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December, 2018:

From (Really) Small Screen to… Bigger Screen

Dec 10th, 2018
by rodney.
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More from Animation Magazine. Turns out that a well-known animated app is now being turned into a full-fledged animated TV series. This is from Kidscreen: “9 Story Distribution International has picked up distribution rights to Dr. Panda and will start selling the new 3D-animated series in all global territories except China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and select MENA countries at MIPCOM… Aimed at kids ages three to six, Dr. Panda is the first 3D-animated series from the same-name kids app developer that has racked up more than 95 million downloads and five million active monthly users since rolling out its first app-connected toy and AR app in 2017. The show is created and co-produced by Malaysia’s Giggle Garage Animations (Origanimals, Kazoops) and Spider Eye Productions (Jungle Junction, Thomas & Friends) in the UK. It’s directed by Patrick Chin and written by Daan Velsink (Panic!, Snapshot, Bingo!) and Chris Parker (Peppa Pig, Shaun the Sheep). Its titular main character tries out new jobs and solves problems with his friends in each episode.” The producers hope to have the new show ready to roll out before the end of this year.

image c. 2018 9 Story

Bear, Bear, Dragon

Dec 9th, 2018
by rodney.
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Animation Magazine recently let us know about two anthropomorphic animated TV series coming from Singapore’s August Media and South Korea’s Studio Gale. First up there’s Tish Tash. “The series centers on young and hugely imaginative Tish, her bear family, and her larger-than-life imaginary friend, Tash. No matter what troubles they face — be it the age-old terror of long, boring car trips or helping Tish’s baby brother not be sad about losing his favorite toy — these special friends can create new worlds around themselves, embarking on imaginative adventures and finding their own creative angle to help solve any problems that life throws at them.” Then there’s Journey of Long, a comedy that “… follows the adventures of a dragon with a dream of becoming the world’s top chef”. Check out the video clip over on YouTube. Both these shows premiered at MIPCOM, and they’re hoping for world-wide distribution in 2019.

image c. 2018 Studio Gale

One Little Girl, One Magic Forest

Dec 8th, 2018
by rodney.
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Also at CTN Expo we found out about Left Pocket Studio (in Shanghai) and their international TV series Emmy & GooRoo. “Emmy, our brave little hero, is 5-years-old and the only little human girl in the whole Magical Forest. Emmy loves exploring the fantastical world she lives in with her best friend GooRoo, a big, furry, and huggable creature who takes care of her when they go out to play.” The official web site includes a trailer for the series.

image c. 2018 Left Pocket
Studios

E-Books for Kids — and Art Collectors

Dec 7th, 2018
by rodney.
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And more from CTN Expo (it’s always cool!). According to their web site, “Mighty Yeti is an independent storytelling studio creating stories for the current generation of kids who enjoy their media and entertainment in exciting new ways. Founders Jennie Book and Josh Book have taken their many years of experience in the traditional entertainment industry and created products which children can interact with in a truly active way.” To that end they’ve created a series of interactive e-books for young readers — and some of those books have decidedly anthro content. Especially the one called A Shark Knocked On The Door. “Gutter races with Grandma are the best! But when a beloved toy boat is lost down the sewer, all seems lost until a friendly shark returns it and takes the boy and his grandma on a fantastical underseas adventure.” The publishers have built up enough material designing and creating these books that they’ve actually released The Art of Mighty Yeti Storybooks collection, featuring art by Eddie Betancourt, Roman Laney, Justin Rodrigues, and Nick Swift.

image c. 2018 Mighty Yeti

Play On Line

Dec 6th, 2018
by rodney.
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Here’s an interesting artist we found at CTN Expo. Natalie Murrow is an animation artist and illustrator (with lots of animal designs!). One of her big projects is an app for young folks called Kidomi. She says: “Kidomi is an app I worked on at Fingerprint Play. It is a mobile app that houses hundreds of 3rd party licensed activities from brands you know and trust. All of the activities are streaming, so you can access them without having to download, and are all available through a single subscription.” In addition to doing the interface design and several icon animations, she also designed a series of funny animal avatars that kids can customize and make their own.

image c. 2018 by Natalie Murrow

Bunny Bound by Magic

Dec 5th, 2018
by rodney.
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Found this thanks to Animation World Network: “Netflix has announced that it will produce the animated feature film, Escape From Hat, from two-time Academy Award-nominated director Mark Osborne (Kung Fu Panda, The Little Prince) together with writer Adam Kline (Artemis Fowl, The Clockwork War)… The screenplay is by Kline and Osborne, based on the book of the same name by Kline [illustrated by Brian Taylor — ye ed-otter], a new middle-grade novel that will be published by HarperCollins in Winter 2020… Escape From Hat brings light to the ancient mysteries of magic. In a fairy tale where black cats are bad and magic rabbits are good, balance is threatened when one such rabbit is cast into a mysterious realm of danger and shadow. There, our desperate hero rallies an unexpected band of allies and undertakes an impossible quest to escape from inside a magician’s hat – and return to the human boy he dearly loves.” Netflix say they plan to release the film in 2022.

image c. 2018 HarperCollins

The Annie Nominations for 2018

Dec 4th, 2018
by rodney.
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Once again the International Animated Film Society (ASIFA) have released  their list of nominees for the 2018 Annie Awards — the Oscars of animation, to many folks. And once again, we’ve had a banner year for animation with Furry content — so there are lots of anthropomorphic movies, TV series, short films, and other goodies among the Annie nominees. By far the furriest film among the nominees for Best Animated Feature is Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs — which is also nominated for Character Animation, Production Design, and Voice Acting (Bryan Cranston as Chief). But nominees Early Man, Ralph Breaks The Internet, and even Spiderman — Into The Spiderverse (yes!) had their own Furry content — and each of them are nominated in several categories too. Among the nominees for Best Independent Feature is Tito & The Birds, while one of the nominees for Best Animated Special Production (limited release) is The Highway Rat. England is well-represented in the Best Character Animation in a Live Action Production category (whew!), with both Paddington 2 and Christopher Robin receiving nominations. In the Best Animated Short category check out Lost & Found by Wabi Sabi Studios, while the brand new Best Virtual Reality category includes Crow: The Legend by Baobab Studios and the game Moss by Polyarc. Over on the television side of things, the category of Best Commercial includes four nominees that are very Furry! The rest of the Television categories include a parade of familiar and new Furry titles, including The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, Bojack Horseman, DinoTrux, Disney’s Mickey Mouse, Hey Duggee, Hilda, Kung Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Tumble Leaf. Needless to say there are too many cool nominations to list them all here, so head on over to the Annie Awards page and check them out for yourself! The Awards will be presented on February 2nd at UCLA.

image c. 2018 Fox Searchlight Pictures

All the Cute Little Billionaires

Dec 1st, 2018
by rodney.
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Here’s an interesting art and comic project we came across at CTN Expo: Sillycan Vale, created by Lewei Wang. Current there’s a Kickstarter Campaign for the project, that explains it like this… “Sillycan Vale is a town where each animal villager is the personification of a tech company from the real world. The goal of this project is to develop the whole concept into a comic series. The characters & story-lines are inspired by what’s happening between the real tech communities especially in Silicon Valley, California.” Currently the plan is to release the comic in three separate volumes, introducing new characters and development art in each, and then release the actual complete comic in September of 2019. As of this writing they have already exceeded their initial funding goal, so go check them out and see what’s coming next.

image c. 2018 by Lewei Wang

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