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Comedy Central has dropped an action-packed trailer for its new adult animated comedy Digman!, following the questionable adventures of a washed up archaeology superstar trying to get back in the dirt and set to a rather haunting cover of “All Star” by Smashmouth. The debut toon written and produced by Emmy and Golden Globe winner Andy Samberg (Palm Springs), with co-creator/showrunner Neil Campbell (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), premieres Wednesday, March 22 at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT.
The half-hour animated series is set in a world where archaeologists are massive celebrities and the coolest people on the planet, with Samberg providing the voice of the protagonist, Rip Digman. The principal cast features Mitra Jouhari (Three Busy Debras), Tim Robinson (I Think You Should Leave), Dale Soules (Orange Is the New Black), Guz Khan (Our Flag Means Death), Melissa Fumero (Brooklyn Nine-Nine) and Tim Meadows (The Goldbergs).
As previously announced, the Season 1 guest cast list for Digman! includes Clancy Brown, Andy Daly, Cole Escola, Harvey Guillén, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Marc Evan Jackson, Rachel Kaly, Kerri Kenney, Lauren Lapkus, Jane Lynch, Mike Mitchell, Kyle Mooney, Claudia O’Doherty, Lennon Parham, Daniel Radcliffe, Maya Rudolph, Paul Rust, Jason Schwartzman, Carl Tart, Joe Lo Truglio and Edgar Wright.
The series is created by Samberg and Campbell and produced by CBS Studios alongside Ali Bell and The Lonely Island’s Party Over Here. Animation studio Titmouse and Chris Prynoski, Shannon Prynoski, Antonio Canobbio and Ben Kalina are executive producers.
Carlos Gaxiola, Angel Ibarra A., and their team at Guadalajara-based animation studio Demente have teamed up with show creators Michel Montijo and Steve Skrovan (Everybody Loves Raymond, Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, School of Rock) of Laka Laka Entertainment to take their supernatural passion project The Go-Go Brothersto market. The producers are looking to hook broadcast partners with an energetic, monster-bashing new trailer.
Synopsis: Rodrigo, Santiago, and Diego Gomez are the “Go-Go Brothers,” three young boys who hunt the monsters of urban legends that haunt every region of the country. Traveling around in an old RV with their unsuspecting carny parents and led by Catori, their spirit guide, the boys capture various scary creatures and send them off to Monsterland so that children everywhere can have sweet dreams.
The Go-Go Brothers, main charactersThe Go-Go Brothers, monsters
“Every area of the country has some sort of scary, weird urban legend creature,” explains Montijo. “We looked it up. There are thousands of them, each a product of the geographical area. If a town has a swamp, sure enough there’s a swamp creature, a mountain, there’s a mountain creature, a desert, there’s a desert creature. The possibilities are endless … Because the parents are carnies, the family can travel all across the country and beyond, so the Go-Go Brothers and Catori can encounter so many different types of situations.”
“And it’s wide open for colorful, unique animation and storytelling specific to each particular region,” Demente’s Gaxiola adds.
The series of 11-minute episodes aimed at kids six- to 12-years old begin when the Gomez family vehicle breaks down en route to a gig, and the three boys are dispatched to get new wheels while Papa and Mama try to make it to the carnival owned by grumpy Mr. Crump, who has it in for them. The brothers score a cheap RV, only to find it is already occupied by a ghost.
Catori, the restless spirit, is on a mission to hunt down the monsters of urban legends that haunt the dreams of children everywhere… She just hasn’t been able to catch a single one, so far. In the pilot episode, the Go-Go Brothers and Catori hunt down mischievous gremlins wreaking havoc, having migrated from the “airplane graveyard” nearby.
The Go-Go Brothers – Carnival style frame
Demente has worked with major international entertainment companies such as Warner Bros. Animation (Night of the Animated Dead), WildBrain (Animal Mechanicals), Mattel (Hello Kitty and Friends Mini Tales), Moonbug (Thomas & Friends), Augenblick Studios (City Island), Bardel (Rick and Morty), Bento Box and Titmouse, among others. Its current slate also includes the first project under its pact with multiplatform lucha libre entertainment company Masked Republic, Legend of Luchasatsu .
Actress, singer and writer Haylie Duff has joined the cast for blockchain-backed pilot Cyko KO: The Animated Series, based on the Ringo Award-nominated comic book created by Rob Feldman (published by Rocketship Entertainment). The web series is planned as the first original for recently launched Web3 streamer Rewarded.tv.
Cyko KO centers on the titular super hero of SuperEarth — a colorful Saturday morning cartoon-y world — described as “the fourth-wall breakin’, pinball-addicted, motorcycle-ridin’ hero you’ve been waiting for.” The all-ages animated series will follow Cyko KO, his sidekick Peachy Keen and their pet Meemop as they defend the colonies of SuperEarth from zany villains.
Duff played popular snob Summer Wheatley in Napoleon Dynamite. Now, she joins several of her co-stars from the 2004 cult hit on the Cyko KO cast: Jon Heder (Napoleon), Efren Ramirez (Pedro), Tina Majorino (Deb) and Jon Gries (Uncle Rico). The onscreen Idahoans reprised these roles for the short-lived FOX animated series based on the Jared and Jerusha Hess movie that aired in 2012.
Heder is voicing Cyko KO for the animated pilot; Duff plays a waitress named Dolphina.
In addition to Napoleon Dynamite, the actress is known for starring in Seventh Heaven, hosting Legally Blonde: The Musical – The Search for Elle Wood, appearing in Broadway’s Hairspray and creating/hosting The Real Girl’s Kitchen. Her voice credits include Varvara in the English language dub of My Sweet Monster, Queenie in The Ladybug (English Version) and Sweetcakes in Foodfight!
Rewarded.tv is owned by Replay, a recently launched blockchain platform where fans can earn badges, NFTS and RPLAY tokens for watching and sharing content. Owners of Cyko KO “TV Star Card” NFTs will have exclusive access to the 12-minute animated series pilot. The project is funded by revenue from the NFT collection created by Theta Labs’ ThetaDrop.
Feldman (Dr. Shroud) is producer and showrunner of Cyko KO: The Animated Series through his Earworm Media label. Rocketship Ent., which Feldman co-founded and serves as CTO of, is co-producing with Replay and Verified Labs, a Web3 production studio of which Heder is a founding member.
Themes of loss, friendship, resilience and inspiration weave together in We the Lightnings, a deeply personal short film written, and directed by Icelandic musician/filmmaker Kristin Bjork Kristjansdottir, a.k.a. Kira Kira (Grandma Lo-fi; composer, Dream Corp LLC). Ahead of the five-song original soundtrack drop on digital and 10″ vinyl (from Reykjavik Record Shop) on March 10, Animation Magazine is pleased to share a behind-the-scenes featurette in which the creator shares the influences and process of crafting the film’s music.
