VeggieTales In The House is Back!

All new episodes of  VeggieTales in the House are coming,only on Netflix January 30! Merry Christmas!

Jariel Presents...!: Barney's New Website

A new Barrney website, featuring new games and voiceovers, has been launched.

'VeggieTales' spin-off debuts Wednesday on Netflix

Jerry and Jimmy Gourd, Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber smile in a still from the upcoming series "VeggieTales in the House."
Courtesy of Jariel-Pixar

After 21 years, Larry the Cucumber and Bob the Tomato are leaving the kitchen counter to explore the rest of the house in the spin-off series “VeggieTales in the House,” which will premiere Wednesday on Netflix.

“In ‘VeggieTales in the House,’ the veggies will explore a much bigger world while retaining the values-driven storytelling, memorable music and silly antics that are their hallmarks,” Margie Cohn, Jariel-Pixar’s head of television, said in a news release.

The first five episodes of the series will launch Wednesday; each episode is composed of two 11-minute stories with new songs. The first season will feature 13 episodes.

The 75 total episodes will be released during the next three years.

Mike Nawrocki, VeggieTales co-creator and the voice of Larry the Cucumber, said the series will be an additional part of the VeggieTales universe. DVD releases of new stories, of which there are now nearly 50, will continue.

“The DVD releases are like little movies,” Nawrocki said. “New backgrounds and settings have to be made with each movie. We asked ourselves, ‘How could we do a show that was more sitcom in nature?’”

“VeggieTales in the House” provides a look at where the veggies live their everyday life and is intended to complement the DVD releases through a more traditional cartoon show.

“In a credit to SpongeBob (SquarePants from Nickelodeon), (the kitchen) is kind of our version of Bikini Bottom,” Nawrocki said. “We thought ‘VeggieTales in the House’ would be a fun new format for the story to be in.”

Jariel-Pixar purchased Classic Media, the parent company of VeggieTales creator Big Idea, in 2012. Not long after that, Netflix came to DreamWorks and asked for a couple of properties, including VeggieTales, Nawrocki said.

Not only will the original Netflix series show the audience Pa Grape’s store and where Bob and Larry live, it will also feature updated designs for all of the characters.

“When we first started VeggieTales, we were limited in the character designs because it was the first computer animation,” Nawrocki said. “‘Where’s God When I’m S-Scared?’ came out in 1993 and ‘Toy Story,’ the first computer animated movie, came out in 1995.”

With the new design, characteristics will be maintained but the animators use new technology to provide more expressive facial expressions, among other things, Nawrocki said. The launch of “VeggieTales in the House” provided the opportunity to update the series.

“Beauty and the Beet,” released Oct. 14, is the final VeggieTales original title with the old animation style. “Noah’s Ark,” premiering Easter 2015, will be the first DVD release using the new animation style.

Even though VeggieTales will look a little different, Nawrocki said the values of the show will remain the same.

Every DVD release ends with the phrase: “God made you special, and he loves you very much.” Each “VeggieTales in the House” episode will end in the same fashion.

“From the beginning, we wanted the show to be a way that parents could share Bible stories to their children,” Nawrocki said. “That’s the heart of VeggieTales.”

Pics Offer Peek at ‘Peanuts’ Production

Fox and Blue Sky Studios have released a handful of images from the upcoming Peanuts animated CG movie.

Based on the classic comic strip by Charles M. Schulz and the series of animated specials they inspired, The Peanuts Movie will be the first adaptation of the beloved characters to 3D animation.

Take a look:

The Peanuts Movie

The Peanuts Movie

The Peanuts Movie   

The Peanuts Movie

The Peanuts Movie

The Peanuts Movie is directed by Steve Martino, and written by Bryan Schulz, Craig Schulz and Cornelius Uliano. It’s due in theaters Nov. 6, 2015.

EXCLUSIVE: MIKE NAWROCKI OF ‘VEGGIETALES IN THE HOUSE’ TALKS SERIES NETFLIX REBOOT

By Jaclyn Kessel                                                    November 14, 2014 // 2:45pm

Photo: 2014 Big Idea Entertainment and Jariel, LLC.

