New Series ‘The Doomies,’ ‘Dragon Striker’ Lead Packed Disney TV Slate

Disney Television Animation, Disney Junior, and Disney EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa) hosted their annual Annecy Festival studio presentation on Wednesday, giving a detailed look at what the tv divisions of the mouse factory have planned for tv and streaming in the coming months.

During the presentation, three new series were announced as well as news of several returning shows. Standouts among the day’s reveals included new series Dragon Striker, produced by Cyber Group Studios and La Chouette Compagnie, and The Doomies from I Lost My Body studio Xilam Animation.

According to Orion Ross, VP of animation, Disney EMEA, “The Doomies and Dragon Striker are the first part of a new slate of animated originals we’re developing in EMEA for global family audiences on Disney Channel and Disney+. These ambitious, premium series will introduce the work of leading creators from our region to the world, and we are both honored and inspired to be working with this new generation of storytellers.”

 

 

Below, a breakdown of the titles featured during Wednesday’s presentation, all of which will appear on Disney+ and other Disney platforms:

NEW SERIES

Dragon Striker

The series, created and produced by Sylvain Dos Santos, will be directed by Charles Lefebvre from screenplays by writer Paul McKeown. Cyber Group Studios and La Chouette Compagnie produce for Disney EMEA.

Synopsis: When the world’s most popular sport combines with magic, awesomeness escalates quicker than a dragon-powered strike! In this action-packed adventure full of comedy and high-stakes sports drama, elite players have a magical signature move they can use on the pitch. 12-year-old Key is a farm boy fanboy who can only dream of entering the famous school where the greatest players train before joining the big leagues—until he discovers he has his own ultra-powerful spell and may even be the legendary Dragon Striker. Key joins a team of hapless underdogs who band together to take on the school champions while fighting to prevent an ancient evil from resurfacing.

 

 

The Doomies

The series is co-created by Andrès Fernandez – who will direct – and Pozla (aka Rémi Zaarour), and written by Henry Gifford. Xilam Animation produces for Disney EMEA, with Marc du Pontavice acting as producer.

The first season will be comprised of 22 half-hours.

Synopsis: When best friends Bobby and Romy mistakenly open a gateway to another world, they turn their sleepy coastal town into a hotspot for terrifying creatures of doom. Roped into an epic supernatural mystery, they will cross paths with the so-called “Chosen One” and do battle with both literal and inner monsters. The Doomies is a spooky comedy that combines thrills, chills, and surprises with character-driven comedy from an odd couple of ordinary teens engulfed by extraordinary circumstances. Its fast-paced humor and high-stakes action take place in a quirky French town in the heart of Brittany, imagined with moody flair and graphic style.

Zombies: The Re-Animated Series

Disney Television Animation produces the series. Aliki Theofilopoulos, Jack Ferraiolo, Gary Marsh, David Light, and Joseph Raso are executive producing.

Synopsis: Every day is a surprise at Seabrook High—whether you’re a cheerleader, a zombie, a werewolf or even a vampire! ZOMBIES: The Re-Animated Series invites us into the daily lives of Zed, Addison, Eliza, Willa and the entire Seabrook crew. This gang may have figured out each other, but they haven’t quite figured out how to survive high school. Get ready for more musical fun and new friends as Seabrook becomes the #1 destination for all kinds of mythical monsters looking for a fresh start. And this means some pretty wild adventures—from the cafeteria to the football field—because sometimes the scariest thing you have to face is high school.

 

 

SERIES RENEWALS

Chip ‘n’ Dale: Park Life

Xilam Animation returns to animate the second season of this Disney EMEA show. Jean Cayrol (Floopaloo, Paprika), Fred Martin (A Kind of Magic, Oggy Oggy), and Kahlil Ben Nahmane (Zig and Sharko, Oggy Next Gen) direct, with Nicole Paglia as head writer.

The second season expands on the original order of 39 seven-minute shorts with a new order of 54 shorts.

Synopsis: Chip ‘n’ Dale: Park Life stars Disney’s much-loved chipmunk underdogs in a non-verbal, classic-style comedy, following the ups and downs of two little creatures living life in the big city. Combining the traditions of slapstick cartoons with contemporary, comedic character-driven narratives, season two introduces huge new adventures for the two tiny troublemakers. Nervous worrier Chip and laid-back dreamer Dale are joined in their perpetual pursuit of acorns by Donald, Pluto, Butch and other iconic Disney characters as they face down bullies, great and small.

