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Fans got an early look at Walt Disney Animation Studio’s all-new feature film Strange World today, with a newly released teaser trailer and poster paying homage to sci-fi movies of the mid-20th century. Voice starring Jake Gyllenhaal (The Guilty, Spider-Man: Far from Home), the film is due for release on November 23.
Gyllenhaal lends his voice to Searcher Clade, the son of a steadfast explorer. The original action-adventure journeys deep into an uncharted and treacherous land where fantastical creatures await the legendary Clades, a family of explorers whose differences threaten to topple their latest — and by far— most crucial mission.
Strange Worlds is helmed by Don Hall (Oscar-winning Big Hero 6, Raya and the Last Dragon) and co-director/writer Qui Nguyen (co-writer Raya and the Last Dragon), and produced by Roy Conli (Big Hero 6, Tangled).
***This article originally appeared in the 35th Anniversary Issue of Animation Magazine (June-July ’22, No. 321)***
Angus MacLane
When Pixar veteran Angus MacLane was a young boy growing up in Portland, Oregon, he used to love cowboys, Spider-Man and cartoons. He also enjoyed wearing a mask to school every day and scaring his friends. As he tells us, “To be honest, I was a bit of a weird kid. I also remember that one day after eating corn on the cob with my father, I saw a movie that changed my life: Star Wars. And after I saw that movie, all I wanted to play and draw was Star Wars. Star Wars was my religion, and it was only the beginning of a string of sci-fi classics that defined my childhood.”
MacLane gets to pay homage to many of the sci-fi movies that influenced him in this summer’s much-anticipated Pixar pic Lightyear, which gives audiences the intriguing back story of the popular Toy Story character. “In Toy Story, Andy gets a gift that he loved, it was a Buzz Lightyear the Space Ranger toy, which redefines playtime for Andy,” notes the director. “I always wondered, what movie was Buzz from, you know? Why couldn’t we just make that movie? So that’s what we did. This is the movie that changed Andy’s life — Andy’s Star Wars!”
Lightyear, which is Pixar’s 26th feature, follows the human Buzz as a young astronaut who is marooned in a hostile planet with his commander and crew, and has to find a way across time and space to defeat the familiar enemy Emperor Zurg (who first appeared in Toy Story 2). Showcasing the voice talents of Chris Evans as the title character, along with Keke Palmer, Dale Soules, Taika Waititi, Peter Sohn, Uzo Aduba, James Brolin and Isiah Whitlock Jr., the film finds Buzz also dealing with how the passage of time affects his colleagues and surroundings as he tries to find a way to return to Earth.
1. “First Mission” sequence storyboard drawn by story supervisor Dean Kelly.
2. Layout team establishes a visual template for how the film will look in CG.
3. The lighting department integrates all the elements into the final image.
Lightyear
A Prisoner of Time
“Although I’d been working with the character for the better part of two decades, it was in the development for this film that we truly discovered the unifying character trait of the character that we know and love as Buzz Lightyear,” explains MacLane, who was a storyboard artist on Toy Story 2, directed the shorts Toy Story of Terror and Burn-E and co-directed Finding Dory. “Buzz is a character who is best when he is at odds with his surroundings. Here we have a story where he would be traveling rapidly through time, because of his job. And because of that, it would separate him from society and his loved ones. He’s like a Rip Van Winkle trapped in a future he doesn’t recognize, desperately trying to get back to the past to correct the mistakes of his youth — a hero out of his own time.”
Galyn Susman
To help realize his vision for the movie, MacLane teamed up with another studio veteran, producer Galyn Susman (producer on Toy Story 4, assoc. producer on Ratatouille), who had worked with him on several shorts. “I am a tech nerd, but it took me a while to notice,” she says. “I went to college as a physics major hoping to be an astronaut. So when we started working on this film, I was absolutely certain we had to get a research trip to NASA. Our goal was to take our key creatives and expose them to the people, environments, experiences, all the stuff that will impact the design and the language of the film.”
Susman says the team was fortunate enough to get first-hand advice from astronauts Tom Marshburn and Kjell Lindgren, who treated them to a comprehensive multi-day exploration of the Johnson Space Center in Houston. “We saw the original control center for the Apollo missions, as well as the one being used today to track the ISS,” she recalls. “We learned about spacesuit construction. We saw buttons, and switches, and knobs, and dials, and badges. We were guided through a replica of the ISS U.S. quarters, and the labs!”
Buzz Lightyear (Chris Evans) finds himself stranded in space and out of his own time with his robotic companion, Sox (Peter Sohn) in Pixar’s latest movie.
A Push-Button Throwback
In addition to anchoring the film in authentic scientific research, MacLane says he wanted Lightyear to adhere to a certain visual language. “I wanted to take advantage of all the technical and artistic advances of the last quarter century, but first and foremost, I wanted Lightyear to feel like a movie. I wanted the design of the world to be cinematic, and I want it to be chunky. I envisioned a graphic image that would use high-contrast atmosphere inspired by the look of a 1970s film. Lightyear would mark a bit of a departure from the earlier films by using lenses and lighting techniques to give the film a more cinematic look. We’d build a believable, tangible world, and then we’d throw it away using shadow and atmosphere. We’d have bold lighting, emphasizing the graphic and letting the detail fall away, drawing the viewer into a rich world of a tangible alien landscape.”
Character development art for ‘Lightyear’ (Pixar Animation Studios)
Another key word the director likes to use to describe his design aesthetic is “chunk!”
“CG tends to look cold and flimsy,” he explains. “I wanted there to be a thickness to the obvious construction of things. The original Buzz has a tremendous sense of this look, inspired by a healthy dose of NASA and influenced by Japanese anime. But we didn’t want this new Buzz to look like a toy.”
The film’s visuals depict a push-button world of inefficiency — and what MacLane describes as “a celebration of early 1970s and 1980s vision of the future.” The design team experimented with a variety of shapes and textures to explore the design possibility of a neo-retro future. “These early exploration sketches inspired us to settle on a clear design ethos: a rugged military aerospace design, combined with the 1980s consumer electronics aesthetic,” says the director. “This design language informed everything in the film, from the-the ground vehicles to the spaceships, you know, to all the sets. They all got the same treatment.”
Greg Peltz
Lightyear’s sets art director Greg Peltz was one of the key engineers of this inspired look.
“We envisioned this push-button world that was thick, geometric and analog,” he explains. “We wanted the look of our models to be such that you’d want to reach out and touch them and start playing with all the buttons and switches. There are no touch screens or cloud sharing in the world of Lightyear: It’s all zip disks and 20-pound CRTs. In addition to looking cool, there’s kind of a toy-like appeal to the shapes and the deco of the style that fits really well with the subject matter that we’re adapting, Buzz Lightyear.”
LightyearBuzz’s archenemy Emperor Zurg returns to the big screen in ‘Lightyear’ (character design, Pixar Animation Studios)
According to Peltz, the design team took their styling cues from 1970s aerospace tech. “The cockpit is filled with analog control surfaces, exposed wires, buttons, knobs, levers — all sorts of just neat stuff that Buzz can interact with to make the cool action on screen. Real cockpits have all sorts of details that shake and rattle, lights that blank, buzzers that scream, while the whole vehicle’s shaking like crazy. Space launches are violent, chaotic events, and we wanted the designs of our ships to sort of highlight that sense of danger, so that audiences can experience that excitement themselves while they’re watching.”
Peltz also mentions that the team went all-in to explore the visual possibilities of this chunky universe. “A bunch of our designs started as sketches that Angus made out of LEGO bricks, because he is kind of a LEGO fanatic. While working on the movie, there were mornings when Angus would just show up and be like, ‘Look at this thing I made last night,’ and then he’d show us some insanely cool build that he’d just whipped up out of nowhere. After we picked our jaws up off the floor, we’d take his concepts and we’d riff on them in the art department. The blocky, bold shapes of the brick sketches really gave them a distinctive flavor that was fun and unique. Plus, we had instant toys. That’s always cool!”
MacLane says the film emulates a cinematic feel, while adding a special “chunky” element harkening back to the pre-digital era of model making in sci-fi movies. (Lightyear production art, Pixar Animation Studios)
Bigger Screen, Bigger Challenges
The film’s visual effects supervisor Jane Yen (Coco, The Incredibles, Up) reveals that one of Lightyear’s key challenges was building Pixar’s first IMAX pipeline for film production. “We created a virtual IMAX camera with 143 aspect ratio and developed a pipeline to allow us to simultaneously shoot the film for IMAX, and then crop down for our standard 239 format,” she points out. “We created workflows for editorial and layout, shot teams and rendering.”
Yen adds she is also proud of the team’s development of new groom construction techniques and the braided hairstyles created for some of the characters. “Our braids system has controls for braid partitioning, curl and graphic shaping that have allowed us to bring our beautiful characters even further to life,” she notes.
Buzz and his longtime commander and friend Alisha Hawthorne (Uzo Aduba) are marooned on a hostile planet in ‘Lightyear’
“We also had to create a planet and clouds as seen from space,” Yen explains. “For this scale, we developed a procedural system to generate terrain and volumetric clouds that were both high fidelity and art directable. One of our most fun challenges was creating the hyper-speed effect which was a key story point, and critical to get right for the film. For our final look, we went with a style of long, multicolored streaks that pays homage to the classic sci-fi films that Angus loves.”
While fans of the Toy Story franchise count the days until the opening of the movie in June, MacLane and his team are excited to be sharing this new voyage with them. “I want the audience to have this feeling that they’ve gone on this fun space adventure,” says the director. “I want them to enjoy what the protagonist is going through and to be surprised and delighted by the filmmaker’s choices, just like I used to be with the sci-fi movies I grew up with.”
Disney/Pixar’s Lightyear blasts into theaters on June 17.
Finishing the Cat
Lightyear’s robotic feline companion Sox is bound to be one of the film’s most beloved characters. According to director Angus MacLane, the character’s inspiration was not what you might expect: “Well, I should tell you, ‘I’m a cat person,’ but he really came from my love of limited animation,” he reveals. “As an animator, I always enjoyed animating limited characters. I animated WALL•E, and Ken in Toy Story 3, and most of the toys in the Toy Story shorts. These movement limitations provide much of the charm and comedy of these characters. So, for Sox, I wanted a robot character that had the limitations in terms of simple animatronic puppets. Sox is a true contrast to the other elements of the film, both in design and in motion, making him stick out in a good way.”
