ANIMATED SHORTS: CARTOON NETWORK'S 07-08 UPFRONT

[MattBrady]

CARTOON NETWORK ENTERS THE RING WITH EL SANTO!
WIN TRIP TO JAPAN, FUNIMATION GOES TO ITUNES, 4 KIDS NEWS

by Steve Fritz

Cartoon Network held its 2007-08 Upfront yesterday, and treated everything as business as usual. There was nothing but an oblique mention Boston as Mark Lazarus, President of Turner Entertainment Group, and Mike Ouweleen, CN’s Senior VP of Development and Creative Direction filled in for the departed Jim Samples.

There was also no announcements regarding Adult Swim, which is considered an independent entity from CN anyway.

That didn’t mean the basically all-animation station didn’t have plenty to day. In fact, they announced quite a lot. The most important announcement is the network has given the greenlight to five new series, an additional 662 episodes of existing programs, 24 new specials, and entering a few new platforms.

“Cartoon Network comes into this season with real momentum,” said Lazarus. “We’ve been on a strong run over the last few months on every platform with our content and our commitment to our core audience continues on all levels.”

“Last year we saw tremendous growth by extending our brand into new areas of programming,” added Ouweleen. “We had great success by always being ‘on it’ for kids in whatever environment they wanted to enjoy the Cartoon Network experience and we are looking forward to growing even more with this new slate of programs and special events.”

Among the new programs are (some titles tentative):

• Santo, El Enmascarado de Plata - The animated tales of Mexican luchidore legend El Santo, which is being supervised by the man’s own son, El Hijo del Santo. The series was created by created and executive-produced by Carlo Olivares Paganoni with Alex Soto (Ben 10) as supervising producer. 13 half-hour episodes are being produced at Cartoon Network Studios in Burbank, Calif.

• Chowder - Tells the story of a young aspiring cook who loves food a little too much for his own good.

• Re-Animated - Based on the highly successful movie earlier this year. The continuing tale of a boy with literally the brain of an animation legend inside his head, and all the characters he now has to put up with (literally and figuratively).

• The Secret Saturdays - Planned for Saturday mornings, this one is the story of a family of super-scientists who try to live a normal life of inventing things by day, and fighting crime at night (or whenever).

• The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack - Tells the tale of a boy who lives inside a whale with an old pirate.

Among the programs that will get new episodes are Class of 3000, Ben 10, Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, Ed Edd & Eddy, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, My Gym Partner is a Monkey and Camp Lazlo.

Special event/stunt programming will include the following:

• Cartoon Network’s Invaded - Foster’s Bloo will send a message out to space causing the Cartoon Network universe to be invaded by all manner of aliens. Every Friday in May, an alien will arrive in a new episode of one of that block’s group of programs to raise havoc or something else, culminating with an all-out alien invasion on Memorial Day.

• Props - Throughout the summer, Cartoon Network will profile 16 amazing kids on-air and online. Young viewers across America will determine six finalists by voting for their favorites online in a face-off challenge. The six finalists will be rewarded for their accomplishments by getting Props, a once-in-a-lifetime experience in their area of excellence to be filmed for TV.

• Ben 10 Live Action Movie - You read that right kids. The movie is directed by Alex Winter (Bill of Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure) and is slated to premiere in the fall.

Cartoon Network will also enter the realm of telephony with its new system CallToons. CallToons will feature characters from Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, and will be offered as separate services for each brand. CallToons is targeted to be available to consumers in Q4 2007.

“CallToons extends our fans’ relationship with our characters in a personal and interactive way through a mobile phone,” said Paul Condolora, senior vice president and general manager for Cartoon Network New Media. “With this application, we are developing a novel approach to the mobile experience. CallToons is a natural next step for the company and offers limitless cross-platform entertainment possibilities with cartoon characters, celebrities, sports figures and beyond.”

“CallToons does more than set a character’s voice to a ringtone. CallToons allows a character’s personality to take over the mobile phone’s functionality so that they actually interact with the user and incoming callers in a unique way,” said Ross Cox, Senior Director of Entertainment Products, Cartoon Network New Media. The service should be available the last quarter of 2007.

Finally, plans for Cartoon Network’s MMOG are set for 2008.

Expect more announcements of acquisitions and other stunts in the foreseeable future.

BANDAI OFFERING TRIP TO JAPAN

As part of a campaign to help launch its massive and exhaustive reissue of the now-considered classic anime Gunbusters series, Bandai Visual USA is putting on a contest guaranteed to get the attention of any otaku worth his action figure collection. When the set comes out on February 20, Bandai will offer one lucky fan a shot at getting a free, expense-paid trip to Japan.

The DVD is being released on the Honneamise label by Bandai Visual USA Inc. and distributed by Image Entertainment, a leading independent licensee, producer and distributor of home entertainment programming in North America. It was remastered in HD 24P format with newly translated English subtitles under the supervision of the original producers. The DVD set will contain all six episodes on 3 discs and includes a 24-page color booklet.