Monsters At Work

Melissa Kurtz produces for Disney Television Animation with Kevin Deters as executive producer and Stevie Wermers as supervising director.
Season two synopsis: In season two, new doors of opportunity unexpectedly open at rival energy company FearCo and Tylor’s co-workers at Monsters Inc. begin to question where his loyalties truly lie. As his Laugh Floor partnership with Val is pushed to the brink, Tylor must discover where he really belongs.

Marvel’s Spidey And His Amazing Friends

 

 

Disney Junior and Marvel Studios produce in association with Atomic Cartoons produce, with Harrison Wilcox as executive producer, Bart Jennett as co-executive producer, Steve Grover as supervising producer, and Becca Topol as co-producer and story editor.

Season two synopsis: The first full-length Marvel series for preschoolers, Marvel’s Spidey and his Amazing Friends follows the adventures of Peter Parker, Gwen Stacy, and Miles Morales as they team up with Hulk, Ms. Marvel, and Black Panther to defeat foes like Rhino, Doc Ock, and Green Goblin and learn that teamwork is the best way to save the day. Season two premieres this fall and sees the addition of Iron Man, Ant-Man, Wasp, Retpil, Black Cat, Sandman, and Electro.
Mickey Mouse Funhouse

Phil Weinstein is supervising director and executive producer for Disney Television Animation, with Thomas Hart serving as co-executive producer and supervising story editor, and Steve Walby as producer.
The whimsical animated series Mickey Mouse Funhouse introduces preschoolers’ first pal, Mickey Mouse, and his friends—Minnie, Goofy, Donald, Daisy, and Pluto—to Funny, an enchanted talking playhouse who takes the Sensational Six on adventures of all types to unique worlds that inspire the imagination. Designed to inspire kids to expand their creative play, encourage wish fulfillment and impart lessons of friendship and ingenuity, each episode features two 11-minute stories separated by a midway stretch break. A 22-minute special, Mickey Mouse Funhouse: Pirate Adventure, is also set to premiere this August and features legendary pirate Captain Salty Bones as he invites Mickey, Minnie, and friends to join the biggest treasure hunt ever and see if they can become true pirates.

OTHER NEWS
Disney also announced that it has ordered 10 additional episodes of each of these previously-announced upcoming titles: Hamster & Gretel, Kiff, Hailey’s On It, and Primos. This will boost the first seasons for each of these titles to 30 episodes.

During the Annecy presentation, Disney also shared sneak peeks at Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures, Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, and the upcoming documentary Mickey: The Story of a Mouse.

The studio also went through the current Disney Junior slate, including Eureka!, Firebuds, SuperKitties, Kindergarten: The Musical, Hey A.J.,  and RoboGobo. Disney Television Animation’s current lineup was also spotlighted, including Big City Greens, The Owl House, The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse, and The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder.

And finally, the studio talked about the importance of international partnerships with studios across the EMEA region on several key titles including Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir, Ghost Force, The Unstoppable Yellow Yeti, and Viking Skool.

Penguin Films Launching A Brand New Telenovela On kykNET Titled Diepe Waters

Penguin Films is starting a brand new telenovela which will be broadcast on DSTV Channel KykNET 4 days a week from September 2022. We are currently planning for our shoots starting on 15 June. The show is called DIEPE WATERS (Deep Waters) and is about a swimming club, swimmers and their coaches. We are hoping to make it look as real as possible and therefore we are looking for Professional Swimmers and a coach to assist. What we would need is whenever we film at the swimming pool is for the presence of a swim coach on-site to make sure the technique and protocol of our actors and storylines is close to the truth when a real-life gala, competition or practice takes place. We will also need to get some professional swimmers (age 18-25) who will be our background actors. We film at Coronation Swimming Pool in Johannesburg and our first dates will be 23 and 24 June.

They are looking for a coach willing to be part of this and also some swimmers. The payment varies depending on the level of swimming skill and also the role they will play. The swim coach fee will depend on his/her swimming structure.

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‘Unicorn’, ‘Fionna and Cake’, ‘Gumball, ‘Bye, Bye Bunny’ Fascinate In Annecy

Warner Discovery was released in Annecy, with all three studios pulling, Cartoon Network Studios, Warner Bros. Animation and Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe doing a joint presentation of their upcoming slates.

The biggest news was an exclusive, multi-year global studio-to-studio deal signed between Cartoon Network Studios and Warner Bros. Animation and the creator of “Primal” Genndy Tartakovsky.

More Variety

Warner Bros. Animation also unveiled “Bye Bye Bunny: A Looney Tunes Musical,” the first-ever Looney Tunes Original animated movie musical, which will be produced by Warner Bros. Animation.

 

 

In other news, Brian Cox, Miranda Otto, Gaia Wise and Luke Pasqualino are among the main cast members in New Line Cinema and the upcoming Warner Bros. animated film. Animation “Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim”.

