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Animation

That Gryphon’s Turning Green!

More interesting new animated series on the horizon, according to Animation World Network: “Nickelodeon has announced the addition of HexVet to their 2023 preschool lineup. The new animated series is based on the eponymous BOOM! Studios graphic novels by Sam Davies. The CG and 2D-hybrid adventure-comedy follows unlikely best friends Nan and Clarion as they navigate life’s weird and wacky challenges, while apprenticing to be magical veterinarians for fantastical creatures… As HexVets in training, Nan and Clarion are ready to tackle medical maladies in beasts magical or mundane, find their familiars, and earn their wands and pointy hats — all while dodging covens of animal smugglers and dragons with heartburn. Under the tutelage of the talented Dr. Talon, these young HexVets in training will learn how to cure any animal, from a pygmy phoenix with bird flu to a unicorn with a broken horn.” Interesting to note: The series was developed by Nicole Dubuc, well-known among fans of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. Look for HexVet to arrive in 2023.

image c. 2022 Nickelodeon

Do We Finally Get The Bunny?

For a long time, we’ve been talking about an animated TV series based on the award-winning comic series Usagi Yojimbo. For years. Nay, for decades! Well now, according to Netflix, it’s about to become a reality — and soon! “First announced in July 2020, the adaptation of Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo is coming to Netflix in April 2022 — specifically on April 28th, 2022… Candie Langdale and Doug Langdale are serving as the showrunners for the series. They’re best known for their work on Netflix’s Maya and the Three, [as well as] working on DreamWorks projects Puss in Boots and Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness.” Now as to the plot: “Usagi is a young rabbit who doesn’t want much from life – just to be history’s greatest Samurai. When he comes to the futuristic city of Neo Edo to seek his destiny, he accidentally unleashes dozens of the bizarre, ancient monsters known as Yokai. Now, along with his new friends Chizu, Gen, and Kitsune, he must clean up the mess he’s made.” Stan Sakai himself is proudly involved with every step of the production.

image c. 2022 Gaumont Televison

Seuss Your Old Man

Word came out recently from Animation World Network that even more animation based on the stories of Dr. Seuss are in the works. “Netflix and Dr. Seuss Enterprises are teaming up to bring some of the most iconic and beloved stories and characters of the Dr. Seuss world to life with five new animated preschool series and specials. The projects are inspired by stories like Horton Hears a Who!; The Sneetches; One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish; and Wacky Wednesday; [along with] characters like Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose. Executive producer Dustin Ferrer (Esme & Roy, Shimmer & Shine, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood) will serve as showrunner across all five, with additional showrunners revealed in the coming weeks. The announcement expands the partnership between Netflix and Dr. Seuss Enterprises following the launch of the critically acclaimed animated series Green Eggs and Ham in 2019, which will have its anticipated second season premiere April 8, 2022.” The various shows are a mixed bag of 2D and 3D animation. The article has more details!

image c. 2022 Netflix

Jack is Back in Black — and White

Animation World Network let us know: Dreamworks Animation have announced a new upcoming CGI animated TV series, Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight. And wouldn’t you know it, this new series features the return of none other than Jack Black as the voice of Po the panda. He’s been chatting about it on his socials. Here’s what Dreamworks says: “In the new series, 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.” No word yet from Dreamworks on a release date, but stay tooned.

image cl 2022 Dreamworks Animation

Owl’s Well That Ends Well

We haven’t discussed it much, but since its creation in 2019 the “2.5D” animated series Odo has racked up more than one nomination for the Annie Awards. Here’s what Animation World Network said about it recently: “Odo, in which a diminutive, but determined, young owl demonstrates that there’s nothing you can’t do if you set your mind to it. Intended for kids aged three to five, Odo is a Polish-Northern Irish co-production that was designed and animated in the Letko studio in Warsaw. The series, which had its US premiere in December 2021 on HBO Max’s Cartoonito, has already won the hearts of young viewers in 151 countries… In the leafy playground of Forest Camp for Young Birds – whose diverse population of feathered creatures includes silly chickens, cheeky toucans, harmonious canaries, and a vain peacock, all under the loving and watchful supervision of Camp Leader, a supremely capable and good-natured eagle – Odo, with the help of his best friend Doodle (a thoughtful little bird of unknown species) positively tackles every challenge, no matter how big.”

