ANIMATED SHORTS 262: TALKING TO CN'S TERRY KALAGIAN

[MattBrady]

by Steve Fritz

IN A CN WAY
An interview with Cartoon Network VP Terry Kalagain & More

As reported last week, Cartoon Network had a very good year. Ratings for just about all its programming were up or holding their own.

One of the key reasons for this is CN’s VP of Acquisitions and Co-Productions, Terry Kalagain. She’s the exec responsible for searching out and buying all animated properties not directly produced by the cable channel itself. So while this means she’s not the one who pulls the trigger on such shows as Juniper Lee, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy or the net’s most recent hits Ben 10 and Robot Boy, she does go out and get all CN’s anime and other outside productions. This also means you can blame her for the recent acquisitions of such things as both the Miyazaki movies and Marvel DVDs.

Animated Shorts had the pleasure of a sit down with Kalagain last Friday, two days after Cartoon Network announced its plans for the next year (See last week’s column for more details). One important note: Kalagain does not involve herself with anything that Adult Swim does, as they are now considered a separate network. On the other hand, that still leaves an incredible amount of material to talk about.

So here we go:

Newsarama: So how are things on the anime front?

Terry Kalagain: I think it’s great! I think we have the best shows currently coming out of Japan. And we have new episodes of all those shows.

NRAMA: One show that wasn’t announced was Yugi GX. Is that going to be continued?

TK: Yes. We can’t announce it officially. In the first season there’s 52 episodes and that’s a hefty amount.

NRAMA: How has Naruto working for you?

TK: It’s been our #1 show on Toonami, especially with Kids 9-14. So it’s doing great. While I can’t tell you that we’ve picked up more episodes, you can imagine what we are doing being it’s our #1 show. Naruto fans can feel secure.

NRAMA: Any other shows you feel equally happy about?

TK: I have to admit that we’re real happy with Zatch Bell. It’s actually our #2 show on Toonami. With One Piece, it’s kind of become the three series we can run Toonami on. Even Bo-Bo-Bo is doing some nice numbers.

NRAMA: As the regular Yugi show has pretty much completed its run on Kids WB, will that series show up on Cartoon Network in the future?

TK: It had done good numbers for us in the past. While I can’t quite give you the future schedule as I don’t know it, but I don’t see Yu-Gi-Oh: King of Games going away. It’s a nice compliment to GX.

NRAMA: Now you have the Miyazaki films coming in shortly. I understand that Spirited Away did quite well for you.

TK: It did very well. With Toonami we check on the ratings for every quarter-hour. Spirited Away got ratings up to the high 5’s and even the 6’s.

NRAMA: How does that compare against regular Toonami programming?

TK: It’s not really fair because Spirited Away was treated like a special event, what we call a tent pole, compared to our regular programming. So Spirited Away naturally did better than Naruto.

NRAMA: Now you announced that you are going to be doing a different Miyazaki film each week for a month, but that is only four films. Miyazaki has done a few more than that. If this is successful would you consider doing more?

TK: We’re hoping. It’s hard to know right now because Spirited Away had the most public awareness thanks to winning the Oscar. As such, it got a wider release than the other ones. We’ll have to wait and see because, of course, the Toonami fan base is much more aware of Miyazaki than the usual fans.

NRAMA: How did IGPX do for you guys?

TK: It started off kind of slow, but it built up for us. Obviously we think it’s doing well enough because we will be doing a second set of 13 episodes come this May. We think what hurt it was we put it on right after Naruto, which was this total kick-ass show and IGPX is a bit more complex. We saw that there was a major drop when IGPX came on, so we think it has a different audience.

NRAMA: Is Dragonball still carrying its weight?

TK: It is. Right now we’re running Dragonball Z, and the uncut versions of the series did incredibly well for us.

NRAMA: Are there plans for any new anime properties coming?

TK: I really can’t say. You know, I do go to such things like the Tokyo Anime Fair and Tokyo Film Festival. I’m also in touch with all the distributors, producers and TV stations. They’ve been veering off in different directions over the past few years. They’ve been producing more girl properties, which is interesting. And, to be honest, Naruto is still the best thing out there.

NRAMA: Well, I’ve been hearing about such shows as Bleach and Blood: The Last Vampire coming over here.

TK: Bleach is great. The same people who do Naruto and Inu Yasha make it. It’s more of an Adult Swim show. It’s a bit more complex and slower, and it builds from one episode to the next.

NRAMA: Have you thought about more shojo shows to the mix?

