EXCLUSIVE: Ziki Nelson, the writer, director and creator of Iwájú’, has signed with Newmation for management. Based on an original concept from Nelson and his Pan-African entertainment company Kugali, Iwájú’ is the first ever African animated comic book series for Disney+. The upcoming series described by Disney as a “first of its kind collaboration” is set
Animation
3RD UPDATE, 9:20 AM: The release-calendar moves for Sony’s toon sequel are multiplying like rabbits. The studio today moved Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway up by another week to June 11; it had been set for June 18. The family pic, which has cumed $31.4 million in its international rollout thus far, now will go up against
Kristen Bell, Dax Shepard, Alia Shawkat and Tim Meadows are among the actors joining the voice cast for AMC+’s stop-motion animated series Ultra City Smiths, from Stoopid Buddy Stoodios and showrunner Steve Conrad. Set to debut on AMC+ on July 22, Ultra City Smiths hinges on an investigation into the mysterious disappearance of fictional metropolis
On Tuesday, Netflix released a new trailer for its anime series Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness, directed by Eiichiro Hasumi, which debuts on the streamer July 8. Based on Capcom’s hugely popular franchise of zombie survival horror games, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, the CG anime series picks up with Resident Evil 2 protagonists Leon S. Kennedy
EXCLUSIVE: Netflix has licensed all global rights, sans China, to Sony Pictures Animation’s Vivo. The movie, directed by Oscar nominee Kirk DeMicco (The Croods) and co-directed by Brandon Jeffords (Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2) with new songs written and performed by Tony award winning Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, was recently scheduled for a theatrical
The virtual 48th annual Annie Awards ceremony is underway, and Deadline is updating the winners live as they are announced. Check out the livestream here and winners list below. Two very different toon features come into the ASIFA-Hollywood ceremony tied with 10 nominations apiece. Disney/Pixar’s Soul and Apple Original Films/Gkids’ Wolfwalkers will face off against each other
Cartoon Network has drawn up a new shorts program, Cartoon Cartoons, focused on showcasing diverse stores, centering new voices and mentoring the next generation of animators. The studio’s largest and latest commitment to animated shorts to date, Cartoon Cartoons follows the first Cartoon Network Studios shorts program that launched in 1995 as World Premiere toons
The Simpsons animator, character layout artist and assistant director Edwin E. Aguilar died in Los Angeles on Saturday, two days after having a stroke. He was 46. While the news of Aguilar’s passing was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter, it was also noted on Sunday by The Simpsons executive producer, Matt Selman. “We @TheSimpsons family are mourning the loss
2ND UPDATE, 12:12 PM: The bunny trail is busy again. Sony said today that its Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway is moving up two weeks from Fourth of July weekend to June 18. The move comes just hours after after Paramount announced that its Top Gun: Maverick exited its July 2 slot and Blumhouse’s The Forever Purge is taking that
Fox Corp. streaming service Tubi is expanding its animation offerings via a licensing agreement with Japan’s Toei Animation. The pact, spanning seven TV series, 500 episodes and six specials, will bring six installments of the globally popular anime franchise One Piece to Tubi’s free, ad-supported platform. All installments and episodes on Tubi are available with
On Sunday night’s episode of The Simpsons titled “Dairy Queen”, the audience gets treated to a visit from a familiar face — and voice that became iconic in the long-running Fox animated series. In the episode, Bart stumbles upon the diary of Edna Krabappel, who was voiced by the late, great Marcia Wallace, who won an Emmy
The next My Little Pony movie has just been picked up by Netflix in a global rights deal excluding China. Paramount was set to release the movie on Sept. 24. The pic is from eOne’s animation outfit Boulder Media, directed andby Rob Cullen and Jose Ucha, with co-director Mark Fattibene. Cecil Kramer and Peter Lewis produced. A