Top Animation News is a weekly column that rounds up the biggest, best and breaking stories from the animation industry. This edition covers May 3 to 10, 2019.
1. 2019 Daytime Emmys winners announced
The 46th annual Daytime Emmy Awards were last Friday, with Baobao Studio’s CG short film Crow: The Legend soaring away with four prizes. Among the animated series that took home two awards were Nickelodeon’s The Loud House, Netflix’s Ask the Storybots, Amazon’s Tumble Leaf and Disney Channel’s Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventures — planned in Toon Boom Storyboard Pro and produced in Toon Boom Harmony by Mercury Filmworks. The 2D studio also had another Daytime Emmy win with Hilda in the Main Title and Graphic Design for an Animated Program category.
See the full list of 2019 Daytime Emmy Awards winners on “Cartoon Brew”.
2. Fox-Disney release schedule stretches into 2027
Since their $71-billion merger earlier this year, Disney and Fox have made adjustments to their release schedule stretching all the way to 2027. This includes three mystery Star Wars films and four Avatar sequels, though still no official word on next year’s Marvel slate. Additionally, there are multiple animated projects on the list including Frozen 2, the Bob’s Burgers movie and three Untitled Disney Animation movies between 2020 and 2022.
Review the full Disney-Fox release schedule on “Deadline”.
Source: 5-0 Entertainment
3. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle inspire new animated series
Not even a week after the birth of the new royal baby, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, a new animated series inspired by his parents has been announced. Titled Royalty, the toon is being created by 5-0 Entertainment and is currently in preproduction. “Perhaps the greatest lesson that the Royalty animation series holds is the idea that one should ‘keep moving forward,’” says executive producer Melanie Greene.
Ascend into more Royalty details on “Entertainment Tonight Canada”.
4. Wendy and Lizzie Molyneux sign overall deal with 20th Century Fox Television
Bob’s Burgers writers and co-executive producers Wendy and Lizzie Molyneux have signed a three-year overall deal with 20th Century Fox Television. Under the agreement, the pair will continue to work on the hit toon as well as another animated series in the works, The Great North, and develop new projects. This is the 11th overall deal 20th Century Fox Television has signed since it joined the Walt Disney Company as studios and streaming services continue to compete over talent.
Dig into the Molyneux overall deal details on “Variety”.
Source: Adult Swim
5. Birdgirl gets greenlit by Adult Swim
A Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law 2D animated spinoff, Birdgirl, has officially gotten the green light from Adult Swim. Paget Brewster will continue to voice the titular character after playing her on the parent series, which originally ran from 2001 to 2007 and was brought back as a special in 2018: Harvey Birdman, Attorney General. Birdgirl follows the eponymous heroine who also happens to be the CEO of the world’s largest and most nonsensical corporation, and will be animated by Awesome, Inc.
Fly into all the Adult Swim Birdgirl info on “The Hollywood Reporter”.
6. Fox orders Loren Bouchard’s The Great North
Bob’s Burgers creator and executive producer Loren Bouchard has a new upcoming animated series with Fox: The Great North. Following the Alaskan adventures of the Tobin family, including single dad Beef and his kids, the show already has an all-star voice cast attached including Nick Offerman, Jenny Slate, Megan Mullally, Paul Rust, Aparna Nancherla, Will Forte, and Dulcé Sloan. The Great North joins Bless the Harts and Duncanville on Fox’s growing slate of animated comedies in development.
Head over to “TV Guide” for more about Fox’s The Great North.
7. Toonz Media Group celebrates 20th anniversary
India’s largest animation studio, Toonz Media Group, celebrated its 20th anniversary at the 2019 edition of its two-day Animation Masters Summit (AMS) in Trivandrum, Kerala. This year’s theme was ‘Connecting Content: Seeing the Big Picture’ and highlights included speaks from Indian and international industry leaders. Among them was Bernard Boiteux, Toon Boom’s Asia-Pacific sales director, who gave the closing address and spoke about the Southeast Asian country’s strong position to grow with the booming global market.
Catch the full Toonz Media Group Animation Masters Summit recap on “Animation Xpress”.
8. VIDEO: Funan gets a full-length trailer from GKIDS
Distributor GKIDS has debuted a full-length trailer for award-winning French-Cambodian animated feature Funan — brought to life in Storyboard Pro and Harmony. Directed by Denis Do, it is inspired by his own mother’s journey and follows a young woman fighting for survival in 1970s Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge regime. Funan will receive a limited release in select New York theatres beginning June 7 and heads to LA on June 14.
Watch the full-length Funan trailer above and read more about it on “Animation Magazine”.
9. Esme & Roy are back for a second season
After a successful first season, Sesame Workshop and Corus Entertainment’s Nelvana are bringing children’s cartoon Esme & Roy back for a sophomore run. It will include 26 x 11-minute episodes and a 22-minute special that will air on Treehouse (Canada) and HBO (US) in early 2020. Esme & Roy follows the eponymous monster sitters as they help creatures work through everyday situations, and is created in Toon Boom animation software.
Scare up some more Esme & Roy season two details on “Kidscreen”.
10. The Mighty Grand Piton combines Caribbean culture and anime
While most would consider anime a style of the Far East, it headed straight south to the Caribbean with The Mighty Grand Piton. Created by Wesley Louis, the animated short honours his Saint Lucian roots and follows a young British girl who returns to the island to reconnect with her family’s roots — and stumbles upon a hidden giant robot. He worked with East London company No Ghost to create a hand-drawn animation cell look using 3D techniques.
Check out The Might Grand Piton short above and read an interview with Louis on “Fader”.
What Top Animation News were you most excited about this week? Was there something we forgot to mention? Let us know in the comments below!
Banner image source: Disney
