In a world filled with the oddball gods and monsters of Japanese mythology, one of the creature’s free-spirited daughters, Onari, is determined to follow in the footsteps of the mighty heroes of lore, but her unique powers are yet to be revealed. Does she have what it takes to fight to protect her peaceful village from the encroaching threat of the gods’ mysterious enemies, the “Oni”? From creator and showrunner Dice Tsutsumi and Tonko House comes ONI: Thunder God’s Tale this summer on Netflix. Here’s the first look:
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”, […]
INTERVIEW: Put On A Happy Face For “Face’s Music Party”
June 2nd, 2022 
Jackson Murphy The “Face” of Nickelodeon from 1994 to 2004 is back! Face’s Music Party, premiering this Monday June 6th at 11am, stars a new version of the iconic mascot in a fun series for kids that celebrates dancing and cool tunes. Executive Producer David Kleiler and the new voice of Face, Cedric Williams, discuss the joys of the show. (These interviews are combined into this Animation Scoop piece and were edited for length and clarity.)
I begin by showing David and Cedric a yellow Subway Nick Jr. promotional Face bag from 1999.
David Kleiler: That’s amazing. That’s amazing to see that. There’s so much to talk about when you talk about Face. And I am so much older than anybody that grew up with Face. But in developing the show, I just recognized immediately how beloved Face is, and was, and how this was a great way in to doing a music show for Nickelodeon for this audience.
Annie Awards – Live and In-Person – Set For February 25th 2023
June 1st, 2022 Jerry Beck The Board of Directors for ASIFA-Hollywood announced today that its 50th Annual Annie Awards recognizing the year’s best in the field of animation will return to a live ceremony on Saturday, February 25th, 2023 at UCLA’s Royce Hall, Los Angeles, CA. A list of ceremony Deadlines, Rules & Categories, and the ‘Call for Entries’ will be announced and available on the Annies website on Monday, September 12th, 2022.
INTERVIEW: “Brave” Co-Director Steve Purcell Celebrates 10th Anniversary
June 1st, 2022 Jackson Murphy Pixar’s Brave won the Academy Award, BAFTA and Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature. It was released 10 years ago this month to critical acclaim and more than half a billion dollars at the worldwide box office. To mark the occasion, ABC is airing Brave for the first time this Monday June 6th at 8pm. Co-director Steve Purcell shares his favorite memories. (This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)
Jackson Murphy: How does it feel that it’s been 10 years since the release of Brave?
Steve Purcell: It’s amazing because the time just goes by and you don’t realize it. And recently I was getting notices on Facebook: “Here’s your Facebook memory from 10 years ago!” And it was being in New York City and seeing the Times Square billboards and signs on the buses going by with Merida. It was a really fun time when the movie came out because they sent me on a Disney Cruise, and the movie opened on the cruise, so I got to introduce the movie there and did a talk about the movie on the Disney Cruise with my family. My kids were pretty young. We wanted to make sure we stopped in New York to see the billboards and presence of the movie. It’s amazing it’s blown by.
Kids To Release Masaaki Yuasa’s “Inu-Oh” in August
May 26th, 2022 Jerry Beck GKIDS announced today it will bring INU-OH, the latest feature film from renowned director Masaaki Yuasa (Ride Your Wave, Keep Your Hands Off Of Eizokuen!), to cinemas nationwide starting August 12th. Featuring character creation from manga artist Taiyo Matsumoto (Tekkonkinkreet), who previously collaborated with Yuasa on the anime adaptation of Matsumoto’s series Ping Pong the Animation, the musical animated feature tells the story of the friendship between the legendary 14th century Noh performer Inu-oh, and the blind biwa player Tomona. As the two rise from hardship to stardom through their creative partnership, they also come to break each other’s curse. Check out the teaser trailer below:
INTERVIEW: Tim Miller And Jennifer Yuh Nelson Unleash “Love, Death + Robots” Vol. 3
May 20th, 2022 Jackson Murphy Deadpool and Terminator: Dark Fate director Tim Miller also produced 2004 animated short Gopher Broke (which earned him an Oscar nomination) and the two Sonic the Hedgehog films. Jennifer Yuh Nelson earned an Academy Award nomination for directing Kung Fu Panda 2. She also co-directed 2016’s Kung Fu Panda 3. The two team-up for the new third volume of Love, Death + Robots episodes, which you can now watch on Netflix. In this Animation Scoop Q&A, Miller (series creator) and Yuh Nelson (supervising director) discuss working with each other, the global talent involved, and what the show’s awards and fan attention means to them. (This interview was edited for length and clarity.)