“The music I wrote for We the Lightnings is an act of love for that which remains with us at times of loss. So rather than lamenting what or those who have passed, I like to gently move on in the certainty that love does not die,” says Kira Kira. “Music is energy and keeping a sacred space of clarity around it is paramount to me. That does not mean articulating why or explaining how. It is just a filtering system that only lets love through. I hope the music beams some sense of wonder and comfort out there.”
We the Lightnings is a dreamlike hybrid animation about how love and friendship can rescue us when we are at our lowest, grieving a loss. Featuring artwork by Oscar-nominated My Year of Dicks director Sara Gunnarsdóttir, the film is a 12-year labor of love.
Promotional group portrait for ‘We the Lightnings’ by Sara Gunnarsdóttir
Synopsis:
Núa burns through her last drops of gasoline to get to a sanctuary at the end of the road, where powerhouses, musicians and mystics have gathered for a letting go ritual in honor of her mother’s passing.
Music, performed by an ensemble of Icelandic musicians who appear in the film and play on the score, serves as the welcoming embrace that catches Nua on her arrival back home after her life has spiraled out of control.
We the Lightnings is produced by Ursus Parvus and Powernap Productions, co-produced by Nýr kafli. The film had its premiere at the 2021 Reykjavik International Film Festival. Distribution is handled by 7 Palms Entertainment.
A supermajority of production workers at Walt Disney Animation Studio (WDAS) has unionized with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) to bargain their first collective agreement. However, studio leadership refused to voluntarily recognize the organizing effort and chose to exclude more than half of the bargaining unit based on job title.
The Animation Guild points out that this decision to specifically exclude production managers and production supervisors, runs contrary to the studio’s past practice of recognizing workers who perform comparable duties across multiple existing collective bargaining agreements. The IATSE, supported by The Animation Guild, has an existing union contract with Walt Disney Animation Studios under The Secret Lab agreement that covers more than 550 feature film artists, including CG artists, storyboard artists, character designers, animation supervisors, visual effects supervisors, etc.
The WDAS Production Organizing Committee responded to the news with this statement:
“Disney denying Production Coordinators, Production Supervisors, and Production Managers voluntary recognition and trying to divide us signals that they want us to be scared, to give up, and accept less than we deserve. If they think this will make Production cower, they are wrong. Production is a craft in its own right, and by forming our union we are saying we deserve to have viable and sustainable careers paths, living wages, and the ability to retire with dignity.”
Steve Kaplan, Business Representative for IATSE Local 839 / The Animation Guild, says, “We gave the studio an opportunity to work collaboratively, but their refusal to voluntarily recognize the bargaining unit directly challenges the supermajority of support for unionizing the workers. We take the request for representation to heart, and we will commit resources to ensuring that the production workers achieve the rights and improved conditions that only a collective agreement can bring.”
The IATSE, on behalf of The Animation Guild, filed a petition for an NLRB election on March 6, 2023.
“Every behind-the-scenes entertainment worker deserves a chance to make their voice heard and democratically decide for themselves if they want to be represented by a union. It’s disturbing that the Walt Disney Company would prefer to create division within one of its own workplaces by trying to single out some workers from a unionizing group just so they can pay them less and deny them the benefits and protections they deserve,” adds IATSE International President Matthew D. Loeb. “Disney already employs IATSE members as department heads and similar job titles across their business. This is a blatant attempt to undermine the collective bargaining rights of our members and to drive down standards for all workers in our industry. We’re not leaving anyone behind. We’ll see you at the NLRB.”
The production workers at Disney united to oppose low wages, unpaid overtime and other unsustainable workplace practices. The group has been pursuing their contract goals for more than a year.
“The compensation we currently receive doesn’t come close to matching the value of the work being performed, let alone allow most of us to be financially independent. Our salaries make it difficult for us to stay in these jobs we love as a lifelong career and live a moderately comfortable life without being financially dependent on a partner, parent or second job,” says Production Coordinator Hannah Bialosky. “Meanwhile, the content we help create goes on to make billions of dollars for Disney through box office revenue, merchandise, gaming, publishing, streaming, parks attractions and more. It is past time the studio recognizes our value and the critical role we play in their productions and compensate us fairly.”
Allison Smartt, who has been working with the group to unionize, notes, “Like the beloved characters and films they are integral in making, these animation production workers are everyday people who found the strength within themselves to do something extraordinary — collectively demanding respect, equity, and dignity by forming a union. Now, they need the support of their community to achieve their goal.”
IATSE and the WDAS Production Organizing Committee have launched a solidarity petition for public support of their efforts. You can find it here.
Paramount+ today announced that the second season of adult animated series Mike Judge’s Beavis and Butt-head will premiere two episodes on the service Thursday, April 20 in the U.S. and Canada, and in Australia and the U.K. on Friday, April 21, with further international markets to follow.
In the second season, Beavis and Butt-Head triumphantly return as two guys who like things that are cool and don’t like things that suck.
Mike Judge’s Beavis and Butt-head is executive-produced by Mike Judge, Lew Morton and Michael Rotenberg, and Chris Prynoski, Shannon Prynoski, Ben Kalina and Antonio Canobbio for animation studio Titmouse.
Created and voiced by writer, producer and director Mike Judge, the characters of Beavis and Butt-Head originated in Judge’s 1992 short film Frog Baseball, which was broadcast by MTV’s animation showcase Liquid Television. After MTV commissioned a full series around the characters, Beavis and Butt-head ran for seven seasons, from March 8, 1993 to Nov. 28, 1997. The series was revived in 2011 with an eighth season airing on MTV.
During its initial run, Beavis and Butt-Head received widespread critical acclaim for its satirical commentary on society. The show’s popularity spawned various related media, including the theatrical film Beavis and Butt-Head Do America in 1996.
Paramount+ also hosts the critically acclaimed Paramount+ original film Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe, the 1996 classic movie Beavis and Butt-Head Do America, as well as remastered versions of the classic series.
Robert Saviano, the acclaimed Italian journalist behind mob exposé Gomorrah, is making his directorial debut with an autobiographical animated feature. The project is an adaptation of his graphic novel I’m Still Alive, which chronicles his life since being marked for death by the Neapolitan mafia and features the evocative illustrations of Israeli artist Asaf Hanuka (Waltz with Bashir).
The graphic novel relates that a 26-year-oldSaviano witnessed flagrant daylight assassinations by the Camorra crime outfit and how the success of his 2006 book (inspiring an award-winning movie and HBO series) drew down heat that permanently changed his life. Living under police protection, Saviano’s liminal existence has been marked by an escape to a desert island, moving to New York under an assumed name and never letting up his fight to expose organized crime and corruption in Italy.
The movie adaptation of I’m Still Alive will also feature artwork by Eisner winner Hanuka, who is also known internationally for autobiographical comic strip The Realist and graphic novel The Divine. The project is being lead produced by Ivan Cappiello (Cinderella the Cat) and Mario Addis (La Materia, Ego) for Mad Entertainment, producing with fellow Italian studio Lucky Red, Beligum’s GapBusters and Israel’s Sipur (formerly Tadmor Entertainment).
