DreamWorks Animation Revs Up Fast & Furious: Spy Racers Series and Announces New Original Series Kipo & the Age of Wonderbeasts

DreamWorks Animation Revs Up Fast & Furious: Spy RacersSeries and  Announces New Original Series Kipo & the Age of Wonderbeasts
 
DWA TV Studio Focus Session Offers Work-in-Progress Previews During 
Annecy International Animated Film Festival
 

ANNECY, France – June 13, 2019 – Today, as part of the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, DreamWorks Animation released the following:
 

  • A first look teaser and title reveal of its highly anticipated Netflix original series Fast & Furious: Spy Racers
  • An all new Netflix original series Kipo & the Age of Wonderbeasts from executive producers Radford Sechrist and Bill Wolkoff 
Fast & Furious: Spy Racers, coming soon to Netflix 

Fast & Furious: Spy Racers expands the high-octane action in all-new animated series as teenager Tony Toretto follows in the footsteps of his cousin Dom when he and his friends are recruited by a government agency to infiltrate an elite racing league serving as a front for a nefarious crime organization bent on world domination. Tim Hedrick (Voltron Legendary Defender) and Bret Haaland (All Hail King Julien) will serve as executive producers and showrunners. The series is also executive produced by Vin Diesel and Chris Morgan; and is slated to debut globally on Netflix later this year.
Watch the Fast & Furious: Spy Racers teaser.

Kipo & the Age of Wonderbeasts, coming to Netflix in 2020
After spending her entire life living in an underground burrow, a young girl named Kipo is thrust into an adventure on the surface of a fantastical post-apocalyptic Earth. She joins a ragtag group of survivors as they embark on a journey through a vibrant wonderland where everything trying to kill them is downright adorable. The series is executive produced and created by Radford Sechrist (How to Train Your Dragon 2) and executive produced and developed for TV by Bill Wolkoff (Once Upon a Time).

A short teaser features series star Karen Fukuhara (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power) as the voice of “Kipo.” Watch Kipo & the Age of Wonderbeasts teaser.

The announcements were made during  the DreamWorks Animation TV Studio Focus presentation at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, which also included updates from the studio on the critically-acclaimed Netflix original series She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, as well as the original series Kung Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny for Prime Video. Kung Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny is also competition in the TV Films category at the festival. Additionally executive producer Lane Lueras provided a sneak peek of the recently announced Netflix original series, Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous debuting globally on Netflix in 2020.
 
About DWA
DreamWorks Animation (DWA), a division of the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, within NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation, is a global family entertainment company with feature film and television brands. The company’s deep portfolio of intellectual property is supported by a robust, worldwide consumer products practice, which includes licensing, and location-based entertainment venues around the world. DWA’s film heritage includes many of the world’s most beloved characters and franchises, including Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, How to Train Your Dragon, Trolls and The Boss Baby, and have amassed more than $15 billion in global box office receipts. DreamWorks Animation’s television business has quickly become one of the world’s leading producers of high-quality, animated family programming, reaching consumers in more than 190 countries. Creating a diverse array of original content in a variety of formats and delivering deep, fully immersive worlds served up with compelling characters, the studio has garnered 25 Emmy® Awards since inception in 2013.

LEGENDARY ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATED ANIMATOR  GLEN KEANE TO DIRECT  “OVER THE MOON” FOR  PEARL STUDIO AND NETFLIX

