“Ni-Ni-Ni-Ni-Ni-Ni-Ni-Nick… Nickelodeon!” That musical bumper defined a good chunk of my childhood and cable’s most orange network is continuing to delight young audiences with a bigger slate of original content than ever before. During the brand’s first Studio Showcase at Annecy Festival, Nickelodeon/Paramount Animation President Ramsey Naito showcased the new shows and movies animation fans can look forward to over the next year and beyond. There are over 60 projects in production across 21 countries, more than any time in Nickelodeon history.
(Nickelodeon/Paramount)
Face is back! Eryk Casemiro, EVP of Global Series Content started the presentation with a look at Nick Jr. content for preschoolers. Face’s Music Party restores the brand’s original mascot after 20 years off the air, now starring in his own series that features a music video in each 11-minute segment, designed to get kids out of their seat to dance along. The Tiny Chef Show is making the jump from TikTok to Nick Jr. And the popular comic Superhero Bunny League! becomes an animated series for preschoolers, with a short preview of animation featured from Finland’s Gigglebug Entertainment.
Moving on to Nickelodeon’s core demographic, a partnership with Hasbro will bring Transformers: Earth Spark to the network, with a clip from the CG series premiering at Annecy. Similarly, a partnership with Mattel brings the first CG series from the world of Monster High to living rooms this October. Following the successful launch of Big Nate, Nickelodeon is hard at work on adapting another one of Lincoln Peirce’s popular stories, Max and the Midknights, described as a kid-friendly version of Monty Python.
Three years ago at Annecy, Nickelodeon announced the “Intergalactic Shorts Program,” with a second program recruiting now. One of the shorts from that program, titled Rock Paper Scissors, has been picked up as a full series. Annecy attendees got to see the short, which finds an anthropomorphized rock, a sheet of paper, and pair of scissors living together as roommates and disagreeing over what to watch on TV. Think you already know how they settle the debate? If your answer didn’t include a shark with superpowers, then you’re wrong!
Eryk passed the mic over to Latifa Ouaou, EVP of Movies and Global Franchises for a look at the original films coming from Nickelodeon and Paramount. First up is Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank, hitting theaters on July 17th. Director Rob Minkoff (The Lion King) made a surprise appearance and introduced a 7-minute clip from the film, which finds a dog trying to become a samurai warrior, an exclusive league of cats. He shared that the film has a powerful message about inclusion and diversity told through animals and can’t wait for audiences to see it on the big screen.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is heading back to the big screen in a new film from director Jeff Rowe (The Mitchells vs. the Machines) and produced by Seth Rogen and Adam Goldberg. Through a video message from Jeff, we were given a “Peek under the shell” at the style of the film, which is CG with 2D accents. Jeff was inspired by sketches he made in school notebooks as a teenager and wanted the film to evoke that same type of feeling. From the brief bit of animation shown, it felt reminiscent of the look of Sony’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. This film is scheduled for release on August 4th, 2023.
Hot off the success of Paw Patrol: The Movie, a sequel is heading to theaters on October 23rd, 2023 titled Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie. Director Cal Brunker recorded an introduction to the film, which centers around Sky and finds the pups developing superpowers. We were shown a storyboard sequence of Sky discovering a glowing crystal that gives her the power of flight. Taraji P. Henson will voice a new foe for everyone’s favorite team of rescue pups.
Laurence Yep’s popular book series The Tiger’s Apprentice is coming to the big screen on December 20th, 2023 from director Raman Hui (Shrek the Third) and co-directed by Paul Watling and Yong Duk Jhun. The voices of the 12 zodiac warriors were revealed, with big names including Michell Yeoh, Sandrah Oh, Bowen Yang, Lucy Liu, and Jo Koy. We were treated to a very short clip of the main character Tom meeting the titular Tiger.
Ramsey Naito promised that Nickelodeon will be back at Annecy Festival next year with another presentation, but not before sharing a few more surprises. The studio recently announced a new animated film based on The Smurfs, with Chris Miller (Shrek the Third) directing and Pam Brady (South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut) writing. Nickelodeon also recently announced that three movies are in development from Avatar Studios, with Lauren Montgomery (Avatar: The Last Airbender) attached to direct the first one. During a Q&A, a fan asked for more specifics about what they can expect from this new film series, with Ramsey summing it up by saying that they will expand the universe and its mythology, but remaining tight-lipped about any other details.
Click here for more coverage from Annecy Festival.
(Please note this article contains affiliate links. Your purchase will support LaughingPlace by providing us a small commission, but will not affect your pricing or user experience. Thank you.)