Animation Scoop

52nd Annie Award Nominations Announced

ASIFA-Hollywood announced nominations today for its 52nd Annie Awards recognizing the year’s best in the field of animation. For a complete list of nominations, please visit www.annieawards.org/nominations. The 52nd Annie Awards is set for Saturday, February 8, 2025 at UCLA’s Royce Hall. Pre-reception and Red Carpet begin at 4:30 p.m., followed by the ceremony at […]

INTERVIEW: David Lowery Presents “An Almost Christmas Story”

David Lowery (director of Pete’s Dragon and Peter Pan & Wendy for Disney) helms the new animated holiday short film An Almost Christmas Story, which premieres this Friday Nov. 15 on Disney+. It’s about an owl named Moon who forms a unique friendship with a girl named Luna in The Big Apple. Lowery shares what […]

INTERVIEW: Looney Lowdown On “The Day The Earth Blew Up”

Long-awaited, fully animated The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie will receive an awards-qualifying run before the end of 2024, ahead of its official theatrical release on February 28th, 2025. I’ve screened the film and spoke with director Peter Browngardt about this sci-fi action comedy starring beloved characters who are true to […]

TRAILER: “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl”

Netflix debut the first trailer and announced the release date for the new Aardman new stop-motion animated feature film Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl today. The film will be released on Netflix globally (except in the UK/IE) on January 3rd, 2025 (it will have a limited theatrical run in December to qualify for this […]

TOHO To Acquire GKIDS

Japanese entertainment leader Toho Co., Ltd. announced today that it has reached an agreement to acquire a 100% equity share of GKIDS, Inc., the Academy Award-winning North American animation producer and distributor. Financial terms were not disclosed. GKIDS, which maintains offices in New York and Los Angeles, will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Los […]

REVIEW: “DC League of Super Pets”

August 26th, 2022

Martin Goodman

The idea for this animated film originated in DC’s Adventure Comics #239 with the origin of the Legion of Super-Pets. The hallowed lineup that faced off against the deadly brain-globes were: Krypto the Super Dog, Streaky the Super Cat, Beppo the Super Monkey, and Comet the Super Horse. Proty II would join the party later. (Apparently, the local animal shelter on Krypton had a spare spaceship they borrowed from Jor-El).

Fast-forward sixty years into the future to the Warner Brothers animated film DC League of Super-Pets. Only Krypto, Superman’s loyal pet, is represented. The other S-Ps have been replaced, bringing with them not one shred of originality or imagination. DC has an excellent track record of producing good to excellent material for animated shows, from the art-deco wonder of Batman: The Animated Series to the peppy fun of DC Super Hero Girls and two popular incarnations of the Teen Titans. So how did a movie like Super-Pets go so miserably wrong?

INTERVIEW: “Little Demon” Creators Speak Of The Devil

August 25th, 2022

Jackson Murphy

Little Demon is a new adult supernatural animated comedy series about Chrissy, the 13-year-old daughter of Satan. Dad enters her life at a critical time, and feisty mom Laura isn’t thrilled, but willing to fight for what’s best for her powerful child. Little Demon has its one-hour series premiere tonight at 10pm on FXX. I spoke with the show’s creators, EPs and writers, Darcy Fowler, Seth Kirschner and Kieran Valla, about their ambitious series that has bold comedic, horror and visual influences. (This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)

Jackson Murphy: There’s action. There’s comedy. There are visual gags. What I think is the strength of the show are the relationships. Tell me about the genesis of the show and how the relationships really came into play.

Darcy Fowler: That’s really awesome to hear that the relationships stuck out to you because that’s what we’re hoping. In terms of the origin of the show: the three of us are huge horror nerds. We wanted a story about a strong female character. We were looking at angles on Rosemary’s Baby. We started with this story about this mother with this cursed womb and it kind of evolved from there. Then the mother had a baby demon little girl child. Then we realized that making this demon — this antichrist girl — 13 [years old] was so much more ripe for themes, horror-wise. We found this core of this mother-daughter relationship, which as someone who was 13 once and a daughter… it can be pretty horrifying. That core unleashed everything else. Chrissy and puberty: the horrors of that. We rounded it out to tell this story about this broken family.