TK: Well, you never say never, but I don’t think so. We did some testing and those kinds of shows just don’t do well in the U.S. Honestly, all around the world it’s been proven that girl-oriented properties never do as well as boy, specifically the anime. Now what’s interesting is a show like Totally Spies, which most people aimed for girls, actually does very well with boys. We have 15 new episodes of that starting in April.

NRAMA: So are you on the hunt for new anime properties?

TK: But of course! We’re always looking out for the next big thing from Japan.

NRAMA: So I guess the status of all things anime is things are status quo.

TK: Yes. And the reason for that is what anime properties we have are doing well, thank you. Fans right now want to see more episodes of Naruto, Zatch Bell, One Piece and Bo-Bo-Bo.

You haven’t mentioned it yet, but we’re also really excited to be bringing the new movies from Marvel.

NRAMA: I was getting there. Actually, what I wanted to bring up first was the status of Teen Titans and Justice League. Now fans in this column are very excited about the Titans movie. If this works, would you say there will be more Titans or such movies being done?

TK: Again, I will never say never. My career is based on performance. If the Titans does great, I don’t see any reason not to go over and ask for another one.

NRAMA: Is there any more Justice League coming after the two last episodes in April?

TK: As of right now, we don’t have anything coming after the two-parter.

NRAMA: What about Hellboy? I’ve been reading a lot about that one on the web.

TK: I’m not allowed to talk about it, not yet. But we’re working very hard with IDT on this one and we’re really excited about it.

NRAMA: But graphics for it are starting to pop up all over the web.

TK: I know, but all I can say is we’re really excited about it.

NRAMA: The same can be said for Supergirl & The Legion of Super-Heroes as well as Doom Patrol. I’ve seen stills. Paul Dini put it on his blog.

TK: (Laughingly) How do those get out there? Those people…What can you say? You know I can’t say anything about it, Steve. You know it.

NRAMA: So what’s the story on Re-Animated?

TK: That I can’t say much about because it is an original production out of Cartoon Network Studios. What I can say is we’re excited about it because it’s our first foray into live action done in a Cartoon Network way. In other words, live action and animation done together. It will completely make sense with the brand.

NRAMA: What about other anime movies besides Miyazaki’s?

TK: Well, obviously we talked about Spirited Away. As for the question, you never know. We’re excited that Spirited Away did so well, but it also had a huge push behind it. We’ll see after Princess Mononoke and the others do. It’s so hard to know.

NRAMA: Has the WB/UPN merger affected your acquisitions?

TK: No.

NRAMA: There seems to be a lot of activity in the background there.

TK: Well, with Kids WB, obviously we shared programs in the past and will continue to do so in the future. One of our announcements this week was our picking up Shaolin Showdown, which is a great show. We also share Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh. This new merger hasn’t changed that at all.

Now as far as it affecting our personal acquisitions, you know there are a lot of other Cartoon Networks around the planet. We often talk to each other about what have we seen that has been the hottest thing in their corner of the world. It’s a good discussion to have. But really, what I do is try to figure out what shows would fit my network the best.

NRAMA: Do you then have anything to do with the Saturday morning block CN has started?

TK: Only in keeping an eye out for appropriate acquisitions. Remember the Saturday morning block is a mix of original shows and acquisitions. For instance, we are testing the idea of live action in a Cartoon Network way there.

NRAMA: You mean with Zixx.

TK: Right. I picked up that; 26 episodes. That was a co-production between YTV and Mainframe Entertainment/IDT. We tried it for a couple of weeks and now it is back on the air with a much bigger promotion budget behind it.

NRAMA: What about Dragon Hunters? Is that coming back?

TK: We’re going to bring it back this summer, although we haven’t announced it. It’s beautiful and a little different type of storytelling. It’s also very witty. What happened is I went through the first season and picked what I thought was the best six episodes to launch with. I think it had a little bit of a slow start, but I think that was also because when we launched we had such initial great success with Ben 10 that the other shows got dwarfed by it. Now we’re exceedingly happy with the success of Ben 10 and Robot Boy as well. Now we have to figure out how to relaunch the other shows that came with them.

NRAMA: Now obviously the first Marvel DVD has come out and it’s caused its share of controversy in the comic book world…

TK: What’s the controversy?

NRAMA: A lot of fans don’t think it’s anywhere near as good as the work of the DC animated shows, or the original comics it was based on.

But getting back on track, is this the start of a long-term commitment with Marvel? I mean you announced you are not only doing Ultimate Avengers 1, but Ultimate Avengers 2 and Iron Man as well.

TK: There’s also a fourth one, Dr. Strange, although we didn’t announce it.

NRAMA: And in a previous column Craig Kyle remarked they’re doing Fantastic Four and X-Men too.

