ANIMATED SHORTS: KIDS WB!'s FALL LINE-UP, SOUTH PARK, ROBOT CHICKEN AND MORE

[MattBrady]

KIDS WB! RELEASES NEW SEASON SCHEDULE
PARKER & STONE SIGN LANDMARK DEAL FOR SOUTH PARK

by Steve Fritz

Kids WB! on the CW announced its formal schedule for the Fall 2007 season. As previously announced, it will see the return of the shows Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue! Tom & Jerry Tales, Johnny Test, Legion of Super Heroes and The Batman. It will also mark the debut of four new series, as well as have two more planned for later in the year.

“From action and adventure to comedy and self-discovery, and animation styles running the gamut from traditional 2D to computer-generated and flash-anime, the Kids’ WB! lineup truly offers entertainment for everyone,” said Kids WB VP and General Manager, Betsy McGowen.

The new Kids’ WB! on the CW lineup is as follows:

7:00 AM Will & Dewitt
7:30 AM Magi-Nation
8:00 AM Tom and Jerry Tales
8:30 AM Tom and Jerry Tales
9:00 AM Skunk Fu!
9:30 AM Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get A Clue!
10:00 AM Eon Kid
10:30 AM Johnny Test
11:00 AM Legion of Super Heroes
11:30 AM The Batman

Brief summaries of all the new and returning shows are as follows:

• Will & Dewitt : Will is an everyday kid with an endless thirst for adventure. Enter Dewitt; a frog and then some…a green ball of shape-shifting optimism to guide Will toward his destiny of all things are possible. Where there’s Will, Dewitt is the way. Produced by Cookie Jar Entertainment.

• Magi-Nation: Follow the adventures of teenager Tony Jones, whose world is forever changed when he is mystically transported into a beautiful world created a millennium ago by a powerful race known as the Magi. A multi-platform entertainment brand, fans can also experience the continuing action via the Internet (www.kidswb.com). Produced by Cookie Jar Entertainment and Daewon Media (Korea).

• Tom and Jerry Tales: Tom and Jerry travel the globe in search of all-new mischief, pummeling each other in new geographic locales and culturally diverse settings. Produced by Warner Bros. Animation.

• Skunk Fu!: Already scoring big in the UK and Australia, “Skunk Fu!” is the hilarious tale of Skunk, a rambunctious martial arts student under the tutelage of wise old Panda. On the antagonist side are Dragon and his minions; lead henchman Baboon and the Ninja Monkeys. A co-production between Cartoon Saloon, Telegael and Hoek, Line and Thinker.

• Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get A Clue!: The show that’s become a hit among all those who hate Scooby-Doo. The second season raises the stakes as Dr. Phibes now possesses the secret morphing nanotechnology but has no idea how it works. Produced by Warner Bros. Animation.

• Eon Kid: Tells the tale of Marty, an enterprising 11-year-old who unexpectedly becomes the human extension of the Fist of Eon. Seemingly lost for all time, the Fist endows Marty with amazing fighting powers – but puts him at the heart of a centuries-old struggle between good and evil. By Daiwon C&A Holdings Co., Design Storm Co., BRB International and Manga Entertainment.

• Johnny Test: Johnny is the ultimate guinea pig who no mission is too unbelievable, no challenge too great, no villain too menacing and no sister-created concoction is too wild…As long as his baboon-faced, genetically engineered dog, Dukey, can come along. Produced by Cookie Jar.

• Legion of Super Heroes: A incomprehensibly undefeatable nemesis, Imperiex, puts the Legion into action alongside new team members. The Legion finds a surprising, new ally from across the space-time continuum; a 41st century Superman, cloned from the original, with alien DNA added to the mix for new, enhanced powers. Produced by Warner Bros. Animation.

• The Batman: See last week’s interview with Mike Goguen for more info. Produced by Warner Bros. Animation.

Two other shows are slated for late season replacements. They are The Spectacular Spider-Man, an all-new animated series from Culver Entertainment; and World of Quest, an action-comedy based on the Komikwerks graphic novel series by Jason Kruse, and produced by Cookie Jar.

PARKER & STONE SIGN LANDMARK DEAL

South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have agreed to a three-season extension and entered into a momentous joint venture with Comedy Central to create South Park Digital Studios, it was announced today by Doug Herzog, president, MTV Networks' Entertainment. The strategic alliance includes the formation of a digital animation studio at South Park HQ in Los Angeles that will serve as the new home for all digital extensions of the South Park franchise as well as an incubator for new animated projects.