MacLane points out that although Sox has limited movements, he is by no means helpless. “He’s got a welding laser, he’s got long-range scanners, holo projectors, short-range sensors — as well as an empathy chip, quadruped locomotion, magnet feet, self-writing mechanism, a data port in the tail, the ability to talk…” lists the director. “Sox has many other abilities we can’t even tell you about. But what we can tell you is that he’s a scene stealer. And he’s performed by Pixar’s own Peter Sohn, the voice of Emile from Ratatouille, or Squishy from Monster University, and the director of The Good Dinosaur. Pete’s natural warmth, charm and humor made him the first and best choice for this character!”
Sox designs for ‘Lightyear’ (Pixar Animation Studios)
Pendleton Ward and Duncan Trussell’s cand-colored, inter-dimensional existentialist trip has come to an end: Netflix has cancelled adult animated series The Midnight Gospel, despite largely positive critical and audience response. The news was shared on Twitter by Trussell, a comedian, writer and actor (The Duncan Trussell Family Hour) who teamed up with Adventure Time maverick Ward to create the series.
A fan asked @duncantrussell, “Are there plans for any more episodes of Midnight Gospel? I would love to see more.”
He answered, “The Midnight Gospel was cancelled by Netflix.” Trussell added in the thread, “In my mind, there’s one more season but the sentient glass ‘deciding’ cube they keep in their catacombs vibrated ‘Now more.’ And it’s hard to argue with a cube.”
“PS I’m so lucky that the folks at Netflix rolled the dice and let us make such a strange show. They were supremely supportive all the way through and I’ll love them forever for it.”
The Midnight Gospel joins several other quirky, creator-driven Netflix animation projects either not returning or shut down in development, including CentaurWorld, Ava DuVernay’s Wings of Fire adaptation, Jeff King’s Dino Daycare (Chris Nee’s kids’ slate), Meghan Markle’s Pearl and Jaydeep Hasrajani’s Boons and Curses.
The streamer has enacted a flurry of cost-cutting measures including layoffs across the animation division and the company as a whole after reporting the loss of 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter and the anticipated loss of 2 million more, fueling Netflix’s first major stock price drop in a decade.
Animated by Titmouse, the eight-episode series premiered appropriately on April 20, 2020 (4/20), bringing viewers into the surreal, darkly comic, suprisingly deep sci-fi universe of the Chromatic Ribbon to tag along with Clancy, a “spacecaster,” on his journeys through his multiverrse simulator to interview beings on other worlds.
Trussell led the voice cast as Clancy, with recurring voices from Phil Hendrie, Stephen Root, Maria Bamford, Doug Lussnehop, Joey “Coco” Diaz, Christina P., Steve Little and Johnny Pemberton. The diverse guest star list included Pauly Shore, Natasha Leggero, Drew Pinsky, YouTube mortician Caitlin Doughty and spiritual leader Ram Dass.
You can read more about the show in Animation Magazine‘s exclusive interview with Ward and Trussell here.
In Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Marvel Studios pushes the boundaries of reality – and then keeps going. With broken universes, environments wrapped in illusion and magical traps that shatter the world, the film introduces visual elements unlike anything ever seen before. To help show audiences a new look at reality, Marvel Studios turned to long-time VFX partner and Oscar-winning studio, Digital Domain.
“In Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness the visuals play an important role in the storytelling process, as the characters hop from one incredible reality to another, seeing impossible things as they go,” said Joel Behrens, VFX supervisor for Digital Domain. “That gave us the opportunity to create worlds and new realities for audiences to enjoy, which is something most artists can only dream of doing.”
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Worlds and Worlds
During his desperate, reality-hopping flight through the “Multiverse,” Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) at one point finds himself in the center of an “incursion,” highlighting the consequences of two realities colliding. Although the people are gone, pieces of the decimated universes continue to exist, with shattered buildings no longer held in check by gravity and the ghostly remnants of dead civilizations flying by. At the heart of these dead realities, one structure remains standing: a warped version of Doctor Strange‘s home, the Sanctum Sanctorum.
To create the scene of metaversal destruction, the filmmakers utilized a combination of both physical and digital effects, starting with a practical two-story stage with bluescreens above and surrounding the stage. As the performers move down the ruined, prop-filled streets of a familiar-looking version of New York City, digital artists added the sky — including shattered buildings and wreckage from two realities floating by.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Digital Domain began by designing pieces from two separate realities, each with their own distinct flair. Using Houdini and V-Ray for lighting and rendering, artists began by creating several CG assets ranging from debris to vehicles to pieces of buildings. For the first of the two Earths, the materials looked familiar and would be right at home in our own New York City (and even included a CG version of a certain 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 that fans of director Sam Raimi’s films will no doubt appreciate). The larger assets, including the buildings, were then broken into countless pieces of debris, which were then animated to suggest a flowing motion from the shattered structures into the dead void above.
With the familiar assets complete, Digital Domain then began constructing the remnants of a Victorian-inspired version of New York, complete with gothic spires and ornate metalworking. To highlight this alternate world, artists began by adapting familiar structures, including the Brooklyn Bridge and several other altered pieces. After reimagining them both under a Steampunk-lens, the CG assets were then broken into pieces and animated before being added to the crowded sky.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
With the ruined, moving worlds created, Digital Domain then combined the digital content with the live-action footage of the incursion, adding in the objects in the sky and the extension of the streets. The scene was then topped with a haunting gray sky reminiscent of fog, but reflecting the absence of anything beyond it. With the broken materials in motion, artists then took things one step further and showed pieces of the ruined cities colliding with each other, creating even more debris. The VFX team also digitally recreated part of the physical set to bring the collisions down to the street level.
With the world collapsing around him, Doctor Strange heads to the one place he thinks might help him find a way back home: an alternate version of Sanctum Sanctorum. But once he arrives, it’s clear that the alternate version of his home is a very different place than the one he left behind. To create the “Sinister Sanctum,” Digital Domain began by digitally reconstructing the once inviting structure from the ground up to make it feel more like a mausoleum than a sanctuary. Artists then built on that by extending and animating the crumbling roof as it trails off in the void, while also combining CG skulls to the physical skull props scattered around the ground. In total, Digital Domain used only one existing asset for the sequence, the shattered remnants of the iconic window.
Once inside, the alternate Sanctum Sanctorum further highlights the broken nature of the world, with a physical set standing in for the floor and the walls, and bluescreens for the rest. Utilizing plates taken from a beach in Iceland, Digital Domain created a CG ocean in Houdini, then flooded the scene digitally. The VFX studio then took images of the physical staircase on set and extended it to show it leading off into a seemingly endless march upward, before being lost in the fog-like haze.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Apples and Illusions
With the Multiverse in play, Doctor Strange seeks help from ally and fellow magic user, Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), who is still dealing with the emotional fallout of the events depicted in the Disney+ series, WandaVision. She and Strange discuss the Multiverse while walking through an idyllic apple orchard, filmed on location in a real farm in England. Things change quickly though, and the orchard is replaced by a warped and twisted environment, digitally created to visually convey the consequences of dark magic.
The transformation sequence begins with an effect similar to the hex wall magic effect seen in WandaVision. To create that look for the series, Digital Domain worked with the showrunners to find a look that felt like a natural extension of Wanda’s powers, but with a more chaotic and powerful feel. After multiple iterations, the new hex power was introduced along with the Scarlet Witch persona.
Once the true environment is revealed, the live-action moved from on-location filming to a bluescreen set. Teams at Digital Domain developed the corrupted version of the orchard, highlighted by twisted, ruined trees, dusty grounds and a red sky covering it all. The once inviting farmhouse — created digitally — was also replaced by a ruined husk of itself. Artists also added swampy gasses and the sun, but filtered through the dark, nearly impenetrable clouds. It’s a scene straight from a nightmare, setting the tone for the events still to come.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Mirrors and Traps
After the film’s villain has been revealed, the heroes head to the magical stronghold of Kamar-Taj, where they prepare for a battle that pits magic against magic. During the battle, Wanda finds herself caught in a unique and powerful trap, where mirrors and reflections become a prison.
Digital Domain started at the very beginning with the sequence’s previs to establish the full look and movements. Artists then began to create a smaller, more contained version of the mirror realm initially introduced in 2016’s Doctor Strange. As the character Wanda moves into the mirror realm, launches a hex bolt, created using the same techniques Digital Domain used for Wanda’s evolving magic in WandaVision. The mirror then shatters, creating multiple shards, generated in Houdini.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
For the live-action component, Olsen recorded several versions of the scene, offering the filmmakers and VFX artists several reactions to work with. The VFX team then referenced the multiple shots to create several looks for Wanda they then animated, each highlighting a different reaction within the mirror realm. The action then heads back into Kamar-Taj, with digidoubles of Wanda pushing through mirrors and reflections. The digidoubles of Olsen — along with digital models of Cumberbatch created from digital scans of the actor — were then shared with other VFX studios for use throughout the film.
“Part of the reason Marvel Studios has had so much success is that they have a clear vision, and an understanding of what needs to be done to make that become a reality,” said John Fragomeni, Global President of Digital Domain. “Creating something as unique as a Multiverse and pairing it with reality-bending magic isn’t a simple task, but we’ve been collaborating with Marvel for years now. Understanding and executing on their vision has been key to our success, and we can’t wait to show audiences what comes next.”
Digital Domain’s work on Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness marks the latest in a long line of collaborations between Marvel Studios and the VFX studio. The team-up will continue with the episodics Ms. Marvel and She-Hulk, the feature Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and more.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is playing now in theaters, and will begin streaming exclusively on Disney+ June 22.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
A creative force in VFX and premium content, Digital Domain have brought artistry and technology to films including Titanic, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and blockbusters Ready Player One, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Staff artists have won more than 100 major awards, including Academy Awards, Clios, BAFTA awards and Cannes Lions. Digital Domain has locations in Los Angeles, Vancouver, Montreal, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Taipei and Hyderabad.
Studio Ghibli Fest 2022 keeps the animated classics coming this month, as the lovable “hidden gem” The Cat Returnsenjoys a second life on the big screen for its 20th anniversary. The fantatical adventure starring The Baron from Whisper of the Heart will play in select theaters nationwide on June 26 & 27; tickets are available here.
Directed by Hiroyuki Morita, The Cat Returns (2002) begins when quiet suburban schoolgirl Haru comes to the aid of a curious, talking cat. Her good deed attracts the attentnion of the King of Cats and his retinue, and Haru finds herself whisked away to a magical feline kingdom as the cat prince’s betrothed!
