InFurNation Rotating Header Image

Animation

Disney-esque… and Disturbing

Frank Forte is a professional storyboard artist who has worked on projects as diverse as Bob’s Burgers and Despicable Me 2. In his spare time he paints largely-monochrome works that are often very funny-animal oriented… and very, very strange. He offers many of them up as prints through his company, Asylum Press. Visit his web site (if you’re an adult!) and see what we mean. You might also see his works at local art galleries or fannish conventions. It travels a lot!

image c. 2016 by Franke Forte

image c. 2016 by Franke Forte

Save

Save

Save

An Astronomical Animation Company

This we got from Deadline: “Former ToonBox exec Jay Ahn [The Nut Job] and animation industry veteran Chris Henderson [Disney’s 101 Dalmatians TV series] have launched Astro-Nomical Entertainment, a development and production company aiming to make high-quality independent animated family films. Its first project in the works is the feature film Mean Margaret, based on the children’s book by Tor Seidler [A Rat’s Tale, The Wainscot Weasel]. Mulan co-director Barry Cook is in talks to direct… The Mean Margaret books center on a cranky toddler from a family of nine who is taken in by two woodchucks and raised as their own among a community of wacky animal characters.”

image c. 2016 Astro-Nomical Entertainment

image c. 2016 Astro-Nomical Entertainment

Save

Cartoons in Clay

Amy Wascher is a sculptor and mold-maker who works extensively with Super-Sculpey. Of late her subjects have been leaning towards pop culture in general, and cartoons in particular. And yes, that means funny animals too. Visit her web site, ClayBrushes.com, to see her current stuff plus what she’s working on now.

image c. 2016 by Amy Wascher

image c. 2016 by Amy Wascher

Save

Save

Save

One Short Rocket, One Tall Tree

More from Comic Con… Thanks to Cartoon Brew, we’ve learned that Marvel Studios have hired Passion Pictures to create a series of Rocket Raccoon and Groot animated shorts to be shown on Disney XD. “The shorts are being directed by Arnaud Delord, who is known for creating game cinematics with his creative partner Jérôme Combe under the moniker Arnaud & Jerome.” No date is set for the new shorts to be released, but the Cartoon Brew article has the test footage that Marvel recently showed. Interestingly, Passion Pictures also animated the well known “Meerkat” series of commercials for CompareTheMarket.com.

image c. 2016 Marvel Studios / Passion Pictures

image c. 2016 Marvel Studios / Passion Pictures

Return to Zootopia — Sooner Than We Thought!

Your con-trotting ed-otter did not get a chance to attend the Disney Comics panel at San Diego Comic Con, but he found out some interesting news from people who did. Drew Taylor of Oh My Disney writes, “Yesterday at San Diego Comic Con, there was a fascinating panel centering on The Dynamic World of Disney Comics. The panel was moderated by Gianfranco Cordara, Publisher for Global Magazines and Comics for Disney Publishing Worldwide and included Daron Nefcy, creator of Star vs. the Forces of Evil, Mike Siglain, creative director, Lucasfilm at Disney Publishing, and Roberto Santillo, Director, Art Development and Academia Disney. Attendees got an inside look at how fan-favorite stories, characters, and films are adapted for modern comic book audiences.” So what’s the big deal? Simply put: It appears that Disney plans on putting out a new comic book series based on Zootopia, which will continue the story from the end of the film as well as introducing new characters and new environments.  When, you ask?? No precise date was given but it was hinted it could be as early as next year. Follow the link over to Oh My Disney to check out the complete article.  We promise: You’ll learn more when we do!

image c. 2016 Walt Disney Animation

image c. 2016 Walt Disney Animation

Save

Save

Button? Button? Who’s Got The Button?

Back from San Diego Comic Con 2016, and hoo wee is there a lot to talk about! Jeff Egli describes himself as “… a professional comic artist, illustrator and friend to all frogs.” He describes what he does as “Creating fan art for all and leaving no Fandom unexplored!” To that end he created fan art pieces by the hundreds and puts them on buttons — and other collectible items, but mostly lots of buttons. Favorite fannish subjects are cartoons and comic books, which means yes: Lots and lots of furry characters make their way into his work. Look over at Jeff’s shop on his web site to see a selection of his work. Want to see more? Look for Jeff’s booth (Fandom Flare) at a comic book convention near you.

image c. 2016 by Jeff Egli

image c. 2016 by Jeff Egli

Save

One Day For Digimon

According to Animation World Network, Toei Animation and Eleven Arts are set to release the latest Digimon anime feature in an English-language version for North America this fall. Entitled Digimon Adventure tri. – Chapter 1: Reunion. (whew!), the film is set to premier as a one-day-only Fathom Events screening at select theaters, followed by a more traditional roll-out to various cities. “It’s been six years since the summer adventure when Tai (now in high school) and the rest of the DigiDestined crossed over to the Digital World and nearly three years since frenzied final battles between warring factions. With the gate to the Digital World closed, time continues to pass, until the adventure Digivolves once again.” Unfortunately, being from a different generation of Digimon, it’s unlikely that Guilmon or Renamon will make an appearance in this film. Pity! Anyway, look for this exclusive screening in one of 300 cities on September 15th.

image c. 2016 Toei Animation

image c. 2016 Toei Animation

Save

More Furry Netflix Cartoons

In addition to the aforementioned Llama Llama, we’ve learned from Cartoon Brew that Netflix have announced five more animated series coming to their streaming service over the next couple of years. At at least two of them are especially of note for furry fans: “Animated action-comedy Skylanders Academy follows the heroic adventures of the Skylanders team, a ragtag group of heroes with unique elemental skills who travel the vast Skylands universe, protecting it from evil-doers. They achieve victory by setting aside their egos, learning to trust one another and fighting as one to maintain harmony and balance in the land.” And yes, Spyro is among them. The series is set to premier on Netflix this coming fall. Then, there’s this: “Inspired by the Oscar-nominated film Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron [from Dreamworks Animation — ye ed-otter], Spirit Riding Free follows the heartfelt journey of a wild mustang who could not be tamed. A whole new generation will experience all the daring adventures when Spirit meets a girl named Lucky whose courage matches his own. Together they push limits, harness the power of friendship and discover what it means to be free.” Look for Spirit Riding Free to premier sometime in 2017.

image c. 2016 Activision

image c. 2016 Activision

Stanley the Animated TV Star

More from Animation World Network: “UK and LA-based family and entertainment production company, Komixx Media Group, announced it has secured the worldwide rights to stylish children’s author and illustrator William Bee’s colorful series Stanley. Komixx will create an animation series that will follow the adventures of Stanley the hard-working hamster and his furry friends. The lovable series [Stanley the Builder, Stanley the Farmer, and so forth — Ye Ed-Otter] comes from the British-born author and illustrator Ian Bilbey, who writes under the name William Bee. Komixx Entertainment has brought Bilbey on-board as its art director to develop Stanley into a much-loved animation character for preschoolers.” According to Andrew Cole-Bulgin, joint CEO and Head of Film & TV for Komixx Media Group, “Stanley is an independent, paws-on hamster who’s used to running the show… It’s going to be a lot of fun for Stanley, Hattie, Myrtle, Little Woo, and all their furry friends.” The show goes into production in 2017, then of course it will be looking for world-wide markets.

image c. 2016 Komixx Media Group

image c. 2016 Komixx Media Group