NEW TRAILER: The Zemeckis “Pinocchio”

August 24th, 2022

Jerry Beck

A new trailer from Disney’s live-action Pinocchio, premiering on Disney+ Day September 8th, dropped today. Robert Zemeckis directs the remake and the film stars Tom Hanks, Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Keegan-Michael Key, and Lorraine Bracco. Here’s a much better look at what they’ve been up to:

REVIEW: Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank

August 22nd, 2022

Martin Goodman

This is a difficult film to review because, while it is undoubtedly an animated feature, it is also a remake of a live-action comedy. Therefore, how one feels about the film will directly correlate to how one thinks about the original movie. The predecessor to Paws of Fury is the beloved 1974 film Blazing Saddles, a Mel Brooks opus that managed to blend rude comedy with a message about tolerance in the face of unremitting racism. In fact, the original title of the animated version was Blazing Samurai. Brooks’ uneven cinematic record did include three exceptional comedies (The Producers in 1967, Young Frankenstein in 1974, and Blazing Saddles, also in 1974). However, while some cineastes might also include 1970’s The Twelve Chairs, it is more of a run-up to the anarchy of Brooks’ later films.

INTERVIEW: Celebrating 30th Anniversary Of “FernGully” With Director Bill Kroyer

August 17th, 2022

Jackson Murphy

1992’s FernGully: The Last Rainforest is an animated feature classic. For its 30th Anniversary, Shout! Factory is releasing a new blu-ray and DVD combo pack on Tuesday August 23rd with incredible picture and sound and cool bonus features, including a new introduction from director Bill Kroyer. In this Animation Scoop Q&A, Kroyer discusses what FernGully means to him 30 years later, the challenges of making and marketing an animated movie in ’92, and how the message of the film is more important now than ever. (This interview was edited for length and clarity.)

Jackson Murphy: As you were preparing to record this new intro, what was one of the first memories that popped into your head and you wanted to make sure you talked about?

Bill Kroyer: In the intervening years the industry has changed so much, but the technology of making movies has completely changed. FernGully was essentially a handmade film. We were cutting edge in that we had 40,000 frames of CG animation in it, and we did one of the very first digitally painted sequences. But other than that, the whole movie, from storyboarding, layout, animation, cleanup, hand-painted cels, hand-inked cels — was all done lovingly by hand with real, physical artwork. I wanted to remind people that this is one of the last movies ever made with real, physical artwork. Not only does that look distinctly different now from CG, but it also gave us an opportunity in this new blu-ray release to go back to the original emulsion on the film and give it an incredible 4K, high dynamic range transfer.

INTERVIEW: The Scoop On Delightful “Deepa & Anoop”

August 15th, 2022

Jackson Murphy

Today, Netflix debuts a new animated series about an upbeat girl, her best friend elephant, and a family that helps run a hotel in India. Deepa & Anoop, from co-creator Munjal Shroff, is Mattel’s first animated series based on original intellectual property. Shroff shares what makes the show fun and rewarding. (This Animation Scoop interview was conducted as an Email Q&A and edited for length and clarity.)

Jackson Murphy: I’ve watched a couple episodes. It’s a sweet series. What were your goals in creating Deepa & Anoop?

Munjal Shroff: When my friend Lisa Goldman (and co-creator of the show) came to India in 2006 for the first time she just instantly fell in love with India and Indian culture and Bollywood. Back then one of India’s oldest English Newspapers Times of India used to feature news from Bollywood and Mumbai’s glitterati parties on Page 3. That was Lisa’s introduction to Bollywood and she loved it. Lisa was in Mumbai as we were doing a workshop with her for Writing for animation. At my studio Graphiti my partner Tilak Shetty, me and our mentor, the late Ram Mohan, were very keen to develop shows that allowed us to tell Indian stories and take Indian Culture to the world. We had just finished co-producing our first kids show with Nickelodeon which featured a hugely popular alien character called Jadoo (magic) from the Bollywood Blockbuster “Koi Mil Gaya”. It was a massive hit. We were very keen to create a show for the global market with an Indian flavour. So we decided to start developing a show with Lisa. We also wanted to create a show with very endearing characters that kids would love to grow up with. Hopefully along the way our creations could be a part of their beautiful childhood memories.

