Animation Scoop

TRAILER: Netflix Announces Fall Lineup

Netflix has announced an exciting Fall Lineup, releasing exclusive stills from Spellbound, dates for Hot Wheels Let’s Race: Season 2, Jurassic World: Chaos Theory: Season 2, Mighty MonsterWheelies, and more. As students prepare to head back to school, the streaming platform is offering a variety of family-centered entertainment that ranges from series’ to feature-length films. […]

Ketchup Entertainment Acquires “THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP: A LOONEY TUNES MOVIE”

Ketchup Entertainment has officially acquired the North American rights to The Day The Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie from Warner Bros. Animation. GFM Animation is overseeing the process of worldwide distribution sales of this enthusiastically well-regarded film that premiered this year at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France. The CEO of […]

TRAILER: DreamWorks’ “The Wild Robot”

DreamWorks Animation has released a new trailer for the studio’s upcoming feature, The Wild Robot. Based on Peter Brown’s #1 New York Times bestseller, The Wild Robot is an epic story of “a bond like no other”.

INTERVIEW: Cartoon Curator Bill from MeTV’s “Toon In With ME”

Since January 4th, the cable network (and over-the-air broadcast sub-channel) MeTV has been running a weekday hour of classic cartoons from the MGM, Warner Bros. and Paramount Popeye and Betty Boop libraries. Telecast at 7am and formatted as a vintage kids show, hosted by “cartoon curator” Bill Leff and his puppet companion “Toony, the Tuna”, […]

HBO Max and Cartoon Network Composing “Bye Bye Bunny: A Looney Tunes Musical”

June 15th, 2022

Jerry Beck

Bugs, Daffy, and the rest of the Looney Tunes gang will give their regards to Broadway in Bye Bye Bunny: A Looney Tunes Musical coming soon to HBO Max and Cartoon Network. From Warner Bros. Animation, the original animated family movie event will feature original dynamic song and dance numbers and new orchestrations from the Warner Bros. library of legendary movie musicals. The film is being concocted by an all-star creative team, with screenplay and lyrics by Emmy-award winner Ariel Dumas (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert) and music and orchestration by Pulitzer Prize, Tony, and Grammy award-winner Tom Kitt (Next to Normal). Veteran animator Brandon Jeffords serves as director and supervising producer (Vivo, Smurfs: The Lost Village, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs). Sam Register serves as executive producer.

TRAILER: “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish”

June 15th, 2022

Jerry Beck

This fall, everyone’s favorite leche-loving, swashbuckling, fear-defying feline returns. For the first time in more than a decade, DreamWorks Animation presents a new adventure in the Shrek universe as daring outlaw Puss in Boots discovers that his passion for peril and disregard for safety have taken their toll. Puss has burned through eight of his nine lives, though he lost count along the way. Getting those lives back will send Puss in Boots on his grandest quest yet.

Genndy Tartakovsky Signs Exclusive Deal With Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network Studios

June 15th, 2022

Jerry Beck

Cartoon Network Studios (CNS) and Warner Bros. Animation (WBA) has set an exclusive multiyear cross-studio overall deal with Emmy Award-winning creator, producer, and director Genndy Tartakovsky. Under his deal, Tartakovsky will develop, create, and produce original animated programming at both CNS and WBA intended for a variety of audiences and for all television platforms, including HBO Max, external streaming services, cable and broadcast networks. The cross-studio overall deal, developed by CNS and WBA, provides creators with maximum creative flexibility to develop original material and access to the extensive character and franchise libraries at each studio.

Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Planning Trilogy of “Avatar: The Last Airbender” Features

June 15th, 2022

Jerry Beck

Nickelodeon and Paramount Animation announced during a presentation at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival that Lauren Montgomery (“Avatar: The Last Airbender,” “Voltron: Legendary Defender”) is attached to direct an untitled, animated Avatar film currently in development under the Avatar Studios banner. This will be the first of three planned Avatar films. Creators Bryan Konietzko, Michael DiMartino & producer Eric Coleman will produce.

TRAILER: “Bugs Bunny Builders” Breaks Ground July 25

June 14th, 2022

Jerry Beck

Grab those hard hats and fasten that tool belt, a Looney construction crew is heading to town! Bugs Bunny Builders, the first Looney Tunes preschool show in over 20 years, premieres Monday, July 25 at 8:00 a.m. ET/PT on Cartoonito on Cartoon Network and Tuesday, July 26 on Cartoonito on HBO Max. The series will also premiere globally beginning in LATAM on July 26.

