ANIMATED SHORTS: CN'S 2008 UPFRONT

[MattBrady]

CARTOON NETWORK UPFRONT 2008
Batman Returns (with Brave & Bold), Star Wars & Lots More!

by Steve Fritz

George Lucas himself decided it was time to make an appearance at this year’s Cartoon Network Upfront.

For those not in the know, an upfront is when a TV network presents its plans for the next year. It’s one of their main ways of convincing advertisers that they have the programming that will attract the most of a particular target audience. From the looks of things, CN is gearing up with a lot of programs and plans to insure attention with Newsarama readers and animation fans in general.

As one might imagine, the big news, and the reason why Lucas made a personal appearance, is that CN picked up the rights to the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. All the big guns expect galactic-sized things because of it.

“Cartoon Network has proven with the success of great brands and series like Ben 10 and Chowder that we have what kids want,” said Stuart Snyder, president and COO, Turner Animation, Young Adults & Kids Media. “Star Wars: The Clone Wars is a game changer for us and continues our commitment to staying in the forefront of offering kids something completely different than what they are seeing anywhere else.”

“The time being spent by kids across all of our platforms lets us know that they are deeply engaged in what is being offered by Cartoon and are experiencing the network in a variety of ways,” said Beth Goss, executive vice president of Cartoon Network Ad Sales, Marketing and Enterprises. “Our portfolio is appealing to our audience and with marketers as well, thanks to strong branding, dynamic programming and innovative promotion."

Equally important is CN is starting a much more rigid formatting concept for its programming. Don’t be surprised if eventually each night of the week will have its own type of shows. For instance, CN announced that Thursdays will now be for comedy, with such established shows as Chowder, Camp Lazlo, George of the Jungle, Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends and new show The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, coming this summer. Fridays will be for American action-adventure, eventually spearheaded by Ben 10: Alien Force and Star Wars. I get the feeling Saturdays will continue the anime-based Toonami with continued episodes of Naruto and the recently reintroduced Samurai Jack. Sundays will be for feature films, not only animated (Surf’s Up, Ant Bully, Monster House, Hoodwinked) but not-so-animated (Cheaper By The Dozen).

“These are just the first steps in the evolution of a programming strategy that will lay the groundwork for highlighting all of our strengths moving forward,” said chief content officer, Rob Sorcher. “We now have great tentpoles to launch these new nights and a platform to showcase established and up-and-coming talent.”

Probably the most ambitious announcement is the formation of what is being called The Cartoonstitute. The initiative will endeavor to create up to 150 pieces of programming over a period of 20 months. A veritable think tank for animators, the program will be artist-led and spearheaded by executive producer Craig McCracken (Powerpuff Girls, Foster’s) and supervising producer Rob Renzetti (My Life as a Teenage Robot). Furthermore, The Cartoonstitute will create an in-house, all-star team of artists, directors, storyboarders and writers to generate content across a number of platforms.

Oh yeah…and they will be doing something called Batman: The Brave & The Bold.

Here’s the full breakdown of the announcements:

BATMAN: THE BRAVE & THE BOLD

Think James Tucker would be out of work long after they closed down Legion? Yeah, like that was going to happen.

Tucker has been named supervising producer of the much-anticipated latest Batman series. As many have already guessed, it features the Caped Crusader teaming up with some other major denizen of the DC universe. Among those mentioned were Green Arrow, Blue Beetle and even Aquaman. Now if they have any brains about them, I’d like to see a certain creepy yellow guy as well as a blonde bombshell who can blow you away by just opening up her lips.

Joining Tucker on the crew are the likes of fellow executive producer Linda M. Steiner, story editor and rising WB star Michael Jelenic as well as episode directors Ben Jones, Brandon Vietti and Michael Chang. According to informed sources, voice recording is going down now and the series is targeted to debut next March.

• BEN 10: ALIEN FORCE

Slated to debut this April, this new incarnation of Ben 10 is being produced by Glen Murakami (Teen Titans, Batman Beyond), directed by WB Animation all-stars Dan Riba and Butch Lukic and story edited by everybody’s favorite, Dwayne McDuffie. The voice cast is pretty stellar, too. It includes Yuri Lowenthal (Superman from Legion, Paul Eiding returning as Grandpa Max, Ashley Johnson (Terra/Teen Titans) as Gwen and Greg Cipes (Beast Boy/Titans) as new ally Kevin Levin.

Yep, that’s right. Kevin is a new ally…at least for now. The basic plot line kicks off with Ben having taken off the Omnitrix for five years, and becoming a lot more confident in his own human abilities. Things go south though when Max disappears. As one can expect, there’s new enemies, new forms for Ben to become (if he’s going to become Ben 10,000 after all) and a lot more interesting things to come.

