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Director Isabel Herguera won this year’s Annecy Contrechamp award for directing the acclaimed feature Sultana’s Dream: The film is also screening in competition at the Ottawa Film Festival in September. The gifted Spanish director-producer was kind enough to share a few photos from her day with us this month:
Here I am at the hospital in Orbetello, in Tuscany, Italy, accompanying my mother-in-law for a blood test. Luckily, everything turned out O.K.
I am looking for the right paper to draw — always a special moment!
It’s time for some tests on the multiplane.
It’s important to bring some order into the animation folders.
Now I’m on my way to Rome!
A lovely lunch with my sister-in-law, Eti, and Gianmarco!
Why not take part in a sound workshop in a park?
Summer evenings are perfect to meet some friends for a special occasion.
Just in time for an open-air screening of Sultana’s Dream in the park!
The shapeshifter saga of Curtis Jobling’s Wereworld books are getting the Netflix animation treatment, with fans getting their first look at the upcoming 2025 animated series Wolf King today as part of the streamer’s Geeked Week reveals. The project was part of the Next on Netflix Animation presentation earlier this year.
The official announcement teaser brings us into a stylized CG fantasy world where mankind is ruled by “Werelords.” Here dwells a 16-year-old shepherd boy named Drew Ferran, whose life is changed forever when he discovers he’s the last surviving “Wolf King.”
The series is directed by Tom Brass for Jellyfish Pictures and produced by Angelo Abela, Tim Compton, Curtis Jobling and Barry Quinn for Lime Pictures.
Sentient robots in disguise are stomping into theaters this fall with Transformers One. Billed as the first all-CG-animated Transformers movie, the Paramount release tells the backstory of how two bestie worker bots, Orion Pax and D-16, became future mortal enemies named Optimus Prime and Megatron billions of years before the live-action franchise took off.
Directed by the Academy Award-winning Josh Cooley (Toy Story 4) and shepherded to the big screen by Transformers super producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Transformers One takes place ages ago on the machine planet of Cybertron and reveals the turbulent events that took Orion Pax and D-16 from friends to foes and spawned the rise of the deadly Decepticons.
‘You can turn the sound off on this movie and clearly read what they’re thinking. Going back to the original G1 designs, which are pretty much just a flat metal face, it was important that things were believable.’
— Director Josh Cooley
Cooley (The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, Brave, Inside Out) is a former Pixar story artist and director who answered the call to helm this heroic origin story for Hasbro and Paramount, and the impressive results enter that rarefied air of instant sci-fi classics.
“When I read the first draft of the script, the tone was a little different,” Cooley tells Animation Magazine. “It was a bit lighter and more cartoony. The thing that was there always was this idea of going from best friends to antagonists. I always love villains that are more complex. With Transformers, it’s always been, ‘I’m the good guy. I’m the bad guy. Let’s beat it out.’”
An Epic Bots Tale
“There’s a real arc to this relationship where you see them really working together and you like them together. Then it would be a real heartbreak once that relationship falls apart. To me, this could be kind of like those huge epics I love watching like Spartacus or Ben-Hur or The Ten Commandments — these massive, epic stories with a real personal relationship at the core.”
In addition to the striking, color-splashed CG animation provided by Industrial Light & Magic, Transformers One is blessed with a superstar vocal cast that includes Chris Hemsworth (Orion Pax, a.k.a. Optimus Prime), Brian Tyree Henry (D-16, a.k.a. Megatron), Keegan-Michael Key (B-127, a.k.a. Bumblebee), Scarlett Johansson (Elita-1), Laurence Fishburne (Alpha Trion), Jon Hamm (Sentinel Prime) and Steve Buscemi (Starscream).
Visual development art of Starscream for ‘Transformers One,’ courtesy of ILM/Paramount.Di Bonaventura is a seasoned warrior in the Hollywood trenches who was associated with a multitude of blockbuster franchises, such as Harry Potter and The Matrix, during his time as an elite Warner Bros. executive, before setting up shop at Paramount to lead the Transformers charge.
“This origin story is so damn compelling,” he says. “In our business, so often we claim that these action pictures are character-based. But this story is utterly character-based. The plot is two best friends who become mortal enemies and change the destiny of Cybertron. It’s a classic plot, and what you quickly realized was we’ve been limited in live action because every time a CG character talks it costs a lot of money. So we’ve always had to be conscious of how much robot time there is. Here, we had absolutely no restriction. What’s great about it is that we were able to really get in and explore robot characters in a way we’ve never been able to.”
“I loved Toy Story 4, and trying to make the fourth movie was a hell of a challenge and Josh crushed it,” says the producer. “When I met with him, he was a die-hard Transformers fan, and he got what we were trying to do. And he also had a personal story with his brother that had relevance to what we were doing. They grew up best friends, and now Josh is in the entertainment world doing art, and his brother is a cop who has a very different worldview. The high bar we had here was I wanted us to feel bad for both characters. It’s really over their philosophies that they become apart. Essentially, Megatron is a pro-authoritarian character and Optimus is pro-democracy.”
Fantastic Planet: Paramount’s ‘Transformers One’ takes audiences to the faraway planet of Cybertron, where we learns about the origin story of Optimus Prime and Megatron.One minor controversy surrounding Transformers One was replacing the deep, mellifluous pipes of Peter Cullen with Chris Hemsworth, the MCU’s God of Thunder, to voice Orion Pax/Optimus Prime for this prequel set thousands of centuries in Cybertron’s past.
“Peter Cullen is the Optimus Prime of my childhood that I grew up with,” says Cooley. “From Day One, it was something that kept me up at night. How do we do a younger version that feels right? I think it was Lorenzo that brought up Chris, and I took a listen to his voice and could hear he had the depth and the timbre. So we talked about him doing an American accent so it felt like the character that would become Optimus. Chris is really funny and charming, and he brought that into the voice from the very beginning. As he got toward the end of the script and started to become Optimus a bit more, I could see in his physical performance he was standing up straighter and started getting the tempo of Cullen’s performance to the point where I got goosebumps in the booth. It was really fun working with him on that, and I’m still blown away.”
Calling All Autobots
Acting as a dynamic introduction to the Transformers universe for virgin fans, but also intent on satiating the desires of legions of Autobot and Decepticon faithful, Cooley walked a tricky tightrope to balance those two vital components.
Engaging music elevates Transformers One far beyond just a simple animated iteration from the multibillion-dollar transmedia franchise, and Cooley was determined to fortify the film with an appropriate soundtrack, even choosing the perfect end-credits tune.
Concept design for a crashed Quintesson ship.“The score was written by Brian Tyler, who I absolutely adore. He’s a mad genius. He’s a great DJ and musician, and he can play every instrument. I just knew he was going to be the only one who can create a song that has the soul of the movie in it. He wrote and performed in that song and uses elements of the score, so it’s a song that can only come from this movie, which I absolutely love. I love it and listen to it constantly in the car and can’t wait for it to get out there.”
ILM’s pageantry of pixels on display for this $147 million production is something audiences have never quite witnessed before, with its palpable metallic texturing, modulated facial expressions, fantastic world-building and eye-pleasing color palette.
“The faces are very complicated in the live-action movies, and you can see every nut and bolt moving around and plates moving over each other,” Cooley explains. “I wanted to make sure it was clear and simple in terms of their expressions. You can turn the sound off on this movie and clearly read what they’re thinking. Going back to the original G1 [Generation 1] designs, which are pretty much just a flat metal face, it was important that things were believable. It’s not super realistic, it’s not super artsy. The lighting is real. The physics are real. The reflections are real. It was finding that balance. I wanted to make sure that things didn’t get pushed too far or too cartoony.
