Animation Magazine

Animation Dingle Announces Award Winners

Mercedes Milligan

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March 26, 2021

Animation Dingle Announces Award Winners

This year’s Virtual Animation Dingle presented by JAM Media took place throughout this week, delivering an incredible lineup of guests and speakers from a virtual Dingle Town — including the iconic Dick Mack’s Pub, the Phoenix cinema and usual festival haunts. Over 2,500 participants tuned in to the Festival across all the platforms.

Festival co-founders Maurice Galway and John Rice of JAM Media welcomed Tánaiste and Vice President of Ireland Leo Varadkar to officially open the 9th Animation Dingle Festival on Wednesday.

“Ireland has built a strong reputation internationally as a centre of excellence for animation and I’m proud to continue to honor the work of the growing legion of award-winning Irish animators,” said Varadkar, who also serves as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. “Over the years, Animation Dingle has succeeded in fostering Irish and international industry relationships. The caliber of attendees this year alone speaks to the strong collaborative working relationship Ireland has established with the global sector and I look forward to seeing the industry continue to flourish and grow as a result of events such as these.”

“The animation industry in Ireland has been a long cornerstone of our vibrant entertainment industry, it has seen significant growth in the last decade, and it’s now an integral part of our digital creative economy,” noted Eileen Bell, Senior Business Development Adviser at Enterprise Ireland. “In 2020 alone, Enterprise Ireland supported more than 80 Irish companies in the broad animation, media, digital entertainment, game development and advertising sector. Those companies generated over €180 million in exports last year. Animation Dingle has played a key role in that success story and Enterprise Ireland is delighted to support in this year’s virtual event.”

The Big Pitcher event sponsored by DreamWorks Animation went virtual also, and JAM Media sought to uncover the next big, upcoming Irish Animator. A panel of top industry judges selected Nova by Kirsten Hennessy (Athlone IT) as the winning pitch of 2021.

The 2021 Murakami Award was bestowed on Robert Cullen, Creative Director & Founder, Boulder Media.

The inaugural Virtual Animation Dingle Festival came to a close on Thursday night with the YouTube Kids Animation Dingle Awards, emceed by Alison Spittle, with audiences around the globe tuning in to find out the winners. This year, the Festival received submissions from 26 countries and exhibited animation from Ireland, U.K., France, Canada, U.S., China and beyond, and the adjudication process selected nominees across all award categories. Two estimable jury panels selected the winners in student and professional categories.

The Student categories winners are:

BEST IRISH (Sponsored by RTÉjr) – The Pursuit, Iobhar Stokes Rodriguez
“A really captivating film, wonderful soundscape. Loved the hand drawn feel and detail.” — Suzanne Kelly, Head of Children’s and Young People’s Content, RTÉ

BEST INTERNATIONAL (Sponsored by CBBC) – 100,000 Acres of Pine, Jennifer Alice Wright, Denmark
“Impressive, fantastic designs, characters and backgrounds, great atmosphere, lighting and sound effects. I love the animation style which feels classic but very contemporary at the same time.” — Patricia Hidalgo, Director of Children’s + Education, BBC

Best DIRECTOR (Sponsored by Brown Bag Films) – Forest, Dermott Burns
“This just looks beautiful!!! Really vivid!” — Eimear O’Mahony, Executive Producer Children’s & Young People’s Content, RTÉ

BEST WRITER (Sponsored by Darrell Macqueen) – Husky, Darragh Scott
“I liked the bold style. The story was dramatic and compelling.” — Will Collins, Screenwriter (Wolfwalkers)
Special Honourable Mention for The Press Conference, Daniel McNicholl

BEST DESIGN/ART DIRECTION (Sponsored by JAM Media) – Forest, Dermott Burns

BEST ANIMATION (Sponsored by Milkshake) – Husky, Darragh Scott
BEST 2D (Sponsored by Cartoon Saloon) – Ruslan, Jack McHugh, Conor McNally
Best 3D/CGI (Sponsored by Boulder Media) – Coat, Matthew Duddy, Glenn O’Neill
BEST STOP MOTION (Sponsored by Aardman Animations) – Pearl Diver, Margrethe Danielsen, Norway
BEST MUSIC/SOUND DESIGN (Sponsored by Enterprise Ireland) – Husky, Darragh Scott

“The sound mix and music underscore work perfectly with the visuals. With such a simple look it has created a deep emotional and thoroughly enjoyable film.” — Louise Bucknole, VP Programming Kids, ViacomCBS Networks International, UK & Ireland, Milkshake

BEST STING (Sponsored by EGG Post Productions) – Dingzilla, Tahyne Litte and Veronica Koskinen, University of Dundee
As well as the YouTube Kids Animation Dingle Student Awards, the Festival also runs their annual YAOTY (Young Animator of the Year) competition sponsored by Disney Channels:

YAOTY WINNER (Sponsored by Disney Channels) – Old Fool: Look to the Sky, by Jude O’Brien
Special Mention to Look to the Sky, Shayna Gail Velasquez

In 2021 the Festival introduced some brand-new award categories, and the winners are:

Best Irish Professional Short (Sponsored by IDA) – Her Song, Éabha Bortolozzo, Jack Kirwan
“Powerful Irish story, an affecting film, emotive, dark, sad and painful.” — Dr. Steve Henderson, Director, Manchester Animation Festival

Inaugural Best International Professional Short (Sponsored by Nickelodeon) – Kapaemahu, Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer, Joe Wilson

“A stunning piece. Such a fascinating story beautifully told. The warm lighting, earth tones and gentle boil on the characters alongside the masterful camera work gives the whole piece a strong sense of movement and direction. The close up shot of the young boy at the end is breathtaking.” — Kyle Jenkins, Channel 5 Broadcasting

Inaugural Best Animated Short Audience Choice Award (Sponsored by Lighthouse Studios) – Forest, Dermott Burns, Belfast School of Art
Inaugural Best Animated Feature Audience Choice Award (Sponsored by GFM Animation) – Wolfwalkers, Tomm Moore & Ross Stewart, Cartoon Saloon

“Animation Dingle are delighted to have YouTube Kids as title sponsor to our Student Awards and I want to congratulate every student from across the 26 countries who entered, was shortlisted and who won an award this year! Inspirational animators, viewing all of your work was an absolute pleasure and an honor, thank you!” said Maurice Galway, Co-founder and Director of Animation Dingle.

‘We’re amazed at the international digital footfall that this year’s Animation Dingle Festival has been able to attract. Audiences from all over the world are flocking to see the best in class of Irish and International animation. The content has never been stronger and it is wonderful to be able to bring the magic of Animation Dingle to the world. We look forward to continuing to grow the festival digitally over the coming years along with reinstating the physical event,” added John Rice, Co-founder of Animation Dingle and CEO Jam Media.

2021.animationdingle.com

Jessica Walter, ‘Archer’ Voice Star & Emmy-Winning Actress, Dies Age 80

Mercedes Milligan

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March 25, 2021

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Jessica Walter, ‘Archer’ Voice Star & Emmy-Winning Actress, Dies Age 80

Jessica Walter, an Emmy-winning actress and Golden Globe nominee known to animation fans as the voice of mom/boss Malory on Archer, has died at 80 years old in the sixth decade of her remarkable career. The stage, screen and V.O. booth performer passed away in her sleep in New York City, her lifelong hometown.

Walter’s daughter, Brooke Bowman (SVP Drama Programming, Fox Entertainment), said in a statement: “It is with a heavy heart that I confirm the passing of my beloved mom Jessica. A working actor for over six decades, her greatest pleasure was bringing joy to others through her storytelling both on screen and off. While her legacy will live on through her body of work, she will also be remembered by many for her wit, class and overall joie de vivre.”

Walter started her career in N.Y.C., appearing in numerous Broadway productions and earning the Clarence Derwent Award for her turn in Photo Finish. She also performed for Playwright’s Horizons and the Los Angeles Theater Centers — where she starred in Tartuffe opposite her husband, Ron Leibman, who passed in 2019 — and in the multiple Tony Award-winning Broadway revival of Anything Goes in 2011.

Walter’s TV dance card filled up through the 1960s, largely with appearances in live-action dramas, flexing her comedy chops on Love, American Style in early ’70s. She guest starred on crime drama Ironside in 1974 and starred in the spin-off Amy Prentiss, for which she won the Emmy Award. Her notable live-action credits also include her Golden Globe-nominated turn in Play Misty for Me, The Flamingo Kid, Trapper John M.D., The Streets of San Francisco and, of course, her Emmy- and SAG Award-nominated portrayal of Lucille Bluth in Arrested Development.

Star vs. The Forces of Evil - Miss Heinous (Disney TV) — Star vs. The Forces of Evil – Miss Heinous (Disney TV)

The multifaceted actress made her big animation debut in the 1986 Hanna-Barbera series Wildfire as the villainess Lady Diabolyn. A few years later, she starred as Fran in the novel Jim Henson Co. sitcom Dinosaurs (1991-94). In-demand as always, in more recent years she played Meteora / Miss Heinous on Daron Nefcy’s Disney toon Star vs. The Forces of Evil (2015-18). However, she is best known to animation fans for her most recent and longest running role on the FXX adult animation hit Archer, as hardline spy org head and maternal source of psychological issues Malory Archer. Walter earned two Annie Award nominations, two individual Behind the Voice Actor Awards nominations and shared two additional ensemble BTVA nominations for the role.

Additional animation voice credits include The Pirates of Dark Water, The Magic School Bus, The Life and Times of Juniper Lee, Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, Justice League Action and Harley Quinn.

Dinosaurs - Fran (ABC) / Wildfire - Lady Diabolyn (Hanna-Barbera) — Dinosaurs – Fran (ABC) / Wildfire – Lady Diabolyn (Hanna-Barbera)

Adam Reed, creator and executive producer of Archer, said in a statement: “The Archer family is heartbroken to lose Jessica Walter, our beloved colleague and friend. Jessica was a consummate professional, an actor’s actor, and the exact opposite of Malory Archer – warm, caring and kind, with an absolutely cracking sense of humor – and it was both a privilege and a true honor to work with her over these many years. She will be greatly missed, but never forgotten.”

On Twitter, co-star H. Jon Benjamin (voice of Sterling Archer) remembered Walter as “an unparalleled talent. So funny. So insanely good in everything she was in. Wonderful to be around,” adding “I will miss her.” Aisha Tyler (Lana Kane) called the late actress “a queen in every way: kind, classy, incredibly talented, generous with love & support. And so insanely funny.”

Amber Nash (Pam Poovey) shared on Instagram: “I was so lucky to have had the opportunity to work with and know Jessica. She was the best of us. She would wait for a moment and then blow us all out of the water with the funniest thing you’ve ever heard. I learned so much from Jessica. A classy gal indeed.”

Walter is survived by Bowman and by a grandson, Micah Heymann. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Guiding Eyes for the Blind: https://give.guidingeyes.org/Donate.

Archer voice cast photo shared by Amber Nash. L-R: Lucky Yates, Judy Greer, Jessica Walter, Aisha Tyler and Nash.

First Look: ‘Last Kids on Earth’ Interactive Netflix Special, Graphic Novel in Works

Mercedes Milligan

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March 25, 2021

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First Look: ‘Last Kids on Earth’ Interactive Netflix Special, Graphic Novel in Works

Atomic Cartoons, the Kids and Family Division of Thunderbird Entertainment, and Penguin Young Readers, along with creator Max Brallier, are proud to announce two new milestones in The Last Kids on Earth franchise: An interactive special episode of the Daytime Emmy Award-winning animated series will begin streaming April 6 on Netflix. On the same day, The Last Kids on Earth: Thrilling Tales from the Tree House, the first-ever graphic novel in the bestselling series, will also hit store shelves.

