Daily News Bytes: Studio Ghibli Fest Presents ‘Ponyo,’ China ❤️ ‘Molang’, ‘Rick and Morty’ Fans Take Action & More

Marvel’s Avengers Are Getting Their Own TV Channel
Disney TV in the UK and Ireland will launch a “pop up channel” dedicated to the superhero squad, with an on-air takeover across Sky and Virgin Disney XD +1 channels from April 1-29. Fans can catch exclusive Infinity War content as well as new Marvel Funko animated shorts, premieres of Marvel Video Comic and Super Hero Adventures shorts, and the complete Avengers Assemble animated series.

Visegrad Animation Forum Announces Official Project Selection
21 projects from across Europe have been picked out to participate in the Short Film and TV Series & Specials pitch competitions, which each come with a 2,000 EUR development funding prize. TV winners get access to Cartoon Forum 2018, Animation Sans Frontiers is offering a 1,500 EUR scholarship, and Playade Sound (Poland) is offering 1,000 EUR to the best short film to cover sound postproduction.

Care2 Petition for ‘Rick and Morty’ Season 4 Nears Goal
A fan-generated petition to Adult Swim to order a fourth season of Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland’s cult hit sci-fi comedy is rapidly reaching its 3,000 signature goal, with 2,700+ Szechuan Sauce-chugging wannabe mad scientists joining the call. Harmon recently Tweeted a sarcastic reply to a fan who told him to finish the unordered season and stop being a “lazy alcoholic.” A former series writer had revealed in January that none of the parties seemed particularly keen on getting to work. Wubba lubba dub dub!

Millimages Sweeps Chinese Market with Multiple Deals
The Emmy-nominated French producer continues to extend the presence of its best-selling animated series Molang (104 x 3’30″) across the country, with pickups from top platforms Tencent, Alibaba’s Youku and Tudou, and Mango TV, following its iQiYi premiere — an L&M program is coming soon through Alibaba. Millimages also inked a package deal with Wow Dadi for Pirata & Capitano (52 x 11’), S1-2 of Paper Port (52 x 11’) and S1-2 of Corneil & Bernie (104 x 13’). The company now has 10 series on offer in mainland China.

Snapchat Introduces a Morbidly Cute New ‘Cuphead’ Lens
The app is bringing the merciless action of the Fleischer-esque brawler game to your phone camera with a new lens featuring Cuphead and Mugman, who start blasting when a person enters the frame — but they’re not invincible!

Studio Ghibli Fest Kicks Off with 10th Anniversary Screenings of ‘Ponyo’
GKIDS and Fathom Events bring back the Studio Ghibli Fest this weekend with Hayao Miayazaki’s Oscar-nominated “mermaid” tale, in theaters nationwide for three days only March 25, 26 and 28. The family adventure centers on a young boy named Sosuke who gets more than he bargains for when he rescues a stranded goldfish — which turns out to be a magical creature named Ponyo whose desire to be human causes chaos, and whose sorcerer father won’t let her go that easily. Featuring the voices of Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Lily Tomlin, Liam Neeson, and more.

via GIPHY