“The color theme came out of knowing that we’ve only ever seen Cybertron where it was dying and falling apart,” the director explains. “This is Cybertron when things were going fine. And for me, that’s a huge thing, because when they start fighting each other they’re fighting over the planet. The planet is the thing. It’s like a character; it needs to be beautiful. I always say, ‘Do I want to go to that land in a theme park as an audience member?’ So it was about not making it just a grey or silver ball of stuff. I looked at a lot of natural metals on Earth, and they’re not all just silver. Like onyx is super black and reflective. We used all that as inspiration to make this world feel alive and really rich.”
Eighties Pop: Director Josh Cooley and his team of artists pay homage to the Generation One designs of the original Transformers toys and animated series, first introduced in 1984.
Metallic Magic
Echoing those sentiments, di Bonaventura was attuned to Cooley’s love of Transformers G1, and that had a huge impact on the movie’s overall design concept.
“At the same time, the complexity that Michael Bay brought to the world of Transformers — you can’t just jettison that, because then they become boring,” di Bonaventura adds. “So it’s sort of a combination of the two. The look of the picture is utterly gorgeous, and ILM did a phenomenal job right from the get-go, in part because all the artists we were working with are die-hard Transformers fans, so they put their souls into this.
Lorenzo di Bonaventura
“Our objective was that this is a vibrant planet that actually transforms itself all the time. So it has an interesting aesthetic because you can never be exactly sure if something’s about to change. At the same time, we wanted it to be a colorful world, not because it’s an animated movie, but because why wouldn’t Cybertron be a colorful world and have a unique landscape and a unique palette? Too often planets are like desertscapes. We wanted to do the opposite.”
Cooley’s experience on this ambitious creative enterprise left him transformed as well.
“I loved working with Lorenzo on this film,” he says. “I learned so much from him. He’s done over 100 movies, and they’re amazing films that he’s been a part of. He had such a great outlook and not just from a filmmaker or storytelling perspective but also as somebody who’s been part of every single Transformers film. That was extremely helpful, and it was great to have him as a partner.”
Paramount Pictures releases Transformers One in theaters on September 20. The film is a presentation of Paramount Animation and Hasbro.
Cutting Class Media (People Watching, Gary and His Demons, Doomlands) and, Lakeside Animation (Sonya From Toastville, Red Iron Road), in collaboration with Titmouse (Big Mouth, The Legend of Vox Machina, The Venture Bros., Star Trek: Lower Decks), announce the start of production on the independent adult animated comedy feature Matters Beyond, created by Daniel C. Katz (Xemoland, Deep Space 69, TripTank, Super Turbo Story Time).
“With this film, I’m seeking to end once and for all the conflicting theories about what happens when we die and show the definitive truth of what awaits us all in the afterlife,” said Katz.
The feature is slated to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2025.
Cutting Class Media will be distributing and producing the feature with Lakeside providing animation services. Katz will serve as writer, director and producer on the project; he is represented by VERVE. Lee Porter (Doomlands, Gary and His Demons) will serve as Supervising Producer.
Logline: When a doofus dies minutes after discovering his life’s purpose, he decides to embark on a quest for reincarnation through an absurd purgatory to win a second chance at fulfilling his destiny.
“With Daniel’s unique vision and the investors and producing team behind this project, we believe that we have the foundation to create something very special,” said Joshua Bowen, Co-CEO & Head of Animation for Cutting Class Media. “Despite the difficult industry climate, it’s exciting to see this team band together to invest in a filmmaker and creator that we believe in.”
Iouri Stepanov, CEO of Lakeside Animation, added, “We are very grateful and excited for the opportunity to produce such an original project with such an experienced team. Matters Beyond is just the show we’ve been waiting for; it’s commercially attractive, artistically inspired and very, very funny.”
Netflix Geeked Week officially began today, and fans got their first look at Castlevania: Nocturne Season 2 with a new teaser trailer / date announcement debuted across the streamer’s social platforms. The adult animated horror adventure will premiere sometime in January 2025.
Nocturne Season 1 launched in September 2023 and was quickly re-upped for a second season. The storyline picked up some 300 years after the events of the Castlevania animated series (inspired by the hit Konami video games) amid the bloody chaos of the French Revolution. With the French aristocracy aligned with a Vampire Messiah, a Caribbean sorceress named Annette seeks out Richter Belmont, the last descendent of the infamous vampire hunter family.
S2 Logline: Now joined by the legendary Alucard, Richter Belmont and his band of vampire hunters are in a desperate race against time. Erzsebet Báthory, the Vampire Messiah, who already seems invincible, seeks the full power of the goddess Sekhmet so she can plunge the world into endless darkness and terror.
Showrunners for Castlevania: Nocturne are Kevin Kolde (Castlevania) and Clive Bradley (Trapped). Bradley also serves as creator/writer. Sam Deats and Adam Deats share directing duties for S2. Project 51 Productions and Powerhouse Animation (Castlevania, Blood of Zeus) produce for Netflix.
Academy Award-nominated French animation studio Xilam Films has secured new partners for its upcoming ambitious family feature Lucy Lost, based on award-winning author and previous British Children’s Laureate Michael Morpurgo’s 2014 novel Listen to the Moon. Gebeka International, a Hildegarde-Goodfellas company (The Boy and the Heron, Spirited Away), has boarded to handle international sales, while Le Pacte (Kensuke’s Kingdom, Panda Bear in Africa) will distribute the feature theatrically in France and French broadcasters Canal+ and Cine+ have acquired pay TV rights.
Following its successful debut at Cartoon Movie earlier this year, Lucy Lost is now beginning production with delivery scheduled for March 2026.
“After the huge success of Kensuke in France, we are thrilled to be distributing Lucy Lost, based on another book from Michael Morpurgo,” commented Jean Labadie, CEO of Le Pacte. “The adaptation and the design for Lucy Lost — directed by the talented Olivier Clert and produced by Marc du Pontavice — are incredible and we look forward to distributing the film.”
Lucy Lost is co-written by Olivier Clert who is also directing the project in his feature directorial debut. Clert started out as an animator on A Monster in Paris and The Lorax, before becoming a story artist for Mark Osborne’s The Little Prince. He has also collaborated with Sergio Pablos on projects including Smallfoot (Warner Bros.) and Klaus (Netflix), and he has worked for Netflix as head of story on Osborne’s Escape from Hat and Kid Cudi’s Entergalactic.
Clert’s co-writer on the new feature is BAFTA and International Emmy Award-winning screenwriter Helen Blakeman (Dustbin Baby, Hetty Feather) and produced by Xilam’s Academy Award-nominated Marc du Pontavice and Lucie Bolze. The feature will be produced at Xilam’s animation studio in France.
Synopsis: Lucy is a lively child with extraordinary faculties, which makes her look out of place amongst the fishermen of the Isles of Scilly. But all the care and affection she gets from Alfie and his family can’t shelter her from the rumors and superstitions that she unknowingly stirs up. When Lucy meets Milly, a mysterious girl, she embarks on an incredible race in pursuit of her true origins.
“Listen to the Moon is a captivating novel that weaves together themes of family, love and memory against a backdrop of vivid landscapes — which Olivier and Helen have done a remarkable job at translating into our spectacular Lucy Lost adaptation,” said du Pontavice. “As we begin production on this moving and visually stunning story of resilience, we have the best travelling companions in Gebeka International, Le Pacte and Canal+ to join us on this epic adventure. Lucy is a fragile yet courageous character who will move audiences — and we hope the film sparks a desire to connect with one another, consider each other’s differences with kindness, and the courage to face adversity.”
Vincent Maraval, President of Goodfellas, the co-parent company of Gebeka International, addd, “Lucy Lost is an incredible journey through time and space which deals with universal themes such as the search for identity and friendship. We are very proud to board this beautiful project, which we are convinced will be deeply moving. The scale of Lucy’s adventure will with no doubt appeal to international audiences, for children and adults alike.”
