Guru Fetches TV Rights to Kids’ Book Classic ‘Where’s Spot?’

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February 27, 2024

Guru Fetches TV Rights to Kids’ Book Classic ‘Where’s Spot?’

The animated storytelling pros at Guru Studio (PAW Patrol, True and the Rainbow Kingdom) announce today they have optioned the TV rights to the popular children’s book series Spot, published by Puffin, part of Penguin Random House Children’s UK. Eric Hill’s loveable puppy first appeared in 1980 in the first ever lift-the-flap storybook, Where’s Spot? and has since become a perennial best-seller with over 65 million books sold worldwide.

“Spot holds a special place in the hearts of millions of families around the world as Eric Hill’s dynamic storytelling and lift-the-flap discovery moments invite children to become part of the story,” said Frank Falcone, President and Executive Creative Director of Guru Studio. “As stewards of this cherished literary legacy, we will inspire that same engaged curiosity, bringing a fresh and contemporary feel, for today’s preschoolers.”

The books have been translated into over 60 languages, including braille and sign language, across more than 20 formats including lift-the-flap books, board books and novelty titles with Puffin releasing new titles every year. The bestselling series has enjoyed notable recent growth throughout many key global territories including the US and Australia. In the U.K., over 1 million Spot books have been sold since 2020 alone, more than double the volume sold in the prior four years.

The new TV series will follow Spot, the beloved, rambunctious and curious puppy. Just like in the classic books, children will see their own everyday experiences reflected in Spot’s adventures with his family and friends as they discover the big, wide, world around them.

Guru has brought on board award-winning children’s author and TV veteran Sarah Maizes to guide the project. A former executive at Amazon Kids+ and the Jim Henson Company, Maizes’ credits include Harriet the Spy (Apple TV+), Dinosaur Train (PBS Kids), Randi Zuckerberg’s Dot. and Hello Kitty: Super Style (Amazon Kids+).

“Puffin is proud to be the home of Eric Hill’s beloved Spot. His child-like, inquisitive nature and boundless energy have captivated small children for over 40 years. Spot’s timeless appeal lies in his simplicity and in Eric’s ability to capture the essence of early childhood experiences,” said Francesca Dow, Managing Director, Penguin Random House Children’s UK. “Guru recognizes Spot’s unique appeal and this, together with an impressive portfolio and roster of talent, creates an exciting opportunity to bring Spot to new audiences via animation. We can’t wait to see Spot come bounding onto screen to excite and entertain millions of young children and their families, reaching new fans and old.”

In addition to the property’s extensive publishing offering, the Fun with Spot consumer products and licensing program, including toys, apparel and live experiences, is managed in-house by Penguin Ventures and, together with Puffin, supports the continued global growth of the brand, connecting Spot with family audiences in new ways.

Guru Studio is behind hit animated children’s properties including the global smash PAW Patrol, Netflix’s True and the Rainbow Kingdom and Sesame Street: Mecha Builders. The studio is currently in production on the family mini-series adaptation of Charlotte’s Web for Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max.

gurustudio.com | funwithspot.com

The ‘Kung Fu Panda 4’ Creative Team Gives Us a Sneak Peek at Po’s Ultimate Challenge

Devin Nealy

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February 27, 2024

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The ‘Kung Fu Panda 4’ Creative Team Gives Us a Sneak Peek at Po’s Ultimate Challenge

This article was written for the
April '24 issue of Animation Magazine (No. 339).

With this month’s entry into the beloved franchise with Kung Fu Panda 4, the team at DreamWorks Animation paralleled the historical development of kung fu by assembling a roster of veteran animators to mentor several rising stars in the studio’s distinctive style. “A lot of these guys I’ve known for years and years and years. They worked on Shrek with me; they worked on Trolls,” says Kung Fu Panda 4’s director Mike Mitchell. “I say this with all honesty: I think DreamWorks has the best animators all around.”

‘Even since the last [Kung Fu Panda], there has been so much that’s evolved in animation — mostly, animation cameras. To use the updated cameras like GoPros that haven’t been incorporated yet in the Kung Fu Panda franchise was very exciting.’

— Director Mike Mitchell

Kung Fu Panda 4 follows the continuing adventures of Po (Jack Black), who has evolved from an aspiring martial artist to the legendary position of Dragon Warrior across the preceding trilogy of films. In a beautiful display of art mirroring life, co-director Stephanie Ma Stine, an avid fan of the series, has also found herself amid a professional ascension, with Kung Fu Panda 4 serving as her directorial debut. Like Po’s development as a martial artist, Stine battled insecurity while rising through the ranks in her animation career. “I actually never thought that I would be directing because I grew up with a really awful stutter,” says Stine. “Filmmaking is all about communication and it’s all about talking out loud for hours on end. And so, I was like, ‘At this moment in my life, I’m not cut out for it.’”

Whereas Po’s teammates in the Furious Five, a pack of anthropomorphic animal martial artists, aided him in his journey, Stine relied on her collaborators, including production designer Paul Duncan and head of character animation Sean Sexton, to assist her along the path. With a wealth of experience and a desire to innovate among the quartet, Sexton, Duncan, Stine and Mitchell began to embark on the creative high-wire act of taking the iconic Kung Fu Panda franchise in a fresh yet familiar direction. “We don’t want to do exactly what we’ve done with previous films. It’s like, ‘How has Po grown?’” says Sexton. “What is his arc? How can we move him forward in the franchise?”

The Path of the Panda

To make good on their intention to shake up the intellectual property, the creative team behind Kung Fu Panda 4 decided to have the series’ protagonist, Po, relinquish his position as the Dragon Warrior, a title he’s owned since the first film. As a fan of the series, Stine shared the audience’s potential apprehension over the film’s bold decision. “I think I can see from a lot of the audience’s reaction online already that people are just like, ‘Oh, my gosh, Po can’t let go of the Dragon Warrior title. That’s his destiny,’” says Stine. “I think we’re all a little bit scared and nervous about that, but I think for Po, it’s the most difficult for him. But along this journey, he comes to realize there are more important things.”

With the countless hours the creative team poured into obsessing over Kung Fu Panda 4’s theme, the departure from the franchise’s familiar framework strategically avoids the pitfalls of feeling gimmicky. “Themes are really important to us, because I think it makes a difference in watching something. You really want it to be about something,” says Mitchell. “We really explored that when you make a big change, you don’t lose who you are. You still remain who you are, [and] you become something more.”

‘Po’s whole journey is about accepting change and realizing that it’s not only not a scary thing but quite fulfilling if you embrace it. I feel like I was going on a similar journey as him.’

— Co-director Stephanie Ma Stine

“Kite Fight” sequence

“In every single meeting that we go to — whether it’s storyboards, editing, layout, lighting, animation or anything — everything hangs from the theme,” says Stine. “So, everything that Po faces is actually catered around him needing to learn that change is good.”

One of the unexpected changes that Kung Fu Panda 4’s production staff grappled with was the simultaneous Writers Guild and Screen Actors Guild strikes of 2023. With a truncated production schedule, Mitchell took the opportunity to expand the role of animators significantly. “A lot of our storytelling, I pushed it to animation, and these guys stepped up,” says Mitchell. “And all of them really got into the storytelling [and] got into the camera. Like, we were working out most of the film in the animation, which I think makes it a more creative film.”

The Art of Combat

Despite taking divergent routes into the animation industry, the early days of Paul Duncan’s and Sean Sexton’s careers at DreamWorks share a handful of similarities, as both men arrived during the studio’s era of 2D animation. Even with countless films under their belts, including previous entries into the Kung Fu Panda series, both men speak about Kung Fu Panda 4 as if it were their first film. “There is a legacy to Kung Fu Panda, and to break the mold too much would be a disservice to what’s come before,” says Duncan. “So, for me and [co-director] Mike Mitchell, it was always, ‘Let’s stylize parts of the movie that we want to enhance the story.’ We won’t just check that box for the sake of checking the box.”

Seeking to inject new life into the series, Sexton and Duncan found themselves looking at myriad sources for Kung Fu Panda 4’s villain, a shape-shifting chameleon sorceress, voiced by Viola Davis. “The Chameleon was a character that could have the potential to be one of the strongest in the franchise,” says Sexton. “[It’s] a character that could transform into any creature [or] any other master, and trying to technically figure that out was difficult. And also, just artistically, ‘How do we pull this off? How do we make this look interesting?’”

“Paul [Duncan] was great for coming up with ideas of how this would work,” says Sexton. “We literally looked at any movie with any kind of transformation and tried to make something unique but also relatable and cool.”

To solve the Chameleon conundrum, Duncan found an answer within an unexpected and controversial source. “We looked at a lot of AI for that and a lot of the effects. We sort of left the broken bits in because it felt disjointed. It’s almost like it’s uncomfortable for her to change.”

Besides exploring AI, Sexton decided to revisit an often-overlooked gem within his DreamWorks filmography. “We even went back and looked at some of the stuff we did in 2D on Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas as kind of an inspiration,” says Sexton. “Eris was a character that was voiced by Michelle Pfeiffer, [and] she was a character that could transform and turn into different things.”

Duncan was equally influenced by the past, finding inspiration in the very culture that spawned kung fu. “We looked at a lot of the Taotie design from ancient China,” says Duncan. “It’s associated with greed and ancient demons. You basically have all these Taotie masks, and I was like, ‘This is perfect because she changes all the time, and we rarely get to know her because she’s got this mask on.’”