Cartoon Network announced it has a week of specials before launching into this series.

The stunt begins Sunday, April 13, with a Ben 10 marathon of special episodes featuring nuggets of trivia. Viewers will learn everything they ever wanted to know and tidbits they never thought of knowing about Ben 10. Facts about aliens, Ben, Gwen and behind-the-scenes goodies will pop up during the episodes and movies.

On Monday, April 14 at 8:00 p.m. the event continues with a fan-generated special showcasing some of the most dedicated Ben 10 devotees. A half-hour original special will highlight the results of the ultimate fan challenge in which Cartoon Network found 10 of the biggest fans, sent them webcams and video cameras and asked them to document everything Ben 10 in their lives.

Then, a never-before-seen, unearthed "lost" episode of the series will be revealed on Tuesday, April 15 at 8 p.m. (ET, PT). Viewers will also be treated to an enhanced version of the animated movie Ben 10: The Secret of the Omnitrix on Wednesday, April 16, at 8:00 p.m. Then there will be an enhanced version of the live-action movie Ben 10: Race Against Time on Thursday, April 17 at 8:00 p.m.

All the special programming will lead up to the premiere of the new series Ben 10: Alien Force, Friday, April 18 at 8:00 p.m. The animated series will then debut in its regularly scheduled time period Saturday mornings at 10:00 a.m.

• THE CARTOONISTUTE

This could potentially be the biggest idea coming out of the upfront, with the potential of having the longest range effect. To quote the press release:

Produced primarily by Cartoon Network Studios, The Cartoonstitute will endeavor to create up to 150 pieces of programming over a period of 20 months.

A veritable think tank for animators, the program will be artist-led and spearheaded by animation veterans Craig McCracken and Rob Renzetti, who will create an in-house, all-star team of artists, directors, storyboarders and writers generating content suitable for distribution across a number of platforms. McCracken will serve as executive producer and Renzetti as supervising producer reporting to Rob Sorcher.

“The Cartoonstitute will create an unprecedented swift development track for animated pilots,” said Rob Sorcher, CN Chief Content Officer. “This program is unique in that it is run by artists themselves who understand what it takes to create the right environment for success. The Cartoonstitute continues the tradition of Cartoon Network being the best place for ground-breaking animation and will create a new generation of show runners in addition to fantastic new animated content for Cartoon Network.”


• CHOWDER

I’ll keep this short but it’s very, very sweet. C.H. Greenblatt’s incredible series Chowder has had its contract extended for 40 additional episodes. Greenblatt still is the master chef, and voice cast still includes the likes Nicky Jones (Chowder), Dwight Schultz (Mung Daal), Tara Strong (Turffles) , John DiMaggio (Scnitzel) and Dana Snyder (Gazpacho).

Tasty.


• THE MARVELOUS MISADVENTURES OF FLAPJACK

The creation of Thurop van Ormon, who must have the most perfect name for an animator ever, this kids-oriented series sounds like it could be the next Chowder.

Here’s what the press kit says: “Raised by Bubbie the talking whale in the bubbling splendor of the sea, Flapjack’s life was once a world of peace and tranquility. That all ended the day he and Bubbie rescued an old pirate from a shipwreck, Captain K’nuckles, whose tall tales tangle up Flapjack’s head, consuming him with an unquenchable desire for adventure.

“Although Bubbie struggles to protect him, Flapjack would do anything to win the approval of Captain K’nuckles, even if it means getting himself into a lot of trouble. The trouble Flapjack finds himself in results from his naïve, overenthusiastic quest for adventure. The best things are what happened instead—the misadventures.

“The sea community in which the three friends live, Stormalong Harbor, is pretty much home to them. Here Flapjack and Cap’n K’nuckles work at the dock to earn candy money, acquire supplies, and get into mischief, all in support of acquiring the most coveted title of all…Adventurer!”

The series is slated for a Summer 2008 debut.

• THE SECRET SATURDAYS

To be part of the Friday action-adventure group, this series was created by comic book creator Jay Stephens. He has won two Daytime Emmys for his work on Tutenstein, but we all love him for his work on Nick’s Jetcat.

Cartoon Network describes the show as: “Doc, Drew and Zak Saturday are a family of world-saving adventure scientists called The Secret Saturdays. They live in a hidden base and are part of a network of scientists who protect against all the underlying evil in world. To the Saturdays, ordinary folk tales aren’t just legends, but real-life mysteries and adventures. Traveling from the hot Gobi Desert to the icy Marianas Trench, they explore ancient temples and bottomless caves and tangle with twisted villains, including the masked madman V.V. Argost and his half-human/half-giant spider.