LucyLost follows the success of Xilam’s 2019 adult-targeted animated feature I Lost My Body, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and picked up the awards for Best Animated Film and Best Original Score at the 45th César Awards — alongside additional accolades including three Annie Awards, a double win at Annecy International Animation Film Festival and the Critics’ Week prize at Cannes Film Festival.
Michael Morpurgo OBE is one of Britain’s best loved writers for children, with sales of over 35 million copies. He has written over 150 books, including War Horse, which was adapted into a hugely successfully war drama directed and co-produced by Steven Spielberg in 2011. Morpurgo has served as Children’s Laureate and was knighted in 2018 for services to literature and charity.
There’s no need to fear! Shoeshine Boy’s heroic alter ego is returning to the screens in Underdog, a reboot of the classic canine action-comedy from Superprod Group’s Superprod Animation (France) and Red Monk Studio (Italy). The series is commissioned by French broadcasters M6 and Gulli and Italian pubcaster RAI; Superights will handle international distribution.
First introduced in 1959 through the General Mills-backed cartoons created by W. Watts Biggers and team, Underdog has remained popular through the decades with his own TV series (aired on NBC, CBS and Nickelodeon), comics and a 2007 live-action movie. Now, the midcentury favorite is getting a 3D CG update from Superprod Animation and Red Monk to introduce the plucky pooch to a new generation of kids and families.
The new 52 x 11′ Underdog series follows the crime busting adventures of a uniquely canine superhero. Clumsy yet lovable, Underdog is a superpowered dog who battles villains with the help of his team of fellow superheroes. Despite his bumble prone persona, his heart and determination make him a lovable and endearing hero. Created for a bridge audience, the series blends action and humor while promoting positive values such as friendship, courage and perseverance.
Underdog was developed for TV with Matt Smith (The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants, The Croods, The Mr. Peabody & Sherman Show) and Shane Morris (Frozen, Wreck-It Ralph, Tangled, The PAW Patrol Movie, Rainbow Rangers), who are also story editing the show. The series is directed by Charles Vaucelle, a seasoned director known for his work on hit shows like Pat the Dog, Oggy and the Cockroaches, The Daltons, Lucky Luke and Dogmatix and the Indomitables.
“Reviving Underdog for a new generation is such a wonderful opportunity. With our incredible team of marquee talent, we are thrilled to say, ‘There’s no need to fear: Underdog is here!'” said Jérémie Fajner and Clément Calvet, co- founders of the Superprod Group. “We are eager to bring this project to audiences and proud of this partnership with M6 Group and RAI.”
The series is set to air in France on M6 and Gulli, with whom the series was developed, and on RAI in Italy, with delivery scheduled for 2025.
Crunchyroll announced today that the heartwarming, emotionally charged anime Bocchi The Rock! Recap Part 1 & 2 will hit theaters in a limited special engagement run featuring the omnibus recap film in North America on October 6, and across the U.K. on October 7. The film will only be available in Japanese with English subtitles.
Crunchyroll and Sony Pictures Entertainment will also roll out the title in France (Oct. 15) and Australia (Oct. 17)
Originally announced as two separate films, Bocchi The Rock! Recap Part 1 & 2 combines all of season one into one cinematic experience, which also features a brand-new animation element. A new lyric video, “Tsukinami ni Kagayake” (“Shine as usual”), featuring new animation, was created for the opening sequence of the compilation film, as well as a new ending theme song, “Ima, Boku, Underground Kara” (“Now, I’m going from underground”) by Kessoku Band.
Based on the 2024 Anime Award-winning music series Bocchi The Rock!, the compilation film follows an introverted, shy girl on her inspirational music journey as she struggles to overcome social barriers and find her place.
Synopsis: Young rocker Hitori Gotoh, also known as “Bocchi-chan,” is a middle schooler struggling with social anxiety. Amid her silence and solitude, she picks up a guitar and discovers that she is talented, but despite spending hours practicing and uploading popular videos of herself performing, her dreams of joining a band and making friends never materialize. The thought of reaching out to strangers makes her nervous, and instead, the awkward Hitori isolates herself even more, accepting her fate of solitude. Until one day, she meets Nijika Ijichi, the drummer for Kessoku Band, who encourages her to change her tune and helps her overcome her deep social anxiety!
Created by Aki Hamazi, the film is directed by Keiichiro Saito from a screenplay by Erika Yoshida. Cloverworks is the producing studio.
Jinkies! MeTV Toons, the only TV network destination dedicated exclusively to classic animation, is celebrating its first-ever Halloween season with a month of themed programming featuring animated favorites from Scooby-Doo! to The Flintstones to Casper. Relive all the hijinks and frights and memories of Halloween’s past with themed movies and cartoon episodes airing every Sunday this October.
MeTV Toons is the new TV home of Scooby-Doo!, airing weekdays at 6 p.m. ET/PT and Sundays at 3pm ET/PT. In celebration of “Scoobtober”, on Sunday, October 27 at 3 p.m. ET/PT, The Sven Squad from MeTV’s House of Svengoolie will also make a special appearance on MeTV Toons to present the Scooby-Doo! Sunday Special – Hosted by the House of Svengoolie.
Also in October, MeTV Toons will welcome Super Friends, the most powerful DC superheroes ever — Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Batman and Robin— to its schedule beginning with a Primetime Sneak Peek on Sunday, October 6 before the series lands in its regular M-F, 4-5 p.m. ET/PT weekday slot. A Saturday morning favorite that originally aired on network TV, MeTV Toons has acquired all iterations of the animated series from 1973-1985.
Halloween Programming on MeTV Toons
Sundays from 1-8 p.m. ET/PT
Sunday, October 13:
1-3 p.m.: Flintstones Family Sunday – The Flintstones Meet Rockula and Frankenstone, The New Fred & Barney Show and The Flintstones Comedy Show featuring The Frankenstones
3-5 pm.: Scooby-Doo! Sunday Specials
5-8 p.m.: The Addams Family Marathon (animated series from 1973/74)
Sunday, October 20:
1-3 p.m.: Flintstones Family Sunday – The Flintstones Comedy Show featuring The Frankenstones
3-5 p.m.: Scooby-Doo! Sunday Specials
5-8 p.m.: Funky Phantom Marathon
Sunday, October 27:
1-3 p.m.: Flintstone Family Sunday – The Flintstones Comedy Show featuring The Frankenstones
3-5 p.m.: Scooby-Doo! Sunday Special Hosted by House of Svengoolie
5 p.m.: House of Svengoolie’s Cartoon BOO-Nanza
6 p.m.: Bunnicula the Vampire Rabbit
6:30 p.m.: Casper’s Halloween Special
7-8 p.m.: Casper & Friends
Super Friends on MeTV Toons
Sunday, October 6
8-11 p.m. ET/PT: Super Friends Primetime Sneak Peek
Featuring a special collection of “best of” episodes: “Terror from the Phantom Zone,” “Secret Origins of the Super Friends,” “Super Friends: Rest in Peace,” “The Rise and Fall of the Super Friends,” “Wild Cards” (featuring The Joker) and “The Death of Superman.”
Regular Monday-Friday timeslot weekdays from 4-5 p.m. ET/PT beginning October 7.
For the full MeTV Toons schedule and where to watch visit metvtoons.com.
Spanish animation will have a strong presence at this year’s edition of Cartoon Forum which takes place in Toulouse, France, Sept. 16-19. We spoke to three of the producers who are presenting their hot new animated shows at the Forum this week to learn more about their studio’s exciting projects:
Titan Fofu is a series created and directed by María Luquero. It is a 3D animation project for preschool children. The series combines adventure and comedy while teaching emotional intelligence to kids. It is produced by UniKo and Abano Producións, and we are currently in the development phase with the support of Ibermedia Next and in collaboration with Matte, an animation studio in Ecuador.
What are your animation specialties?