South Africa-based international SVOD platform Showmax is ready to score with its first original animated series, Jay Jay: The Chosen One. A super heroic reimagining of the childhood of Nigerian football legend Augustine “Jay Jay” Okocha, the 13-episode series premieres April 6.
Okocha played for the Nigerian national team between 1993 and 2006 and led the country to Olympic victory at the 1996 Atlanta games. He also played in three FIFA World Cups and has become a celebrated football commentator. The new series is designed to be a representational boost for Nigerian children, full of positivity, humor and educational content that will motivate young viewers through fantasy adventures and the power of sport.
Jay Jay: The Chosen One follows the adventures of Augustine, an 11-year-old boy who dreams of representing his school at a prestigious football tournament with a team made up of his rag-tag group of friends. The series charts Jay Jay’s passion for football, as well as his love for the animal kingdom, who in return for his fight against illegal poaching, bestow superpowers upon him.
“I’m honored to have an animated series that reimagines my childhood. Jay Jay: The Chosen One is going to bring back good childhood memories as well as inspire young children who have dreams to be football players,” said Okocha. “I’m excited about the show and grateful to Showmax and the production team who worked hard to bring it to life.”
The series is voiced by a talented Nigerian cast, including award-winning teen actor Prince Unigwe (Glamour Girls, Samson in 2nd February), who voices young Jay Jay; veteran actor Chinedu Ikedieze (Aki of Aki and PawPaw, Efe on The Johnsons); Samuel Ajibola (Spiff on The Johnsons); pro-footballer turned actor Eric Obinna; Tinsel actress Mena Sodje; upcoming actor Lexan Peters; and child actor Pamilerin Ayodeji (Daniella in The Father).
“We are so excited to bring this first-of-its-kind series to our streaming audience,” said Yolisa Phahle, CEO of Showmax and Connected Video at MultiChoice. “Not only is Jay Jay: The Chosen One another locally inspired Showmax Original, it marks the beginning of our adventures in animation. This is a show we believe will find audiences globally and shines the spotlight on yet another world-class African achiever that we hope will be enjoyed by kids and the entire family.”
The series soundtrack features music from popular Nigerian singer and vocalist, Waje.
Jay Jay: The Chosen One is animated by Pune-based Nihilent Limited in partnership with the production studio 5th Dimension as well as animation studio iRealities, both based in Mumbai.
“I always knew that creating a sports-based animation series for kids would be challenging and rewarding at the same time,” noted LC Singh, Director & Executive Vice Chairman of Nihilent Limited. “The amount of work that goes into every single frame is immense, but seeing the final product come to life makes it all worth it. I’m grateful for the opportunity to bring this vision to the world and to collaborate with such talented Nigerian voice artists, animators, and Showmax.”
New episodes of Jay Jay: The Chosen will roll out exclusively on Showmax.com every Thursday following the April 6 premiere.
Melissa Benoist (HBO Max’s upcoming Girls on the Bus) joins the voice cast of the Emmy-nominated He-Man adaptation Masters of the Universe: Revolution as the heroine, Teela. Fresh off her run as the titular superhero Kara Danvers/Kara Zor-El in the hit CW show Supergirl, Benoist joins an all-star cast which includes Chris Wood as He-Man, Emmy nominee Mark Hamill as Skeletor and William Shatner in a still-to-be announced role.
Just in time for International Women’s Day, today’s news marks Benoist’s third collaboration with Kevin Smith, having previously appeared in the films Jay and Silent Bob Reboot and Clerks III. Benoist’s role as Teela will mark her second time working with husband Chris Wood, who appeared in the earlier seasons of Supergirl as Mon-El.
“I jumped at the opportunity to work alongside my friend, Kevin Smith and join the Revolution family as another bold and fearless heroine,” said Melissa Benoist. “I look forward to sharing the next evolution of Teela’s story with fans.”
Set as the follow-up to 2021’s Revelation, Revolution finds Benoist joining the fray as Teela alongside He-Man and the rest of the Masters as they struggle to save Eternia from the tangles of darkness. Revolution is an all-new story that focuses on the classic He-Man vs. Skeletor rivalry in a way audiences have never seen before. It’s technology up against magic as He-Man and the heroic warriors face the forces of Skeletor and a deadly threat to the Planet in the next epic chapter in the battle for Eternia.
“On the heels of our 40th anniversary, He-Man is more prevalent in pop culture than ever before, which is why we’re especially excited to bring the force that is Melissa Benoist into the fold,” said Fred Soulie, Senior Vice President and General Manager at Mattel Television. “Melissa already exemplifies every aspect of Teela’s formidable personality, and we know that she will continue to showcase the same heart as she did in Supergirl, providing audiences with a new iteration of a classic character synonymous with strength and heroism.”
Masters of the Universe: Revolution is set to debut on Netflix in 2024 and is executive produced by Mattel’s Fred Soulie, Rob David and Christopher Keenan, as well as Ted Biaselli and Kevin Smith.
Dennis Jackson, the creator the award-winning children’s series Wapos Bay, has teamed up with his son, Eric Jackson of Saskatoon’s Paxolotl Media Inc., along with Leif Kaldor and Leslea Mair of Winnipeg’s Zoot Pictures to present CHUMS, a new 3D animation series for preschoolers 3-6. An initial season of 9 x 30’ episodes of the series is currently in production in Winnipeg and Saskatoon for broadcasters APTN and Citytv Saskatchewan. The series is slated to premiere in early 2024 and will also be available for streaming on APTN lumi.
In the world of CHUMS, ayoung eaglet named Ira and herrag tag group of furry friends on Turtle Island are discovering their relationships to each other and to their environment on mother earth. Ira’s group of “Chums” — friends — includes Flies with Eagles, a young girl who is always willing to help; Emiree, a baby beaver with the softest heart; Romper, a rabbit that has trouble paying attention; and Pterry, a ptarmigan who wishes he could fly better. Our newfound chums take it upon themselves to be the explorers of Turtle Island, and to discover and learn about the world around them.
CHUMS
CHUMS is designed to encourage the discovery of traditional Indigenous relationships to the animals and environment around us. It is being produced in three languages — English, Cree and Ojibwe — with the aim of helping to preserve Indigenous languages for children before official schooling begins. The show is formatted for lip synching and versioning the characters into the various languages.
Joining creator/director Darren Jackson and co-writer/producer Eric Jackson is an all-Indigenous creative team and cast. Zoot Pictures’ Leslea Mair is executive producing. The crew also includes art director Stephanie Boulet; tech design by Winnipeg-based FRANK Digital.
For many of the Indigenous kids doing the voices of the animated characters, this is their first acting break, and an opportunity to refine their skills behind the mic. That mentoring element is mirrored in the pairing of Saskatoon’s Paxolotl Media with veteran Winnipeg production company Zoot Pictures, aimed at developing more Indigenous production companies.