The Cat Returns
Upcoming Studio Ghibli Fest engagements presented by GKIDS and Fathom Events also include:
Kiki’s Delivery Service – July 31, August 1 & 3
Only Yesterday – August 28 & 29
Howl’s Moving Castle – September 25, 26 & 28
Spirited Away– October 30, November 1 & 2
Tickets and participating theater info available at ghiblifest.com.
Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko
GKIDS also announced additional theatrical engagements for the U.S. release of Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko, directed by Ayumu Watanabe (Children of the Sea) and produced by STUDIO4°C. Opening today (Friday, June 3), the heartwarming comedy-drama introduces viewers to an unconventional little family and the bonds they share in a sleepy seaside town.
Brash single mother Nikuko is well-known for her bold spirit, much to the embarrassment of Kikuko, her pensive yet imaginative daughter. In contrast to her mother, Kikuko wants nothing more than to fit in as she navigates the everyday social dramas of middle school. Life in the harbor is peaceful until a shocking revelation from the past threatens to uproot the pair’s tender relationship.
In addition to previously announced cinemas in Albuquerque/Santa Fe, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Colorado Springs, Columbus, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Los Angeles, Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, New York City, Orlando, San Angelo, San Diego, the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle/Tacoma, Tulsa and Washington DC, fans in the following newly added venues will have a chance to enjoy this magical-realism romp:
Bakersfield, CA – Valley Plaza 16
Eugene, OR – Roseburg Cinemas
Honolulu, HI – Consolidated Pearlridge West 16
Las Vegas, NV – Galaxy Boulevard Mall
Los Angeles, CA – NEW – Galaxy Mission Grove, AMC Empire 25 (with IMAX, Dolby, Prime)
Leading Latin American animation company Pinguim Content ( Fishtronaut, Earth to Luna!) announced that its award-winning children’s animated film Tarsilinha has been sold to streaming giant Amazon Prime Video. The deal, brokered by Brazilian distributor H2O Films, saw the 90-minute, 2D/3D feature premiere across the LatAm region from Wednesday, June 1.
A journey of discovery and self-realization, Tarsilinha follows the fantastical adventures of an eight-year-old girl who sets off to save her mother’s memory by recovering the keepsakes from her memory box which were stolen by a mischievous caterpillar from a surreal world full of whimsical creatures. As Tarsilinha makes her way through this parallel reality, full of danger and threats, she overcomes fears and obstacles with the help of the friends she makes along the way.
The film is directed by Pinguim Content founders Kiko Mistrorigo and Celia Catunda, set in a whimsical world inspired by the works of legendary Brazilian artist Tarsila do Amaral.
OVID.tv announced its June slate of 31 streaming releases, including eight exclusive titles. In addition to inspiring LGBTQ+ stories timed to Pride Month, the platform will also feature the wild sketch show Do Not Adjust Your Set (BFI, 13 eps., 1967-1969), written by and starring Monty Python‘s Michael Palin, Eric Idle and Terry Jones.
Innovative and influential, and originally envisaged as children’s show, Do Not Adjust Your Set was a madcap early-evening comedy sketch show that quickly acquired a cult following with Swinging Sixties adults, who rushed home from work to see it. With great performances and additional material by David Jason and Denise Coffey, it also provided an early showcase for the hilarious animations of Terry Gilliam, and the brilliantly bizarre musical antics of the legendary Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band.
Toho International, Inc. announced the season 2 release of the classic ‘70s animated series Godzilla on Toho’s Official Godzilla YouTube Channel: youtube.com/GodzillaToho. The first part of the series premieres on June 6, and will be joined by more monster-size fun with the ongoing Godziban puppet show and Godzilla Chmop documentary series.
Never-before-released on home video and rarely seen in over 40 years, this second season of Godzilla is exclusive to the YouTube channel and will bring viewers back to the Saturday morning adventures of Godzilla and the loveable sidekick, Godzooky. The 13 episodes of season two first premiered in 1979 and will join 13 episodes of season one exclusively on the Godzilla YouTube Channel.
Berry in the Big City
Global kids & family leader WildBrain revealed a fresh wave of distribution partners for its modern Strawberry Shortcake series Berry in the Big City(80 x 4′ + 4 x 44′ specials), which is serving up a second season this summer. The series launched on Netflix in April, with the seasonal specials coming next year.
Peacock (U.S.) has signed on for seasons one and two, as has Brazilian broadcaster globoplay. The Roku Channel (U.S.) launched a Strawberry Shortcake channel featuring new and classic content, including S1&2 of Berry in the Big City. Tiny Pop (U.K.) has taken both seasons plus the specials for VOD app POP Player. HOP! (Israel) picked up S1 and the four CG specials. Also, TelevisaUnivision’s free streamer Prende TV launched a Strawberry Shortcake channel featuring both new and classic content in Spanish for the U.S. Other new distribution partners for S1 include Amazon Prime Video (LatAm, France, Germany, Austria, U.K., Ireland, Australia), Crave (Canada), FilmRise (U.S.), Future Today (U.S., U.K., Canada), Kartoon Channel! (U.S., Canada, U.K., Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore), Kids Street (U.S.), Magenta-TV (Germany), Tubi (U.S.), TVNZ (New Zealand) and XUMO (U.S.).
Animaccord, creator of the hit animated series Masha and the Bear (which reached 100 billion views worldwide on YouTube last year) is pursuing its complex global expansion strategy, successfully arranging various licensing and media deals in the Chinese market.
Summer 2022 will bring the special musical season Masha’s Songs to screens in China for the first time, in addition to the already available Masha and the Bear core seasons and Masha’s Spooky Stories. The launch will cover Tencent Video, as well as a number of other platforms. In the second half of 2022 Masha’s Songs will be distributed to the major OTT platforms, including Huawei, Xiaomi, VIVO, OPPO, Skyworth and over 30 leading IPTV platforms.
Masha and the Bear recently won Best Animation at the Hong Kong World Film Festival 2022. The series is quickly growing within the region, with more than 1.42M followers on DouYin alone (TikTok in China), superseding its rivals on the platform, as well as growing a loyal audience on Weibo and WeChat.
More TV & Streaming Updates:
Mediacorp is introducing young viewers in Sinapore to Winsing Animation‘s runaway hit STEM series Team S.T.E.A.M.!seasons 1 and 2. The natiohnal media network previously picked up Winsing’s GG Bond: Dino Diary.
The latest series of Winsing‘s popular franchise, GG Bond: Kung Fu Pork Choppersseason 3 has launched in China across OTT, IPTV and TV, including iQIYI, Youku, Tencent, Mango TV and KAKU.
pocketwatch.tv recently added 13 new creators to its portfolio of global YouTube stars, building a library of 70,000 videos (15k+ hours). Newcomers include educational animations from Scratch Garden (13.1 millionv views) and the humorous 3D object animation of Doods (3.3.m views).
Omens Studios secured a raft of internatoinal sales for Leo the Wildlife Ranger S2, to Globo Brazil, Czech TV, MTVA (Hungary) and Good TV (Taiwan).
Foo Entertainment has launched its music & magic series Miss Bellyfooon a dedicated YouTube channel.
Better Call Saul prequel cartoon Slippin’ Jimmy, produced by Starburns Industries, has debuted on the AMC+ platform.
Last week’s Licensing Expo, organized in partnership with industry trade association Licensing International, drew thousands of attendees from the world’s most reputable retailers and licensees. The number of retailers in attendance rose42% from the 2019 event, marking record growth for Licensing Expo.
Notable attending companies include Target, Hot Topic, Walmart, Fanatics, Five Below, Zulily, Centric Brands, Primark,Burlington Stores, CVS, Forever 21, El Corte Ingles, Macy’s, Kohl’s, Hybrid Apparel, Mad Engine, ASOS, Inditex, Hallmark Cards, Jakks Pacific, PacSun,H&M,Crocs, and Bioworld Merchandising, with many bringing large teams to span multiple product categories.
Held live at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas from May 24-26, the event’s in-person return was highly anticipated by the $292 billion global licensing industry, indicated by the nearly 5,500meetings held on the show floor, with many more expected on the online platform, standing room-only keynote sessions and well-attended educational and networking seminars.
The vibrant show floor hosted more than 250exhibitors spanning the widest cross selection of categories to date – Characters & Entertainment, Art & Design, Gaming & eSports, Music, Agents, Corporate Brands, Location-Based Entertainment, and more – all benefiting from 10,000+ unique attendees in search of new partners, brands, products, and trends to introduce to consumers.
“We’re still reeling from last week’s remarkable event – everything from the engagement, education, to the dazzling booths surpassed everyone’s expectations,” said Anna Knight, SVP of the Global Licensing Group, organizers of Licensing Expo. “All we heard for three days was the incredible quality of attendees, underscoring the pent-up demand for an in-person event after three years apart. Thank you to everyone who collectively made the event the astounding success that it was.”
Knight continued, “Each year, Licensing Expo serves as a springboard for new trends that will excite consumers that tap into societal behaviors, and this year did not disappoint. From Gary Vaynerchuk and Pam Kaufman addressing the cross selection of entertainment and NFTs on the keynote stage to the many immersive offerings that show the power of location-based experiences, which was our theme for the year, the show was the meeting place to discover how the most recognizable and up-and-coming brands are shaping and bringing new spins to the hottest trends.”
Licensing Expo was held both in-person and online for the first time, opening the digital platform in advance of the live get-together for attendees to discover licensable IPs and schedule meetings for a productive on-site experience. Additionally, the online platform remains open from May 27 to June 3 to facilitate follow-up appointments and enable guests the opportunity to engage with content on-demand at a convenient time.
“It was wonderful to be back in person; the show exceeded all our expectations,” commented Warren Schorr, SVP of Business Development & Global Licensing at Crayola. “While the show is always great for pre-booked meetings with traditional licensing industry partners, first-time attendees in Location-Based Entertainment, interactive, and traditional categories brought a fresh perspective and energy to the show. Decision-makers came looking for opportunities. Based on how our booth and the booths around us were packed, I expect most attendees came away with a robust pipeline for future new business.”
In addition to discovering trend-driven IPs, registered guests had access to three days of expert-led education. Throughout the show, the Licensing U Theater drew thousands of guests for sustainability education, insights on entering the licensing industry, trend predictions, and much more.
Steven Heller, President & Founder of The Brand Liaison, added,“It was so great to be back live and in-person; the energy at Licensing Expo 2022 was beyond incredible. The show was crowded; everyone was excited about new licensing deals, bringing new products to market, and new brands. Can’t wait till 2023.”