INTERVIEW: Dan Povenmire Returns With New Dynamic Duo “Hamster & Gretel”

August 9th, 2022

Jackson Murphy

Phineas and Ferb’s Dan Povenmire is unveiling a new Disney animated series creation. Superhero family comedy Hamster & Gretel premieres this Friday August 12th at 9:30pm on Disney Channel. Another new episode airs Saturday morning at 9:30. Povenmire discusses how his own family influenced the look, feel and casting of the characters — and reflects on 15 years since the debut of P&F. (This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)

Jackson Murphy: Did you have this concept in your mind when we last spoke two years ago for the Phineas and Ferb movie?

Dan Povenmire: Probably. I had already done the cold open for the Pilot at that time. I was on vacation with my family and I had this 3×5 card where I had drawn this hamster superhero on there. While on vacation, I went ahead and storyboarded the opening of the Pilot all the way through the reveal that Hamster & Gretel get the powers. I had brought it home and was putting it together in an animatic and I was just doing all the voices so I could time it all out. I had my daughter Meli come in.

DreamWorks Animation Announces Plans to Release MoonRay as Open Source Software

August 5th, 2022

Jerry Beck

DreamWorks Animation announced their intent to release their proprietary production renderer, MoonRay, as open source software later this year. MoonRay is DreamWorks’ state-of-the-art MCRT renderer, which has been used on feature films such as How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, Croods: A New Age, The Bad Guys, and the upcoming Puss In Boots: The Last Wish. MoonRay was developed by DreamWorks’ world-class engineers, and includes an extensive library of production-tested, physically based materials, a USD Hydra render delegate, multi-machine and cloud rendering via Arras.

INTERVIEW: “Robot Chicken” An Emmy Nominee Again With Time Loop Episode

August 4th, 2022

Jackson Murphy

The last time I saw Robot Chicken co-creator Matt Senreich was in-person at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019. A lot has changed over the last three years, but one thing remains the same: Robot Chicken is committed to delivering wacky, funny episodes. And the show continues to receive awards recognition. It’s up for the 2022 Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Short-Form Animated Program. Senreich and I reunited over Zoom to talk about the nominated Halloween-themed episode “Happy Russian Deathdog Dolloween 2 U” and the future of the iconic Adult Swim series. (This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)

Jackson Murphy: Life has changed quite a bit, hasn’t it?

Matt Senreich: Just a tad. Did you go to Comic-Con this year?

JM: I didn’t. Did you go?

MS: I went for maybe 36 hours. It was a little overwhelming. It’s uncomfortable to be wearing masks all day and still bumping into so many people. I’m a little COVID sensitive. Let’s say that.

INTERVIEW: Mark Andrews Unveils The “Super Giant Robot Brothers”

August 3rd, 2022

Jackson Murphy

Academy Award winner Mark Andrews (director of Pixar’s Brave) is now the director and EP of new, innovative Netflix animated series Super Giant Robot Brothers. Andrews describes how using video game technology, motion capture and real-time techniques help make this show (premiering tomorrow, Thursday August 4th) come to life. (This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)

Jackson Murphy: I’ve seen the first couple episodes, and I have to tell you, it has such a great, cinematic feel to it. How did you want to bring a cinematic feel to this series?

Mark Andrews: I’ve done storyboards my entire life, and that’s basically drawing cinematography. And then I had a fantastic DP on the show, Enrico Targetti, who’s a live-action cinematographer and also an Unreal [Engine] expert. We hit it off. It’s such a dynamic show. And it’s an action show with giant robots. You CANNOT do this with bland cinematography. We wanted to really pump up the volume on this and do stuff that you don’t normally see in animation. So that’s what you get.