CHUMS
The project also marks the creation of a new animation studio based in the Canadian Prairies. The producers have assembled a team of animation talents from across the two provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The project offers experience to under-represented cast and tech people in the film and television industry and acts as an important vehicle for training and team building. Junior animators have been paired with experienced veterans as part of a multi-year program to train Indigenous animators, modelers and riggers.
“Beyond the entertaining and educational aspects of CHUMS, it’s really exciting to be working alongside my dad. I’ve been saying I would ever since I was a kid and he was getting his Bachelor’s degree in film,” says Eric Jackson of Paxolotl Media. “Creating an entirely new animation studio in the Prairies with my dad and my kids makes this a pretty unique thing for all of us. Not just now, but for the future if they follow in our footsteps to continue creating Indigenous stories.”
CHUMS
Executive producer Leslea Mair of Zoot Pictures adds, “CHUMS is an exciting, innovative project is so many ways, and we’re fortunate that our broadcast partners, APTN and Citytv Saskatchewan, have been such enthusiastic supporters of it from the get-go as well as each step along the way.”
CHUMS was developed with APTN, the Canada Media Fund and the Indigenous Screen Office. The series is produced with the participation of the Shaw Rocket Fund, the Canada Media Fund, the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit, the Manitoba Provincial Tax Credit, the Saskatchewan Feature Film and Television Production Grant Program and the Indigenous Screen Office.
CHUMS
Kerry Moraes-Sugiyama, the APTN executive in charge of Indigenous language production on a national level, says that the network is excited about this new series. “This animated series connects young children to mother earth and helps lead to some great conversations about our relationships.”
Dennis Jackson created the classic Canadian stop-motion series Wapos Bay, which aired from 2005 to 2011 on APTN as well as on the First Nations Experience Network (FNX) in the U.S. The show’s pilot episode won the Canada Award for best multicultural program as well as a Golden Sheaf Award for best children’s production. The first two seasons were co-produced by the National Film Board of Canada.
Sony Music Entertainment’s Premium Content Division today announced a partnership with Leo Messi Management SL to develop a new, original animated series inspired by Argentinian soccer star Lionel Messi.
Currently in development, the series will depict Messi as a child as he confronts obstacles while traveling throughout a video game. Produced for children and young adolescent audiences, the global series will feature original music from Sony Music Ent. artists and composers.
“Since I was a kid, I’ve always loved animated series and my kids are big fans of animated characters. Being able to participate in an animation project makes me happy, because it fulfills one of my dreams! I would like to thank Sony Music for joining this project and we hope that everyone will like the result, especially the girls and the boys,” said Messi.
To date, Rosario-born Messi is the only athlete in the world to win seven Ballon d’Or awards, six FIFA World Player of the Year awards, six Golden Boots and two World Cup Golden Balls. In addition, Messi led Argentina to a World Cup win in December 2022. Off the pitch, Messi is recognized for his sportsmanship and passion for the sport, which will be featured heavily throughout the series.
“It is a privilege for Sony Music to collaborate with Lionel Messi on this project to showcase the power and lessons of sports in partnership with the greatest football player of all time and one of the greatest athletes in history,” said Fernando Cabral, Executive Vice President, Business Development, Latin-Iberia Regional, Sony Music Entertainment. “We look forward to bringing this heartwarming and humbling series to screens for audiences of all ages around the world.”
The series will be available in English, Spanish and several other languages. Sony Music’s Premium Content Division will oversee the development and distribution of the series.
Plumbing the depths of gaming nostalgia in a candy-colored CG landscape, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is joyously sprinting toward a spring theatrical release courtesy of Despicable Me studio Illumination, Nintendo and Universal Pictures. Just like the iconic Mario Brothers franchise that first arrived in 1983 as an arcade spinoff of Donkey Kong, this adventurous adaptation finds the two Brooklyn-based Italian plumbers exploring subterranean destinations across the magical Mushroom Kingdom to rescue an abducted princess and ultimately save the world.
The PG-rated, CG-animated movie is directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic (Teen Titans Go!, Teen Titans GO! To the Movies) from a screenplay by Matthew Fogel (Minions: The Rise of Gru). Tagging along for the wild ride alongside Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach are the barrel-obliterating Donkey Kong and the ferocious koopa king, Bowser. The vocal cast is led by Chris Pratt as Mario, with Charlie Day as Luigi and Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach. Rounding out the performers are Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Jack Black as Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key playing Toad, Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong, Sebastian Maniscalco as Foreman Spike and Kevin Michael Richardson voicing Kamek.
We connected with Horvath and Jelenic for some early insights into the making of this new expedition to the Mushroom Kingdom to learn the recipe for concocting a rambunctious movie to please 40 years of video game fans across the entire Super Mario media empire. Here is what they told us:
Animation Magazine: What attracted you to this fun project and what was the core story you wished to tell?
Aaron Horvath
Aaron Horvath: We’re both big fans and grew up with Super Mario. It was a huge part of our childhood. I have kids and we’ve played Mario games together so the opportunity to make a movie featuring all my favorite characters was pretty insane. And it was exciting for us to tell a story about how Mario became Super Mario. I got to make the movie that I always wanted to see when I was a kid. There hadn’t been a Super Mario movie that satisfied the fan in me. I feel like this has all been a prank, but apparently it’s real and really happening.
Michael Jelenic
Michael Jelenic: I was really interested in the project because growing up there are a few touchpoints in pop culture that captured my imagination. I wasn’t really a Star Wars guy, but I was a Super Mario kid. That was right in my formative childhood years. I had a lot of backstory in my mind and I thought it would be a fun challenge taking the emotions of playing the video game and translating that into a narrative story. And then working with legendary companies like Nintendo and Illumination made it such an exciting opportunity for us.
How did your work on Teen Titans Go! help prepare you for the Super Mario world?
Horvath: With Teen Titans we were tasked with making a show that was very irreverent and funny and really broad for a new audience. We were able to do that because there was already a reverent series delivered for a lot of people. But there had never been a really authentic Super Mario movie or TV show that was satisfying. So, in a way it was the opposite of what we did on Teen Titans: Let’s deliver the Mario experience that we haven’t had yet.
Jelenic: I’ve spent most of my career working on pre-existing characters and have gone from being faithful to completely irreverent. When people probably first heard our names attached to the movie, they expected we’d do the Teen Titans Go! treatment to Mario. But every project we come to, we make new choices depending on who the audience is and what we’re going for.
At the end of the day, we were trying to do something cinematic and that requires a different tone than maybe you’d do for a 52-week series. All our choices were about, how do we make this feel bigger and more emotional? Movie tickets are expensive, and we wanted this to be a memorable experience. It takes a lot more to get somebody into a movie theater seat. This is sort of the opposite treatment of Teen Titans Go!, so I hope we’re surprising people.
Can you delve into the animation’s design aesthetics and the studio team that delivered it?
