Last Week in Animation: April 23rd

Overly Animated is testing a new recurring series, Last Week in Animation. This is meant to aggregate the news items most relevant to fans of the shows covered by Overly Animated, as well as interesting tidbits related to other animated shows and films currently airing or in the works.

Steven Universe: Explosive Trailer Drops

On a Facebook post by Cartoon Network on Friday morning, a promo for the latest Stevenbomb was casually dropped for the rabid fanbase to pick apart. We already have an article going into more detail on what new pieces of information the promo provided us with concerning the next batch of episodes. “Lion 4: Alternate Ending”, which was leaked a couple of weeks ago, was not mentioned or shown in the promo, although it is expected that the episode will kick off the bomb, or at least appear in the first half. The other episodes (listed in the airing order as provided by television schedule aggregator Zap2it) are “Doug Out”, “The Good Lars”, “Are You My Dad?” and “I Am My Mom”. Here is an article tackling each of those episode titles and their synopses individually that you can check out before they air. The promo states that the “event” will begin on Monday, May 8.

Star vs. The Forces of Evil: Season 3 Teaser

Daron Nefcy and her creative team made an appearance at Gallery Nucleus in Alhambra, California on Saturday, as a part of an art exhibition themed around what many consider the best show on Disney XD right now. It was advertised among fans that she would release a teaser for the upcoming season during her panel. While an hour of discussion was filmed by members of the audience, Nefcy and the gallery ordered audience members to not record the teaser, which got Star fans in a frenzy on the various forums they frequent.

However, several details have since leaked about what was presented to the approximately 150 in attendance on Saturday. (Minor spoilers) The biggest news to come out was that Jackie did not make an appearance in the teaser at all, which may come as a surprise given the focus that was given to Jackie and Marco’s relationship in Season 2. It does appear that the theory that Star and Marco would be kept apart for a long time has taken a huge hit, as there was a prominent group shot of Star, Marco, Tom, Janna, and Kelly. A separate scene of Kelly with a sword has given fans the hint that her appearances will continue to increase as the show moves further away from Echo Creek, the Earth setting of the show. The teaser ended with a showdown between Star + Marco and Toffee, who was still in his Ludo-controlling state. Season 3 is expected to air this summer, so keep an eye out for a teaser, whether it be the one aired at the gallery or a different one, to come out in the next week.

The Latest Greenlights

Carmen Sandiego is making her return to animated television, as a Netflix series has been greenlit with Gina Rodriguez, a rising star most famous for being The CW’s Jane the Virgin, attached to voice the titular character. Carmen Sandiego is a name that kicks up the nostalgia genes for any kids who got to use school computers in the 1990s to early 2000s. This is not the first foray into animated television for the character, as “Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego” got 40 episodes from 1994 to 1998. Finn Wolfhard, from the recent Netflix phenomenon Stranger Things, is slated to be Rodriguez’s partner in the show. The showrunner is Duane Capizzi, who has experience in the animation business primarily writing for DC Universe ventures such as DC Super Friends and Justice League Action. The show is expected to premiere on Netflix in 2019. [Variety]

In one of the stranger collection of names you’ll see on an animated project, Taika Waititi and Mark Gustafson will be directing a Starburns Industries stop motion film about Michael Jackson’s pet chimpanzee, Bubbles. OK, a lot of names to unpack there. First, we have Waititi, the New Zealander popular in indie circles for years and is now in the middle of post-production for the fantasy epic, Thor: Ragnarok. While he has experience directing with CGI, Gustafson is probably going to head the artistic side, as he was the animation director for Wes Anderson’s foray into stop motion, 2009’s Fantastic Mr. Fox. As for Starburns Industries, Overly Animated fans will know them for their work with Rick and Morty, but they did get an Oscar nomination for producing the adult stop motion Anomalisa. The plot for this project is vague, although Waititi says that it won’t be a straight biopic, but rather that he wants to tell a “story that blends fact and fantasy, about an animal trying to make sense of the world.” All in all, this sounds like a weird project, but one that has enough names attached that something delightful could emerge. No release date has been announced. [Deadline Hollywood]

Other News and Notes

• The Loud House (check out our recent reviews) is getting released on a two-DVD set by Nickelodeon on May 23. The set will include 26 total episodes, including the series’ first 13. [Animation Magazine]
• As Justin aptly predicted, the popularity of Szechuan sauce is at an all time high thanks to Rick and Morty‘s name dropping of the limited-edition condiment in their season 3 premiere. However, once a packet of the sauce sells for $14,700 on eBay, we may have gone too far.
• In the spirited tradition of The Angry Birds Movie and the upcoming Emoji film, YouTube Red is releasing a kid’s show based on the Fruit Ninja mobile game, slated to premiere May 5. My review: lol. But a shoutout to the English minor who thought it was cool to name the villain Durian Grey.