Studio 100 and Thunderbird Create Buzz for ‘Maya the Bee’

 

Flemish studio Studio 100 has tapped Indie distributor Thunderbird Films to distribute its new, 3D animated adventure series Maya the Bee into Canada and to help the producer with U.S. sales of the 78 x 13-minute episodes produced in high definition. The property, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, is based on the German book of the same name and has had a rich history of success with multiple books, a successful TV series and an extensive merchandising program.

“Maya the Bee is representative of the strongly branded programming that Thunderbird can help bring to the North American marketplace,” said Jeffrey Engelen, Thunderbird’s distribution chief. “We’re pleased to be collaborating with Studio 100 on how best to introduce this new incarnation of Maya the Bee, especially with the rich history and brand equity that has been developed over the past 100 years.”

“Thunderbird Films has extensive relationships with children’s networks throughout North America and an enthusiasm for this project that will drive its success,” said Patrick Elmendorff, managing director of Studio 100 Media.

Maya the Bee is a fun-filled 3D animated adventure TV series for the 5 to 7 year-old audience. Maya has left her hive to discover the beauty and mysteries of the outside world. As she explores, she meets other insect friends, plays and shares adventures with her friends.  Maya the Bee reinforces children’s natural curiosity and their desire to experience the world around them, while imparting lessons in being generous, caring and always ready to help family and friends.

Beloved Children’s Book Artist Maurice Sendak Dies at 83

 

One of the most influential and beloved children’s artists of the 20th century, Maurice Sendak, died on Tuesday at the age of 83 from complications from a recent stroke. Sendak’s visually stunning and at-times disturbing books were especially prized by babyboomers who in turn, bought them for their children. His most famous work, Where the Wild Things Are was published in 1963. Among Sendak’s well-known books are In the Night Kitchen (1970) Outside Over There (1981), The Sign on Rosie’s Door (1960) and Higglety Pigglety Pop! (1967).

Many of his books inspired TV and feature projects over the years. Where the Wild Things Are inspired an animated short directed by Gene Deitch in 1973 as well as a better-known live-action/giant puppet feature directed by Spike Jonze in 2009.  Sendak’s work was also the basis for charming 2D animated TV series such as titles such as Little Bear, George and Martha and Seven Little Monsters, all produced by Canadian animation house Nelvana. In 2010, Chris Lavis and Maciek Szcerbowski’s directed an NFB short based on Sendak’sHigglety Pigglety Pop! Or There Must Be More to Life.

Here is a wonderful interview with Sendak about his life, inspirations and work:

Maurice Sendak Dies at 83…

 

SMOSH’s Shut Up Cartoons Delivers Strong Numbers

 

Since its debut on April 30, Alloy Digital/Smosh’s Shut Up! Cartoons has ranked first or second in growth and registered close to 2 million video views. The toon-centric channel broke into the top-500 of all of YouTube’s hundreds of programming channels within the first 24 hours of its launch. Its new seriesPubertina trended as a major topic on Twitter when it debuted on Wednesday.

SMOSH is headed by longtime Disney TV Animation chief Barry Blumberg, who co-founded the channel with comedy duo Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox. Here’s a rundown of SMOSH’s animated offerings:

Do’s and Don’ts: A Children’s Guide to Social Survival (Ryan Naumann)
Horrible lessons for youngsters in trying situations.

Pubertina (Emily Brundige)
Life is hard when you’re an eleven year old going through that awkward stage.

Zombies vs. Ninjas (Michael Granberry)
Stop motion series filled with  over the top zombie vs. ninjas battles.

Krogzilla Gets a Job (Cory Edwards)
Japanese monster shrinks down to human size and is forced to seek a variety of jobs.

Snowjacked (Kelsy Abbott, John Olsen)
An action comedy that follows the  search for our protagonist’s snowjacked family.

Nature Break (Mike Hollingsworth)
Nature vignettes with horrible outcomes.

Weasel Town (Nathan Hamill, Eric Filipkowski)
Traditional buddy comedy from superstar creators.

Oishi High School Battle (Daniel Dominguez, Joe Gressis)
Hanna Montana  meets Sailor Moon. What would happen if an Anime character is forced to attend regular high school?

You can subscribe to Shut Up! Cartoons at www.youtube.com/ShutUpCartoons.

pubertina

‘Dick Figures’ No. 1 on YouTube

 

Original online animated series Dick Figures has nabbed a top spot as the number one Animated Show on YouTube, having generated over 10 million views in the month of August. The show, which just closed its second season, is produced by Six Point Harness and distributed by Mondo Media via its Mondo Mini Shows channel on the web video portal.  Written, directed and voiced by Ed Skudder and Zack Keller, the series follows two dysfunctional stick figure friends and the hilarious escapades caused most often by their poor decisions (set to an au courant dubstep soundtrack). So far 20 of the 2’30” episodes have hit the net, with a third 10-episode season set to launch September 22.

“A new TV episode of South Park typically attracts 3 million U.S. viewers … Dick Figures is already doing 10 million views per month (worldwide) and it on a trajectory that will surpass our first hit online series, Happy Tree Friends,” says John Evershed, CEO of Mondo Media, noting that Happy Tree Friends continues to generate of 20 million monthly views years after its 1999 launch.

Mondo Media’s exec producer Aaron Simpson notes, “It’s also surprising how much of Dick Figures’ audience is coming from mobile devices. Already, a typical episode gets almost 20% of its views from mobile on YouTube. This is much faster and more substantial than we would have predicted and video consumption on mobile is still in its early stages.” Evershed adds that another driving factor is the show’s appeal to global audiences. Mondo is translatingDick Figures into German and Spanish for its Germondo and MundoMondo YouTube channels—Evershed predicts that foreign viewership of the web series will account for an additional 15 to 30% of Mondo’s ad revenue on YouTube in 2012.

Check a particularly nerd-tastic episode, “Y U So Meme?” below (Caution: Contains strong language, mature content, and a plethora of Internet references.)

Ginger Fever

 

“The Scream” sold for nearly $120 million….

 

A pastel version of "The Scream" by Edvard Munch fetched nearly $120 million from an anonymous buyer Wednesday at Sotheby's in New York, setting a new world record for a work of art sold at auction.

Experts had expected the masterpiece to break new ground at the famed New York auction house; its presale estimate of at least $80 million was the highest ever listed at Sotheby's.

It sold for $119,922,500, which includes the premium paid to Sotheby's.