Horvath: The animation team is Illumination Paris and they’re based in Paris. They’re world class talent and I was so excited to get to work with these guys. It’s my favorite characters in the world and my favorite feature animation studio in the world — it’s such an amazing combination. Everybody there, the artists, the producers, the designers, everybody is a huge fan of Super Mario and just wanted to deliver the ultimate Mario experience.
The look of the animation we were going for is cartoony and semi-realistic. There are moments of cartoony fun, but it’s probably more of an action movie. We wanted it to feel like a big adventure film and that there are stakes and maybe you believe that these characters can die, so they’re not super-squashy and super-stretchy, and we used consistent volume on the characters to make them feel a little more grounded than you might see in some other animated films.
What was it like working with Chris Pratt, Charlie Day, Seth Rogen, Jack Black, and the rest of your high-wattage vocal cast?
Jelenic: Sometimes in the animation community people think that you can’t use celebrities, but I think it’s easy to forget that these are great performers and they’ve all proven themselves multiple times and created iconic characters. We cast them in the parts because we believed they could bring these video game characters, who really don’t have much of a personality, to life and make them relatable and funny and heroic. Literally every single person in this movie is great.
Chris Pratt is great at playing an everyman who’s funny, but that you also buy as a hero. Charlie Day is the perfect embodiment of what you think of as Luigi. And then you have Jack Black playing Bowser — and we decided to make that character scary, but the other side of Bowser is somebody who’s vulnerable and funny, and Jack is able to play both those parts and make it not seem like two different characters. It’s sort of humbling working with this talent. From the French studio to the vocal cast, every single person has excelled in this movie.
Beyond its timeless retro appeal, why do you think the Super Mario franchise endures through generations?
Horvath: I think it endures because [Shigeru] Miyamoto [Nintendo game designer, producer and director] and the team at Nintendo can’t just rely on that retro appeal and thinking that everybody loves Mario. They never stop innovating. There’s always something new to discover, there’s always a new core idea to the game that makes it fun to play.
You get to have this avatar that you’re connected to from your childhood, but he’s always going on a new adventure in a new world with new abilities and characters to meet and ways to interact. We’re hoping that’s the vibe of the movie, too. It’s characters you’ve known and loved for decades and hopefully they’re being presented here in a way that’s new and fresh. That endless striving for creativity and innovation and entertainment is what really keeps it alive.
Jelenic: For people in our age group who played the original game, there is that retro quality. But the game never stopped. Some people might have stopped playing, but these characters are not retro for Aaron’s and my kids. There’s something iconic about this character. He’s not Pac-Man and didn’t stop being relevant in the ‘80s. Mario never gives up. And it’s always been a video game that’s accessible; You don’t have to be a gamer to pick up a Mario game. You can be a four-year old or a 70-year old, and families can play it. That’s the same approach we took for this film. These are simply timeless characters: Mario is like Mickey Mouse!
Universal/Illumination’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie jumps into theaters on April 5.
Seems like entertainment is all about multiverses these days, and the stalwarts of the FOX Animation Domination block have embraced the trend with the latest crossover episode featuring fan-favorite characters. Premiering Sunday, March 12 at 9:30 p.m. ET, the new episode of Family Guy will feature three iconic leading men of animation: Peter Griffin, Bob Belcher (Bob’s Burgers) and Homer Simpson (The Simpsons).
Co-showrunner Rich Appel told EW: “Bob and Homer are justifiably two of the most popular and recognizable faces of animated comedy, and even folks as jaded as Hollywood sitcom writers get a thrill seeing them together in the same scene. It’s the same sort of excitement you feel when a Chicago policeman and a Chicago fireman are in the same scene on a Chicago-themed program.”
The Animation Domination triad previously appeared together in the Family Guy Season 13 premiere episode “The Simpsons Guy” (2014), in which the Griffins crash with Simpsons after Peter’s car is stolen outside Springfield. Bob Belcher makes a cameo, as does another beloved cartoon patriarch: Fred Flintstone.
In the set up for their big reunion, Lois (voiced by Alex Borstein) begins telling Peter (series creator Seth MacFarlane) about the dream she had overnight. Naturally, Peter backs out of the kitchen, out of the house, down the street, all the way into the previous show on the Sunday schedule: Bob’s Burgers. Of course, a visit to Seymour’s Bay isn’t complete without a burger stop, where Peter finds fellow FOX fathers Bob (H. Jon Benjamin) and Homer (voiced on The Simpsons by Dan Castellaneta).
Checking the menu, Peter notices something odd: “Why are there two sets of prices?”
“One’s the Emmy winner discount,” Bob answers.
“Ah… Black coffee and toast, please.”
Family Guy actually has won eight Primetime Emmy Awards for voice acting (MacFarlane and Borstein), music, Individual Achievement in Animation and other craft categories, but has yet to win for Outstanding Animated Program despite three nominations (plus one for Comedy Program). Bob’s Burgers has been nominated in the category every year since 2012, winning in 2014 and 2017. The Simpsons has won 35 Emmys, including 11 for Animated Program.
In the episode, “Adoption,” Carter seeks to restore his public image by adopting a young girl from an orphanage, drawing jealousy from Lois.
Family Guy is currently in its 21st season, Bob’s Burgers is in its 13th and The Simpsons is in its 33rd. All three series recently received two-season renewals.
For moviegoers seeking a unique, surreal and probing animated experience, New York City’s Film Forum will present the U.S. theatrical premiere of Pierre Földes’ Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman on Friday, April 14. Following this engagement, the critically acclaimed European co-pro will enjoy a wider rollout across U.S. theaters through Zeitgeist Films.
Adapted from internationally bestselling author Haruki Murakami’s short stories and brought to the big screen using an innovative live-action 3D motion-capture process, the Film Forum describes an animated tale wherein ‘mundane and psychedelic narratives interlock ingeniously, as each protagonist traverses emotional and physical distances, fantasy and memory, in search of deeper human connection. The result is an elegant, whimsical and haunting experience.’
Synopsis: A lost cat, a voluble giant toad and a tsunami help an unambitious salesman, his frustrated wife and a schizophrenic accountant save Tokyo from an earthquake and find meaning in their lives.
Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman had its world premiere at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, where it was awarded the Jury Distinction for Best Feature. The film also won the Grand Prize at Anima, the Brussels International Animation Film Festival, and screened at festivals in Toronto, Busan and Rotterdam.
The project is the feature film directorial debut of composer Földes (son of Oscar-nominated computer animation pioneer Peter Foldes), who also wrote, animated and composed. Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman is produced by Tom Dercourt, Pierre Baussaron, Olivier Pere, Pierre Urbain, Emmanuel-Alain Raynal, David Mouraire.
The voice cast features Ryan Bommarito (Komura), Shoshana Wilder (Kyoko), Marcelo Arroyo (Katagiri), Scott Humphrey (Sasaki), Arthur Holden (Mr. Suzuki) and Pierre Földes as the Frog.
