Your Guide to the World of Furry Fandom
… and illustrator, whom we met at the CTN Animation Expo. Christina Halstead is a character designer and, yes, animator who has worked freelance on projects for outfits like Toon Boom and games like Beast’s Fury. Her personal art web site is called Shadowed Brush Creations — there you can find sketches, character paintings, and even short animation samples from her work.
image c. 2015 by Christina Halstead
Over at Cartoon Brew there’s an article about Wish Police, the next big film project to come out of Reel FX (home of Free Birds and The Book of Life). “Based on a novella of the same name by Daniel Nayer, Wish Police takes place in a world where children’s bad wishes come to life as mayhem-making villains, and a secret organization called The Wish Police must work full-time to apprehend the evildoers. The Wish Police are led by Saul, an ex-genie determined to atone for centuries of granting his masters’ evil wishes, and Kong, a wise-cracking monkey and royal pain in the leg. In the film, Saul and Kong must break their personal rules and team up with a 12-year-old boy named Randy who has made a particularly bad wish and unleashed the most powerful wish villain ever seen.” The film is to be directed by three young filmmakers from Spain, Adrian Garcia, Alfredo Torres, and Victor Maldonado, “who are collectively known as Headless”. The CGI film is being produced by Kirk Bodyfelt (Cloudy with A Chance of Meatballs 2) and written by some folks who worked on Kung Fu Panda. The film is scheduled for release in late 2017.
image c. 2015 Reel FX
And how did we miss this bit, Doc? As DC Comics have been the home of the Looney Tunes comic series for a while now, this last November they decided to go completely, yes, looney: More than two dozen of DC’s well-known superhero titles were released last month featuring variant covers where Bugs Bunny and his pals (some well-known, some obscure except to the True Warner Brother Aficionado!) invaded the world of Superman and Batman and their pals. And these covers were created by some of the best and most well-known DC artists working now. Fortunately for those of us who can’t afford to buy that many comics in a month (especially just for the cool covers!), DC has been kind enough to collect all 25 covers on their web site for you to peruse.
image c. 2015 DC Comics
First the art of My Little Pony the TV series — now, the art of My Little Pony the comic books. Thanks to IDW, of course. They’ve released My Little Pony: Art is Magic, a nearly 150-page trade paperback of works from the various My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic comic book series. “Read along as fan-favorite artists Amy Mebberson, Sara Richard, Tony Fleecs, Andy Price, Brenda Hickey, and Agnes Garbowska showcase a selection of their most cherished pieces, provide insight into their process, and share the identities of their favorite ponies!” Each artist has also created a special unique pin-up piece just for this collection. Take a look over at Barnes & Noble to find out more.
image c. 2015 IDW Publishing
All fans of classic animation history should learn about Walt Disney’s Silly Symphony series — if you don’t know about it already. Which means you should probably check out Walt Disney’s Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series (whew!) by film historians J.B. Kaufman and Russell Merritt. Here’s what the publishers said on Amazon: “Launched by Walt Disney in 1929 as a ‘musical novelty’ series to complement his recent success with Mickey Mouse, the Silly Symphonies soon became much more. This line of delightfully innovative, animated cartoons ran for ten years and produced such classics as Three Little Pigs, The Tortoise and the Hare, Music Land, and The Old Mill. Silly Symphonies won every Academy Award. From the authors of the prize-winning Walt in Wonderland: The Silent Films of Walt Disney, this richly illustrated volume is a complete history of the Silly Symphonies including detailed entries for all the Symphonies along with a lengthy critical analysis and production history of the series.” Published previously in Europe, the book is available now in English.
image c. 2015 La Cineteca
It seems hard to believe that an enterprise as long-lived as My Little Pony hasn’t had a production art book created for it… Thank goodness for Mary Jane Begin, who finally brought us My Little Pony: The Art of Equestria (in hardcover, from Abrams). Rather appropriate that it celebrates (mostly) the latest incarnation of the show: “My Little Pony: The Art of Equestria presents, for the first time, a deep exploration of the art and illustrations from this beloved animated series, Friendship Is Magic. Beginning with the show’s premiere and taking readers through its fifth season, the book offers an amazing collection of the art and design that bring this wonderful series to life. The book takes readers behind the scenes of the show and explores how favorite characters and the landscape of Equestria came to look as they are today. Beyond the television show, My Little Pony: The Art of Equestria also examines the intriguing fan culture—including the fan art movement inspired by Friendship Is Magic. With a rich array of con- ceptual art, episode storyboards, and memorable scenes from the show, My Little Pony: The Art of Equestria is the ultimate guidebook, collector’s item, and fan keepsake.” And you can get it now at Barnes & Noble.
image c. 2015 Abrams
According to Cartoon Brew, Yoyotoki is a young vixen who “…was raised with cell phones, computers, and all of the other gadgets and trappings of modern life, but her parents soon got tired of the rat race and decided to move to the countryside, where they encountered a tornado and found themselves in a strange land called Mytholopia, a beautiful world filled with waterfall farms, rainbow forests, and desert canyons.” So says Niki Yang, creator of Yoyotoki: Happy Ears!, a new proposed animated TV series. Ms. Yang is known in animation circles for her work on shows like Fanboy and Chum Chum, Family Guy, Gravity Falls, Clarence, and Adventure Time. Now she’s brought us the adventures of Yoyotoki (and her friends, “…a fantastically elastic gummy bear named Steak and a sloppy pig named Hotwings…”) as her bid to be the next pilot show that’s picked up for production by Amazon Studios. Check out the Cartoon Brew article to find out more about the show and how to vote for it. You can also check out the pilot itself over at Sidereel and see for yourself.
Image c. 2015 Titmouse
This is direct from Animation Magazine’s web site: “Brown Bag Films and Cyber Group Studios have launched production on Gilbert & Allie, a new animated series that has been acquired by Disney Channel EMEA. Created and directed by Bronagh O’Hanlon, Gilbert & Allie is an odd-couple supernatural comedy about the sparks and spells that fly when a teenage girl discovers she has wizardly powers. Unfortunately, those powers can only be harnessed in partnership with an ancient and extremely grumpy magical rabbit that just wants to retire. Produced in France and Ireland, Allie’s adventures as a wizard-in-training facing the everyday challenges of a teenage girl will be animated in CG, while her visits with Gilbert to the magical realm will be created in 2D. Aimed at ages 8-11, the series will launch on Disney Channel in Europe in 2017.” Aw, those European kids, they get everything! We’ll let you know if we hear any word of Gilbert & Allie being released in North America between now and then.
image c. 2015 Brown Bag Films
Interesting series you probably never heard of. Yoohoo & Friends is both a 2D animated TV Show and a toy line created by Aurora World in South Korea. According to Wikipedia, “Officially developed in 2007, the series was created to educate children about protection and preservation of the environment and encourages parents and their children to appreciate friendship, harmony, honesty and courage.” The star is a young bush baby named Yoohoo, hoo (gotcha!) travels with world having adventures with his young friends — all of them representing endangered species. The series has been picked up for distribution in North America. No sign of it yet — except in Europe and Asia — but you can see episodes (in English no less) on YouTube.
image c. 2015 Aurora World
