In This Week in Animation News, I’ll take a look at the previous week in the world of animation in order to get you caught up on everything you might have missed. It’s your one-stop shop for news regarding cartoons, anime, and animated web series. We’re talking movies, TV shows, digital shorts, and everything in between!

For the latest animation stories we’ve already covered on the site this week, take a look at the following links. Then, check out a selection of new stories below. Be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments!

• ‘How to Train Your Dragon 3’ Title and Synopsis Revealed
• ‘Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay’ Aggressively Earns Its R Rating While Still Having Heart
• Guillermo del Toro Extends DreamWorks Animation Partnership with Exclusive Deal
• ‘Angry Birds 2’ Cast Announced; Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad & Danny McBride Returning

Captain Planet and The Planeteers premiered on Boomerang this week and the full first season is free for everyone to watch through April 22nd, a.k.a. Earth Day. The 26 available episodes of the 90s cartoon classic feature the title heroes taking down looters and polluters, featuring appearances by such actors as Whoopi Goldberg, Meg Ryan, Martin Sheen, Sting and more!

As a very cool bonus, just by watching these episodes, Boomerang is going to donate up to $50,000 to the Captain Planet Foundation. But the total amount will be based on the streaming views tallied up this weekend, so be sure to tune in!

Feature Episodes:

• The Conqueror (episode 6) - An aggressive and sneaky Earth spirit named Zarm tricks the teens into disobeying Gaia, sparking a dangerous game that threatens to lead to nuclear war. (Whoopi Goldberg, Sting)

• Volcano's Wrath (episode 10) - Sludge solves the world's trash problem by dumping everything into a volcano, which then erupts. (Whoopi Goldberg, Martin Sheen)

• Don't Drink the Water (episode 17) - Plunder, Skumm and Greedly pollute the nation's water supply. (Whoopi Goldberg, Jeff Goldblum, Meg Ryan)

GKIDS Brings Mamoru Hosoda's 'Mirai' to Cannes

GKIDS, the acclaimed producer and distributor of animation for adult and family audiences, announced that the animated feature Mirai from Japan's Studio Chizu will screen at the Cannes Film Festival in the Directors' Fortnight section. The film is written and helmed by Mamoru Hosoda, the celebrated director behind The Boy and the Beast, Wolf Children, Summer Wars, and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. GKIDS will release the film theatrically this fall.

Mirai follows a young boy named Kun who feels forgotten by his family when his little sister Mirai arrives. Running away from home, Kun stumbles upon a magical garden that serves as time-traveling gateway where he encounters his mother as a little girl and has a series of adventures with his baby sister all grown up, opening up a new perspective on his world.

GKIDS' titles previously appearing in Director's Fortnight at Cannes include Ernest & Celestine, The Tale of The Princess Kaguya, and My Life as a Zucchini, all of which went on to become Best Animated Feature Academy Award-nominees for the company.

VRV's 'Gary and His Demons' Takes Cues from 'Rick and Morty'

Created by Mark Little (Picnicface, Space Riders and Mr. D.) a new show coming to VRV, called Gary and His Demons, might just hold you over until Rick and Morty returns. This is the first original show to debut exclusively on VRV and can be found under Mondo's channel.

Here's what it's about:

Gary is 45 and he’s understandably tired. His hairline is receding, he wears horn-rimmed glasses, and he’s just chased his final demon before his long overdue retirement. Upon return to his office, Gary finds that his boss has, once again, failed to find his replacement and Gary and his lame-ass partner Hanley, will be forced to keep fighting demons. He’s beyond pissed. Gary rages against his demon fighting responsibilities, shirking them whenever possible while selfishly pursuing anything other than demon hunting.

'Little Big Awesome' Series Comes to Amazon

Little Big Awesome follows Gluko and Lennon, the two best friends ever of all time in the history of everything. While having weird and wonderful adventures around Townopolis, these besties help the citizens live their best lives, even if helping sometimes causes more problems than it solves.

 

Two inseparable buddies, Gluko and Lennon, are in for a wonderfully strange adventure! Not only must they get a lost little bubble back home to Bubble Land, they need to make it back in time to stop a group of adorable yet naughty kittens from messing up Grandma's house.