Production companies are Cinéma Defacto and Miyu Productions (France), in coproduction with Studio MA (France), micro_scope (Canada), An Original Picture (Netherlands), Doghouse Films (Luxembourg), Production l’Unité Centrale (Canada), Arte France Cinéma and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Cinéma. The Match Factory handles international sales.
Film Forum presents Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman with support from the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation Fund and the Ada Katz Fund for Literature in Film.
Banijay Kids and Family today announced a partnership with Belgian publisher Editions Dupuis (Spirou, Lucky Luke), part of Média-Participations, to transform the hit ‘spy-fi’ animation Totally Spies! into a unique webtoon for recently launched digital platform ONO.
Developed for smartphone reading, the vertical strips will bring the characters of Totally Spies! to a new medium. The webtoon will be available as a weekly serialization in French, and available for foreign rights.
“We are so pleased to announce this very exciting deal which marks the start of our relaunch strategy of this iconic brand, prior to the new series reveal on M6/GULLI (France) and Discovery Kids LatAm in 2024,” said Delphine Dumont, Chief Commercial Officer, Banijay Kids & Family. “Lots more to come for our favorite spies!”
Totally Spies! Webtoon
The 2D-animated Totally Spies! franchise, produced by Zodiak Kids & Family France, is set to return to screens in 2024 with a brand-new series, following its original six-season run between 2001 and 2013. The upcoming series follows the three legendary secret agents, Sam, Clover and Alex, as they move to a new city and take on a fresh crop of villains.
“Totally Spies! is a globally-loved show with a strong existing fanbase, and given the excitement for the new series, demand from fans for brand extensions is high. Webtoons offer a new and modern reading format for young audiences, and this project will ensure we continue catering to our audiences and the changing ways in which they consume their entertainment,” notes Annick Bizet, New Business & Strategic Alliances Director, Banijay Kids & Family.
Stéphane Ferrand, Senior Publishing Director, Editions Dupuis adds, “Strong, leading female characters, action and adventure, humor, fashion, gadgets … Totally Spies! is one of those rare transgenerational licences whose ingredients conceal an ever-relevant modernity. The webtoon is now a favored medium for reading content among young people around the world and the marriage between this and such a strong IP was inevitable.”
The highly anticipated animated fantasy-adventure Mavka. The Forest Song, produced by The Stolen Princess studio Animagrad (FILM.UA Group) in Ukraine, has dropped its official international trailer as the feature film prepares to share its folkloric enchantments with audiences around the world. Mavka premiered domestically on March 2 and set box-office records with its opening, beating out Avatar: The Way of Water with 189,048 admissions.
Mavka. The Forest Song launches its wide theatrical release with more than 80 countries already having acquired distribution rights — and the list is still growing. More than 50 countries and territories have set release dates.
The adventure follows Mavka — a Soul of the Forest and its Warden — as she faces an impossible choice between love and her duty as guardian to the Heart of the Forest, when she falls in love with a human, the talented young musician Lukas. The ambitious CG animated project is inspired by ancient Slavic traditions and rituals, ornaments and patterns, national visual symbols in costumes, folk melodies and also by the classic fairytale drama “The Forest Song” by Ukrainian poetess Lesya Ukrainka. Environmental protection themes and local wildlife are also strongly represented.
“Our partners are attracted by the quality of animation, a universal story, a combination of drama and humor, and music,” says Evgeniy Drachov, head of FILM.UA Distribution. “Mavka. The Forest Song has all the makings of a family animation success, and sales in a large number of territories show that our opinion is shared by professionals all over the world. We hope that the audience will like Mavka. The Forest Song, because the story of love and struggle for one’s world should resonate with people worldwide.”
‘Mavka. The Forest Song’ theatrical release map provided by Animagrad (FILM.UA Group)
On February 26, Italia Film, Muvi Cinemas and FILM.UA Group, with the support of the Embassy of Ukraine in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, held a highly attended pre-release screening, kicking off Mavka‘s wide theatrical release across the Middle East (Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen) and North Africancountries (Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, Western Sahara, et al), where the film hit screens March 2. On March 5, a screening of Mavka took place in Abu Dhabi.
Upcoming: On March 29, Universal Pictures Content Group and KMBO distribution company will release Mavka. The Forest Song across France, with a same day release in Belgium. Mavka will then roll out to New Zealand and Australia (April 6), The Netherlands (April 19), Italy (April 20), Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Macedonia, Kosovo (April 27), Andorra and Spain (April 28) and Vietnam (April 29), then to Hungary and Portugal (May 4) and Romania (May 12), Serbia and Montenegro (June 29), Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania )(July 14) and Turkey (August 25).
Release dates for the United States, Canada, LatinAmerica, South Korea, Mongolia, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Denmark, Finland,
Norway, Sweden and others will be announced soon in partnership with local distributors who have already acquired the film.
Mavka. The Forest Song first drew international attention when the initial teaser was presented at the MIFA content market in 2017, held within the Annecy International Animated Film Festival. That same year, it was the only Ukrainian project to be selected to pitch at Cartoon Movie in Bordeaux, for two years in a row. The project has since grown into a multi-platform “Mavka Universe” IP, which brings together people from the creative, technological and business spheres, scientific and public institutions, and government agencies.
Learn more aboutMavka. The Forest Song at mavka.ua and check out the new international trailer below.
The BAFTA Award-winning animated children’s TV series SuperTed celebrates its 40th anniversary with a new distribution and production deal with a new distribution deal with Splash Entertainment that will see a March 8 re-launch on kids’ AVOD channel Kabillion.
“This is the re-birth of a wonderful character who will now be introduced internationally to a completely new age demographic,” explains Francesca O’Keeffe, Managing Director of Petalcraft Demonstrations Ltd., the SuperTed rights owning company.
Originally created by Mike Young, who now serves as CEO of Splash Ent., SuperTed attained many achievements over the years, including being the first-ever outside production acquired by the Walt Disney Company. The classic series was commissioned by the Welsh-language television network S4C from Cardiff-based Siriol Animation, and has aired in just about every country in the world.
“I’m delighted that this iconic series, originally commissioned by S4C 40 years ago, gave Welsh children such pleasure in the past and now has the opportunity to entertain a new audience of young viewers,” said Sioned Geraint, S4C’s Content Commissioner for Children and Education.
Young added, “This is a truly emotional moment for me and my family to see the rejuvenation of our very first animated show and character.”
With over 200 SuperTed books published, the brand also became a staple of merchandise success, led by the toy teddy bear who shed his fur to reveal his secret Super-Bear identity.
The original 40-year-old fully animated production was recently revised through a technical “up-resolution” process and re-formatted to meet modern-day television requirements. In celebration of SuperTed’s anniversary and Welsh heritage, one full
episode will be included in the Welsh language.