Delivering a Knockout

Although a film like Kung Fu Panda 4 allows its production staff to stretch the perimeters of its creative license, Mitchell and Stine were intent on grounding the movie’s combat in realism. “We hired some live-action stunt performers from the Marvel films,” says Mitchell. “It was really fun for our animators to take a look at what a bunch of our stunt people did and then know that we could take it even further with animation.”

“Even since the last [Kung Fu Panda], there has been so much that’s evolved in animation — mostly, in my opinion, animation cameras,” says Mitchell. “To use the updated cameras like GoPros and stuff like that that we’ve seen in live-action films that haven’t been incorporated yet in the Kung Fu Panda franchise was very exciting.”

‘We even went back and looked at some of the stuff we did in 2D on Sinbad: [Legend of the Seven Seas] as kind of an inspiration.’

— Head of character animation Sean Sexton

For Stine, the new cameras presented a unique opportunity to return to her roots. “I actually have a master’s degree in cinematography from the American Film Institute, so I used to work in live action as a camera person,” says Stine. “I’ve always had a love of lenses and types of cameras and what you can do with the camera, and how that ties into knowing what the character is thinking and feeling.”

Navigating the film’s action-packed visuals may have been a walk in the park for Stine, but the director also credits Kung Fu Panda 4 for strengthening her literal and creative voice by helping her finally conquer her persistent stutter. “I think this particular journey of working on Kung Fu Panda 4, especially, has really helped me with my confidence,” says Stine. “Po’s whole journey is about accepting change and realizing that it’s not only not a scary thing but quite fulfilling if you embrace it. I feel like I was going on a similar journey as him.”

DreamWorks’ Kung Fu Panda 4 opens in theaters nationwide on March 8.

Titmouse Announces Dates for Multi-City ‘5 Second Night’ Animation Celebration

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Mercedes Milligan

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February 27, 2024

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Titmouse Announces Dates for Multi-City ‘5 Second Night’ Animation Celebration

Today, Emmy Award-winning animation studio Titmouse, known for its unrivaled passion for the art of animation, collaboration and experimentation, announced the return of its much-anticipated annual celebration of animation, 5 Second Night, with screenings in Los Angeles, New York and Vancouver.

A tradition spanning over 15 years, 5 Second Night gives Titmouse animators and team members the ultimate playground for creativity and the chance to unleash all the quirky, beautiful, downright bizarre and laugh-out-loud ideas that have been brewing in their minds, transforming them into bite-sized animated masterpieces. Nearly 2,000 original shorts have been created by the studio’s team since the event launched in 2008.

Each year, Titmouse designates a day for the studio to “shut down” in order to give anyone who wants to participate an entire paid day off to focus on producing animated shorts, which are then screened together during the annual festival attended by industry executives, animation enthusiasts and members of the public. All work produced for 5 Second Night remains under the ownership of the individual artists and creators, not the company.

Seats are limited, with priority reserved for Titmouse employees and friends. Those wishing to attend are encouraged to purchase their tickets as soon as possible before they are sold out.

Screening and Ticket Information:

LOS ANGELES
AMC Burbank 16
125 E Palm Ave, Burbank, CA 91502
Wednesday, March 27

Screening starts at 7:30 p.m. PT

VANCOUVER
Rio Theater
1660 E Broadway, Vancouver, BC V5N 1W1, Canada
Wednesday, April 3

Screening 1 starts at 6:15 p.m. PT
Screening 2 starts at 9 p.m. PT

NEW YORK
SVA Theater
333 W 23rd St, New York, NY 10011
Friday, April 5

Screening starts at 7:30 p.m. PT

Tickets and additional information available at Titmouse.net.

‘Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go’ Steams Ahead to 27th Season & First Holiday Movie

Mercedes Milligan

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February 27, 2024

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‘Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go’ Steams Ahead to 27th Season & First Holiday Movie

Mattel today announced that Season 27 of the animated series Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go will premiere on March 7 on Netflix. Featuring all-new original music, the 26 x 11 min. season will release in two 13-episode installments, with the second half of the season debuting September 19. The second batch includes the franchise’s first-ever 60-minute holiday movie, Thomas & Friends: The Christmas Letter Express, debuting late 2024.

“As we embark on the 27th season of Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go, we celebrate a character that has captured the hearts of fans worldwide for decades,” said Michelle Mendelovitz, Global Head of Mattel Television Studios. “This season is not just a testament to the enduring charm and timeless appeal of Mattel’s beloved characters, but also a milestone as we proudly present the first-ever holiday movie in the franchise’s storied history. As we continue to foster the spirit of friendship, teamwork, and adventure, this season reaffirms the enduring legacy of Thomas & Friends, bringing joy to both young and old across the globe.”

In Season 27 of Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go, the Number One Engine and his loc-amigos are ready for more Sodor surprises! The engines are celebrating the grand opening of a new bakery-café connecting farm-to-table routes and keeping busy bringing ingredients and sweet-smelling, flatcar-filling treats to festive tables. Thomas, Percy, Kana, Nia, Bruno and Diesel take on every challenge coupling with new and returning friends to get each job done. No matter how big the delivery or how impossible the task, there is nothing that Thomas and his friends can’t accomplish together!

In Thomas & Friends: The Christmas Letter Express, Percy discovers a child’s letter to Santa Claus forgotten at the bottom of his mail cart on Christmas Eve, but he is determined to make things right, even if that means tracking down Mr. Claus himself! With help from Thomas and his friends, Percy travels through dazzling parades, sweet-smelling gingerbread bakes, and snowflake flurries on a quest to deliver the letter to Santa and make a child’s Christmas Wish come true. Written by Rick Suvalle and featuring three original holiday songs, the special premieres on Netflix in late 2024.

Inspired by Mattel’s Thomas & Friends toys and consumer products, Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go features the voice talents of Kai Harris, Ava Ro, Charlie Zeltzer, Chuck Smith, Will Bhaneja, Glee Dango, and Talia Evans.

The series is co-produced by Mattel Television Studios and Corus Entertainment’s Nelvana Studios, and is executive produced by Christopher Keenan and Fred Soulie for Mattel and by Colin Bohm, Doug Murphy and Pam Westman for Nelvana. The series and 60-min special include an original score by Erica Procunier.

Season 27 of Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go will be available March 7 on Netflix in the U.S. as well as many international markets including Canada, Spain, South Africa, India, and Singapore. The content will also debut later this year on Milkshake and Nick Jr. in the United Kingdom, Cartoonito in Italy, Treehouse in Canada, Televisa in Mexico and SBT in Brazil.

Max Swaps in 130+ ‘Looney Tunes’ Shorts in March

Mercedes Milligan

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February 26, 2024

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Max Swaps in 130+ ‘Looney Tunes’ Shorts in March

Hello my baby, hello my honey, hello my ragtime toons: Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max announced today that more than 130 Looney Tunes cartoons will be added to the platform’s lineup on March 1. The catch is, roughly 130 of the shorts currently streaming will be removed. The news comes a few months after fans were alarmed by an announcement error, but the end of 2023 none the less saw the exit of several Adult Swim animated series and a slew of both WB original and third-party films.

The Looney Tunes collection coming to Max starting Friday includes the Oscar-nominated Mouse Wreckers, (1949), Greetings Bait (1943), Rhapsody in Rivets (1941); fan-favorites like Rabbit Fire (1951), Duck Amuck (1953), A Wild Hare (1940) — which marks the first official appearance of Bugs Bunny — and Porky’s Duck Hunt (1937) — the first appearance of Daffy Duck — as well as One Froggy Evening (1955) and What’s Opera, Doc? (1957).

Details on the outgoing shorts were not shared in the announcement.

New animated and hybrid titles coming to Max in March also include:

March 1

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip (2015)
Royal Crackers, Season 2 (Adult Swim)

March 8

Care Bears: Unlock the Magic: Grumpy’s Ginormous Adventure (Special)
Tiny Toons Looniversity, Season 2A (Cartoon Network)
Tiny Toons Looniversity: Spring Break (Special)

March 26

Bugs Bunny Builders, Season 2A (Cartoon Network)

Animated titles bidding adieu include:

March 5

12 oz. Mouse, Seasons 1-3

March 31

Coraline (2009)
The LEGO Movie (2014)
Smallfoot (2018)
Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (2009)

GKIDS & Toho Tease French-Japanese Co-Pro ‘Ghost Cat Anzu’

Animation Magazine

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February 26, 2024

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GKIDS & Toho Tease French-Japanese Co-Pro ‘Ghost Cat Anzu’

Audiences get a closer look at a rare animation collaboration project with the new teaser trailer for Ghost Cat Anzu, a co-production of Japan’s Shin-Ei Animation (the studio behind the massive Doraemon and Crayon Shin-chan franchises) and France’s Miyu Production (Chicken for Linda!; Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman). GKIDS snagged North American rights to the pic after its 2023 Annecy Festival WIP, and Japanese exhibitor Toho has just announced it has picked up the title. Charades handles international sales.

GKIDS is planning to release the young adults/family-targeted film sometime in 2024.

Synopsis: Karin, 11 years old, is abandoned by her father at her grandfather’s house, the monk of a small town in the Japanese countryside. Her grandfather asks Anzu, his jovial and helpful although rather capricious ghost cat, to look after her. The meeting of their strong characters causes sparks, at least at the beginning…

Based on the manga created by Takashi Imashiro, Ghost Cat Anzu is a collaboration between Shin-Ei animation artist Yoko Kuno — who has served in a variety of roles including character designer, concept designer, storyboarder and key animator on several Crayon Shin-chan movies as well as Penguin Highway and was animation director on the series The Murder Case of Hana & Alice — and live-action director Nobuhiro Yamashita (Linda Linda Linda, The Matsugane Potshot Affair).

