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Animation

Little Bear in London

Feb 20th, 2019
by rodney.
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And more good news coming to us from Animation World Network: “STUDIOCANAL, Nickelodeon, and award-winning producer David Heyman have announced a global deal and released a first look for a brand-new Paddington (working title) television series for preschoolers. Actor Ben Whishaw (Paddington 1 & 2) will reprise his role as the beloved voice of the title character in the new CG-animated series, which follows the adventures of a younger Paddington. Paddington will air on Nickelodeon’s networks worldwide in 2020… Fully animated in 3D, the new Paddington series sees a younger Paddington writing to Aunt Lucy from Windsor Gardens. Each episode will open and close with Paddington’s letters as he tells Aunt Lucy what he has learned about life through the day’s new exciting adventure.” Check out the article for more. Looking forward to this!

image c. 2019 STUDIOCANAL

Does Whatever A Spider Pig Does

Feb 19th, 2019
by rodney.
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While we wait to see if Spiderman: Into The Spiderverse can turn its Golden Globe and Annie Awards into an Oscar triumph, word has come out that the film will be available digitally at the end of this month and on DVD March 19th. The official press release includes this interesting tidbit: “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse arrives filled with engaging bonus materials that are fun for the whole family and give fans even more of the unique comic book style action that they loved in theaters with more than 90 minutes of bonus content. In his very own original short, Spider-Ham: Caught In a Ham, fan favorite Spider-Ham defeats his greatest foe, delivers sidesplitting puns, and get sucked into another dimension! It actually can get weirder!” Animation World Network has the full release and a link to the preview video for the new 2D short also.

image c. 2019 Sony Pictures Animation

The Nuts Are Back

Feb 9th, 2019
by rodney.
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More from Animation World Network: “Feature animation studio ToonBox Entertainment and Canadian production company Pipeline Studios have announced the creation of a new joint venture. Their first project is Nut Jobs, a 2D-animated series for kids ages 6-11 based on The Nut Job, the hit animated feature film franchise that took in $120 million at the international box office. The production companies have been working in development on the series and have tapped Emmy Award-winning industry veteran and Grant Moran to spearhead these efforts. Moran, who will serve as the showrunner for the TV series, previously served as Executive Director in Charge of Production at Nickelodeon.” No word yet on any release date, but stay tooned.

image c. 2019 Toonbox Entertainment

The World in Black and White?

Feb 8th, 2019
by rodney.
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A very… unusual anime feature is heading to our shores this spring. “Los Angeles-based Eleven Arts Anime Studio has set April 12 as the theatrical release date for the sci-fi coming-of-age animated feature, Penguin Highway, which it will be distributing in the U.S. and Canada. Directed by Hiroyasu Ishida, the film won the Axis: The Satoshi Kon Award for Excellence in Animation award at the Fantasia International Film Festival for best animated feature and has also been nominated for the Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year. The film will screen with the original Japanese dialogue with subtitles as well as the English dub. In the film, budding genius Aoyama is only in the 4th grade, but already lives his life like a scientist. When penguins start appearing in his sleepy suburb hundreds of miles from the sea, Aoyama vows to solve the mystery. When he finds the source of the penguins is a woman from his dentist’s office, they team up for an unforgettable summer adventure!” Got that? Read the article at Animation World Network for more, including the trailer.

image c. 2019 Eleven Arts

The Annie Award Winners for 2018

Feb 3rd, 2019
by rodney.
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Your humble ed-otter and his mate got a chance to attend the Annie Awards at UCLA’s Royce Hall recently. Presented annually by ASIFA-Hollywood, the Annie Awards are considered by many to be the Oscars for animation, voted on by folks who work in the industry. And once again, there was plenty of anthropomorphic content to be found among the winners. By far, the big winner of the evening was Sony Pictures’ Spider Man: Into The Spiderverse. The surprise hit from last December not only won the coveted Best Animated Feature trophy, but also took home the Feature awards for Directing, Writing, Character Animation, Character Design, Production Design, and Editing — winning all seven categories in which it was nominated. (Go, Spider-Ham!). Ralph Breaks The Internet had to settle for only one award in Feature Effects Animation, while the 2D animated sequence in Mary Poppins Returns got the awards for Animated Special Production and Character Animation In A Live Action Feature. Also taking home one award was Wes Anderson’s Isle Of Dogs, which got the award in Feature Voice Acting for Bryan Cranston’s performance as Chief. Over on the TV/Broadcast side of things, the big winners were Hilda from Netflix (taking home awards for Best TV Series For Children, Writing, and Character Animation) and Disney’s Mickey Mouse (with trophies for Music, Storyboarding — tied with Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles — and Directing). In TV Character Design, the Annie went to a very anthropomorphic episode of Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure called “Freebird”. Bojack Horseman did well, winning for TV Voice acting (Will Arnett as Bojack) and Best TV Production overall. Dreamworks’ Tales of Arcadia: Trollhunters won the trophy for Best TV Effects Animation. The award for Best Commercial went to “There’s a Rang-Tan in My Bedroom” (produced for Greenpeace), and the first winner of the brand new Best Virtual Reality award was Crow: The Legend (which we’ve talked about before!). Finally, the Ub Iwerks Award for technical achievement went to the developers of the open source software known as Blender, which of course many furry creators have also used extensively. To see all the winners visit the Annie Awards web site — and remember, nominations for the Ursa Major Awards close on February 16th!