In the interactive special, titled Happy Apocalypse to You, when Jack, Dirk and Quint try to throw June a birthday party, it turns into an action-packed thrill ride. Viewers will use their remote controls to decide what the gang will do as they encounter angry wretches, ferocious maulers, fearsome octogrutes, zombies and more, on the way to the birthday extravaganza. This is a chance for fans of the series to help make June’s birthday a blast, but not get eaten in the process. To produce the interactive episode, Atomic leveraged interactive Netflix technology that requires viewers to make choices using their remote control to advance the story.

“With audiences calling the shots, we can’t wait to see what kind of adventures – and calamities – they’ll cook up for Jack, June, Quint and Dirk in this thrilling interactive special episode of The Last Kids on Earth,” said Matthew Berkowitz, Chief Creative Officer of Thunderbird and Atomic Cartoons, and Series Executive Producer. “We have been so honored by the response our series has received so far, and we’re excited to see how fans of The Last Kids on Earth enjoy having the power – and responsibility – of deciding the fates of their favorite characters on screen!”

In the debut graphic novel, Thrilling Tales from the Treehouse, the kids and their monster buddies are hanging out in their tree house, when Jack launches into an epic, totally-heroic, super-rad story of one of his many post-apocalyptic adventures. Of course, after he’s finished, everyone’s eager to one-up his tale with a story of their own. Soon, Quint, Dirk, June and Skaelka, and even Globlet, regale the group with sometimes outrageous, often hilarious details of their action-packed escapades during the Monster-Zombie Apocalypse.

This graphic novel includes six brand new Last Kids on Earth short stories by Max Brallier, featuring full-color art by Anoosha Syed, Xavier Bonet, Lorena Alvarez, Jay Cooper, Christopher Mitten and The Last Kids on Earth series illustrator Douglas Holgate. Their stories are capped off by a special double-length feature, which will finally reveal the mysterious whereabouts of two villainous villains to prep readers for the seventh book in the series, coming Fall 2021.

“The behind-the-scenes journey that brought The Last Kids on Earth to life on screen has been incredible. And now, together with Atomic Cartoons, we’re taking another exciting step forward, giving viewers the power to control the destiny of their favourite characters,” said Brallier, author of the book series and creator of the animated series. “And being able to time the streaming premiere of our new interactive episode with the launch of the next book in the series, means we’re able to offer fans a double whammy of excitement, laughter and – of course – zombies and monsters.”

The Last Kids on Earth is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling book series. The IP was acquired by Thunderbird Entertainment in 2017. The animated Netflix series debuted in September 2019 with a special 66-minute episode that went on to win a 2020 Emmy Award in the category of “Outstanding Special Class Program.” Season 2 began streaming in April 2020, and Season 3 launched in October 2020. The series features a star-studded voice cast, including Mark Hamill, Rosario Dawson, Catherine O’Hara, Keith David, Bruce Campbell, Garland Whitt, Montse Hernandez and Charles Demers, in addition to Nick Wolfhard voicing the lead character Jack Sullivan.

The franchise also has launched a toy and merchandise line based on the series with Jakks Pacific, and a t-shirt line with Hot Topic. A video game based on the series, The Last Kids on Earth and the Staff of Doom, is currently in production with Outright Games, set to launch in June 2021. (Trailer.)

Atomic Cartoons is an artist-driven, multifaceted studio with locations in Vancouver, Ottawa and Los Angeles producing content for partners around the globe, including the Emmy Award-winning series Beat Bugs (2017, 2019) and the Peabody Award and Television Critics Association Award-winning Molly of Denali (2020), which also won a Kidscreen Award for Best Inclusivity (2021). Thunderbird and Atomic also have a division dedicated to global distribution and consumer products.

www.atomiccartoons.com | @AtomicCartoons

Rabbit Love: ‘The Runaway Bunny’ Hops to HBO Max

Karen Idelson

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March 25, 2021

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Rabbit Love: ‘The Runaway Bunny’ Hops to HBO Max

Margaret Wise Brown’s lyrical and popular children’s book The Runaway Bunny tells the story of a baby bunny who desperately wants to break free and see the outside world. The nearly 80-year-old book features iconic illustrations by Clement Hurd and has been namechecked on classic TV shows like Cheers for its ability to make even the most hardhearted of adults break down in tears.

Nevertheless, the book’s plot is simple and doesn’t feature the kinds of twists and turns that might entice most filmmakers to adapt it for the screen. The creatives who jump on board would have to find a way to fill in the story without pulling the tale too far off track. Enter director/producer Amy Schatz and director of animation Maciek Albrecht, the Emmy-winning creative team behind the Classical Baby series and the Good Night Moon & Other Sleepytime Tales special, whose animated adaptation of The Runaway Bunny debuts on HBO Max today (March 25).

“It’s a classic book and we set out to actually bring the book itself to life,” says Schatz. “The goal was to try to figure out how to make a film which was inspired by and actually captures the illustration, style and the poetry of the book. The challenge was really that it’s a picture book, and it takes maybe 10 minutes to read. So, the main question was, how do you make a film that brings to life a short picture book that’s really a quiet little story, a moment in time, an interaction between a mother bunny and her baby bunny playing in a field of grass? When you have something so beloved, and so classic, you have to make sure you get it right. Our goal was to stay as true to the tone and quality of the book, but to expand it and bring it to life as a film.”

A Musical Tale

Schatz brought in a cast of skilled vocal performers. Since the book itself already had a kind of ephemeral quality, the director also decided that music would be a powerful way to preserve the feeling of the book while giving the story and animation a chance to expand. The soundtrack features songs by many A-list singer-songwriters. Ziggy Marley recorded “What a Wonderful World”; Mariah Carey updated her classic “Always Be My Baby”; Rufus Wainwright performs a lullaby called “Goodnight, My Angel”; Kelly Rowland is featured on “Make You Feel My Love”; and Rosanne Cash sings “You Are My Sunshine,” which was a hit for her father. Tracee Ellis Ross narrates the story. “They all did it in their home studios and we were lucky to get them to do it,” says Schatz.

With the look of the book in mind, Albrecht went on a search for animators who had a skill and affinity for hand-drawn animation. His search led him to every corner of the planet. There were crew members from Poland, Vermont, California, Turkey, Russia, the Philippines and Colombia as well as other locations. And after carefully analyzing the original bunny drawings of the book, he also discovered there were certain differences between the bunnies from page to page.

Albrecht and Schatz found that when they followed the look of actual bunnies too closely, the eyes of the bunnies made the facial characteristics of the animals look mean or angry, so they worked on preserving the look of the original illustrations. While some other elements in the adaptation were not entirely hand drawn, all the bunnies were.

“We had about 10 animators from all over the world,” says Albrecht. “It’s a very difficult thing to find someone who can do something like this. And everybody has their own way of drawing. I think it still has the same spirit as the book, having some differences from sequence to sequence. It has a little imperfection. This was such an incredible opportunity to go back to hand-drawn animation. The biggest part was organization, how to actually do it, trying to get everybody working online (because of COVID).”

“Like any great children’s book, this one has deep messages for us,” says Schatz. “It’s about childhood. It’s about growing up. It’s about becoming independent. It’s about parenting and about love. And it’s a really timeless story about unconditional love, about how a child wants to test his or her independence and about a parent saying, ‘I’ll be here for you through thick and thin.’ It has this message of, ‘I will always be there for you, no matter where you go. And no matter what you do, I’ll be there.’ I think we always want to put stuff into the world for kids and for all of us that has some deep meaning to it. Especially during our times, having something beautiful to put into the world when it’s been such a difficult year. It was particularly meaningful to have this project, which is full of just a kind of gentleness.”

The Runaway Bunny is now streaming on HBO Max.

Jetpack Takes Vinewood’s ‘Welcome to Cardboard City’ Worldwide

Mercedes Milligan

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March 25, 2021

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Jetpack Takes Vinewood’s ‘Welcome to Cardboard City’ Worldwide

Global kids and family content distributor Jetpack Distribution announces it has acquired the worldwide rights for New Zealand-based Vinewood Animation’s Welcome to Cardboard City. The deal includes seasons one and two (each 10 x 5′) and the multi-award winning nine-minute special Fire in Cardboard City.

Aimed at kids six and up and their families, Welcome to Cardboard City is an epic action-comedy … made out of cardboard. Each season consists of two story-arcs spread over five episodes, all with cliffhanger endings. The show is produced with a combination of 3D animation and motion capture.

Each instalment features mini-blockbuster stories, slapstick hilarity and razor-sharp dialogue. In Cardboard City, giant robots attack, aliens make unwelcome contact and radio-active slime turns everyday bungling heroes into bonafide super-powered superheroes. Guest stars have included Jacinda Ardern (Prime Minister of New Zealand) and Ian Brown (The Stone Roses).

“Welcome to Cardboard City is such an innovative and hilarious concept, we were pretty hooked from the start. The series and special has received global critical acclaim, incredible recognition through awards and festivals and an almost cult following. And it’s easy to see why,” said Jetpack CEO Dominic Gardiner. “Comedy animation is hugely important for the world’s kids and their families right now. I want everyone to see this show.”

Welcome to Cardboard City has aired on TVNZ in New Zealand (where it was a ratings winner) and the special has been bought by various networks across Europe including HBO Europe, NBC Universal, YLE and RTP. The series won Best Children’s Television Show at the New Zealand Television Awards 2019.

The globally successful short film special Fire in Cardboard City. Which has won awards at film festivals around the world including Tribeca, L.A. Shorts, Naples, San Diego, Berlin and Amazon.com. The New Yorker requested the film for their prestigious Screening Room short film website.

Co-creator Phil Brough reflected, “Matthew [Heath] and I were sitting around one day thinking about what the hardest job in the world would be. We came up with a firefighter in a city made of cardboard. We wrote the script for Fire in Cardboard City that night. The next day I sat down to animate it. A mere five years later, I finished. Much to our surprise, people loved it. The short film travelled the world, won dozens of awards and spun off into the TV series Welcome to Cardboard City. Amazingly we still love doing it and can’t wait to make more.”

ABC Presents 2-Hour ‘Sesame Street: 50 Years of Sunny Days’ Special

Mercedes Milligan

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March 25, 2021

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ABC Presents 2-Hour ‘Sesame Street: 50 Years of Sunny Days’ Special

Homelessness, multicultural representation, autism, refugee crises and addiction are just a few of the social issues fearlessly tackled by Sesame Street for over a half a century. On Monday, April 26 (8-10 p.m. EDT), ABC presents Sesame Street: 50 Years of Sunny Days, a two- hour documentary special produced by TIME Studios, highlighting the 50-year impact of this iconic show and the nonprofit behind it, Sesame Workshop.

The documentary features special guests including W. Kamau Bell, Gloria Estefan, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Whoopi Goldberg, Christopher Jackson, John Legend, Lucy Liu, Olivia Munn, Questlove, Chrissy Teigen and Usher. Additional participating celebrities to be announced at a later date. The special can be viewed the next day on demand.

For over 50 years, Sesame Street has addressed and explained diversity, equity and inclusion around the globe by using the universal tools of music, empathy and celebrity. Through its iconic shows and targeted outreach, Sesame Workshop has found ways to make these daunting and seemingly impossible conversations accessible to people of all ages, usually delivered with the help of a furry friend. Sesame Street: 50 Years of Sunny Days reflects upon the efforts that have earned Sesame Street unparalleled respect and qualification around the globe, including addressing their responsibility to social issues that have historically been seen as taboo such as racial injustice.

This special also chronicles the creation and introduction of a Black family of Sesame Street Muppets, Wes and Elijah Walker, a father-and-son duo who are at the heart of Sesame Workshop’s new racial justice initiative Coming Together. Working with experts, Sesame Workshop has designed developmentally appropriate resources to help guide children toward becoming an upstander to racism, available at the dedicated web page.

For TIME Studios, the production is directed by Rebecca Gitlitz and executive produced by Alexa Conway and Ian Orefice.