Animated Musical Adventure Film to Debut on Netflix and
In Theaters in China in 2020
(Los Angeles, Feb. 6 at 1:00 PM/Shanghai, China, Feb. 7) — Legendary Academy Award® nominated animator Glen Keane will direct Pearl Studio’s OVER THE MOON as a world premiere animated film exclusively for Netflix, it was jointly announced today by Peilin Chou, Chief Creative Officer of Pearl Studio and Melissa Cobb, Vice President of Kids & Family for Netflix. 
OVER THE MOON is an animated musical adventure feature film about a girl who builds a rocket ship and blasts off to the moon in hopes of meeting a legendary Moon Goddess. The film will be released in 2020, theatrically in China, and to Netflix members around the world.
Keane most recently directed the acclaimed Academy Award® nominated animated short film DEAR BASKETBALL, which won Best Animated Short this past weekend at the 45th Annual Annie Awards honoring the best in Animation. He is a multi-award winning distinguished veteran of Walt Disney Feature Animation who trained under Walt Disney’s legendary 9 Old Men. He is considered one of the most important creative forces in contemporary animation and was the lead animator who brought to life many of the most beloved modern classic Disney characters, such as Ariel in THE LITTLE MERMAID, the title characters in POCAHONTAS, ALADDIN, and TARZAN, as well as the Beast in BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, along with RAPUNZEL and countless others. His debut work as an animator was featured in THE RESCUERS for the characters of Bernard and Penny, alongside the famed Ollie Johnston. He animated Elliott the Dragon in PETE’S DRAGON and was responsible for the climactic bear showdown in THE FOX AND THE HOUND. His career has been both profound and prestigious. In 2012, he left Disney to form Glen Keane Productions as a way to further his artistic explorations in animation, design, and film.
For OVER THE MOON, he will bring his considerable talent, artistry and experience to this modern-day retelling of the classic Chinese myth. The film is written by Audrey Wells (SHALL WE DANCE, UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN), produced by Gennie Rim (DEAR BASKETBALL, DUET) and executive produced by Janet Yang (JOY LUCK CLUB, PEOPLE VS LARRY FLYNT). Songs will be written by Christopher Curtis (CHAPLIN: The Musical), Marjorie Duffield, and Helen Park (KPOP).
“I am powerfully drawn to characters who believe the impossible is possible,” said Keane. “OVER THE MOON has just such a heroine as its centerpiece. The compelling script by Audrey Wells has tremendous heart and humor that called to me and I had to respond. I’m honored to bring this story to life alongside my producer Gennie Rim. We are both looking forward to creating a wonderful film and partnership with Melissa Cobb at Netflix and Peilin Chou at Pearl Studio.”
“Glen Keane is one of the most beloved and respected animation talents in the world,” said Peilin Chou, Chief Creative Officer for Pearl Studio. “His contributions to the art form are legendary and as Pearl Studio launches our operations, I can not imagine a more exciting or important director to bring the enormous scope, truth and soul of OVER THE MOON to life. We are beyond thrilled to be partnering with Glen and Netflix on the creation of this beautiful and enchanting film.”
“We are thrilled to partner with the brilliant Glen Keane, one of the most creative and visionary directors working in animation, and the team at Pearl Studio on the magical OVER THE MOON,” said Cobb. “Full of imagination and adventure, and set against a visually stunning backdrop that only Keane and writer Audrey Wells and their teams could create, we know OVER THE MOON will fascinate and inspire our Netflix members around the world.”
About Pearl Studio
Pearl Studio is one of the world’s leading creators of animated entertainment for the global family market and is currently in production on EVEREST, to be released worldwide through Universal Pictures in 2019. Within China, it will be distributed by Pearl Studio. Headquartered in Shanghai with branches in New York and Los Angeles, the studio is backed by CMC Capital Partners-led consortium. Pearl Studio is focused on Animation Film Production, Copyright Operations, Ancillary Businesses (Merchandising, Joint Promotion, Interactive Entertainment and Location Based Entertainment) and Digital Content. The company was previously operated as a Joint Venture known as Oriental DreamWorks, which co-produced the first American-Chinese animated co-production KUNG FU PANDA 3, which generated more than $500M in Worldwide Box Office revenues and was one of the most successful animated films ever released in China.
About Netflix
Netflix is the world’s leading internet entertainment service with over 117 million members in over 190 countries enjoying more than 140 million hours of TV shows and movies per day, including original series, documentaries and feature films. Members can watch as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, on nearly any internet-connected screen. Members can play, pause and resume watching, all without commercials or commitments.

Scott Evans

This slideshow requires JavaScript.


What is your name and your current occupation?
Hello. My name is Scott Evans and I am a freelance cartoon graphic designer and animator at www.lookcreativestudio.co.uk

What are some of the crazier jobs you had before getting into animation?
The animation I am working on is based on the craziest job that I had. Just after I turned 18 my Dad got me to pass exams so that I could be licensee of his new pub. I was suppose to me going to university in London, having just completed my A levels but my Dad convinced me to take a year off for work experience, to help manage his new pub in Torquay. Originally from Birmingham, the whole family moved to this seaside town that we had only ever visited once before, and Tony Dunne, now fellow Barstewards writer/composer and long time friend decided to come down for the summer with us. None of us ever returned home to Birmingham (and I never did get to university). Being in charge of a pub at 18 resulted in all the things you could probably imagine. Lots of drinking, lots of trouble and very little work. The pub last two years (though the memories live on!)