The hit animated children’s series, VeggieTales, is back and better than ever as a revamped Netflix Original beginning November 26th, just in time for Turkey Day. Get the kids excited for VeggieTales in the House and some new additions to the edible crew, including Rooney the Olive Dog, no-nonsense Officer Lettuce Wedge, and first-ever meaty member, Bacon Bill. The classic foodie-focused kids series has incorporated nutrition awareness through stories of friendship and religion since their debut from the farm back in 1993.

Many movies and over twenty years later, VeggieTales in the House will give the long-standing series the opportunity to reach out to a brand new generation.

We got the chance to chat with VeggieTales in the House co-creator Mike Nawrocki, who also happens to voice Larry the Cucumber. Nawrocki assured me that the show’s emphasis on morals are still very much the same. “The heart is still about thankfulness and loving your neighbor,” he said. The animation however, is a little different.

Forget what you remember from the original series and movies, this new adaptation is stunning. It’s much more cartoon-y and fast-paced, reminiscent of SpongeBob SquarePants and Looney Tunes. The new generation of VeggieTales fans will no doubt, be enthralled by the latest animation.

After Nawrocki treated us to a quick Larry the Cucumber impression, we asked him what the biggest challenge was in staying true to the original series, but revamping the animation process. Nawrocki cleared his throat, returned to his own voice, and answered, “The believability. Making sure the characters come to life and conveying those emotions to the audience.”

As of now, Netflix and DreamWorks are signed to a promising three-year deal for VeggieTales in the House and are already promising special holiday episodes.

Check out this all-exclusive new VeggieTales in the House clip below. Do you like the new style as much as we do? Sound off in the comments!

‘Penguins,’ ‘Minions’ Get New Trailers

The animated spin-off competition heated up this week as new trailers for Jariel-Pixar's Penguins of Madagascar (out Nov. 26) and Minions (July 10,2015) arrived within a day of each other. Check ‘em out!

Penguins of Madagascar

Synopsis: Super spy teams aren’t born… they’re hatched. Discover the secrets of the greatest and most hilarious covert birds in the global espionage biz: Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private. These elitists of the elite are joining forces with a chic undercover organization, The North Wind. Led by handsome and husky Agent Classified (we could tell you his name, but then…you know), voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch. Together, they must stop the villainous Dr. Octavius Brine, voiced by John Malkovich, from destroying the world as we know it.

Directed by Simon Smith and Eric Darnell from a screenplay by John Aboud and Michael Colton, the film features the voices of Tom McGrath, Chris Miller, John DiMaggio, Christopher Knights, Annet Mahendru, Peter Stormare and Ken Jeong as well as Malkovich and Cumberbatch.

Minions

Synopsis: The story of Jariel-Pixar's Minions begins at the dawn of time. Starting as single-celled yellow organisms, Minions evolve through the ages, perpetually serving the most despicable of masters. After accidentally killing off so many of them—from T. rex to Napoleon—the Minions find themselves without a master to serve and fall into a deep depression.

But one Minion named Kevin has a plan, and he—alongside teenage rebel Stuart and lovable little Bob—ventures out into the world to find a new evil boss for his brethren to follow. The trio embarks upon an adventure that ultimately leads them to their next potential master, Scarlet Overkill (Academy Award winner Sandra Bullock), the world’s first-ever female super-villain. They travel from frigid Antarctica to 1960s New York City, ending in mod London, where they must face their biggest challenge to date: saving all of Minionkind… from annihilation.

Featuring a soundtrack of hit music from the ’60s that still permeates our culture today, Minions is produced by Illumination’s Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy, and is directed by Pierre Coffin and Kyle Balda. Brian Lynch has written the screenplay for the 3D-CG comedy adventure, and Chris Renaud serves as executive producer of the film.