However, a 75-minute three-studio focus had many more highlights, including the unexpected announcement of a new “Wacky Races” stop-motion reboot in development at Hanna-Barbera.

Cartoon Network Studios has unveiled new first-look images from ‘Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake’ while, for Hanna-Barbera, creator Ben Bocquelet’s teased updates on ‘Gumball’ projects, both a movie and then a new television series.

For its part, Warner Bros. Animation also unveiled more art for its adult animation series “Velma.”

 

 

Packed and fast-paced, the Focus showed each studio playing to its strengths and cultures, Genndy Tartakovsky – who sat on an early panel flanked by CNS Nicole Rivera, VP, Development, and Sammy Perlmutter, VP, longform and specials – is a icon of CNS’ desire to prioritize the production of original ideas, working with offbeat and more avant-garde artists.

After “Primal,” a dialogue-less and devastatingly brutal tale set in prehistoric times, Tartakovsky unveiled a sneak peek of his new “Unicorn: Warriors Eternal” series on Tuesday.

THE STORY CONTINUES

It could hardly be more different in many ways from “Primal,” weighing like a supernatural fantasy, set in a steampunk city, filled with stacks of factories and Victorian architecture, but drawn in soft-toned 2D textures.

WBA, on the other hand, draws from its library of iconic fictional characters to create shows and features to appeal to the full spectrum of audience demos, from preschoolers to adults, sometimes featuring the same character.

Annecy’s Studio Focus was an example of this, Audrey Diehl WBA SVP, Series introduced Annecy audiences to the preschool series “Batwheels”, while “Merry Little Batman” is an animated family action comedy and “Batman : Caped Crusader,” from executive producers Bruce Timm, JJ Abrams, and Matt Reeves, looks like a very old lighting design image on display in Annecy to look much older in its dark, stylized blackish tones. Peter Girardi, WBA Animation EVP, Alternative Programming, described it as “an evolution of ‘Batman: The Animated Series’ in technique and style.”

 

 

Organized on Wednesday at the Imperial Palace in Annecy, which is hosting its MIFA market this week, Studio Focus was hosted by Sam Register, president of the three animation studios.

In what seems indicative of his managerial style of letting creativity drive the shows, Register gave the stage to 10 animation artists and creative executives who sat on three studio panels.

Some highlights:

“Unicorn: Eternal Warriors”

Greeted by cries of enthusiasm from an Annecy audience mostly made up of French animation students, Tartakovsky presented images of “Unicorn”. In it, a giant mammoth runs amok on a steampunk city street attacking helpless kindergarten students who are rescued by a figure with a top hat, flaming supernatural eyes and a body of steel and a dashing warrior wielding a sword dressed in a red medieval cape.

As they fend him off, the mammoth sets his sights on a shivering goth teenager on the street, who looks set to become the show’s hero.

“Everything I’ve done is built for this show because it’s got comedy. It’s got action and adventure. It’s got great drama and the thing is an incredible, gigantic world ,” Tartakovsky told the CNS panel.

“Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake”

The mere mention of “Adventure Time” aroused the approval of the Annecy public. In France, it figures as a modern classic. A palpable collective take was heard when CNS’ Rivera unveiled a second never-before-seen image of “Fionna and Cake,” the alternate gender-swapped versions of the original series’ main characters, as they wake up in an alternate world where there is no magic and do not remember their life of adventures. Fiona is pictured sitting in a room designed with handcrafted details that yet appears to have been drained of color, its tones reduced to a dark brown. “Adventure Time” audiences have aged over time, as has Fionna and Cake, which will be the first “Adventure Time” series aimed at young adult audiences.

“The Amazing World of Gumball”

In the funniest part of the tri-studio presentation, creator Ben Bocquelet revealed everything he could about the upcoming film, which turned out to be next to nothing. In a kind of anti-presentation, Bocquelot leafed through the first page of the screenplay on the status screen, with almost all the words crossed out. A style guide was heavily pixelated, making scenes obscured.

“It’s a surprise take on the classic movie version of the TV show where we had to develop a whole universe for it,” Bocquelot said. “This strange and generous film pushed us towards new animation techniques which, to my knowledge, had never been used in this way before,” he added.

 

“Wacky Races”

Few details were given, but the Hanna-Barbera panel showed a brief sped up making of, showing the construction of a Muttley model which, at the end of the clip, emits its characteristic raspy sneer.

“Merry Little Batman”

Billed as “an animated family action-comedy destined to join the gallery of classic rogue holiday movies,” a snippet from a preview shows six-year-old Damian Wayne alone at Wayne Manor as two robbers sneak in to break the joined, but gasping in horror as they see Batman at the top of the stairs. It’s actually Damian perched on top of a giant vase, smiling with delight.