Jackson Murphy: Tim, Love, Death + Robots has won 11 Emmys, which is unbelievable — and four Annie Awards. How did you want to keep the momentum going and try to top yourself with this third volume?
Tim Miller: First of all, I’d like to point out that that’s more Emmys per minute than any other show on Netflix. By minute. Every season is unique and we really just try and pick the best mix of stories and find the best people to do them. So I feel like we get better every year. Jennifer, of course, doing Vol. 2 and Vol. 3, was a big help and it really elevates the material because she’s got slightly more sophisticated taste than I do. I think it’s a great batch of stories.
GKids to Distribute Atsuko Ishizuka’s “Goodbye, Don Glees!”
May 19th, 2022 Jerry Beck GKIDS announced today it has acquired the North American distribution rights for Goodbye, Don Glees!. Produced by the acclaimed Studio Madhouse, the film is the first original feature from writer/director Atsuko Ishizuka, who previously directed the widely lauded series A Place Further Than The Universe. Goodbye, Don Glees! follows the story of three friends over the course of one summer, as their backyard adventures turn one small incident to a life changing journey. It was domestically released (in Japan) in February 2022, and stars famed Japanese voice actors Ayumu Murase (Shoyo Hinata, “Haikyu!!”), Natsuki Hanae (Tanjiro Kamado, “Demon Slayer”), Kana Hanazawa (Akane Tsunemori, “Psycho-Pass”), and Yuuki Kaji (Eren Jaeger, “Attack on Titan”). The film is represented internationally by KADOKAWA. GKIDS will release Goodbye, Don Glees! theatrically in both original Japanese language and an all-new English language dub this year.
TRAILER: Netflix “Dead End: Paranormal Park”
May 19th, 2022 Jerry Beck The new trailer for Netflix’s animated series Dead End: Paranormal Park dropped this morning. Based on Hamish Steele’s horror-comedy graphic novels DeadEndia and web short Dead End, Dead End: Paranormal Park follows the adventures of Barney, Norma and magical-talking-dog Pugsley, as they balance their summer jobs at the local theme park haunted house while battling the totally real supernatural forces that dwell within it. Together with their guide to the underworld multiplane, a sardonic thousand-year-old demon named Courtney, they’ll face zombie mascots, demonic game show hosts, sleep-sucking witches and the scariest thing of all: their first crushes! Dead End: Paranormal Park will premiere June 16th, 2022. Take a look:
INTERVIEW: Brandon Sawyer Puts The Boss Baby “Back In The Crib”
May 17th, 2022 Jackson Murphy Four years ago I interviewed Brandon Sawyer, who was executive producing the first Boss Baby spinoff series Back in Business. Now he returns as EP of the new, follow-up series The Boss Baby: Back in the Crib, debuting this Thursday May 19th on Netflix. Sawyer shares what drew him BACK to the iconic DreamWorks character and what he loves about this cast and crew. (This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)
Jackson Murphy: This is a sequel series to a sequel movie. So how did Family Business (the movie that came out last summer) really open the doors to this new series?
Brandon Sawyer: They were the whole genesis of this series even existing. We ended the previous series and were able to give it a proper finale and wrap-up that whole story. And mentally, I just assumed I was done. I felt very satisfied with what we did. But then I got to see an early preview of the movie, probably a year and a half — at least — before the movie actually came out. And I saw these new characters: Tina, Tabitha, what Tim was like as an adult and Carol. The more I sat with it and watched it, I just knew we were NOT done with these characters and this world. There was a whole new version of this show that could exist — just wiping the decks of everything except Boss Baby and kind of starting from there.
