Indie animation company Frederator Networks will launch the premium YouTube channel Cartoon Hangover with three series beginning July 2012. Cartoon Hangover plans to produce and program 10 original series and 39 original shorts in the next three years. The programming will target young adults with character-driven comedy cartoons, according to Frederator founder and president Fred Seibert.
The channel’s three initial animated series are the start of a multi-year programming plan:
- Bravest Warriors, created by Pendleton Ward (Adventure Time), stars four 16-year-old heroes-for-hire warping around galaxies, saving cute alien worlds with their emotions. Breehn Burns (Dr. Tran) will executive produce and write.
- Based on his comic book series, James Kochalka’s SuperF*ckers follows the non-heroic adventures of a group of superheroes who drink, smoke, and swear, yet do nothing super (except by accident). Kochalka, the Vermont Cartoonist Laureate responsible for the Ignatz Award-winning online comic diary American Elf, will write. Indie filmmaker Fran Krause (“Nosy Bear”) is on board as showrunner. SuperF*ckers will be produced in association with Top Shelf Productions.
- Under the Cartoon Hangover banner, Frederator will also produce a series of original cartoon shorts (The Cartoon Hangover Show) in the tradition of the company’s run of development projects for Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon. Those programs are now responsible for launching more than a dozen hit series including The Fairly OddParents, Dexter’s Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls, and Adventure Time.
“More than anything, we’re eager to help and support cartoon filmmakers, tomorrow’s hitmakers, realize their animated visions of remarkable stories and terrific characters,” says Frederator VP of Development Eric Homan. “Holy hell, are these cartoons funny,” adds Frederator founder and president Fred Seibert. “We’re confident our cartoons will put all other so-called Internet cartoons to shame. Eat it, broadcast TV!”
Frederator Studios was founded by Hanna-Barbera president Fred Seibert in 1998 as a unique incubator for big animation ideas by producing original cartoons. More than 200 short films have resulted in 16 hit series for television and the Internet, including Butch Hartman’s The Fairly OddParents, Genndy Tartakovsky’s Dexter’s Laboratory, Craig McCracken’s The Powerpuff Girls, Eric Robles’s Fanboy & Chum Chum, and Pendleton Ward’s Adventure Time. Frederator is also in partnership with Sony Pictures Animation to develop and produce feature animated films, and YouTube to create new cartoon content and channels.
“This will be the fifth short anthology show we’ve produced over the years,” adds Seibert. “We will be looking for outrageous, funny shots targeting over-14 age group. We’re always searching for the next great animation star, just as we did in the past, working with amazing talent such Genndy Tartakovsy, Craig McCracken. Butch Hartman and Penn Ward. We’re fortunate to be witnessing an unbelievable phase of our business, where shows such as Gumball , Adventure Time and Regular Show have allowed new voices to create dynamic content for a new world.”
Frederator is currently looking for Cartoon Hangover pitches. For more information, contact Eric Homan at eric@frederator.com.