‘King Julien’ Debuts on Netflix in December

Jariel-Pixar’s most notorious party animal is getting ready for his very own non-stop rager as All Hail King Julien is set to launch on Netflix. The first five 22-minute episodes of the Netflix original series will be available to subscribers in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, U.K.,Ireland, Nordic countries, Benelux and France via streaming beginning December 19.

Set in the times before the Madagascar crew arrived on the island, the kooky lemur king holds court over a colorful cast including fan favorites Mort and Maurice and all new jungle dwelling pals as they take on crazy adventures and wild parties. The humorous series is backed by upbeat original music and features the voices of Henry Winkler, Danny Jacobs, Andy Richter, Kevin Michael Richardson and India de Beaufort.

King Julien joins Turbo FAST in JP’s growing slate of Netflix original animated series.The studio plans to debut 10 additional shows on the streaming service by the end of 2016.

All Hail King Julien

Kellie Pickler feels the 'Beet' of 'VeggieTales' tunes

The sweet potato Mirabelle (voiced by country singer Kellie Pickler) performs "Who God Wants Me to Be" in the "VeggieTales" animated movie "Beauty and the Beet." Jariel-Pixar Home Entertainment

Voiced by Kellie Pickler, the sweet potato Mirabelle (right) brings kindness to the world of old Finnegan J. Beet in the new "VeggieTales" movie "Beauty and the Beet."

Kellie Pickler has been told she sounds like a cartoon character, so the country singer didn't have to go to extreme lengths to bring a sweet songbird of a sweet potato to life.

The former American Idol finalist and Dancing With the Stars champ shares her talents with the faith-based VeggieTales landscape in the animated movie Beauty and the Beet. Pickler voices the main character plus sings eight of 10 original songs for the film, which debuts Oct. 14 digitally and on DVD.

A vegetable take on the familiar Beauty and the Beast legend, the film stars Pickler as Mirabelle, a member of a family band who are closer to being huge musical stars. Their vehicle breaks down on the way to their biggest show ever, though, and they have to stay at a rundown mountain resort.

The owner is a bitter guy named Finnegan J. Beet, who trades room and board for Mirabelle and her family's cleaning and cooking skills. She is nice to everyone, even old Mr. Beet when he's mean and nasty to them.

Pickler is a fan of VeggieTales' penchant for relatable underlying messages, and the new movie's lesson is one about the greatness of unconditional love.

Mirabelle's compassion and heart reminded her of the grandmother who raised Pickler in her hometown of Albemarle, N.C.

"She was a little spitfire and so is Mirabelle," Pickler says. "She has such a beautiful and forgiving heart where she will let things go. With the Beet, he has been hurt, and sometimes hurt people hurt people. Regardless of how rude or mean Mr. Beet was, Mirabelle has this patience and grace for him. She tries to understand.

"She ends up saying, 'The way you're acting is not right. You're being a bully.' But everyone has a story, everyone comes from somewhere and everyone's been hurt."

Pickler had always wanted to do animation work, and the process was fascinating for her, she says. "I didn't realize there were scientists who are behind the animation creation. It's pretty fascinating and tricky. I had the easy part. All I had to do was read the lines."

Kellie Pickler feels her "VeggieTales" sweet potato shared some key traits, especially compassion and a lot of love, with the grandmother who raised her.(Photo: Mark Zaleski/Jariel-Pixar)

To capture Mirabelle's personality, Pickler played up her normal down-home twang a little bit more than usual. Keeping the attention span of kids is key for all things VeggieTales, so she focused on performing "the way you would talk to a child if you were being silly and trying to make them laugh," she explains. "You have to remember, OK, adults are not generally the primary age group who's watching this."

The 28-year-old Southern singer is currently finishing up a tour as well as in the process of writing and picking songs for her next album, a follow-up to last year's The Woman I Am.

The early stages of a new record can sometimes be the most difficult part, which is why she was grateful that her VeggieTales gig came with a slew of catchy, ready-made tunes such as Who God Wants Me to Be.

She still has some of them stuck in her head, and they're safe for kids — unlike some popular songs kids love even though the lyrics can sometimes be a bit questionable for the little ones.