Catoms
The License This! Competition was another well-attended program that drew a strong audience for the live finale, where six finalists competed for the grand prize package in front of an expert judging panel. Kieche Meleson O’Connell, designer of Catoms: Atoms with Attitude, was selected as the winner of the Character & Animation category, and Stef “Sharky” Shultz won the Brand & Design category with Hunnie Bumble and Friends. Each winner walked away with the following:
One-year Licensing International membership worth $1,000 for a small business
One-year Products of Change membership, worth up to $450 for a small business
One-to-one consultation with License This! judges
“Congratulations to our winners,” Knight offered. “It’s new creators and out-of-the-box thinkers like Kieche and Stef that keep our dynamic industry fresh and imaginative. Each of the finalists brought amazing ideas to the table and will be the next IPs to watch over the coming years.”
The judging panel consisted of nine senior executives representing industry-leading brands” License Global magazine, Flowhaven, Licensing International, Global Licensing Advisors, Boat Rocker Studio, PowerStation Studios, Redbubble, Lisa Mark Associates, and Product Counsel. Following each on-stage presentation, judges asked questions and shared actionable feedback to help the designers, animators, and creators hone their designs and ideas as they bring products to market. Feedback spanned how to pin down their core audience to working with retailers.
hunnie bumble
Character & Animation
Catoms: Atoms with Attitude – Kieche Meleson O’Connell I took the periodic table and made each element into a cat that represents its unique scientific qualities in the form of coat patterns, superpowers, and personalities. The Catoms universe offers fun stories where the characters take you through the mysterious and often invisible world of chemistry but from the Catom’s point of view. Catoms are essentially edutainment. The characters and stories are engaging but based on scientific fact, so they are indirectly teaching real science.
Brand & Design
Hunnie Bumble and Friends – Stef “Sharky” Schultz Hunnie Bumble is a whimsical queen bee who lives in a colorful world comfortably far from our own reality – along with her husband “Hubbie Bumble” and all of their friends. Buzzing with adorable antics, absurdly zany humor, and with new friends being introduced all the time, Hunnie Bumble and Friends will always keep it cute, adventurous, and zany on the countless adventures to be had – from cooking and hide-and-go-seek, all the way to skydiving, rock climbing, spelunking… and whatever else they feel like in the next five minutes!
Kieche Meleson O’Connell
“I am speechless,” commented O’Connell. “I was not expecting it, to be honest; I am a chemist by trade and have been trying to switch into this creative world. When I first came to Licensing Expo, even though I was super excited, I did feel like a fish out of water, so it’s nice to see that people recognize Catoms: Atoms with Attitude as a good project.”
“I’m so incredibly honored to win – it was a pleasure and such a great opportunity,” said Schultz.“I’m very thankful and want to use this brand to bring change to the world. There’s a niche that Hunnie Bunnie and Friends supports, bringing awareness to how we recycle and that there is such a division in care. I want everyone to have access to good things; I want people to have opportunities to have access to and afford sustainable things and drive up the demand for sustainable recycled materials. Hunnie Bunnie and Friends is this catalyst!”
Sharky Schultz
Other finalists in the License This! competition that presented on-stage at Licensing Expo include:
Character & Animation
I want to be a baller-ina – Finalist Cherie Mays
Sunny The Apathetic Bunny – Finalist Claire Schechinger
Brand & Design
Game Toy – Finalist Alexandre Silva
Monsters & Martians – Finalist Ken Reil
Register here to engage with the event’s online platform, and save the date for next year’s Licensing Expo, returning from May 23-25, 2023, at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas.
Lights, Camera, Action! Mo Willems’Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed: The Underground Rock Experiencetakes center stage Thursday, June 30 on Cartoonito on HBO Max. Based on Willems’ New York Times best-selling picture book and sold-out theatrical rock experience, this animated rock opera strikes a power chord about accepting others. The musical event is accessorized by a fun and funny tale about a sensitive, curious, and rockin’ Naked Mole Rat named Wilbur (voiced by Jordan Fisher) who “scandalously” decides to (gasp!) get dressed!
Fans can also catch more summery fun on Cartoon Network with all-new episodes of Victor and Valentinopremiering Monday, June 6. Head deep into Monte Macabre as Victor and Valentino come face to face with more ancient curses and tricksters, all while trying to stay out of trouble. Between going undercover and following a trail of intel, the duo definitely has their hands full!
Plus, stay tuned for more episodes of Total Dramarama, also beginning Monday, June 6. Join these fun-loving classmates as they gear up for a field trip like no other, find buried treasure, and concoct anti-aging cream for Chef.
Victor and Valentino
Cartoon Network June Premieres: Monday, June 6
6 p.m. ET/PT – Total Dramarama“Knit Wit” — Duncan tries to hide his newfound secret power: knitting. But after using it to save his classmates he proudly admits it.
6:15 p.m. ET/PT – Victor and Valentino“Guillermo in G Flat” — When a creatively frustrated Val passes off a preexisting song as his own creation, he unknowingly infects his brother with an ancient curse!
Tuesday, June 7
6 p.m. ET/PT – Total Dramarama “The Fuss on the Bus” — Having never booked the field trip he promised the kids, Chef has to manufacture a full day of delays on the bus trip to avoid getting to Happy Sunshine Good Time Land.
6:15 p.m. ET/PT – Victor and Valentino “Para-Vic” — Vic’s same-old pranks aren’t working anymore. What’s a master prankster to do when all of his go-to tricks have become predictable? Become a ghost and prank from “the other side” of course. What could possibly go wrong?
Wednesday, June 8
6 p.m. ET/PT – Total Dramarama “The Cone-versation” — When Noah is forced to wear a cone of shame, he feels left out of everything. But when he learns of a pirate treasure buried under the school he becomes the leader of the team that goes on the quest to find it.
6:15 p.m. ET/PT – Victor and Valentino “Undercover Grandmother” — When Chata is blamed for a bad painting restoration, she must go undercover to find the real perp and clear her name.
Thursday, June 9
6 p.m. ET/PT – Total Dramarama “Oozing Talent” — When Sugar unwittingly wins a job as spokesperson for a diarrhea medication, she enlists the help of her friends to stop the commercial from premiering during the big game.
6:15 p.m. ET/PT – Victor and Valentino “The Imposter” — Vic and Val are hot on the trail of some crucial intel that will expose Tez. There’s just one problem, an incognito Mime is set on ensuring the information never sees the light of day.
Friday, June 10
6 p.m. ET/PT – Total Dramarama “Senior Sinisters” — Harold concocts an anti-aging cream for Chef, but when it turns the kids old, Chef hides the reversal cream because taking care of old people is making him young again!
Total Dramarama
The month heats up with more Kids & Family favorites heading to HBO Max:
Monday, June 6 – The next batch of Total Dramarama season three episodes are full of laughs and outlandish adventures. Join Gwen and Duncan as they take a trip into Cody’s dream to find out why he keeps screaming in his sleep. Then, laugh along as Beth and Harold investigate the city’s toilet paper shortage, and don’t miss Courtney’s attempt to make Chef a better teacher.
Friday, June 10 – There’s more mischief in Monte Macabre! Join Victor and Valentino as they explore the secrets of ancient folklore. New episodes of Victor and Valentino will join the HBO Max library on Friday, June 10, following the premiere on Cartoon Network earlier in the week.
Young viewers can also tune into Cartoonito on HBO Max to catch the season one premiere of Lellobee City Farmon Friday, June 3. The vibrant, music-based show is set in the wondrous world of Grandma Mei’s slightly fantastical urban micro-farm. A welcoming oasis in the middle of a culturally bustling cosmopolitan city, where Ella and her friend Rishi, play and learn, plants and vegetables sing, and farm animals talk. It’s a place where everyone is welcome and where good things grow. Perfect for co-viewing, Lellobee City Farm is an explosion of fun, with charming characters and super-catchy songs, inspiring kids to connect to nature and one another. The series will also premiere on Cartoonito on Cartoon Network on Monday, June 6 at 7:30 a.m. ET/PT.
Blippi Wonders
Another new pre-k series, Blippie Wonders, is already available on the streaming block. The CG-animated series that follows the ever-curious Blippi as he sets off on comedic and fun adventures in his BlippiMobile with his faithful sidekicks Tabbs and Fetch. Tabbs and Fetch help him find the answers to a relatable and data-lead burning question of the day, such as “Why is Blippi’s popsicle melting?” Or, “How does a rainbow get its colors?” The series inspires curiosity, creates enthusiasm around learning, and promotes themes of friendship, inclusion and independence. Airs Mondays at 7:45 a.m. ET/PT on Cartoonito on Cartoon Network.
And of course, all-new episodes of Sesame Street begin Thursday, June 2. Join Elmo and friends as they look for new ways to have fun! Plus, tune in on Thursday, June 16 when special guest Billie Eilish comes to town for the number convention!
Cartoonito will also roll out more episodes of Lucas the Spider, Bing and Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go throughout the month.
In a move that gears Hue Dada! Productions to deliver original content and creative service to clients, the real-time 3D studio has a new name and identity: Dada! Animation. The strategic shift positions the innovatory Paris studio to lead content creators into the future of 3D animation and VR experiences.
Founded in 2019 by a cross-disciplinary team of creative professionals from animation, video games and special effects, Hue Dada! Productions has produced a burgeoning slate of original animated works and a wide range of creative 3D animation and VR experience projects. Following its rapid development and the intensification of its production activities for broadcasters, documentaries, communication agencies, CSR services and cultural institutions, the studio is getting a facelift to announce its new creative offering.
Dada! Animation captures its desire to place avant-garde innovation at the heart of the constantly evolving creative process and thus break down boundaries to create unexpected 3D virtual universes that appeal to a broad target audience of kids, teenagers, young adults and adults alike.
Jérôme Mouscadet
“This new name carries our values centred on audacity, innovation and creativity,” says Jérôme Mouscadet, Director & Co-Executive Producer of Dada! Animation. “Our new graphic identity inspired by the technical-artistic movement and Tinguely’s machines embodies our ability to integrate the latest technological advances such as real-time, AI, style transfer, photogrammetry … to the service of a constantly evolving creative process.”
At the crossroads between a technological start-up and a cutting-edge studio, Dada! Animation aims to decompartmentalizesand democratize animation using new technologies such as real-time rendering and virtual production.
Quentin Auger, Head of Innovation of Dada! Animation, explains, “The benefits and advantages of real-time 3D production tools revolutionise the entire entertainment industry, particularly 3D animation. The first gain is an acceleration of production times. Many steps can be drastically accelerated, like rendering and compositing times being divided by 200 to 300. ‘Retakes’ or creative adjustments can be reduced by almost 50% in certain departments, making iterations easier.”