What are some of your favorite projects you’re proud to have been a part of?
I do lots of cartoon artwork for businesses all over the world and I am grateful that I get to do that every day for a living. I can’t think of any particular design job that stands out from the rest (I haven’t worked on any high profile television shows so far), but whilst friends and family moan about their work day, I just think about how I get to sit back and watch Netflix or listen to audiobooks, and eat far too many sweets whilst I do my work each day. Its a hard life Smile.  Obviously the project I am most proud of is The Barstewards. It actually began way way back in 2001. Whilst bored at work (the pub was deserted in the day time bar a couple of old solemn drinkers) I started writing a book. The book wasn’t the Bar Stewards but it did feature the characters that would go on to feature in our toon. It was a sci fi story about two brothers who worked in a pub but after an accident they ended up in a place they ‘thought’ could be the afterlife and are caught up in the middle of an impossible war. Later the sci fi part was dropped and I wrote a script just about the brothers day to day life in a crazy bar. The script was called Barstools and Locals. That script later turned into an ebook called Memoirs of a Barsteward, which was about twin brothers Jacob and Miller Cox, and how their crazy family go on the run from Birmingham and end up running a terrible pub in a desolate seaside town, filled with all the weirdest people in the world. Cut to 2012 and I am doing well at animation and it seems like the ideal subject to turn into a cartoon. Whilst the book was slightly grounded in reality, I am a believer that animations should take full advantage of the fact that they can do anything they want, and so in this animated version of The Bar Stewards, absolutely anything can happen, from Aliens, time travel, horror to God stolen powers. We’re going full crazy Smile However, story is still key, and we have a story arc in mind to keep people glued to the show.

Where are you from and how did you get into the animation business?
As I said before, I grew up in Birmingham, which is in the West Midlands of England. I was all set to go to university in London but that plan got derailed by the Continue reading

Leo The Lion and the worst animation Netflix has to offer

 

AV Club has an interesting article up about the worst thing Netflix has to offer and if that clip above is any indication of what they have it’s pretty terrible. (Apologies to anyone who worked on it.)

“The streaming-video market is propped up by garbage,” Feldman admits, but Leo The Lion is something special. The film, the story of a vegetarian lion who escorts a group of animals to a lake filled with milk, is already a cult sensation of sorts on Tumblr, where users contribute to an ever-growing thread about the film’s many inconsistencies, mistakes, and baffling details. The strangest aspect of the film may be that the dubbed dialogue and songs do not match up with the subtitles at all. Feldman’s theory is that the subtitles are a literal translation of the original Italian script, while the dubbing has been more localized.

You can read the entire article here.

NETFLIX EXPANDS ITS PORTFOLIO OF ORIGINAL AND EXCLUSIVE TV SERIES WITH FIVE NEW SHOWS FOR KIDS OF ALL AGES

NETFLIX EXPANDS ITS PORTFOLIO OF ORIGINAL AND EXCLUSIVE TV SERIES WITH FIVE NEW SHOWS FOR KIDS OF ALL AGES
Beginning in 2015, Netflix Will Premiere Danger Mouse, Inspector Gadget, Some Assembly Required, Bottersnikes & Gumbles and SUPER 4
Feb 25, 2015
Beverly Hills, Calif., February 25, 2015 – A secret agent mouse, a cyborg detective, crazy outback animals, and a group of kids who run a toy company, are just a few of the adventurous and funny characters joining the world’s leading Internet TV network beginning this year. Working with award-winning global partners, Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) is adding five new animated and live-action comedy series to its already broad selection of high-quality kids and family entertainment.

“We’ve seen great characters and rich storytelling work for a global audience time and time again,” said Erik Barmack, Vice President of Global Independent Content. “That’s why we’re proud to be working with some of the industry’s best producers and animators on these shows and we can’t wait for kids and families all over the world to get to know these stories.”