Award-Winning Creative Co. BUCK Expands to Europe

Mercedes Milligan

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March 25, 2021

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Award-Winning Creative Co. BUCK Expands to Europe

Continuing its strong growth over the last decade, global creative company BUCK has opened an office in Amsterdam to build new relationships with European talent, brand and creative partners and unlock around-the-clock strategy, ideation, design and delivery for marketing, advertising, brand development, and original content creation across media and screens of all sizes. This expansion onto the continent marks the studio’s fourth location, following Los Angeles, New York and Sydney.

“We are excited to see what opportunities our maker-approach to a creative company produces in the European market,” commented Ryan Honey, Co-Founder and Co-CCO of BUCK.

Executive Creative Director Vincent Lammers (previously Creative Director and Partner at Amsterdam-based Ambassadors) heads up BUCK’s new Dutch operation.

“I’ve had a bit of a crush on BUCK since my art school days and their relentless pursuit of creative excellence and collaborative, ego-free way of working has been an inspiration ever since,” said Lammers “I couldn’t be more proud to be a part of bringing this to Amsterdam and create a home for all the incredible talent out here in Europe. It’s a bit of a dream job.”

Lammers is joined by Executive Producer Chance Woodward, previously of MediaMonks, Leo Burnett and Crispin Porter + Bogusky. Woodward’s deep experience in integrated production makes him a strong fit for BUCK’s collaborative, multidisciplinary approach.

Creative Director Richard Gray was brought back to Europe from the Los Angeles office to lead the creative team together with Lammers. He brings a wealth of experience having previously worked on award winning projects like Apple’s “Share your Gifts” and Tinder’s “The Invention of Together.”

With offices in Los Angeles, New York, Sydney and Amsterdam, BUCK operates as a single creative entity that can address local markets and cultural nuances while tapping into a diverse staff of 300 creative makers, thinkers, dreamers and doers.

BUCK’s recent collaborations for nearby brands like Tony’s Chocolonely and Oatly drew on the Amsterdam team’s deep knowledge of European advertising and culture while crafting work for the global stage.

“BUCK’s success comes from not only working with the best talent in the world, but some of the nicest people as well,” said Jan Jensen, Chief Talent Officer. “Our Amsterdam office is no different — exploring new creative opportunities while remaining true to our core culture and what makes BUCK so special.”

“Our drive to find the best global talent and creative opportunities has grown beyond our three offices,” added Ryan Honey. “With many of our current artists already based in Europe, it made a lot of sense for us to open up a studio there and give them a home base.”

Founded in 2004, BUCK has built a reputation for outstanding craftsmanship and innovation through collaboration with a wide range of clients, including Apple, Instagram, IBM, Nike, Airbnb, PayPal and Pepsi. BUCK’s trophy case includes an Emmy, several gold Cannes Lions, Clios, pencils, cubes and over 150 other awards.

buck.co

‘Soul’ Takes Another Slice of Awards Season with PGA Win

Mercedes Milligan

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March 25, 2021

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‘Soul’ Takes Another Slice of Awards Season with PGA Win

The Producers Guild of America held its virtual 32nd annual Awards ceremony Wednesday evening, presented by General Motors. Celebrating the year’s motion picture and television achievements, the 2021 PGAs honored Dana Murray in the animated feature category for Disney-Pixar’s Soul.

As announced over the weekend, The Power of We: A Sesame Street Special scored a win for HBO Max in the children’s program category, while virtual Burning Man experience BRCvr won the second annual Innovation Award for new media.

Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures

The Croods: A New Age – Producer: Mark Swift
Onward – Producer: Kori Rae Over the Moon Producers: Gennie Rim, Peilin Chou
Wolfwalkers – Producers: Paul Young, Nora Twomey, Tomm Moore, Stéphan Roelants
WINNER: Soul – Producer: Dana Murray

Award for Outstanding Children’s Program

Animaniacs S1 (Hulu)
Carmen Sandiego S3 (Netflix)
Looney Tunes Cartoons S1 (HBO Max)
Star Wars: The Clone Wars S7 (Disney+)
WINNER: The Power of We: A Sesame Street Special (HBO Max)

Innovation Award

Adventure Lab and Dr. Crumb’s School for Disobedient Pets
Andrew Goes Outside
Artificial
Baba Yaga
Create Together
Fragments
Jettison
Krampusnacht
The Line
Oceanaides
The Under Presents
WINNER: BRCvr

The Power of We: A Sesame Street Special

Women in Animation Launches Spring Mentorships with Focus on WOC

Mercedes Milligan

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March 25, 2021

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Women in Animation Launches Spring Mentorships with Focus on WOC

Women in Animation (WIA) is proud to announce the opening of its 2021 Spring Mentorship Program with a special focus on mentoring women of color through its proven series of Mentor Circles. With the organization’s ongoing commitment to reach 50/50 by 2025, the WIA Mentorship Program connects women and gender non-binary individuals at all levels and across a variety of industry roles to great mentors who can help them achieve their career goals through guidance on taking the next steps on their professional paths.

Collaborating in mentorship efforts for the first time with Black N’Animated (blacknanimated.com), LatinX in Animation (latinxinanimation.org) and Rise Up Animation (linktr.ee/Riseupanimation), the WIA 2021 Spring Mentorship Program seeks to directly advance career opportunities for women of color in the animation industry. While applicants are not limited to people of color, they are strongly encouraged to apply through these partnerships. As part of the collaboration, each organization recruited and referred industry mentors from their networks, adding to WIA’s already robust pool of mentors.

“We’re very excited to be partnering with WIA for their Mentor Circles program. By having more mentors of color in these types of spaces it emphasizes that women of color, especially black women, are leaders in this industry – as they are often overlooked. They are and always have been here, and are an inspiration for up and coming animation professionals.” — Waymond Singleton and Breana Williams, Co-Founders, Black N’Animated.

“LXiA is thrilled to partner with WIA in building pathways for more diverse voices in the animation industry, specifically for women of color. Opportunities like these that are intentional and intersectional are often limited to a smaller cohort. With WIA’s reach and the collective communities their Mentor Circles engage, we’re excited to scale our joint impact and support a vibrant generation of animation professionals.” — Bryan Dimas, co-founder and co-director of LatinX in Animation.

“Rise Up Animation is honored to be able to partner with WIA on the 2021 Spring Mentor Circles. Mentoring the next generation of creative people of color and especially women of color in animation is a gift that we get to pay forward as industry professionals. We need to raise those diverse voices up now!” — Monica Lago-Kaytis, co-founder of Rise Up Animation.

WIA Mentor Circles offer a unique learning experience where up to ten mentees are matched with an industry mentor according to experience level and interest, and the circle will meet over a four-month period. Mentors share their knowledge, skills, information and perspective to foster personal and professional growth as an individual, and also among one’s peers. The personalized nature of mentoring allows mentees to steer the content of the discussion to issues and goals that are most relevant to them.

All WIA mentors receive training, experience and support from Mentor Coach Aydrea Walden to empower them with the tools needed to lead and foster talent. In the life experience range, the 2021 Spring mentor pool is a diverse set: 73% are women/non-binary, at least 48% are BIPOC and 40% are internationally based.

“I’m super excited to see this round of circles reflect the amazing range of perspectives, voices, and talents that can help the animation industry continue to grow and thrive. Every single person has an amazing story to share and something unique, personal, wonderful, and important to bring to the table. I wouldn’t have been able to achieve the things I’ve achieved without some amazing mentors, and I’m thrilled to help more women connect to mentors who can help them reach their goals,” says Walden.

A silver lining to the COVID-19 quarantine was the shift to virtual meetings for Mentor Circles, inspiring WIA’s launch of a proprietary online platform to organize and manage an even wider scale of mentors and mentee groups. With 45 mentors offering their time and expertise to the 2021 program, WIA expects to benefit up to 400 mentees in this round of Circles.

Since its initial operational year of 2014, the WIA Mentorship program has grown exponentially, starting with eight one-on-one pairings in the first round and reaching 631 mentees in 2020. To date, the program has benefited more than 1,000 mentees.

“The WIA Mentorship Program is really at the core of what WIA is about. We’re so proud of the tremendous success of this program and the many careers the program has supported and inspired over the years. We’ve received endless feedback from both mentees and mentors about how the program has had a profound impact on their lives,” says WIA President Marge Dean.

Mentee applications will be accepted starting March 31, 2021, and for the first time, WIA members and members of any of the Mentorship partner organizations can apply for free.

“We realize that our members’ financial challenges may be daunting in these pandemic times, and that mentorship support is more valuable than ever in this moment, so we diligently adjusted our budget allocations to allow for wider mentee participation without charging for access to this program in 2021,” adds Dean.

Autodesk Accelerates Workflows Across Maya, 3ds Max & MotionBuilder 22

Mercedes Milligan

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March 24, 2021

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Autodesk Accelerates Workflows Across Maya, 3ds Max & MotionBuilder 22

Autodesk unveiled updates to Maya, 3ds Max and MotionBuilder today, bringing artists throughout the creative pipeline powerful new tools that accelerate and streamline their workflows. Among these updates is the much-anticipated USD plugin for Maya. First announced at SIGGRAPH 2018 as a joint effort with Pixar, Animal Logic, Luma Pictures and Blue Sky Studios, USD is now seamlessly integrated in Maya, enabling artists to load and edit massive datasets at lightning speed. Maya’s animation, modeling, and rendering tool sets also see significant updates, bringing even more power, flexibility and creative freedom to the daily work of professional artists.

With this update, Maya artists gain:

Seamless USD Integration: Full USD integration allows artists to load multiple gigabytes of data within seconds and work directly with the data using Maya’s native tools. Robust referencing functionality, nondestructive data editing workflows, and support for complex variants on top of USD increase pipeline efficiency and collaboration and help teams scale for high-volume data workflows.
Powerful Animation Tools: Animation tool updates help artists animate faster and in fewer clicks. A new Ghosting Editor allows artists to quickly see animation spacing over time, making it easier to pinpoint necessary edits and how poses work together in animations. Improvements to the Time Editor, including support for cached playback and additive animation clips, and new filters in the Graph Editor bring artists a smoother animation experience overall.
Modern Rigging Workflows: This update introduces several procedural, topology-independent rigging workflows. Component Tags and Deformer Falloffs provide modern methods for defining membership and weighting, as well as seamlessly sharing that data between geometry and deformers. Maya’s extensive deformation toolset also gets bigger with new Solidify and Morph deformers.

Autodesk Maya 22 - Component Tags — Autodesk Maya 22 – Component Tags

Community-Inspired Modeling Updates: A new Sweep Mesh tool enables artists to procedurally generate geometry and adjust attributes with a single click. Using the new Game Vertex Count plugin, game artists are able to more accurately estimate how assets in Maya impact their in-game vertex count budgets before exporting them to game engines. Additional updates enhance the overall modeling experience and include pivot improvements; an upgraded extrude thickness tool; faster lasso selection; and match, translation, and scaling enhancements to provide artists with precise control over scene transforms.
Fast and Flexible Rendering with Arnold 6.2: Standard in Maya, Arnold 6.2 introduces new imagers for light mixing, bloom effects, and denoising for an upgraded post-processing experience. Additional benefits include GPU improvements, enhanced USD support, and integration with OpenColorIO v2, enabling artists to take advantage of OCIO’s native implementation of ACES (Academy Color Encoding System) and processing improvements directly in Arnold.
Python 3: Python 3 is the new default for Maya on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS.
Improved First Experience: A faster and more modern user experience offers reduced startup time and customizable preferences, splash screen improvements, and intuitive script editor enhancements that help artists work more efficiently and with greater control.

Users can learn more about Maya 2022 in the Catch Up with Maya virtual event on Thursday, March 24 starting at 9 a.m. PT / noon ET or by reading the announcement blog post. Autodesk will also present a Twitter AMA on Maya USD on Weds., March 31 at 9 a.m. PT / noon ET.