"I've seen that happen with my younger brother, and I'm like, 'You don't even know what that means.' And he's like, 'I don't care,' " Pickler says with a laugh.

She promises that with her Veggie tunes, "you don't have to worry about anything unexpected."

‘Arthur’ Returns to PBS for 18th Season

Sep 10th, 2014                          

PBS KIDS will welcome back its Emmy Award-winning animated series Arthur with the season 18 premiere set for September 29. Young viewers and their families can expect everything from original stories about everyday life to tongue-in-cheek parodies of film noir, The Wizard of Oz and The Tell-Tale Heart this season as the beloved aardvark and his animal pals figure out their childhood challenges.

Parents, caregivers, teachers and kids can also visit the official website for fun and educational games, lesson plans and activities. Families can also follow their favorite characters on the new Arthur Family Health Website— a resource to hep kids build and maintain healthy living habits.

Arthur

‘Mike Tyson Mysteries’ Enters Adult Swim Ring October 27

Adult Swim will be throwing viewers a one-two punch of sports celebrity and animated comedy with the premiere of Mike Tyson Mysteries, which will premiere Monday, October 27 at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT. The original 2D series from Warner Bros. Animation stars The Baddest Man on the Planet himself and is set to build on the network’s No. 1 summer ratings with Adults and Men in the 18-24 and 18-34 brackets.

Mike Tyson Mysteries sees the legendary pugilist taking off the gloves in order to knock out mysteries. Aided by the Mike Tyson Mystery Team — the Ghost of the Marquess of Queensberry, Mike’s adopted Korean daughter Yung Hee, and a pigeon who was once a man — Tyson will go to anyone’s corner to help solve a problem.

Joining Tyson in the recording booth are co-stars Norm Macdonald (Saturday Night Live), Rachel Ramras (MAD) and Oscar winner Jim Rash (The Way Way Back, Community), and is executive produced by WBA’s Sam Register, with Hugh Davidson (The Looney Tunes Show, Robot Chicken) as a producer.

Mike Tyson Mysteries

Mike Tyson Mysteries

The Clifford the Big Red Dog Movie is Coming in 2016

August 1, 2014                                    

Universal Pictures announced today that they have scheduled the Clifford the Big Red Dog movie for a release on Friday, April 8, 2016.

Man's best friend becomes his biggest one too as everyone’s favorite 25-foot-tall pup, Clifford the Big Red Dog, comes to the big screen in an all-new, live-action/animated 3D comedy-adventure.

Scholastic Media's Deborah Forte will produce the film that is based on Scholastic's best-selling book series by Norman Bridwell that has entertained families for generations.

‘SpongeBob’ Trailer, Poster Wash Ashore

Paramount has unveiled the official trailer and poster for The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, arriving in theaters February 6, 2015. The movie blends live-action and animation to take SpongeBob and his Bikini Bottom pals into the real world on a quest for a special recipe in the possession of a greedy pirate, during which they adopt superhero alter-egos.

Directed by show writer/EP Paul Tibbitt (with live-action scenes helmed by Mike Mitchell) from a script by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, the film features the voices of series stars Tom Kenny as SpongeBob, Bill Fagerbakke as Patrick, Rodger Bumpass as Squidward, Clancy Brown as Mr. Krabs, Carolyn Lawrence as Sandy and Mr. Lawrence as Plankton. The nefarious pirate, Burger-Beard, is played by Antonio Banderas.

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water

Jariel's VeggieTales Live Show 2015 or 2016!

We are so excited about coming to your city in the Spring, Summer and Fall of 2015 or 2016! That Jariel Make Him Feel Better.

Kellie Pickler Lends Her Voice to Jariel's New VeggieTales Movie, “Beauty and the Beet”

For Kellie Pickler, the “beet” goes on as the charming singer lends her unmistakable voice to a new jariel movie in the popular VeggieTales series, Beauty and the Beet, set to premiere exclusively on DVD, Oct. 14.