Left Penfold Right Danger Mouse ©2014 FremantleMedia Limited

Danger Mouse – Spring 2016
The world’s greatest superspy, Danger Mouse, returns in dashing, globe-spanning style with a new animated series that features all the classic characters, catchphrases and comedy that made it an 80’s cult favorite. With the world once more teetering on the edge of disaster, the small but heroic secret agent is back to thrill a whole new generation of fans as he attempts to overthrow a host of villainous rivals with the help of hapless hamster Penfold and a collection of state-of-the-art gadgetry and vehicles. Originally a loose parody of British spy fiction, this new Danger Mouse series will feature British actor and comedian, Stephen Fry, as Colonel K. Netflix will premiere the show in North America, Latin America, Nordics, Benelux and Japan with all other Netflix territories launching at a later date.

Inspector Gadget

Inspector Gadget – March 2015
Everyone’s favorite bumbling bionic detective, Inspector Gadget, is back in an all new CGI animated series. Dr. Claw has reactivated his global crime syndicate MAD and Inspector Gadget must stop him! Backed up by his niece, Penny, her dog Brain, and an arsenal of high-tech gadgetry, the lovable Gadget fights crime as only he can. The 26-episode series, produced by DHX Media (TSX: DHX.A, DHX.B), premieres exclusively in the U.S. on Netflix this March and will join the service at a later date in Latin America, the U.K., Ireland, Benelux, France and the Nordics – after the initial broadcast in each country.

Some Assembly Required

Some Assembly Required – Summer 2015
As the new owner of Knickknack Toys, fourteen-year old Jarvis Raines hires a group of friends from school to help him create awesome new toys. Following the teensÂ’ comedic day-to-day adventures, this live-action series created by Dan Signer (A.N.T. Farm, Mr. Young) and Howard Nemetz (Mr. Young, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody) and produced by Thunderbird Films, stars Young Artist Awards nominee, Kolton Stewart, and 2015 Canadian Screen Awards nominee, Charlie Storwick. Netflix will premiere the series in all Netflix territories this year, except in Canada, where it is currently the #1 show on YTV.

Bottersnikes

Bottersnikes & Gumbles – Spring 2016

Bottersnikes & Gumbles is a fast-paced community comedy series that follows the adventures of three young Gumbles -Tink, Bounce and Willi – as they bounce about and play while avoiding getting tin-canned by their lazy and grumpy neighbors, the Bottersnikes. Developed and adapted from the much loved Bottersnikes & Gumbles books, this new CGI-animated series is created by Cheeky Little, Mighty Nice and CAKE and co-commissioned by Netflix, BBC and Channel 7 Australia. The first 13 episode season will debut exclusively on Netflix around the world in 2016, with the UK and Australia launching at a later date.

SUPER4

In addition, SUPER 4, a brand new CGI animated series inspired by PLAYMOBIL®, makes its U.S. premiere in April exclusively on Netflix. SUPER 4 follows four main characters—Alex the Knight, Ruby the Pirate, Agent Gene, and Twinkle the Fairy— as they explore the distinct islands of their planet, fight bad guys, and have fun along the way.

In 2011, Netflix launched a dedicated section for kids under 12 years old featuring TV shows and movies from great partners like PBS, Disney Channel, DreamWorks, Cartoon Network, Mattel, Hasbro, Lego and Scholastic, all in a commercial free environment. In 2012, Netflix and the Walt Disney Company signed an industry-first agreement making Netflix the Pay TV home of all live action and animated feature films released by Disney theatrically beginning in 2016. Additionally, all DreamWorks feature films are now available on Netflix in the Pay TV window. And DreamWorks is creating 300 hours of original kids shows exclusively for Netflix, including Turbo F.A.S.T., All Hail King Julien, Puss In Boots, Dragons and DinoTrux.

The dedicated section for kids is available across a broad range of devices including PCs and Macs, iPads, game consoles, streaming devices and smart TVs. Members are provided a kids profile upon sign up and can customize additional profiles for their kids. The kids experience features a character bar where you can find a deep selection of great TV shows and movies featuring that character. Kids, parents and caregivers will also be able to scan through row after row of movies and TV shows organized by easy-to-understand genres like superheroes, princesses, dinosaurs and girl power, featuring clear and simple descriptions of the plot of each title.

For more information visit pr.netflix.com.

About Netflix
Netflix is the World’s leading Internet television network with over 57 million members in nearly 50 countries enjoying more than two billion hours of TV shows and movies per month, including original series, documentaries, and feature films. Members can watch as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, on nearly any Internet-connected screen. Members can play, pause, and resume watching, all without commercials or commitments.

Contacts:
Jenny McCabe
pr@netflix.com
pr.netflix.com
408.540.2090