Calm Morning: “Adventures Through Storyboarding” at Academy Museum
May 16th, 2022 Jerry Beck Calm Morning: Adventures Through Storyboarding is the latest in a new series of special programs at the new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, California. On Saturday, May 28th, Pixar veteran Ronnie del Carmen will share the art of storyboarding in animation followed by an accommodative screening of Up (2009). The galleries open at 9am – more details below.
INTERVIEW: “Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers” Elevates “Roger Rabbit” Effect
May 16th, 2022 Jackson Murphy Akiva Schaffer makes-up one third of the popular Lonely Island trio. He’s also the director of Disney’s new live-action/animated feature combo Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers, which premieres this Friday May 20th on Disney+. Turns out Chip and Dale were *actors* on the popular late ’80s/early ’90s Rescue Rangers series. 30 years later, they reunite in a much different Hollywoodland, with a missing friend’s case to solve. Schaffer discusses this wild and ambitious new movie. (This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)
Jackson Murphy: So many animated characters in this movie! Are there more animated characters in this than in any other movie in the history of motion pictures?
Akiva Schaffer: I’m gonna go ahead and say, “Yes”. And I guarantee it. And… let’s not do the math. Let’s just take me at my word that that’s the truth and just leave it at that.
TRAILER: Skydance Animation’s “Luck”
May 13th, 2022 Jerry Beck Luck is an animated feature from Apple Original Films and Skydance Animation, and is directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Peggy Holmes (The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning, Secret of the Wings, The Pirate Fairy) with an original screenplay written by Kiel Murray (Raya and the Last Dragon, Cars 3, Cars). It stars Jane Fonda, Whoopi Goldberg, Eva Noblezada, Simon Pegg, Flula Borg, Lil Rel Howery, Colin O’Donoghue, John Ratzenberger and Adelynn Spoon, and will premiere globally on Apple TV+ Friday, August 5th, 2022. Here’s the trailer:
REVIEW: Dreamworks “The Bad Guys”
May 13th, 2022 Martin Goodman While DreamWorks may not be able to summon the financial and technical resources that you-know-who possesses, that does not mean that they cannot produce a good film, and with their latest effort, The Bad Guys, they mostly succeed. Though the world-building is weird, and some character reversals are rather facile, this is one entertaining flick with the chops to be more than another animated throwaway.
We have here a wild heist movie that contains spot-on homages to at least seven (by my count) other movies folded into its plot. I won’t name these movies because part of the fun is identifying them yourself. While I usually decry the blatant use of homage as a cheap stunt used by weak scriptwriters, The Bad Guys play the game in a tongue-in-cheek manner that brings appreciation for the sources, not a clumsy attempt by the writers at being clever.
Gkids To Release “The Deer King” in Theaters during July
May 11th, 2022 Jerry Beck GKIDS announced today it will bring The Deer King, the new feature from Japanese animation veterans Masashi Ando and Masayuki Miyaji, to cinemas nationwide this July. Continuing their partnership with Fathom Events, fan preview events for The Deer King will play in cinemas nationwide on Wednesday, July 13th (Japanese language), and Thursday, July 14th (English language dubbed). In addition to the full feature, audiences will view a special introduction from Director Masashi Ando, exclusive to the Fathom Events screenings. Fan preview events will be followed by a limited theatrical release in select markets nationwide by GKIDS starting Friday, July 15th.
“Forward” Motion: The 15th Anniversary of “Meet the Robinsons”
May 10th, 2022 Michael Lyons Some movies blindside you, in a good way …a very good way. Meet the Robinsons is one of those films. Released just after Disney animation was emerging from several challenging years that saw disappointing box-office results with films like Home on the Range, and just before new leadership brought a new decade of successes, with hits like Tangled and Frozen, Meet the Robinsons “slipped through the cracks.”
This is sad and unfair, as the film is an offbeat, original, purposefully quirky, and emotional ride. Thankfully, in the fifteen years since its release, many have noticed and appreciated this, singing the praises of Meet the Robinsons.
