Top Animation News: Storyboard Pro 7, Annie Awards, Catbug and more!

Top Animation News is a weekly column that rounds up the biggest, best and breaking stories from the animation industry. This edition covers November 29 to December 6, 2019.

1. Toon Boom releases Storyboard Pro 7
This week, Toon Boom released the latest edition of our Emmy Award-winning pre-production software, Toon Boom Storyboard Pro 7 — giving artists more creative freedom and power with an all-new drawing engine, designed with creators in mind. The all-in-one storyboard solution combines drawing, scripting, camera controls, animatic creation capabilities and sound editing to offer everything needed to plan on-screen storytelling. Storyboard Pro 7 also integrates with Toon Boom Harmony, allowing animated projects to move seamlessly from planning to production. 

Discover all the industry-standard pre-production software’s features on the Storyboard Pro 7 product page.

2. Netflix leads Annie Award nominations for first time
The 47th Annie Awards announced its nominations on Friday, with Netflix leading with 39 nods overall. Studios DreamWorks Animation and Disney had 18 and 16, respectively. Among Netflix’s most-nominated productions are Klaus (seven) and I Lost My Body (six); leading the films list, Frozen 2 and Laika’s Missing Link had eight nods each.    

See all the 47th Annie Awards nominees on Variety.

3. Catbug goes into purr-duction with Frederator Studios
Frederator Studios, the brains behind animated series Adventure Time, is developing a new toon based on Catbug. The IP has proven to be the cat’s meow in Gen Z areas like TikTok and animated GIFs. Created by Breehn Burns, Catbug has “become a true meme or internet culture, spurring parodies and references to his quirky lines from the show,” said Fred Seibert, CEO of Frederator and Chief Creative Officer of Wow! Unlimited Media.

Catch up on the Catbug buzz on Deadline. 

4. “Let’s Not Go Away”: Blue Zoo’s 2019 Christmas short premieres today
London animation studio Blue Zoo released its latest Christmas short today, a music video for British band Scouting for Girls’ track “Let’s Not Go Away”. Katie Gascoyne, a talent and recruitment pro at the company, made her directorial debut with the piece, which was produced using Toon Boom Harmony. “The amount of effort the artists put in and the high quality that came out was absolutely amazing. It was extremely rewarding to see how much people wanted to really make this come to life in the best way they could in the time that we had,” says Gascoyne.

Watch the “Let’s Not Go Away” music video above and read more on the Toon Boom blog.

5. The Simpsons and Bob’s Burgers dominate Writers Guild Awards noms
Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) and Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) have announced the nominations for the 2020 Writers Guild Awards. The Animation category is dominated by 2D productions, including three nods for The Simpsons, two for Bob’s Burgers and one for BoJack Horseman. 

Read the full list of 2020 Writers Guild Awards animation nominees on Animation Magazine.

6. Stream the Klaus animation showreels 
Sergio Pablos’ 2D animated feature for Netflix, Klaus, advanced 2D animation with new lighting and texturing tools. Just in time for the holidays, fans of the style have gotten another gift: a number of artists who worked on the production have uploaded their showreels. Among the participating Klaus animators are Giovanni Braggio, Simone Cirillo, Andrew Chesworth, Santiago Riscos and more!

View Victor Ens’ showreel above and watch the rest on Cartoon Brew.

7. Hulu pauses Tigra & Dazzler amid Marvel shakeup 
Marvel has let go of Tigra & Dazzler showrunner Erica Rivinoja (Girls Trip, The Addams Family) along with the cartoon comedy’s entire writing staff. Sources claim they had finished multiple scripts and had completed three-quarters of a planned 20-week production cycle. Tigra & Dazzler was one of four Marvel animated series announced for Hulu earlier this year alongside M.O.D.O.K., Hit-Monkey and Howard the Duck.

Leap into the all the Tigra & Dazzler creative overhaul details on The Hollywood Reporter.  

8. Matthew A. Cherry’s Hair Love debuts online
After being screened in cinemas this past summer, director Matthew A. Cherry’s animated debut Hair Love is now available to stream for free online. The heartwarming short film follows a young African-American father as he attempts to style his daughter’s hair on his own for the first time. Hair Love was animated by studio Six Point Harness using a Harmony pipeline.

Stream Hair Love above and untangle the full story on Fast Company.

Good morning #BabyYoda pic.twitter.com/M6Qwk305fC

— South Park (@SouthPark) December 5, 2019

9. South Park has gotten on the Baby Yoda bandwagon
Disney+ and Baby Yoda have found themselves in the crosshairs of South Park’s satire this week. In the recent episode “Basic Cable”, much-maligned character Scott Malkinson is torn between his love of streaming The Mandalorian and his loyalties to his cable company-employed father. In a twist, Disney+ competitor HBO Max recently purchases the US streaming rights to South Park for a reported $500 million.

May the South Park news be strong with you on Digital Spy.

10. Is animated ASMR the next big trend?
South Korean YouTube channel Doggie Corgi may be sniffing out the next big digital trend: animated ASMR. Created by Studio Goindol, its videos feature a cartoon corgi and his pup pals wagging their way through various calming scenes. “The goal of the Doggie Corgi episodes [is] to have people to feel warmness and get comfortable while just gazing at the animated, slow, sentimental scenes in the middle of busy screens filled with flashy effects and edits wherever they go,” said Jeongsoo Hur, president of Studio Goindol.

Like a dog with a bone for ASMR? Watch Doggie Corgi above and read more on Cartoon Brew.

What Top Animation News were you most excited about this week? Was there something we forgot to mention? Let us know in the comments below!

Banner image source: Toon Boom