This summer, from the biggest global animated franchise in history, comes the origin story of how the world’s greatest supervillain first met his iconic minions, forged cinema’s most despicable crew and faced off against the most unstoppable criminal force ever assembled. Minions: The Rise of Gru is said to feature more spectacular action than any film in Illumination history, packed with subversive humor, and features a new voice cast – including, the Vicious 6: Taraji P. Henson as cool and confident leader Belle Bottom, whose chain belt doubles as a lethal disco-ball mace; Jean-Claude Van Damme as the nihilistic Jean Clawed, who’s armed (literally) with a giant robotic claw; Lucy Lawless as Nunchuck, whose traditional nun’s habit hides her deadly nun-chucks; Dolph Lundgren as Swedish roller-skate champion Svengeance, who dispenses his enemies with spin kicks from his spiked skates; and Danny Trejo as Stronghold, whose giant iron hands are both a menace to others and a burden to him. Take a 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”, […]
TRAILER: Netflix “The Sea Beast”
March 30th, 2022 
Jerry Beck Here’s the next one from Netflix – The Sea Beast, directed by Chris Williams (Moana, Big Hero Six, Bolt). Featuring the voices of Karl Urban, Zaris-Angel Hator and Jared Harris, the film takes place in an era when terrifying beasts roamed the seas, monster hunters were celebrated heroes – none were more beloved than the great Jacob Holland. But when young Maisie Brumble stows away on his fabled ship, he’s saddled with an unexpected ally. Together they embark on an epic journey into uncharted waters and make history. Take a look:
Carl Bell (1931-2022)
March 28th, 2022 Jerry Beck The Hollywood animation community has lost one of its stalwart animators and biggest champions – Carl Bell. Carl met Richard Williams at the Ontario College of Art in the early 1950s, and the two drove cross country in 1952 to seek their fortunes in animation. They ultimately went separate ways – but stayed in touch throughout their lives. Bell began his professional career working in England doing commercials for several years, returning to Los Angeles in 1958. Bell then worked at UPA in its waning days, then Bob Clampett (on Beany and Cecil), then Chuck Jones (on Tom & Jerry, the Grinch, Pogo and The Phantom Tollbooth). He was a consultant on Williams Raggedy Ann and Andy, then joining Ralph Bakshi on Lord Of The Rings and was a staffer at Filmation during the He-Man/She-Ra years.
And The Oscar Goes To… “Encanto” and “The Windshield Wiper”
March 27th, 2022 Jerry Beck In case you missed it – and it seems many did… This year’s Academy Award for Best Animated Feature went to Disney’s Encanto. Best Animated Short was awarded to The Windshield Wiper. Both films were indeed Oscar-worthy, but clearly the Academy adhered to its longtime traditions – favoring films that touch the heart.
Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Yvett Merino and Clark Spencer accept the Oscar for Animated Feature for Encanto at Oscars 2022. Video below:
Nickelodeon Expands It’s Universe at 2022 Upfront Presentation
March 24th, 2022 Jerry Beck At its annual upfront presentation today, Nickelodeon revealed its overall strategy of universe expansion – including: SpongeBob SquarePants, with the pickup of a 14th season for the most-watched kids’ animated series for the last 20 consecutive years; PAW Patrol, with the greenlight of season 10 of the top-rated preschool series and the first-ever spinoff centering on fan-favorite character Rubble; Baby Shark, with a feature-length movie in development for Paramount+ in the U.S. and a special featuring Grammy Award-winning, multiplatinum superstar Cardi B; The Loud House, with an original live-action series set to begin production and season seven renewal of the hit animated series; Transformers, with an all-new animated action-comedy series Transformers: BotBots – and Blue’s Clues & You!, with a fifth season pickup.