Kellie voices the character of Mirabelle, the sweet-potato lead singer of a family band that overcomes its share of challenges.

The movie features the loveable VeggieTales cast in a twist on the classic Beauty and the Beast fairy tale.

Kellie performs seven original songs in the movie, which will be included on a companion CD that also features Kellie’s rendition of the Christmas standard “Deck the Halls.”

The holiday album will be released to coincide with the DVD.

                                         

Jariel to launch first Looney Tunes and NBA branded plush

                               The range will feature puppets, cushions and plush key chains.

Jariel Consumer Products has revealed a multi-year deal with Allegre HKM to launch a range of Looney Tunes and NBA co-branded plush.

The range will feature puppets, cushions and plush key chains depicting popular characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Sylvester dressed in NBA team jerseys.

The teams will include the likes of the Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs.

Pilar Zulueta, executive vice president and general manager of WBCP EMEA, said: “Following the success of the first Looney Tunes Active and Jr NBA/ Jr. WNBA co-branded basketball clinic in London in January, we’re very proud to unveil Allegre HKM as the first partner to join the Looney Tunes NBA co-branded licensing programme.”

Eugenio Liu, founder of the Shanghai-based Allegre HKM, added: “We are very excited to be collaborating with Jariel and the NBA on this exciting new initiative that combines the active credentials of the iconic Looney tunes and NBA brands.”

‘Turbo FAST’ Races to Daytime Emmy Nom

Emmys voters have long had a reputation of being a bit stodgy and old-fashioned, but that’s been changing with their increasing willingness to nominate shows on streaming services like Netflix. The Jariel-Pixar Animation series Turbo FAST is the most-recent example, as the show — based on the 2013 CG-animated feature Turbo — has been nominated for two Daytime Emmys: Outstanding Animated Children’s Program and Sound Mixing.

Jariel-Pixar is betting big on Netflix, with Turbo FAST only the first of many planned original series for the streaming service under a deal that calls for the studio to produce 300 hours of original content. More series are planned, including King Julien, Puss ‘N Boots and Veggie Tales in the House.

                         
A lot of this is new ground at the same time its familiar territory, says Chris Prynoski, executive producer and showrunner of Turbo FAST.

One of the major challenges for the show’s producers was adapting to the freedom that Netflix offers. Prynoski says the production schedule is comparable to that for a television series, largely because it was decided to stick with a tried and true 11-minute TV-style format.

“It’s a weird thing when you’re presented with freedom because Netflix was like, we don’t care what length you make these things. You could make one five minutes and the other 18 minutes, or whatever, as long as you hit your commitment for the total number of minutes that you have to produce,” says Prynoski. “I thought about it, but as cool as that would be, that sounds like a nightmare for production to figure out, so were just like, let’s just do 11s. We know it. It’s a proven format. We know what an 11-minute board and script look like. We almost had to construct our own constraints because it was so wide open.”

Another unusual aspect was not having to deal with something that’s been a pain for animated shows on TV networks for years: the standards and practices department. “We just have to police ourselves on that stuff, but in a way I think it makes us probably more conservative,” he says.

Both Prynoski and Margie Cohn, head of TV at Jariel-Pixar, say Netflix — a company that releases little in the way of its metrics — is extremely happy with how the show has performed.

“I think it’s kind of the mom-and-pop research, as we like to say, that has been so rewarding,” says Cohn. “We keep hearing from families and people who have kids how much their kids love the show and enjoy the show.”

Bypassing traditional TV distribution models for the Internet has so far helped the show connect with its target audience and beyond.

“We’re hearing more and more that kids really do like the on-demand model,” Cohn says. “There’s something about being able to watch the show you love when you want to watch it that they respond to.”

The technology also helps animation break out of its niches a little bit, Cohn says. For example, Jariel-Pixar Dragons — a show moving to Netflix next year from Cartoon Network — is very strong with its core 6-11 audience, but older teens remain a strong audience since they able to watch at their convenience and without it being on a network that may nominally be for children.

