A riotous Annecy Festival crowd of animation fans got to discover sneak peeks and whimsical content earlier today, as Warner Bros Animation, Cartoon Network Studios and Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe unveiled their slates for the years to come:
Cartoon Network presented its very first preschool series, Jessica’s Big Little World, starring Craig of the Creek’s little sister, which will premiere in the fall in the U.S. First-look images filled with creativity and joy were very well received by Annecy’s audience — but it was when Audrey Diehl (SVP Development, Warner Bros. Animation) revealed the new Tiny Toons Looniversity opening titles that the fans went wild. The series is set to be released in September on Max and Cartoon Network, with half-hour episodes bringing back the beloved loony characters from the ’90s.
Invincible Fight Girl, written by Juston Gordon-Montgomery (Dc Super Hero Girls, My Dad the Bounty Hunter), was the first original project that stood out from this keynote full of well-known IPs. “It’s funny, exciting, with next-level action sequences and that Cartoon Network comedy, it’s just going to blow your mind,” said Diehl, before showing a very convincing animatic that got the audience all riled up. This hip new show is due to come out next year.
Despite being the talk of the crowd, there’s still no news about a long-awaited Gumball Movie. But the seventh season is well in the works, and we’ll soon have the chance to get back to this amazing world. There’s just no release date yet.
Turning to adult animation, Shaleen Desai (SVP Series, Warner Bros. Animation) and Peter Girardi (EVP Alternative Programming, WBA) followed up to detail what has been one of the Warner Bros. Animation’s challenges for some years now: how to adapt their classic IP and characters for older audiences. Following up on Velma’s success on Max, a brand-new Fionna and Cake TV series is in production, building upon Adventure Time’s beloved characters, while Harley Quinn will return for Season 4 very soon, after captivating audiences worldwide.
James Gunn’s arrival at DC Studios also prompted some new projects, and DC’s Creature Commando TV series is one of them. “James’ vision really helped us to bring out a new atmosphere to this show,” said Girardi. “He’s written all the scripts and we’re well into production now with French studio Bobbypills. It was amazing to work with James; the way he writes is fantastic, and every paragraph came with its own Spotify playlist, so we could feel his intentions.” The slick animation and gritty looks of the concept art sure look promising.
After treating the audience with very early footage from Batman: Caped Crusader, which is the adult animated follow-up to the acclaimed Bruce Timm series, Girardi handed the mike to Sammy Perlmutter, VP of Longform and Specials. A long-time collaborator of the studio, Perlmutter is now helping to bring classics and new characters to theatrical and video release.
The Craig of the Creek movie is well in the works and looks dashing, as well as a brand new Porky Pig and Daffy Duck adventure, Bubble Brains, with a sci-fi vibe that’s sure to capture long-time fans of the duo. One of the most interesting, besides War of the Rohirrim which was presented earlier on, is probably Merry Little Batman. In the project, a crazy little Batman kid is on the loose in Gotham, in what appears to be a thrilling rollercoaster ride featuring lovable Bat Family characters. Merry Little Batman is heading to TV series format too later on.