Titan Tofu is a co-production between UniKo and Abano, two of the leading animation companies in Spain. We produce projects with a broad international vision and high artistic and narrative value. Together, we have made seven feature films and 18 animated shorts, winning over 500 international awards, including six Goya awards and the recent Grand Prix Contrechamps at Annecy for our film Sultana’s Dream.
What would you say sets you apart from other animation studios?
We like to produce boutique projects. Audiovisual formats are treated like unique “perfumes,” with great artistic quality and universal themes. We put all the passion and care necessary into making both the process and the final product unique. We typically use internationalization tools and support funds to attend specific events, such as this case with Cartoon Forum. It is a fundamental institution for being present at international events that allow us to showcase and launch our projects.
What are some of the other projects you are working on now?
In addition to Titan Tofu, we are currently in full production on two animation projects. The third feature film by Alberto Vázquez, which we are producing, will be calledDecorado. We are also working on Bea Lema’s debut short film, El Cuerpo de Cristo, based on the comic of the same name, which won the Audience Award at the last Angoulême Festival.
What would you like the animation community around the world to know about you? That Titan Tofu is a wonderful project, and if you are a distributor, sales agent, or TV channel looking for a unique preschool project, don’t lose focus on this series. Our main goal is to secure a sales agent for the sereis who can help us consolidate the series, complete the financing, and begin presales so that the series can reach children all over the world!
Can you tell us a bit about the history of your company/studio/project?
Jose Maria Fernandez de Vega
All Good is the project that our production company, Glow, is presenting at Cartoon Forum 2024. It’s an incredibly fun and unique comedy series aimed at a young adult audience, with storylines and characters that will delight viewers around the world. This series is a mix of talent and art, combining the originality of its creators, Diego Porral and Joaquín Garralda — two creatives with extensive experience in animation and successful previous projects — with the exceptional writing of Sam de Ceccatty, who brings a very original vision to this universe, and finally, the animation production expertise of Glow, with previous successes such as Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles’and participation in some of the best productions of recent years, like Unicorn Wars and Sultana’s Dream. Some “interstellar event” has brought us all together at a specific moment and with a brilliant project like All Good, and that’s why we’re so excited to present it at Cartoon Forum.
What are you company’s animation specialties?
Our specialty is 2D animation, although we also work in live-action, and our skills in digital compositing allow us to focus more on the stories than the techniques. Glow combines in-house production with services on the best and most original animated projects, much like Diego Porral, who, in addition to being one of the creatives behind All Good, has directed and worked on productions such as Scavenger’s Reign, Love Death + Robots and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. So, we love mixing and working with different techniques.
What would you say sets you apart from other animation studios?
Since its inception with our first film (Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles), Glow has been characterized as a “boutique” studio-producer, meaning we put a lot of care into what we do, both artistically and in production, and we do it in a special way: by enjoying the processes. For us, it doesn’t make sense to undertake big projects if we’re not happy doing them, and that care we put into our audiovisuals also applies to human relationships. We want to make the world happy with our productions and be happy making them. For a production company-studio like Glow, located in a small region of Spain like Extremadura, having the support of ICEX to “open us up to the world” and attend markets has been very significant. This has also allowed the company to grow in projects and artists, continuously providing opportunities to new talents.
What are some of the projects you are working on now?
Diego Porral, Joaquín Garralda, and Sam de Ceccatty are the creators of All Good, but they also juggle other commissioned projects. For confidentiality reasons, we can’t always disclose what they’re involved in, but we can say they are spectacular, and we can’t wait for them to be announced. Meanwhile, Glow is working on Alberto Vázquez’s new film, Decorado, which we are co-producing with wonderful partners like Abano, Uniko, and Sardinha em Lata, all of whom have had successful previous productions. The film is currently in full production and is looking spectacular. We also have recently completed short films in distribution, such as O Estado de Alma and Medea a la Deriva, based on the novel by Fermín Solís, who also wrote Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles. As for “services”, a few days ago, The Stone of Madness was announced at Gamescom, the new game from The Game Kitchen, creators of Blasphemous, for which we created and produced the game’s cinematics. We’re eagerly awaiting its release because it’s a very beautiful project.
What would you like the animation community around the world to know about you?
That there are still different and unique stories that haven’t been told yet, and Glow is in this industry to bring them to screens worldwide. We hope to begin financing All Good’ so that we can move into production in 2025. And to continue creating and participating in the most beautiful, unique, and original stories in the world of animation.
Can you tell us a bit about the history of your project?
Peter Keydel
Limbo Ville came to life during the pandemic when the creators sadly lost their beloved ferret, Lacasito. They were struck by how people didn’t quite understand why they were grieving—apparently, mourning a pet isn’t universally recognized. This got them thinking: What if spirits are real? Can people stay with their loved ones forever, even in the afterlife? And here’s a fun one—what happens if someone dies in a really ugly house? Are they stuck there forever? Since nobody had the answers (big surprise!), they decided to make them up themselves. That’s how their action-mystery-adventure-comedy series was born. It’s a wild ride that touches on reuniting with lost loved ones and introduces the delicate topic of grief to kids—with a good dose of humor, of course.
What are your animation specialties?
At Mago Production, we like to keep things interesting. We’re not just sticking to one animation technique, we mix it up. We develop our own projects and offer work-for-hire services tailored to our clients’ needs. In our latest series, The Little Orchestra, which we’re just wrapping up, we’ve played around with 2D traditional, 2D cut-out animation, and even sprinkled in some stop-motion sequences. And for our animated feature film The Light of Aisha, we took things up a notch with 3D animation and added some stop-motion scenes. We like to keep our animators on their toes!
What would you say sets you apart from other animation series?
Limbo Ville isn’t your typical ghost story. It’s a series that blends humor, adventure, and a dash of the supernatural, all while tackling the heavy topic of grief after losing a loved one. Sure, there are plenty of shows about parallel worlds, but Limbo Ville brings the spookiness right into the real world, where the living and ghosts coexist in a city bursting with secrets. One of the coolest parts? Our ghost real estate agency. Our characters help spirits from different eras, or those inspired by beloved book and film characters, find their dream (afterlife) homes. Because, let’s face it, whether you’re dead or alive, everyone deserves a nice place to hang out—or haunt! This show is a unique and eerily fun proposition, with characters that will charm you, make you laugh, and maybe even scare you just a little bit (but not too much — We still want the little ones to tune in!).
What are some of the projects you are working on now?
We’re wrapping up the 2D kids’ series The Little Orchestra (26 x 11 minutes)—it’s been a blast! We’ve also just kicked off an international co-production for the series Belzebubs (13 episodes of 22 minutes each), which is sure to be devilishly good. Meanwhile, our 3D animated feature film The Light of Aisha is in the final stretch and will be released in cinemas in 2025. And of course, we’ve got Limbo Ville in the financing stage here in Toulouse. Our permanent team in Barcelona is a tight-knit crew of 10, but right now, we’ve got around 50 people working across our productions. This number dances up and down depending on the projects—just six months ago, we had over 100 talented folks bringing our stories to life all at once.
What would you like the animation community around the world to know about you?
We’re all about collaboration at Mago Production. We love co-producing and teaming up with different cultures from all around the globe. So, if you’ve got a project idea, we’re all ears! As for Limbo Ville, we’re hoping to introduce a series that shakes up the world of children’s animation by tackling important topics that are still a bit hush-hush. With its mix of mystery, adventure, and life lessons, we think Limbo Ville has the potential to set a new standard in kids’ entertainment. We’re super excited to see how it evolves and can’t wait for you to see how Mago Production, along with the creative minds of Pilar and Raquel Maestre, brings this one-of-a-kind vision to the screen.
Goals for 2024 and beyond: Looking ahead to 2024 and beyond, our mission is clear: keep pushing the envelope in kids’ content. We’re all about developing projects that align with our editorial vision while boldly exploring new frontiers in both series and animated films. We want to keep innovating, crafting stories that not only entertain but also spark important conversations in a way that resonates with today’s young audiences. And most importantly, we want to keep having fun while doing it—because loving what we do and enjoying the creative process is what keeps us going. Get Ready for Limbo Ville!