Produced by Warner Bros. Animation, the new preschool series is a first of its kind in Looney Tunes history, combining the wacky humor of the iconic characters with a modern Humancentric Learning curriculum. The educational framework will promote children’s fascination with building and design, helping preschoolers cultivate essential skills—including self-expression, problem-solving, collaboration, communication, scientific and mathematical thinking—and emphasizing that if you can imagine it, you can build it!

INTERVIEW: “Luck” Is On Director Peggy Holmes’ Side

June 14th, 2022

Jackson Murphy

Emmy-winning choreographer Peggy Holmes has transitioned to animation in recent years, directing one Little Mermaid and two Tinker Bell films for Disney. Her latest feature is Luck, from Skydance Animation, premiering August 5th on AppleTV+. 18 minutes of select scenes (which I’ve screened) are now being showcased at the 2022 Annecy International Animation Film Festival. Ahead of her trip to France, this Irishman spoke with Holmes all about Luck. (This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)

Jackson Murphy: You’re about to go off to France for Annecy. Wow! How does that feel?

Peggy Holmes: Oh my gosh! It feels amazing. I’ve never been. Super excited. Annecy is the big start of sharing Luck with the world. We couldn’t be more excited.

Nickelodeon Launches it’s “Intergalactic Shorts Program” 2.0

June 13th, 2022

Jerry Beck

Nickelodeon’s Intergalactic Shorts Program 2.0 is opening its search for new and diverse creators from across the globe, focusing on new voices and nurturing their vision for original comedy-driven content with an eye toward representation. Today’s announcement was made by Ramsey Naito, President, Nickelodeon Animation and Paramount Animation.

INTERVIEW: Step Right Up For “Dead End: Paranormal Park”

June 13th, 2022

Jackson Murphy

Hamish Steele is the creator of Dead End: Paranormal Park, a new animated comedy horror series premiering this Thursday June 16th on Netflix. The show is based on his popular DeadEndia graphic novels, about two teens who work at a terrifyingly exciting amusement park. The charming and talented Steele shares what makes Dead End a scary good time. (This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)

Jackson Murphy: The series is based on your DeadEndia graphic novels, with these specific characters. Were there amusement park stories from your childhood that kind of influenced what you did with the graphic novels and this show?

Hamish Steele: Yeah. I only said this three or four days into our writers room… every birthday I went to this theme park called Chessington World of Adventures. My birthday is in mid-October, so it was always made up to be Halloween-y and spooky. So to me, theme parks and horror have always been synonymous. And my mom used to always decorate the house like full-blown Halloween. She’d changed all the bulbs in the house to be orange and purple and go all out, which is very unusual in the UK in the ’90s. Halloween was very much an American thing for a while, but she loved it.

2022 Tribeca Animated Shorts Make A Statement

June 12th, 2022

Jackson Murphy

The 2022 Tribeca Film Festival is in full swing, with in-person and at home premieres now through June 19th. This year’s “Animated Shorts Curated by Whoopi G” presentation features six shorts (selected by the Oscar-winning Goldberg) with grit, guts and major impact.

Poetic Tehura is set in Tahiti. A female dancer is performing for a mostly male audience. When one man seeks to form a connection with her, she declines and storms away. Tehura thinks back to when she danced as a child and what her culture means to her. Director Wei Li provides this statement to Animation Scoop:

Netflix Announces a Huge Slate of International Animated Series and Features

June 9th, 2022

Jerry Beck

Ahead of the 61st annual Annecy International Animation Film Festival next week, Netflix has announced a slate of new animated films and series from creators across Europe. Each of these titles has a distinct tone and language, but are universal in their storytelling and themes.

The new films include Ember, Sergio Pablos’ follow-up to the BAFTA award-winning and Academy Award nominated Klaus; animated musical Scrooge: A Christmas Carol featuring songs by acclaimed Academy Award winner Leslie Bricusse; That Christmas based on the children’s books by BAFTA winner Richard Curtis; as well as an untitled animated film by Wallace & Gromit alumni and Academy Award winner, Steve Box. On the series side, Netflix will welcome three brand new original productions including; Bad Dinosaurs from Snafu Pictures and Able & Baker, Mermaid Magic from Rainbow, The Seven Bears from Folivari, as well as Wereworld from Lime Pictures, which is based on the series of fantasy novels by Curtis Jobling .