TK: Yep. It’s a great relationship that we have. All of those are actually co-productions between Marvel and Lion’s Gate, and we have a great relationship with both of those companies. I think, again, for commercial television, it’s all about performance. Now, obviously, we’ve been the home for DC Comic properties and the Marvel guys felt a little bit left out. Now I’m glad to say that we can bring them to your home as well.

Perswonally, I think Ultimate Avengers is great. I think they did a great job of putting together the back-story. I also think they did an incredible job with the last 20 minutes, when they are all fighting the Hulk. I’m really excited with the next one because all the exposition and back-story is done and they can get right into the action and fight the aliens with the Black Panther. I like how they merged the old Avengers with the Ultimate line.

Also, let me say we have our share of comic book fans over here. When I first proposed acquiring the show they all said they’d have to think about it. After the DVD came out they all said it was great and that we should get it.

I also think there’s room for both camps over here. I think we will end up putting it on after the Miyazaki movies on Toonami. It’s definitely targeted for kids age 9-14.

NRAMA: So, hopefully, this will work well enough that you will air them all right up to Dr. Strange.

TK: We will definitely air Dr. Strange. The deal is for all four movies. All I can add is they are thinking about making more, but now it’s a wait-and-see. From what I hear, so far, is the DVD is doing fantastic.


SOME THOUGHTS ON THIS YEAR’S OSCARS

I don’t know whether to feel truly good about this year’s Academy Awards for Animation or not.

Yes, I’m thrilled that Wallace & Grommit got the nod for Best Animated Feature Film. I’m also pleased that John Canemaker, a longtime respected elder in the animation field, was given his first Oscar for the short The Son & The Moon. Let me also say that if any of the other films nominated, particularly Miyazaki’s latest epic Howl’s Moving Castle and Tim Burton’s return to his original form with The Corpse Bride, were to have won, I wouldn’t feel slighted either.

On the other hand I’m seeing some interesting perceptions of animation that I find troubling.

First of all, it all struck home for me when I was watching a pre-Oscar special on A&E. On that show, one critic, who shall remain nameless, commented that this really wasn’t a good year for animation because, “There was no Pixar film this year.”

Now I’m sorry, but I think even John Lasetter, Pixar’s (and now Disney’s) main creative force, would find that comment offensive. Truth be told, as far as quality film making was concerned, this was a damn good year for theatrical animation. Sure, maybe Disney’s 2006 offerings (the Pooh movie, the reissue of Bambi, Valiant and Chicken Little) weren’t as good as the three feature films nominated, but they weren’t that bad either. The same could be said for Fox’s sole entry of the year, Robots.

Further, what about films such as Dreamwork’s Madagascar or, for that matter, the Dave McKean/Neil Gaiman/Henson Company collaboration MirrorMask? Madagascar was funny as all get-out. And MirrorMask was both a wonderfully beautiful film with some wonderful storytelling and, take a bow Mr. McKean, an animation and directorial tour-de-force.

For that matter, if the Academy was going to lump foreign films (Japanese anime and otherwise) with the American works, what about such films as Appleseed or The Boy Who Thought He Was A Bear? These films were also quite marvelous and had theatrical debuts last year.

Fundamentally, I thought the idea was professionals inside the field were the ones who are supposed to pick both the nominees and the winners. I get the feeling that the real pros aren’t consulted at all by the Academy, which would rather listen to the advice of such short-sighted idiots as the A&E maven.

At the least, the Academy could put up a full slate of five films, like the regular feature films, instead of short-shifting the community with only three. As Terry Kalagain pointed out in the previous interview, winning an Oscar does cause interest for a film, even if it’s animated. There certainly was more than enough to choose from in 2006.


FUNIMATION STARTING THEATRICAL PROGRAM

Speaking of which, FUNimation announced it is starting its own theatrical program. It will be called FUNimation Films.

Every month it will bring top-rated anime features and series premiers to movie theatres across the nation. FUNimation Films is a part of our strategy to grow the anime community and bring quality anime to entertainment audiences throughout the United States.

The first offering will be two Dragonball movies, The Return of Cooler and the U.S. debut of Fusion Reborn. They will be distributed to various Landmark theatres throughout the U.S. starting on March 17. In April, they will bring in the Basilisk series to be followed by the Trinity Blood series in May.

Now I’ll admit I’m not the biggest DB fan in the world, but that doesn’t mean I’m not glad to see these films get some proper U.S. distribution. My biggest gripe of the moment is that there aren’t any Landmark theaters in my neck of the woods. I just hope this turns into a great success for FUNimation. Lord knows the best way to see a movie is still in a theater. Here’s to hoping there will soon be a lot more.

