Disney Television Animation is developing another Marvel property into an animated show: Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur.
“Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur” will follow fellow Marvel property “Big Hero 6” as the next more-obscure comic property to be developed for Disney Channel (or its sister stations Disney Junior or Disney XD).
According to the comics, Moon Girl — also known as Lunella Lafayette — is a “preteen super genius” as well as a part of the Inhuman race (as in, ABC show Marvel’s Inhumans, or obviously the comics). The nine-year-old teams up with her partner, Devil Dinosaur, after he was transported through time to our modern age.
The show is being developed by Lawrence Fishburne (“Black-ish,” The Matrix) and Helen Sugland (executive producer, “Black-ish” and “Grown-ish”). Disney has not yet announced the intended channel, but the premise seems to be an equally good fit for the Marvel-heavy Disney XD, the strong female leads of Disney Channelor the encouraging, educational Disney Junior.
While the show is likely to be based solely on the comic books by Amy Reeder and Brandon Montclare, Devil Dinosaur originated from a comic and television series concept developed by comic legend Jack Kirby: Devil Dinosaur. This comic, following the exploits of the dinosaur and his partner Moon-Boy, had a very short run (April-December 1978) and was never developed for animation as planned.
The Moon Girl comics have been in publication since 2015.
Lars Martinson is a cartoonist who spent 13 years making a comic called Tonoharu, which he thought would take three or four years to publish. In this video he shares his experience and how, as artists, we need to be careful about being too perfectionistic with our work. Martinson talks about how he refused to cut any corners or do anything in a simpler or faster way, because he felt that would be traitorous to the concept of being the true artist.
More than a decade later, Martinson regrets that he spent so much time on a single project. He explains that if he continued to follow this path, he might end up making maybe two or three projects in his lifetime before he would be too old to do more. He states: “I’m willing to completely overhaul the way I produce art, right down the very medium I’m working in.” Martinson said he hopes to reduce his output time from several years to a few months.
There’s a lot more to the video that underlines the importance of time management and flexibility in your creative projects, and it stands out as a strong guide for younger artists who have not yet made some of these mistakes. As Martinson so aptly states, time is the factor. You can’t have it back if you use too much of it on one project.
While many are familiar with the origin story of DC’s Caped Crusader, the story of how the popular show Batman: The Animated Series came to be receives much less of the Bat-Signal spotlight.
Aspiring animators and fans will both enjoy this series of interviews with the creative minds behind the show, 25 years later, including how Bruce Timm developed the show’s iconic look, who invented Harley Quinn, and how Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill became the voices of Batman and Joker for a new generation.
Love it or hate it, Teen Titans Go! remains a Cartoon Network staple that is making its way where few CN shows have gone: as a theatrically released feature-length film.
Today, DC Animated tweeted the film’s cast, with all five titans signed on for the film — plus Will Arnett and Kristen Bell in unspecified roles.
Teen Titans Go! writers Michael Jelenic and Aaron Horvath are allegedly directing the film, which is slated for July 27, 2018.
The most recent adaptation of the popular Teen Titans DC franchise was direct-to-video Teen Titans: The Judas Contract, which featured an entirely different voice cast from that of the Teen Titans and Teen Titans Go! series and follows the extended roster of Titans from the Judas Contract comic arc.
Meanwhile, Teen Titans and TTG! producer Sam Register is still working with My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic’sLauren Faust on the DC Super Hero Girls show at Cartoon Network.
Sonic Mania Dashes Onto Center Stage With Amazing Animation
Sonic Mania is the latest iteration of the Sonic The Hedgehog video game franchise, but looks like it’s about 25 years old. Bringing back the 16-bit style of graphics, reviews are saying Sonic Mania is retro in a good way, giving it some of the best reviews of a Sonic game in years. The game released on August 15th as a digital download (for $19.99), and is available for Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Besides all the wonderful game aspects, though, Sonic Mania exhibits some fantastic 2D animation, something I’m even more excited about than the game. Some of the ads for the game have teased 2D animation, but the fully animated opening in the game is even better than you might realize. Long time Sonic Comics artist and penciler, Tyson Hesse was brought on to direct the opening animation in Sonic Mania. As a game basically made by fans for fans, the creators didn’t mess around. The animation is some of the slickest 2D out there, exhibiting shout outs to the classic style of Sonic, and of cartoons featuring him in the 90s.
Check out Tyson Hesse’s twitter where he’s been sharing lots of info about the animation in Sonic Mania, as well as still frames with some of his inside knowledge. It’s a drool fest for any fan, but for animators it’s some helpful education in creating this beautiful style.
The opening short in Sonic Mania wasn’t made by Hesse alone (although he did several jobs in the production). He shared a full credit list on his twitter a few days before release. The list is chock-full of master artists and animators, along with links to websites or social media profiles where you can find them.
If a game as good as Sonic Mania can have this nice of a package with such beautiful animation, hopefully we’ll see more games and franchises follow suit, with their own inspiring animation.
- Christopher, (Original artwork also by Christopher)
Thor: Ragnarok comes out later this year, but some tidbits of info about the film have been dropped, along with some beautiful concept art, on the recent digital release of Doctor Strange.
Die hard Marvel comics fans are following the script, and comic publications have taken note of the fact that Thor’s helmet is displayed here (for the first time in the cinematic universe), and Hulk’s armor seems reminiscent of the Planet Hulk armor.