The film is being created with digital 2D animation, rotoscoped from a complete live-action shoot. The same actors performed the captured live-action footage and voice the characters, including Mirai Moriyama (Inu-oh, Shin Kamen Rider) as Anzu and Noa Goto (Saitama Host Club, Sister) as Karin.

[Sources: GKIDS, Miyu, Variety]

Academy Splits Animated Features & Shorts into Their Own Branch; Sets Animation Nominees Panels

Animation Magazine

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February 26, 2024

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Academy Splits Animated Features & Shorts into Their Own Branch; Sets Animation Nominees Panels

The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) voted Monday, Feb. 26 to separate the existing “Short Films and Feature Animation Branch” into two new groups: the “Animation Branch” (animated features and animated shorts) and the “Short Films Branch” (live-action and documentary shorts). The move reflects the ever-growing scope of animated film production and artistic achievement.

The Academy has now sprung 19 branches, while the Board of Governors will remain at 55 members.

“As both the Academy’s shorts and animation communities have grown, and to ensure they continue to thrive, the need for two individual branches became increasingly apparent,” said Academy Short Films and Feature Animation Branch governors Bonnie Arnold, Jinko Gotoh and Marlon West. “We’re excited about the future of these two branches and thank our fellow governors for their support.”

The Animation Branch comprises about 700 AMPAS members working across every part of the animation industry. The newly established branch will have two governor representatives on the Board of Governors, and will oversee the Animated Feature Film and Animated Short Film categories for the Academy Awards.

The Short Films Branch includes 200-plus members, represented by one governor and overseeing the live-action and nonfiction shorts Oscars. The branch was created as the Short Subjects Branch in 1941, later renamed the Short Films Branch in 1974 and then the Short Films and Feature Animation Branch in 1995, although the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature was not established until 2001.

Oscar shorts — **2024 Animated Short Film nominees:** (L-R, T-B) ‘Letter to a Pig,’ ‘War Is Over!,’ ‘Our Uniform,’ ‘Ninety-five Senses,’ ‘Pachyderme’

In further Academy news, AMPAS is putting on its annual pre-Oscars Nominee Programs, with a double-header featuring the Animation category honorees this Saturday, March 2.

Nominee Programs: Animated Short Film
When: Saturday, March 2, 11 a.m.
Where: Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, David Geffen Theater
Ticket price: $10

Filmmakers will introduce their nominated animated shorts, followed by screenings in our David Geffen Theater.

During the same day, head to the Sidney Poitier Grand Lobby for a showcase of items from the nominated films, including concept sketches, character maquettes, and reference materials.

This years Animated Short Film nominees are Letter to a Pig (Director: Tal Kantor), Ninety-Five Senses (Jared Hess, Jerusha Hess), Our Uniform (Yegane Moghaddam), Pachyderme (Stéphanie Clément) and War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko (Dave Mullins).

Oscar features — **2024 Animated Feature nominees:** (L-R, T-B) ‘Nimona,’ ‘The Boy and the Heron,’ ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,’ ‘Elemental,’ ‘Robot Dreams’

Nominee Programs: Animated Feature Film
When: Saturday, March 2, 4 p.m.
Where: Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, David Geffen Theater
Ticket price: $10

We welcome nominees for a panel in our David Geffen Theater. Hear from the filmmakers about the making of their films and their impact on the field of animation.

During the same day, head to the Sidney Poitier Grand Lobby for a showcase of items from the nominated films, including concept sketches, character maquettes, and reference materials.

The 2024 Animated Feature nominees are: The Boy and the Heron (Director: Hayao Miyazaki; Studio Ghibli/GKIDS), Elemental (Peter Sohn; Pixar/Disney); Nimona (Nick Bruno, Troy Quane; Netflix), Robot Dreams (Pablo Berger; Arcadia/Neon) and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson; Sony Pictures Animation).

First-Ever ‘Bluey’ Special “The Sign” Sets Disney+ Premiere Date

Mercedes Milligan

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February 26, 2024

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First-Ever ‘Bluey’ Special “The Sign” Sets Disney+ Premiere Date

Disney Branded Television, BBC Studios Kids & Family and Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) have announced that the next installments of Bluey, including the popular pup’s first extended length special, will premiere this April, marking the series’ first global rollout.

The first new episode, “Ghostbasket,” will premiere on Sunday, April 7, teeing up the debut of the 28-minute special, “The Sign,” premiering a week later on Sunday, April 14. Both episodes will air first via ABC Kids in Australia and then roll out globally the same day across Disney+, Disney Junior and Disney Channel in all other available regions (with the exception of China and New Zealand).

“The Sign” marks Bluey’s longest ever episode. “Ghostbasket” is a standard length episode. Both episodes are penned by series creator and writer Joe Brumm, directed by Richard Jeffery and produced by Ludo Studio.

Bluey closed out 2023 as the No. 1 series for preschoolers and kids and was the No. 2 most-streamed series across all audiences, according to Nielsen. Ten new episodes of the series premiered on Disney+ in January and will begin rolling out on Disney Channel and Disney Junior from March 25-April 5.

Launched in Australia in 2018, the series follows Bluey, a loveable and inexhaustible Blue Heeler dog who lives with her Mum, Dad and little sister, Bingo.

The critically acclaimed series has been recognized with numerous awards, including a fifth consecutive AACTA Best Children’s Program award, International Kids Emmy Award, the Television Critics Association Award, BAFTA Children & Young People Awards and Critics’ Choice Award.

Jointly commissioned by ABC Children’s and BBC Studios Kids & Family, Bluey is created and written by Joe Brumm and produced by the multiple Emmy Award-winning Ludo Studio in association with Screen Queensland and Screen Australia. The series streams to U.S. and global audiences (outside of Australia, New Zealand and China) across Disney Channel, Disney Junior and Disney+ through a global broadcasting deal between BBC Studios Kids & Family and Disney Branded Television.

‘Kung Fu Panda 4’ Heats Up with New ‘Sand & Spice’ Spot

Mercedes Milligan

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February 26, 2024

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‘Kung Fu Panda 4’ Heats Up with New ‘Sand & Spice’ Spot

Muad’dib who? Po the Dragon Warrior is preparing for the fight of his life in the new “Sand & Spice” trailer for DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda 4, which winks at the just-released sci fi sequel Dune Part Two. In the spot, we find a cowled Po in the middle of a wind-swept desert — the picture of determination, destiny … and delicious snacks.

Synopsis: After three death-defying adventures defeating world-class villains with his unmatched courage and mad martial arts skills, Po, the Dragon Warrior (Golden Globe nominee Jack Black), is called upon by destiny to … give it a rest already. More specifically, he’s tapped to become the Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace.

That poses a couple of obvious problems. First, Po knows as much about spiritual leadership as he does about the paleo diet, and second, he needs to quickly find and train a new Dragon Warrior before he can assume his new lofty position.

Even worse, there’s been a recent sighting of a wicked, powerful sorceress, Chameleon (Oscar winner Viola Davis), a tiny lizard who can shapeshift into any creature, large or small. And Chameleon has her greedy, beady little eyes on Po’s Staff of Wisdom, which would give her the power to re-summon all the master villains whom Po has vanquished to the spirit realm.

So, Po’s going to need some help. He finds it (kinda?) in the form of crafty, quick-witted thief Zhen (Golden Globe winner Awkwafina), a corsac fox who really gets under Po’s fur but whose skills will prove invaluable. In their quest to protect the Valley of Peace from Chameleon’s reptilian claws, this comedic odd-couple duo will have to work together. In the process, Po will discover that heroes can be found in the most unexpected places.

Returning voice stars also include Academy Award winner Dustin Hoffman as Master Shifu; James Hong (Everything Everywhere All at Once) as Po’s adoptive father, Mr. Ping; Academy Award nominee Bryan Cranston as Po’s birth father, Li; and Emmy Award nominee Ian McShane as Tai Lung, Shifu’s former student and arch-nemesis. Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All at Once) joins the ensemble as a new character, Han, the leader of the Den of Thieves.

Produced by DreamWorks Animation and released by Universal Pictures, Kung Fu Panda 4 is directed by Mike Mitchell (Trolls, Shrek Forever After) and produced by Rebecca Huntley (The Bad Guys). The film’s co-director is Stephanie Ma Stine (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power).

Read all about Kung Fu Panda 4 in the April ’24 issue of Animation Magazine (No. 339), in print soon.

Adventure Island: ‘Kensuke’s Kingdom’ Creatives Share the Joys & Challenges of Their Beautiful Adaptation

Ramin Zahed

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February 26, 2024

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Adventure Island: ‘Kensuke’s Kingdom’ Creatives Share the Joys & Challenges of Their Beautiful Adaptation

This article was written for the
April '24 issue of Animation Magazine (No. 339).

‘It’s a proper adventure story full of action and excitement, but at the same time it is also extremely gentle, with a complex emotional core. It also includes an important ecological message for our times.’

— Director Kirk Hendry

When Michael Morpurgo’s beloved children’s book Kensuke’s Kingdom was first published in 1999, readers fell in love with its memorable characters and strong ecological theme. The story centers on a young boy and his dog, Stella, who are shipwrecked on a remote island. It’s here that he meets a mysterious Japanese man who has lived there secretly since World War II. Despite initial mistrust and anger, the two strike up a friendship to protect the island from dangerous invaders.