Listen up, jabronis: Adult Swim’s SMALLS program, dedicated to discovering and spotlighting up-and-coming animation talent, has debuted a new short on its YouTube page. The latest drop is Beantown: Trial By Fire, an ode to those lost in the service industry trenches, from Los Angeles-based animator-director-voice actor Mike Manor (@Mike_Manor).
Featuring Manor’s distinctive pixel art animation style, the short centers on two newbies at a hyper chaotic coffee shop adrift in space. Robert and Phil must serve the teeming swarm of customers until one of them dies, and the survivor wins the coveted minimum-wage gig.
Beantown‘s voice cast of actors/comedians includes Chris Fleming, Rachel Kaly and Tevin “Mandal” Williams. The short features original music composed by Derek Simpson.
Adult Swim also recently launched its SMALLS fall compilation, which collects 11 shorts from SMALLS Volumes 12 & 13: I Ride My Bike When the Air Is Crispy by Julian Glander, Wishing Apple by Jack Stauber, DAP: Road Tripby Sam Lanier, Let’s Play Pretend: Career by Sam Lane, HAHA You Clowns: VR by Joe Cappa, BRB I’m on Breakby Pilar Garcia-Fernandezesma & Isabel Santos, Mandal Takes an L: Air Force Nones by Tevin “Mandal” Williams & Clay Skinner, Spooky Dreams: Candimane by Zae Jordan & Javier Williams, Mischief: Open Wide Up by Umami, Jamir at Home: Toiletby Alexandre Louvenaz and Clown Core: Googled Your Own Death by Clown Core.
Long-running franchises often run the risk of fatiguing even the most loyal of fans, and after 40 years of toys, TV cartoons and big-screen blockbusters, Transformers has had its share of hits and misses. But, the popular robots in disguise are back on the big screen with a fully-animated twist in Transformers One this month, and the CG refresh is shaping up as a worthy entry in the saga, according to a majority of film critics.
Releasing through Paramount Pictures on September 20, the Paramount Animation/Hasbro adventure tells the untold origin story of the great Autobots-Decepticon rivalry, taking audiences back to ancient Cybertron, where Orion Pax (voiced by Chris Hemsworth) and D-16 (Brian Tyree Henry) face a momentous change to their planet with the bond of brothers — before they transform into the sworn enemies Optimus Prime and Megatron.
The film has rated an 88% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes (from 43 critics’ reviews), with a more lukewarm average on Metacritic at 63 points (from 13 reviews). Positive reviewers praise the introduction of new ideas to the well-trod storyverse (crafted, after meticulous fandom research, by director Josh Cooley and writers Andrew Barrer & Gabriel Ferrari, finessed by MCU alum Eric Pearson for the screenplay), as well as its deeper exploration of its characters and themes of friendship, loyalty and heroism. Detractors, meanwhile, convey exact opposite feelings about the freshness of the plot or the depth of the chrome-faced characters.
Here’s what some of the critics are saying:
“Despite the expert visual effects work done by Industrial Light & Magic, Digital Domain and others on the first five live-action Transformers films, ILM not only exceeds itself here in creating believable animated characters but makes a convincing case that photorealism is not the best aesthetic for bringing them to life on screen … But Cooley, who won an Oscar for directing Toy Story 4, does more than simplify these heroes and villains’ familiar silhouettes. He creates a stylized and cohesive reality where these characters are both physically and metaphorically finding their place in the world … [I]t’s exciting to watch a new installment in this franchise and actually feel something again.”
— Todd Gilchrist, Variety
“Screenwriters Eric Pearson, Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari expertly weave together comedic and dramatic elements in their fast-moving story. Along the way, there’s plenty of fun to be had, with the film thankfully forgoing the current animation trend of pop culture references in favor of throwaway jokes delivered in deadpan fashion … The gorgeous 3D-style computer animation is a wonder to behold throughout, from the character designs (these seem the most expressive Transformers yet) to the elaborate action sequences (the race is a highlight) to the varied settings that make the environments seem fully lived-in. There’s so much visual imagination on display that multiple viewings seem essential to take it all in.”
— Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter
“The writing team does a superb job of weaving established Transformers mythos into the shape of a character-driven narrative where it’s easy to like and care about our underdog protagonists. The voice cast is uniformly committed in their performances, Henry in particular selling D-16’s societal disillusionment with unexpectedly tragic gravitas. The animators at Industrial Light & Magic took on the unenviable challenge of bridging the gap between the quasi-realistic renderings of the live-action films’ Transformers and the emotively cartoonish models of more recent animated offerings, a creative choice that threatens to read as painfully generic in the gray metallic environments of Cybertron. However, they add enough colorful touches and retro-futuristic flourish to allow the action beats to read as excitingly coherent rather than cluttered, even if the attempts at slapstick would have benefited from a more exaggerated style.”
— Leigh Monson, AV Club
“While the film’s plot rails against the glossy-surfaced lie of capitalism (or at least the alien-robot equivalent), its own surface leaves a lot to be desired. At a time when many CG-animated films are boldly experimenting, the odd mix of natural lighting and realistic textures here feels uncanny more often than not. The glossy realism clashes with the intentionally blocky, toyetic character designs.
At least there’s often a solid sense of comic timing, with Cooley — whose last film was Toy Story 4 — delivering some effective humor. And even if its aesthetic decisions hold it back from greatness, this is a valiant effort to make something new out of Transformers lore: a parable about class warfare, made palatable for kids.”
— Kambole Campbell, Empire
“Transformers One, with its cute, easily marketable character designs (comedic relief B-127, voiced by Keegan Michael-Key, has a frame that’s begging to be captured with a plushie) and generally light tone, feels like it’s aimed at an audience even younger than usual for the Autobots. Still, that’s no reason that the movie — whose director Josh Cooley has plenty of experience with franchise extensions after making his debut with Toy Story 4 — couldn’t satisfy as a compelling bit of kiddie space opera action in its own right. And yet, for all of the garishly shiny lens flairs that gleam off our heroes’ metallic heads, Transformers One feels rusted over, offering a predictable, formulaic product as generic as its ‘working title that never got dropped’ name.”
— Wilson Chapman, IndieWire
“After decades of experience with the Transformers in various forms, I have come to the following conclusion: They make better toys than movies. As toys, you get the puzzling-solving pleasures of manipulating a jeep or a fighter jet into a cleverly articulated cyborg. As movies, you sit passively as endless reams of nonsensical mythology involving advanced alien machines wash over you.
[Additional Thoughts:] I’m not sure why a movie that is clearly aimed at younger kids (and rated PG) needs to have the Bumblebee character jokingly refer to himself as ‘Badassitron’ … Children are absolutely going to mimic him, and parents are absolutely going to have to deal with that. ”
There’s never been a better time for independent animation. The democratization of technology, streaming platforms, and screens all over have made creating independent animated movies more of a reality than ever. Yet challenges remain. Here, I’ll discuss some of the insights I learned while creating my independent animated movie The Mind Machine now streaming on Tubi.
Changing Landscapes
Around 2006, while working as a freelance animator and designer in Manhattan at studios such as Curious Pictures (and others) on commercials, television programs and independent films, I witnessed several dramatic developments to the industry. 3D computer animation already had a massive impact and was outpacing traditional hand-drawn animation (Disney’s last such feature was 2011’s Winnie the Pooh).
Previously, computer animation required expensive Silicon Graphics workstations and costly software, which were unaffordable for individuals. That changed with the port of Softimage to Windows NT along with Maya and Adobe and cheap PC workstations made it possible to own your own gear.
What Makes a Movie?
This made me wonder whether it was possible to make an animated movie on my own. I was well aware that it can take an army of people to make a motion picture — from preproduction, to animation, editing and sound — it’s a ton of work.