A synopsis has also been released for Thor: Ragnarok:
Thor is imprisoned on the other side of the universe without his mighty hammer and finds himself in a race against time to get back to Asgard to stop Ragnarok – the destruction of his homeworld and the end of Asgardian civilization – at the hands of an all-powerful new threat, the ruthless Hela. But first he must survive a deadly gladiatorial contest that pits him against his former ally and fellow Avenger – The Incredible Hulk!
For the casual observer who is a fan of art, these concept pieces are beautiful displays of depth and lighting. Great to see some featured concept works like this.
This week I had the opportunity to get in touch with Tim Sparvero and interview him about his work and his dreams. He has some inspiring work and has an inspiring goal. And just like any of us, he is working hard to achieve his goal even though it could take a long time. Read what he has to say and get a chance to learn from another artist who is on the same journey as the rest of us.
To name a few artists: Charles Schulz, Yukito Kishiro, Naoko Takeuchi, Yoshitaka Amano, Patrick Spaziante, Gustave Dore, Shimoku Kio, Masamune Shirow, Johji Manabe, Hitoshi Ariga, Adam Warren, and Junji Ito.
As far as TV goes, My biggest influences are Star Trek The next Generation and X-Files.In terms of comics, just about anything by the above artists will do it for me, but some titles are:
Peanuts, Genshiken, Battle Angel Alita, Sailor Moon, Dirty Pair, Heavy Metal Magazine, Sonic The Hedgehog, Uzumaki, and Caravan Kidd.
What is your goal/dream in animation or art?
My goal is to be able to live off of my artwork, to do art as a career permanently the rest of my life, and eventually to live off of just my comic books and their sales.
What are you doing currently to reach your dream/goal, or if you already are there, what are you doing with your dream/goal?
Halfway there! I have been working as a professional artist full time for about five years now, so that’s the first part. The second part, that being the ability to live off of just my comic book sales, well that’s still a WIP. But I’m guessing someday it will happen.
Doing comics on your own is a tricky deal. Building an audience and set of people who want to purchase your work takes time and dedication. I’ve been publishing a webcomic(Infinity Roads) for 6 years now, in addition I publish a new short book a few times a year, usually science fiction or Heavy Metal type stories. My wife and I are going to Small Press Expo in September to sell our books, and in addition we had a table at the Big Apple Comic Con in February. This part might take many years of work and dedication, but I am sure of a positive outcome.
Thanks a lot to Tim for submitting his work to us and letting us interview him. If you’d like to share your work and journey with us, email us at theanimationforce(at)gmail.com and we’ll get in touch with you about sharing your story with the Animation Force community. In this way hopefully we can all inspire and encourage each other!
In case you missed it, sometimes we interview artists and share stories from artists in our community. If you’re an artist or animator, or aspiring to be, let us know! Get in touch with us and we may feature you on Animation Force!
Based on the original comic strips by Tove Jansson. Produced by Handle Productions and Pictak. Directed by Xavier Picard. Co-directed and produced by Hanna Hemilä. The film is a joint effort of French and Finnish studios and creators.
Moomins On The Riviera is a submission for the 88th Academy Awards for the animated feature category.The film premiered internationally in 2014, but is premiering in the US on December 4, 2015.
See the full list of submitted films and learn about the curious circumstances surrounding the upcoming Oscars here.
This week I had the opportunity to get in touch with Tim Sparvero and interview him about his work and his dreams. He has some inspiring work and has an inspiring goal. And just like any of us, he is working hard to achieve his goal even though it could take a long time. Read what he has to say and get a chance to learn from another artist who is on the same journey as the rest of us.
To name a few artists: Charles Schulz, Yukito Kishiro, Naoko Takeuchi, Yoshitaka Amano, Patrick Spaziante, Gustave Dore, Shimoku Kio, Masamune Shirow, Johji Manabe, Hitoshi Ariga, Adam Warren, and Junji Ito.
As far as TV goes, My biggest influences are Star Trek The next Generation and X-Files.In terms of comics, just about anything by the above artists will do it for me, but some titles are:
Peanuts, Genshiken, Battle Angel Alita, Sailor Moon, Dirty Pair, Heavy Metal Magazine, Sonic The Hedgehog, Uzumaki, and Caravan Kidd.
What is your goal/dream in animation or art?
My goal is to be able to live off of my artwork, to do art as a career permanently the rest of my life, and eventually to live off of just my comic books and their sales.
What are you doing currently to reach your dream/goal, or if you already are there, what are you doing with your dream/goal?
Halfway there! I have been working as a professional artist full time for about five years now, so that’s the first part. The second part, that being the ability to live off of just my comic book sales, well that’s still a WIP. But I’m guessing someday it will happen.
Doing comics on your own is a tricky deal. Building an audience and set of people who want to purchase your work takes time and dedication. I’ve been publishing a webcomic(Infinity Roads) for 6 years now, in addition I publish a new short book a few times a year, usually science fiction or Heavy Metal type stories. My wife and I are going to Small Press Expo in September to sell our books, and in addition we had a table at the Big Apple Comic Con in February. This part might take many years of work and dedication, but I am sure of a positive outcome.
Thanks a lot to Tim for submitting his work to us and letting us interview him. If you’d like to share your work and journey with us, email us at theanimationforce(at)gmail.com and we’ll get in touch with you about sharing your story with the Animation Force community. In this way hopefully we can all inspire and encourage each other!
