Midwell – 5
November 17th, 2022 
David Derks 
INTERVIEW: From Screen To Stage With “PAW Patrol Live! A Mighty Adventure”
April 3rd, 2025 Jackson Murphy The stage production facet of PAW Patrol is on a roll! Newest show (the fourth overall), is PAW Patrol Live! A Mighty Adventure, a collaboration between VStar Entertainment Group, Nickelodeon, Viacom and Spin Master. It’s touring North America throughout 2025, making stops this month in Chicago, Philadelphia, Albany, NY and The Big Apple. Performance Director Jeff Dietzel, a performer on previous PAW Patrol shows, joins me to discuss A Mighty Adventure (which picks up right where the second feature film leaves off) and what families can expect from this epic experience. (This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)
Jackson Murphy: What are your earliest memories of learning about “PAW Patrol” and what it was gonna become?
Jeff Dietzel: I was working on a different brand with the company. I used to work with “Sesame Street Live”. It was the final year of “Sesame Street” and they started talking about this new production of “PAW Patrol Live!” And I said, “What the heck is Paw Patrol?” This was around 2016 or 2017. I was 25 years old. I don’t have kids. So I was like, “What is this?” I really had no idea how big it was gonna become. The show’s been on for over 12 years now. So it’s really cool to see how much it has grown and expanded. And now they have all these new different branches of “PAW Patrol” episodes. They’re knights or they’re all truck drivers.
GKIDS Brings “Dan Da Dan” Season 1 To Blu-Ray With Exclusive Extras
April 2nd, 2025 Haylie Baker In collaboration with Shout! Studios, GKIDS has released Blu-ray DVD sets for Dan Da Dan Season 1, the record-breaking anime phenomenon of 2024. Fans can choose between the all-new standard edition or the collector’s edition, both containing two discs and bonus content. The collector’s edition includes exclusive extras for fans to enjoy, such as a 32-page booklet, art cards, and a die-cut sticker.
INTERVIEW: The Strength Of “Iyanu”
April 2nd, 2025 Jackson Murphy Iyanu, based on a graphic novel series, is a new animated series about a special girl who discovers divine powers. It premieres this Saturday April 5th at 9am on Cartoon Network and Sunday April 6th on Max. Joining me for a quick but deep dive into the show are four members of the creative team. (This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)
Brandon Easton (Series Writer): We just wanted to get to the emotional reality of it all. And in basic storytelling, within the first few minutes of any movie, TV show, even a song, you want to get to an emotional reality. And I believe that Iyanu’s emotional reality is the question, “Who am I?” [That] is the infrastructure or thematic scaffold for the entire show and… everybody is trying to figure out who they are in this grand opera of storytelling in ancient Nigeria. Trying to figure out what was the emotional truth and built from there.
40 Years of Ghibli Celebrated In The Art of Anime: Vol. VI Signature Auction
March 31st, 2025 Haylie Baker Closing out March 26th, 2025, at $1.49 million, more than 3,600 bidders vied over the rousing three day event held in Dallas, Texas. From Akira to Dragon Ball Z, Berserk, and Cowboy Bebop, over 1,200 lots were overwhelmingly filled with Japanese animation art, the most ever presented in a Western auction. This was the first in the Heritage series to be centered on anime, with the second to come later this year.
INTERVIEW: The Spirit Of “The King Of Kings”
March 31st, 2025 Jackson Murphy In the new animated feature The King of Kings, iconic author Charles Dickens (voiced by Kenneth Branagh) tells the story of Christ to his young son Walter in the most immersive ways. Angel Studios is releasing the film (with a cast that also includes Oscar Isaac, Uma Thurman and Academy Award winners Ben Kingsley and Forest Whitaker) in theaters on April 11th. Director Seong-ho Jang and cinematographer Woo-hyung Kim join me for this Animation Scoop Q&A. (This interview was conducted with a translator over Zoom and was edited for length and clarity.)
Jackson Murphy: Congratulations on this. I really think it’s excellent. Why did you want to choose to give us the greatest story ever told through a very unique perspective through Charles Dickens?
Seong-ho Jang: Jesus’ story is very well known to obviously Christians and also to the non-Christians. So I was thinking of a way I can deliver… convey the message and talk about his story. What could be the best way to describe it? Charles Dickens is one of the most famous figures in literature. So it would be very interesting to deliver this message through his perspective.
ANIME TRAILERS: GKIDS Announces 4K Theatrical Releases For Mamoru Hosoda Classics
March 28th, 2025 Haylie Baker On March 25, 2025, GKIDS announced the 4K restoration for three of acclaimed director Mamoru Hosoda’s greatest early films, bringing another round of screenings to their North American audiences. Starting the series of titles off is the love letter to single parents that is Wolf Children, starting May 11th and ending May 13th. Following the nature-focused film comes Summer Wars, a mix of real, digital, and fantastical elements for fan viewing July 27th to July 29th. The series concludes with The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, a beloved time-travel romance, screening from September 28th to September 30th.
ANIME TRAILER: “My Hero Academia” Season 8 Confirmed At AnimeJapan 2025
March 24th, 2025 Haylie Baker This past weekend at AnimeJapan 2025, Tokyo, Toho Co., Ltd. treated fans to a brand new trailer and key art along with the official confirmation of the highly anticipated My Hero Academia FINAL SEASON. The series’ eighth season will debut on Crunchyroll this October, streaming globally except in Asia. Episodes will air weekly following the same schedule as Japan.
