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!
Not a lot of news to keep up with this week, but what we have is kind of all over the place. As you could tell by our headline, there's a new documentary coming to NHK WORLD TV called Never-Ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki that centers on the acclaimed artist and his return to the craft after a self-imposed retirement. Elsewhere, Neil Gaiman's poem "Hate for Sale" gets a stop-motion animation treatment in a new short film. And the anything-but-traditional band Gorillaz might just be getting an animated series that best befits their style and substance.
We also have new details on the theatrical release and bonkers Blu-ray features for the upcoming animated film Resident Evil: Vendetta. This week also saw the debut of the YouTube Red animated series, Fruit Ninja: Frenzy Force; we've had a lot of coverage on that cartoon this week, but you can meet the title team and learn their story in new trailers seen below. There's also a fair amount of industry news, like Nickelodeon's fun new Entertainment Lab, confirmed interest in Funimation on the part of Universal and Sony's film companies, and a big delay for an anticipated animated film from Warner Bros.
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!
- Exclusive ‘Fruit Ninja: Frenzy Force’ Clip Sees the Title Team Spring into Action
- ‘Cars 3′: Here’s How a Pixar Movie Gets Animated
- YouTube Red's 'Fruit Ninja: Frenzy Force' Series Is a Super Silly, Kid-Friendly Cut-Up
'Never-Ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki' Documentary Spotlights the Studio Ghibli Co-Founder
After a lifetime (or most of one) dedicated to the traditional craft of hand-drawn animation, Studio Ghibli co-founder and Oscar-winner Hayao Miyazaki may have just found new life in computer-generated animation. That's the crux of a new documentary from NHK titled Never-Ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki.
The trailer seen above (via Little White Lies) teases an intimate look into the life and career of Miyazaki, focusing on the acclaimed artist's announced retirement, resulting difficulties in giving up his passion, and return to the craft of animation, though with a twist. It seems the computer-generated critter Boro the Caterpillar has rekindled Miyazaki's interest, so much so that he'll now learn an entirely new form of animation ... in his mid-70s.
Director Kaku Arakawa's Never-Ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki airs on NHK WORLD TV on June 3rd at 16:10 and 22:10, and again on June 4th at 4:10 and 10:10.
Neil Gaiman's Poem 'Hate for Sale' Comes to Life in Stop-Motion Short
"Hate for Sale", a stop-motion animated film about the world we live in. Created for the Visible Poetry Project 2017 using an original poem by Neil Gaiman, narrated by Peter Kenny, directed and animated by Anna Eijsbouts.
Hate for Sale
Hate for sale. All the very best
Hate for sale. Vintage stuff.
Do my cries excite your interest?
Lovely hate. Your life is rough.
Buy my hate. You'll come right back for more.
Hate for sale. Enough to start a war.
Hate the rich, the brown, the black, the poor.
Hate is clean. And hate will make you sure.
Hate for sale. You'll feel superior.
Hate for sale. You'll make the news.
Hate the families who come here fleeing war.
Hate the gay. The trans. The new. The Jews.
Don't need to care who you detest
Hate makes you feel a whit less scared
To know that your group is the best
And burn to ashes all the rest
Who will not face the real test
But showed up naked, unprepared
To be sent back, or drowned, or hurled
back into the abyss. Your world
will be so safe, so clean, so great.
And all you needed was some hate.
Hate for sale. All the very best
Hate for sale. Vintage stuff.
Do my cries excite your interest?
Hate for sale. Never enough.
Gorillaz to Get an Animated Series
Exclaim! sat down with Gorillaz artist Jamie Hewlett to talk about upcoming plans for the hit virtual band. Among the many things appearing on the calendar over the next couple of years is an animated TV series for which they have a 10-episode order and a 2018 target release date. Here's what Hewlett had to say:
"I'll direct the first and the last one, but we'll have to get someone in to direct the other episodes. I think even attempting to do it all by myself will kill me."