Quentin Auger
Auger adds that AI and machine learning tools are also easing low value-added and/or tedious jobs up, as well as surprisingly being of great inspirational help in the most creative tasks.“When 3D animation is ported into game engines as we do, the interactive virtual production necessary for immersive exploitations, the creation of avatars and metaverse environments are also at your fingertips. Consequently, the 360° exploitation of digital assets such as the production of apps and the gamification of content is greatly facilitated. These new technologies are constantly evolving and opening an exciting creative field for the entire industry.”
From pre-production to post-production, Dada! Animation directs and produces the CGI animated sequences for the interstitial program Les Hoofs de Tfou, currently aired on TFOU (TF1). The studio also collaborates with Seppia on lls étaient des Millions (They Were Millions), a hybrid animated documentary about the great European migrations in the 18thth and 19th centuries. On the VR side, the studio works with Virtual Journey to develop Lady Liberty, a virtual reality experience around Victor Hugo’s visit to Bartholdi’s workshops during the manufacture of the Statue of Liberty.
Besides its various creative collaborations, Dada! Animation will present five of its eight original projects at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.Visit the team from 14 to 18 June on the MIFA stand of the Ile de France Region (Stand C17) to find out more about its current projects:
Captain Tone-up
Captain Tone-up is currently in development with Disney Television France; this is an edutainment series of 12 x 2’ episodes. It is a 3D animation production for children aged between six and 10.
The Nebulons
The Nebulons, collaboratively developed with Diabolo Films, is a ‘Poetic Cartoon’ for three- to five-year-old children and consists of 78 x 7’ episodes. It is designed to capture the imagination of children who like to see shapes in the clouds.
Mekka Nikki
Mekka Nikkiis an initiatic science-fiction 3D/2D animated series, which will comprise 10 x 30’ episodes for Season 1. It is an epic saga of science-fiction for 10- to 14-year olds. It is being developed by Dada! Animation in collaboration with Squarefish.
Step into My Shoes
Step into My Shoes is a citizenship program which develops an understanding of the issues surrounding inclusion in an animation 3D/2D comedy series of 26 x 2’ episodes.
French Pâtisserie
French Pâtisserieis an animated documentary set to be “a scrumptious series” of 30 x 7’ episodes. Presented by the Chef of the French Prime Minister, Gaël Clavière, it bakes up the history of French pastry specialities.
Global kids and family content distributor Jetpack Distribution (jetpackdistribution.tv) announces a new team structure to grow its operations across the globe and consolidate the company’s efforts in the sales and acquisitions of stand-out, high quality content.
“Jetpack has enjoyed exponential growth since launch, momentum we wish to pick up and accelerate even further! We’re blessed to work with 40 plus producers of exceptional quality content and are focused on further expansion,” said CEO Dominic Gardner. “The changes and promotions reflect the hard work and dedication of the team, as well as their brilliant relationships and connections within the kids and family industry.”
Sophie ‘Kido’ Prigent
Sophie ‘Kido’ Prigent has been promoted to Global Head of Sales, leading sales in Asia, Canada, France, Latin America, Portugal, Spain and the Nordic countries, and AVOD sales globally. She will drive the sale of all content within Jetpack’s catalogue, working with broadcasters and VOD platforms, to find homes for the company’s diverse range of kids and family series across all genres and formats. Kido will continue to support the global acquisitions team and be the direct contact for producers in her territories.
Gillian Calvert Ridge
Gillian Calvert Ridge has been promoted to Global Distribution Director – Acquisitions and Development, leading the company’s acquisition of shows that are produced and in development stages. She will be focused on significantly growing this area, to further build Jetpack’s slate and identify the best content from producers and creators across the world. She will also handle content sales for Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Toby Jones
Matt Bowen has been appointed as Acquisitions Co-ordinator and will report directly to Calvert Ridge.
Sales Executive Toby Jones grows his remit to include selling kids and family content in Benelux, Central Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Italy. Jones will report to Prigent.
Rhiannon Lyons
Rhiannon Lyons has been promoted to Marketing and Operations Manager, working alongside CEO Dominic Gardiner to promote the company — and its slate — across the world.
Prigent, Calvert Ridge and Lyons will report directly to Gardiner.
Adriano Schmid
PBS has named Adriano Schmid as Vice President of PBS KIDS Content (pbskids.org) overseeing the team and the network’s full content library. In addition, he will be responsible for expanding PBS KIDS’ robust multi-platform content strategy to meet the evolving needs of its audience. This will include identifying new industry talent, fostering relationships with current producers and partners, and supporting development of new approaches to content production on emerging platforms. He will join the team on June 13 and will report to Sara DeWitt, SVP and General Manager of PBS KIDS.
“PBS KIDS brings such a unique proposition: combining the directive to embrace different styles, formats, points of view and voices, together with an unwavering commitment to creating content with a purpose. It’s an honor to join this amazing team and work on this growing family of beloved characters. I am delighted to have the opportunity to continue my work empowering children to connect, learn and have fun,” said Schmid.
Schmid, a media veteran with more than 20 years’ experience, comes to PBS from Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc., where he most recently focused on multilingual programming in the LatAm and U.S. Hispanic markets. He developed and produced curriculum-based projects for preschool-age audiences in the non-fiction, live-action & animation long-form genres. Schmid also supervised the creation of short and digital kids’ content. His recent projects include Ba Da Bean, a children’s comedy series that explores the connection between art and STEM, and the LatAm hit Mini Beat Power Rockers, a CG show with a strong music appreciation curriculum. In addition, he has led the network’s editorial supervision on popular co-productions Agent Binky and Earth to Luna. Schmid’s contribution to children’s entertainment has been recognized with a Pulcinella Award for the ground-breaking Papernauts (2018) and the Cine Golden Eagle Award (2014) for Doki. He is also a four-time International Emmy Award nominee (2015-2018).
Eric Roth
The Visual Effects Society (VES; vesglobal.org), the industry’s professional global honorary society, announced the forthcoming retirement of Eric Roth, the Society’s Executive Director for nearly 20 years. Roth will end his tenure as leader of the organization on September 30, 2022, amidst the Society’s milestone 25th anniversary year. The VES Board’s Executive Committee, under the leadership of VES Chair Lisa Cooke, has created a search committee that will soon begin the process to identify the next Executive Director.
“We have been exceptionally proud and fortunate to have a leader of Eric’s caliber, possessed with such passion, integrity and vision — and the unparalleled skills needed to drive this dynamic organization forward,” said Cooke. “As my colleague and friend, Eric is the kind of collaborator, mentor and cheerleader you always hope to work with. Eric has done transformational work in growing the Society into this rich global community, and he leaves an enormous legacy for us to carry forward.”
Read Roth’s letter to the Board on the VES news blog here.
Toby Emmerich [photo courtesy PGA]
Toby Emmerich has announced his intent to step down as Chairman of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group and establish his own production company at the studio. The outgoing exec has a five-year exclusive deal with Warner Bros. Discobery, which will finance the outfit and hold distribution rights to its films and TV/streaming series.
Emmerich has led WBPG since 2017, previously serving as President and Chief Content Officer. Prior to joining the studio, he was President and Chief Operating Officer of New Line Cinema. He had earlier signed on with WB in 1992 as a dual development and music executive.
Industry veterans Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy, formerly film execs at MGM, have been appointed co-chairpersons and CEOs of Warner Bros. Pictures Group, which currently includes Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema, DC-Based Film Production and Warner Bros. Feature Animation.
“It has been an honor and a pleasure to be part of this storied company these last three decades and to lead the world-class Warner Bros. film studio team, and I am incredibly proud of what we have been able to accomplish together,” said Emmerich. “This seemed like the perfect time to transition to something new, and I am excited to be pursuing my passion for storytelling in a more hands-on way with my own production company.”
Paramount+ today announced that its upcoming original movie Beavis and Butt-head Do the Universe will premiere on the service Thursday, June 23, marking the duo’s first on-screen appearance in more than 10 years. The movie will also be available to stream internationally in all territories where the service is available.
In addition to the new movie, the full library of over 200 remastered Beavis and Butt-Head episodes will stream exclusively on the service, along with a new series coming later this year.
A tale that technically spans two centuries, Beavis and Butt-head Do the Universe promises to sit atop all future lists of the Dumbest Science Fiction Movies Ever Made:
The saga begins when Beavis and Butt-Head wind up at space camp through “creative sentencing” from a juvenile court judge in 1998. Mistaking a docking simulator for something else (huh huh), Beavis and Butt-Head excel at it and are asked to join the space shuttle mission in a PR move. After ruining the mission, they are left for dead in space and end up going through a black hole and reemerging back on Earth in 2022, only to discover a very different world – and find themselves considered Buttholes of Interest by the NSA, the governor of Texas, and a highly intelligent version of themselves from a parallel universe.
Also they almost lose their virginity, but don’t.
“Beavis and Butt-Head were defining voices of a generation, and to this day, the show is one of the most well-known and beloved animated IPs of all time,” said Chris McCarthy, President/CEO, Paramount Media Networks and MTV Entertainment Studios. “Mike Judge has reimagined this dynamic duo in a way that is sure to have both old fans and new ones alike laughing out loud — and we couldn’t be more excited to bring them back into our rapidly expanding arsenal of hit adult animation.”
“Reuniting Beavis and Butt-Head is the smartest dumb move one could make, and we jumped at the opportunity,” said Tanya Giles, Chief Programming Officer of Streaming for Paramount+. “Only a duo this iconic would bring us to space and back and we’re so excited to share their epic, nacho-filled journey with audiences.”
Beavis and Butt-head Do the Universe features the voices of Mike Judge, Gary Cole, Chris Diamantopoulos, Nat Faxon, Brian Huskey, Chi McBride, Tig Notaro, Stephen Root, Andrea Savage, Martin Starr and Jimmy O. Yang.
An exclusive look at the new movie will debut during the 2022 MTV Movie & TV Awards, which air live Sunday, June 5, at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
Beavis and Butt-head Do the Universe
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, scathing commentary on society. The show’s popularity spawned various related media, including the theatrical film Beavis and Butt-Head Do America in 1996.
Beavis and Butt-head Do the Universe is executive-produced by Mike Judge, Lew Morton and Michael Rotenberg, and Chris Prynoski, Shannon Prynoski, Ben Kalina and Antonio Canobbio for Titmouse.