INTERVIEW: Ready… Set… “RoboGobo”
March 24th, 2025 Jackson Murphy Disney Junior animated series RoboGobo — about the rescue pets who rescue pets — makes its Disney+ debut on Tuesday April 1st. Creator and EP Chris Gilligan shares what makes this show so special, along with stories about working on two timeless stop-motion features. (This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity. Images Courtesy: Disney)
Jackson Murphy: When you [came up with the core concept], you must have thought, “Wow, this is a perfect hook.”
Chris Gilligan: It was lightning striking. I was thinking of a hero show. I was thinking of something to do with rescue and then, yeah, that just kind of popped and it was like, “Wow, okay, yeah, this could be something.”
REVIEW: “The Day the Earth Blew Up”
March 21st, 2025 Martin Goodman Set free at last from playing ridiculous basketball games that did nothing to showcase them; three venerable Looney Tunes characters showed a new generation of animation fans what the good old days were like.
Many fans recognize Porky Pig and Daffy Duck in their 1950s-60s Chuck Jones incarnations; Porky is a straight man to other characters, and Daffy is an incompetent egomaniac. You won’t find them if you are looking for them in the new feature film The Day the Earth Blew Up (referred to simply as Earth after this). In their earliest days, the characters were in the hands of the genuinely loony genius Bob Clampett, and it is his versions of the pig and duck who have made a glorious return to the big screen.
ANIME TRAILER: Netflix Drops First Teaser For “Record of Ragnarok” Season 3
March 18th, 2025 Haylie Baker The eagerly awaited third season of Record of Ragnarok has been announced, accompanied by teaser art, a teaser trailer, the newly designed Record of Ragnarok III logo, and exclusive illustrations by the manga creators to celebrate the anime’s continuation! Since its serialization in November 2017 in Monthly Comic Zenon, the manga achieved critical acclaim, ranking 5th on the Kono Manga ga Sugoi! 2019 ranking of the top 20 manga for male readers and the 2nd Manga News Prize. Find details below:
INTERVIEW: Building “BE@RBRICK”
March 17th, 2025 Jackson Murphy A new DreamWorks animated series BE@RBRICK, based on Medicom Toy’s figures, premieres this Friday March 21st on AppleTV+. Showrunner, EP and writer Meghan McCarthy joins me to talk about the show’s vision, themes, music and spirit. (This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)
Jackson Murphy: In addition to this, you have worked on “My Little Pony” animated shows. So how do you feel about having this responsibility to put out great content for families based on these beloved toy brands?
Meghan McCarthy: That’s a great question. I take it very seriously. When I am given these things that I know people really care about, I care about them too. And I want to really bring my best work to them and surround myself with people who feel the same. And I think I’ve been really fortunate that on “BE@RBRICK”, I was able to do that. And hopefully everybody feels that way when they see the show.
Crunchyroll Releases Anime Film “Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon” April 13, 14, And 16
March 15th, 2025 Haylie Baker On March 14, 2025, the details for the upcoming release of Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon were announced by Crunchyroll. Teaming up with Sony Pictures Entertainment, the film will debut in theaters April 13, 14, and 16, 2025, in the United States and Canada. Japanese with English subtitles and its English dub will be available upon release. A stylized action-packed recap of season 1, Kaiju No. 8: Mission Recon also includes a brand new original episode, “Hoshina’s Day Off,” ending with a new theme song “Invincible” by One Republic.
ANIME TRAILER: Toho Animation Releases “My Hero Academia: Vigilantes” Teasers
March 14th, 2025 Haylie Baker Earlier this week, Toho Co., Ltd revealed a brand new trailer, key art, and opening theme song for My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, a spin-off series set prior to the timeline of the original My Hero Academia anime, both adapted from the manga made by Kohei Horikoshi. The new series will debut only on Crunchyroll starting April 7th, available to stream worldwide except in Asia. New episodes will release on a weekly basis in sync with Japan’s schedule.
“My Hero Academia has captivated fans worldwide for nearly a decade, and now My Hero Academia: Vigilantes offers an exciting new perspective on the world this franchise loves. We’re thrilled to continue our partnership with TOHO and bring this highly anticipated spinoff to audiences around the globe,” Crunchyroll Chief Content Officer Asa Suehira commented.
TRAILER: Disney’s Live Action/CG “Lilo & Stitch”
March 12th, 2025 Jerry Beck Here’s our first look at Lilo & Stitch, the eagerly anticipated live-action reimagining of Disney’s 2002 animated classic, which will open exclusively in theaters May 23, 2025. A wildly funny and touching story of a lonely Hawaiian girl and the fugitive alien who helps to mend her broken family. Take a peek:
INTERVIEW: Eric Bauza and Candi Milo on Blowing Up the Earth … Sort of
March 12th, 2025 W.R. Miller One of the remarkable aspects about the new Warner Bros. animated feature, The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie, is that it has no marquee-value celebrities. No sports stars. No flavor-of-the-month comedians. Just two veteran voiceover actors performing the leads: Eric Bauza and Candi Milo. And both have an impressive array of credits.
Bauza, whom I interviewed five years ago in promoting Looney Tunes Cartoons , began his career as an animation artist but showed he was facile as a vocal performer. His behind-the-mic adventures launched with Dream Street (1999), The Ripping Friends (2001), and as the lead in El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera (2007). Years later, he has accrued such major roles as Puss in Boots, Dr. Benton Quest, Luke Skywalker, and a plethora of Looney Tunes characters including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety Pie, Elmer Fudd, Marvin the Martian, and Foghorn Leghorn. With Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021) he added Porky Pig to his resume. He voices both Daffy and Porky for The Day the Earth Blew Up.
