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Animation

Finally Cracking

Jul 20th, 2020
by rodney.
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After bouncing around and looking for distribution for literally years, we finally have a release date for the new CGI animated feature Animal Crackers, directed by Scott Christian Sava and animation veteran Tony Bancroft (Mulan). The film is being released this Friday, July 24th on Netflix (of course!). Animation Scoop has an extensive interview with the directors about their efforts to get the film made, and out to the world. We’ll say this at least: The new trailer looks better than what we’ve seen before. See what you think this Friday.

image c. 2020 Netflix

 

Tiger’s On His Way

Jul 17th, 2020
by rodney.
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Just over a year ago we mentioned that Laurence Yep’s popular fantasy novel The Tiger’s Apprentice would be on its way to movie screens in 2022. Well now thanks to AWN we have an update: “Time to brush up on your Chinese Zodiac! Hunky Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians, Last Christmas) is set to lend his vocal talents to his first ever voice acting gig as the shape-shifting tiger, Mr. Hu, in Paramount Animation’s feature film adaptation of Laurence Yep’s 2003 best-selling children’s book, The Tiger’s Apprentice. The film marks the feature directing debut for Carlos Baena, a former Pixar animator known for his work on Wall-E and Toy Story 3, as well as his award winning 2019 animated short, La Noria… The Tiger’s Apprentice, book one in a trilogy of the same name, follows Tom, a young boy living in San Francisco. The real world and one of magic collide when Tom meets Mr. Hu, a talking tiger who mentors the child in the art of mystical protection against evil.” No word yet on any changes to the date, so hopefully we can still look forward to it on February 11th, year after next.

image c. 2020 HarperCollins

Samurai Rabbit in Space?

Jul 16th, 2020
by rodney.
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In the about-damn-time department, word is spreading fast that Stan Sakai’s iconic furry comic Usagi Yojimbo is being adapted into a new animated TV series for Netflix of all places… but, with a twist. Here’s how Comics Beat put it: “Variety reports that Netflix and Gaumont Animation are teaming to create a CGI animated series based on the character. The series will be executive produced by Sakai, titled Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles, along with a handful of others including Mike Richardson of Dark Horse Entertainment and James Wan. According to Variety, the series won’t be a straight adaptation of Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo series, but will use the comics as lore for a series set in the far future. The story will follow Rabbit Samurai Yuichi, a descendant of Miyamoto Usagi, and ‘a ragtag team of misfit heroes’ who accompany him on his quest to live up to his ancestor’s legacy.” Stay tooned for more news about a release date.

image c. 2020 by Stan Sakai

Bringing Out The Beast In Sports

Jul 13th, 2020
by rodney.
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You knew we were gonna use that reference for this, right? Here’s what we found at Animation World Network: “Xilam Animation has reached distribution deals with Nickelodeon for the CGI animated series Athleticus… Targeting family audiences, Athleticus is produced by Xilam’s recently acquired CGI-studio Cube Creative and features wild animals taking part in competitive sports, ranging from table tennis to high bar, bobsleigh to curling. How successful the animals are at each of the sports entirely depends on their personality and anatomies resulting in very comical, and often poetic, results. The series is created and directed by the award-winning Nicolas Deveaux.” While the distribution deal does not include much of North America (typical!), many of the Athleticus shorts have made their way to YouTube, and there’s a sampler commercial there as well.

image c. 2020 Xilam Animation

Doot Doo D’Doot D’Doo

Jul 10th, 2020
by rodney.
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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

Real Pigeons Fight Crime

Jul 8th, 2020
by rodney.
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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

Turtles Back In Action

Jun 30th, 2020
by rodney.
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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

Jun 27th, 2020
by rodney.
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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

Roaring Out Of South Africa

Jun 6th, 2020
by rodney.
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According to the Wikipedia page, Jungle Beat is a CGI animated TV series out of South Africa, featuring the dialogue-free adventures and antics of various African animals. Later, the series was expanded into the adventures of Munki and Trunk. (No prizes for guessing what species they are…) Well now this year Munki and Trunk are on their way in their own feature film as Sunrise Productions presents Jungle Beat: The Movie. “One morning, the animals of the jungle wake up to discover that they can speak. They’re even more amazed when they learn the reason why: There’s an alien in the jungle! Little Fneep has come to conquer the planet and has brought some crazy tech with him, including a translation device that lets them talk for the first time. Unfortunately for the intergalactic Scaldronian empire, but fortunately for the jungle, Fneep is a terrible conqueror: He’s homesick, he’s crashed his ship, and he’s no match for the antics of Munki, Trunk, and the gang.” Keep your eyes open: The producers are planning a world-wide on-line release party at the end of this month.

image c. 2020 Sunrise Productions

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