggest cases. Blacksad is constantly up to his ears in trouble. Sticking his nose into mystery after mystery, often getting involved with women almost as dangerous as the criminals he thwarts. Be it solving the murder of a famous actress or keeping nuclear weapons out of terrorist hands, Blacksad’s grim work often provides a mirror for real world conflict and human issues, never turning a blind eye to racism, political tensions, or brutally sudden violence.” Tasty. And available now in trade paperback.

image c. 2020 Dark Horse Press

Real Pigeons Fight Crime

There is no way we could come up with a better lead-in than simply giving you the title of this new series! This is from Animation Scoop: “Nickelodeon has struck a multi-platform deal with James Corden and Ben Winston, and their production company Fulwell 73, to produce an animated movie and TV series based on the recently released children’s book title, Real Pigeons Fight Crime. The movie and TV series are being developed to air on all Nickelodeon platforms… Added Ramsey Naito, Executive VP, Nickelodeon Animation Production and Dev., ‘Real Pigeons Fight Crime is about a secret squad of crime-fighting pigeons, with high stakes and true hilarity making it a perfect fit for our audience. By fusing the humor and expertise of this the incredible team at Fulwell 73 Productions, we are ready to show kids what pigeons really do–fight crime, solve mysteries, take down bad guys, and keep neighborhoods safe!'” In case you were wondering. Oh! Check out the original book over at Penguin Random House.

image c. 2020 Fulwell 73

A Friend of Rafiki?

Baboon! is a new full-color wordless graphic novel from Dark Horse, written and illustrated by Spanish writer and artist Pau (Atlas and Axis). “After the death of its adopted leopard mother, an orphaned baboon wanders the wild in search of companionship and a sense of identity. Luckily for our ape-hero, he stumbles upon the troop of baboons from which he was originally stolen, and falls in love with the troop’s head female. The young baboon will do anything to earn the affection of his new love interest and earn the respect of the animal kingdom while he’s at it.” It’s out now in trade paperback. Comics Beat has a preview.

image c. 2020 Dark Horse Press

The Other Terror That Flaps In The Night

One of DC Comics’ most steadfast anthropomorphic characters returns once again with the new Man-Bat miniseries. “For years Kirk Langstrom has struggled with his monstrous alter ego Man-Bat and the serum that transformed him. But he’s finally hit rock bottom following a devastating setback, and he’s going to take out his anger on every single citizen of Gotham City. Will the combined might of Batman and the GCPD be enough to stop Langstrom once and for all? Or will this just be the start of Man-Bat’s devastation?” Issues are in the shops now, written by Dave Wielgosz and illustrated by Sumit Kumar.

image c. 2020 DC Comics

It’s Important To Keep Things Balanced

Have you heard about Dogs Are People Too: A Collection of Cartoons to Make Your Tail Wag? We hadn’t! It’s a collection of full-color dog cartoons (duh) the syndicated panel-comic Speed Bump that writer and artist Dave Coverly published a while ago in book form. Well now, perhaps to give equal time, he has brought us Cats Are People Too: A Collection of Cat Cartoons to Curl Up With. Published under the Square Fish imprint, you can check out a preview over at MacMillan Publishing. Both books should be available now.

image c. 2020 Square Fish

Turtles Back In Action

Seems as if we’re never far away from a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles project. We just found this article: “Deadline has learned that Nickelodeon is rebooting Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the big screen with Point Grey Pictures’ Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg and James Weaver producing, and Jeff Rowe (Gravity Falls, Connected) directing. Brendan O’Brien (Neighbors: Sorority Rising, Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates) will write the screenplay. Paramount will be handling global distribution on the film.” This would be the first time since Imagi Pictures’ TMNT from 2007 that we’d have a fully CGI Ninja Turtles feature film as opposed to the recent CGI/live-action hybrids.

image c. 2020 Imagi Studios

Careful — They’re Organized

Animation World Network let us know that a sequel to the hit animated film Chicken Run is finally in the works. (Did you know that Chicken Run was the highest-grossing stop-motion animated movie ever?) “The unnamed sequel is set to enter full production in 2021 with Sam Fell (Flushed Away, ParaNorman) at the helm. Aardman co-founder and creative director Peter Lord, long-time Aardman producer Carla Shelley (Shaun the Sheep Movie, The Pirates! Band of Misfits) and Karey Kirkpatrick (Smallfoot) are returning as executive producers; Steve Pegram (Arthur Christmas) is producing. The script is being written by Kirkpatrick, John O’ Farrell and Rachel Tunnard. Nick Park, the Oscar-winning creator of Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep, will consult on the film… The sequel will revisit the world of Ginger, who has finally found her dream – a peaceful island sanctuary for the whole flock, far from the dangers of the human world. When she and Rocky hatch a little girl named Molly, Ginger’s happy ending seems complete. But back on the mainland the whole of chicken-kind faces a new and terrible threat. For Ginger and her team, even if it means putting their own hard-won freedom at risk – this time, they’re breaking in!” Stay tooned for more information on a release date as we get it.

image c. 2020 Aardman Animation

Creatures of Science — Get One Today!

GenPet is a new full-color science fiction adventure graphic novel, written by Damian and illustrated by Alex Fuentes. “In the year 2036, advances in genetic engineering have made it possible to create personalized pets genetically designed and linked to their owners. These ‘Gen Pets’ are still a toy for the elite, including young Nat Kanan’s dad, who is the new owner of the New York Knicks. But he might have another reason to buy little Nat such an extravagant pet: Protection. It soon becomes clear that Gen Pet ‘Niko’ was designed to be Nat’s ultimate bodyguard, with talents that attract the attention of the local mafia boss who has other ideas about how to put those skills to use…” It’s available now from Magnetic Press. Take a look at the preview over at Pop Cult HQ.

image c. 2020 Magnetic Press