Yet, I stopped to ponder how, during the Renaissance, the art of painting was executed by workshops of artists, but eventually became about personal expression and the unique vision of a single artist. Might animation follow a similar path, I wondered, with computers reducing the significant burden of labor traditionally required in animation production?
Back then, the notion of making an entire movie independently was relatively new. It was famously attempted years earlier by Richard Williams with The Thief and the Cobbler (1989) but the effort had not been successful. If only he had a computer!
Getting Going
A big motivation of making indie films is doing whatever you want without having to explain yourself or being beholden to anyone. With all of this in mind, I decided I would try to do it (with a little help from friends and family). As Steve Jobs said, “The journey is the reward,” and I looked forward to taking that journey.
Step one was the script. I was inspired by The Adventures of Tintin by Hergé. I liked the premise of the protagonist unexpectedly drawn into a tangled web (Hitchcock was also a master of this) and chose an artificial intelligence theme, which proved fortuitous given what is happening today. Naturally, no generative AI was used in the making of the film since it wasn’t around yet.
Ted Blumberg, a New York actor with an amazing ability to slip into a panoply of characters, voiced many of the leading roles and the female lead was played by the talented Marci Heit. I created the musical score and theme song.
Although I flirted with the idea of making the movie in 3D, the render times themselves would have taken too long. Today, thanks to powerful GPUs, 3D rendering takes a fraction of the time it used to but back then it took ghastly amounts of time. For The Mind Machine, therefore, I developed a unique style of animation based on interpolated 2D splines which allowed for things like naturalistic head turns as well as blending facial expressions smoothly instead of the abrupt changes apparent in other techniques like cut-out animation.
Finding a Home
Making The Mind Machine was a great experience, though it was a lot of work. When finished, I proved that I was able to achieve my goal of animating, editing and scoring a movie on my own. However, it didn’t take long to realize that there was something I overlooked: Where would people watch it? This is an issue those who work with large corporations with huge marketing departments don’t have to worry about.
Some animation is made for children. Others are gag-based and far-fetched with brash humor. Still more is short-form and viral. The Mind Machine didn’t really fit into those genres. Its suspenseful plot contains scientific concepts that aren’t easy for children to grasp, it doesn’t rely on incredulous physical humor, and its length requires thoughtful concentration and immersion.
Cable networks often look for shock humor series or educational fare for children. A theatrical release seemed out of reach and YouTube seemed better for vlogs and cat videos. By the time Netflix rolled around, I didn’t know how to contact them, and frankly wondered how much an unknown independent animated title would interest them anyway.
So I tucked it away on my hard drive. By 2013, technology might have advanced to the point where someone was able to make an independent movie, but connecting it with audiences was not there yet.
An Open Forum
Earlier this year I learned about Tubi, a new streaming platform that is really shaking things up. With over 80 million monthly users, it is outperforming some established streaming services. Unlike Netflix and Disney+, there are no subscription fees. Instead, it is supported by advertising.
Tubi is accessible to independent filmmakers without the stringent gatekeeping that exists elsewhere, effectively making it a place where audiences can decide what’s worth watching for themselves, a bold new concept in streaming.
After spending some considerable time and effort reworking and enhancing the movie’s picture and sound, a few weeks ago I succeeded in getting The Mind Machine on Tubi (through FilmHub). In 2024, for the first time, I finally felt it found a good home on an independent-friendly platform dedicated to movies.
Conclusion
If you can get a corporation to invest in your project, great. However, if you feel trapped in a proverbial wild goose chase, or you don’t quite fit established molds, you may wish to take the independent journey. If you do, I salute you and look forward to seeing what you make.
In the meantime, I invite you to watch The Mind Machine on Tubi, by clicking the link below (or on the Tubi app in your Smart TV):
This year’s Kilkenny Animated Festival will take place in Kilkenny City, Ireland from October 4-6, with special guests including Disney Legends John Musker and Glen Keane; Beryl creators and multi-award winning duo, Joanna Quinn & Les Mills; producer Imogen Sutton, wife of the famed Richard Williams; and Nick Dorra, host of the Nick Dorra Show podcast.
Hosted by five-time Oscar-nominated animation studio Cartoon Saloon — whose 25th anniversary celebrations will form part of this year’s program — BAFTA-winning Lighthouse Studios, and Schweppe Curtis Nunn Events, Kilkenny Animated is a celebration of the creativity and craft of animation, set against the backdrop of medieval Kilkenny in the heart of Ireland’s Ancient East.
Disney Animation director John Musker (The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Hercules, Moana) will host a one-hour talk on Saturday the 5th detailing how he made his latest short film, I’m Hip, which will be screened as part of the event. Meanwhile the iconic Glen Keane, the man who brought to life such characters as The Beast, Pocahontas and Ariel, will be kicking off the day’s program with a 1.5 hour Masterclass in Animation. Both events are sponsored by the Cultural and Creative Industries Skillnet and will take place in Langtons’ Kilkenny, this year’s venue sponsor.
Joining the program of events is director and artist Joanna Quinn, whose films have won numerous international awards, including four BAFTAs, three Emmys and three Academy Award nominations. Quinn will be joined by husband and Emmy-winning producer/writer Les Mills. Their 2022 short film, Affairs of the Art, earned the pair their latest Academy Award nomination. In the Saturday talk aimed at artists, Watch Out!, Quinn and Mills will be discussing the importance of observation drawing on examples from two of their works, Britanniaand Elles.
Producer Imogen Sutton will be joining the program on Sunday as part of her book tour for Adventures in Animation — the eagerly anticipated biography of famed animator (and Sutton’s husband), Richard Williams. The late Williams is widely known for his work on Who Framed Roger Rabbit, while his book, co-edited by Sutton, The Animator’s Survival Kit, is widely regarded as being the essential manual for animation professionals. Their last animated collaboration, the hand drawn short Prologue, was nominated for an Academy Award and will be screened as part of the event.
Nick Dorra’s Sunday panel will see him dissecting the world of AI in animation along with Grace Dinan, Ellen Byrne and Michael Gubbins in the panel talk AI in Practice, sponsored by Animation Ireland. Meanwhile, Let’s Talk Animation, a panel with Musker, Keane, Quinn and Sutton, will take place on Saturday, kindly sponsored by RTÉ Jr.
This year’s festival also features Pathways to Animation, a strand of events specifically aimed at students and recent graduates. Second-level students can partake in taster workshops from education providers across Ireland to try out the techniques taught at third-level. Those in a third-level course and recent graduates can learn what awaits them in the industry and will have the invaluable opportunity to have their portfolios reviewed.
Co-host Cartoon Saloon will be holding special screenings of its films and studio tours for all those interested in taking a peek behind the scenes of one of the industry’s finest studios, while artists from both Cartoon Saloon and Lighthouse Studios will be leading sketching tours for ages 12+ and workshops for kids aged from 3+. Workshops are sponsored by Gorilla Post Production, Corpay and Brophy Gillespie.
Kilkenny Animated is core funded by Fáilte Ireland and Kilkenny County Council and supported by Coimisiún na Meán.
“Fáilte Ireland is pleased to support this year’s Kilkenny Animated Festival,” said Ciara Sugrue, Head of Festivals and Events at Fáilte Ireland. “Festivals and events present an excellent opportunity to showcase the rich heritage and unique culture that Ireland has to offer. They are also important drivers of tourism revenue across the country, particularly in areas that are outside of the traditional tourism hotspots. Developing unique and immersive visitor experiences like Kilkenny Animated Festival plays a key role in motivating both international and domestic visitors to choose a destination, while helping drive the sustainable development of the tourism sector for the county and the wider region.”
The 2024 Humanitas Prizes were presented Thursday, September 12 in Hollywood, toasting the “professional film and television writers whose work explores the human condition in a nuanced and meaningful way.” This year, 56 writers were nominated. At the ceremony at Avalon, winners were each awarded a trophy (as well as a $10,000 cash prize).