"This extension and the formation of the joint venture are the beginnings of a new era for South Park and Comedy Central and a natural evolution of our long-term and prosperous relationship with Trey and Matt," said Herzog. "With the new partnership in South Park Digital Studios and the creation of the digital animation studio, we have a tremendous opportunity to truly maximize the potential of the franchise and the incredible creative talents of Matt and Trey across every imaginable platform."

"Three more years of South Park will give us the opportunity to offend that many more people,” says Stone. “Since Trey and I are in charge of the digital side of South Park, we can offend people on their cell phones, game consoles and computers, too. It's all very exciting for us."

As part of the agreement, Parker and Stone will produce an additional three seasons (14 episodes per season) of the award-winning series. Its current deal was set to expire at the end of 2008. Parker and Stone will continue to write, direct and edit every episode, as they have since the premiere of the series in August 1997.

The joint venture of South Park Digital Studios seeks to respond to the new world in a new way. Its goal is to realize fully the potential of the franchise and engage fans across all platforms. SouthParkStudios.com, the long running official South Park fan site, will be expanded and become a major part of the new joint venture. The newly expanded site is scheduled to re-launch during the first quarter of 2008.

South Park Digital Studios includes a multi-faceted and comprehensive production and development facility featuring an animation studio that will serve as a home for innovation, experimentation and groundbreaking animation for Parker and Stone, as well as other animators. Comedy Central will have a first-look option on any projects developed at the studio.

Currently in its 11th season, "South Park" averages over 3 million viewers per premiere episode and has been the highest rated original cable series among men 18-34 for four years running. On April 22, 1998, the series shattered records when it garnered an 8.2 HH rating to become the highest rated episode of a series on basic cable at that time. New episodes will begin on October 3 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.

[AS] GETTING FUNKY W/ROBOT CHICKEN

Ever watch an episode of Robot Chicken and wonder just what the creators were thinking but are tired of waiting for the DVD to find out?

AdultSwim.com is doing something about that. They have just uploaded the first four episodes of RC to their site, replete with commentary from the creators. Hey, the DVD for season two just arrived at our desk last week, so think about it.

Anyway, the URL for these commentaries are: http://www.adultswim.com/ivc/robotchicken/ep41/

You gotta love what they say about Soundwave and the Defenders of the Earth.

TACHIGUI COMING TO UK

Mamoru Oshii’s latest film, Tachigui: The Adventures of Fast Food Grifters, is coming to London, UK, for a two week run starting September 25. The film will be part of the Raindance Festival and run until October 7.

Tachigui is Oshii’s personal history of post-World War II Japan as told by grifters who specialize in getting free meals from fast food joints. It involves characters one might have seen in his various Kerberos films (Stray Dog, Jin-Roh) and is actually set in that universe. It also employs a new xerographic technique he has now dubbed “Superlivemation” that has to be seen. Oshii is currently working on his new animated movie, The Sky Crawlers, slated in Japan for 2008.

The Raindance Film Festival is the largest independent film festival in the United Kingdom. The festival was established in 1992 to celebrate and support independent filmmaking and has gone on to feature such prominent works as Pulp Fiction, The Blair Witch Project, Memento and Oldboy. Patrons of Raindance include Terry Gilliam, Ewan McGregor, Mike Figgis, Ken Loach, and Marky Ramone. Raindance is also the founder of the British Independent Film Awards.

The 15th Raindance Film Festival official website: http://raindance.co.uk/

NEXT COLUMN: Time to run the voodoo down with Tak & The Power of Juju.

[Uchiha_Prodigy]

The new Scooby Doo looks horrible. The first series ever without Casey Kasem. I think I'll pass.

[BanMan]

Legion sounds pretty good and aside from Clark's dog ears, I think I should enjoy it.

[80Pork]

My son has watched some of the Scooby Doo series...he kinda lost intersted in it pretty quickly. He does enjoy Legion, Batman, and Tom and Jerry Tales occassionally. Sounds like some decent show coming up, too. It's a shame that Fox and Kids WB are pretty much the only sources for good Saturday morning cartoons now. I mean, I know NBC shows some Discover Kids stuff and ABC has their Disney channel repeats. Saturday mornings have changed drastically in the last ten years. That Eon Kid reminds me a little of KaBoom, the Loeb/Matsuda comic.

[cncoyle]

Originally Posted by Uchiha_Prodigy

The new Scooby Doo looks horrible. The first series ever without Casey Kasem. I think I'll pass.

It's not new; it's returning. And it's a fun show.

Glad to find out what the other Superman character is. Imperiex, eh? As a fan of OW@W, I'll definitely be tuning in...

