June 8th, 2024 
Jackson Murphy Seven shorts comprise the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival “Animated Shorts Curated by Whoopi G” presentation. This excellent, diverse group, selected by Academy Award winner Whoopi Goldberg, screened for the first time in-person earlier today and will play again on June 13th and 15th. The filmmakers of all seven shorts have shared Exclusive Statements with Animation Scoop about what their films — and being a part of Tribeca — mean to them. For info on tickets, visit TribecaFilm.com.
“Budo”
June 7th, 2024 W.R. Miller “When is Season Six showing?”
That’s what The Dragon Prince fans want to know. They clamor for it in podcasts, social media and conventions. And no wonder: Season Five ended with many compelling questions. What’s to be done about the sinister Startouch Elf, Aaravos? Will he possess Prince Callum again? Will Callum sacrifice himself to save his friends? Has Lord Viren truly assumed room temperature? Will Claudia get her revenge? What will Stella the Cuddlemonkey do with the items she’s taking? Will Prince Karim’s insurrection succeed against Queen Janai? And if the sun dragon Sol Regem’s eyesight is restored, what havoc will he wreak upon the humans of Xadia?
Stella absconds with a scroll. Could it be she’s literate?
June 6th, 2024 Jackson Murphy Animated action dramedy feature Ultraman: Rising is going to be one of the biggest at-home hits of the summer. You can watch it starting next Friday June 14th on Netflix. Emmy-winning director Shannon Tindle (of Lost Ollie and Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends) and Emmy & Annie-nominated co-director John Aoshima (of DuckTales and Gravity Falls) suit up to tell me about their influences for this epic film. (This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)
Jackson Murphy: Netflix was kind enough to provide members of the press with a letter that you wrote about your personal connection to the Ultraman character. And as I watched the first few minutes of “Ultraman: Rising”, I felt that personal connection and that theme of family right away. You do a really good job.
Shannon Tindle: Thank you. Thanks so much. Appreciate that.
June 5th, 2024 Jerry Beck ASIFA-Hollywood will be co-sponsoring the ‘ASIFA Global Meet and Greet’ mixer on Wednesday, June 12 at 7:30 p.m. CST at Espace Détente in MIFA during the weeklong annual Annecy International Animation Film Festival, June 9-15. This mixer is co-sponsored with ASIFA Hellas and ASIFA China.
Attending this year’s festival on behalf of ASIFA-Hollywood are Interim Executive Director, Aubry Mintz and Board Vice President, Frank Gladstone. “We are so thrilled to be co-sponsoring this event at Annecy. It is a perfect way to connect with other ASIFA international chapters and learn about what each other are doing,” says Mintz. “It will also be a great space to share the initiatives we have been working on at ASIFA-Hollywood, not just the Annie Awards but all our excellent programs i.e., AEF scholarships/grants, film preservation, screenings and more. It is an exciting time to be part of the global animation community.”
June 5th, 2024 Jackson Murphy I’m giving Animation Scoop one final look “inside” Pixar before their latest movie is “out” in theaters next week. Here are my conversations with four more makers of Inside Out 2. (These interviews were combined and edited for length and clarity.)
Jackson Murphy: What do you want to say to the teens of 2015 and the teens of today?
Rebecca McVeigh (Story Artist): The teens who saw the first one who are a little bit older now: I think you’re gonna recognize what Riley’s going through. And also for the teens of today. I think it’s very relatable that way.
June 4th, 2024 Jackson Murphy Chris and Shane Houghton celebrate six years of Big City Greens success for The Mouse House with a new feature-length film. Big City Greens the Movie: Spacecation premieres this Thursday June 6th at 8pm on Disney Channel and is available on Disney+ starting this Friday June 7th. In this new Animation Scoop Q&A, the Houghtons discuss how they landed on this story and the giant leap from 11 minutes to 80. (This interview was edited for length and clarity.)
Jackson Murphy: Chris, we’re approaching 55 years since the Moon Landing. Have you always been fascinated with space?
Chris Houghton: Yes, certainly. There’s been many nights when I grew up in the country and I’d have a campfire and I’m looking up there at the great unknown and the questions that come to my mind are vast and unknowing. Yeah, this is very exciting to take the Greens to space. And we had many, many exciting experiences along the way, but one of which was a cameo by the great, former astronaut Scott Kelly. There’s just something fascinating about space. It is the great unknown, and to be able to speak and work with someone who spent a year in space was pretty remarkable.
June 3rd, 2024 Jerry Beck For nearly 100 years, she’s remained a cultural icon. Soon, Comic-Con Museum visitors will be able to immerse themselves in the worldwide debut of Becoming Betty Boop, a Comic-Con Museum exclusive and original exhibit opening on Thursday, June 27.
In collaboration with Fleischer Studios, Comic-Con Museum curated this one-of-a-kind multimedia exhibit to take fans on a nostalgic journey, starting with Betty’s beginnings to her rise to international popularity—and what makes her a fan favorite today. Visitors will also have the opportunity to purchase an exclusive poster created by comic artist and Fleischer Studios Creative Director, Frank Caruso, for this exhibit, along with a line of new and Comic-Con Museum-exclusive merchandise.
June 3rd, 2024 Jackson Murphy Pablo Berger won an Annie Award and was nominated for an Oscar this past awards season for his incredible feature Robot Dreams. NEON just kicked-off the film’s official North American theatrical release in New York City, and it will continue to expand to more cities across the nation throughout the summer, including Los Angeles starting this Friday June 7th. In this Animation Scoop Q&A, Berger shares what Robot Dreams has meant to him and audiences around the world. (This interview was edited for length and clarity.)