This year, two animation projects were honored:
Annapurna/Netflix’s Oscar-nominated Nimona was awarded the Humanitas Prize for Family Feature Film. Based on the webcomic by non-binary & transmasculine creator ND Stevenson, the 2023 movie was lauded by critics and audiences as for its emotional story about two social outcasts (one, a shapeshifting “monster” and the other a disgraced knight) fighting for their place in the world; its powerful themes of acceptance, othering, transformation and found family; and its matter-of-fact treatment of queer romance — as well as its beautiful, inventive animation produced by DNEG. The award was bestowed on writers Robert L. Baird and Lloyd Taylor.
Family Feature Nominees
Elemental (Disney/Pixar) – John Hoberg, Kat Likkel, Brenda Hsueh
Frybread Face and Me – Billy Luther
A Million Miles Away – Bettina Gilois, Hernán Jiménez, Alejandra Márquez Abella
Based on the 2015 comics which introduced a new “Blerd” heroine (created by Brandon Montclare, Amy Reeder and Natacha Bustos) Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (Disney Television Animation/Marvel Studios/Cinema Gypsy Prod.)blasted onto the television scene on Disney Channel last year, earning rave reviews from critics and viewers alike. “Moon Girl” is 13-year-old Lunella Lafayette, a brilliant Black girl whose experiments accidentally bring Devil Dinosaur to present-day New York, kicking off a second life as a superhero protecting the city with her wits and bravery. The 2D-animated series is developed, showrun and executive produced by Steve Lotner, with voice star Laurence Fishburne and Helen Sugland executive producing for Cinema Gypsy.
The Humanitas Prize for Children’s Teleplay was awarded to Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur writer Halima Lucas for the episode “Ride or Die,” which sees Moon Girl make an unlikely team up with Quickwhip, who, she learns, is a girl much like her who came to the big city with much different dreams but was recruited by a supervillain while in desperate straits. The episode resolves with this former foe entering an outreach program that gives her a chance to pursue her former dream, instead of being locked up by S.H.I.E.L.D.
Children’s Teleplay Nominees
Heartstopper “Perfect” – Alice Oseman
Snoopy Presents: Welcome Home, Franklin – Robb Armstrong, Craig Schulz, Bryan Schulz, Cornelius Uliano
What If…? “Hela Found the Ten Rings?” – Matthew Chauncey
Just in time for Friday the 13th, a teaser trailer for the supernatural stop-motion short Brim Broome Boulevard has arrived, offering a glimpse of a fashion-forward world of magic, where haute couture comes hot out of the cauldron. The animated film has been selected for the Newport Beach Film Fest, Out on Film, Portland Film Festival and deadCenter Film Festival.
In need of some retail therapy? Welcome to Brim Broome Boulevard! When a child wanders through a set of mysterious doors, they enter into a journey of self-discovery where fear and fashion intertwine.
The piece marks the directorial debut of multi-hyphenate creative PJ Magerko-Liquorice, who collaborated with fashion house Wiederhoeft on the film’s dazzling miniature wardrobe. The stop-motion team bringing Brim Broome Boulevard to life includes animators who worked on Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Wendell & Wild and The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Magerko-Liquorice wrote and directed the film, with Jordan Millington Liquorice as creative director and costume, fashion & character design by Jackson Wiederhoeft. Executive producers are Elizabeth Murphy and Julie Ragland (Wendell & Wild).
The animation team was headed by animation direct Kirk Kelley, Partner, CCO & Director at HouseSpecial, and lead animator Anthony Scott (Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Wendell & Wild, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride, Coraline, James and the Giant Peach). Thalia Lane (Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Corpse Bride, Frankenweenie, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Kubo and the Two Strings) is the film’s costume fabrication lead.
Fans can’t seem to get enough of the collision of LEGO animation and the Star Wars universe. The latest experiment in this creative combo, LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy, lands on Disney+ today (Friday, Sept. 13). The clever four-part miniseries features the voices of Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Gaten Matarazzo (Sig) Bobby Moynihan (Jedi Bob), Tony Revolori (Dev Geebling), Michael Cusack (Servo) and Ahmed Best (Jar Jar) and is written and exec produced by Benji Samit and Dan Hernandez, directed by Chris Buckley, and produced by Daniel Cavey and Dan Langlois. The story follows a boy names Sig Greebling who finds an ancient Jedi relic that rewrites reality and reverses the order of the Star Wars galaxy.
This week, we had the chance to spend a few minutes with comedy animation veterans Samit and Hernandez (TMNT: Mutant Mayhem, Pokemon: Detective Pikachu) to find out more about their latest fun project:
Animag: Congrats on your clever new animated mini-series. Can you please tell us a bit about how when you two get involved with this special project?
Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit (Photo: Disney+/Zoom)
Benji Samit: Our relationship with LucasFilm and LEGO go back now to that that first Star Wars Holiday Special from four years ago. we came in e helped out for just a day on pitching jokes and punching it up. I think we really showed off our love of both LEGO and Star Wars today. I am a massive LEGO guy going way back, so we weren’t just pitching Star Wars jokes and references but also very LEGO-specific stuff. So, fast forward a little when Lego and LucasFilm decided they wanted to do something really special for the 25th anniversary of the their partnership. They came to us first and we wanted to something that felt really big and different.. So we started talking about this idea of rebuilding the entire galaxy to really recreate what the actual feeling of playing with your pieces like the way the way the average kid plays with them. It’s about dumping the whole bin out and you have pieces everywhere. So, you start mixing up mini figs from different parts of the timeline, so you have different characters are interacting. You’re mashing up different ships, etc. It is that full spirit of Lego play.
Dan Hernandez: We started working on the show about three years ago. We started the initial writing process and getting into the development of the visuals along with our amazing director Chris Buckley and all our team at Atomic Cartoons in Vancouver. They have all been incredible as we continued to refine things over the course of these years, so it has been a long time coming and it’s exciting that people are actually going to see it this week.
Get ready for a whole new Jar Jar Binks character in the new LEGO Star Wars outing!
What would you say was the toughest part of merging these two worlds of Lego and Star Wars together?
Benji: We’re so fortunate that we got all of you know the legacy cast members who came back but also our new cast members our new characters. The all really pop and fit into the Star Wars world. I would say some of the challenging of merging these two worlds together: Making sure that we were staying true to both Star Wars and Lego you know on the Star Wars end of things like it’s tricky when you are when your concept is to mash everything up and change everything. It can be easy to maybe go too far like change it too much where suddenly it doesn’t feel like Star Wars anymore, That was definitely at the front of our minds of like how can we match up the Galaxy and change things but still make it feel like a quintessentially Star Wars story. So, that was one focus.
Then, on the LEGO end of things, we wanted to stay true to the spirit of play and creativity of LEGO. I’m such a big LEGO nerd, so we wanted to make sure that everything felt like a real thing that you could build with the toys. It might have been easy to just figure out well, they look like mini figs, but have the scenery that they’re walking around to be a regular CG set with just a few Lego flourishes. But a lot of the ship builds that you see in the show where things that started with my hands or our director’s hands on physical Lego sets and modifying things with actual Lego bricks and pieces in front of us. We really made sure that builds were real Lego. It was super fun for me to be able to say, “I’m playing with Lego right now because I’m working!”
Can you share some of the details of the initial rebuilding of the galaxy sequence?
Dan: I think the toughest part of this job which really was a dream job in in beyond probably anything that we’ve ever done in our careers but I think the toughest part for me creatively was that sequence where the Galaxy is rebuilt in the first episode. Every now and then you write something where you say to yourself you know if this falls flat, if this doesn’t come through, everything that comes after it is not going to work. Bobby Moynihan gives an absolutely brilliant narration over that sequence. I think that was ultimately the key to unlocking it at least from a writing point of view was finding the right words to say. Then we worked hand in hand with Chris Buckley and the team at Atomic to figure out how it should be visually expressed clearly so that both the biggest fans and the kids who are four or five (like my own children) and maybe a little older will also get it. We just kept iterating we kept iterating and iterating until everything kind of came together. I get goosebumps watching that sequence now because I just know how much effort and passion was poured into it.