Autodesk Maya 22 - USD integration — Autodesk Maya 22 – USD integration

“Increasing support for open-source standards is a huge area of focus for Autodesk across industry verticals. The M&E team has put a great deal of effort into our USD integration as the standard is proving crucial for innovation in visual effects and animation, today and into the future,” said Jocelyn Moffatt, Industry Marketing Manager, Entertainment. “Across tools, our goal is to simplify the complexities of working with massive datasets, aid in collaboration between artists and studios, and help teams push their creative limits by managing technical pipeline challenges.”

“At Luma Pictures, we’re big believers in the power and usefulness of open-source projects, so we jumped at the opportunity to collaborate with Autodesk on USD for Maya,” said Paul Molodowitch, Lead Pipeline Technical Director, Luma Pictures. “It was a complicated project to tackle, since it involved unifying the work of two separate codebases, and overseeing the contributions from many other sources, but they’ve risen to the challenge and have been great leaders and partners — willing to take the extra time and effort in order to communicate and cooperate, and keep everyone working on the same project toward the same goal, which has really laid the groundwork for both a great product, and a great community.”

Autodesk 3ds Max (courtesy Rashed Abdullah)

The latest updates to 3ds Max optimize creative workflows with powerful new texture baking, modeling and rendering capabilities as well as upgraded security features designed to protect scene integrity.

Improved Protection Against Malicious Scripts: Security improvements powered by the Scene Security Tools plugin include Malware Removal that automatically detects and eliminates malicious scripts from scene files and startup scripts. Scene Script Execution offers further protection against malicious scripts embedded in 3ds Max scene files.
Enhanced Workflow Efficiency: To help artists maximize time and productivity, new enhancements have been added to popular modeling tools, including the Relax Modifier, Smart Extrude, Slice Modifier, Extrude Modifier, Symmetry Modifier, and AutoSmooth tools.
Arnold Rendering Upgrades: Workflow improvements accelerate rendering processes, including a new render configuration window with faster QT-based UI; quicker and more responsive QT-based Quicksilver render settings; and the ability to sync Viewport bloom settings to Quicksilver settings. Working directly from the Arnold RenderView, artists can now relight images using light mixing, denoise images, and add bloom effects.
Bake to Texture Improvements: Simplified navigation and selection of baked map types allow users to bake frequently used maps in a few clicks without requiring complex material setups.
New Floating Viewport Features: All floating viewports can now be viewed full screen without a border using a simple hotkey shortcut.

More information about 3ds Max 2022 available here.

Autodesk 3ds Max 22 - Arnold light mixer — Autodesk 3ds Max 22 – Arnold light mixer

Finally, MotionBuilder gains a number of updates to help artists and developers work faster and more efficiently, without compromising creativity.

Python 3: Python 3 is the new default for MotionBuilder on Windows and Linux.
Developer-Focused Improvements: The MotionBuilder Python Command Line tool has been significantly improved, opening the door to new capabilities like file processing and rendering from the Command Line. Additionally, the MotionBuilder API has been expanded based on developer feedback, it’s now easier to manage multiple script tabs in the Python Editor, and the startup experience can be customized to differentiate between different projects and tool versions.
Workflow Enhancements: A slew of updates improve the overall animation experience and reduce the number of steps animators need to take to achieve the result they want. Among these updates is the ability to now visualize real Quaternion Rotation properties within the FCurve Editor, a new “Add to Body Part” property that simplifies the key framing process for character extensions, and time-saving updates in the Character Controls that reduce the number of actions required to expand IK auxiliaries when selecting individual effectors.

The MotionBuilder 2022 release notes are available here.

Maya, 3ds Max, and MotionBuilder 2022 are available as standalone subscriptions or with the Autodesk Media & Entertainment Collection.

Autodesk 3ds Max 22 - Modeling Relax Modifier — Autodesk 3ds Max 22 – Modeling Relax Modifier

Clip: It’s Flash vs. Fash as Superhero Bashes Nazis in ‘Justice Society: World War II’

Mercedes Milligan

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March 24, 2021

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Clip: It’s Flash vs. Fash as Superhero Bashes Nazis in ‘Justice Society: World War II’

Warner Bros. Animation has pulled another sneak peek at Justice Society: World War II out of the trenches! In the succinctly titled “Nazis?” clip, modern day Flash/Barry Allen (voiced by Matt Bomer) zips through a war-torn village before encountering the mid-century menace in the flesh, and quickly comes to the rescue of the threatened townsfolk by kicking some Axis in super speed.

The latest feature-length DCU animation comes home through Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on Digital starting April 27 and on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack and Blu-ray on May 11.

<;/iframe></p> <p>Directed by Jeff Wamester (<em>Guardians of the Galaxy</em> TV series), <em>Justice Society: World War II</em> also features the voices of Stana Katic, Geoffrey Arend, Armen Taylor, Elysia Rotaru, Liam McIntyre, Omid Obtahi, Matthew Mercer, Keith Ferguson, Darin De Paul, Ashleigh LaThrop and Chris Diamantopoulos. Read all about the release <a href="https://www.animationmagazine.net/wordpress/home-entertainment/the-flash-zips-thru-time-to-fight-nazis-in-justice-society-world-war-ii/" target="_blank">here</a>.</p> <p>Fans can learn more about the movie as WBHE celebrates #JSWWII with a star-studded virtual panel during WonderCon@Home this weekend. The session will be available to stream Saturday, March 27 at 11 a.m. PT on YouTube <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Es8ztlK5Bw" target="_blank">here</a>.</p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="td_module_15 td_module_wrap clearfix post-282325 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail category-streaming category-top-stories category-worldwide tag-adam-bonnett tag-ann-austen tag-arlo-the-alligator-boy tag-barbie-chelsea-the-lost-birthday tag-barbie-chelsea-the-lost-birthday-more tag-barbie-dreamhouse-adventure tag-barbie-princess-adventure tag-barbie-princess-adventures tag-barbie-dreamhouse-adventures tag-cassi-simonds tag-charlotte-fullerton tag-christopher-keenan tag-escape-from-planet-earth tag-featured tag-fred-soulie tag-go-go-cory-carson tag-headspace-guide-to-sleep tag-mainframe-studios tag-nate-federman tag-netflix tag-new-gods-nezha-reborn tag-pj-masks tag-the-last-kids-on-earth-happy-apocalypse-to-you tag-the-mitchells-vs-the-machines tag-yasuke" > <div class="item-details"> <h3 class="entry-title td-module-title"> <a href="https://www.animationmagazine.net/2021/03/barbie-chelsea-the-lost-birthday-joins-netflix-april-premieres/" rel="bookmark" title="‘Barbie & Chelsea The Lost Birthday’ Joins Netflix April Premieres"> ‘Barbie & Chelsea The Lost Birthday’ Joins Netflix April Premieres </a> </h3> <div class="td-module-meta-info"> <ul class="td-category"> <li class="entry-category"><a href="https://www.animationmagazine.net/category/streaming/">Streaming</a></li> <li class="entry-category"><a href="https://www.animationmagazine.net/category/top-stories/">Top Stories</a></li> <li class="entry-category"><a href="https://www.animationmagazine.net/category/worldwide/">Worldwide</a></li> </ul> <div class="td-post-author-name"> <a href="https://www.animationmagazine.net/author/mercedes/">Mercedes Milligan</a> <div class="td-author-line"> - </div> </div> <span class="td-post-date"> <time class="entry-date updated td-module-date" datetime="2021-03-24T16:09:17+00:00" >March 24, 2021</time> </span> <div class="td-post-comments"> <a href="https://www.animationmagazine.net/2021/03/barbie-chelsea-the-lost-birthday-joins-netflix-april-premieres/#disqus_thread"> <i class="td-icon-comments"></i> <span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="282325 https://www.new.animationmagazine.net/?p=282325">1</span> </a> </div> </div> <div class="td-module-thumb"> <a href="https://www.animationmagazine.net/2021/03/barbie-chelsea-the-lost-birthday-joins-netflix-april-premieres/" rel="bookmark" class="td-image-wrap" title="‘Barbie & Chelsea The Lost Birthday’ Joins Netflix April Premieres"> <img class="entry-thumb" src="https://www.animationmagazine.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/Barbie-and-Chelsea-The-Lost-Birthday-1-768x461.jpg" alt="‘Barbie & Chelsea The Lost Birthday’ Joins Netflix April Premieres" title="‘Barbie & Chelsea The Lost Birthday’ Joins Netflix April Premieres" /> </a> </div> <div class="td-post-text-content td-post-content tagdiv-type"> <p>All aboard as Barbie, Chelsea and the rest of the Roberts family hit the high seas in <strong><em>Barbie & Chelsea The Lost Birthday</em></strong>, arriving on Netflix in the U.S. on April 16. The new movie joining the streamer’s slate of animated premieres next month is the first to feature Barbie’s little sister, Chelsea, in a starring role, and follows the success of last year’s musical special<em> Barbie Princess Adventure</em> — also available on Netflix U.S., along with the <em>Barbie Dreamhouse Adventure </em>series.</p> <blockquote><p>“Barbie’s brand message, about inspiring the limitless potential in every child, and the themes in her stories resonate deeply with both kids and parents all over the world. This year, we are expanding the Barbie content universe in a number of ways starting with a fantastical story centered around Barbie’s little sister, Chelsea, who embarks on an adventure to save her seventh birthday. Chelsea is an incredibly popular character and we are excited to bring her into the limelight in this television movie. Her story is all about finding your voice, and self-empowerment, in the face of unexpected challenges,” commented Fred Soulie, SVP and General Manager, Mattel Television. “We have barely scratched the surface of the stories the brand can tell, and this is the first of many scripted and unscripted Barbie projects we have in production and development.”</p></blockquote> <p><strong>Synopsis: </strong>When the Roberts family sets sail on a cruise to celebrate Chelsea turning seven, Barbie’s precocious little sister discovers too late that they crossed the International Date Line and her birthday was skipped. Searching for answers, she soon sets off on an extraordinary journey with a collection of new animal friends all to save her special day.</p> <p><iframe width="640" height="36-" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GaqSkORphIU" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen>

The special is directed by Cassi Simonds (Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures), written by co-exec producer Ann Austen and Nate Federman from a story by Charlotte Fullerton. Executive producers are Soulie, Adam Bonnett and Christopher Keenan. Mainframe Studios (Barbie Princess Adventures) provided the animation.

Accompanying the new movie is Barbie & Chelsea The Lost Birthday & More!, an album featuring songs from Barbie & Chelsea The Lost Birthday, as well as other previously unreleased tracks sung by both Barbie and Chelsea will also be available across digital streaming platforms beginning on April 16. Mattel has also released a line of dolls and playsets inspired by the special: Barbie & Chelsea Story Set ($19.99), Chelsea Jungle River Play Set ($29.99), Chelsea And Accessory Assortment ($9.99), Sisters & Pet Accessory Assortment ($14.99) and the Chelsea Surprise Playset ($19.99).

New on Netflix animation highlights for April include:
April 3 Escape from Planet Earth
April 6 The Last Kids on Earth: Happy Apocalypse to You — Netflix Family
April 12 New Gods: Nezha Reborn — Netflix Film
April 16 Arlo the Alligator Boy — Netflix Family
Barbie & Chelsea: The Lost Birthday
Fast & Furious Spy Racers, Season 4: Mexico — Netflix Family
April 19 PJ Masks, Season 3
April 27 Go! Go! Cory Carson, Season 4 — Netflix Family
April 28 Headspace Guide to Sleep — Netflix Documentary
April 29 Yasuke — Netflix Anime
April 30 The Mitchells vs. The Machines — Netflix Family

Virtual Animation Dingle Takes Irish Celebration Global

Mercedes Milligan

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March 24, 2021

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Virtual Animation Dingle Takes Irish Celebration Global

Tucked away in the most westerly point of Ireland on the Wild Atlantic Way, lies Animation Dingle in Dingle Town, presented by Jam Media. No stranger to guests and celebrities, Dingle welcomes strangers to its shores. Animators gather there annually to be part of this unique, boutique festival — named one of Animation Magazine‘s Top 25 Events Not to Be Missed!

