Monday, December 10, 2012
Disney’s ‘Frankenweenie’ Comes Home in January
Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie will be available as a 4-disc Blu-ray Combo Pack, Digital and On-Demand on January 8, 2013, Disney announced. The acclaimed 3D stop-motion animated feature tells the story of the friendship between a young boy named Victor and his dog Sparky. After Sparky dies in a car accident, Victor harnesses the power of science to bring his best friend back to life—with just a few minor adjustments. Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short, Martin Landau, Charlie Tahan, Atticus Shaffer, Robert Capron, Conchata Ferrell and Winona Ryder round up the excellent voice cast.
The bonus materials include an all-new original short Captain Sparky vs The Flying Saucers, a behind-the-scenes featurette with Tim Burton Miniatures in Motion: Bringing ‘Frankenweenie’ to Life; a showcase of the film’s touring exhibit, ‘Frankenweenie’ Touring Exhibit, and Tim Burton’s original live-action short of the same name, and more.
The 1-Disc DVD retails for $29.99; 2-Disc Blu-ray Combo Pack: $39.99; 4-Disc Blu-ray Combo Pack: $49.99.
Six Point Harness and Titmouse Launch Rug Burn Channel
Six Point Harness and Titmouse have launched a new YouTube animation channel called Rug Burn. The founders of these prominent independent animation studios have been close friends for years, but their studios are in competition with each other in the TV animation industry, and now online.
“We are cartoon-fist-punching each other in the face with Rug Burn,” said Chris Prynoski, president and co-founder of Titmouse, the animation studio behind Adult Swim hits like Metalocalypse and Black Dynamite. “If Six Point uploads a huge hit to the channel, we will not rest until they drown in the laughter of the YouTube audience while enjoying our retaliating Titmouse show.”
“Our team is throwing the first punch with Axe Cop,” said Brendan Burch, who heads up Six Point Harness Studios, where Dick Figures,” the 175 million view YouTube mega-hit, is produced.
Hoping for similar success, Six Point is launching Rug Burn with animated episodes of the hit comic franchise Axe Cop, which is written by a five-year-old boy.
“Our overall goals are to launch amazing animated properties and build the Rug Burn brand, but we’re also keeping score. The total view tally for the output of each studio will be carefully counted, and the team in the lead will not be gracious in victory.”
Both studios will be involving their most talented friends in content creation.
“Majestic Loincloth is exploding my mind apart,” said Prynoski of Richard Christy’s revenge-fantasy musical. Christy has honed his comedy chops as an eight-year veteran of The Howard Stern Show. “It’s just one example of the kind of bad-ass cartoon firepower we are bringing to the battlefield.”
“Projects are moving forward with a snap of the finger at the new channel,” said Burch, whose studio was responsible for production on Tom Hanks Yahoo! SeriesElectric City.
Over a hundred episodes from handfuls of series are complete and ready for launch, but both studios continue to scour the creative community for potential hits.
Check out this great new animation venture here: www.youtube.com/rugburn and learn more about both studios at www.sixpointharness.com and www.titmouse.net.
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
The Hub Brings Spielberg’s ‘Animaniacs’ Back
If you’ve been missing the popular Amblin/Warner Bros. animated series Animaniacs since it went off the air in 1999, we have some good news for you. The Hub is bringing the show back in December. The series will premiere with a four-hour marathon on Christmas Eve, Monday, December 24 (4-8 p.m. ET) followed by the holiday-themed musical feature filmAnimaniacs: Wakko’s Wish on Monday, December 24 (8-10 p.m. ET). Animaniacs will continue on the network’s schedule in 2013 premiering in its regular timeslot on Monday, January 7 (3 p.m. ET).
First broadcast in 1993 on Fox Kids (and then on the Kids WB! block), Animaniacs is considered a variety show, with short skits featuring a large cast of characters including the Warner brothers, Yakko and Wakko, and their sister, Dot – three inseparable siblings – as they have a great time wreaking havoc and mayhem in the lives of everyone they meet. Created by Tom Ruegger, the show features the voices of Rob Paulsen, Jess Harnell, Tress MacNeille, John Mariano, Maurice LaMarche, Frank Welker, Bernadette Peters, Nancy Cartwright, Sheri Stoner, Jim Cummings and Julie Brown, to name a few.
In addition, during the holiday season The Hub TV Network will count down to a special 48-hour lineup of holiday-themed programming on Monday, December 24 and Tuesday, December 25 highlighted by movies, specials, and series in the spirit of the season featuring a special six-episode, Christmas-themed marathon of the popular live-action seriesSabrina, The Teenage Witch (7-10 a.m. ET) on Christmas morning followed by two holiday-themed television specials Atomic Betty: The No-L 9 (10-11 a.m. ET) and The Christmas Toy (11 a.m.-noon ET).
Rounding out the Christmas programming during the 48-hour window on Monday, December 24 and Tuesday, December 25, The Hub will offer holiday-themed episodes of original animated and live-action Hub Original series that include My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, Transformers Rescue Bots, Pound Puppies, The Adventures of Chuck & Friends, Family Game Night, and R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour: The Series.
For more info, visit www.hubworld.com.
Jennifer Lee to Co-Direct Disney’s ‘Frozen’
Jennifer Lee will co-direct Disney’s 2013 animated featureFrozen with Chris Buck, the studio announced today. Billed as Disney’s 53rd full-length animated feature, Frozen is slated for a Nov. 27, 2013 release date. Lee, who has contributed to the film’s screenplay, is one of the writers of Disney’s animated hit Wreck-It Ralph.
Featuring the voices of Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel, Frozenis a new take on the famous Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale. When a prophecy traps a kingdom in eternal winter, Anna, a fearless optimist, teams up with extreme mountain man Kristoff and his sidekick reindeer Sven on an epic journey to find Anna’s sister Elsa, the Snow Queen, and put an end to her icy spell. Encountering mystical trolls, a funny snowman named Olaf, Everest-like extremes and magic at every turn, Anna and Kristoff battle the elements in a race to save the kingdom from destruction.
Frozen producer Peter Del Vecho says the match-up is perfect.
“Jenn has a real connection to the film and creates dynamic and relatable characters. Her sense of comedy, adventure and story structure paired with Chris Buck’s vast experience and incredible instincts create an ideal situation for this film.”
Lee’s screen adaptation of John Steinbeck’s The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knightsis being produced by Troika Pictures. She has an original screenplay in development with Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way, and her original script Lucid Dreams was optioned by Wolfgang Peterson’s Radiant Productions. Lee holds an MFA in Film from Columbia University and a BA in English from the University of New Hampshire.
Buck directed (with Kevin Lima) Disney’s 1999 feature Tarzan and directed (with Ash Brannon) 2007’s Oscar-nominated Sony pic Surf’s Up. His credits also include The Little Mermaid, The Rescuers Down Under and Pocahontas.
Frozen will also feature songs by Tony-award winner Robert Lopez (The Book of Mormon, Avenue Q) and Kristen Anderson-Lopez (In Transit). For more information, visitwww.facebook.com/disneyfrozen.
