The success of A Charlie Brown Christmas in December of 1965 was both a success and a challenge. The now-iconic Christmas special was a tremendous hit for CBS. Another popular special, Charlie Brown’s All-Stars, followed in the spring of 1966. The network soon approached producer Lee Mendelson and Peanuts creator Charles “Sparky” Schulz about making […]
Archive for October, 2021
A Hallowed Halloween Treat: Fifty-Five Years of “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown”
October 30th, 2021 
Michael Lyons 
Women In Animation Announces It’s Fifth Annual Diversity Awards
October 29th, 2021 Jerry Beck Women in Animation (WIA) is proud to announce the fifth annual WIA Diversity Award recipients, presented in partnership with the Spark Computer Graphics Society (Spark CG). The recipients of this year’s awards are: creator Rebecca Sugar; All Those Sensations in My Belly by Marko Dješka; and the University of Southern California (USC) Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. […]
INTERVIEW: Jonathan Stern On New CW Special “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You Now!”
October 28th, 2021 Jackson Murphy Jonathan Stern is the Emmy-winning writer/director of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You Now! It’s a new one-hour live-action/animated Scooby special premiering this Friday October 29th at 8pm on The CW. (It re-airs Thanksgiving night, Nov. 25, at 8pm.) Stern discusses what went into making this one of a kind special that reunites and celebrates the beloved […]
TRAILER: Chris Evans Lends His Voice to Buzz in Pixar’s “Lightyear”
October 27th, 2021 Jerry Beck Check out a brand-new, action-packed trailer and teaser poster for Disney and Pixar’s Lightyear, an original feature film releasing June 17th, 2022. The sci-fi action-adventure presents the definitive origin story of Buzz Lightyear—the hero who inspired the toy—introducing the legendary Space Ranger who would win generations of fans. Annie Award-winning director and veteran Pixar animator […]
Bowl-ed Over: Celebrating 50 years of the Monster Cereal Commercials
October 27th, 2021 Michael Lyons Like welcome friends returning for an annual visit, The Monster Cereals come back each Halloween Season. Count Chocula, Franken Berry, and Boo Berry, along with the later Fruit Brute and Yummy Mummy, have been a “nutritious part of any well-balanced breakfast” since General Mills first introduced the sugary cereals in 1971. For those who have […]
Hidden Haunts: Seldom Seen Halloween TV Specials
October 23rd, 2021 Michael Lyons Like the candy collected by trick or treaters that’s been cast aside, you know, the lollipops passed over in favor of a Fun Size Milky Way candy bar, several animated Halloween specials have not reached the pop-culture heights of It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. But, as we make our way through spooky season, if […]
Woman In Animation Announces Scholarship Program Industry Partners for 2022
October 21st, 2021 Jerry Beck Women in Animation is continuing to expand its ongoing WIA Scholarship Program with workshops, tutoring sessions, software packages and cash prizes for recipients of the 2022 cycle from industry partners Animation Focus, Animation Mentor, Autodesk, Foundry, LAIKA, Toon Boom and Wacom. Additionally, WIA’s Bay Area and Montreal Chapters are providing special scholarship prizes for students […]
“Ears” to a Disney Masterpiece: “Dumbo’s” 80th Anniversary
October 20th, 2021 Michael Lyons There’s a scene in director Steven Spielberg’s oft-maligned comedy film 1941, where a hardened General, played by Robert Stack, goes into a movie theater that’s showing Dumbo. The staunch General’s joy at walking into the theater, his singing along with one of the film’s songs and his tears at watching a certain sequence are all […]
INTERVIEW: Jorge R. Gutierrez & Sandra Equihua On Epic Event “Maya And The Three”
October 20th, 2021 Jackson Murphy Jorge R. Gutierrez (El Tigre, The Book of Life) is the creator, writer and director of new nine-part Netflix event series Maya and the Three. It premieres this Friday October 22nd. His wife, Sandra Equihua, serves as Maya’s creative consultant. She and Gutierrez also voice two pivotal characters. They join me to discuss this bold, […]
CLIP: “Jellystone! Halloween Special”
October 20th, 2021 Jerry Beck Augie, Yakky, and Shag help an overworked Winsome Witch prepare for Halloween… but end up making things worse. Meanwhile Yogi, Cindy, Boo-Boo and all your favorite redesigned Hanna-Barbera characters are celebrating the spookiest time of year with an-all new Halloween-themed episode of Jellystone!; “Spell Book” promises tricks AND treats, and plenty of outrageous Halloween misadventures […]
Posted in HBO Max, Warner Bros., WB Animation (TV) 
Tags: HBO Max, Jellystone!, Warner Bros. 
No Comments » TRAILER: “Dogs In Space”
October 19th, 2021 Jerry Beck This animated series will release on Netflix on November 18th and features the voice work of Haley Joel Osment, Sarah Chalke, Kimiko Glenn and Chris Parnell. It’s a wacky, fun series follow a group of genetically enhanced dogs that are sent across the universe in search of a new home for the human race. Here’s […]
TRAILER: Disney+ “Diary of a Wimpy Kid”
October 19th, 2021 Jerry Beck Today, Disney+ released the trailer for Diary of a Wimpy Kid, which begins streaming this holiday season. The series premieres exclusively on Disney+ December 3rd, 2021.
FIRST LOOK: Nickelodeon’s The Patrick Star Show Stop-Mo Halloween-Themed Special
October 19th, 2021 Jerry Beck Here’s our first look at Nickelodeon’s Halloween-Themed Special for The Patrick Star Show, “Terror at 20,000 Leagues”. In the show, Patrick goes on a spooky adventure, premiering Friday, Oct. 22, at 7:00 p.m. on Nickelodeon. The half-hour special features stop-motion, puppets and 2D animation. Screen Novelties, the Los Angeles-based stop-motion animation production company, produced the […]
TRAILER: Marvel’s “Hit-Monkey”
October 18th, 2021 Jerry Beck This is a story of a monkey on a mission. Check out the all new trailer and key art for Hulu Original series Marvel’s Hit-Monkey. Featuring the voices of Jason Sudeikis (Ted Lasso), George Takes (Star Trek) and Olivia Munn (X-Men: Apocalypse), the show premieres on November 17th, with all ten episodes. Here’s our first […]
Disney Unveils “Olaf Presents”
October 14th, 2021 Jerry Beck Disney+ and Walt Disney Animation Studios unveiled plans for a new series of shorts starring the snowman-turned-storyteller, Olaf, as he recreates moments from Disney Animation classics “The Little Mermaid,” “Moana,” “The Lion King,” “Aladdin” and “Tangled.” Check out the trailer for Olaf Presents which launches exclusively on Disney+ Day – a global celebration that will […]
