Editor’s NotE
As I sat down to write this month’s letter, I realized that just this past week, we reported on the launch of several new animation studios and healthy project initiatives all over the world on our website. The year of the never-ending pandemic has been murder on the movie theater business, but it has opened the door to so many new toon projects as live-action shows and features are facing major difficulties with COVID-19 restrictions. But as Netflix chief Ted Sarandos pointed out this week, this removal of theatrical from Hollywood’s equation won’t last forever. “I wouldn’t look at this as being that radical a change,” he said. “At some point, theaters are going to reopen and people are going to go back to theaters. I hope so. I’m a fan of doing it myself.”
Like many of you, I wish I could have seen two of this issue’s featured titles, Pixar’s Soul and Cartoon Saloon’s Wolfwalkers, in a proper theater. The comforts of home are no substitute for enjoying these amazing animated movies on the big screen with a state-of-the-art sound system and a rapt audience. I hope we all get to experience these hugely cinematic projects on proper movie screens in 2021. They are both magnificent, visually stunning films, and deserve to be enjoyed the way they were intended to be seen. Until we do, I hope you find the time to read our stories about the making of these two very different, yet equally inspired and involving movies.
Each month also brings an embarrassment of riches in new animated shows created specifically for at-home audiences. We introduce you to three excellent and diverse series aiming for separate viewerships in this issue. Netflix is offering Max Keane’s utterly charming new show Trash Truck, which is exec produced by Glen Keane and Gennie Rim, and Hulu debuts Sunil Hall and
Lynne Naylor-Reccardi’s hilarious show The Mighty Ones (about the friendship between a twig, a pebble, a leaf and a strawberry
— that description alone cracks me up!). Meanwhile, Crunchyroll is also pushing the envelope with the fantastic new series Onyx
Equinox, created by promising Latinx talent Sofía Alexander. I am sure you’ll find the background stories behind these three new shows both inspiring and fascinating.
By the way, if you are looking for a fun way to spend your
Thanksgiving holiday this year, remember that Hulu is premiering the much-anticipated Animaniacs reboot on Nov. 20. I can’t think of a better way to forget our worries and have a lot of laughs by binging this fun reboot, exec produced by Steven
Spielberg, Sam Register, Darryl Frank, Justin Falvey and Wellesley Wild and co-exec produced by Gabe Swarr. Wild and Swarr were kind enough to chat with us about their hot new show in this issue as well.
I hope you enjoy what we’re prepared for you in this issue. On behalf of all of us at your favorite animation magazine, I wish you a peaceful and soul-nourishing Thanksgiving holiday.