Fans of the book will be happy to know that it has inspired a beautiful, 2D-animated feature, which is directed by Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry and produced by Camilla Deakin, Ruth Fielding, Sarah Radclyffe, Barnaby Spurrier and Stéphan Roelants. After debuting at the Annecy Festival last year, the movie opened in French theaters in Februay and will be showcased at Cartoon Movie in Bordeaux and the New York International Children’s Film Festival in March.

**Natural Wonders:** The filmmakers were keen on preserving the original book’s gentle tone and deeply felt message about the importance of protecting animals and the environment.

An Epic Journey

Deakin, who is the co-founder of U.K.-based Lupus Films and has produced a long list of award-winning projects, such as The Snowman and the Snowdog, Ethel & Ernest, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt and Mog’s Christmas, was familiar with the book as her sons had read it at school. “I knew it was a fantastic story,” she says. “We met with the producers Sarah Radclyffe and Barnaby Spurrier and all got along well, so we decided to embark on this epic journey together!”

The producer says it took a while to raise the financing, and the project was finally greenlit to get into preproduction in the summer of 2020. “That was right in the heart of the COVID pandemic,” she recalls. “We had to adjust pretty rapidly to everyone working from home, but we managed it fairly well, and Neil and Kirk quickly got used to briefing the crew and giving feedback over Google Meets and Slack.”

‘Michael Morpurgo always includes important themes, such as the value of respecting nature and protecting animals and finding understanding across different cultures — but always in a way that is integral to the story.’

— Producer Camilla Deakin

“We always joked that the pandemic created the perfect situation to make a film about being isolated on a desert island, because in reality we were all isolated in our houses and home studios!” says Boyle. “But credit to the production staff at Lupus Films — they figured out a way for all our artists and technicians to communicate and share work, and we even had a few online parties along the way, so we had a much easier time of it than the characters in our film!”

Deakin says one of the things that drew her to the project was the way her sons, who were around nine or 10 at the time, responded to it. “They were drawn in by the sense of jeopardy for the young boy Michael, the terror he feels when he first washes up on the desert island and the tenderness of the relationships he forms with Kensuke and the animals,” she notes. “Michael Morpurgo is so good at writing adventure stories with a heart, and he always includes important themes, such as the value of respecting nature and protecting animals and finding understanding across different cultures, but always in a way that is integral to the story.”

Hendry believes that the book is a rare beast. “It’s [a] proper adventure story full of action and excitement, but at the same time it is also extremely gentle, with a complex emotional core,” he explains. “These two things don’t often sit side by side. It also includes a really important ecological message for our times. To have all three of those things — adventure, emotion and a timely message — that plays well to all ages, is a tremendous gift.”

One of the biggest challenges for the creative team was to find ways of telling the story with the minimum of dialog. “We approached the film this way for two reasons,” explains Boyle. “The first is because it’s a film about people and other animals, who do not share a common spoken language: Michael is an English boy who cannot speak Japanese, and Kensuke is a Japanese man who cannot speak English. And none of the humans can communicate verbally with the animals. So, we had to find ways for our characters to show, rather than speak, their emotions. The second reason for minimizing dialogue is that both Kirk and I are fans of very visual storytelling. We love to play with composition, camera blocking, body language, production design, color palette, sound design and the musical score, the combination of which, we feel, gives the audience the strongest cinematic experience.”

**Early Accolades:** ‘Kensuke’s Kingdom’ was nominated for four British Animation Awards (Best Feature, Writing, Music and Sound) in February.

About two-thirds of the animation was produced in the U.K., managed from the Lupus Films studio in London. The other third of the animation was done by co-producer Melusine Productions at their studio, Studio 352, in Luxembourg. Storyboarding, layout and background artwork were also divided between the U.K. and Luxembourg. The 3D visual effects and compositing were done in Wales at Bumpybox.

“The tools we used to make the film were quite varied, ranging from old-school pencil and paper for some of our initial character designs, through to TVPaint software for our final 2D character animation,” says Boyle. “We also used Maya and Unreal Engine for our 3D work; Photoshop was used for much of the background painting; and everything was composited in Nuke.”

Hendry adds, “In terms of characters, we went quite naturalistic in proportion as we felt the drama required it. In overall design terms, Neil and I often reference matte paintings from the Golden Age of Hollywood and beyond. The not-quite-real artifice of it all allows you to readily suspend your disbelief. They are full of charm that is often missing from [the] digital photoreal matte paintings commonplace in contemporary films. We also took inspiration from the sketch work of Japanese artist Hiroshige for our Nagasaki flashback sequence. The simplicity in the line and the use of negative space in the environment is beautiful and contrasted nicely with the rich style of the rest of the film.”

“In a design story sense, we like to use the environmental elements to push how the characters are feeling,” he says. “When Michael first lands on the island, it is alien to him. So it’s sharp and jagged, grey, the animals are reptilian. As he learns to adjust to life on the island it becomes warmer, more colourful with furry animals that are more comforting.”

Kensuke's Kingdom - Nagasaki Concept Art — “Nagasaki” sequence concept artwork, courtesy of Lupus Films

Kirk Hendry, Neil Boyle and author Michael Morpugo

The creative team hopes audiences around the world will fall in love with the characters and the involving narrative as much as they did. “First and foremost, we want them to leave the theater feeling they have been fully entertained and, perhaps, also wiping away a bittersweet tear,” says Boyle. “But beyond that, we worked hard to preserve Michael Morpurgo’s message of hope and the idea that ‘family’ — blood families, chosen families and the wider family of humans, animals and the natural world — is something to be respected and cherished. And I really think we have successfully achieved that.”

He adds, “Michael is very, very proud of our adaptation, and he has told us that it is the one film he feels is even better than his original book! So, obviously both Kirk and I, and our whole creative team, are thrilled to hear that, and we continue to be thrilled by the wonderful audience reactions we are getting.”

“Kensuke’s Kingdom” features beautifully drawn 2D backgrounds and meticulous craftsmanship.

For more information, visit lupusfilms.com.

Exclusive Clip: Meet ‘Migration’s Flock of Artists

Mercedes Milligan

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February 26, 2024

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Exclusive Clip: Meet ‘Migration’s Flock of Artists

Just as the latest original family feature from animation hitmaker studio Illumination (Despicable Me, Sing) has flapped to new heights at the box office, Animation Magazine is chuffed to debut a first-look at one of the behind-the-scenes featurettes coming home with Migration this week! Hear from key creatives who worked on the avian comedy-adventure about how the studio’s many departments flew in formation to create the movie’s visual expression.

Introduced by Illumination Founder & CEO Chris Meledandri, p.g.a., The clip features director Benjamin Renner (Ernest & Celestine, The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales), co-director Guylo Homsy (layout lead, Despicable Me 2; layout dept. supe, Sing), production designer Colin Stimpson, editor Christian Gazal, supervising animator Fabrice Senia, compositing supervisor Céline Allègre, CG supervisor François Boudaille, layout cinematography supervisor Damien Bapst and lighting supervisor Thierry Noblet.

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Available on Digital, 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD on February 27, Migration: Collector’s Edition over an hour of never-before-seen exclusive content as well as three all-new mini movies. The film follows the Mallard family, as they embark on a journey south for the winter to Jamaica via New York City, only for their well-laid plans to go awry, leading to new friends and unknown horizons.

Migration features an all-star cast, including Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick), Elizabeth Banks (Pitch Perfect), Keegan-Michael Key (The Super Mario Bros. Movie), Awkwafina (The Little Mermaid) and Danny DeVito (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia).

As of Sunday, Migration is the fourth-highest-grossing animated feature released in 2023, reaching $120.4 million on the domestic and worldwide charts after 66 days of release. The pic has pulled ahead of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem ($180.5M worldwide / $118.6M domestic), Trolls Band Together ($207.3M / $102.97M) and Wish ($249.7M / $63.9M) and comes in behind Elemental ($496.4M / $154.5M), Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse ($690.6M / $381.3M) and The Super Mario Bros. Movie ($1.36 billion / $574.9M). The Mallards have a shot at the Top 20 domestic films of 2023 if they can wing past Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom ($433.7M).

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment also released a fun themed activity pack with fans and families can download here.

Bonus Features:

Fly Hard (Mini-Movie) – Chump sheds her tough-as-nails attitude, risking her life to fly through a blizzard and the harrowing streets of New York to return a prized possession to a kind woman from the park.
Mooned (Mini-Movie) – Following the events of Despicable Me, Vector and a lost Minion are stranded on the moon, and struggle to get back to Earth.
Midnight Mission (Mini-Movie) – The Minions will try anything to help Agnes overcome her fear of the dark, even if it involves going into outer space.
Microphone Madness – A fun look behind-the-scenes as the cast record some of their silliest lines.
Meet the Cast – In this series of behind-the-scenes pieces, we learn more about our favorite characters and the legendary comedic voices behind them.
- Kumail Nanjiani: Mack
- Elizabeth Banks: Pam
- Keegan-Michael Key: Delroy
- Awkwafina: Chump
- Danny Devito: Uncle Dan
- Carol Kane: Erin
- Caspar Jennings: Dax & Tresi Gazal: Gwen
Taking Flight: The Making Of – Migration is an original script so brand-new characters and locations had to be developed, designed and animated from scratch! Here, filmmakers and crew break down their process to show us what gives this film an entirely new look and feel.
The Art of Flight – Using a series of production phases from storyboards to pre-viz, we peel back the feathers and reveal just what goes in to creating the avian heroes of the film.
The Sound of Flight – Take a closer look at the music of Migration as composer John Powell walks us through his scoring journey.
How to Draw:
- Mack
- Delroy
- Chump
- Gwen
Build Your Own Pop-Up Book – Daddy duck, Mack, likes to tell his two little ducklings some … overly imaginative bedtime stories. In this fun “How To” we’ll show you how to create a pop-up book so you can tell your very own bedtime stories!
Calling All Birds – They may not have cellphones, but you can call your web-footed friends anytime you want! In this fun How To, we’ll teach you how to create and customize your very own set of colorful bird whistles.
- The Mack Quack
- The Heron Honk
- The Chump Chirp
Best Nests – You don’t have to fly south –or anywhere –to find a perfect paradise for your feathered friends. Here we’ll teach you how to make the best nest for your pet ducks, or anyone flying by, including a water feeder to keep them hydrated!
- Nests
- Water Feeder

Trailer: CG-Animated ‘Dora’ Adventure Begins April 12 on Paramount+

Mercedes Milligan

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February 26, 2024

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Trailer: CG-Animated ‘Dora’ Adventure Begins April 12 on Paramount+

Paramount+ celebrates the return of iconic Latina preschool heroine Dora the Explorer with the reveal of the official trailer and key art for the upcoming original preschool series Dora. Produced by Nickelodeon Animation, the 26 x 11 min., 3D-animated series premieres on Friday, April 12, exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Australia.