[xomanowarfan]

Originally Posted by Uchiha_Prodigy

The new Scooby Doo looks horrible. The first series ever without Casey Kasem. I think I'll pass.

I agree, thats just not cool!

[tbumpkins]

Is that...Kon-el? Maybe not in name, but perhaps some tactile telekinesis is on the way?

I don't know why I don't watch Legion. Each episode I've watched has been decent enough. And they're actually using Imperiex!

[KoozyK]

Originally Posted by tbumpkins

Is that...Kon-el? Maybe not in name, but perhaps some tactile telekinesis is on the way?

I don't know why I don't watch Legion. Each episode I've watched has been decent enough. And they're actually using Imperiex!

This Superman is from the 41st Century and is a clone bred for fighting moreso than heroism.

more can be seen here

[BanMan]

I think I may actually enjoy Eon Kid. Though I kinda wish it wasn't CGI.

[durkadurka]

Glad to hear South Park got renewed.

[Speedball93]

How is it ok for there to be a clone of Superman mixed with alien DNA, but not a clone of Superman mixed with Lex Luthor's DNA? I would think that any version of a young "Superboy" type of character would be pushing it. Does this mean that we may get to see Kon-El return in the comics too?

[Carlos Javier]

Originally Posted by Speedball93

How is it ok for there to be a clone of Superman mixed with alien DNA, but not a clone of Superman mixed with Lex Luthor's DNA? I would think that any version of a young "Superboy" type of character would be pushing it. Does this mean that we may get to see Kon-El return in the comics too?

It's all in the name, I suppose. You could have a 13 y/o version of Clark running around as long as he's not named Superboy.

[Evilomar]

Legion is pretty good. I just really wished they would have brought back Teen Titans.

[Derek Ruiz]

Originally Posted by BanMan

I think I may actually enjoy Eon Kid. Though I kinda wish it wasn't CGI.

Me too. I wish it wasn't CGI.

[Switch625]

Awesome news for Trey, Matt and South Park. May they continue to offend...

[DaVeO]

Anyone know the date for LOSH and Batman?

[J-Rock]

More South Park & more Robot Chicken. Words can't describe how good that is.

[grphxkindaguy]

Originally Posted by DaVeO

Anyone know the date for LOSH and Batman?

Sept 22nd IIRC

[IvCNuB4]

Originally Posted by Speedball93

How is it ok for there to be a clone of Superman mixed with alien DNA, but not a clone of Superman mixed with Lex Luthor's DNA? I would think that any version of a young "Superboy" type of character would be pushing it. Does this mean that we may get to see Kon-El return in the comics too?

Your "point" makes no sense. The legal dispute is over the name "Superboy", not the cloning of Superman.

[kiddae]

Mmmmmega... man?

[slice two]

YES!!!!! 42 more episodes of south park after this season!!! THERE IS A TOM CRUISE!!!

[KoozyK]

so

if imperiex is in the new series, is he still brainiac 13?

just curious...

[K-DoG7p7]

is that a half kryptonoian/Daxamite Superman? (from recent apperances of Daxamites in DC comicsa they seem to have Black eyes.. really... only Sodam yat, but NEW EARTH!:P)

[Sano]

Originally Posted by Uchiha_Prodigy

The new Scooby Doo looks horrible. The first series ever without Casey Kasem. I think I'll pass.

No Casey Kasem is on every single episode and voices Shaggy's uncle. Scott Menville, Robin of Teen Titans fame does Shaggy's voice and does a really good job.

Hey Casey Kasem can not do Shaggy's voice forever, it's best they start thinking about the character's future now.

I see the show off and on. It's funny, if you like Napolean Dynamite they have 2 villains that parody them lol! But it's really meant for kids so I don't tune in often enough. Plus by the time I get up on Saturdays it's time to watch The Batman and Legion of Super Heroes and that's the way I like it.

Can't wait until the new Spider-Man cartoon comes around too.

[cookepuss]

Originally Posted by Derek Ruiz

Me too. I wish it wasn't CGI.

As a professional CG artist/animator myself, I'm not particularly bothered by it. The quality on display there isn't half bad for a TV show. I'm more concerned over the fact that he looks a bit like a Mega Man ripoff.

Anyway, the new stuff looks pretty decent. I'm not that interested in the new visual direction of LoSH, but I'm willing to give it a try. As far as Batman goes, I gave up on that series the moment they dumbed it down and brought in Robin & Batgirl. (Somewhere after the 1st or 2nd season when they also dropped the U2 intro.)

When it's Saturday morning and all you want to do is stay in your pajamas and watch TV 'til noon, pretty much anything will do though. Better than actually... doing stuff.