NEXT COLUMN: Nickelodeon will have its own upfront later this week. You can bet AS will be all over that. We’ll also be taking a look at the latest Adult Swim offering, MinoriTeam. See ya next Wednesday.

[Max Headroom]

Now if they'd only fix Boomerang... because right now its schedule/line-up sucks dog farts.

[saiyanspider]

Ben 10, Naruto, DBZ, Inyuasha, Boondocks, Titans, JLU, Family guy, and the Grim adventures of Billy and Mandy are my fav things on CN.

I want to get into Zatch Bell, I lost interest in One piece, but I want to give it another chance.

Love your network guys. Keep up the good work.

[johnny.blaze]

My 2nd fave series out there (sorry but JLU is TOO good to let pass away). I think since they have so many episodes in the bag they should go the DBZ/InuYasha route where they start showing the first 52 episodes everyday.

At some point it will catch on like wildfire!!!

Hoping that JLU gets picked up for one more season. Can you believe that we've had this incarnation of Batman running around for more than 14 years!!!!! Unbelievable! It can't end like this

[Davy]

With Titans gone, and JLU nearly out the door, the only thing left I find interesting on Cartoon Network is Naruto.

Davy

[NightRiver]

Great interview!

Ive been watching more and more CN with Ben 10, Naruto, IGPX, and Camp Lazlo. Keep Em coming!

They need to bring Bleach over here and put it on Adult Swim! Its so awesome!

[astronato]

Has anyone heard anything about a Gamera cartoon coming to the Cartoon Network? Wikipedia makes mention of it but i haven't seen anything else about it. Did I miss it in a past Animated Shorts? Is it based on the Gamera design from the 90's trilogy or is it based upon the new Gamera the Brave design?

[Bedlam66]

I really like Ben 10 and Robot Boy. And I would watch One Piece But I can't watch 4Kids version of the Show without wanting to Vomit. I really hope that CN starts showing the "real" One Piece now that it has the rights.

[apoehler]

Originally posted by MattBrady

TK: Perswonally, I think Ultimate Avengers is great.

This is worrisome. If someone in programming can't see the huge difference in quality between a great show like JLU and a hacked-out piece of crap like Ultimate Avengers, I don't see good things coming down the pike from Cartoon Network.

[smitch]

I don't really like Naruto. But Ben 10 and Robot boy are cool!

[funjoe]

Originally posted by apoehler
This is worrisome. If someone in programming can't see the huge difference in quality between a great show like JLU and a hacked-out piece of crap like Ultimate Avengers, I don't see good things coming down the pike from Cartoon Network.

First of all, she never said it was as good as JLU. In fact, she never compared them at all, she just said she thought Ultimate Avengers was great. What did you expect her to say? She's basically a partner in this movie and the next 3. She's not going to say it sucked.

Secondly, a "hacked out piece of crap"? I think the many people who worked long hours would beg to differ. Have you even seen it? I watched the first 30 minutes, and while it's not up to the quality of the DC animated offerings (in terms of animation and voice acting quality) I would say it is certainly above average and worth seeing. It's certainly decent enough considering it's the first such release from Lion's Gate/Marvel. Especially since you don't even need to buy the DVD to watch it.

[dantebk]

I don't quite get this. Justice League Unlimited is such a great show, and while many episodes feature little-known characters, it's still the home of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. If that show isn't performing well enough to keep it on the air, why do they think Legion of Superheroes and Doom Patrol will do better?

Or is JLU going away have nothing to do with the ratings? Are they just tired of making it?

Ack. I hate when the shows I love get cancelled.

[khuxford]

Anyone have links to the stills for the Supergirl & The Legion of Super-Heroes or Doom Patrol that the article said Paul Dini had posted on his blog at some point? I can't find anything about that on his blog.

[khuxford]

Originally posted by dantebk
I don't quite get this. Justice League Unlimited is such a great show, and while many episodes feature little-known characters, it's still the home of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. If that show isn't performing well enough to keep it on the air, why do they think Legion of Superheroes and Doom Patrol will do better?

Or is JLU going away have nothing to do with the ratings? Are they just tired of making it?

Ack. I hate when the shows I love get cancelled.

Making the show costs more than many other shows, because of the licensing costs.

[UberShep]

The Oscar wins proves that animation other than CG can be done well and maturely. The Moon and the Son is a heartbreaking piece and completely deserved the win (Hooray for 2D). Wallace and Grommit is hillarious and fun, a wonderful film. I'm just disappointed that their next film will be CG. It litterally breaks my heart.