Twenty episodes will be available to stream in all Paramount+ international markets outside of France and Japan on April 12. The series will also air on Nick Jr. internationally.

Synopsis: With all-new CG animation and imaginative character-driven storylines, the upcoming Dora series follows everyone’s favorite bilingual explorer, Dora (Diana Zermeño), and her best monkey friend, Boots (Asher Colton Spence), as they embark on epic adventures in a fantastical rainforest. Guided by trustworthy Map (Anairis Quiñones), Dora and her friends must work together to overcome many obstacles while being challenged by the sneakiest fox, Swiper (Marc Weiner).

Kathleen Herles, the original voice of Dora the Explorer, returns to the new series as Mami, and Mike Smith Rivera joins the cast as Papi. The new voice cast also features Maria Canals-Barrera as Abuela; Danny Burstein as Grumpy Old Troll and The Fiesta Trio’s Frog and Marmoset; Katarina Sky as Backpack; Donovan Monzon-Sanders as Tico; Tandi Fomukong as Isa; Quintún Muñoz as Benny; Chris Gifford as Big Red Chicken; and Quiñones as The Fiesta Trio’s Armadillo. Featured guest stars this season are Taboo as Quickatoo and Kate del Castillo as Ale the Alebrije.

Dora is produced by Nickelodeon Animation in Burbank, California. Rich Magallanes, Chris Gifford and Valerie Walsh Valdes serve as executive producers. Henry Lenardin-Madden serves as co-executive producer, and Alejandro Bien-Willner serves as story editor. Marielle Kaar is Nickelodeon’s executive in charge of production for the series. Dora the Explorer was created by Chris Gifford, Valerie Walsh Valdes and Eric Weiner.

Also launching this spring is Dora’s Recipe for Adventure, Nickelodeon’s brand-new podcast for preschoolers and families, which centers on Dora and celebrates culture, food, family and the importance of embracing oneself. Featuring all-new music, the 10-episode audio series follows Dora and Boots on their exciting expeditions through the rainforest as they search for the missing ingredients for some of her family’s favorite dishes, such as caldo de piedra (stone soup), arroz con huevos (rice with eggs) and maduros (fried sweet plantains). Soon to be available wherever listeners get their podcasts.

Premiering on Nickelodeon on August 14, 2000, Dora the Explorer quickly emerged as a global pop culture phenomenon, and i still one of the most-watched preschool shows of all time nearly 25 years later. The series currently is seen in more than 150 countries and territories and translated in 32 languages through Nickelodeon channels, Paramount+ around the globe and syndication.

Over its eight-season run, which is currently available to stream in full on Paramount+, Dora the Explorer received countless accolades, including Emmy, Peabody, NAACP, Alma, Imagen, Latino Spirit, Gracie Allen, Parents’ Choice, Common Sense Media and Television Critics Association awards.

‘Iwájú’ Director Olufikayo Ziki Adeola Guides Us Through a Future Lagos Full of High-Tech and Tradition

Karen Idelson

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February 25, 2024

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‘Iwájú’ Director Olufikayo Ziki Adeola Guides Us Through a Future Lagos Full of High-Tech and Tradition

This article was written for the
April '24 issue of Animation Magazine (No. 339).

The place where you spent your childhood and called home can keep a magical hold on you throughout your life. Nigeria is the foundation of the new animated Disney miniseries Iwájú, which premieres this week.

Set in Lagos, where Olufikayo Ziki Adeola, the co-founder of the U.K.-based Kugali Media, lived until his mid-teens, the original animated show takes place in a futuristic version of the city, and the show follows Tola, a young girl from a wealthy background and her closest friend, Kole, who is a self-educated tech expert, as they grow up and learn about the beauty and the dangers of their world. Iwájú weaves the culture and traditions of Nigeria with a sci-fi edge that gives the show a unique look.

Adeola directs the series. Disney Animation’s Christina Chen is producing with Jennifer Lee, Walt Disney Animation Studios’ chief creative officer, serving as executive producer. The screenplay is written by Adeola and Halima Hudson. Toluwalakin Olowofoyeku is the cultural consultant.

Iwájú — © 2024 Disney. All Rights Reserved.

A Love Letter to Home

“The primary source of inspiration was my time growing up in Lagos,” says Adeola. “I’m Nigerian and I grew up in Lagos, then I emigrated to the U.K. when I was about 15 years old. Throughout my life in the U.K., I’d always wanted to find a way to share my experience of living in Nigeria with my friends here. I always knew I wanted to tell a story that was effectively some kind of representation of Lagos because it’s such a really interesting place with so many idiosyncrasies that, I think, are unlike many other places in the world. This is a love letter to Lagos.”

Adeola says he wanted the show itself to be a realistic representation of the Lagos experience. “Lagos is a beautiful city, but some of these realities are also a little bit harsher,” he admits. “I wanted people to be able to experience that, that medley of life in Lagos, but then also give them an opportunity for escapism, because we want to enjoy the shows we watch. So, that’s where the sci-fi elements come in.”

‘We want the audience to feel those emotions when they see the animation and hear the music. Our story is set in Lagos, but the theme of the innocence of our protagonist against harsher realities is universal.’

— Director Olufikayo Ziki Adeola

Award-winning VFX veteran Marlon West (whose long list of Disney credits including The Lion King, The Princess and the Frog, the Frozen movies, Moana and Encanto) adds, “We were we trying to make Lagos today recognizable to anyone who lives there and has visited there. There are flying cars because the show is set in the future, but there are still buses. There is facial recognition and there are robots, but there’s still cash because Nigerians prefer cash to using credit cards. There was an authenticity that we were trying to nail but still make something that was fun. The audience is going to be connected to the real world of Lagos but also to these interesting sci-fi elements.”

Animation for the series was done at Cinesite’s Montreal, Vancouver and London locations, while storyboards and preproduction were done at Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Burbank and Vancouver sites. Hamid Ibrahim served as production designer for the show and is also creative director at Kugali Media.

Marlon West c/o Walt Disney Animation Studios — Marlon West

“Our production designer wanted to have kind of a painterly look on things as they receded into the distance,” says West. “We decided to dial in and out of that, because it looked great in some scenes, but we didn’t want to use that painterly look for depth of field. When you’re in a flying car looking over the mainland, you don’t want a bunch of brushstrokes down there because you want to really see the lights of this beautiful world. We also just have the character design a little pushed as far as angles and things, and we kind of let some of the lighting go from one side being lit up to one side being darker in a way. This may not be what we usually do, but [it] was also in support of the world we were trying to make and the visual storytelling our production designer wanted to use.”

In keeping with the realistic portrayal of Nigeria, Adeola wanted to cast actors who could represent the Nigerian accent accurately so that audiences who are from the country wouldn’t be taken out of the story by something that didn’t seem real. The series stars Simisola Gbadamosi as Tola, Dayo Okeniyi (a Nigerian American actor known for playing Thresh in The Hunger Games and Danny Dyson in Terminator Genisys), Nigerian actor Femi Branch, Siji Soetan as Kole and Weruche Opia (a British Nigerian actor known for her performance in I May Destroy You).

“Disney worked with a casting agent based in Lagos because authenticity is important,” says Adeola. “One of my pet peeves is hearing African accents butchered in various productions. Having a local casting agent based in Nigeria helped us connect with people who are either based there and can really pull off the accent in addition to their acting talent or [those] who are formerly from Africa or have family from Nigeria, because that’s a huge help. They sent me a lot of materials from auditions and, in truth, the ones who we ended up casting stood out the second I listened to them.”

Afro Beat

The show creator also wanted music for the series that supported the storytelling and was inspired by Lagos. Ré Olunuga, a Nigerian composer who is known for his work on Shuga and Girl, created the score for the series.

“Disney’s music department had presented some options in terms of who our composer would be and we ended up going with Ré, and I think it was a really solid match because we already had similar visions for the score in the sense that we wanted something that was emblematic of the spirit of Lagos,” says Adeola.

Sci-Fi Sounds

“In addition to the sounds of Nigeria we needed sounds and music that people are familiar with in other parts of the world. This is also a futuristic show as well, so we need elements of sci-fi and high tech in the score. And lastly, although this is meant to be a love letter to Lagos, it’s important that this story is universal in its ability to be enjoyed. There are some things that you listen to in our series that might remind you of things like The Avengers or science-fiction movies.”