Don't expect computer-generated characters or 3D gimmicks, however, since the project is planned as a traditionally animated series:
"They'll be that way from now on. I think it's a beautiful style of animation. Everybody does CG now, and it is great when you're making backgrounds, like environments and landscapes, but not the actual characters. I'm still very much inspired by the work of Chuck Jones, and I love that animation. It's art. I'd like to keep the characters in that style for the rest of this campaign. So the characters on the show will be 2D, but everything else is up for grabs."
So expect Murdoc, 2D, Noodles and Russel to appear in the way you've become accustomed to seeing them, though "real footage with real people talking to the characters" may appear.
We'll have guest appearances in the series by various artists that appear on the album or whoever we happen to write into the series. Or it could be a mix of collage and photography and a bit of CG as well.
Head over to Exclaim! for more from Hewlett.
'Resident Evil: Vendetta' Blu-ray Details Emerge
Resident Evil: Vendetta, the action-packed third installment in the state-of-the-art CG animated franchise from executive producer Takashi Shimizu (director of The Grudge), debuts on digital June 20th and on 3-Disc 4K Ultra HD™/Blu-ray™ Combo Pack, 2-disc Blu-ray™ and DVD July 18th from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The 4K Ultra HD disc will feature both Dolby Vision™ high-dynamic range (HDR) and Dolby Atmos® immersive audio, making it the first title from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment to feature both technologies.
Based on “Resident Evil™,” one of the bestselling video game franchises of all time, the film will also be released in select movie theaters nationwide June 19th for a special one-night event from Fathom Events, Park Circus and Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions. Featuring the return of fan favorite characters Chris Redfield (Kevin Dorman) and Leon S. Kennedy (Matthew Mercer) as well as the film debut of Rebecca Chambers (Erin Cahill), Resident Evil: Vendetta follows the trio as they aim to stop the spread of a deadly virus that threatens to destroy New York City.
Synopsis:
BSAA Chris Redfield enlists the help of government agent Leon S. Kennedy and Professor Rebecca Chambers from Alexander Institute of Biotechnology to stop a death merchant with a vengeance from spreading a deadly virus in New York.
Directed by Takanori Tsujimoto with a screenplay by Makoto Fukami (Psycho Pass), Resident Evil: Vendetta was produced by Hiroyasu Shinohara and executive produced by Takashi Shimizu, with music by Kenji Kawai (Ghost in the Shell).
4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo Pack and 2-disc Blu-ray™ Bonus Materials Include:
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Three Featurettes:
- “The Creature”
- “Motion Capture Set Tour with Dante Carver”
- “CGI to Reality: Designing Vendetta”
- Still gallery (30 sketches/designs)
- Filmmaker Audio Commentary (in Japanese) with Director Takanori Tsujimoto, Executive Producer Takashi Shimizu and Writer Makoto Fukami
In addition, Best Buy will offer an exclusive Steelbook packaging for the 3-Disc 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray™ Combo Pack.
BONUS DISC with three featurettes:
- “BSAA Mission Briefing: Combat Arias”
- “Designing The World of Vendetta”
- “2016 Tokyo Game Show Footage”
Digital Extras Include:
-
Three Featurettes:
- “The Creature”
- “Walk-around on set (motion-capture) with Dante Carver”
- “CGI to Reality: Designing Vendetta”
- Still gallery (30 sketches/designs)
- Filmmaker Audio Commentary (in Japanese) with Director Takanori Tsujimoto, Executive Producer Takashi Shimizu and Writer Makoto Fukami
DVD Bonus Materials Include:
- Still gallery (30 sketches/designs)
- Filmmaker Audio Commentary (in Japanese) with Director Takanori Tsujimoto, Executive Producer Takashi Shimizu and Writer Makoto Fukami
Resident Evil: Vendetta has a run time of approximately 97 minutes and is rated R for bloody violence throughout.