What are some of the animated shows or movies who have shaped your creative vision?
Benji: My favorite movie as a kid were Disney Renaissance movies like The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast.
Dan: The movie that I remember loving most as a kid was Disney’s Robin Hood. I loved the character design, the music and the performances, and I think it was an unusual movie in the whole Disney canon. Another one was The Emperor’s New Groove, which I think is one of the funniest movies of all time. You could really see the merging of the studio’s wonderful visual storytelling and great joke-telling. Those were big influences.
Benji: In terms of comedy, I have to mention Looney Tunes. I spent so many hours of my childhood watching those, and they still hold up to this day. And Animanics too, of course.
Dan: Absolutely, those classics really helped shape our comedy references.
LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy (Disney+)
This year has been a strange period for animation. Animated movies are by far, some of the most successful titles at the global box office, but we are seeing how animators have to fight hard to get job security and decent pay as well as protection from the threat of AI. What is your take on it all?
Benji: I know things are tough right now, and I commend everyone for the for the fight that they are undertaking. I think it’s a much needed conversation: Just like the other unions that were part of the strikes last year, TAG (The Animation Guild) are having to take the same measures. We definitely are in solidarity with fellow members to fix some of the real issues that that need to be sorted.
Dan: My take is that at every stage of your career, there are oppositional forces and things that are really difficult and that will never change. I don’t think that there’s ever going to be a time that things will not be challenging. Maybe years ago, a forward-looking person would have predicted that in 2024, AI was going to pose existential threats to artists, musicians, writers and even actors. That would not have been on my radar in 2008, but we faced a different set of problems back then too. So, I think that find over the course of your career, that it’s never easy for everyone and that everyone will be happy.
The advice I would give to combat this is two: Number one, find a solid community to be in lockstep with to be in support of and to support each other. Talk to other creative people, not in an exploitive way or necessarily in a networking kind of way. But make true friends in your community who are interested in the same things that you are interested in. Find those other people that are obsessed with animation and care about it deeply. Cultivate those relationships and start writing, drawing and working together.
The second thing is to realize that ultimately the only currency that we have as writers, artists or musicians is the art that we create. You just have to continue on to make that piece of art that could only come from your heart, brain, mouth and your hands. No one can duplicate what you can duplicate what you can do. So, if you can continue to improve and refine your work and your voice, you will eventually create a currency that someone is going to want and be interested. That has been the case for us. It may take a long time, but you’ll eventually land in a a place where people will notice what you’re about and they’ll want to work with you!
LEGO Star Wars: Rebuilding the Galaxy premieres on Disney+ today, Friday, Sept. 13.
MipJunior has announced that Miraculous Corp’s CEO Andy Yeatman will deliver the keynote at the Cannes event on Oct. 19. The session, which begins at noon, is part of the event’s “Expand Your Playground” program, which will tackle challenges and opportunities for the kids’ entertainment sector worldwide.
Yeatman was appointed as CEO of U.S. and global operations for Miraculous Corp. in June after six years at Moonbug and stints at Netflix’s children’s content division and Disney. He will discuss the growth of the successful Miraculous franchise and discuss the company’s global strategy and plans for new projects, including TV movies, spinoffs and feature films. Miraculous Corp, is a joint venture between Mediawan, the European production and distribution group spearheaded by Pierre-Antoine Capton, and Zag, the animation studio behind Jeremy Zag’s Miraculous franchise.
Created by Thomas Astruc, Nathanel Bronn and Zeremy Zag, Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir first debuted in 2015 on TF1 (France), Disney Channel, Disney+ and Netflix worldwide. It ranks as the number one animated series for non-preschool children. Co-produced by Zag and Mediawan Kids & Family, the French animated property includes five half-hour seasons, three TV movies and last year’s Miraculous, The Movie, which is one of the most-watched French animated films worldwide according to the company. The fourth TV Movie and season 6 will debut worldwide in the near future. Season 7 of the series and a second feature film have also been announced. The property has registered 40 billion views on YouTube and 33 million subscribers across its 17 official channels, as well as over 702 million views on TikTok. Retail sales have exceeded $1.5 billion worldwide, according to Miraculous Corp.
BFI Distribution have released the brand-new trailer for the new 4K restoration of British animation classic Watership Down (1978). The 2D feature adaptation of Richard Adams’ novel about a group of rabbits on a perilous journey to find their own utopia returns to the big screen this fall for first time in nearly 50 years, newly restored in 4K by the BFI and Silver Salt Restoration.
Re-releasing in cinemas across the U.K. & Ireland by BFI Distribution on 25 October, audiences can catch a first glimpse of the new restoration at its World Premiere at the BFI London Film Festival 2024, where it screens in the Family strand on 12 October in NFT1. Following the theatrical release, the film will be released by the BFI on UHD and Blu-ray on 11 November.
Synopsis: A building project threatens the tranquil lives of the wildlife residing in a British woodland area, not least the rabbits who reside in one of the local warrens. Littlest rabbit Fiver, who has a sixth sense, has distressing visions of destruction lying ahead and persuades a small group to join him on what is to be a challenging journey to safety in the halcyon location of Watership Down.
Directed by Martin Rosen, the film remains a classic acclaimed for its juxtaposition of a brutal survival story with beautiful hand-wrought animation, brought to life by performances from respected British actors like John Hurt, Richard Briers, Ralph Richardson, Denholm Elliott, Roy Kinnear and Hannah Gordon.
A success upon release, Watership Down also spawned a hit original song. “Bright Eyes,” written for the film by Mike Batt and recorded by Art Garfunkel, was No. 1 on the U.K. Singles Chart for six weeks and was the biggest seller in Britain of 1979.
VIZ Media, in collaboration with JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles and Japan Society in New York, announces bicoastal events celebrating the voice acting talents from BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War, the latest installment of the acclaimed series by mangaka Tite Kubo.
The events offer fans on both side of the country an opportunity to join renowned voice actors Masakazu Morita (Ichigo Kurosaki) and Noriaki Sugiyama (Uryu Ishida) for an exclusive screening, live voice acting demonstration and autograph session.
This limited-seating event begins with a screening of BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 3 Episodes 1 and 2, followed by an exclusive sneak peek of Episode 3. The screening will be followed by a moderated discussion with the voice actors, exploring the art of Japanese voice acting, their roles in the anime production process, and the cultural influences shaping this unique craft. The event will conclude with a live voice acting session, bringing beloved characters to life before the audience. VIP attendees at Japan Society in New York will also enjoy a special autograph session.
Los Angeles: October 13, 1-3 p.m. at JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles (6801 Hollywood Blvd., Level 5) Tickets
Moderator: Risa Light, host of Risa’s Nihongo and Japanese pop culture influencer.
New York City: October 15, 7-9:30 p.m. at Japan Society (333 East 47th Street) Tickets
Lauryn Alexandria (a.k.a. Toastymarshmellow); singer, actor and nerdy Black content creator based in N.Y.C.
Masakazu Morita made his voice acting debut in 2001 as the protagonist Tidus in the video game Final Fantasy X. His notable roles include Ichigo Kurosaki in BLEACH, Shin in Kingdom, Barnaby Brooks Jr. in Tiger & Bunny, and many others. He also works as an actor, stage performer and narrator, among other activities.
Noriaki Sugiyama gained widespread recognition for voicing Sasuke Uchiha in Naruto. His other notable roles include Shirou Emiya in Fate/stay night and Uryu Ishida in BLEACH, and many others.
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