Adeola says the score is kind of a blend of these different elements. “To be honest, I loved the composition process,” he says. “Between the composition and the animation, I’m not sure which was my favorite part, because I think music carries so much emotion and gives such a sense of place. When you go to the studio and you see a full orchestra playing all of these different songs with all these different themes with the show in the backdrop, it really pulls on your heartstrings. We want the audience to feel those emotions when they see the animation and hear the music. Our story is set in Lagos, but the theme of the innocence of our protagonist against harsher realities is universal.”

All six episodes of Iwájú premiere on Disney+ on Wednesday, February 28. The series will also air on Disney Channel across Africa starting April 22.

César Awards: ‘Chicken for Linda!’ Wins Animated Feature Prize

Animation Magazine

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February 23, 2024

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César Awards: ‘Chicken for Linda!’ Wins Animated Feature Prize

The 49th César awards — France’s most esteemed filmmaking honors, presented by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma — were held Friday night (February 23) in Paris. The 2024 ceremony at the Olympia was hosted by Valérie Lemercier (Aline, Les Visiteurs), and saw Honorary Césars awarded to British-American director Christopher Nolan and actress/filmmaker Agnès Jaoui.

This year’s winningest film is Anatomy of a Fall, which earned Best Film, made Justine Triet the second woman in Césars history to win Best Director, and won three additional categories.

In the Best Animated Feature race, Chicken for Linda! (Linda Veut du Poulet!) had the right flavor to win over the Academie. Directed by Chiara Malta & Sébastien Laudenbach, the story of a loving mother trying to cheer up her daughter by cooking her late father’s signature chicken dish — even though she can’t cook and there’s a general strike — adds the César to a trophy case which already boasts the Lumière award, Annecy Cristal and Cinekid Lion. GKIDS handles distribution for the film in the U.S.

Mathilde Bédouet’s Summer 96 (Été 96) was awarded the Best Animated Short Film honor. The nostalgic vacation story unfolds as a beach outing goes awry: Paul, his family and friends are enjoying their annual picnic on Callot Island, but are trapped by the tide, leading to a new awareness in Paul’s adolescent psyche. The film recently screened in competition at Clermont-Ferrand, and is available to stream through France.TV.

The Best Visual Effects award went to The Animal Kingdom (Le Règne animal) from previous triple-César winner Thomas Cailley (Love at First Sight). The sci-fi adventure is set in a world where a mysterious mutation condition gradually transforms some humans into animal hybrids, and centers on a man who follows the creatures into the forest with his teenage son in a desperate bid to save his afflicted wife. The picture also won for Cinematography and Costumes, and was the most-nominated film this year with 12 nods.

Winners & Nominees

Best Animated Feature

Winner: Linda Veut du Poulet! (Chicken for Linda!) — dir. Chiara Malta & Sébastien Laudenbach, prod. Marc Irmer, Emmanuel-Alain Raynal & Pierre Baussaron
Interdix aux Chiens et aux Italiens (No Dogs or Italians Allowed)– directed by Alain Ughetto, produced by Alexandre Cornu, Jean-François Le Corre & Mattieu Courtois
Mars Express — dir. Jérémie Périn, prod. Didier Creste

Best Animated Short Film
(Academy Awards-qualifying prize.)

Winner: Été 96 (Summer 96) — dir. Mathilde Bédouet, prod. Ninon Chapuis, Thibault De Gantès, Lucas Le Postec & Simon Ingelaere
Drôles d’oiseaux (Funny Birds) — dir. Charlie Belin, prod. Virginie Giachino & Jean-Stéphane Michaux
La Forêt de Mademoiselle Tang (陳小姐的森林) (The Forest of Miss Tang) — dir. Denis Do, prod. Sébastien Onomo

Best Visual Effects

Winner: Le Règne Animal (The Animal Kingdom) — Cyrille Bonjean, Bruno Sommier, Jean-Louis Autret
Acide
La Montagne
Les Trois Mousquetaires (The Three Musketeers) Part 1: D’Artagnan / Part 2: Milady

academie-cinema.org

A Quick Guide to Cartoon Movie 2024 and Some of the Stand-Out Projects to Sneak Peek

Ramin Zahed

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February 23, 2024

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A Quick Guide to Cartoon Movie 2024 and Some of the Stand-Out Projects to Sneak Peek

This article was written for the
April '24 issue of Animation Magazine (No. 339).

Global animation veterans look forward to the annual Cartoon Movie event in Bordeaux, France, as much as they anticipate the arrival of spring. This year’s annual parade of upcoming animated movies in various stages of development and production will showcase 55 projects, March 5 to 7.

As has been the case for many years, France has emerged as the leading producer of animated movies in Europe, with 15 projects in 2024. It’s followed by Belgium, Germany and Spain with five each; Norway with four; Italy, Luxembourg and Poland with three each; Czechia, Denmark, Ireland and Sweden with two each; and Finland, Hungary, Netherlands and Portugal with one each. The majority of projects are in the development stage (33, 60%), and most of the pics are aimed at family audiences (31, 54%).

Seasoned directors will present their latest projects at Cartoon Movie 2024, including the In Concept works Alain Ughetto (director of No Dogs or Italians Allowed, 2022) with Rose and the Marmots, or Alessandro Rak (director and co-writer of The Art of Happiness, 2013, winner of the 2014 European Film Awards for European Animated Feature Film) with The Little Prince of Shangri-La.

In development, attendees will be introduced to Dog my cats! by Alain Gagnol (co-director of Nina and the Hedgehog’s Secret, 2023), Out of Frame by Toby Genkel (director of The Amazing Maurice, 2022), Summer in the Hood by Jean-Pascal Zadi (actor, director and writer) & Louis Clichy (co-director of Asterix: The Mansions of the Gods, 2014) and The Wild Inside by Patrick Imbert (writer and director of The Summit of the Gods, 2021).

First-look images and footage of films In Production will be shown by Alexis Ducord (co-director of Zombillénium, 2017) & Vincent Parronaud (writer-director of Persepolis) with Into the Wonderwoods, as well as directing duo Kari Juusonen & Jørgen Lerdam (The Incredible Story of the Giant Pear, 2017) with Niko – Beyond the Northern Lights.

And in the Sneak Preview section, audiences will discover Elli directed by Jesper Møller, Piet de Rycker & Jens Møller, as well as Kensuke’s Kingdom (nominated for the Annecy Cristal in 2023) by Neil Boyle & Kirk Hendry, Living Large directed by Kristina Dufková and SuperKlaus by Steven Majaury (Mission Kathmandu: The Adventures of Nelly & Simon, 2017) & Andrea Sebastiá.

The winner of this year’s Cartoon Tributes will also be announced at the event. The nominees are:

European Producer of the Year

Animagrad (FILM.UA Group) (Ukraine) for Mavka. The Forest Song
Fernando Trueba Prod. (Spain) / LolaFilms (Spain) / Les Films d’Ici Méditerranée (France) / Submarine (Netherlands) & Animanostra (Portugal) for They Shot the Piano Player
Sacrebleu Productions (France) / Take Five (Belgium) & Ciel de Paris (France) for Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Winds
TAT Productions (France) for The Jungle Bunch: World Tour and Epic Tails

European Distributor of the Year

Eurozoom (France); The Island, Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles, Cafard
Films4You (Portugal); Calamity: A Childhood of Martha Jane Cannary, Flee, Titina
Pro Films (Bulgaria); The Inseparables, The Elfkins – Baking a Difference, Dreambuilders
Selmer Media (Norway); Epic Tails, My Fairy Troublemaker, Dragonkeeper

European Director of the Year

Enzo D’Alò for A Greyhound of a Girl (Italy)
Isabel Herguera for Sultana’s Dream (Spain)
Chiara Malta & Sébastien Laudenbach for Chicken for Linda! (France)
Jérémie Périn for Mars Express (France)

Winners will be announced at the Bordeaux Congress Center on March 7.

For more up-to-date info about the events and the selected projects, visit cartoon-media.eu.

A Cartoon Movie Sampler

There are so many brilliant and original movies debuting at the event this year, but here are a few titles that grabbed our attention before the show. Visit our website for full coverage of the event in early March.

Dog My Cats!

Among the many movies making a splash at Cartoon Movie is a new project by director Alain Gagnol and producer Jérôme Duc-Maugé, who collaborated on last year’s pic Nina and the Hedgehog’s Secret. Their new 2D-animated movie Dog My Cats! follows the adventures of a young brother and sister who discover that their visiting grandmother has the ability to talk to cats and dogs.

“We were in the middle of production on Nina and the Hedgehog’s Secret, directed by Alain Gagnol, and I suggested we develop a new project together,” Duc-Maugé tells Animation Magazine. “Unlike his first three films, we didn’t want it to be about a child solving an adult problem, but rather a family comedy. Alain came up with the idea of a grandmother who has the power to talk to cats and dogs and who passes it on to her grandchildren on a road trip.”

According to the producer, the film’s 2D animation will be produced in France, Luxembourg and possibly in Canada, and it should be ready for theaters by 2026. “Of course, getting cats and dogs to talk to us is a big challenge,” Duc-Maugé says with a smile. “But we’re counting on our lead actress, Josiane Balasko (French Twist, The Hedgehog, Too Beautiful for You), who voices the grandmother Jeanne. She loves them very much!”