Production workers at FOX primetime animation mainstays The Simpsons, Family Guy and American Dad! have filed to join The Animation Guild (TAG) and begin collective bargaining for their first Union contract.
“The many production staff members are also trained artists or hold a BFA. [We] rely on that education and training to do our jobs … It is time we were included in TAG so we can have the same quality health care, pensions and transparency in compensation that our counterparts currently enjoy,” said Ashley Cooper, The Simpsons production manager.
This move follows a request by a super majority of the workers on May 26, 2022, to be voluntarily recognized. Attorneys representing the three production companies responded to this request by contacting TAG and stating that the productions’ parent studio, 20th Television Animation, was not yet prepared to voluntarily recognize the entire unit as was proposed by The Animation Guild and asked for additional time to review.
“Those of us who have been working in animation production for many years take pride in knowing that we are an integral part of the longevity and evolution of our shows, right alongside the artists that we work with,” Jason Jones, American Dad! animatic & timing production supervisor, noted. “Even though we meet the same tight deadlines and work the same long hours, we [are aware] that we do not share the same basic protections as the artists we spend those hours with. We deserve the same respect and dignity as our fellow Union-protected workers.”
Since voluntary recognition has not yet been reached, the production workers and The Animation Guild moved forward and filed petitions this week — on June 1 (The Simpsons), June 2 (American Dad!) — and tomorrow, June 3, will file Family Guy for Union elections with the National Labor Review Board (NLRB).
Family Guy design production assistant Andee Kiraly stated, “I’ve chosen to organize because I truly love my job and want to improve the quality of my team’s working environment. Production roles are often viewed as stepping stone jobs, but I look at our shows (Family Guy, American Dad! and The Simpsons) and I see production crew who have been here for 10+ or 15+ years. These aren’t stepping stone jobs. These are careers and they deserve to be treated as such.”
Those represented in the unit include production managers, production supervisors, production coordinators, writers assistants, production assistants, associate producers, office assistants, IT supervisors and more.
These latest actions follow big unionizing moves from studio and show crews such as Titmouse, Rick and Morty and Solar Opposites, and the recent announcement of a tentative agreement with the AMPTP bringing TAG’s #NewDeal4Animation closer within reach.
The Animation Guild, also known as Local 839 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), was founded in 1952. The labor union represents more than 5,000 artists, technicians and writers in the animation industry, advocating for workers to improve wages and conditions.
Terril Calder’s stop-motion short Meneath: The Hidden Island of Ethicshas received numerous awards since its debut in 2021. The NFB-produced project, which centers on the contrast between the Seven Deadly Sins and the Seven Sacred Teachings as embodied in the life of a precocious Métis baby, makes a powerful statement on the bias of colonial systems.
Ahead of the short’s presentation in Annecy’s Perspective Program: Short Films in Competition (June 13-18), we had a chance to speak with the talented artist to learn more about her inspiring work:
Meneath: The Hidden Island of Ethics
Animation Magazine: Can you tell us a little bit about the inspiration for your short?
Terril Calder [photo: Julie Artacho]Terril Calder: The inspiration for Meneath: The Hidden Island of Ethics was augmented reality. I wanted to create an experience that would unearth hidden truths. Truths about colonial systems and structures and spirituality that often go unseen.
Initially, I wanted to make a theater experience that would be a film just about the Seven Deadly Sins. I wanted a film that would work without using the AR looking glass. So if the viewer never knew about the AR component, it would still be a solid film. However, if the viewer did know about the AR component and did use the looking glass to find the hidden layer, they would see Nokomis and would find another set of ethics that they hadn’t had access to before. The inspiration for me is that there is another whispering in my ear, guiding me in my decision making. I realized that a lot of non-Indigenous folks don’t really get the cultural differences.
I thought it would be cool to tackle this ambitious project with the NFB. We produced a single-channel version that is currently doing its festival run, and there’s an augmented reality gallery piece that we are just finishing now, as well as an AR web version that will be released later down the road.
Meneath: The Hidden Island of Ethics
When did you start working on it and how long did it take to make?
Pre-production for one year and production for two. We have been tinkering with the AR gallery piece on and off for months since then, but the film was done in roughly three years.
How big are the puppets and the sets, and what are they made of?
Baby Girl, my main character, was about six inches tall, and I casted her out of silicone rubber with a ball and socket armature. The other characters are made of paper. The stage was about five by four feet.
Meneath: The Hidden Island of Ethics
What was your biggest challenge?
My intention was very complicated to achieve in a short period of time, and the way I conceive of complicated ideas is to put them in little chapters. The danger of little chapters is that they can become monotonous and a little boring. So, I needed to create a through line and bring in ‘is she destined for hell?’ as a plot. Also, shooting it was a challenge, as there was a danger that the set (stage) would also become monotonous, so I needed to find the shots to make the stage feel fresh, chapter to chapter; but honestly, that was kinda fun.
How many people worked on the short?
This is the first film that I have done with the NFB, and I don’t normally work with so many people. But I was happy to work out of my own little studio, writing, building, creating and animating. I took on many of the key roles; however, I was very lucky to have Jeff Barnaby edit the film and lucky to have Jelena Popović produce it. The film is so much better for it. I think it was around 25 people?
Meneath: The Hidden Island of Ethics
What was your ballpark budget?
Jelena Popović (NFB producer): The total budget for Meneath was $431,906 CAD. We had a small hand-picked crew, yet most of the work was done by Terril herself. It was absolutely stunning to see a single person have all those skills — from writing to directing to designing and fabricating the puppets, sets and props, to animating and compositing it all as well. Quite impressive indeed.
What would you love audiences to take away from the short?
Terril Calder: I hope that the film raises questions about code switching. True equity is everyone feeling a little uncomfortable accommodating other points of view.
Meneath: The Hidden Island of Ethics
What was the biggest lesson you learned from the experience?
I learned how to work with people a little bit … [laughs]. I’m very stubborn but I know I still have so much more to learn. I love that. I love making work that is just a little out of reach, with a medium that has endless possibilities and with people who are good at their craft. I like being scared a little bit. Working with others is very challenging, as it gets me out of my head a bit. I had to communicate my ideas, which I’m dreadful at, and that’s actually part of the reason I became a visual artist. Sometimes words fail me, but I needed to find them to get this film made. So that it remained close to me and remained my film and not a Frankenstein.
Learn more about Meneath: The Hidden Island of Ethics at nfb.ca.
Today, Corus Entertainment (corusent.com) announces its complete lineup of premium original content for 2022/2023 with an incredible 45 total greenlights and renewals, including more than 600 episodes and 24 titles from Corus Studios. This includes a new original animated series for Adult Swim, plus more family toon fare from its powerhouse studio Nelvana.
“Corus is proud to showcase a standout lineup of Canadian Original content featuring dynamic formats, charismatic personalities, and renewals of fan-favourite series with homegrown talent from Corus Studios, Nelvana, and our valued production partners,” said Colin Bohm, EVP, Content & Corporate Strategies, Corus Entertainment. “Our expanding portfolio of original shows is driving significant growth in the key pillars of lifestyle, factual, kids and scripted series, as we remain dedicated to creating premium content with diverse, engaging narratives and uniquely Canadian voices appealing to audiences across the country and on an international scale.”
Red Ketchup
Corus revealed its second Canadian original series for Adult Swim, the popular network that offers an unexpected blend of authenticity, originality and cleverness: Red Ketchup (20 × 30′), commissioned and greenlit by Corus’ French channel Télétoon la nuit, is based on the cult Quebec comic-book series from the ‘80s of the same name. Featuring crazed rogue FBI agent, Steve “Red” Ketchup, the series is produced by Sphere Animation and will premiere in Canada on both Télétoon la nuit and in English on Adult Swim in 2023.
Synopsis:The series is set in the mid-1980s, at the end of the Cold War. Red Ketchup is assigned the most perilous missions by the FBI, and he pulls them off every time. The sight of his hulking frame, red eyes and orange hair is enough to make enemies quake. He breezily and brazenly takes every risk to achieve his ends, usually causing heavy collateral damage along the way. The FBI regards him as a liability and sends him to distant lands hoping he will never return. But Red Ketchup always makes it back!
Psi Cops
Plus, the previously announced first Canadian original series for Adult Swim, Psi Cops (24 x 11′), is set to premiere Winter 2023. The adult animated series follows “top” detectives at a secret agency investigating the unexplained. The series is produced by Wind Sun Sky Entertainment and Oddfellows Labs.
Synopsis:The crucial task of investigating spiritual phenomena, extraterrestrial life, and paranormal activity is in the hands of unjustifiably bold and unnecessarily creative investigators Agent Kydd and Agent Felixx. Operating as part of the secret agency, Psi Cops, helmed by true believer, Chief Beef, we follow Kydd and Felixx as they investigate alleged sightings of aliens, ghosts, demons and other hocus-pocus bullsh*t.
Best & Bester
Celebrating its 50-year milestone, Nelvana maintains its position as a world-renowned international producer and distributor of children’s animated and live action content, with content seen in over 180 countries around the world. This year is no exception, with new series, seasons and episodes coming soon to Corus’ leading kids’ networks, YTV, Treehouse and TELETOON.
The previously announced Best & Bester(52 × 11′) is set to premiere this fall on YTV. A co-production between Nelvana, Eye Present and Gigglebug Entertainment, the series follows two siblings and best friends obsessed with comparing the best things of all time while enjoying the power to transform themselves into anything they want, once a day — if only they can figure out what the best thing to be actually is!
Super Wish
More fresh content from Nelvana landing on Corus’ kids networks this fall includes:
New episodes of Super Wish(52 x 11′) on YTV, produced by Nelvana and Discovery’s joint venture, redknot, and created by Nelvana’s own Vanessa Esteves and Daytime Emmy Award-winning art director, Adrian Thatcher.
New episodes of Bakugan: Evolutions(26 x 22′) will bring epic action to TELETOON.
Everyone’s favourite P.U.R.S.T. agents continue the adventure on Treehouse with new episodes of the second season of Agent Binky: Pets of the Universe (52 × 11′). Produced by redknot, the series is based on the best-selling books by Ashley Spires, published by Corus Entertainment’s Kids Can Press.
A new season of Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go! (52 x 11′), accompanied by a brand new special with the beloved engines Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go! Mystery at Lookout Mountain (60′), is also chugging along to Treehouse.
Fans have a new release for a landmark animated series to look foreward to this summer, as NADIA: The Secret of Blue Water – The Complete Seriesheads to Blu-ray.