Warner Bros. Delays the Animated Film 'Scooby' Until 2020
Scooby, the feature-length, animated film that Warner Bros. had set for a September 21, 2018 release date back in 2015, is now being bumped another couple of years, according to Variety. The new date for Scoob & the Gang is now May 15, 2020.
Emmy-winning animation veteran Tony Cervone will direct the new Scooby-Doo movie alongside co-director Dax Shepard. Charles Roven and Richard Suckle will also be on board for the animated adventure. Allison Abbate, who brings experience from such animated features as Space Jam, The Iron Giant, and The LEGO Movie, will also produce.
Also on the creative side of the new Scooby-Doo is Executive Producer Dan Povenmire, co-creator of Phineas and Ferb. The script was written by Matt Lieberman.
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Nickelodeon Launches Entertainment Lab
Nickelodeon, the number-one kids entertainment brand, announced the launch of its new Burbank-based Nickelodeon Entertainment Lab, which will spearhead long-range research and development efforts around new technologies for Nick and its audience.
“Our Entertainment Lab is a way to give our artists and creators access to innovative tools to inspire new ways to tell stories for the next generation of kids,” said Cyma Zarghami, President, Nickelodeon Group. “We are working with technology partners, gaming and visual effects companies and our own creators to bring our IP to new platforms, in new formats, and faster.”
The Nickelodeon Entertainment Lab will work to develop new entertainment experiences for kids by identifying and experimenting with new trends in technology and emerging platforms to create new creative capabilities and entertainment. Some of the areas Nickelodeon is currently working on include real-time rendering, virtual cinema, virtual reality, augmented and mixed reality and artificial intelligence. The Nickelodeon Entertainment Lab will focus on building prototypes to test new ideas, collaborating on innovation with creators, and shaping strategy around production capabilities to fuel future content opportunities.
The Lab will be headed by Chris Young, Senior Vice President, Nickelodeon Entertainment Lab. Young previously served as Executive Creative Director, Nickelodeon Animation Lab, where he focused on exploring and engineering alternative animation pipelines. Prior to that role, he held the title of Producer at the Nickelodeon Animation Studio in Burbank. Young reports to Matthew Evans, Executive Vice President, Digital & New Business and James Stephenson, Senior Vice President, Original Animation.
Universal Pictures and Sony Show Interest in Funimation
Bloomberg (via Comicbook.com) reports that both Universal Pictures and Sony Pictures are interested in Funimation Productions Ltd., the company that anime fans know quite well as an American importer/dubber of popular Japanese titles. Why is Hollywood turning an eye to Funimation after all these years? Well, home video performers like the Dragon Ball series and homerun theatrical releases like Your Name are bucking tradition and trends, offering up more bang for the buck.
Funimation COO Mike DuBoise explains why the company poses such a lucrative opportunity:
Funimation has experienced annual double-digit revenue growth since 2013 for both our digital and physical collectible business despite industry trends in physical disc sales moving in the opposite direction.
Additionally, this source of original material comes pre-loaded with a rabid and loyal fanbase.
Both movie studios already have in-roads to Funimation: Universal is in the midst of a multi-year deal to distribute their DVDs while a Sony subsidiary is Funimation's streaming partner. No deals are currently in the works, but "unsolicited interest from a variety of companies" have been received and weighed. Funimation then released this statement:
The Funimation management team is more immediately focused on continuing to create compelling experiences for anime fans through physical, digital/streaming and theatrical efforts with goals of continuing to expand globally and maximizing shareholder value.
Funimation currently streams through both FunimationNow and in a deal with Crunchyroll announced just this past September.
Meet the Title Team of 'Fruit Ninja: Frenzy Force'!
Descendants of the ancient Fruit Ninjas and defenders of a secret underground dojo, Seb, Niya, Peng and Ralph get down to making some serious mess with their newly found skills in Juice Jitsu!
Under the watchful eye of a strangely familiar old man (wink wink) our new Fruit Ninjas learn that their weaknesses can ultimately become their strengths… sometimes.
But until then…Fruit Ninja!