These projects, join a growing list of animated titles from Europe including My Father’s Dragon from Cartoon Saloon and Academy Award nominated Director Nora Twomey and will debut on Netflix this autumn, as well as Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget and an untitled Wallace & Gromit project from the beloved four-time Academy Award winning Bristol-based animation studio Aardman out of the UK, as well as a new adult animated series by Zerocalcare from Italy and Captain Fall from Norwegian showrunners Jon Iver Helgaker and Jonas Torgerson.

INTERVIEW: The Cuisine Of “Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko”

June 8th, 2022

Jackson Murphy

Annie Awards nominee Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko comes from director Ayumu Watabe (Children of the Sea). It’s fun and moving, with a strong mother-daughter relationship at its core. Lady Nikuko screened in theaters nationwide through Fathom Events last week and is still playing in select cinemas around the country. It’s also now on VOD and will be available on Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital July 19th. In this Animation Scoop Q&A, Watanabe discusses how family, food and a little bit of fantasy make-up the perfect recipe for a great movie. (This interview was done as an Email Q&A, translated and edited for length and clarity.)

Jackson Murphy: Kikuko is interested in what her mom was like before she was born — as well as her past lives. Are you interested in the idea of “past lives”, and how did you want to explore time in this film?

Ayumu Watanabe: There is a buddhist way of thinking “what goes around comes around”. You’ll be punished or rewarded depending on the good and the evil of your everyday behaviors. When I think about my upbringing and my current situation, I use that philosophy as a starting point or a guideline. Kikuko also uses that philosophy so that she can accept her unfortunate upbringing. And to think about her mother, Nikuko, and her devastating upbringing means a past even more hard to fathom. However, this is an optimistic way of thinking too; something good will happen after the bad. This is how they wish for happiness in their current life. There is frustration that happy-go-lucky Nikuko ends up being unhappy in her life. This also shows how Kikuko gives so much attention to her mother on a daily basis. I think using the past was an effective way to deeply depict the time that is shared between a parent and child.

INTERVIEW: Chris Williams On Voyage Making “The Sea Beast”

June 7th, 2022

Jackson Murphy

Chris Williams won an Academy Award for directing Disney’s 2014 animated feature Big Hero 6. After about a quarter century at the studio, he left for Netflix. Williams’ epic new movie The Sea Beast, about the quest of a monster hunter crew and a special little girl, debuts on Netflix July 8th. I’ve screened the first 40 minutes so far. Williams previews what families and action/adventure film fans can expect. (This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)

Jackson Murphy: We’re doing this [interview] about a month before the film is on Netflix. What’s left to do?

Chris Williams: (laughs) Well the truth is: it’s done. So now we’re just waiting to put it out into the world and hopefully people check it out and enjoy it.

TEASER: Disney’s “Strange World”

June 6th, 2022

Jerry Beck

Check out the teaser trailer and poster from Walt Disney Animation Studios’ all-new feature film Strange World. Jake Gyllenhaal lends his voice to Searcher Clade, the son of a steadfast explorer. The original action-adventure journeys deep into an uncharted and treacherous land where fantastical creatures await the legendary Clades, a family of explorers whose differences threaten to topple their latest—and by far— most crucial mission. Helmed by Don Hall (“Big Hero 6,” “Raya and the Last Dragon”) and co-director/writer Qui Nguyen (co-writer “Raya and the Last Dragon”), and produced by Roy Conli, Strange World releases November 23rd, 2022. Take a peek:

“Alien”-nated: The 20th Anniversary of “Lilo & Stitch”

June 3rd, 2022

Michael Lyons

Before Lilo & Stitch debuted in theatres, no one knew what to expect. Disney launched an extremely creative marketing campaign with teaser trailers that featured Stitch appearing in scenes from Disney’s animated features Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King. In the trailers, the blue creature that was a combination of thing-from-another-world strangeness and compellingly cuddly, would interrupt iconic scenes from these features, wreaking havoc. These were coupled with a poster featuring Stitch front and center, with famous Disney characters from Pinocchio to the Genie around him, but all looked terrified. The tagline read: “There’s one in every family.”

“NADIA: The Secret of Blue Water The Complete Series” Available on 4K August 2

June 2nd, 2022

Jerry Beck

Available August 2nd, 2022 from GKIDS with distribution by Shout! Factory, the release boasts an all-new 4K restoration, and includes all 39 episodes of the series in both the original Japanese and an English dub, as well as a number of bonus features including a new booklet featuring character and mechanical designs from the series, a sneak-preview featurette, a TV spot, and more! Fans can preorder their copies now by visiting ShoutFactory.com or GKIDS.com.