For the record, the series was the first true production of the Gainax studio, an anime studio created by college student fans who wanted to do their own thing. Many now say one can see the basics for the series Neon Genesis Evangelion in this early work. The series creator, Hideki Anno, also went on to create such shows as Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, Cutey Honey and His and Her Circumstances.

Bandai Visual USA will invite one winner to tour Japan for the ultimate experience of Japanese tradition and pop culture. The sweepstakes is open to anyone with no purchase required. For more information on the contest or to enter, anime fans can go to www.bandaivisual.us/gunbuster1/survey.html. Fans can also win Gunbuster merchandise, including collectible figures and posters. The contest ends March 21, with the winner being announced on April 2.

For more information on Bandai Visual, check out the URL: www.bandaivisual.us.

FUNIMATION SETS UP WITH iTUNES

FUNimation Entertainment announced it will make top-rated anime series available on the iTunes Store (www.itunes.com). Effective today some of their best anime series; including Desert Punk, Speed
Grapher and Akira Kurosawa's Samurai 7 are available for download priced at $1.99 per episode.

"We are very excited to make anime available for download to our fans in the United States," said Cary Deacon, CEO of Navarre Corporation, FUNimation’s parent company. "Bringing this compelling content to iTunes is the first step in Navarre's new digital distribution initiative."

"Our anime series will be the first offered on iTunes and will expose a wider audience to the unique storytelling and graceful animation inherent in this Japanese style of entertainment," stated Gen Fukunaga, President and CEO of FUNimation Entertainment. "This is a great opportunity to offer our top-rated anime series through the world's most popular online music, TV and movie store."

4 KIDS DECLARES THREE KIDS YUGI CARD WINNERS

4 Kids Entertainment and the Upper Deck Company announced three kids have won their recently held TV contest to have kids design their own Yu-Gi-Oh collectible cards. The three winners are:

• Age 3-7: Shamus Brennan; Farmington, NY
• Age 8-12:Krystian Woodward; Halls, TN
• Age 13-7Adam Valente; Haverhill, MA

Not only will the kids get their design used in an upcoming Upper Deck Yugi CCG set, they also got a very nice bag of swag for their efforts and their names and designs on the 4 Kids network.

To see the designs sooner, go to www.4kids.tv.

NEXT COLUMN: We sat down with John Ledford and Kevin McFeeley of Anime Network about the future of their growing communications empire. Also in the works, an interview with Disney legend Katherine Beaumont on her work as Wendy in Peter Pan.

[Uchiha_Prodigy]

Ed Edd and Eddy's still on? Seems like its been on for like what 6 or 7 years?

[Doombug]

Live action Ben 10 movie? wha?!

[skeletorjr]

Alex Winter making a Ben 10 movie? That's awesome. Alex Winter is one of the coolest people ever.

[Squeege63]

No more Codename: Kids Next Door??? Thats the best show on the network besides adult swim.

[sfritz]

Originally Posted by Squeege63

No more Codename: Kids Next Door??? Thats the best show on the network besides adult swim.

It seems the final KND episode ever will be this November. -s

[Scott King]

Hey Steve,

Any idea when "Avatar: The Last Airbender" "Boondocks" or "Venture Bros." new seasons start? I've tried to find that info online and I can't seem to track it down.

-thanks

[Gokitalo]

Originally Posted by Uchiha_Prodigy

Ed Edd and Eddy's still on? Seems like its been on for like what 6 or 7 years?

Yup. I think they were planning to end the show with Season 4, but Cartoon Network ordered more seasons.

[NightRiver]

Ben live action movie!! That sounds cool, but im a little weary on TV special effects. Sould be good though!

Also excited about the El Santo animated series. im a big fan of the El Santo movies!

[neko85]

"Ben 10 Live Action Movie - You read that right kids. The movie is directed by Alex Winter (Bill of Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure) and is slated to premiere in the fall"

Sweet!

[astronato]

Santo, El Enmascarado de Plata

I saw an El Santo cartoon on youtube months ago. It was in espanol and it had the CN logo on it. Is this the same show and has it aired in Mexico already?

I collect Santo movies and matches and the episode I saw on Youtube was pretty good. It captured the Santo flavor while being contemporary. Either way I hope it's a big hit!

I would be an incredibly happy fanboy if this show leads to a DC Kids El Santo comic book. El Santo meets The Batman would be fantastic.

[MadBandit]

Originally Posted by Scott King

Hey Steve,

Any idea when "Avatar: The Last Airbender" "Boondocks" or "Venture Bros." new seasons start? I've tried to find that info online and I can't seem to track it down.

-thanks

I read last year in the NY Post (ugh) "Boondocks" will return in March. 20 episodes is the count and a new overseas animation studio are the reason for the delays.