“Aside from the adventures that span the globe, at the end of the day the Saturdays, along with their hyper exotic pets Fiskerton Komodo and Zon, are just a warm, loving family getting through everyday growing pains and squabbles.”

The voice cast for the show includes Phil Morris (Doc Saturday), Nicole Sullivan (Drew Saturday), Sam Lerner (Zak Saturday), Diedrich Bader (Fiskerton) and Corey Burton (V.V. Argost) It’s slated for this Fall.

• STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS

For some reason, George Lucas felt the need to be flanked by four Clone Troopers when he did his part of Cartoon Network's upfront presentation last Thursday…maybe there’s more of the Dark Side in him than he cares to admit.

“It's Star Wars starring an 11-year-old girl," Lucas told the Hollywood Reporter after a short clip of the Clone Wars series, premiering in the Fall. He said partnering with Cartoon and sister network TNT allowed the show, which he described as appealing to audiences "8-80" to "cover all the bases very well and have an extra wide reach." The show will also air on TNT after it premieres on CN.

“Trust me, you will be seeing the target campaign for 'Star Wars' everywhere, across every platform,” said Snyder. “It will be by far the largest effort in Cartoon Network history. We believe this show is a game changer for the network and is going to be event viewing for kids and their entire families.”

The series is being produced by Lucasfilm Animation., Among those known to be working on the series is Justice League: New Frontier director David Bullock.

“I felt there were a lot more Star Wars stories left to tell,” said Lucas. “I was eager to start telling some of them through animation and, at the same time, push the art of animation forward.”

“Nothing like this has ever been produced for television,” said Snyder. “For 30 years, Star Wars has shown that it appeals to a huge breadth of fans. Star Wars: The Clone Wars on Cartoon Network will be appointment television for everyone in the family. We’re thrilled to be working with Lucasfilm again and very excited to be playing a role in bringing this remarkable adventure to viewers.”

Among the characters announced for the show are the expected, such as Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Padmé Amidala, and the new, the most prominent being Anakin’s padawan learner, Ahsoka. The villains include Palpatine, Count Dooku and General Grievous. No mention of Jar Jar as far as we know.



For all those craving what’s going to happen on Adult Swim, you’ll have to wait for when they have their own upfront.

GONZO DOING OPEN PRICING MODEL ON ONLINE DISTRIBUTION

It had already been announced that Studio Gonzo (aka GDH) will be introducing simultaneous launching of its two latest anime series, The Tower of Druaga -the Aegis of URUK and Blassreiter both on Japanese TV and online through various sites this April. Now the studio is taking it a step further by announcing they shows will be available to fans with an open pricing model.

GDH will test an open-pricing system with one of the distribution websites, www.Crunchyroll.com. This system allows users to determine the price they pay in exchange for downloading the animated episodes. This model is designed to services the more market-oriented direction developing in online distribution. By allowing the users to determine the value of the product and make their voices be heard, GDH derives valuable feedback directly from consumers. Popular titles could generate high offers, with revenues going back to the content providers to offset the costs of distribution and development of future projects.

Crunchyroll aims to offer to its community a legal alternative to illegal file-sharing and downloading, and at the same time establish online distribution business models such as ad-supported streaming and open pricing for download, in which content providers are able to generate revenue from the market. As the first content holder to embrace a "pay-what-you-want" model, GDH will study its feasibility to advocate it as a key to further cultivate the Japanese content business backed up by anime fans all over the world.

NEWS FROM THE NYICFF

The New York International Children’s Film Festival announced its award-winning short Nocturna will be shown at a number of theaters around the New York City area this weekend, April 5-6.

Nocturna, from Spain, explores the mysteries of the night in a sweeping nocturnal adventure full of Wonderland-like characters and moody, dream- inspired landscapes. A young boy named Tim finds out when an unusual discovery on the rooftop of his orphanage plunges him into the secret world of Nocturna, inhabited by curious creatures who control the night. These include hairdressers who specialize in bed-heads, dream writers, and a vast herd of guardian cats led by the gigantic Cat Shepherd.

It is playing an exclusive one weekend engagement at New York City’s IFC Center, Bronxville Cinemas, and Red Bank Art Cinemas. Shows at 11:00 am

The NYICFF also announced it has uploaded many of its short films online at its site www.gkids.tv. Not only do you get to see the movies, but you may also rate, and comment on films, meet filmmakers, email clips to friends, and create your own custom channel with favorite videos.

NEXT COLUMN: We finish off our interview with the Naruto team.

