‘Beast,’ ‘People in Motion’ Lead Annecy 2021 Special Award Winners
Festival announces 12 films receiving special recognition, partner awards, or additional honors bestowed outside the Official competition.
‘Flee’ and ‘Peel’ Take Top Cristal Awards at Annecy 2021
Films by Jonas Poher Rasmussen and Samuel Patthey & Silvain Monney among 20 winners at the 45th festival edition, held both on-site and virtually, finally able to celebrate its 60th anniversary postponed from 2020 when the event was forced online due to the pandemic.
‘Masha and the Bear’s French TV Expansion Continues
Animaccord inks deals with leading French TV platforms for new content; preschool spinoff ‘Nursery Rhymes’ hits the airways in early June, with ‘Masha and The Bear’ Season 5 coming soon.
Vivi Film and Dandelooo Team Up on ‘The Upside Down River’
2D animated series, based on the children’s novel ‘La rivière à l’envers’ by Jean Claude Mourlevat, follows the quest of a young girl and the boy whose world she turns ‘Upside Down;’ production to begin late 2021 with delivery in 2023.
Trove of New Images Drop for ‘Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One’
Check out 11 new snaps showing some of the action, grim reaction, and memorable moments to come, in Warner Bros. Home Entertainment’s next entry in the DC Universe movie series, coming to Blu-ray and Digital June 22.
‘Dino Ranch’ Preschool Series Now on Disney+
Giddy Up! The popular animated show follows the Cassidy family working their farm and wrangling dinosaurs in 'pre-westoric’ times; produced by Industrial Brothers and Boat Rocker Studios, the show originally debuted on Disney Junior in January 2021.
Celebrate Juneteenth with Cartoon Network’s ‘Drawn To’ Series
Three new installments mark the end of slavery in the U.S.; episodes feature activist Ms. Opal Lee, Saniya, the first national Miss Juneteenth winner, and the ancestor of Major General Granger, who read the proclamation in Texas that declared all slaves were free.
‘Luca’ Delights with the Sounds of an Italian Summer of Fun
Director Enrico Casarosa and composer Dan Romer expertly blend 50s-60s pop music with opera and a Felliniesque vibe for a lively, energetic, and emotionally satisfying score; Disney and Pixar’s latest gem premieres today on Disney+.
APC Kids’ Zephyr Animation Inks Co-Development Deal with Super RTL
Currently in development, Copernicus Studio’s upcoming 2D animated adventure kids’ series ‘Lana Longbeard’ follows a feisty girl hitting the high seas with her Viking dad; production is slated to begin later this year.
‘Mush-Mush and the Mushables’ Gets Season 2 Greenlight
Season 1 rolls out in 150 territories this year including Cartoon Network and HBO Max in the U.S.; Season 2 will air on Canal+ Family, Piwi+ and MyCanal in France.
Ferly and Toonz Ink Co-Production Deal
The Finnish animation studio teams up with Toonz Media Group on the new animated series ‘Kingdom of None;’ Season 1 is expected to launch mid-2023.
Disney Channel Greenlights ‘Kiff’ Buddy Comedy
The “nutty” animated series about an optimistic but prone to chaos squirrel and her best friend Barry the Bunny, from South African creators Lucy Heavens and Nic Smal, was revealed today at Annecy 2021; series set to debut in 2023.
Paramount+ Lets the Dogs Out in a ‘Paw Patrol’ Summer!
The incredibly popular franchise kicks off its summer of fun with ‘Paw Patrol Live! At Home,’ now streaming, followed by ‘Paw Patrol: The Movie’ in theaters and streaming August 20; Seasons 1-5 of the animated preschool also now available.
Netflix Drops ‘Robin Robin’ First look Teaser and Art
Produced by Aardman Animation and featuring puppets made from felt, the stop-motion musical special, starring Gilliam Anderson and Richard E Grant, hits the streamer in time for the holidays this year; directors share project insights at Annecy 2021 work in progress panel.
Producers Chris Bremble and Aron Warner Unpack Their ‘Wish Dragon’ Journey
For the BASE Media CEO and Oscar-winning ‘Shrek’ franchise producer, nothing was accidental about their critically acclaimed new animated feature, now streaming on Netflix, other than the fact they actually got it made.
HBO Max Drops ‘Tom and Jerry in New York’ Trailer
The crazy duo brings their ‘Cat & Mouse’ antics to the Big Apple, where they leave chaos in their wake; Warner Bros. Animation’s all-new 2D animated series premieres July 1.
Nick Sets Back-to-Back ‘The Patrick Star Show’ and ‘Middlemost Post’ Debuts
Journey to Bikini Bottom and Mount Middlemost in trailers for the network’s all-new series, filled with colorful characters, silly stories, and plenty of physical comedy, premiering July 9.
Weta Digital and Autodesk Team on WetaM Creative Cloud Service
New subscription service productizes Weta’s Oscar-winning Maya-based proprietary VFX tools, providing artists access to one complete stage to screen Maya-based pipeline.
Warner Releases New ‘Space Jam: A New Legacy’ Trailer
The animated/live-action hybrid comedy stars basketball legend LeBron James on an epic adventure to save his kid; in theaters and HBO Max July 16.
NVIDIA Omniverse Design Challenge Now Live
#CreateWithMarbles: Marvelous Machines invites participants to design an outrageous race-track-style contraption for marbles; submission deadline is July 30.
Lenovo Launches New ThinkPad Workstations for Post-Pandemic Work Environments
The next generation ThinkPad P1, P15, and P17, teamed with new ThinkVision P34w-20 monitor and Thunderbolt 4 workstation dock, provide professional users the flexibility to work from anywhere.
Calabash Creates Mischievously Delicious ‘Loki Charms’ Spot for Marvel
The long-time Lucky Charms commercial production house magically transforms Lucky the Leprechaun into something much darker in cross-promotion campaign for the new Disney+ series.
Podcast EP117: Stop-Motion Director Sinem Sakaoglu on Building a Career In Germany
The film, commercial, and music video director shares what it was like moving from Turkey to the U.S., and finally Germany, in pursuit of a creatively fulfilling animation career.
Disney Junior Reveals New ‘Spidey’ and ‘Mickey Mouse’ Preschool Series
‘Marvel's Spidey and his Amazing Friends’ and ‘Mickey Mouse Funhouse’ premiere in August, starring iconic characters set in new stories for kids and families; both series will be simulcast on Disney Channel and Disney Junior.
Crunchyroll and Adult Swim Reveal ‘Fena: Pirate Princess’ Trailer and Art
Coming this summer from Kazuto Makazawa and Production I.G., anime series follows a young girl and her samurai crew, on the run from pirates and the English Navy, as they hunt for unimaginable treasure and adventure.