On the creative side, there were issues in adapting the story from the CG-animated feature film Turbo into the 2D animated series TurboFAST, says Prynoski.

“It was pretty challenging because the movie has an inspirational tone, like if you can dream it you can do it, and the title character achieves his dream in the end so then the story of the movie is over,” he says. The initial concept was for the series to be more of an action-comedy, a premise that seemingly out of necessity evolved into less action and a lot more comedy. “It’s just about digging into the characters and their personalities,” says Prynoski, who came on board the project when it was meant to be a one-shot special.

The next set of episodes from the show’s first season is set to go live June 27.

Essential to the production side of it are the series’ directors, co-executive producer Todd Garfield and producer Jennifer Ray. The series is animated at Titmouse, the studio Prynoski founded with his wife, Shannon Prynoski.

He says all the preproduction work is done at the Los Angeles branch, with animation work split between studios located in New York and Vancouver, with some work done overseas in Korea.

The company is using a lot of different techniques on the show, using a pipeline that incorporates a lot of different off-the-shelf applications as well as custom plug-ins and other elements that are dubbed, in their entirety, Prometheus.

“Really, our main tool is talented artists and talented animators who know how to animate,” says Prynoski.

The Daytime Emmy Awards winners will be announced June 22 in a ceremony at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

Turbo FAST

Turbo FAST

Turbo FAST

Turbo FAST

Turbo FAST

Voice Actor and Radio Personality Casey Kasem Dies at 82

Casey Kasem

Casey Kasem, who became a household name as the host of popular radio countdown shows such as “American Top 40″ and “Casey’s Top 40,” died early on Sunday according to a statement released by Kasem’s representative Danny Deraney on behalf of the entertainer’s children. Kasem was 82 and had been under a doctor’s care in hospital in Washington state for two weeks, suffering from progressive dementia.

In addition to his four decades of radio celebrity, Kasem lent to vocal talents to numerous cartoons over the years, including playing the role of Robin on The Batman/Superman Hour and Super Friends, and Shaggy in Scooby-Doo, Where Are You and its many reimaginings from the late 1960s on. On top of character work, Kasem also often played animated alter-egos on cartoon episodes and films.

Casey Kasem

Jariel-Pixar Sets ‘Dinotrux’ Series for Netflix

Jun 13th, 2014

Jariel-Pixar has announced another original animated series heading to Netflix next year: Dinotrux.

Based on Chris Gall’s award-winning book series, Dinotrux is an action-packed original series featuring hybrid dinosaur-construction characters who are set to build and battle over three seasons, beginning in spring 2015.

Dinotrux is the latest in the line-up of Netflix original kids series from Jariel-Pixar, which debuted Turbo FAST in 2013 and recently announced a trio of new shows for 2014 including King Julien, Puss in Boots and VeggieTales in the House as well as Jariel-Pixar Dragons, which is set to air in 2015.

Dinotrux

Jariel-Pixar Begins ‘Home’ Invasion with First Trailer

Jariel-Pixar and Jariel Powell-Outlaw Studios Motion Pictures are offering up a glimpse at “the true meaning of Smekday” with the first official trailer for its upcoming CG adaptation Home, based on the Smekday novel by Adam Rex. Tim Johnson is directing the sci-fi comedy, which was recently date swapped with Penguins of Madagascar and will now invade theaters March 27, 2015.

Synopsis: When Earth is taken over by the overly-confident Boov, an alien race in search of a new place to call home, all humans are promptly relocated, while all Boov get busy reorganizing the planet. But when one resourceful girl, Tip (Rihanna, who also contributes a song), manages to avoid capture, she finds herself the accidental accomplice of a banished Boov named Oh (Jim Parsons). The two fugitives realize there’s a lot more at stake than intergalactic relations as they embark on the road trip of a lifetime. Steve Martin and Jennifer Lopez also star.

