Déjà Vu All over Again?

Everything old is new again this summer! We have Indiana Jones and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles entertaining us in theaters, while the gang from Futurama is making us laugh at our insane world on TV. The animated characters that ruled our imagination in the ‘80s and ‘90s are continuing their adventures in shiny new packages and finding another generation of fans along the way.

We are thrilled to put two of these favorites (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem and Futurama) on two special collector’s edition covers of Animation Magazine this month. Fortunately, we were able to interview longtime Futurama producer Claudia Katz and supervising director Peter Avanzino as well as actor Billy West, who voices many of the show’s fan-favorite characters, in time for the new season premiere on Hulu this month. Our regular contributor Jeff Spry has also prepared a terrific interview with director Jeff Rowe and co-director Kyler Spears about their innovative new take on the Turtles in the big Paramount animated movie.

Another hot animated show makes a smooth transition to the big screen in Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir, The Movie. French animation veteran Jeremy Zag, producer Aton Soumache and their teams at Zagtoon and Method Animation have done a terrific job of bringing us a musical origin story for their popular young superheroes. Make sure you read Karen Idelson’s insightful interview with the creative team behind this much-anticipated feature set against a beautiful Paris backdrop.

Comeback Kids: Futurama and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were our cover stories back in Dec. 2002 and April 2007.

Everyone’s favorite computer animation conference, SIGGRAPH, is celebrating its 50th anniversary August 6-10 at the L.A. Convention Center. Veteran journalist Ellen Wolff spoke to the show’s Electronic Theater director Kalina Borkiewicz and CG pioneer Jim Blinn, who is best known for his revolutionary depiction of the planets in Carl Sagan’s Cosmos. Ellen has prepared a terrific round-up of what to expect at this year’s edition, which takes a look back at half a century of eye-popping achievements. If you happen to be at SIGGRAPH this year, please make sure to stop by the Animation Magazine booth and say hi. We’ll have some fun giveaways and free magazines for our friends as usual.

By the way, make sure you order the next issue of the magazine (which arrives in early September). I am already excited about some of the new indie movies, TV shows and festival shorts we are going to cover next month. The entertainment industry has had a rough year, but common wisdom used to dictate that audiences would always pay to see a fantastic movie or watch a well-crafted animated show at home. Let’s hope that doesn’t change anytime soon, or else we’ll have to find other ways to entertain ourselves before our planet turns into a giant ball of fire.

Ramin Zahed Editor in Chief ramin@animationmagazine.net

AUGUST 2023

VOL. 37, ISSUE 7, NO. 332 info@animationmagazine.net

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