INTERVIEW: “Transformers: BotBots” Showrunners On What’s In Store
March 24th, 2022 Jackson Murphy Emmy nominees Kevin Burke and Chris “Doc” Wyatt (of Rocket & Groot animated series) are executive producers and showrunners of new animated comedy Transformers: BotBots. It premieres tomorrow, March 25th, on Netflix. The mega-popular toy and film brand presents a whole new group of hand-drawn characters — objects and meals at a mall who come to life at night after the doors close. It’s a concept that resonates with all three of us, as you’ll discover in this Animation Scoop Q&A. (This interview was edited for length and clarity.)
Jackson Murphy: I love the show — and the concept behind the show. It’s so fun. Seeing the mall brought back so many memories of my childhood at malls.
Kevin Burke: I come from a generation where the place to go was the mall. If you wanted to see where your friends were. And this was before cell phones. I assumed my friends were at the mall even when I wasn’t at the mall. My assumption was that they were all hanging out and having a great time, and I was missing that. We’re trying to capture that. And we’re also looking at the mall and all these bots hiding there and their different squads. It’s also a microcosm for school. Everyone’s got their own little cliques, if you will, in this group where everyone’s trying to figure out where they belong. And at the heart of it, Transformers: BotBots is about finding unexpected family. But we definitely wanted to lean into the mall aspect of it and make that a component. It’s almost a character in and of itself — what it’s like to be in a mall.
Netflix Announces Jorge Gutierrez Next Feature “I, Chihuahua”
March 23rd, 2022 Jerry Beck Jorge Gutierrez has set his next project with Netflix, the animated feature film I, Chihuahua, following last year’s release of the critically acclaimed Maya and the Three. Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias will produce and star. Netflix also debuted Concept Art (below) from the film.
“After The Book of Life and the amazing experience on Maya and the Three, I’m now thrilled to collaborate with Melissa, Gregg, Tito and all my friends at Netflix Animation on my follow up animated feature: I, Chihuahua!“, says Gutierrez. “And to finally tag team a movie with my good friend and creative partner Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias is a dream come true! Our internationally epic and heartfelt film will be a hilarious love letter to Lucha Libre (Mexican wrestling) movies, fighting video games and underdog sports films. I don’t want to over-promise but THIS WILL BE THE GREATEST MASKED CHIHUAHUA FILM EVER MADE! What a time to be alive!”
TRAILER: Warner Bros. “King Tweety”
March 22nd, 2022 Jerry Beck Animation’s cutest “widdle” canary, Tweety, learns he’s a royal descendant and the next in line to the throne in King Tweety a brand-new, full-length animated family film, set for release on Digital and DVD on June 14th, 2022 by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. Produced by Warner Bros. Animation, King Tweety finds Tweety, Sylvester and Granny jet-setting to the Canary Islands where Tweety is inadvertently crowned king by the island locals. The release includes three bonus classic Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries cartoons. Here’s the trailer:
Music with Real Character: The 65th Anniversary of “Three Little Bops”
March 17th, 2022 Michael Lyons Just when you think there’s no way to re-tell a familiar story, you see something like Three Little Bops. This re-telling of The Three Little Pigs fable with a swingin’ jazz beat is still as infectious and fun sixty-five years after its release. This Warner Bros. Looney Tunes short tells its entire story using music, finding a way to uniquely convey a well-known tale.
The short even opens with the title bouncing across the screen to the music. We meet the Three Little Pigs, a musical group, and when we first see them playing, they’re at the House of Straw club. A be-bopping narration sets the tone: “The Three Little Pigs are still around/ But they’re playing music with a modern sound!”
TRAILER: Disney’s “Sketchbook” Shows You How
March 16th, 2022 Jerry Beck Wanna learn how to draw the Genie from Aladdin directly from Eric Goldberg? Or how to sketch “Simba” from The Lion King from animator Mark Henn? Disney+ invites you to do that in a one-of-a-kind all-new, six-part Original Series called Sketchbook which begins streaming April 27th. From Supper Club and in partnership with Walt Disney Animation Studios, viewers will be given an insider’s look into the animation process as some of the Studios’ talented artists teach them how to draw beloved Disney characters, including Kuzco from “Emperor’s New Groove,” Olaf from “Frozen,” Captain Hook from “Peter Pan,” and Mirabel from “Encanto”.