Dickie

This 2D adaptation of popular Belgian artist Pieter De Poortere’s graphic novel follows the life and mysterious death of a wild and crazy humor icon known as Dickie — from his tumultuous childhood to his rise and fall as a popular comic. Directed by De Poortere himself, with a script by Bill Morrison, this animated mockumentary has a great potential to be a fun spoof of fame culture, some of our favorite movies and annoying Hollywood celebrities. The Belgian-Serbian co-production is currently in development with producers Renaat van Ginderachter, Peter Rogiers and Predrag Joldić (AIMI Studio) attached.

Elli

Jesper Møller, Piet de Rycker and Jens Møller are the talented directing trio behind the new CG-animated feature Elli. The charming family film centers on the adventures of a homeless little ghost who finds herself on a mysterious Ghost Train and is befriended by an eccentric group of monsters. However, when she is accidentally spotted by the outside world, she has to team up with her new family to avoid an impending disaster. Based on the book by Klaus Baumgart, the movie is produced by Germany’s Dreamin Dolphin (Lilian Klages) and co-produced by Canada’s CarpeDiem Film (Marie-Claude Beauchamp) and Germany’s Traumhaus Studios (Michael Luda). With Pink Parrot Media already securing sales across Europe under the title Elli and Her Monster Team, we see good things materializing for this friendly little ghost.

Living Large

The trials and tribulations of a bullied, overweight 12-year old are at the heart of this highly original movie directed by Kristina Dufková (Fimfarum 3) and based on a book by Mikaël Ollivier (La vie, en gros). Aimed at a teen audience familiar with the challenges of life at the protagonist’s age, Living Large uses a mix of stop-motion and CG animation to tell its heartwarming story. Czech studio Barletta (Matej Chlupacek) is the project’s main producer, along with co-producers Slovakia’s Novinski (Agata Jeleneková) and France’s Novanima Productions (Marc Faye).

The Little Prince of Shangri-La

Italian writer-director Alessandro Rak, who is best known for such movies as The Art of Happiness, Cinderella the Cat and Yaya and Lennie: The Walking Liberty, is back at Cartoon Movie with a fascinating new project: The Little Prince of Shangri-La centers on the search for the 14th Dalai Lama in Tibet by a small expedition. The ill-assorted team consists of Alexandra, a very young French explorer; Aphur, a young warrior monk; and Kewstang, an elderly and very friendly Lama. Will the trio be able to find the new Dalai and save Tibet? Judging from the eye-catching early illustrations and Rak’s excellent track record, we know it’s going to be a fascinating journey! Italy’s MAD Entertainment is the producer.

Lucy Lost

Author Michael Morpurgo (War Horse) is having quite a moment. His book Kensuke’s Kingdom was adapted into an acclaimed new animated feature by Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry, while French studio Xilam is working on another one of his books, Listen to the Moon. This lovely 2D-animated movie follows Lucy, a lively girl with extraordinary faculties, who seems out of place among the fishermen of the Isles of Scilly. She discovers a new strength when she befriends a mysterious girl named Milly. The upcoming feature is directed by Olivier Clert, produced by Xilam president Marc du Pontavice (I Lost My Body) and Lucie Bolze.

MouMoush — The King of Plastic

Back in 2018, Milorad Krstic made a big splash with his thought-provoking animated feature Ruben Brandt, Collector. The talented Slovenia-born, Budapest-based artist will be bringing his new project, MouMoush — The King of Plastic, to Cartoon Movie this month. Written and directed by Krstic, the 2D-CG hybrid pic centers on two siblings whose summer break turns into an adventure fighting an evil man who dreams of world domination. After MouMoush and his righthand, Dr. Sinistrad, use a secret potion to turn Paris bridges and the Eiffel Tower into croissant dough, the siblings travel back in time to foil his plans. If you need to learn more about this intriguing venture, you’ll have to get in touch with Krstic and his producer Radmila Roczkov at Hungary’s Mumus Production. Or you can read our report after the presentation online!

Summer in the Hood

Jean-Pascal Zadi is best known for his Cesar-winning performance in the 2020 movie Simply Black. This year, the talented actor and writer has a new animated project on the horizon. Summer in the Hood is co-written and co-directed by Zadi and Louis Clichy, the latter of whom also helmed Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion and Asterix and Obelix: Mansion of the Gods and worked on Pixar’s WALL•E and Up as well. The slice-of-life feature tells the story of 13-year-old Kali, who leaves his home in Normandy to spend summer vacation in a housing project outside Paris. Silex Films (Priscilla Bertin) and Douze Doigts (Judith Nora) are the lead producers of the hard-to-resist feature.

Disney-Kugali Co-Pro ‘Iwájú’ Will Air Across Africa

Mercedes Milligan

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February 23, 2024

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Disney-Kugali Co-Pro ‘Iwájú’ Will Air Across Africa

Following the February 28 Disney+ debut of Iwájú, the new animated sci-fi adventure from Walt Disney Animation Studios and pan-African entertainment company Kugali, the series will be heading to Disney Channel across Africa.

Iwájú will air across Africa on Disney Channel —distributed on DStv platform (Channel 303) — this April and May, giving viewers across the continent an opportunity to view the series in territories where Disney+ is not available.

“We created Iwájú as a love letter to Lagos, Nigeria, and an ode to the rich legacy of African storytelling,” said director Olufikayo Ziki Adeola. “We’re proud to share this series and hope that it inspires more Africans across the world to share their stories and shape our collective narrative.”

Christine Service, SVP and General Manager of The Walt Disney Company Africa, commented, “Iwájú is a true celebration of the creativity and storytelling excellence that is at the heart of Disney, bringing the immense talent and creative vision of home-grown filmmakers to the world. With the distribution of the series on Disney Channel, the release of the Disney Iwájú: Rising Chef mobile game and the Iwájú Original Soundtrack Score, we are excited to give audiences across Africa the chance to experience this ambitious and uniquely innovative series.”

A first-of-its-kind collaboration between Disney and Kugali, Iwájú is an original animated series set in a futuristic Lagos and tells the exciting coming-of-age story of Tola, a young girl from the wealthy island, and her best friend, Kole, a self-taught tech expert, as they discover the secrets and dangers hidden in their different worlds. Iwájú streams exclusively on Disney+ Feb. 28 in a six-episode event. The making-of documentary special Iwájú: A Day Ahead debuts the same day.

In Africa, Iwájú will premiere each weekday from April. 22-26 at 17:00 CAT / 16:00 WAT, with a special marathon on April 27 from 14:00 CAT / 13:00 WAT , leading up to the final episode at 17:00 CAT / 16:00 WAT. Special repeat broadcasts will run from April 29 – May 4, with a marathon on May 5 from 13:35 CAT / 12:35 WAT, and on Africa Day (May 25), viewers will be able to view another six-episode marathon from 11:00 CAT / 10:00 WAT.

Read all about the making of the series in the April ’24 issue of Animation Magazine, available soon.

Live-Action ‘Naruto’ Movie Attaches Writer-Director Destin Daniel Cretton

Mercedes Milligan

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February 23, 2024

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Live-Action ‘Naruto’ Movie Attaches Writer-Director Destin Daniel Cretton

Lionsgate has closed a deal with director Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) to write and direct its live-action adaptation of the manga classic Naruto. The announcement was made today (Friday) by Adam Fogelson, Chair, Lionsgate Motion Picture Group.

“This manga classic is beloved by millions of fans all around the world, and Destin has delivered a vision for the movie that we believe will excite that massive fan base as well as those who are new to it,” said Fogelson. “Avi [Arad] and I have had the pleasure of working together before and I know that as we collaborate with Destin and the team on Naruto, we are in extraordinary hands.”

Producers Avi and Ari Arad added, “Naruto is one of the greatest manga ever written that has captivated hearts and minds globally. Collaborating with the legendary Kishimoto-san and the esteemed team at Shueisha has been a joy and an honor. We are beyond excited to have Destin at the helm, bringing this cherished saga to life under the Lionsgate banner.”

The motion picture will be based on the global hit manga created by Masashi Kishimoto, which has printed over 250 million copies in more than 60 countries and territories as well as spawning popular anime and video game franchises.

“It was a true honor to meet Kishimoto-san in Tokyo and hear his expansive vision for his creation,” said Cretton. “We are very excited to collaborate and bring Naruto to the big screen.”

Kishimoto commented, “When I heard of Destin’s attachment, it happened to be right after watching a blockbuster action film of his, and I thought he would be the perfect director for Naruto. After enjoying his other films and understanding that his forte is in creating solid dramas about people, I became convinced that there is no other director for Naruto. In actually meeting Destin, I also found him to be an open-minded director who was willing to embrace my input, and felt strongly that we would be able to cooperate together in the production process. To put it simply, the live-action Naruto is bound to be a film with spectacular action and profound drama. I can’t help but be excited for it.”

Cretton previously directed the Marvel blockbuster Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, as well as the multiple award-winner Short Term 12, among other films. He is set to direct a Shang-Chi sequel. He most recently executive produced the series American Born Chinese for Disney+.

Avi Arad, Ari Arad and Emmy Yu produce for Arad Productions with Jeremy Latcham. Cretton is producing alongside Jeyun Munford through his company, Hisako.

Cretton previously collaborated with Lionsgate on the film The Glass Castle. The studio’s James Myers, who oversaw that project, will also oversee Naruto, alongside Jon Humphrey.

Bonnie Stylides oversaw the negotiations of the deal for Lionsgate. Cretton is represented by WME and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher.

Disney and Laika Character Sculptor Kent Melton Dies at Age 68

Ramin Zahed

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February 23, 2024

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Disney and Laika Character Sculptor Kent Melton Dies at Age 68

Kent Melton, a master animation sculptor who is best known for making clay maquettes for features such as Aladdin, The Lion King, Mulan, The Incredibles and Coraline, has died at 68. His family told The Hollywood Reporter that he passed away on Thursday at his home in Stone County, Missouri, of Lewy body dementia.