[alaska1125]

Batman: The Brave and the Bold? Awesome!

(Although I hadn't realized that Legion was cancelled...bummer.)

[Mega Gear X]

Sigh....

Yet another Batman show??? Howzabout someone else get a cartoon like Flash, Wonder Woman or Green Lantern? They might as well have continued The Batman...

[DarkNomis]

For the love of Bob Kane can they not do a Batman cartoon series that don't look like it's drawn by pre-schoolers???? Hideous!

[Don Mega]

Well, Star Wars is going to be great, that one´s for sure.

But that Batman? Hmmmm.....looks like it´s made for the youngest tv-viewers.

[MadBandit]

Originally Posted by Mega Gear X

Sigh....

Yet another Batman show??? Howzabout someone else get a cartoon like Flash, Wonder Woman or Green Lantern? They might as well have continued The Batman...

Boy, aren't you Mr. Optimistic...

I won't mind seeing this. Plus more Samurai Jack (THANK GOD) and the Clone Wars!!! The real CN's back with a vengeance!!!

[zombiekid]

like the look of the new batman cartoon. who does the character design?

[Glen Cadigan]

It's too bad that the Cartoon Network didn't just pick up the Legion cartoon. In fact, it's too bad that it wasn't on the Cartoon Network right from the beginning, since it was obviously intended to fill the void left by Teen Titans.

[caats19]

yeah i'm not big on that batman art. and i really wanted something else besides batman. but it's a whole year away. i'm lookin forward to seeing it in motion though

[Xysmurf]

It's very sad that the Legion is no more, it was a very good show, and I've never been a fan of the Legion books. The Batman by contrast has been a very bad, very boring show since the very first episode. The barefoot Joker still turns my stomach. I think they should give the Bat TV animated franchise a rest for a while and give it time to heal. I'd like to see some new cartoons that haven't been done to death like JSA or Doom Patrol.

Ben 10 has needed some help for a while too, but I don't know if launching him into puberty will be enough resurrect the program. Chowder is cute, but it's dumb slappstick humor.....give me Dexter's Lab anyday. Samurai Jack is back?!? Awesome!

[xdemon]

The Cartoonstitute sounds like a fantastic idea! Maybe it can be the Termite Terrace of the 21st Century.

[EyesBL7]

Originally Posted by MattBrady

“It's Star Wars starring an 11-year-old girl," Lucas told the Hollywood Reporter after a short clip of the Clone Wars series, premiering in the Fall.

Once again George is right on top of what Star Wars fans want to see

[ljacone]

Originally Posted by MattBrady

Tucker has been named supervising producer of the much-anticipated latest Batman series. As many have already guessed, it features the Caped Crusader teaming up with some other major denizen of the DC universe. Among those mentioned were Green Arrow, Blue Beetle and even Aquaman. Now if they have any brains about them, I’d like to see a certain creepy yellow guy as well as a blonde bombshell who can blow you away by just opening up her lips.

Frank Miller's Yellow Bastard? That's the only creepy yellow guy I know. I am so missing something in this joke here.

In any event, I think the new Brave and the Bold cartoon looks pretty neat, as does the Clone Wars. My wife and I both enjoy Star Wars quite a bit so the new adventures should be cool to see.

[GohanWinner]

Brave and the Bold looks scary, purely from a design standpoint but I suppose I'll give it a try. An the "yellow guy" Fritz was talking about was probably the Creeper.

Excited for Ben 10 Alien Force, though. Ben 10 has been fun, but it's lacked any real depth, hopefully with everyone being older that might get to change. And Clone Wars looks fricking amazing, so that's exciting too. Misadventures of Flapjack, if its half as good as Chowder will be entertaining. And 40 more episodes of Chowder? Now that is good news! I was worrying slightly that something bad might happen to it. Phew.

[Bender-braü]

Originally Posted by Steve Fritz

a blonde bombshell who can blow you away by just opening up her lips

I feel dirtier just for reading that. LOL!

Oh boy. I do not like the looks of this:

Looks like Adam West's coming back into style again (shudder).

Originally Posted by Mega Gear X

Sigh....

Yet another Batman show??? Howzabout someone else get a cartoon like Flash, Wonder Woman or Green Lantern? They might as well have continued The Batman...

I concur. Personally I think The Flash would have been a much better choice if they are going to go with a lighter style. At least that's the feeling I get when looking at the preliminary artwork shown here (maybe I'm wrong...I hope I am). The problem with The Flash is that most writers have admitted that they hate writing for him. Here's some quote from Bruce Timm and Dwayne McDuffie:

Bruce Timm on the Flash #2 (2004): “The Flash…I wish we could kill him off! He's so fast [that], if he was just a little bit smarter, he wouldn't need a Justice League. Anytime anyone fired a gun at him, he could run across town to the police station, pick up a Kevlar vest, come back, and let the bullet bounce off his chest. He's that fast; he could take down Galactus if he wanted to."