“Harley Quinn”, season 3

Set to premiere on HBO Max and received enthusiastically in Annecy, season 3 was unveiled via a first artistic preview by Jennifer Coyle, the show’s executive producer. It picks up where Season 2 pretty much left off, she said, with Harley and Ivy now together and on their unofficial honeymoon. We still sat together on a beach. Quinn will reunite with Batman, another image revealed. Coyle promised the series will have new characters, “twists” and take audiences to places and show things you don’t see anywhere else, showing an image of what looks like an S&M bar, with a man who gets her bare butt slapped. “Here is Commissioner Gordon who finds himself in a very strange place,” Coyle commented.

 

“Velma”

Introduced via first-look art, “Velma,” an adult animated “Scooby-Doo” spin-off, unveiled new footage beyond that already seen of a severed murder victim’s head in two, focusing more on the supernatural elements of the series – a woman transforms into a monster with long strokes, Yelma’s face is covered with snake-like arms. Velma develops her investigative skills by investigating the disappearance of her mother. “We’ve seen these characters in preschool and 6-11 shows, but how to total them and turn them into an adult animation space is something we’ve been working on for a long time,” said Peter Girardi, WBA EVP, Alternative programming.

“Bye Bye Bunny: A Looney Tunes Musical”

Announced on Wednesday in great detail, “Bye Bye Bunny” was not so much seen as heard at the Annecy Festival. A brief image shows Bugs and Daffy tied up, presumably after Bigs tries to save Daffy, who has been kidnapped by a fan. The Annecy Focus, however, reached its climax with a clip of composer and songwriter Tom Kitt (“Next to Normal”) performing the song “I Want” from the film on the piano where the characters of musicals often expounded at the beginning what ‘they really want and then try to achieve. Here, a tired Bugs wants to retire, stop being Bugs Bunny and become himself. “The show must go on, but why can’t it go on without me,” Kitt sang. At the same time, scenes from classic Looney tunes shorts burst onto the screen at the Annecy stage, watched by the audience in reverence.

New Channel Alert: As Predicted, Hilaal TV Makes Its Way To The DStv Platform As A Replacement To ITV Networks

ITV Networks is set to go off air on the DStv platform by the end of this week and unlike certain channels where viewers have it to wait a couple of months or a year for them to be replaced, ITV's replacement arrives in a few days.

Hilaal TV was reported earlier this month after MultiChoice put up Ramadaan TV but this time as a permanent addition and Hilaal TV operating the brand alongside a promo lead us to believe that the pop-up will undergo a name change.

 

Hilaal TV is said to be the best Islamic channel in Africa heck there's even speculation that the Ramadaan TV was experimental or a trial to permanent channel which we now know as Hilaal TV and that ITV's demise was destined long before its presence on DStv.

As mentioned previously, some of the content available to the channel includes Tafseer Of Surah Kahf By Sheikh Suliman Moola and Live Crossing For Zohr From Madinah Munawwarah basically the same batch of shows from Ramadan TV.

Hilaal TV will be made available to the same customers that had access to ITV Networks which was DStv Premium, Compact+, Compact, Family, Access, Easyview Indian + Add-on packages from 18 June.

The Sistas Returning For A Fourth Season While A Five Part Documentary On Murder Inc Records Launch On BET Africa - July 2022 Highlights

DJ ZINHLE: THE UNEXPECTED S2
SATURDAY AT 19:30
PREMIERES 26 JULY

Meet DJ Zinhle as she throws the curtain of her life open. Get to know the woman behind into music, the businesses and products that's loved by many.

TYLER PERRY'S SISTAS KEYS S4
WEDNESDAY AT 22:00
PREMIERES 6 JULY

Sistas follows a group of single Black women navigating the complexities of love, careers, friendship, and family in the modern world of social media and unrealistic relationship goals.

 

MURDER INC
TUESDAY AT 22:00
PREMIERES 12 JULY

Featuring Ivr Gotti And Ja Rule, the five part docu-series event will narrate the untold tale of the rise sudden fall and redemption of Murder Inc. Records.

RAP CITY
THURSDAY AT 22:00
PREMIERES 28 JULY

Various guest hosts share the newest music videos. DJs from across the country and the most popular current and iconic rappers

 

Continuing shows include Family Business S3 every Thursday at 22:00, Culture Code every Saturday at 19:30, UBettina Wethu every Monday to Thursday at 18:00, Nedbank Money Challenge: Family Edition every Saturday at 19:00 and Love & Listing S2 every Tuesday at 22:00.