From Villainous Masterminds to Rubbish Bin Miscreants, Koala Man Is on the Job
Writers and showrunners Benji Samit and Dan Hernandez provide the low-down on ‘Koala Man,’ the new Down Under animated series, a Hulu Original from Michael Cusack, Justin Roiland, and 20th Television Animation, premieres January 9.
HBO Max Cuts Hundreds of ‘Looney Tunes,’ ‘The Flintstones’ Shorts, Episodes
Due to an expired licensing agreement with Warner Bros., the mega streamer has axed Seasons 16-31 of ‘Looney Tunes,’ and Seasons 4-6 of ‘The Flintstones.’
Superprod Dreams Big with Angoulême Studio Expansion
Co-founders Clément Calvet and Jérémie Fajner went from 2 artists working in their living room to 600 artists working in Paris, Milan, and as of next month, a brand-new location – with USD pipeline - in France’s growing animation hub.
Kartoon Channel! Expands to Vizio Smart TVs and New Airline Partners
Genius Brands’ family-friendly channel includes kids animated series ‘Baby Genius,’ ‘Angry Birds,’ and Stan Lee’s ‘Superhero Kindergarten.’
Watch: Annecy Cristal Winner and Oscar Shortlisted ‘My Year of Dicks’
Based on animator Pamela Ribon’s memoir, the film - an innovative mix of collage, rotoscope, archival footage, and drawings - chronicles a young girl’s determination to lose her virginity in the early 90s in the outskirts of Houston.
‘Puss in Boots: The Last Wish’: So Much More Than Just a Sequel
Producer Mark Swift talks about the development of DreamWorks Animation’s blockbuster adventure-comedy now in theaters, and why the long-awaited swashbuckling feline’s return is his favorite of all the films he’s worked on.
Toho Acquires 50% Stake in Key Frederator Network Shows
The Japanese media company makes multi-million-dollar investment in the animated series ‘Bee and PuppyCat’ and Frederator’s ‘Bravest Warriors;’ companies to co-produce new series’ content and develop global consumer products campaign.
Todd Brian, WildBrain Director of Development, Animation, Dies at 59
The creative executive served in various positions in animation and live-action, honing his skills at Corus Entertainment prior to joining the WildBrain family; he passed away on December 28 after a short illness.
Animated Characters: Sequence 2 – My New York Times Part 2
Animator, director, character designer, teacher, and writer Nancy Beiman concludes her 2-part story – complete with dead body - on her introduction to 'commercial' animation, when she snagged her first job, at Jack Zander’s Animation Parlour in NYC, while still managing to graduate Cal Arts, in the third of an ongoing series of articles - and eventual blog - she’s penning for AWN.
Apple TV+ Announces ‘Shape Island’ Stop-Motion Kids’ Series
Coming January 20, the new animated show, based on the best-selling picture books by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen, follows the silly adventures of Square, Circle, and Triangle; also announced, ‘Helpsters’ Season 3 returns this Friday with all-new episodes.
‘ARK: The Animated Series' Season One Trailer Drops
Based on the popular dinosaur survival adventure video game ‘ARK: Survival Evolved,’ the series features an all-star cast including Gerard Butler, Russell Crowe, Michelle Yeoh, and Vin Diesel, set to release on a yet-to-be-named platform later this year.
‘Harry & Bunnie’ and ‘Chuck Chicken’ Heading to MENA
Animasia Studio inks deal with MBC Group, bringing 2 original animated series to the Middle East and North Africa; shows feature the slapstick adventures of a wannabe magician, and Chuck and the Kung Fu master with his magical egg.
FMX 2023 Shares ‘The Beauty’ Conference Trailer
Returning in April as ‘climate-friendly’ certified, the event will feature discussions on sustainability in film and media production; programming announcements include a look at animated shorts ‘A Flammable Planet’ and ‘Can’t Negotiate the Melting Point of Ice,’ and advancements of AI Rotoscoping.
NVIDIA Launches ‘Omniverse Avatar Cloud Engine’ Early-Access
New suite of cloud-native AI microservices helps developers build and deploy intelligent virtual assistants and digital humans at scale, including adding animation to any avatar built on virtually any platform – such as Unreal’s MetaHuman tech and cross-platform game avatar development tools - and deployed on any cloud.
Build-A-Bear Producing ‘Glisten and the Merry Mission’ Animated Feature
The ‘stuff it yourself’ teddy bear toy company is teaming with Foundation Media Partners on its first animated Christmas feature, complete with an all-star cast, based on the real-life Holiday plush collection star Glisten the snow deer.
NVIDIA Reveals New Omniverse AI Tools for 3D Artists
As part of tech giant’s CES Special Address, company announced Blender enhancements that include Omniverse Launcher and Audio2Face, Audio2Gesture, and Audio2Emotion — generative AI tools that enable instant 3D character animation.
‘Star Wars: The Bad Batch’ Returns for Season 2
EPs Brad Rau and Jennifer Corbett talk cloth simulations, matte paintings, and military dynamics as their hit 3DCG animated series debuts its sophomore season tomorrow, January 4, on Disney+.
NVIDIA Releases Major Omniverse Enterprise Updates
The latest release features new deployment options, new Omniverse connectors, and enhanced performance for optimized workflows that connect 3D pipelines to develop and operate large-scale, physically accurate virtual 3D worlds.
Hulu Drops ‘Koala Man’ Trailer
Debuting January 9, the original animated series about a middle-aged superhero dad, his titular not-so-secret identity, and his quest to stamp out crime in his hometown, stars Michael Cusack, Hugh Jackman, Sarah Snook, Jemaine Clement, and Demi Lardner.
Adapting Character Creator and iClone’s Procedural Tools for Virtual Productions
Piera Varda explains how he and his team at Peru-based La Escena Virtual designed and produced their ambitious animated short, ‘The Within,’ after upgrading their workflow to integrate new real-time tools that enabled much greater creative control and artistic freedom.
‘Santiago of the Seas’ Creator Niki López Completes Short for Nickelodeon
The Puerto Rico native, one of ‘Variety’s 10 Animators to Watch,’ made the film as part of Nick’s Intergalactic Shorts Program initiative to develop original comedy-driven content with an eye towards eventual series development.
Luma Pictures Helps Grow a ‘Groot’
Marvel Studios’ 5-episode collection of ‘I Am Groot’ animated shorts finds the mischievous toddler sprouting his childhood wings, produced through a close collaboration between director Kirsten Lepore and the VFX studio’s animation director, Raphael Pimentel; the series is now streaming on Disney+.
‘Paul Martin and the Magic Magnifying Glass’ Getting Animated
Creation Entertainment Media and Magic Frame Animation are teaming up to develop and produce and feature film adaptation of Georges Alexander Vagan’s detective adventure book series that follows young Paul Martin as he traverses a land of perpetual Christmas and snow.
Review: The 22nd Annual 'Animation Show of Shows'
This year’s selection of 10 shorts, including films by Patrick Smith, Gil Alkabetz, and Oscar winner Frederic Back, showcases a variety of techniques and tones in a celebration of unconventional approaches to the medium.
New Images Revealed for ‘Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham’
Three exciting first-look character images have been released for upcoming Lovecraftian animated film, including glimpses of Batman (David Giuntoli), Harvey Dent, (Patrick Fabian), Oliver Queen (Christopher Gorham), and Talia al Ghul (Emily O’Brien).