A sci-fi adventure on the high seas, NADIA: The Secret of Blue Water is the acclaimed television series from visionary director Hideaki Anno (Neon Genesis Evangelion). This award-winning show is loosely based on the works of Jules Verne, and its popularity later inspired a film, manga and video games.
Available August 2 from GKIDS with distribution by Shout! Factory, the release boasts an all-new 4K restoration, and includes all 39 episodes of the series in both the original Japanese and an English dub, as well as a number of bonus features including a new booklet featuring character and mechanical designs from the series, a sneak-preview featurette, a TV spot, and more!
Synopsis: It’s 1889, and people from around the globe are flocking to Paris to see scientific achievements at the Exposition Universelle despite rumors of dangers lurking in the oceans. While attending the fair, teenaged inventor Jean meets Nadia, a mysterious girl who possesses a highly sought-after crystal called Blue Water. Pursued by nefarious forces, the pair journey by sea and by sky to escape their would-be captors and to discover the secret of the crystal.
Norwegian production companies Imaginær Film and Animasjonsdepartementet are celebrating the selection of their animated series Yukon – Space Botanist by the Annecy Festival as one of the carefully chosen Mifa Pitch projects competing for a prize at this year.
Heading into the festival (June 13-18), Meta Media Entertainment has been appointed as international distributor for the series, which has the support of the Norwegian public broadcaster NRK. Screenwriter Sara Daddy has also signed on as head writer on the project, bringing her experience on Emmy and Annie Award-nominated shows such as Puffin Rock, Claude and more to the show.
Yukon is a sci-fi adventure for upper preschool children, but can be enjoyed by anyone. Our hero is sent on a mission to collect seeds and plants for future generations. In short stand-alone episodes, Yukon travels to the furthest regions of space where every day is a new adventure. The series aims to inspire kids’ interest in creating and exploring through surprising and vivid visuals.
The creators of Yukon are Martin Engh and Jakob Thommessen, whose company Animasjonsdepartementet has been producing animated commercials in Norway since 2009, winning awards both nationally and internationally.
Imaginær Film is run by producers Eirik Smidesang Slåen and Elisabeth Opdal. They have produced or co-produced a number of award-winning animated box-office successes such as In the Forest of Huckybucky, Captain Sabertooth and the Magic Diamond, Louis and Luca – Mission to the Moon and more.
“As producers, this is one of those projects that you dream of having in your slate — wildly creative with strong and resonating characters set against a backdrop which allows it to expand and expand,” commented Smidesang Slåen and Opdal.
Sarah Cooper, Founder of Meta Media Entertainment, added, “Yukon is a captivating and original project with a look which really stands out. I am sure that the lovable characters and the timely theme of wonder at the diversity of nature will resonate with children around the world.“
Meta Media Entertainment is a London-based specialist distributor of childrens’ animation established in 2016, representing a growing catalogue of high-quality content from around the world which it licenses to broadcasters and platforms worldwide.
This morning, fans of Netflix’s artisinal animated projects were treated to the teaser trailer debut for ONI: Thunder God’s Taleas well as the reveal of the Tonko House project’s stellar voice cast. Crafted in stop-motion-styled CGI, the four-episode event series comes from creator & showrunner Dice Tsutsumi (The Dam Keeper).
“The story of a brave girl caught between two worlds divided is, at its core, not only a very personal story for me, but one that’s become personal for everyone involved including our absolute dream cast,” Tsutsumi shared. “Every one of these incredible talents from our dream list accepted with such passion and empathy for the story, and collaborating with them has been equally humbling and inspiring. They’ve given souls to our characters and unparalleled performances for our animators.”
The just-announced cast features Momona Tamada (The Baby-Sitters Club), Archie Yates (Jojo Rabbit), Craig Robinson (The Office, The Cleveland Show), Order of Canada honoree Tantoo Cardinal (Blackstone, Wendell and Wild), Brittany Ishibashi (Runaways, Over the Moon), Omar Miller (Ballers, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Anna Akana (Jupiter’s Legacy, Amphibia), Charlet Takahashi Chung (Fast & Furious Spy Racers, Rugrats), Miyuki Sawashiro (Demon Slayer, Fruits Basket), Yuki Matsuzaki (Othello-san, Samurai Rabbit: The UsagiChronicles), Seth Carr (The Mysteriouos Benedict Society), Robert Kondo and George Takei.
Tsutsumi serves as executive producer alongside Robert Kondo (The Dam Keeper) and Kane Lee, and co-exec producers Megan Bartel and Sara K. Sampson. Sampson also serves as producer. Mari Okada is the series writer.
Synopsis: In a world filled with the oddball gods and monsters of Japanese mythology, one of the creature’s free-spirited daughters, Onari, is determined to follow in the footsteps of the mighty heroes of lore, but her unique powers are yet to be revealed. Does she have what it takes to fight to protect her peaceful village from the encroaching threat of the gods’ mysterious enemies, the “Oni”?
A release date for ONI is to be announced, so stay tuned!
The Board of Directors for ASIFA-Hollywood announced today that its 50th Annual Annie Awards, recognizing the year’s best in the field of animation. will return to a live ceremony on Saturday, February 25, 2023 at UCLA’s Royce Hall (Los Angeles, Calif.). A list of ceremony Deadlines, Rules & Categories, and the ‘Call for Entries’ will be announced and available on the Annies website (annieawards.org) on Monday, September 12, 2022.
The Annie Awards covers 37 categories and include Best Animated Feature, Best Animated Feature-Independent, Special Productions, Sponsored Films, Short Subjects, Student Films and Outstanding Individual Achievements, as well as the honorary Juried Awards. See the winners of this year’s awards here!
Aline – “The French Dispatch”
The Telly Awards, the world’s largest honor for video and television content across all screens, announced this year’s winners, including a variety of top-tier brands and organizations as well as smaller media companies such as ViacomCBS, Warner Bros. Worldwide TV Marketing, Sony Music Entertainment, PBS Digital Studios, Nice Shoes, and Crunchyroll. This year’s edition received over 11,000 entries and saw an increase in global submissions from Australia, Mexico, across Europe (Germany, Spain, France) and Asia (Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan).
This year’s Gold animated winners include The Walt Disney Company, Europe & Africa, for the Disney Junior Xmas Multiproperty Spot, WeTransfor for Aline – “The French Dispatch, Ingenuity Studios for Dolly Parton – “Blue Bonnet Breeze”, Gladius Studios for Slimies ep. 1 “Bloo” and Aflac – “The Park Bench.” Find the complete database of winners at tellyawards.com.
Paper Owl Films accepts the RTS NI Programme Award for Animation
The winners of the Royal Television Society Northern Ireland (RTS NI) 7th Programme Awards were announced at a glittering awards ceremony in City Hall, Belfast hosted by actress and TV presenter Denise Van Outen and sponsored by Ka-Boom. Paper Owl Films was awarded the Children’s and/or Animation prize (sponsored by Millar McCall Wylie) for its emotional TV movie Sol, for TG4, S4C and BBC Alba. Finalists in the category were Tyrone Productions’ My Life: Made to Measure and Zodiak Kids Studios’ Secret Life of Boys.
If you missed the recent live-streamed Clubhouse watch-along for Love, Death + Robots Vol. 3 with directors David Fincher, Tim Miller, Jennifer Yuh Nelson and Alberto Mielgo, don’t worry: A full replay of the virtual event is now available. Check it out at clubhouse.com.
The Cave
The 28th annual Palm Springs International ShortFest returns to hold all of its screenings in-theater at the Camelot in Palm Springs Cultural Center from June 21-27. The festival will screen 51 curated programs showcasing 300 films including 38 World Premieres, 17 International Premieres, 35 North American Premieres and 18 U.S. Premieres. More than 5,800 short films from 134 countries were submitted. The festival has several Oscar-qualifying competitions, including Best Animated Short (selected films below). The complete line-up and schedule is available at psfilmfest.org.
Animation
Anxious Body (France/Japan) by Yoriko Mizushiri
Bestia (Chile) by Hugo Covarrubias
Boobs (Canada) by Marie Valade
Cat and Moth (Canada/U.K.) by India Barnardo
The Cave (South Korea) by Kim Jinman, Chon Jiyoung (World Premiere)
Cradle (Romania) by Paul Mureşan
Do Not Feed the Pigeons (U.K.) by Antonin Niclass (U.S. Premiere)
The Fall (Canada) by Desirae Witte
Fall of the Ibis King (Ireland) by Mikai Geronimo, Josh O’Caoimh
Five Cents (U.S.) by Aaron Hughes
The Fourth Wall (Iran) by Mahboobeh Kalaee
Girl in the Water (Taiwan) by Shi-Rou Huang
Homebird (U.K.) by Ewa Smyk
In His Mercy (Germany) by Christoph Büttner (North American Premiere)
Laika & Nemo (Germany) by Jan Gadermann, Sebastian Gadow
Life Is a Particle Time Is a Wave (U.S.) by Daniel Zvereff
Lost Brain (Switzerland) by Isabelle Favez (U.S. Premiere)
Lost Brain
Louis I. King of the Sheep (Germany/U.S.) by Markus Wulf (North American Premiere)
The Most Boring Granny in the Whole World (Germany) by Damaris Zielke (North American Premiere)
Night (Germany/Qatar/Palestine/Jordan) by Ahmad Saleh
Night of the Living Dread (U.K.) by Ida Melum
The Ocean Duck (U.S.) by Huda Razzak
On The Surface (Iceland/U.S.) by Fan Sissoko
Rest in Piece (Germany/France) by Antoine Antabi (North American Premiere)
The Seine’s Tears (France) by Yanis Belaid, Eliott Benard, Nicolas Mayeur, Etienne Moulin, Hadrien Pinot, Lisa Vicente, Philippine Singer, Alice Letailleur
Sierra (Estonia) by Sander Joon
Somebody Take the Wheel (U.S.) by Kenzie Sutton
Something in the Garden (Chile) by Marcos Sánchez
Sprite Fright (Netherlands) by Matthew Luhn, Hjalti Hjalmarsson
The Spyglass (Sweden) by Malin Erixon (International Premiere)
Steakhouse (Slovenia/Germany/France) by Špela Čadež
Swallow the Universe (France) by Nieto
Sweet Nothing (Switzerland) by Joana Fischer, Marie-Christine Kenov
Theorie und Praxis (Germany) by Leonie Minor
What I Had to Leave Behind (U.S.) by Sean David Christensen
Wolf and Cub (U.S.) by Marvin Bynoe
Your Mountain Is Waiting (U.K.) by Hannah Jacobs (North American Premiere)
Zoon (Germany) by Jonatan Schwenk
More dates, updates and deadlines:
It’s the final week to register for Toon Boom‘s inaugural Animation Trends Event (ATE 2022), bringing together industry professionals, artists and animators from around the world who work with Harmony and Storyboard Pro. June 6-8. Register now (free).