Should have asked about JLU DTVs.

[Wright Blan]

Originally posted by khuxford
Making the show costs more than many other shows, because of the licensing costs.

I'm glad somebody brought that one up. Just because CN an DC are both owned by Slime-Warner, that doesn't mean that CN gets off cheap when it comes to having to pay for the rights or anything like that. Both companies are in it for the money.

[khuxford]

Originally posted by Wright Blan
I'm glad somebody brought that one up. Just because CN an DC are both owned by Slime-Warner, that doesn't mean that CN gets off cheap when it comes to having to pay for the rights or anything like that. Both companies are in it for the money.

Yeah...I personally find it feels retarded that what can be broken down to look like an interdepartmental usage costs ridiculous amounts of $$ to do. But then I realize: if they charged them a lower rate for the usage, it would impact the amount they could collect if someone violated their licensing agreements or trampled on their copyright.

[deathshead2]

Anime how I hate it most of the anime here is crap. So after JLU is gone bye bye cartoonnetwork You used to be a great channel in the 90s. So I ask what happened? Hopefully one day you will find out anime isn't that great.

[cyberv]

I hope they're right about YuGiOh returning at some point. Since Kids WB didn't air here in Columbus, the only ways I can see it are to either buy expensive DVDs, or rely on Cartoon Network to run the sagas.

Honestly, Naruto's okay, but it's not something I'd watch in reruns. The main character's barely done anything noteworthy in the run (that awesome moment with the demon wind shuriken aside).

Ben 10 is pretty good, but I hope there's more to the watch than just ten forms. If it's supposed to be the greatest weapon in the universe, there has gotta be more to it than transformation.

BoBoBo must die. The show blows. Even Wulin Warriors was better.

One Piece is goofy fun. Chopper rocks, and you know it.

[Bathawk]

Just another voice jumping on the bandwagon....

so ALL the non adult-swim programming is for 14 year olds and younger?

hey I love anime, but other than Family Guy, adult swim dosen't appeal to me (I'm 29 by the way)

so why I can't say I will avoid cartoon netork liek the plague after JLU goes off the air, I can't really see any reason to tune in to CN as opposed to say, sci-fi for instance

just find it sad that if I want "cool toons" I have to go to comedy central (south park and drawn together of course)

[NeoXorn]

Bleach and Naruto ! The perfect anime team for Cartoon Network. (Well, as long as they doesn't show those crappy Naruot fillers)


Bleach and Naruto rocks!!!

[zeraze1]

Originally posted by dantebk
I don't quite get this. Justice League Unlimited is such a great show, and while many episodes feature little-known characters, it's still the home of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. If that show isn't performing well enough to keep it on the air, why do they think Legion of Superheroes and Doom Patrol will do better?

To be fair, many fanboys though Static Shock would get axed after its first season because it was based on a cancelled comic. The Emmy-winning show lasted four seasons because it really clicked with kids, who could care less if Static was "obscure" in the realm of comics.

Conversely, MTV's Spider-Man was cancelled after its first season despite starring an iconic superhero. Clearly, the show didn't click with the MTV crowd.

In short, a cartoon's quality matters more than how popular a superhero is. So, if the LOSH and Doom Patrol cartoons strike a chord with viewers especially kids, then they'll be instant hits and thus turn the characters into new pop culture icons.

zeraze

[NeoXorn]

Originally posted by deathshead2
Anime how I hate it most of the anime here is crap. So after JLU is gone bye bye cartoonnetwork You used to be a great channel in the 90s. So I ask what happened? Hopefully one day you will find out anime isn't that great.

Lighten up and give anime a chance. Maybe you got to a wrong start in watching anime. There's so many to choose from. I see you like JLU (I mean who doesn't), try watching Bleach. It has a large cast and mystery to satisfy Super-Hero fans. Or you could try Ninja Scroll, Ghost in the Shell and Samurai Champloo.

[NeoXorn]

Originally posted by deathshead2
Anime how I hate it most of the anime here is crap. So after JLU is gone bye bye cartoonnetwork You used to be a great channel in the 90s. So I ask what happened? Hopefully one day you will find out anime isn't that great.

Lighten up and give anime a chance. Maybe you got to a wrong start in watching anime. There's so many to choose from. I see you like JLU (I mean who doesn't), try watching Bleach. It has a large cast and mystery to satisfy Super-Hero fans. Or you could try Ninja Scroll, Ghost in the Shell and Samurai Champloo.

[King Dong]

I can’t say anything about this article. You know it.
But I'm very excited about it!