Animation Dingle, run in partnership with Screen Ireland, prides itself on inclusivity; here you can find the best from the animation industry chatting in one of Dingle’s iconic pubs to upcoming student animators. With the assistance of Enterprise Ireland, guests travel by plane, train, bus, car and taxi to get there.

Now, in 2021, the Virtual Animation Dingle Festival has gone global. Running March 24 & 25, tickets are available and all the exciting programs can be found in the digital brochure. This year’s live conference itself is delivering an incredible lineup of guests and speakers, brought to a worldwide audience from a virtual Dick Mack’s Pub.

The virtual festival platform is easy to use. A single Pass allows full access to the best in animated short and feature films, workshop programs, panel discussions and interactive student-centered events. To appeal to its student following, Animation Dingle has integrated Discord onto their platform, allowing students to chat to studio heads, book meetings with them, upload their portfolios for reviewing … everything that they would expect from an annual visit to Dingle Town can be expected via the platform.

Animation Dingle 2021 attendees can mix 'n mingle in virtual "pubs" — Animation Dingle 2021 attendees can mix ‘n mingle in virtual “pubs”

“It’s been an incredible year of viewing work and learning new ways to exhibit film and bring people together. Our virtual festival is bringing Dingle out into the world for all to see,” said Festival Director & Co-Founder Maurice Galway. “Having attended virtual events and festivals myself over the past year, I have been able to assess what it is I would like to see for Virtual Animation Dingle. I hope that you enjoy the platform; we have worked hard to bring you a festival that is easy to navigate, intuitive and easy to enjoy — a one ticket, all-you-can-eat-animation festival experience. We have over 2,500 minutes of digital content.”

‘While disappointed that the physical festival is not possible this year, the opportunity to expand the festival to a global audience is incredibly exciting,” added Festival Director & Co-Founder John Rice. “This year’s lineup of speakers, events and films is stronger than ever and is truly world class. The format remains the same as in previous years; Conference on 24th, followed by workshops, screening and the always fun awards on the 25th. We can’t wait to show the world the magic of Animation Dingle!’

JAM Media’s Galway and Rice are delighted to welcome Tánaiste and Vice President of Ireland Leo Varadkar to officially open the 9th Animation Dingle Festival on Wednesday, March 24.

The Conference itself packs a punch, with Oscar-winning director Don Hall, fresh from his work on Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon and known for his work on Big Hero 6 and Moana, will be heading up a strong line-up of guests including Madeline Sharafian, Oscar-nominated director of Pixar’s Burrow and Steven Clay Hunter, director of Pixar’s OUT.

The Making of Disney’s Chip ‘N’ Dale: Park Life will offer a nuts and bolts look at the development and production of the new Disney+ series produced by Xilam Animation, with director Jean Cayrol, production manager Amelie Muller and Disney execs Shamik Majumdar, Gerardo Orlando, Katie Barba and Orion Ross, who will host the session.

Presented by Enterprise Ireland, an enormously popular guest a few years ago, Peter Lord from Aardman Animations is delighted to be coming back to Dingle to share his insights gleaned over 50 years in the business and, presented by Screen Ireland, Making The Frame Work, which includes a look back at over 20 years of Irish animation. Panelists include Emma Scott, Screen Ireland; Cathal Gaffney, Managing Director Brown Bag Films, COO 9 Story Group; Niamh Herrity, Co-Founder, CEO, Pink Kong; Alan Shannon, CCO, Jam Media; Aisling Conroy, writer, director with And Maps And Plans; chaired by Maurice Galway, Festival Director.

Presented by The Embassy of France in Ireland, an all female round table discussion Women in the Animation Industry: Steps in the right direction? will bring together industry experts such as Cécile Blondel from Gobelins, Paris; Lithuanian founder & producer of Art Shot, Agnė Adomėnė; Mexican producer Nidia Santiago from IKKI Films in France; Jo Allen, producer for BBC Children’s Acquisitions and Independent Animation; and Eimear O’Mahony, Head of Childrens and Young People’s content in RTE.

John Rice will have a Fireside chat with this year’s recipient of The Murakami Award, Robert Cullen. Rob is the Emmy nominated creative director and founder of Boulder Media and is currently directing his first feature film based on My Little Pony to be released in 2021.

The Big Pitcher event sponsored by DreamWorks Animation will now be virtual, but JAM Media will still be spearheading this drive to uncover the next big, upcoming Irish Animator, with the assistance from judges: Tara Sorensen, Head of Creative Development, Apple; Sarah Muller, Head of BBC Children’s Commissioning & Acquisitions; Suzanne Kelly, Group Head of Children’s & Young People’s Programming RTE; Peter Gal, Chief Creative Officer at DreamWorks Animation Television; Louise Bucknole, VP Programming Kids, ViacomCBS Networks International, U.K. & Ireland; and chaired by Mark Cumberton, COO, JAM Media.

Workshops are supported by Screen Skills Ireland and Animation Skillnet. Marie Lum, animator and storyboard artist based in Los Angeles will be giving a workshop live from L.A. titled Deaf, Disabled and Neurodiverse Opportunities in Animation.

Allison Rutland is hosting “Animating Characters” as part of Beehive Theatre Workshop Programme. Allison has been working as an animator for over 15 years. She has a background in Fine Art and went to Sheridan College for Computer Animation. She animated on several feature films, such as The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and Where the Wild Things Are. Rutland joined Pixar Animation Studios in 2009, and has animated on Toy Story 3, Brave, Monsters University, Inside Out, Finding Dory, Coco, Incredibles 2 and was a directing animator on Onward.

Mad Max Fury Road’s Brendan McCarthy will be taking a look at The Graphic Novel, while The Screen Composer’s Guild of Ireland are also present with Composing for Animation, a panel conversation with some of Ireland’s leading composers for screen examining how Irish composers and music has responded to the growth in the animation sector. The ever popular Sketch Trail will see students led through live drawing workshops with JAM Media’s Art Director, Borja Espana Guillot. All presented with Discord to maximize interaction and a sense of communication and sharing.

Key events which are front and center for students each year are now inventivity integrated into the platform and on Discord — the festival’s Studio Pub Trail where students can upload portfolios and pitch to studio heads, and studios are actively hiring! You can find Brown Bag Films hiring in Kennedy’s Pub, while Cartoon Saloon are reviewing and hiring in Dick Mack’s Bar, Jam Media are reviewing student portfolios in Foxy John’s Bar and you’ll find Lighthouse Studios offering positions to both professionals and students throughout the festival from McCarthy’s Bar.

Virtual Animation Dingle has it’s usual host of Irish and International Student and Professional Shorts, with feature films including Cartoon Saloon’s Oscar-nominated Wolfwalkers; from France, Calamity from director Remí Chayé; César award winner Josep from director Aurel; and Anca Damian’s Marona’s Fantastic Tale. Most of the feature presentations include Q&As with the directors.

The two-day festival closes with its popular YouTube Kids Animation Dingle Awards hosted by the indomitable and very funny Alison Spittle and followed up with the Boulder Media sponsored Awards Party with live DJ Efa O’Neill. In addition to Robert Cullen receiving the Murakami Award, a stellar lineup of judges will decide the competition winners: Peter Lord of Aardman Animations; Patricia Hidalgo, Director of Children’s + Education, BBC; Orion Ross, Vice President, Original Programming – Animation, Media Networks Europe & Africa at The Walt Disney Company; Suzanne Kelly, Group Head of Children’s & Young People’s Programming RTE; Lousie Bucknole, VP Programming Kids, ViacomCBS Networks International; Eimear O’Mahony, Head of Childrens and Young People’s content in RTE; Sarah Muller, Head of BBC Children’s Commissioning & Acquisitions; Kyle Jenkins, Acquisitions & Programme Manager, Channel 5 Broadcasting; Steve Henderson, Director of Manchester Animation Festival; Mandy Kean, Founder & CEO of Mustard; and Sean Feeney, Head of Production, GFM Animation.

And if that wasn’t enough, there are over 360 directors represented in and out of competition with the best picked animated shorts you’ll find anywhere virtual this year from Ireland and across the globe. An estimated total of 2,500 minutes of content and a shared experience with over 2,000 animators attending and participating in the event.

https://2021.animationdingle.com/

Super-Powered and Sophisticated: Robert Kirkman’s ‘Invincible’ Hits Amazon Prime

Ramin Zahed

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March 24, 2021

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Super-Powered and Sophisticated: Robert Kirkman’s ‘Invincible’ Hits Amazon Prime

***This article originally appeared in the April ’21 issue of Animation Magazine (No. 309)***

If you like your animated superheroes to be complicated characters who wear brightly colored spandex costumes, you are going to love the new adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s popular Invincible series, which arrives on Amazon this Friday, March 26. The show, which was created by Kirkman (The Walking Dead) and artists Cory Walker and Ryan Ottley, is based on the hit comic book published by Kirkman’s own Image imprint between 2003 and 2018.

The great-looking show follows the adventures of Mark Grayson (voiced by Steven Yeun), a high school student who discovers that he has inherited the superhuman abilities of his powerful extraterrestrial father, Omni-Man (voiced by J.K. Simmons). Kirkman says his new show celebrates the magic of the superhero genre and doesn’t stray away from any of the cool elements that fans of the comic book have fallen for over the years. “It has crazy storylines and offers aspects of the superhero world that haven’t been represented in animation,” he says during a recent phone interview. “We really get to see superheroes in a new light, and hopefully we’ll be expanding the genre.”

Kirkman, who worked closely with Walker, supervising director Jeff Allen and the team at Skybound Entertainment (The Walking Dead), says he was inspired by retelling his dramatic tale in the one-hour animation format. “There was a ton of figuring out how to best approach the story about this young character as he enters this crazy world of superheroes,” he notes. “It was a thrilling journey to watch our hero Mark mature and come to his own throughout the eight hours of the first season.”

Parallel Projects

Development for the show started about four years ago at the same time that Kirkman began exploring a live-action feature adaptation of the property with Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. (The movie version is also moving forward.) He says one of the main challenges of the project was getting an animation studio to commit to a 2D hand-drawn show for that duration. The production found a great partner in Korean studio Maven Image Platform, which has worked on projects such as Harley Quinn and Reign of the Supermen, as well as Japan’s TAP studio (which worked on episode four of the show). Skybound’s Vancouver studio handles the CG effects of the show.

“That was a big undertaking, especially since many of the studios around the world are very busy right now,” explains Kirkman. “So it felt like we set out to do the impossible. I can’t say enough about the hard work that all these great animation teams have done to make this happen. That was a very gratifying sight to see.”

“Cory Walker and I wrapped up our work on the comic books after 16 years and 144 issues and we just had to roll into adapting it into an animated series,” recalls Kirkman. “We revisited this world in a new light and got to watch all these amazing characters come to life. I went through a similar process with The Walking Dead, but here we got to work with voice actors and animation to hone it as closely as possible to the comic book.”

“We were able to have some high-octane scenes with lots of drama and cool violence,” he notes. “I mean, we get to see heads explode and eyeballs flying around. We also have some truly heartbreaking scenes. We strengthened the narrative by moving some events around and reconstructed subplots so that audiences can see the evolution of the story in a clear way. Fans of the comic books will get the scenes they are expecting to see, but there will be lots of twists and turns as we’re expanding on the stories in different ways.”

A Die-Hard Fan at the Helm

Invincible’s supervising director Jeff Allen says he was a huge fan of the comic-book series from the very first issue. “I loved both the writing and the art, and was totally blown away by it,” says Allen, a TV animation biz veteran whose directing credits include Avengers Assemble, Ultimate Spider-Man and Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue. “I collected every issue all the way to the final one, and when they came up with the hardcover volume and compendiums, I bought them, too! I’d keep reading them again and started from the beginning, too. I’ve read parts of it thousands of times!”