image c. 2019 Sony Pictures

HOW It All Started with a Mouse

Jan 18th, 2019
by rodney.
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Seems like we just can’t get enough of Mickey Mouse’s 90th birthday celebration — and here’s a whole bunch of it at once! Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse: The Complete History is a very thick compendium book from Taschen, edited by David Gerstein, J.B. Kaufman, and Daniel Kothenschulte. “On November 18, 1928, the world’s most famous mouse made his very first public debut. Today, we celebrate 90 years of Mickey in one of the most expansive illustrated publications on the Disney universe. Starting with the first sketches of a character who was almost named Mortimer, we trace the career of Walt Disney’s and Ub Iwerk’s most famous creation, one met with an explosion of worldwide popularity preceded only by the earlier successes of Charlie Chaplin. With unlimited access to Disney’s vast historical collections as well as public and private collections, the authors bring Mickey’s success story to life: concept art, story sketches, background paintings, and animation drawings as well as historical photographs trace the origins and evolution of such timeless favorites as Steamboat Willie, The Band Concert, and Brave Little Tailor. They also follow Mickey as he builds on this legendary library of short cartoons by appearing in two historic feature-length films, Fantasia and Fun and Fancy Free.” All that and much, much more. It’s available now in hardcover.

image c. 2019 Taschen

Oh My Darlin’ Space Patrol

Jan 3rd, 2019
by rodney.
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Whoa, don’t give up on 2018 just yet!  Take a look at some things we missed… Back around Halloween (!) DC Comics continued their mightily-odd hook up with classic Hanna-Barbera characters in new comic book settings. How so? How about the Green Lantern / Huckleberry Hound Special? Yes. “Returning from recent duty in Vietnam, veteran Marine John Stewart — now a member of the Green Lantern Corps — contemplates what, if anything, he should do about the issues tearing his country apart. Meanwhile, Huckleberry’s comments against the Vietnam war have left him a celebrity outcast, and a visit back home to Mississippi puts him face to face with the Civil Rights Movement. What can one man — and one hound — do? Plus, part two of a Secret Squirrel backup story written by J.M. DeMatteis.” Got all that? Check out the web site if you don’t believe us. The main story is by Mark Russell and Rick Leonardi. Not weird enough for you? How about the Deathstroke / Yogi Bear Special, the Nightwing / Magilla Gorilla Special, or the Superman / Top Cat Special? We kid you not.

image c. 2019 DC Comics

What Are YOU Doing This Weekend?

Dec 29th, 2018
by rodney.
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If you grew up between the 1960’s and the 1990’s, we know where you were on Saturday mornings: Seated right in front of the television, catching up with your favorite animated and fantasy TV series. Now four whole decades of weekend TV pleasures are chronicled in It’s Saturday Morning! A Look Back at Four Decades of Animation, Pop Culture, and Tradition (whew!). It’s a new hardcover book written by Joe Garner and Michael Ashley. “With concept art, archival images, all-new interviews, and a foreword by Bobby’s World creator and funnyman Howie Mandel, It’s Saturday Morning! celebrates the shows, characters, songs, and commercials that made Saturday mornings a pop culture event—decade by decade… Broadcasting into family living rooms from the 1960’s to the 1990’s, this wildly creative art form wrought a beloved rite of passage. From the hours of 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., parents could sleep in while their children plopped on the couch to consume cartoons galore. From The Bugs Bunny Show, The Jetsons, and Jonny Quest to The Smurfs, He-Man, and Animaniacs, this window of time promised pure entertainment and an experience that united generations… This entertaining walk down memory lane is made complete by a review of some of the iconic products advertised between these favorite cartoons. ‘After These Messages…’ segments provide fascinating facts about the merchandise that appeared in Saturday morning commercials, such as the Slinky, Lite-Brite, Cabbage Patch Kids, and Golden Crisp cereal.” Yum! Needless to say there are lots of furry-themed shows discussed in these pages. It’s Saturday Morning! is available now from Becker & Meyer.

image c. 2018 Becker & Meyer

Carrying On with Finn and Jake

Dec 28th, 2018
by rodney.
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Now it’s KaBOOM! Studios’ turn to get back on the animation bandwagon with their new series Adventure Time Season 11. Here’s what they say: “Cartoon Network’s award-winning animated series Adventure Time will conclude this fall with Season 10-but this October, KaBOOM! proudly continues telling the stories of Finn and Jake in a new Season 11 comic series! In the aftermath of The Great Gum War, Finn, Jake, and the entire land of Ooo begin to pick up the pieces with some new and unexpected friends. Written by Eisner Award-winning writer Sonny Liew (The Art of Charlie Hock Chye) and illustrated by Marina Julia (Lumberjanes: Faire and Square), this is the only place fans can get new stories in the land of Ooo!” There are several issues out already now.

image c. 2018 KaBOOM! Studios

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