TMNT Series Premiere Today on Nick

 

Waterman Options ‘Brave Little Toaster’ for Remake

 

Waterman Entertainment is bringing back The Brave Little Toaster.

The company has acquired the rights to the property with plans to make it into CGI  and live-action hybrid feature.

Brave Little Toaster was a novel for children by Thomas Disch first published in 1980. An animated feature was released in 1987 and spawned two home-video sequels.

According to The Wrap.com, Waterman has recently raised a development fund from private equity and plans to develop and acquire family entertainment projects.

The company also has bought an option on Born Free: The Story of Elsa the Lion, and expects to tell the story from the animal’s perspective, the site writes.

Waterman founder Steve Waterman previously was co-producer on Casper and executive producer on Stuart Little and Stuart Little 2. More recently, he was an executive producer on all three installments of the Alvin and the Chipmunks series.

Video: ‘Gravity Fall’ Gaming Parody, Premieres Sept. 14

 

If you love classic video games, then this Friday’s all-new episode of Gravity Falls is for you.

Titled “Fight Fighters,” the episode features guest voice Brian Bloom as Rumble McSkirmish, a fighting-game character who comes to life to defend Dipper Pines after he is challenged to a video game battle by Wendy’s boyfriend, Robbie. The result is mashup of old-school video games from Street Fighter andMortal Kombat to Donkey Kong, Tron, Pac-Man and Freeway.

Here’s a couple of clips from the episode.

Premiering Sept. 14 at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT on Disney Channel, the episode was written by Zach Paez and directed by John Aoshima.

A Disney Television Animation production, Gravity Falls stars Jason Ritter as Dipper Pines, Kristen Schaal as Mabel Pines, Alex Hirsch as Grunkle Stan and Soos, and Linda Cardellini as Wendy. It carries a TV-Y7 parental guideline.

Premieres set for Cars Toon, Adventure Time, Dino Dan, The Hub

 

' Set your DVRs: Airdates have been set for the second-season premiere of Cartoon Network’s Adventure Time, the debut of Nick Jr.’s Dino Dan and a new Disney-Pixar Cars Toon short film.

This Sunday, Oct. 10, also will see the debut of The Hub, a new children’s and youth-oriented channel from Hasbro Studios and Discovery. The channel replaces Discovery Kids and debuts with a number of classic and new animated series, including Dan Vs., Clue and G.I. Joe: Renegades.

The Cars Toon short, directed by John Lasseter and co-directed by Rob Gibbs, will premiere Oct. 8 at 9:30 p.m. on Disney Channel. Based on the 2006 Pixar feature film, the short also will air Oct. 15 at 7:27 p.m. on Disney XD.

Adventure Time returns Oct. 11 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Cartoon Network. The Emmy-nominated series from creator Pendleton Ward was a ratings and critical hit in its first season and is produced in partnership with Frederator Studios.

Debuting with back-to-back episodes Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. is Dino Dan, a new series for preschoolers on Nick Jr. The series mixes live action and CG-animation and will debut with the network airing two weeks of brand new episodes from Oct. 18-21 and Oct. 25-28 at 5 p.m. ET.

Cartoon Network greenlights ‘Steven Universe”’and ‘Uncle Grandpa’ series

 

Cartoon Network has given the green light to two new animated comedy series: Steven Universe and Uncle Grandpa.

Created by Adventure Time writer and storyboard artist Rebecca Sugar, Steven Universe is a coming-of-age story told from the perspective of the youngest member of a team of magical Guardians of the Universe. Uncle Grandpa, created by veteran storyboard artist and writer Peter Browngardt, is based upon his Emmy-nominated short of the same name and follows the exploits of Uncle Grandpa — everyone in the world’s “magical’ uncle and grandpa.

Here’s a look at that original short

Both series come out of the network’s shorts development initiative at Cartoon Network Studios in Burbank. Preproduction has begun on both series, with premieres expected in 2013.

“Steven Universe and Uncle Grandpa will build upon our record-breaking streak with original programming, and further define the voice for Cartoon Network Studios comedies,” said Cartoon Network Chief Content Officer Rob Sorcher. “Rebecca and Pete represent our next generation of homegrown talent, following Pendleton Ward and J.G. Quintel who set a high bar with their distinctive visual storytelling and unique comedic styles.”

Sugar became a storyboard artist and writer on Adventure Time in 2009 after graduating from the School of Visual Arts. The first episode she boarded, “It Came From the Nightosphere,” was nominated for an Emmy and included the first song she wrote for the series, “Daddy, Why Did You Eat My Fries?” which quickly became a fan favorite. Since then, she’s written 17 songs for the show and has storyboarded some of Adventure Time’s most acclaimed episodes. Sugar was nominated for an Annie Award for her storyboards on the Adventure Time season two finale, “Mortal Folly.”

After studying character animation at CalArts, Browngardt started working professionally onFuturama at age 19, followed by stints with Industrial Light and Magic, Augenblick Studios and MTV Animation. Since then Browngardt has worked on a number of Cartoon Network series including Chowder, The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack and Adventure Time. Most recently Browngardt was the creator and executive producer of the award-winning Cartoon Network animated series Secret Mountain Fort Awesome.