Kabillion is a top-five network containing safe, age-appropriate, and free on-demand programming featuring branded channels “Pre-school,” “Girls Rule” (6–11) and “Action” (6–11). The Emmy Award-winning Kabillion runs on-demand on all major U.S. cable networks, including Spectrum and Comcast, as well as digitally on Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple and others.
BL (Boys’ Love) is a curious genre of anime and manga that has no real American counterpart. These wistful romantic fantasies involving beautiful young men are written by women for female audiences. But in recent years, a few talented artists have offered more credible characters and plotlines that allow young gay viewers to see themselves in the stories. Based on a manga by Shou Harusono (Yen Press, eight volumes), Sasaki and Miyano (2022), produced by Studio Deen, directed by Shinji Ishihira and available through Crunchyroll, stands out.
High school sophomore Miyano Yoshikazu is frustrated. He’s barely 5’7” tall and people of both sexes comment on how cute his face is. He’s a good student who works hard in student government, but he works even harder to conceal that he’s a fudanshi — a boy who likes BL manga.
He meets senpai (upperclassman) Sasaki Shuumei, when the older student stops two boys from beating up Miyano’s friend Kuresawa. People refer to Sasaki as a delinquent: He dyes his hair rusty brown, wears multiple ear studs and comes late to class. He’s not as tough as he looks — he loses the fight with Kuresawa’s attackers. But he’s many things Miyano would like to be — four inches taller, with broad shoulders and big hands, and comfortable with who he is.
Sasaki and Miyano
Enduring Societal Pressures
Miyano is gobsmacked when Sasaki jokingly tells him he’s cute and asks him to go out. Although Miyano declines, the boys become friends, exchanging manga and CDs. They enjoy the shared enthusiasm and the freedom with which they can talk. Japanese high school students lead much more regimented lives than American teenagers and endure intense societal and parental pressure to succeed. Although Miyano and Sasaki have other friends, to find someone who really listens and pays attention is a rare, treasured experience.
After a few episodes, Sasaki confesses to Miyano. “Confessing” is a key ritual in high school manga, anime and novels. All the drama, neuroses and hormonal excesses teenagers endure crystalized in a declaration of affection. Dumbfounded, Miyano says he doesn’t know how to respond; Sasaki promises to wait for his decision.
The weakness of run-of-the-mill BL stories is the characters’ failure to acknowledge their sexuality. They rarely identify as gay, but blithely accept same-sex partners. In Gravitation (2000), aspiring rock musician Shuichi falls for aloof novelist Yuki. Yuki’s brother shrugs, “The person you happened to fall for turned out to be Bro.” In Dakaichi: I’m Being Harassed by the Sexiest Man of the Year (2022, also on Crunchyroll), up-and-coming actor Junta hangs on more experienced actor Takato with the slobbering enthusiasm of a golden retriever whose owner has been away for an hour. None of these characters analyze their unexpected attractions.
The lead characters Sasaki (left) and Miyano are voiced by Yuusuke Shirai (Japanese)/Kellen Goff (English) and Souma Saitou/Joshua Waters, respectively.
In Sasaki and Miyano, the filmmakers focus on the insecurities and uncertainties that plague high school students, including sexuality. Miyano has never thought of himself as gay — even if he enjoys BL manga. He liked a girl in junior high, but the relationship never went anywhere, and they haven’t spoken in years. He admires Sasaki-senpai and enjoys their time together. But he keeps coming back to the question, “What does it mean to love someone?” (The Japanese verb suki de aru can be translated as “like” or “love.”)
Sasaki is more aware of his sexuality but keeping his promise to wait for Miyano’s decision takes a toll. One day, he starts to kiss Miyano, realizes his action was inappropriate, and apologizes. Their friends offer advice and try to bring them together: Same-sex crushes aren’t unusual in their all-boys school.
Miyano finally concludes that although he has no experience in love, if the feelings he has for Sasaki-senpai “aren’t the real deal, what is?” In a counter-confession that feels more like a flash flood than a declaration of affection, Miyano recounts everything he likes about Sasaki, concluding “…sometimes, I want to hug you…be my boyfriend.” It’s a much more believable conclusion than the standard let’s-spend-forever-together: Its tone may remind American viewers of Love, Simon.
Sasaki and Miyano scored a hit in both Japan and the U.S. There’s already an OVA, a spinoff series about two of their friends. A Sasaki and Miyano feature was slated for release in mid-February and a novelization of the series will be published in English in April.
Sasaki and Miyano (2022)
12 Episodes + OVA
Studio Deen, Crunchyroll
Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) and Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) tonight announced the winners of the 2023 Writers Guild Awards (awards.wga.org) for outstanding achievement in writing for film, television, new media, news, radio/audio, and promotional categories during concurrent ceremonies.
Of interest to our readers, the Animation category saw a bit of a coup for the new generation of thoughtful, high-concept adult toons as first time nominee Undone (Prime Video) won out over three nominations for 13-time winner The Simpsons, Bob’s Burgers and Tuca & Bertie. The award went to episode “Rectify,” written by Elijah Aron & Patrick Metcalf.
Undone “Rectify”
The 73rd Annual ACE Eddie Awards (americancinemaeditors.org) presented by American Cinema Editors (ACE) announced winners Sunday night, recognizing outstanding editing in 14 categories of film, television and documentaries. The animated winners are:
Best Edited Animated Feature Film — Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio | Ken Schretzmann, ACE; Holly Klein
Best Edited Animated Series — Love, Death + Robots “Bad Travelling” | Kirk Baxter, ACE
In addition to the announcement of winners in competitive categories, Gina Prince-Bythewood accepted the prestigious ACE Golden Eddie Award for distinguished achievement in film. Film editors Lynne Willingham, ACE and Don Zimmerman, ACE received Career Achievement Awards for their outstanding contributions to film editing. The event was hosted by Ashley Nicole Black and presided over by ACE President Kevin Tent, ACE.
Ahead of the weekend, PETA announced its annual Oscat Award winners (peta.org). For the sixth year running, the group is recognizing compassionate stars and movies that used storylines, costumes and special effects to promote kindness to animals.
DreamWorks scored a double win at the Oscats. The studio’s star-studded sequel Puss in Boots: The Last Wish nabbed Best Animated Feature for promoting adoption and condemning hoarding and declawing animals. And its animated heist comedy The Bad Guys was honored with the Test Students, Not Animals award for its message that the real “bad guys” are the ones experimenting on animals.
Winning Best Actor for his role in Jurassic World: Dominion, Jeff Goldblum wowed the crowd with his in-character speech as Dr. Ian Malcolm, warning against using animals (dinosaurs) in research and declaring that “human beings have no more right to safety or liberty than any other creature on this planet.”
PETA also said “Yup” to Jordan Peele with its Primo Primate award for his use of a computer-generated chimpanzee in Nope’s haunting depiction of why wild animals don’t belong on television sets, created by MPC.
Here is a brief overview of some of the projects presenting this week at Cartoon Movie 2023 that grabbed our attention. Visit animationmagazine.net daily during the event for more in-depth coverage.