INTERVIEW: Enter The Land Of “Luck” With Animation Director Yuriko Senoo

August 2nd, 2022

Jackson Murphy

Skydance Animation’s first feature Luck premieres this Friday August 5th on AppleTV+. It’s a rare major CG animated movie to receive a G rating these days, with a story the whole family will find fun, charming and moving. Animation Director Yuriko Senoo (animator on Bolt and Tangled) joins me to spotlight how hard work contributed to Luck’s success. (This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)

Jackson Murphy: There’s so much green in this movie!

Yuriko Senoo: (laughs)

The Animation Career Training Program of The Center for Learning Unlimited graduates it’s Second Class

August 1st, 2022

Jerry Beck

The Center for Learning Unlimited, a non-public, WASC- accredited day school in Torrance, California, proudly celebrates the second graduating class of its animation career training program for neurodiverse adults. Alongside commencement, CLU announces the appointment of an entertainment industry advisory board, plus film festival honors, and a robust project slate for sister animation studio Brainstorm Productions, which commemorates one year in full-time operation.

In addition to kindergarten – 12th grade special education, CLU maintains a highly regarded, 3-year animation curriculum for adults (ages 18+) on the autism spectrum. Summer 2022 marks the completion of intensive 2D and 3D studies for six neurodiverse CLU students.

INTERVIEW: A Shell Of A Good Time With “Rise Of The TMNT: The Movie” Directors

August 1st, 2022

Jackson Murphy

Ant Ward and Andy Suriano created Nickelodeon’s popular hand-drawn Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. Now the fun, iconic characters return for feature-length Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie, premiering this Friday August 5th on Netflix. Ward and Suriano discuss the unique look, production adjustments and how they’d do trying one of the gang’s favorite activities. (This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)

Jackson Murphy: Ant, what did doing this movie… allow you to do that you simply could not do with the television series?

Ant Ward: Well off the bat, Jackson, the length and the format opened up story opportunities that we couldn’t quite grasp in 11-minute standalone [episodes]. While the series told a larger story and had these tentpole episodes, it was really fun to just get into the meat and potatoes of a feature story and let these characters breathe a little bit.

TRAILER: Guillermo del Toro’s “Pinocchio”

July 27th, 2022

Jerry Beck

Netflix dropped today the official teaser trailer and key art for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio. Directed by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson, the film features an all-star voice cast with Ewan McGregor as Cricket, David Bradley as Geppetto, and introducing Gregory Mann as Pinocchio. Other cast includes Finn Wolfhard, Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett, John Turturro, Ron Perlman, Tim Blake Nelson, Burn Gorman, with Academy Award winner Christoph Waltz and Academy Award winner Tilda Swinton.

INTERVIEW: A Very Real Conversation About “We Met In Virtual Reality”

July 27th, 2022

Jackson Murphy

Director Joe Hunting’s fascinating and powerful new documentary We Met in Virtual Reality was filmed entirely in VRChat. Hunting introduces us to compelling subjects and a dazzling world. The future is now. We Met in Virtual Reality premieres tonight at 9pm on HBO and is also now streaming on HBO Max. Hunting discusses the film’s technological and emotional journeys in this spoiler-free Animation Scoop Q&A. (This interview was edited for length and clarity.)

Jackson Murphy: From a design / visual / animation perspective, what blew you away about being able to go inside VRChat and what you were able to experience while making this movie?

Joe Hunting: Oh, that’s a great first question. I think fundamentally being able to embody an avatar in full body tracking (look down and see your movements captured in real time) and to feel that level of immersion that you get to experience inside a VR world is certainly the most, and still is, inspiring thing about the technology. But taking that further, looking over my camera display that I’m holding and seeing my subjects also in full body tracking and feeling this intense tangibility that we’re both in this world together and we’re seeing our body and verbal languages as 3D avatars… fundamentally is extremely powerful. That’s what inspired the film and made it special during production.