[UnknownEric]

Originally Posted by MattBrady

• Re-Animated - Based on the highly successful movie earlier this year. The continuing tale of a boy with literally the brain of an animation legend inside his head, and all the characters he now has to put up with (literally and figuratively).

Oh man, you're kidding. That had to be the most painful thing I've ever seen in my entire life. They're making a series out of it?

[kaiserdean]

I was hoping there'd be something from Genndy Tartakovsky... I really want more Samurai Jack.

[Michael P]

Originally Posted by Uchiha_Prodigy

Ed Edd and Eddy's still on? Seems like its been on for like what 6 or 7 years?

Longer than that, I'm sure.

Meanwhile, Clone High got 13 episodes and out. There is no God.

[RobbIrrgang]

front page of NA promises something about Bloo... not seeing it here?

[tiso_spencer]

That would make it a live-action series. God why the hell did Cartoon Network to be all Nick with their programs. A made for TV Ben-10 movie, lame. That show has gone down hill ever since the entire Ben going past 10 alien transformations. No more KND makes me upset. Another Lucha Libre cartoon, sorry but you fail like Mucha Lucha failed. The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack and Chowder sound like stellar shows in the likes of Squirrel-Boy, Robot-Boy, etc. in that they will blow.The Secret Saturdays, why does this formula sound so familiar, I wonder who else has a show like this? Sigh...

[DeTroyes]

No new Teen Titans, no new JLU. In fact, no DCAU titles of any kind.

*sigh*

[vbartilucci]

Originally Posted by NightRiver

Ben live action movie!! That sounds cool, but im a little weary on TV special effects. Sould be good though!

Also excited about the El Santo animated series. im a big fan of the El Santo movies!

Anyone who isn't sure if this could kick should seek out a copy of Freaked right now.

And an El Santo cartoon could SO be cool. This, combined with El Tigre on Nick, it's a good year for Mexican superheroes.

Ironically, the creators of Mucha Lucha, which started the whole trend, can't get arrested.

[Erik K]

Hooray for more Lazlo and Gym Partner. I really enjoy both of those (maybe it's 'cause I like monkeys, but they make me laugh). Boo for no more KND, which is the second best thing after Foster's for me.

I simply fail to understand the appeal of Class of 3000. I hate the animation, the "jams" aren't all that great and, well... I just don't get the appeal. I hit mute whenever a promo comes on, even. And Ed, Edd and Eddy still mystifies me, as well... it's okay, but it just keeps going and going and going without being all that good, sort of like a Jim Belushi sitcom.

But overall, some good stuff coming. None of the new stuff grabbed me by description, but the neither did Gym Partner or Lazlo. I hope that they're new stuff is better than what Nick has been trying out (The Xs was a cool idea that just never seemed to click).

[ichorskeeter]

4th season of Samurai Jack on DVD! Where is it?

[Uchiha_Prodigy]

Originally Posted by Michael P

Longer than that, I'm sure.

Premiered January 4, 1999 according to Wiki, and its CN's longest running "Cartoon Cartoon"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_edd_and_eddy

[sexyjesus]

Why do they even call themselves Cartoon Network anymore?

A Ben 10 live action movie?

I like Ed, Edd, and Eddy. Great show with tons of sight gags. Its actually a cartoon that acts like a cartoon.

I'm disappointed in Camp Lazlo. Joe Murray was gold on Rocko's Modern Life, but this show is the tamest thing on TV. Disgusting.

I do love My Gym Partner's a Monkey. Its everything Camp Lazlo should have been.

I'm surprised there aren't any Billy & Mandy DVDs. Its one of their most popular shows. I know I'll buy them.

Ive been following Chowder. Its from C. H. Greenblatt, one of the head guys from Billy & Mandy, and it looks hilarious. I have little to worry about since he's the guy behind Fred Fredburger.

Here are some screens:

[BanMan]

Originally Posted by Erik K

Hooray for more Lazlo and Gym Partner. I really enjoy both of those (maybe it's 'cause I like monkeys, but they make me laugh). Boo for no more KND, which is the second best thing after Foster's for me.

I simply fail to understand the appeal of Class of 3000. I hate the animation, the "jams" aren't all that great and, well... I just don't get the appeal. I hit mute whenever a promo comes on, even. And Ed, Edd and Eddy still mystifies me, as well... it's okay, but it just keeps going and going and going without being all that good, sort of like a Jim Belushi sitcom.

But overall, some good stuff coming. None of the new stuff grabbed me by description, but the neither did Gym Partner or Lazlo. I hope that they're new stuff is better than what Nick has been trying out (The Xs was a cool idea that just never seemed to click).

Gym Partner is probably the best cartoon I never expected to love. It's just the opening song is so awful I never really wanted to give the show a chance.

[saiyanspider]

All great stuff! My kid will flip over the Ben 10 live action movie news!

Can't wait for Santo!

Question will Dragon Ball go on sale on itunes at some point?