Amazon Studios recently announced that Little Big Awesome, the Daytime Emmy Award-winning show, will premiere with six half-hour episodes on Friday, April 27th on Prime Video in over 200 territories. Animated and produced by Titmouse (Niko and the Sword of Light, Big Mouth and Venture Bros.), Little Big Awesome features “Weird Al” Yankovic as The Sun and with musical performances by Grammy Award-winner Aimee Mann, as well as Yankovic.

Written, developed and executive produced by Ben Gruber (SpongeBob SquarePants and Superjail!), and created by Tomi Dieguez (TRONCO), Little Big Awesome is a comedy for all ages that combines 2D animation, puppetry, and real animals with live action footage set in the whimsically weird world of Townopolis. The two colorful and adorable central characters are Gluko, a shapeshifting pink Jelly Giant, and Lennon, Gluko’s small, beanie-toting best friend. Viewers will also meet the notorious Mr. Sprinkles (a kitty with an eye patch), Claude the Buff Hamster, Fluffy Smoosh, and Stuhven, an adorable character who lives in Lennon’s hat.

"Walt Disney’s Nine Old Men: Masters of Animation" Exhibit Arrives Next Month

The Walt Disney Family Museum is pleased to announce its newest upcoming special exhibition, "Walt Disney’s Nine Old Men: Masters of Animation", on view to the public from May 17, 2018 through January 7, 2019. Guest-curated by Don Hahn, Academy Award®–nominated producer of Beauty and the Beast (1991) and The Lion King (1994), this unique exhibition will celebrate the distinctive talents and contributions of The Walt Disney Studios’ most celebrated artists playfully dubbed the “Nine Old Men” by Walt, the famed nine were: Les Clark, Marc Davis, Ollie Johnston, Milt Kahl, Ward Kimball, Eric Larson, John Lounsbery, Wolfgang Reitherman, and Frank Thomas.

"Masters of Animation" will feature an array of artwork and family mementoes from each of the Nine Old Men, including sketchbooks, caricatures, and snapshots, as well as original art from the classic films Pinocchio (1940), Bambi (1942), Peter Pan (1953), Lady and the Tramp (1955), and Sleeping Beauty (1959). “We are honored to work with Don Hahn,” said Kirsten Komoroske, executive director of The Walt Disney Family Museum. “He has comprehensive and personal knowledge of the work of Walt’s core animators and has created an immersive experience for our visitors.” Personal art, paintings, sculptures, flip-books, and hundreds of original animation drawings will all be on display, alongside documentary interviews with these masters of animation as well as rarely seen pencil tests and final color scenes that showcase their genius.

In conducting his extensive research on the Nine Old Men, Hahn sat down with each of the animators’ families for in-depth discussions, unearthing details about the unique backgrounds and personalities of the men behind iconic Disney characters and films. “This exhibition presented a rare chance to work with the families of the Nine Old Men, who opened their homes and collections to us,” said Hahn. “This gives us a chance to show a spectacular collection of personal artifacts and ephemera—items never seen by the public—that help tell each animator’s individual story and reveal how they collectively elevated character animation to an art form.”

With hundreds of objects on display, most of which have been generously loaned to the museum by the Walt Disney Animation Research Library, by Disney Legend and animator Andreas Deja, or are from the museum’s own extensive collection of artwork, visitors will have the opportunity to view rarely exhibited and never-before-seen artworks.

The Nine Old Men had an enduring influence on The Walt Disney Studios’ culture and animation techniques. Their work and mentorship helped nurture a new generation of animators and filmmakers, including Don Hahn and Andreas Deja, and others such as Brad Bird, Tim Burton, Brenda Chapman, Ron Clements, Glen Keane, John Lasseter, John Musker, and Floyd Norman.

"Walt Disney’s Nine Old Men: Masters of Animation" is organized by The Walt Disney Family Museum and will be presented in the Diane Disney Miller Exhibition Hall from May 17, 2018 through January 7, 2019. Support provided by Google.