Allen says not having to talk down to the younger audiences of the show has been a very liberating experience. “In other animated shows I had worked on, we weren’t allowed to show a character be thrown out of a glass window because that’d be dangerous, so they would have to be thrown out of an open window, for example,” he explains. “We can also point a gun at the camera, which isn’t allowed in other animated shows. The scripts are all well-written and intelligent and there’s a rewarding overarching storyline for the whole show. Not only do I get to work on an adult-themed superhero show, it’s one that is near and dear to my heart.”

The show adheres to what audiences are expected to see in a superhero comic adaptation, but as Allen points out, the grown-up elements definitely push the envelope. “Corey Walker, who co-created the comic-book with Robert, is our character designer — so it looks like he drew the whole show,” he notes. “It’s a brightly colored superhero cartoon, but there’s the juxtaposition with blood and gore. I don’t want to spoil anything, but things get bloodier and darker as the season progresses. Even our title cards get bloodier with each episode!”

Thematically, the show’s subject matter is also deeper and darker. Allen says the heart of Invincible is Mark’s difficult journey as he has to decide what kind of a superhero he wants to be. “We have 140 issues to delve in, and hopefully we can tell a lot of wonderful stuff as we explore every nook and cranny of the comic books,” he says. “It’s a lot different than adapting source material to a movie, which means you have to compact the story down into two hours. We can take our time.”

When asked about the target audience for the series, Allen says it’s definitely PG-13. “My daughter just turned 13 and I ask myself, will she be watching the show with us? Her friends are big Walking Dead fans. But when I think about myself when I was 10, my friends and I would be so happy to watch a show like this!”

From Studio to Bedroom

Of course, like many other TV creatives, Allen and his team had to deal with the COVID pandemic and the adjustments necessary to work from home. But since many of the 220 people working on the show were based in studios in Vancouver, Korea and Japan, it was a smoother transition than most. “I don’t miss commuting to work,” he says. “Editing was a little rough in the beginning, but Evercast [the remote collaboration platform] took care of that. I think it ended up working out better for the production. Everyone was more productive and we got a lot more done. For me, especially, since at home my office is right next to my bed! But I do miss interacting with people and sitting in the edit room.”

Heroes in Spandex

“I love the feeling of this world of superheroes that Robert has created,” Kirkman explains. “I love the brightly colored spandex costumes they wear. Plus, it’s a great coming-of-age story about our main character, and it doesn’t exactly go in the direction you’d expect it to go. Robert wrote the first and the final (eighth) episode of the season, and we really wanted to knock it out of the park. I am really proud of what we did, and I really want to do better in Season Two!”

As a kid, Allen loved reading comic books and watching Tom and Jerry cartoons, Thundarr the Barbarian and The Herculoids on TV. He says he grew up wanting to be a comic-book artist for Marvel and to be a film director. Directing animated shows like Invincible has allowed him to combine both of his dreams. He also mentions that working with a comic-book icon like Kirkman has been a real thrill.

“He is very laid-back, extremely funny and no-nonsense, and he tells you straight out if he doesn’t like something or thinks something is a stupid idea,” admits Allen. “He is always filled with ideas. I remember sitting in a room with him and our composer, and I got a little starstruck. My main goal was to make him and Cory happy. Of course, things go wrong — but when things work, you feel like this weight has been lifted off your shoulders. Do you remember in the movie Interstellar, when Matthew McConaughey is watching the video of his adult daughter and he’s bawling? That’s what I was doing, when everything was right and we didn’t need any retakes!”

Kirkman mentions that shows like The Transformers and G.I. Joe were big touchstones of his childhood, and he recognizes the power animated worlds can have on young minds. “I wasn’t the only one who rushed home from high school to watch Batman: The Animated Series on TV,” he notes. “I also love Ninja Scroll, Vampire Hunter D. and the Akira movie. It’s been absolutely amazing to watch these massive streaming platforms finally recognize the values of storytelling and what adult animation is on the cusp of being able to do. Anime fans have been watching this stuff for years and know what the medium is capable of.”

For Kirkman and his team, Invincible is a harbinger of the next wave of superhero shows on the small screen. “We are going to see insane spectacle and crazy action-packed adult animation dominating the streaming landscape in the near future,” he predicts. “Those movies and adult animation appeal to the same audience, and streaming platforms are recognizing this. It’s a new era.”

Invincible premieres on Amazon Prime on March 26. New episodes arrive weekly on Fridays.

Crunchyroll Slates 25 Titles for Spring Anime Season

Mercedes Milligan

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March 24, 2021

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Crunchyroll Slates 25 Titles for Spring Anime Season

Top global anime brand Crunchyroll has planted the seeds of a bounteous spring bloom of new titles, with 25 series lined up for the season — including brand-new additions like Tokyo Revengers, To Your Eternity and Don’t Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro, alongside returning fan-favorites like the Crunchyroll Original So I’m a Spider, So What? and One Piece. Fans will also get to check out the latest seasons of My Hero Academia, Fruits Basket and Zombie Land Saga.

Spring simulcast series include:

My Hero Academia Season 5 – Deku and Class 1-A continue their hero training and unleash new powers in the latest season of My Hero Academia!
Tokyo Revengers – When the pathetic Takemichi is given a do-over from life, he learns to stop apologizing, and start fighting to save the people he cares for most — no matter the odds.
To Your Eternity – From the author of A Silent Voice, a pair sets off on an adventure to learn what it truly means to be human.
Zombie Land Saga Revenge – This second season of the cutting-edge zombie idol anime follows the undead idol group Franchouchou as they embark on their latest adventures towards legendary fame.
The Slime Diaries – Take a look! It’s in a Slime Book! Enjoy all of Rimuru and his friends’ daily adventures in The Slime Diaries!
JORAN THE PRINCESS OF SNOW AND BLOOD – In an alternate 1931, the Tokugawa family still rules Japan, and one young woman is on a quest for revenge.

Plus, new additions to look forward to:

Don’t Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro – Nagatoro loves teasing and getting a reaction out of her older male classmate, but to what end!?
Fruits Basket The Final Season – Prepare for one last outing with Tohru and the Soma family as the series concludes.
Osamake: Romcom Where The Childhood Friend Won’t Lose – After a set of rejections, a rivalry begins between one high schooler’s childhood friend and his first crush!
Farewell, My Dear Cramer – From the creator of Your Lie in April comes a story of girls who aim to become soccer stars!
ODDTAXI – One odd taxi driver will take you wherever you want to go, as well as listen to your troubles along the way.

Don't Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro — Don’t Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro

I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level – This comedic series follows a powerful witch who would rather not work too hard, but somehow finds herself in various curious adventures.
Those Snow White Notes – After the death of his grandfather, one young shamisen players look to find the sound that resonates his soul.
Cardfight!! Vanguard overDress – Get ready for more card battles with Cardfight!! Vanguard overDress, with character designs by CLAMP!
Fairy Ranmaru – If you need your heart healed, call up Bar F and the magical boys who turn into fairies to soothe the souls of their customers!
Higehiro: After Being Rejected, I Shaved and Took in a High School Runaway – One night, a man named Yoshida meets a high school runaway named Sayu. With nowhere else to go, Yoshida lets Sayu stay.
How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Ω – Sakamoto Takuma, Shera, Rem, and the whole party return for more battles and tales.
Koikimo – Based on the manga series of the same name by Mogusu, which was serialized in Ichijinsha’s Comic POOL since 2015.

… All in addition to returning favorites, including:

Boruto: Naruto Next Generations – Boruto continues his adventures to become the ultimate ninja with Team 7 and all your favorite ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village!
Case Closed – Ace teen detective Shinichi Kudo solves cases after becoming trapped in the body of a ten year old.
Digimon Adventure – A brand new Digimon adventure continues with the classic DigiDestined cast!
Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai – Based on the classic Dragon Quest series, follow Dai and his party in their grand adventure to defeat the demon lord Hadlar!
Kiyo in Kyoto: From the Maiko House – Two girls chase after their dreams in the ancient capital in this healing slice-of-life anime about an aspiring maiko and the house chef!
Tropical-Rouge! Pretty Cure – A brand new PreCure series is on Crunchyroll, and now it’s time to get tropical!
One Piece – Luffy and the Straw Hats continue their adventures in Wano and fight against the powerful Emperors!
So I’m a Spider, So What? – Armed with just her wits, can-do spirit and sassy attitude, a teen-girl-turned-spider must learn to level up in order to survive in a dungeon filled with stronger, nastier monsters.

Epic Story Media, Milkcow Launch ‘Piper’s Pony Tales’ with Breyer on Board

Mercedes Milligan

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March 24, 2021

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Epic Story Media, Milkcow Launch ‘Piper’s Pony Tales’ with Breyer on Board

Independent content creation, distribution and licensing company Epic Story Media Inc. (ESM) and kids and family content creation and production company Milkcow Media have teamed up to co-produce a brand new short-form series Piper’s Pony Tales, created by Milkcow Media’s Alexander Bar (Ricky Zoom, Wolf Joe, Ranger Rob, Mike the Knight).

Targeted to preschoolers, the series brings the world of ponies to life through kids’ imagination using highly articulated puppets. The series will launch this month on a dedicated YouTube channel with Epic Story Media handling all licensing & merchandising and global content distribution.

ESM has signed Breyer Horses as the Master Toy partner for the project in North America and Latin America and is currently in discussion with other global partners for toy and broadcast placement. Breyer, a division of Reeves International, Inc, is the number one maker of authentic, premium, and collectible model horses in North America since 1950.

In the series, Piper loves to daydream about having a pony of her very own. But, for now, the closest thing she has is her toy horse, Spark and her stable playset. Piper has turned her playroom at home into a sprawling setting for making up “Pony Tales”! Together with her best friends, Casey and Paloma, the three use their well-loved toy ponies to act out exciting adventures. And when Piper makes up stories about her best horse friends, they magically come to life through the power of her imagination, transporting her and her pals into amazing adventures!

Piper’s Pony Tales is about the fantasy, freedom and adventure of owning a pony. But it’s also about the universal magic every child possesses — their own imagination! Using the power of roleplay and imagination, Piper unlocks fantastic adventures for herself and her friends and makes all their pony wishes come true. She also learns along the way that “first freedoms”, as well as the love and respect of her pony, are earned.

The series makes use of the dolls as puppets and uses visual effects to animate their faces and to bring the stories to life. Since Piper’s world is powered by a kid’s imagination, the show features DIY, craft-like sets, so kids are empowered to create their own stories at home. Piper’s Pony Tales has received financial support from the Shaw Rocket Fund and the Canada Media Fund through the CMF-SRF Kids Digital Animated Series Program.

“We are so proud of Piper’s Pony Tales – from its premise of unlocking kids’ imagination so that they can create magic in their own homes, to the diverse leading cast and the unique style we’re pioneering to bring them to life,” said Ken Faier, President & Founder of Epic Story Media. “We are excited to have a strong partner in Breyer, whose expertise has helped us to make sure we remain true to the equestrian way and provided valuable consultation in the development of Piper’s core brand values. We know that this show will connect with all kids who love horses and will inspire a future generation of horse fans as they are encouraged to translate their viewing experience to one of imaginative play with family and friends.”

“As part of the leading equestrian lifestyle brand of toys, gifts, collectibles and experiences, it is exciting to be part of introducing preschoolers to the enchanting world of horses. Piper’s Pony Tales will create long lasting memories of horse play and a love of horses,” said Tony Fleischmann, President of Breyer.

pipersponytales.com

News Bytes: Awards, Sales and Projects to Watch

Mercedes Milligan

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March 24, 2021

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News Bytes: Awards, Sales and Projects to Watch

‘Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- the Movie: Mugen Train’ Wins Japan Academy Prize

The 44th Japan Academy Film Prize voters elected to name ufotable’s box-office obliterating anime feature the first ever franchise title to win its award for Animation of the Year. Also nominated were Violet Evergarden: The Movie (Kyoto Animation), Poupelle of Chimney Town (Studio 4°C), Josee, the Tiger and the Fish (Bones) and Stand By Me Doraemon 2 (Shirogumi/Robot Comm./Shin-Ei). Mugen Train will get a NorAm release next month through Aniplex of America and Funimation.