Butterfly Tale
Butterfly Tale
Life can’t be easy for a teen butterfly who cannot fly. But Patrick, the heroic lead of Butterfly Tale, doesn’t let that dampen his optimistic spirit. The new CG-animated movie from Montreal- and Madrid-based Parrot Media, is slated for a fall 2023 release. Directed by Sophie Roy (Double Dribble) and produced by Marie-Claude Beauchamp of Montreal-based CarpeDiem Film & TV (Snowtime, Racetime) and Emely Christians of Germany’s Ulysses Films (The Amazing Maurice, Ooops! Noah Is Gone), the charming project features the voices of Tatiana Maslany (She-Hulk) and Mena Massoud (Aladdin). Add to all that, the fact that Heidi Foss’s screenplay for the movie won the Animation Screenplay Award from the 2021 Stuttgart International Animation Film Festival — and you have the perfect ingredients for a crowd-pleasing family movie. Spread your wings, Patrick!
Chicken for LInda!
Chicken for Linda!
Directed by Chiara Malta (Simple Women) and Sébastien Laudenbach (The Girl without Hands), Chicken for Linda! is one of the films that will stand out for its clarity of vision and simplicity. Previously showcased at Annecy, the French-Italian co-pro centers on a guilt-ridden mother who feels bad after unfairly punishing her daughter, so she sets out to make a chicken meal for her — even though she lacks any cooking skills! Produced by Dolce Vita Films and Miyu Productions and co-produced by Italy’s Palosanto, the movie promises to be a stylish 2D affair. “The film is intended to be sweet and tender, aimed at younger children”, the directors told the traders last year. “The story unfolds in an ordinary small town on a day of general strike. There is no super power, no sorcerer, no wizard, no big quest to save the world, and the only flying creature is a chicken!”
Decorado
Decorado
It’s always cause for celebration whenever Spanish comic-book and animation auteur Alberto Vázquez (Unicorn Wars) announces a new project. His latest is a feature adaptation of his acclaimed short of the same name, featuring Arnold, a middle-aged mouse who’s facing a midlife crisis and suspecting that the world is all a façade run by A.C.M.E. (A Company that Makes Everything!). The pic is produced by Iván Miñambres (Uniko) and co-produced by Chelo Loureiro (Abano Producións). Sign us up for this beautiful unraveling!
Julián
Julián
A young boy dreams of being a mermaid in Julián, the intriguing new project from the brilliant folks at Ireland’s Cartoon Saloon, directed by the Oscar-nominated Louise Bagnall (Late Afternoon) and produced by two-time Oscar nominee Paul Young (Wolfwalkers, Song of the Sea). Based on the acclaimed book Julián Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love, the project will be co-produced by Sun Creature (Denmark), Folivari (France), Aircraft Pictures (Canada) and Wychwood Media (U.K.) The creative team behind the movie has opened up Love’s simple but powerful picture book to follow the gender-fluid young boy on a trip to New York City, where he visits his abuela and learns about his history. Go ahead and put your money down that this movie will be a major awards season contender in a few years!
Love Is a Gypsy Child: A Carmen Story
Love Is a Gypsy Child: A Carmen Story
Are you eager to travel back to 19th century Andalusia? Then, get ready for this stylish French-Spanish take on the enduring tale of Carmen, the fiery Romany woman with a dazzling voice who seeks to escape death on the streets of Seville. Based on the graphic novel by Cyril Pedrosa, the classic tale is directed by none other than Sébastien Laudenbach (The Girl Without Hands, Chicken for Linda!) and produced by Damien Brunner (Folivari) and co-produced by Pablo Jordi (Pikkukula) and Pierre-Henri Léon (La Garde Montante).
Merry Christmas, Monsieur Hulot
Merry Christmas, Monsieur Hulot
The clumsy, pipe-smoking character created by French filmmaker, mime, screenwriter and actor Jacques Tati first debuted in the 1953 movie Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday. He is back as an animated character in the new movie directed by Celine Willard, which finds the friendly eccentric growing a giant Christmas tree in the only remaining plot of land in his city. When the tree causes the wrath of the town mayor, Monsieur Hulot’s friendship with the mayor’s son is also threatened. Produced by Aubane Fillon of France’s TNZPV Productions, the project is based on David Merveille’s lovely graphic novel, with a script by Marc Rius. From what we’ve seen from the early art and development package, this is a definitely a holiday movie to keep an eye on.
Ninn
Ninn
You know exciting things are in the works when Emmy-winning producer Corinne Kouper (Yellow Bird, Jade Armor, Angelo Rules) and her excellent team at France’s TeamTO studio are involved with a project. The movie that she’s presenting at Cartoon Forum this year is Ninn, an eagerly anticipated animated adaptation of the graphic novel by Jean-Michel Darlot and Johan Pilet, directed by Salomé Chatelian. The fantastic tale follows the adventures of a young girl who was found as a baby in the Paris Métro and is protected by a magical origami tiger. Will she solve the enigma of her mysterious past, despite her two father’s many concerns? We’ll have to wait patiently until TeamTO brings the movie to the big screen in the years ahead!
The Roman of Renart
The Roman of Renart
Is the world ready for a brand-new animated adaptation of Romance of Reynard (the fox), the classic medieval collection of animal fables by Bourvil? We hope so, because Léo Marchand and Anne-Laure Daffis (The Neighbors of My Neighbors Are Neighbors of Mine, Le Saint-Festin) are helming a top-notch adaptation based on Daffis’ graphic novel. Christian Pfohl of Lardux Films is producing the great-looking project, which mixes 2D animation and some live-action backgrounds.
Rosa and the Stone Troll
Rosa and the Stone Troll
The new Danish movie Rosa and the Stone Troll is based on the popular children’s book series by Josefine Ottesen. The lovingly animated feature follows the adventures of a blue fairy who sets out on a dangerous journey to rescue her butterfly friend, who has been kidnapped by an evil stone troll (are there any other kind?). The fairy tale is directed by first-time helmer Karla Nor Holmbäck and produced by Marie Bro for Dansk Tegnefilm. Some fortunate Scandinavian territories have already released this lovely labor of love.
Yap Yap – The Secret Forest
Yap Yap — The Secret Forest
Sometimes a single image from a movie can really sell it to the viewer. That’s certainly the case with Yap Yap — The Secret Forest, which follows a young girl who stumbles upon the titular forestland. Our heroine must stop the darkness threatening the magical creatures of the natural world in this beautiful adaptation of Kristina Gordon’s picture book. Directed by Jens Møller (The Ogglies, LEGO Star Wars series), this lush, CG-animated family movie is produced by Denmark’s Parka Pictures and co-produced by Sweden’s Milford. Parka Pictures has a great track record at Cartoon Movie, having presented titles such as Ark at 8,Granny Samurai and Latte and the Magic Waterstone in Bordeaux before. We’re sure this new pic will also be a hit with the attendees this year.
