Independent filmmaker Heather Parra (The Uprising, Hard 8, Cyborg X) is venturing into animation, releasing a trailer for the family fantasy adventure Talon. The 2D-animated glimpse into a magic-infused prehistoric world, produced by Kris Wimberly’s Los Angeles-based Studio Smokescreen (Tent Sale), has totted up hundreds of thousands of views since debuting to a largely positive response.
Synopsis: What if the Great Dying was an accident caused by a fleeing alien searching for heroes? What if the K-T asteroid was the result of a battle between magic-enhanced dinosaurs and a power-hungry ancient race from the stars? Talon is a pure escapism series about the speculative history of our planet and, at its center, a young kindhearted Dakotaraptor born with magical powers. She joins an otherworldly wizard on a quest to find seven others like her and save their world from a sinister alien threat.
Parra’s Renegade Dreamer Entertainment label is working on a full-length pilot, which fans can support here.
Comics label ABLAZE will be offering fans classic titles created by Osamu Tezuka, the “Godfather of Manga.” Published for the first time in English, the graphic novels and collections taken from Tezuka’s approximately 700 manga works and tens of thousands of pages will roll out from August 2023 through 2024.
One Hundred Tales – August 2023
An adaptation of the Faust legend as a samurai period piece. Ichirui Hanri is an ordinary accountant servicing his lord. Though innocent, he is sentenced to death by hara-kiri after being entangled in a power struggle. A witch named Sudama appears and offers Hanri three wishes in exchange for his soul. Hanri accepts. Is it worth it?
Shakespeare Manga Theater – Q4 2023
Over the course of his career, Tezuka adapted many of Shakespeare’s works: Hamlet, Othello, The Taming of the Shrew, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet (featuring Astro Boy!) and The Merchant of Venice. This book collects them into one volume and is sure to be popular not just with Tezuka fans, but also schools interested in presenting Shakespeare in a format that is easier for readers to engage with.
Tomorrow The Birds – Q2 2024
A science fiction manga depicting a future society in which evolved birds surpass humanity, Tomorrow the Birds is a parable about how we treat those who aren’t like us, and the eventual price that must be paid for arrogance. An unforgettable tapestry of seven-page chapters and longer stories.
Neo Faust – Q4 2024
This adaptation of Goethe’s Faust is Tezuka’s third rendering of this classic and one of the serializations he was working on at the time of his death. Despite being terminally ill, Tezuka continued to develop his already legendary storytelling and illustrations and left behind this enthralling take on a timeless theme.
Larger-than-life displays of beloved children’s characters have popped up across London in a new exhibition marking the launch of the Sky Kids 24-hour, ad-free TV channel. A three-meter-high statue of Aardman’s timeless TV character Morph appeared over night at Potters Fields, next to Tower Bridge; an illuminated Miffy sculpture was spotted in Observation Point on Southbank; and a gigantic Where’s Wally puzzle was uncovered in Shoreditch.
Miffy’s Adventures Big and Small, Where’s Wally and The Epic Adventures of Morph are set to air on the new channel from today, alongside a variety of brand-new Sky Original kids programs. The pop-up experience follows a poll of 2,000 Brits by Sky Kids which reveals the nation’s favorite British TV children’s characters of all time. Morph claimed the bronze medal with 19% of the votes, with much-loved puppet duo Sooty and Sweep, topping the list with 28% of the votes, and Basil Brush not far behind in second place (20%). See the Top 20 list here.
Cyber Group Studios (Gigantosaurus) has expanded its relationship with NorAm indie studio Splash Entertainment (Chloe’s Closet, Sabrina: Secrets of a Teenage Witch, Norm of the North), inking an exclusive content deal that covers Splash’s extensive catalog of 500_hours of international and European content. Splash titles have aired in more than 180 territories worldwide and have won numerous awards including 13 Daytime Emmys, 15 Parents Choice Awards and a BAFTA.
Last year, Cyber Group Studios joined forces with Splash Ent. to form CyberSplash, a Paris-based entity, to create and produce original animated series and feature films for kids and families around the world. New shows launching under this banner include Family Rocks, a preschool series about the first modern family of the Sone Age. The 78 x 7′ digital cutout show is co-produced with Israel-based Ananey Studios (Spyders, Greenhouse Academy, Craft Party), part of Paramount Global.
Discovery Family Channel and Discovery Familia today announced the launch of Hanni and the Wild Woods, a brand-new nature-focused animated series, set to premiere in the U.S. this coming April. From Korean creator Minah Eom and produced by TOBEIT Global Corp., the nature edutainment series teaches kids about the wonderful world surrounding us. Each episode is filled with original music and themes about helping animals, insects, plants, and the importance of nature conservation.
Hanni is the leader of the Forest Friends, who cares deeply about everyone and wants her friends in the Wild Woods to live in harmony. While Hanni and the Forest Friends are having fun, these beautifully animated characters are stewards of the environment, and encourage the audience to learn and do their part in helping protect our planet.
“The concept sprung from a desire to give my two daughters a meaningful gift that can remind them of me forever,” said Eom. “In turn, they provided me with the motivation and inspiration in every moment of my creative work and made everything possible.”