HwaHwa Studio Taps Jon Rosenberg to Rep ‘Meoshi World’

The Korean studio behind the colorful IP has retained publishing industry veteran Jon I. Rosenberg of Jokar Productions to represent the publishing and development rights to the three books for the U.S. and LatAm — the popular entertainment property that draws on the Asian mythology of ghosts and monsters. Since it was first introduced in Korea in 2019, Meoshi World has become a sought after property in Korea and is creating strong interest around the world, with its characters, K-Pop music influence and unique stories.

Meoshi World is about a young girl, Jimin, who moves to Korea from a city in the West, when her grandmother dies, and her mother decides to move back to her original childhood home. It is in her grandmother’s house that Jimin first encounters the ghosts and monsters along with the powerful guardian, celestial cat-being/sometimes gentle kitten, Meoshin. She also befriends a ghost “nerd” neighbor boy, Hoon, who is uncannily obsessed with that mysterious world.

Ann Arbor Film Festival Inaugurates Experimental Animation Award

The $500 award recognizes the piece that most successfully showcased the use of experimental processes, forms and topics. The prize is established by Deanna Morse in memory of Erik Alexander. Morse, VP of ASIFA and recently invited into AMPAS, has produced, directed and animated more than 50 award-winning short film poems about humanity’s connection to the environment. The festival is taking place online March 23-28 (aafilmfest.org).

RTS NI Student Television Awards Nominees

The Royal Television Society Northern Ireland revealed the contenders for the 8th annual awards, supported by Northern Ireland Screen and the Department for Communities. The ceremony will be held online Wednesday, March 24 at 7 p.m. GMT. The Animation nominees are:

Antisocial Behaviour: Lyndsay Clarke and Phillip Steele, Northern Regional College, Coleraine.
The Forlorn Piscator: Matthew McGuigan, Ulster University, Belfast.

‘Squared Zebra’ Wins Reed Midem-Backed Award at Suzdal

The 2D animated preschool series produced by SMF Studio in collaboration with Channel One World Television Network was named ‘Animated Series with the Highest International Potential’ at the 26th Open Russian Animated Film Festival. Backed by the leading content market organizer, the prize includes accreditation for MIPJunior (Oct. 9-10) and MIPCOM (Oct. 11-14) in Cannes. Squared Zebra centers on a zebra with unusual coloring who nevertheless makes friends with a cheerful company of different jungle creatures. The show premiered on Karusel in June 2020; ;Cyber Group Studios is producer and distributor of the international version.

Russian Animation Sells at EFM

Speaking of Russian toon successes, the national contingent reports a number of international sales secured for various feature and series projects at the recent European Film Market. (Read more about these titles here.)

Wizart Animation saw strong interest in The Warrior Princess and The Snow Queen 5 from buyers in Turkey, Bulgaria, Serbia, France, Portugal, Argentina, and the U.K.
Riki Group launched international sales for its upcoming CG comedy feature Finnick, catching the eye of distributors in the Baltics, Latin America, France and Spain.
SMF Studio (Soyuzmultfilm) attracted buyers from Germany, France, Bulgaria, Turkey, Argentina and the U.S. with its projects The Alpine Campaign, The Formula for Water and The Golden Beehive.
Paravoz Animation Studio struck up negotiations with potential partners in France and the U.K. for its projects Spaceport and Amazing Cafe.

Wow Kidz Action Earns YouTube Diamond Play Button

Following sister channel Wow Kidz, WKA becomes the second channel run by India- and Singapore-based animation powerhouse Cosmos-Maya to earn the accolade, bestowed on channels that surpass 10 million subscribers. The Wow Kidz network of channels now boasts 38 YouTube Creator Awards (25 Silver, 11 Gold and two Diamond). Wow Kidz Action has seen immense growth in just over three years, hitting 30 billion views across its collection of homegrown and internationally acquired titles, including Vir: The Robot Boy, Rollbots, Hotwheels, Robinhood, Gattu The Power Champ and Gormiti.

Sony Talent League by THU Grand Winner Revealed

After 10 weeks of mentorship from the likes of David OReilly, Kim Jung Gi, Phil Lord & Chris Miller and Tetsuya Mizuguchi, the three finalists were narrowed down to one winner: “Togather”, led by Founder & Creative Director Dilruba Tayfun, and members of her team, based in Amsterdam: Assistant Creative Director Ruben de Haas, and UX Designer & Researcher Marie-Claire Springham. Togather is a platform where anyone can make and share their custom digital brushes inspired by real-life objects. (togather.fun)

TV and streaming sales recap:

Winsing‘s Team S.T.E.A.M.! recently premiered on RTV (Indonesia) and Hong Kong PCCW’s VOD Now TV, soon to launch in Malaysia, Brunei, NorAm, etc. GOGOBUS S4 coming soon to Indonesia; Astro airing S3. New series GG Bond: Undersea Journey debuted in China in February.
Animaccord inked a deal with German free-to-air KiKa for Masha and the Bear musical season Masha’s Songs and spinoff Masha’s Tales, to air weekdays starting April 12 and April 26. The channel will also air classic Masha in 4K and will premiere new musical spinoff Nursery Rhymes.
Monster Ent. sold exclusive U.K. free to air rights to The Day Henry Met seasons 3 and 4 (from Wiggleywoo) to ITV for its littleBe pre-k block, to debut this summer. S4 has also been picked up by RAI (Italy) and TFO (Canada), while S1-3 have been renewed by Kids Stream (U.S.), Azoomee (multiple territories) and global kids’ streamer Noggin.
Moonbug Ent. announced a partnership with POPS Worldwide to bring 150 episodes of global phenom CoComelon to viewers (new eps. get a six month exclusivity window) as well as episodes in English and Vietnamese of Blippi, ARPO, Gecko’s Garage, Go Buster, Little Baby Bum, Toddler Fun Learning and My Magic Pet Morphle.
Mondo TV presold its new 3D CGI Grisu series to Rai Ragazzi, granting rights for seven years from date of completion for free TV, pay TV, pay per view, VOD and ancillary rights for Italy. the 52 x 11′ series is due in the second half of 2022.
Beyond Rights acquired international distribution (exc. Italy and Spanish-speaking territories) for Nina & Olga (52 x 7′) from Enanimation and Mondo TV Producciones Canarias in partnership with Rai Ragazzi. The series will premiere on RaiPlay and Rai Yoyo later this year.
Future Today has launched an omni-platform streaming channel dedicated to Pinkfong / Baby Shark — entirely free, COPPA compliant channel built and managed on FT’s end-to-end suite of cloud-based streaming tools, available now on every major streaming platform.

More headlines that caught our eye:

Savannah author turns Black, queer coming-of-age story into animated film ‘Pritty’ (Savannah Now)
‘The Spine of Night’ is the gory animated fantasy epic of your wildest dreams (Gizmodo)
Franklin-based ‘VeggieTales’ co-creator pursues new animation project (Williamson Herald)
MDEC calls for submissions for PRISMA grants worth up to RM50,000 per company in boost for the creative contents industry (Malaysia Digital Economic Corporation)
International animation experts to speak at Arts University Bournemouth (Arts University Bournemouth)
American Documentary and Animation Film Festival virtual for 10th annual (Cision)

Xilam Launching New Pre-K Property ‘Oggy Oggy’ at Virtual Showcase

Mercedes Milligan

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March 23, 2021

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Xilam Launching New Pre-K Property ‘Oggy Oggy’ at Virtual Showcase

Academy Award-nominated French animation studio Xilam Animation will launch its brand-new preschool series Oggy Oggy (156 x 7’) during its second Virtual Showcase event for TV channel and platform commissioners and buyers, which will run from April 7-9. Building upon its inaugural Virtual Showcase last October, Xilam will introduce a consumer products component to its upcoming event, which will also be headlined by Oggy Oggy.

Created by Xilam Animation’s Jean Cayrol & Cédric Guarneri, Oggy Oggy (156 x 7’) is a new preschool spin-off to Xilam’s iconic Oggy and the Cockroaches franchise and is set to be delivered later this year. The series sees young Oggy freed from the ceaseless tyranny of the cockroaches, with playfulness, adventures and friends making his new daily life so fun. Curious and daring, Oggy Oggy is always eager to live new experiences and if he can help a friend along the way: the more the merrier! Some may find that his clumsiness can lead to mistakes, but his fabulous resourcefulness sees him achieve great things. His kooky ideas always work!

The Virtual Showcase will give attendees an opportunity to discover the company’s current programming highlights as well, including: new episodes of Tangranimals (52 x 11’) and Pfffirates (52 x 11’) from Xilam’s CGI specialist studio Cube Creative Productions; and upcoming preschool series Lupin’s Tales (78 x 7’). Alongside this will be short-form series, such as Where’s Chicky? (Season 1 and 2: 104 x 1’), as well as Boon & Pimento (30 × 1’40”), which is co-produced by Xilam with Cross River Productions.

Under the inaugural consumer products component, alongside new preschool IP Oggy Oggy, Xilam will present licensing opportunities for Lupin’s Tales and Where’s Chicky?, as well as its classic properties including Oggy and the Cockroaches and Zig & Sharko.

“As we build upon Oggy and the Cockroaches’ global success and heritage, it felt like a natural step to create a property that would introduce preschool audiences to this treasured franchise. Oggy Oggy is filled with heartfelt, imaginative and creative storylines and the show also has a very charming visual style, which will lend itself very well to licensing and merchandising,” said Morgann Favennec, EVP Distribution. “We’re looking forward to introducing Oggy Oggy to potential partners during our Spring Virtual Showcase, and to updating the industry on all aspects of our business, from new projects and established series, and now also right through to consumer products.”

To register for Xilam’s Virtual Showcase event, visit virtual-showcase.xilam.com or email virtualshowcase@xilam.com for further details.

Netflix Reveals Premiere Date, More Voices for ‘Mitchells vs. the Machines’

Mercedes Milligan

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March 23, 2021

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Netflix Reveals Premiere Date, More Voices for ‘Mitchells vs. the Machines’

Having picked up the original comedy-adventure from Sony Pictures Animation earlier this year, Netflix has set the “robot apocalypse” for April 30, when Mike Rianda’s The Mitchells vs. the Machines arrives! The premiere was announced by @NetflixFilm on Twitter, along with a raft of additional voice stars.

Joining the pic’s voice cast are Fred Armisen (SNL, Big Mouth), Beck Bennett (SNL, DuckTales), Chrissy Teigen, John Legend, Charlyne Yi (Summer Camp Island, Steven Universe), Conan O’Brien, Sasheer Zamata (SNL, Woke), Elle Mills, Jay Pharoah (SNL, Loafy), Alex Hirsch (Gravity Falls, The Owl House) and Griffin McElroy (My Brother, My Brother and Me; Trolls World Tour).

? April 30: Robot apocalypse
☑️ Going: Danny McBride, Abbi Jacobson, Maya Rudolph, Mike Rianda, Olivia Colman, Eric Andre, Doug the Pug

THE MITCHELLS VS THE MACHINES, an animated family comedy from Rianda, Phil Lord & Christopher Miller, hits Netflix 4/30.

But there's more… pic.twitter.com/yFZv2M05GN

— NetflixFilm (@NetflixFilm) March 23, 2021

Synopsis: When Katie Mitchell (voiced by Abbi Jacobson), a creative outsider, is accepted into the film school of her dreams, her plans to meet “her people” at college are upended when her nature-loving dad Rick (Danny McBride) determines the whole family should drive Katie to school together and bond as a family one last time. The film also stars Maya Rudolph as mom Linda, Mike Rianda as little bro Aaron, Eric André as tech visionary Mark Bowman, Olivia Colman as AI assistant PAL, Blake Griffin and Doug The Pug and Monchi.

The Mitchells vs. the Machines is directed by Rianda and co-directed by Jeff Rowe, from a screenplay by Rianda and Rowe. Oscar winners Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) and Kurt Albrecht produced the film; Will Allegra, Louis Koo Tin Lok executive produced.