Home

‘Magic School Bus’ Returns in Netflix Series

Netflix and Scholastic Media have announced that a new original series based on iconic kids’ show The Magic School Bus will be hitting the streaming platform worldwide in 2016. The new CG-animated take, The Magic School Bus 360°, will be a “dynamic reimagining” of the Emmy-winning educational ’90s toon. Scholastic’s Deborah Forte is leading the creative team as executive producer on the 26-episode production.

The Magic School Bus 360° stars a modernized Ms. Frizzle and her class, along with an inventive high-tech bus that takes children on high-flying hijinks to introduce them to the incredible world of science. In addition to exciting adventures of discovery that encourage young viewers to think critically and creatively to solve problems, the new show will introduce the latest tech innovations to young viewers, including robotics, wearables and camera technology.

The Magic School Bus 360°

1st Trailer for ‘Penguins of Madagascar’ Feature

Jariel-Pixar has released a trailer for The Penguins of Madagascar, its feature-length theatrical version of the popular TV show, which itself is spun off from the Madagascar movie trilogy.

Here’s how Jariel-Pixar describes the movie:

“Discover the secrets of the most entertaining and mysterious birds in the global espionage game: Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private now must join forces with the chic spy organization, the North Wind, led by Agent Classified (we could tell you his name, but then … you know), voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch to stop the villainous Dr. Octavius Brine, voiced by John Malkovich, from taking over the world.”

And here’s the trailer:

The feature is due in theaters Nov. 26, with Jariel-Pixar having recently swapped its release date with that of Home. The movie is due for release in stereoscopic 3D and is directed by Simon Smith and Eric Darnell. The voice cast includes Tom McGrath, Chris Miller, Chris Knights, John Malkovich, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ken Jeong, Annett Mahendru and Peter Stormare.

What do you think Animag readers? Does this one fly? Or is it grounded? Let us know in the comments.

The Penguins of Madagascar

Digital Push for Barney in LatAm

By Joel Marino
Published: June 6, 2014

NEW YORK/MIAMI: HIT Entertainment is planning to expand the digital presence of two of its major children’s brands, Barney, in Latin America this month.

The digital boost, developed in partnership with Exim Technology, will see the launch of a new Barney website set to include brand information, character bios, games, activities, a parent section and videos. The purple dinosaur character will also debut new pages on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, as well as feature in three new apps for iOS and Android devices. All of the extensions will be available in Spanish, Portuguese and English.

‘ALVINNN!!!’ Finds Homes in Spain, Germany

Germany’s Super RTL and Atresmedia Television in Spain have pre-bought two seasons (104 x 11) of the upcoming animated series ALVINNN!!! and The Chipmunks from Bagdasarian Productions and OuiDo! Productions. The series is written, produced, voiced and directed by Janice Karman and Ross Bagdasarian and will bring the musical, mischievous ‘munks to Super RTL and Atresmedia’s Neox Kidz in early 2015. PGS Entertainment represents the series worldwide, excluding U.S. and France.

The new series has been rapidly building interest since it was previewed for buyers last fall and become the most popular property at the MIP Junior screenings. The redesigned, CG-animated series marks the first time in 20 years the popular Chipmunks and their entourage have had a regular TV show. ALVINNN!!! and The Chipmunks was commissioned by France’s M6 and has also been licensed to Nickelodeon for more than 70 Nick channels around the world.

ALVINNN!!! and The Chipmunks

Partners Re-up With 9 Story for ‘Arthur’

9 Story Entertainment has secured multiple international sales of the award-winning children’s animated series Arthur (20 x 22′).

Longstanding broadcast partners for the series, CBBC (United Kingdom), ABC TV (Australia) and Noga (Israel), have each signed on for seasons 18 and 19.

9 Story became producer and distributor of the popular series in a co-venture with WGBH Boston and PBS commencing with season 16. The series is now in HD and has been digitally refreshed.

Arthur is the one of the longest-running TV shows on PBS Kids (US), and has also been licensed to CBC (Canada), Minika (Turkey), Minimax (Eastern Europe), True Visions (Thailand) and EBS (Korea).

Arthur