NYICFF is presenting its third annual Industry Forum on June 14, 21 & 28. The online panels, presentations and conversations will focus on inclusive kids’ media, and are open to all industry pros (and hopefuls). Register here,
Max the Mutt College of Animation will be holding its 2022 Graduation Showcase both online (1-3 p.m. EST, June 22) and in-person in Toronto (6-8 p.m. EST, June 23) — a double opportunity to check out work by MTM’s Concept Art, Animation and Illustration grads and meet the next generation of toon talent. Registration by invitation, inquire with outreach@maxthemutt.com.
OIAF confirms the return of an in-person Pitch THIS! competition for Canadian animated series creators, presented with Mercury Filmworks as part of The Animation Conference. Submission deadline: June 30, 2022.
Spark Animation poster designed by Dio Ostuni
THU kicks off the 8th Golden Ticket challenge. 2D/3D artists will create submissions that capture the sustainability theme “Agents of Change” fo a chance to win a full-ride ticket to the THU Main Event (Sept. 19-24, Tróia, Portugal), become a speaker, and more. Deadline: July 17, 2022.
SIGGRAPH Asia has opened submissions for its 2022 Computer Animation Festival, which will be held as part of the conference in Daegu, South Korea (Dec. 6-9). The competition is open to computer-animated shorts, feature films, music videos, commercials, visualizations, simulations, VFX, real-time animation and more. Deadline: July 31, 2022.
Spark CG announced its hybrid Oscar-accredited festival SPARK ANIMATION 2022 will be held Oct. 27 to Nov. 30. The 14th edition will offer online programming available to stream worldwide for the duration (powered by Eventive) as well as in-person programming in Vancouver, Canada. Submission deadline: Sept. 16, 2022.
This summer just got a little sweeter with the news that YouTube Kids & Family toon The Guava Juice Showis set to blast off this Saturday.The trailer released today showcases the wild adventures of 14-year-old Roi (Roi Fabito) and his best friends — fierce teenager Jenny (Bethany Brown) and fretful, safety-first Guava (a walking, talking guava fruit voiced by Adrian Petriw) — as they travel through the multiverse in a magic bathtub.
The new animated comedy series comes from YouTube superstar and creator of the Guava Juice YouTube channel, Roi Fabito, who serves as one of the show’s executive producers as well as voicing the lead character. We caught up with the ebullient web star (who boasts more than 16.8 million subscribers and more than 8.8 billion views) to find out more about how the juice gets squeezed:
Animation Magazine: Can you tell us a little bit about how you decided to be involved in an animated project? Roy Fabito: As a kid, I wanted to be an astronaut, but that dream went out the door when I realized I had severe motion sickness. I always had this crazy idea to launch myself in a bathtub into outer space since I was five years old. YouTube came along and I filmed so many videos filling my bathtub with different things like Jell-O, nacho cheese and slime. I felt unfulfilled knowing that launching a bathtub into space would still be impossible. I realized that the only way I can do that is through a cartoon where possibilities are endless.
Roi Fabito (Guava Jucie – Fluffy Slime Challenge)
When did you actually start thinking about the idea for the show? How long did it take to produce it?
It was after my Nutella bath video that I wanted to take the bathtub series on the Guava Juice YouTube channel towards another level. I realized that I was limited on what I could do with my bathtub. It took two years to produce.
What do you love about this show? What makes it stand out?
The main trio of the show, Roi, Guava and Jenny, is the heartbeat of the show. Their personalities and dynamic with each other really make you fall in love with them. They’re the kind of best friends you remember your whole life from being a kid because you can share anything and always have each other’s back. The show stands out for that, and because each episode is filled with chaotic fun. With the multiverse, every adventure has endless possibilities.
Also, did I mention that there’s a cool bathtub?
Who is the target audience?
The show is great for six- to 11-year olds, but we think it also has a lot to offer older kids and families. The dialog and comedy is kind of ageless because it’s organic to characters who feel specific and real. Like, everyone can watch Friends or The Office. Which is good because my channel has been going for a long time now so I wanted a show that could work for even the older range.
Which animation tools are used to create it? Where is the animation produced?
Mainframe Studios and Studio71 developed the show and it’s produced by Mainframe in Vancouver. The show is produced in Harmony, but there is also a lot of hand-drawing that goes into the character performance and expressions.
What are the visual inspirations for the show?
A guava fruit and a claw foot bathtub!
What is the toughest part of producing the show?
At the risk of jinxing it, we’ve all said that this is the most fun we’ve ever had producing a show. Maybe that’s because we all share the same creative vision for it, so everyone has a chance to contribute and make it great at every stage.
What do you hope audiences will get out of the series?
We want them to escape for 11 minutes to join the adventures that Roi, Guava and Jenny go through, hoping they leave in a better mood than before they started watching the episode.
Have you had any audience feedback? Any memorable reactions?
They absolutely love it. When I meet fans in real life, they always ask when more Guava Juice Show episodes are coming out. When you type in “The Guava Juice Show” on YouTube’s search bar, the first thing that autofills to is “The Guava Juice Show Episode 2.” People want more!
What are your favorite animated movies and shows?
My favorite movie of all time is Tarzan. That was the only VHS tape my parents had at the house so I would watch that every time I got the chance to. When I finally got cable, I watched a lot of Powerpuff Girls and Dexter’s Laboratory.
What was the most valuable lesson you learned from the Guava Juice animation experience?
I’ve learned that there exists a team in this universe who are absolutely amazing in creating, producing and executing this show to its fullest potential. Teamwork really does make the dream work of launching a bathtub even dimensional light years through space! Without the brilliant minds of everyone who has worked on this project, none of this would have existed in any multiverse!
The Guava Juice Show follows the extraordinary adventures of Roi, Jenny and Guava as they work at a mysterious boardwalk curio shop and jet through the multiverse in a dimension-hopping bathtub. Additional cast includes Cherilynn Fulbrightas the cynical teen Nancy; Brian Drummondas Uncle Hampersand, the owner of the curio shop; Beth Trisko as Roi’s Lola; and Ian Hanlin as the villainous multiversian cheerleader Hart Spirit.
In the series premiere, “Gummy Phone Home,” a lost gummy bear from the multiverse accidentally ends up back in the curio shop and an unwitting and nervous Guava is forced to take on the role of protector. Roi and Jenny help Guava face his fears in an escalating series of outlandishly dangerous situations so they can get gummy bear back home safely.
Produced by Studio71 and Mainframe Studios, The Guava Juice Show was created by John Hazlett, Lienne Sawatsky and Dan Williams. Roi Fabito, Gregory R. Little and Michael Schreiber executive produce along with Michael Hefferon and Adam Boorstin. Nadine Zylstra is Global Head of YouTube Originals. Craig Hunter serves as Global Head of Kids & Family Originals for YouTube. Daniel Haack is the creative lead on The Guava Juice Show for YouTube Originals.
Belle, the fantastical, heartfelt story of growing up in the age of social media from the acclaimed Academy Award-nominated director Mamoru Hosoda and Studio Chizu (Mirai, Wolf Children, Summer Wars), will be celebrated with a deluxe 4K release, coming August 30 from GKIDS with distribution by Shout! Factory.
A three-disc set, Belle Collector’s Edition will include the film in UHD + Blu-ray, available both in the original Japanese and with an English dub, with a bonus disc of exciting new special features — all wrapped up in beautiful deluxe packaging.
The extensive bonus features on Belle Collector’s Edition include those from the Blu-rayrelease, as well as several new captivating offerings, such as new special dialogues with cast, a new interview with Takeru Satoh, a new Eric Wong interview, and more.
On Belle, the Japanese creative team worked in collaboration with a roster of international talents. Character designer Jin Kim (Moana, Tangled, Frozen) designed the titular Belle. Cartoon Saloon’s Oscar-nominated Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart (Wolfwalkers, Song of the Sea, The Secret of Kells) contributed artwork for the various virtual fantasy worlds within the film. And up-and-coming British architect and designer Eric Wong designed the virtual world of “U.”
Taisei Iwasaki (Blood Blockade Battlefront., Studio Ghibli’s Giant God Warrior Appears in Tokyo) along with composing original songs and score, led multiple composers and produced the film’s music entirely. Other composers include the critically acclaimed Yuta Bandoh (Yuri on Ice) and BAFTA nominee Ludvig Forrsell (Kojima Productions’ Death Stranding). The film’s main theme “U” was performed by groundbreaking Japanese act millennium parade, led by the composer of the song, Daiki Tsuneta.
Belle Collector’s Edition
Synopsis: Suzu is a shy, everyday high school student living in a rural village. For years, she has only been a shadow of herself. But when she enters “U,” a massive virtual world, she escapes into the online persona of Belle, a gorgeous and globally-beloved singer. One day, her concert is interrupted by a monstrous creature chased by vigilantes. As their hunt escalates, Suzu embarks on an emotional and epic quest to uncover the identity of this mysterious “beast” and to discover her true self in a world where you can be anyone.
Belle boasts a star-studded English voice cast including Chace Crawford, Manny Jacinto, Kylie McNeill and Hunter Schafer.
Lauded by critics around the globe following its world premiere at the 74th Annual Cannes Film Festival, and North American premiere at the 59th Annual New York Film Festival, this stunningly animated film is a breathtaking adaptation of a tale as old as time that was nominated for five Annie Awards including Best Independent Feature.
Belle Collector’s Edition bonus features:
NEW Behind the Japanese Dub
NEW Promo Events with Hosoda and Cast
NEW Special Dialogues with Cast (Kaho Nakamura, Takeru Satoh, Lilas Ikuta)
NEW Interview with Takeru Satoh
NEW Eric Wong Interview
The Making of Belle
A Conversation with Director Mamoru Hosoda
The Music of Belle
Hosoda Draws Belle
Finding the Voice of Belle
Scene Breakdowns
Mamoru Hosoda at Animation Is Film
Design Gallery
Kylie McNeill Performs “Gales of Song”
Trailers
Belle was released on all major digital platforms on May 3, and as a Blu-ray + DVD combo pack and in a Target-exclusive Steelbook edition May 17. (More info here.)