Melton played a big role in crafting maquettes for the top Disney features of the 1990s renaissance, as well as Portland-based studio Laika’s Coraline, ParaNorman and The Boxtrolls and Pixar’s The Incredibles in the 2000s.

At Disney, Melton created maquettes for Aladdin (1992), The Lion King (1994), Pocahontas (1995), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Hercules (1997), Mulan (1998), Tarzan (1999) and Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001). He also handcrafted sculptures for DreamWorks’ The Prince of Egypt (1998), The Road to El Dorado (2000), Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002) and Don Bluth and Gary Goldman’s Thumbelina (1994). He also created porcelain-based sculptures for the Walt Disney Classics Collection.

Melton grew up in rural southwest Missouri, and taught himself to draw every day after finishing his farm chores. He later took his cartoon sculptures of The Beatles to a music festival in Chicago. That’s where he met a Disney employee who told him that he could find a job working at the studio using his sculpting talents. After moving to Los Angeles, he was able get hired by Hanna-Barbera as the studio’s first sculptor, through the same stranger he had met at the music festival.

For Hanna-Barbera, he sculpted maquettes for characters from The Flintstones and The Jetsons and worked on The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley. He also created character-based sculptures for Warner Bros.’ Tiny Toon Adventures. Then, a chance encounter with a parent at his son’s fourth birthday party led him to getting hired a Disney.

Sculptor Kent Melton — Kent Melton at work

“Kids were coming in, and parents would trudge in behind them,” Melton told 417 Magazine in 2015. “I noticed one guest just staring at my sculptures for Warner Bros. on the table. The next week, I got a phone call from Disney. It turns out the guy at the birthday party was an art director at Disney. He saw my work, and the next day he was walking past directors for Aladdin, who were talking about how they needed sculptors for maquettes. He passed on the birthday party invitation with my number on it. They called me and, as they say, the rest is history.”

“I try to interact with the medium as much as possible,” Melton said in his 417 interview. “Let the clay or paint tell me what it wants and carry on a creative conversation with the art to find out where it takes me. I love the process. “When I was a kid, I never kept anything. I never cared about the final work; it was just the process that I loved. I love the experience of painting, drawing, sculpting, playing music, carving — anything. That’s what art is; it’s an experience.”

“Working in film has been great,” Melton said. “I’ve gotten to meet a lot of cool people and childhood idols. It’s always nice to meet people who have accomplished something with their life. There are so many people who will criticize you and tell you can’t do things. It’s a lot more fun to hang out with people who say, you know what, you can do that. Nothing is impossible. If a guy who didn’t have any art training can be where I’m at, anything is possible. I’m just a guy. I’m just fascinated hearing about other people, whatever it is they do. I’m just a Missouri boy like all the other Missouri boys. I just happen to get to work with talented people and hopefully influence people in a positive way.”

Survivors include his wife, Martha; children Seth, Jordan and Nellie (an artist and animator) and grandchildren Persephone, Toby, Juliet and Charlie.

[Source: The Hollywood Reporter]

Sanrio Kicks Off Hello Kitty’s 50th Anniversary

Mercedes Milligan

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February 23, 2024

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Sanrio Kicks Off Hello Kitty’s 50th Anniversary

Cheerful pop culture icon Hello Kitty is kicking off a year of festivities in honor of her 50th anniversary. Since her debut in 1974, Hello Kitty has connected generations of people all over the world while sharing her positive message of friendship and kindness.

A cultural ambassador, Hello Kitty has influenced a variety of industries along the way, including fashion, beauty, food, music and design. The character helped introduce American audiences to a new aesthetic, opening doors for wider appreciation of Japanese pop culture and storytelling.

To celebrate this golden anniversary, Sanrio will host a range of programs throughout the year for Hello Kitty fans in the U.S., including an art exhibit in Los Angeles, original content on the Hello Kitty and Friends YouTube channel, exclusive collaborations, limited edition commemorative products, special appearances by Hello Kitty at major sporting events, new metaverse experiences on Roblox, celebrations in Hello Kitty Island Adventure on Apple Arcade, and more. Sanrio also announces several upcoming Hello Kitty Cafe openings across North America.

“An ambassador of friendship and kindness for the past 50 years, Hello Kitty has touched so many people globally and we want to share our appreciation for her fans by offering memorable Hello Kitty-inspired experiences — both IRL and digitally — all year long,” said Craig Takiguchi, Chief Operating Officer of Sanrio, Inc. “We look forward to commemorating this major milestone, while continuing to inspire people from around the world for the next 50 years with our vision of ‘One World, Connecting Smiles.’”

New content across YouTube, social media and in the digital gaming space will honor Hello Kitty’s milestone year. A new AR filter is available to fans on TikTok, featuring Hello Kitty dancing next to five popular landmarks in London, New York, Taiwan, Tokyo and Paris — each adorned with festive animations. Within Roblox, the My Hello Kitty Cafe experience will offer new interactive features each month for players to embrace the cheerful spirit of the beloved character, such as selecting from a range of Hello Kitty-inspired photo frames, dressing in Hello Kitty merchandise and accessories, and more super-cute surprises. Fans will also have the chance to explore a virtual Hello Kitty environment on ZEPETO, an immersive avatar-based social universe, featuring a variety of engaging activities celebrating the icon.

Sanrio is also extending the celebration by creating a virtual Puroland experience, which is an extension of the IRL theme park in Japan, taking place now through March 17. Fans can celebrate by exploring a variety of activities ranging from virtual parades to club events to performances by various artists. Access to the events varies and is available via VR headsets, gaming PCs, or YouTube streaming. Some events are free while others involve a paid component. All can be accessed through the event website for Sanrio Virtual Festival 2024.

Additionally, the Japan Society of Northern California (JSNC), which is committed to promoting understanding and friendship between the U.S. and Japan, has presented Hello Kitty with the Cultural Ambassador Award, recognizing her as an international symbol of peace and friendship.

Keep up with all of the anniversary fun, visit Hello Kitty’s 50th anniversary site here, and follow @sanrio on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and Pinterest, and @hellokitty on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Pinterest and subscribe to the Hello Kitty and Friends YouTube Channel.

Nickelodeon Returns to a Magical Classic with ‘The Fairly OddParents: A New Wish’

Mercedes Milligan

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February 23, 2024

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Nickelodeon Returns to a Magical Classic with ‘The Fairly OddParents: A New Wish’

Cosmo and Wanda are returning to the fully-animated airwaves in the new Nickelodeon original series, The Fairly OddParents: A New Wish, coming this spring in the U.S. A reimagining of the Emmy Award-winning series The Fairly OddParents, this 20-episode series follows the beloved characters fairy godparents as they meet their latest spunky godchild, Hazel Wells. Together, the trio embarks on unimaginable adventures through Dimmadelphia, where anything is possible with a little bit of magic.

The Fairly OddParents: A New Wish will also be available internationally on Netflix later this year.

The new series stars Ashleigh Crystal Hairston (Tiny Toons Looniversity, Craig of the Creek) as the voice of Hazel, an adventurous 10-year-old with unique interests and an even wilder imagination. Susanne Blakeslee (The Loud House, Amphibia) and Daran Norris (The Loud House, The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder) reprise their roles as Wanda and Cosmo, the lovable, recently retired fairy couple ready to take on any challenge. Despite hanging up their crowns after a 10,000 year vacation across space and time, Cosmo and Wanda are out of retirement and back to listening to their magical instincts … no matter how rusty they might be!

Synopsis: In The Fairly OddParents: A New Wish, 10-year-old Hazel Wells has just moved to the big city of Dimmadelphia because of her dad’s new job. On top of being in an unfamiliar environment, it’s the first time she’s been without her brother, Antony, who’s just left for college, leaving her lonely and unsure of herself. All that changes when the pink-and-green-haired neighbors next door reveal that they are no ordinary neighbors … they’re Cosmo and Wanda, fairy godparents! And they’re coming out of retirement to make all of Hazel’s wishes come true.

The upcoming series is produced by Nickelodeon Animation in Burbank, co-executive produced by David Stone (Teen Titans Go!), Lindsay Katai (Infinity Train), Ashleigh Crystal Hairston (Tiny Toons Looniversity, Craig of the Creek) and Daniel Abramovici (The Peanuts Movie). Fred Seibert (Adventure Time) and Butch Hartman (The Fairly OddParents, Danny Phantom) also serve as executive producers. Production is overseen by Claudia Spinelli, SVP Animation for Big Kids, Nickelodeon, and Kelley Gardner, VP Current Series, Animation, Nickelodeon. The series is overseen by executive in charge, Neil Wade.

Nickelodeon’s The Fairly OddParents , which ran from 2001-2017 with 172 episodes, followed the magical adventures of 10-year-old Timmy Turner and his well- meaning fairy godparents who grant him wishes. During its run, the show became one of Nickelodeon’s most beloved properties for both fans and critics, having won and been nominated for dozens of awards. The Fairly OddParents was created by Butch Hartman.

The Path of the Panda

The Art of Combat

Delivering a Knockout

An Epic Journey

Bonus Features:

A Love Letter to Home

Afro Beat

Sci-Fi Sounds

Winners & Nominees

A Cartoon Movie Sampler

Dog My Cats!

Dickie

Elli

Living Large

The Little Prince of Shangri-La

Lucy Lost

MouMoush — The King of Plastic

Summer in the Hood

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