Dwayne McDuffie on the Flash (circa 2005): “Flash just doesn’t make any kind of logical sense. If he can run that fast without hurting himself, he’s invulnerable…but he’s not. He should be able to throw near-light speed jabs with almost infinite moment of impact"

Bruce Timm on the Flash #3 (2005): “...he can be everywhere at once. We know that really doesn't work in any kind of filmic medium. Nobody should ever be able to get the drop on the Flash; his reflexes should be so fast that nobody should be able to land a punch on him or shoot him with a ray gun."

[LikeaPhoenix]

Batman: the Depraved and the OLD

I might be in the minorty regarding this, but frankly I'm a bit tired and burnt out with these Batman cartoons. They've been churning out these Batman shows non-stop since the early 90's (thanks to the success of Tim Burton's first movie) with the Bruce Timm version. When will it ever end? We know all we need to know about the Batman. How about giving other characters a chance in the limelight, e.g., Wonder Woman, etc.,? Of the big three, she's not getting a lot love or attention from DC or WB.

[Spidey616]

An appearance by the NEW Blue Beetle? This should be fun

[caats19]

you're so in the minority you're like the 5th person to say so

[KaijubotX]

I'm really looking foward to The Brave & the Bold. Like JLU, this looks like it will be a great platform for more obscure DC characters to shine. If they're featuring Jamie Reyes in the promo material that's a good sign that we'll see more characters than just Flash and Superman over and over. Face it, Batman and Superman are always going to be "anchor" characters with these shows. I think going with a team-up show like this satisfies the exec's who want the ratings and the fans who want to see more characters. Sure, the vibe seems to be more of a "kids'" show, but the animation, writing and voice-acting make the complete package. Right now I'm quite enjoying two other shows aimed at "kids", Transformers Animated and Spectacular Spider-Man.

The Secret Saturdays is also worth a look, seems to have a Jonny Quest feel to it.

[Mega Gear X]

Originally Posted by MadBandit

Boy, aren't you Mr. Optimistic...

Just sick of Batman being the only DC hero getting a cartoon.

[Cartoon Jay]

As a very serious animation/anime fan, I have to say the CN is the LAST place I would look for quality animation. Lifeless, poorly designed animation done in foreign sweatshops, that they can provide.

That said, The Cartoonistute could be a very interesting thing, and I do really like the design of the Clone Wars cartoon!

[GratefulFred]

Originally Posted by DarkNomis

For the love of Bob Kane can they not do a Batman cartoon series that don't look like it's drawn by pre-schoolers???? Hideous!

Maybe it's aimed at pre-schoolers.

[Tanjint]

this all look like horseshit.

has anyone seen patton oswalt's rant about star wars?

Why does Lucas not know what people want from star wars? we're tired of the kid ____. we're tired of 11 year olds. we want Vader. that's all people want. All we want is Vader.

Like this force unleashed game that's coming out...a game where we are vader's apprentice? nice i guess, but how much more would they sell if they made a game where you could just be vader hunting Jedi throughout?

and now this, i'd like to see a star wars show that bounces throughout SW continuity telling tales from all eras in arc form. but what do we get? yet MORE stories that take place before anakin is Vader with him training an 11 year old? BLARGH.

My thing is this: the prequels and prequel related material should have convinced us that everyone's fear of Vader in episode 4 is justified. when a new hope starts, Vader is already a friggin' legend. All i wanted the prequels to do was establish that legend. documenting his light side adventures (re: before Vader) does not help because no one feared his ass. villains treated him like the punk kid he is.

-T

[theredhood]

Originally Posted by DarkNomis

For the love of Bob Kane can they not do a Batman cartoon series that don't look like it's drawn by pre-schoolers???? Hideous!

Funny I was just thinking the one pic looked similar to Dick Sprang's work on Batman. I think it is better than the current The Batman series anyway. As far as the new Blue Beetle goes, I would like him to be "fixed" in the upcoming Crisis. Too bad Max Lord is dead, because then he could shoot him...

[Bender-braü]

Originally Posted by theredhood

Too bad Max Lord is dead, because then he could shoot him...

What good would that do?

Max shot the second one AND threw him in an incinerator. Writer Greg Rucka even stated on record: "There was a breeze blowing through his brain, and he was incinerated. How much clearer can it be?"...and he STILL came back!