Read all about The Mitchells vs. the Machines in our feature story in the May issue of Animation Magazine, coming soon!

Funimation Fills Spring Slate with ‘Fruits Basket,’ ‘Megalobox’ & More

Mercedes Milligan

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March 23, 2021

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Funimation Fills Spring Slate with ‘Fruits Basket,’ ‘Megalobox’ & More

Leading global anime provider Funimation has unveiled the new and returning titles blooming on its platforms this Spring. The expanding universe of anime ranges from the heartfelt final season of Fruits Basket, to the action-packed adventures of The World Ends with You, to the fantasy world comedy stylings of Combatants Will Be Dispatched!

Show descriptions, premiere dates and availability details below. Fans can also keep up with the latest Funimation announcements on funimation.com/blog.

Hetalia: World Stars | The fifth anime series in the franchise based on Hidekaz Himaruya’s comedic manga, which follows the comedic antics of personifications of the nations of the world. Simulcast begins April 1.

Available in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, United Kingdom and Ireland. Available in Australia and New Zealand on AnimeLab. Available in France, Russia, Germany and Scandinavia on Wakanim.

Fruits Basket The Final Season | After the shocking revelations of last season, the Soma family is left in turmoil. The emotional chains that have bound them are not so easily broken, but Tohru refuses to abandon her quest for a cure even as it puts her in danger. She better hurry because time is running out for one family member, while another holds a secret that could splinter the clan entirely; either way, the end is coming! Episode 1 is available now. Additional SimulDub info to come.

Available in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, United Kingdom and Ireland. Available in Australia and New Zealand on AnimeLab. Available in France, Russia, Germany and Scandinavia on Wakanim. Watch Fruits Basket on Funimation.

[my hero academia]

My Hero Academia Season 5 | The rivalry between Class 1-A and Class 1-B heats up in a joint training battle. Eager to be a part of the hero course, brainwashing buff Shinso is tasked with competing on both sides. But as each team faces their own weaknesses and discovers new strengths, this showdown might just become a toss-up. Simulcast begins March 27. SimulDub info to come.

Available in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, United Kingdom and Ireland. Available in Australia and New Zealand on AnimeLab. Available in Scandinavia on Wakanim.

Combatants Will Be Dispatched! | Turns out, evil takes initiative! With world domination close at hand, the Kisaragi Corporation turns its sights on interstellar conquest, and who better to take over a magical world than two randomly assigned minions — Combatant Agent Six and his android partner Alice? But Six’s path up the evil corporate ladder won’t be easy — a Demon Lord’s army is hatching its own nefarious plan! Simulcast begins April 4.

Available in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, United Kingdom and Ireland. Available in Australia and New Zealand on AnimeLab. Available in France, Russia, Germany and Scandinavia on Wakanim.

MEGALOBOX 2: NOMAD | It only took “Gearless” Joe three months to jab his way from the underground circuit slums to the top of the boxing world, becoming the first-ever champion of Megalonia. But seven years after Joe’s meteoric rise, he finds himself back where he started, hiding behind numerous scars and a new ring name: Nomad. Simulcast begins April 4.

Available in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, United Kingdom and Ireland. Available in Australia and New Zealand on AnimeLab. Available in France, Russia, Germany and Scandinavia on Wakanim. Watch MEGALOBOX on Funimation.

Dragon Goes House-hunting | Letty is having a monster of a bad day. He can’t fly, breathe fire, and was just kicked out of his family’s lair. Hapless and homeless, this beast needs new digs, but where to start? Enter Dearia, the Demon Lord of Real Estate, making buyers’ dreams come true. Alas, that unique fixer-upper listing shown was infested with a horde of undead squatters — and no fireplace. House-hunting can be a beast! Simulcast begins April 4.

Available in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, United Kingdom and Ireland. Available in Australia and New Zealand on AnimeLab. Available in France, Russia, Germany and Scandinavia on Wakanim.

[dragon goes house hunting]

Moriarty the Patriot Part 2 | In the late 19th century, the British Empire nobility reigns while its working class suffers at their hands. Sympathetic to their plight, William James Moriarty wants to topple it all. Frustrated by the systemic inequity, Moriarty strategizes to fix the entire nation. Not even consulting detective Sherlock Holmes can stand in his way. It’s time for crime to revolutionize the world! The story continues in Part 2. Simulcast begins April 4.

Available in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, United Kingdom and Ireland. Available in Australia and New Zealand on AnimeLab. Available in France, Russia, Germany and Scandinavia on Wakanim. Watch Moriarty the Patriot on Funimation.

MARS RED | It’s 1923, and until recently, vampires kept to the shadows. When the mysterious blood source Ascra appears, their numbers swell, leaving Japan covered in bodies. In response, the government spawns its own coven to infiltrate the dark. With S-rank vampire Deffrot and the rookie Kurusu, this kill squad is made for one reason: to hunt the undead. Bloodsuckers beware; the night belongs to Code Zero! Simulcast begins April 5.

Available in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, United Kingdom and Ireland. Available in Australia and New Zealand on AnimeLab. Available in France, Russia, Germany and Scandinavia on Wakanim.

The Saint’s Magic Power Is Omnipotent | Sei is a hardworking woman whose life is nothing to dream about. But when she’s summoned to a new world and discovers she is a Saint, it’s no more 9 to 5 for this magical maiden! Now living the life of leisure, she perfects her powers, making potions while keeping a low profile from the crown prince. Can she continue quietly helping others or will she fulfill her true fantasy? Simulcast begins April 6.

Available in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, United Kingdom and Ireland. Available in Australia and New Zealand on AnimeLab. Available in France, Russia and Scandinavia on Wakanim.

Full Dive: This Ultimate Next-Gen Full Dive RPG is Even Shittier than Real Life! | Hiroshi Yuki is obsessed with VRMMOs and just bought Kiwame Quest, the realest game ever made. But he discovers this RPG is too lifelike; he can smell, taste and even feel the air blowing on his skin. Even worse, after being hurt in it, his physical body is hurt, too. This was supposed to be immersion, not reality. Consumed with winning, he swears that he’ll conquer this game — even if it kills him! Simulcast begins April 7.

Available in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, United Kingdom and Ireland. Available in Australia and New Zealand on AnimeLab. Available in Russia and Scandinavia on Wakanim.

[the world ends with you]

The World Ends with You The Animation | Based on the RPG video game series from Square Enix, set in the energetic streets of Shibuya where magical combatants pitch their powers against one another in the Reaper’s Game. Simulcast begins April 9.

Available in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, United Kingdom and Ireland. Available in Australia and New Zealand on AnimeLab. Available in France, Russia, Germany and Scandinavia on Wakanim.

Blue Reflection Ray | Optimistic Hiori can’t turn away anyone in need. Clumsy Ruka can’t seem to make friends, even when she tries. Together, this unlikely pair will use the power as Reflectors to help those in need with their emotional struggles and change the world. Simulcast begins April 9.

Available in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, United Kingdom and Ireland. Available in Australia and New Zealand on AnimeLab. Available in France, Russia, Germany and Scandinavia on Wakanim.

Battle Athletes Victory ReSTART! | Aspiring athletes from around the galaxy gather to compete in a tournament where the winner will be crowned the Cosmic Beauty. What begins as rivalry grows into friendship among the athletes, including a lunar refugee and her kangaroo companion, the daughter of an arms-dealing CEO, a mysterious loner, and Earth’s representative … a humble potato farmer named Kanata Akehoshi. Simulcast begins April 10.

Available in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, United Kingdom and Ireland. Available in Australia and New Zealand on AnimeLab. Available in France, Russia, Germany and Scandinavia on Wakanim.

How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord Ω | Diablo is back! You know … the Demon Lord from another world? Traveling through the woods with Rem and Shera, they encounter a lone girl in tatters, pursued by a powerful Paladin. You know what that means — Diablo will have to try and hide his lack of social skills once again (and come to her rescue, of course). Let the enchanting adventures continue! SimulDub info to come.

Available in the United states, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland. Available in Australia and New Zealand on AnimeLab. Available in Scandinavia on Wakanim. Watch How Not to Summon a Demon Lord on Funimation.

[zombie land saga revenge]

ZOMBIE LAND SAGA REVENGE | Everyone’s favorite zombie idol group is back (from the dead) for another tour! It’s a new year and a new era in Japan, and Sakura Minamoto and the other members of Franchouchou are more determined than ever to save Saga Prefecture with their growing fame … while recovering long-lost memories of their past lives. SimulDub info to come.

Available in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland. Available in Australia and New Zealand on AnimeLab. Watch ZOMBIE LAND SAGA on Funimation.

Black Clover Season 4 | Tensions are rising between the Clover and Spade Kingdoms as Asta and the Black Bulls continue the search for the remaining Devils. SimulDub is ongoing.

Available in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland. Available in Australia and New Zealand on AnimeLab. Available in Scandinavia on Wakanim.

One Piece | Luffy arrives at the Land of Wano to find its people and its beautiful lands in a disastrous state. The one behind it all is Kaido of the Four Emperors, who is in league with the shogun! The Straw Hats search desperately for allies while the island’s tragic history comes to light. Amid the stories of the past, a tale of Oden and Gol D. Roger surfaces. Simulcast is ongoing.

Available in the United States and Canada. Available in Australia and New Zealand on AnimeLab. Available in Germany and Russia on Wakanim.

BACK ARROW | Lingalind is enclosed by the Wall. The Wall covers, protects, cultivates and nurtures the land. The Wall is God. One day in Edger, a village on the outskirts, a mysterious man named Back Arrow appears. Arrow has no memory, but he claims that all he knows is that “I came from outside the Wall.” Arrow tries to go beyond the Wall to regain his memories but is pulled into one conflict after another. Simulcast is ongoing.

Available in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, United Kingdom and Ireland. Available in Australia and New Zealand on AnimeLab. Available in France, Russia, Germany and Scandinavia on Wakanim.

Kingdom Season 3 | A nameless boy and a young king have grown up in a nation plagued by war. The boy, Xin, has countlessly proven himself on the battlefield, and although initially starting on bad terms, he and the young king, Zheng, have become comrades. Zheng wishes to bring all the warring states under Qin, while Xin climbs the ranks to become a Great General. Both of their ambitions will change history forever. Simulcast info to come.

Available in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, United Kingdom and Ireland. Available in Australia and New Zealand on AnimeLab.

Animation Dingle Announces Award Winners

Jessica Walter, ‘Archer’ Voice Star & Emmy-Winning Actress, Dies Age 80

First Look: ‘Last Kids on Earth’ Interactive Netflix Special, Graphic Novel in Works

Rabbit Love: ‘The Runaway Bunny’ Hops to HBO Max

Jetpack Takes Vinewood’s ‘Welcome to Cardboard City’ Worldwide

ABC Presents 2-Hour ‘Sesame Street: 50 Years of Sunny Days’ Special

Award-Winning Creative Co. BUCK Expands to Europe

‘Soul’ Takes Another Slice of Awards Season with PGA Win

Women in Animation Launches Spring Mentorships with Focus on WOC

Autodesk Accelerates Workflows Across Maya, 3ds Max & MotionBuilder 22

Clip: It’s Flash vs. Fash as Superhero Bashes Nazis in ‘Justice Society: World War II’

Virtual Animation Dingle Takes Irish Celebration Global

Super-Powered and Sophisticated: Robert Kirkman’s ‘Invincible’ Hits Amazon Prime

Crunchyroll Slates 25 Titles for Spring Anime Season

Epic Story Media, Milkcow Launch ‘Piper’s Pony Tales’ with Breyer on Board

News Bytes: Awards, Sales and Projects to Watch

Xilam Launching New Pre-K Property ‘Oggy Oggy’ at Virtual Showcase

Netflix Reveals Premiere Date, More Voices for ‘Mitchells vs. the Machines’

Funimation Fills Spring Slate with ‘Fruits Basket,’ ‘Megalobox’ & More

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