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He Vants to Eat Bananas!

Sep 21st, 2014
by rodney.
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Some of you may remember Banana Tail, an illustrated children’s book created by animator Mark McKenna. It told the story of  Banana Tail, a poor young brown monkey born with a shiny yellow tail. He feels like an outcast among his troupe, until he finds two equally unusual friends: Reena the pink rhinoceros and Tic Tac the checkerboard zebra. Well now Mark McKenna, Jim Calafiore, and several artistic friends bring us The Boonanna Tail Halloween Special, a one-shot full-color comic with Banana Tail and his friends celebrating the season in high style. Find out more about it at Bleeding Cool. Of course it comes out in October, with several variant covers available.

image c. 2014 Banana Tale Press

image c. 2014 Banana Tale Press

More Furry Cartoons Coming From South Africa

Nov 16th, 2013
by rodney.
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The Hollywood Reporter recently ran an article about Triggerfish — the animation studio which some refer to as the Pixar of South Africa. Following the international success of Zambezia (about a city of birds) and Khumba (about a young zebra missing half of his stripes), Triggerfish have secured funding which will allow them to begin work on two new films out of a planned slate of five. The company’s stated goal is to release one film a year starting in 2016. First out of the gate is Here Be Monsters, about a young human boy who interacts with a scary sea monster. It’s written by Raffaella Delle Donne, who worked on both the studio’s previous films. Soon after that comes Seal Team, described as “an action-comedy that pits a group of seals against the great white sharks of South Africa.” Khumba is currently screening in Africa, with plans to roll it out to the rest of the world going into 2014.

image c. 2013 Triggerfish

From Africa to Europe

Dec 21st, 2011
by rodney.
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The trailers have begun to arrive for Madagascar 3, Europe’s Most Wanted, coming next June in 3D from Dreamworks Animation (of course). It’s directed by Eric Darnell (who co-directed the first two Madagascar films) and Conrad Vernon (Monsters vs. Aliens). Here’s the plot as described by the Wikipedia entry for the film: “Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the Zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the Giraffe (David Schwimmer), and Gloria the Hippopotamus (Jada Pinkett Smith) set out to return to New York after escaping to Africa. Dependent on the mechanical know-how of the notorious monkeys and penguins, their plan inevitably goes awry and they find themselves stranded in Monte Carlo, where they try to escape Europe from animal control by joining up with a traveling circus by chance. Led by the venerable tiger Vitali, the animal-centered circus has seen better days. During the course of a tour through a series of European cities that ends in a fabulous big top in the heart of London, Alex, Marty, Melman, and Gloria help Vitaly, Gia the jaguar, and Stefano the sea lion, rediscover their passion for show business and reinvent circus performance.” In other words, they show them how to move it, move it…

image c. 2011 Dreamworks Animation

Animation from South Africa

Jan 9th, 2011
by rodney.
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Triggerfish is the name of a successful animation production house in South Africa near Capetown. Originally founded by Jacquie Trowell and Emma Kaye in 1996 to produce short films and commercials, Triggerfish are celebrating their 15-year anniversary in 2011 by announcing two upcoming CGI animated films. The first out of the starting gate is Zambezia, slated for world-wide release this year. It’s the story of a young falcon named Kai, who seeks freedom from his over-bearing father by escaping to a legendary paradise of birds… where he soon discovers that paradise may be more complicated than he thought. Up next is Khumba, the story of a strange “half-zebra” who journeys across South Africa to “earn his stripes”. Triggerfish have the trailers for both these films on their web site (Triggerfish Animation), as well as show-reels for their many short works.