Jack Black is Back in Dreamworks “Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight”
March 16th, 2022 Jerry Beck Today on National Panda Day, Jack Black has announced on his Tik Tok that he will reprise his role as the ‘Kung Fu Panda’, Po, in the animated series Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight. When a mysterious pair of weasels set their sights on a collection of four powerful weapons, Po must leave his home to embark on a globe-trotting quest for redemption and justice that finds him partnered up with a no-nonsense English knight named Wandering Blade. Together, these two mismatched warriors set out on an epic adventure to find the magical weapons first and save the world from destruction — and they may even learn a thing or two from each other along the way.
TRAILER: Dreamworks “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish”
March 15th, 2022 Jerry Beck 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. Antonio Banderas returns as the voice of the notorious PiB as he embarks on an epic journey into the Black Forest to find the mythical Wishing Star and restore his lost lives. The film opens in theaters September 23rd. Here’s the trailer that dropped today:
Netflix Sets Fall 2022 For Henry Selick’s “Wendell And Wild”
March 14th, 2022 Jerry Beck From the delightfully wicked minds of Henry Selick and Jordan Peele, comes WENDELL & WILD, an animated tale about scheming demon brothers Wendell (Keegan-Michael Key) and Wild (Peele) – who enlist the aid of 13-year-old Kat Elliot – a tough teen with a load of guilt – to summon them to the Land of the Living. But what Kat demands in return leads to a brilliantly bizarre and comedic adventure like no other, an animated fantasy that defies the law of life and death, all told through the handmade artistry of stop motion. Netflix announced the cast list for the Henry Selick film today – and it’s impressive:
ANNIE AWARD WINNERS: “The Mitchells vs. The Machines”, “Flee”, “Arcane” Take Top Honors
March 12th, 2022 Jerry Beck Sony Pictures Animation was a big winner Saturday evening during the 49th Virtual Annie Awards. The Mitchells vs The Machines received eight Annies including Best Feature, Best FX (Christopher Logan, Man-Louk Chin, Devdatta Nerurkar, Pav Grochola, Filippo Maccari), Character Design (Lindsey Olivares), Direction (Mike Rianda, Jeff Rowe), Production Design (Lindsey Olivares, Toby Wilson, Dave Bleich), Voice Acting (Abbi Jacobson as the voice of Katie Mitchell), Writing (Mike Rianda, Jeff Rowe) and Editorial (Greg Levitan, Collin Wightman, T.J.Young, Tony Ferdinand, Bret Allen).
Arcane (A Riot Games and Fortiche Production for Netflix) garnered nine Annies for Best TV/Media – General Audience, Best FX (Guillaume Degroote, Aurélien Ressencourt, Martin Touzé, Frédéric Macé, Jérôme Dupré) Character Animation (Léa Chervet), Character Design (Evan Monteiro), Direction (Pascal Charue, Arnaud Delord, Barthelemy Maunoury) Production Design (Julien Georgel, Aymeric Kevin, Arnaud Baudry), Storyboarding (Simon Andriveau), Voice Acting (Ella Purnell as the voice of Jinx), and Writing (Christian Linke, Alex Yee).
INTERVIEW: “Team Zenko Go” EP On A Mission To Do Good
March 9th, 2022 Jackson Murphy I interviewed the talented Jack Thomas in 2019 for Dragons: Rescue Riders. Now he’s back as executive producer and showrunner of another fun DreamWorks series for families. Team Zenko Go, about a group of kids doing good deeds for others, premieres this Tuesday March 15th on Netflix.
Jackson Murphy: How did the core theme speak to you as you were developing this?
Jack Thomas: You know what I really loved about it? The very specific idea [of] doing good deeds and not trying to get credit for it. In this world where everybody’s always on TikTok or Instagram and they’re showing the things that they’re doing, these kids are doing the opposite of that. They’re doing great things but they’re not taking the credit for them. That really spoke to me. I thought that was a great lesson to teach.
