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Feline Foundations

Dec 13th, 2018
by rodney.
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New from First Second: “All Marmalade wants to do is build things. She is, after all, a trained architect. She’s also a distractingly adorable kitten. Fed up with not being taken seriously because she’s so cute, Marmalade bands together with a handful of other aspiring builders—all of them kittens. But in a world where humans call the shots, can the Kitten Construction Company prove their worth… without giving up the very things that make them kittens?” Meet The House Kittens is the first volume of the Kitten Construction Company, a new full-color graphic novel series for young readers written and illustrated by John Patrick Green (creator of Hippopotamister, which we’ve talked about before). It’s out now in hardcover, distributed by Macmillan & Company.

image c. 2018 First Second

Mole Magic

Dec 12th, 2018
by rodney.
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And here’s another project we found out about thanks to Animation Magazine: “A new CG-animated, uplifting TV special featuring an all-star British voice cast is underway! Lending their talents to Master Moley (currently in production) are Star Wars franchise regular Warwick Davis, The Escape star Gemma Arterton, Emmy and BAFTA nominee Charles Dance, two-time Oscar nominee Julie Walters, and Golden Globe nominee Richard E. Grant. The 30-minute special, based on an original story conceived as a bedtime tale by James Reatchlous, will follows the adventures of a mole who wishes to be the keeper of a magic book which has the power to bring peace between humans and moles. Master Moley is being directed by Leon Joosen (animator on Space Jam, The Rescuers Down Under, The Little Mermaid, Oliver & Company, et al), from a script by Ricky Roxburgh (Tangled: The Series) and Arthur Landon.” No word yet on when they plan to complete this, so stay tooned!

image c. 2018 Signature Entertainment

Golden Dinosaur and Purple… Thing

Dec 11th, 2018
by rodney.
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More from Animation Magazine and Kidscreen: “London-based distributor CAKE has picked up international rights to stop-motion series Kiri and Lou… Featuring paper and clay stop-motion animation from Antony Elworthy (Coraline, Corpse Bride), Kiri and Lou is written and directed by Harry Sinclair and co-produced by Fiona Copland from indie production company Stretchy, and Heather Walker at  Yowza! Animation (Curious George, Welcome to the Wayne). Aimed at three- to six-year-olds, the show focuses on the friendship of a feisty dinosaur and a gentle creature—who are joined by an unlikely group of animal friends.” It also features the voices of Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords, Moana) and Olivia Tennet (Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers) as the lead characters. Visit the official web site to find out more.

image c. 2018 CAKE

From (Really) Small Screen to… Bigger Screen

Dec 10th, 2018
by rodney.
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More from Animation Magazine. Turns out that a well-known animated app is now being turned into a full-fledged animated TV series. This is from Kidscreen: “9 Story Distribution International has picked up distribution rights to Dr. Panda and will start selling the new 3D-animated series in all global territories except China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and select MENA countries at MIPCOM… Aimed at kids ages three to six, Dr. Panda is the first 3D-animated series from the same-name kids app developer that has racked up more than 95 million downloads and five million active monthly users since rolling out its first app-connected toy and AR app in 2017. The show is created and co-produced by Malaysia’s Giggle Garage Animations (Origanimals, Kazoops) and Spider Eye Productions (Jungle Junction, Thomas & Friends) in the UK. It’s directed by Patrick Chin and written by Daan Velsink (Panic!, Snapshot, Bingo!) and Chris Parker (Peppa Pig, Shaun the Sheep). Its titular main character tries out new jobs and solves problems with his friends in each episode.” The producers hope to have the new show ready to roll out before the end of this year.

image c. 2018 9 Story

Bear, Bear, Dragon

Dec 9th, 2018
by rodney.
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Animation Magazine recently let us know about two anthropomorphic animated TV series coming from Singapore’s August Media and South Korea’s Studio Gale. First up there’s Tish Tash. “The series centers on young and hugely imaginative Tish, her bear family, and her larger-than-life imaginary friend, Tash. No matter what troubles they face — be it the age-old terror of long, boring car trips or helping Tish’s baby brother not be sad about losing his favorite toy — these special friends can create new worlds around themselves, embarking on imaginative adventures and finding their own creative angle to help solve any problems that life throws at them.” Then there’s Journey of Long, a comedy that “… follows the adventures of a dragon with a dream of becoming the world’s top chef”. Check out the video clip over on YouTube. Both these shows premiered at MIPCOM, and they’re hoping for world-wide distribution in 2019.

image c. 2018 Studio Gale

One Little Girl, One Magic Forest

Dec 8th, 2018
by rodney.
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Also at CTN Expo we found out about Left Pocket Studio (in Shanghai) and their international TV series Emmy & GooRoo. “Emmy, our brave little hero, is 5-years-old and the only little human girl in the whole Magical Forest. Emmy loves exploring the fantastical world she lives in with her best friend GooRoo, a big, furry, and huggable creature who takes care of her when they go out to play.” The official web site includes a trailer for the series.

image c. 2018 Left Pocket
Studios

E-Books for Kids — and Art Collectors

Dec 7th, 2018
by rodney.
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And more from CTN Expo (it’s always cool!). According to their web site, “Mighty Yeti is an independent storytelling studio creating stories for the current generation of kids who enjoy their media and entertainment in exciting new ways. Founders Jennie Book and Josh Book have taken their many years of experience in the traditional entertainment industry and created products which children can interact with in a truly active way.” To that end they’ve created a series of interactive e-books for young readers — and some of those books have decidedly anthro content. Especially the one called A Shark Knocked On The Door. “Gutter races with Grandma are the best! But when a beloved toy boat is lost down the sewer, all seems lost until a friendly shark returns it and takes the boy and his grandma on a fantastical underseas adventure.” The publishers have built up enough material designing and creating these books that they’ve actually released The Art of Mighty Yeti Storybooks collection, featuring art by Eddie Betancourt, Roman Laney, Justin Rodrigues, and Nick Swift.

image c. 2018 Mighty Yeti

Play On Line

Dec 6th, 2018
by rodney.
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Here’s an interesting artist we found at CTN Expo. Natalie Murrow is an animation artist and illustrator (with lots of animal designs!). One of her big projects is an app for young folks called Kidomi. She says: “Kidomi is an app I worked on at Fingerprint Play. It is a mobile app that houses hundreds of 3rd party licensed activities from brands you know and trust. All of the activities are streaming, so you can access them without having to download, and are all available through a single subscription.” In addition to doing the interface design and several icon animations, she also designed a series of funny animal avatars that kids can customize and make their own.

image c. 2018 by Natalie Murrow

Bunny Bound by Magic

Dec 5th, 2018
by rodney.
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Found this thanks to Animation World Network: “Netflix has announced that it will produce the animated feature film, Escape From Hat, from two-time Academy Award-nominated director Mark Osborne (Kung Fu Panda, The Little Prince) together with writer Adam Kline (Artemis Fowl, The Clockwork War)… The screenplay is by Kline and Osborne, based on the book of the same name by Kline [illustrated by Brian Taylor — ye ed-otter], a new middle-grade novel that will be published by HarperCollins in Winter 2020… Escape From Hat brings light to the ancient mysteries of magic. In a fairy tale where black cats are bad and magic rabbits are good, balance is threatened when one such rabbit is cast into a mysterious realm of danger and shadow. There, our desperate hero rallies an unexpected band of allies and undertakes an impossible quest to escape from inside a magician’s hat – and return to the human boy he dearly loves.” Netflix say they plan to release the film in 2022.

image c. 2018 HarperCollins

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