From the editor
The streaming era doesn’t seem to show any signs of slowing down. Just this week, as we were going to press, Disney reported a better-than-expected first quarter, with overall revenue rising 34 percent to $21.82 billion in the first quarter — owing in part to Disney+’s 129.8 subscribers. Paramount+ also announced that it will be the new home of South Park as well as the upcoming reboot of Beavis and Butt-head, while Peacock announced that it is adding Megamind and Abominable spinoffs to its content menu.
Meanwhile, the savvy team at Netflix unveiled their full slate of animated features for the year, which includes much anticipated titles such as Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Nora Twomey’s
My Father’s Dragon, Chris Williams’ The Sea Beast and Henry Selick and Jordan Peele’s Wendell and Wild. The streamer’s eclectic collection is a heady mix of 2D-animated family fare, out-there stop-motion magic and CG-animated offerings. Former Sony Pictures Animation exec Karen Toliver (Hair Love) just joined Netflix as its new VP of animated film, which bodes quite well for the studio.
Richard Linklater’s nostalgic look back at the days of the Moon landing, Apollo 10 ½, is another addition to the
Netflix slate, which premieres on April 1. Michael Mallory has the inside scoop on the making of this intriguing new title, which mixes rotoscopy, CG and 2D animation. Set to premiere at this year’s South by Southwest festival in Austin, the movie is described as “part coming of age, part societal commentary and part out-of-this-world adventure.”
Our cover story this month is Pixar’s new title Seeing Red, which is the feature directorial debut of Oscar-winner Domee Shi (Bao). Karen Idelson talked to Shi and some of the key members of her team about how they used humor, great visuals and a clever conceit to focus on the confusing aspects of puberty for girls. Pixar’s 25th feature (can you believe it?) also has a lot of fun with the trends and pop idols of the 1990s. We are still hoping that Disney lets fans enjoy the movie in some theaters as well as its Disney+ premiere.
This issue also features two of our favorite first-quarter staples: Our Rising Stars of Animation special focus introduces you to 16 of our favorite people who are making their presence felt in our industry. We love spotlighting these talented stars who have quietly made a big impact by working hard and contributing to top animated shows and movies in 2022. We know we’ll continue to write about them in years to come. Our annual Education and Career Guide is also packed with useful features and information for anyone who would like to pursue animation and VFX as a career, or simply learn more about the possibilities of this booming entertainment sector.
One thing all the experts in the field seem to agree upon is that this is a phenomenal time to be studying or working in animation. From our p.o.v., we are just grateful to have so many brilliant people and projects to write stories about! We hope you enjoy reading about their wide range of artistic accomplishments as well.