Jackson Murphy: I saw “Robot Dreams” six months ago. I love it. Many have loved it who have already seen it, including the Annie Awards voters. How did it feel being up on stage, winning Best Independent Animated Feature?
Pablo Berger: It was amazing. The Annies is the Oscars of animation. Everybody is there. It was fantastic. The Annies is like a big party too. It’s a big celebration of the love of animation and a great experience. And we had many [other] nominations. My team was there. I was very excited to be there.
May 30th, 2024 Lauren Ashton Today, reboots and spin-offs are everywhere. Studios seem to be interested in using existing IP when producing content, no matter how long it’s been since the original came out. Among all the reboots and spinoffs, some stories are better suited for a comeback than others. In this discussion, Ashleigh Crystal Hairston and I explore how the new Fairly Odd Parents captures the fun of the original while adding fresh, heartfelt elements that resonate with today’s kids. We also discussed the effort, creativity, and collaboration that went into the making of this project.
Lauren Ashton:
I grew up watching the original Fairly Odd Parents. Maybe you did, too!
Ashleigh Crystal Hairston:
I was very familiar with the show. I didn’t necessarily grow up with it. More of Looney Tunes, Ren and Stimpy, kind of, and Rugrats. You know, that kid!
May 29th, 2024 Jerry Beck Weigel Broadcasting Co. today unveiled the programming schedule (below) for its highly anticipated new network, MeTV Toons which will launch Tuesday, June 25, as the only TV network destination dedicated exclusively to classic animation. This first launch schedule showcases many of the greatest names and most famous characters and series in all of classic animation. Future schedules will feature even more classic animation favorites.
May 22nd, 2024 Jackson Murphy Academy Award winner Chris Lawrence (Gravity) is the Visual Effects Supervisor of America’s No. 1 movie, IF. Director John Krasinski’s new family film, starring Ryan Reynolds, is about the power of imagination and memories. Lawrence describes the work that went into creating the vibrant, CG characters and bringing Krasinski’s passion project to the screen. (This Animation Scoop Interview was conducted as an Email Q&A and was edited for length and clarity. Images Courtesy: Paramount Pictures.)
Jackson Murphy: What were your initial reactions to John Krasinski’s vision of these imaginary characters?
Chris Lawrence: I loved it! He came to me with gigabytes of concept art from some of the best concept artists in the world. It was so refreshing to be working on original ideas, and I think we loved a lot of the same films as kids and teenagers, so it was easy to draw on common experiences and influences. We talked about this a lot. Realism and tangibility were really important to him, so we did everything we could through the production process to aid the realism and help them make all the interactions as natural as possible.
May 21st, 2024 Jackson Murphy New DreamWorks and Universal animated series Jurassic World: Chaos Theory (premiering this Friday May 24th on Netflix) is the next chapter in a franchise that has delighted and terrified generations. Executive Producers and showrunners Scott Kreamer and Aaron Hammersley detail their latest Jurassic journey. (This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)
Jackson Murphy: Scott, you did 50 episodes of “Camp Cretaceous”, which aired from 2020 to 2022. What goes into deciding, “Alright, let’s continue the “Jurassic” saga in animated form?”
Scott Kreamer: I’ll be honest, after “Camp Cretaceous”, which was so wonderful, I think Aaron and I were like, “Okay, well, we did it. We’ll move on.” It’s challenging, obviously. And then I had an idea to do more. That’s basically how it started. We told a great story. We felt we had told a story for our characters. And I had an idea about where things could go after that. I bamboozled Aaron into getting on board. It started with this little kernel of my idea and now it’s become all of our ideas.
May 20th, 2024 Jackson Murphy One of the most anticipated movies of 2024 for families and lasagna lovers is Sony’s CG feature The Garfield Movie. Following a successful start overseas, it opens in North America this Friday May 24th. In this Animation Scoop Q&A, director Mark Dindal (of Chicken Little and Cats Don’t Dance) and producer John Cohen (of The Angry Birds Movie) take me through the methodology behind the story, casting, marketing and more. (These interviews were conducted separately and were edited for length and clarity.)
Jackson Murphy: We’re doing this interview on a Wednesday. So I have to ask you if you hate Mondays.
Mark Dindal: (laughs) I think Monday is not my favorite day of the week as everyone. For sure. I especially remember as a kid on Sunday night thinking, “Ugh, it’s Monday. The weekend went too fast.”
May 15th, 2024 Jackson Murphy Starting this Friday May 17th on Netflix, the whole family can enjoy the new animated music comedy feature Thelma the Unicorn, based on the books by The Bad Guys author Aaron Blabey. Here’s my Animation Scoop Q&A with directors Jared Hess and Lynn Wang. (This interview was edited for length and clarity.)
Jackson Murphy: Congratulations on this. And Jared, congratulations on “Ninety-Five Senses”, the excellent, Oscar nominated short from this year. When it comes to that and this, and you worked on the “Napoleon Dynamite” animated TV series as well, how has animation inspired you throughout your life?
Jared Hess: It’s been a long time coming. I’ve always loved animation. To finally get the chance to do it as a feature has just been a dream come true. I love everything about it. As everyone knows, it’s limitless what you can do in animation and bringing to life characters through design and animation… there’s nothing like it. It’s been an amazing experience.
May 14th, 2024 Lauren Ashton Viva Pictures is pleased to share its recent acquisition of “Scarygirl”, a feature-length animated film inspired by the popular graphic novels and merchandise. Boasting a unique style and captivating storytelling, the film is a “coming-of-age” project that aims to appeal to family audiences.
A collaborative co-production between Like A Photon Creative and Highly Spirited, the feature is executive produced by Kung Fu Panda director John Stevenson.