image c. Cartoonito

It May Require Super-Genius

Warner Brothers can often be relied upon for strange combination ideas with the properties. So check this out: “From Suicide Squad to Looney Tune Land, John Cena continues to expand his working relationship with Warner Bros., inking a deal to star in Coyote vs. Acme — a new live-action / CG animation hybrid feature that follows the misadventures of classic cartoon character Wile E. Coyote. Based on Ian Frazier’s 1990 humor article “Coyote v. Acme,” the movie is scripted by Samy Burch, and will be directed by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows helmer Dave Green. Mixing courtroom procedural and zany comedic elements, the story is centered on a down-and-out billboard lawyer who decides to represent Wile. E. Coyote in his lawsuit against ACME Corporation over its defective products. Cena will play the lawyer’s former boss, who defends ACME in the case. The film is set to go before cameras in New Mexico in late March.” What’s more, the film is set to be produced by the ever-busy James Gunn. No word on a release date yet, but we’ll be watching.

image c. 2022 Warner Brothers

Oop and Ack on TV!

The last time we saw Berke Breathed’s iconic comic strip series animated was the 1991 TV holiday special, A Wish For Wings That Work. And then, just this week, we get a new press release: “FOX Entertainment has announced the adaptation and development of Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist, screenwriter, producer, and children’s book author Berkeley Breathed’s acclaimed comic strip Bloom County into an animated series… Bento Box will serve as the animation studio on the project.” The article at Animation World Network has a lot more details. No word on a planned release date yet, or whether this will be for broadcast TV or streaming, but we do know that an animated film adaptation of Mr. Breathed’s book HitPig is supposed to be out in theaters later this year.

image c. 2022 FOX Entertainment

Kids, Cooking, and Kookiness

Looks as if people are still thinking up odd and interesting new takes on things… old and new. Try this on for size: “Perhaps one of the most memorable moments in Disney’s 1951 Alice in Wonderland was the Mad Hatter’s Mad Tea Party… It was certainly a deliciously humorous spectacle, so it’s no surprise Disney Television Animation has decided to create a heritage project where Alice’s great-granddaughter – also named Alice – has her own Wonderland bakery. ‘I started thinking about all the whimsy, the comedy, and the peculiar characters that are in the original movie and thought, wow, preschoolers are going to love this,’ remembers Emmy Award-winning writer Chelsea Beyl, creator and executive producer of the all-new series, Alice’s Wonderland Bakery… The series follows a new generation Alice (Libby Rue) as she wields her whisk in Wonderland to create wild cakes, muffins, and more in her enchanted, teapot-shaped bakery. Each 3D-animated episode is comprised of two 11-minute stories where Alice uses her baking skills to solve problems and bring people together in Wonderland.” The article at Animation World Network has a lot more, and the series has already premiered on Disney Channel and Disney Junior.

image c. 2022 Disney Television Animation

Swat Kats Return, Finally?

We’ve been hearing for a while now about a campaign by the original creators to rejuvenate the cult animated TV series Swat-Kats. Well now there’s this from Animation World Network: “The 1990’s cult classic animation Swat-Kats is set to make a comeback 28 years after the original series was produced. Show creators Christian and Yvon Tremblay have teamed up with Toonz Media Group to produce a brand-new series of the popular show featuring high-flying anthropomorphic feline fighters. The show is set in the fictional mega metropolis of Megakat City, where the two vigilante heroes fight off evil powers to keep their city from becoming a dystopian world.” Still no word on a release date, but this is a big step forward from the Kickstarter campaign.

image c. 2022 Toonz Media Group