Cold Hard Flash: Flash Animation News, Videos and Links » Atomic Cartoons

Campaign Begins For Click & Clack

aaron — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:15:38 +0000

As we mentioned here back in May, PBS will soon be releasing a new Flash-animated series called Click & Clack’s As The Wrench Turns, which is base don the NPR radio show Car Talk. As we await the premiere on July 9th, 2008 at 8pm ET, we’re treated to a 3 minute clip from Campaign, an episode in which Click and Clack run for President.

The series is being animated by Atomic Cartoons and directed by Tom Sito.

NPR’s Car Talk Turns Into Animated Series

aaron — Wed, 28 May 2008 15:50:14 +0000

You may have already read about this over at Cartoon Brew, but PBS has announced their new Flash-animated series Click & Clack’s As The Wrench Turns. The series is based on NPR’s Car Talk, the Peabody Award-winning talk show about cars that boasts 4.3 million listeners. The series is being directed by Tom Sito, who once presided over the Local 839 animator’s union and has dozens of animated feature credits to his name, including Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Here’s a teaser for the series:

Vancouver-based Atomic Cartoons is handling the animation, and I read that Hidden Door is as well.

Atomic Cartoons Cartoon Crash

admin — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 16:43:00 +0000

Crash Bandicoot, who began life on the original Playstation back in 1996, went on to become the 14th biggest selling game franchise.

And on October 2nd, his gaming legacy continues on a multi-platform title Crash of the Titans, an adventure game built by Sierra Entertainment. The game features a 2D Flash-animated intro that was produced by Atomic Cartoons. The 1-minute shadow puppet sequence moves beautifully.

According to Jeff Agala, the director at Atomic, the entire piece was animated in Flash and then brought into After Effects to “goose the shadow effects.”

Thanks to Neil LaPointe for the story tip.

Tyler Schroeder’s Mythunderstood

aaron — Fri, 04 May 2007 15:08:00 +0000

Atomic Cartoons, the studio behind Atomic Betty and Big City Birds, has been working on a new series concept. It’s called Mythunderstood and this promo below was written and directed by Tyler Schroeder. Tyler had help from Pat Pakula, Jeff Agala, Mike Gauss, Todd Ramsay, Jhun Terrones, Jon Affolter, Augusto Kapronczai and Aaron Saunders.

You should also check out Schroeder’s festival short Fowl Play (m4v file – ipod style), which he created with Pork and Beans.

A Beak Preview of Big City Birds

aaron — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

As promised a few weeks ago, here’s Ridd Sorensen’s full 4-minute promo for Big City Birds, which was animated at Atomic Cartoons.

[MEDIA=122]

Big City Birds Takes Flight

aaron — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Two Flash-animation powerhouses, Vancouver’s Atomic Cartoons and Ireland-based Boulder Media (Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends and El Tigre), have teamed up on a new series. The Big City Birds promo will debut this week at KidScreen, the New York convention for kids entertainment creative executives, but in the meantime, we’ve been treated to an exclusive peak at the project.

Big City Birds was created by Ridd Sorensen, who works at Atomic Cartoons as a Supervising Director and runs Big City Cartoons. At the Vancouver-based studio, Sorensen has added his hand to shows like Atomic Betty and Captain Flamingo, both Flash-animated shows. Big City Birds centers on two birds and their animal buddies who live, well, in the big city. The show is targeted at the pre-school market (kids 4 to 6), and the show is aiming to hit the air in the Fall of 2008.

Besides teaming up with Boulder Media, Sorenson and Atomic joined forces with, amongst others, Jeff Agala, another director at Atomic Cartoons, and Jon Affolter, who provided Flash animation.

The series looks fantastic – gorgeous layouts, beautiful character designs and strong character animation. After KidScreen wraps, we’ll get the full promo up on CHF, but in the meantime, feast your eyes on these layouts.

2006 Leo Awards

aaron — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 15:15:00 +0000

Flash-animated projects faired well at this years’ Leo Awards, which took place in Vancouver on May 12th and 13th. The Leo Awards are “where the best and brightest film and television talent and programs in British Columbia are honoured for their work,” according to the awards website.

Best Animation Program or Series
Being Ian
Kathy Antonsen-Rocchio, Blair Peters, Chris Bartleman – Producers

Best Screenwriting in an Animation Program or Series
Colin Yardley, Larry Raskin
Pucca – A Force of Won, Cat Toy, Noodle Round the World

Best Overall Sound in an Animation Program or Series
Marcel Duperreault, Todd Araki, Jason Fredrickson, Kirk Furniss
Pucca – A Force of Won, Cat Toy, Noodle Round the World

Best Musical Score in an Animation Program or Series
Hal Foxton Beckett
Edgar and Ellen

Congrats to the winners, and all the nominees (including ‘Atomic Betty‘).

Flash News Roundup

aaron — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 17:28:00 +0000

First, ‘Captain Flamingo’ premiered on January 10th on Canada’s YTV. It’s a Flash animated series “created by Heroic Film Company and developed with YTV, Breakthrough Animation and Atomic Cartoons, this 26-episode series, commissioned by YTV, is a co-production of Breakthrough Animation (Atomic Betty), Heroic Film Company (Our Hero), Atomic Cartoons (Atomic Betty) and PASI Animation (Bob and Margaret),” according to the press release. Haven’t found any ‘Captain Flamingo’ clips on the web, but when I do….

Next, Jennifer Shiman’s The 30-Second Bunnies Theatre shorts are being used by Volkswagen to promote their Fox car. The ads are only airing in Germany, and you can watch them over at ad-rag.com if you give them a couple bucks. ****UPDATE*** – in the comments below, Jennifer just tipped us off that you can view the German-dubbed commercials FOR FREE at shortbutfun.com

According to Brandweek magazine, the ‘Happy Tree Friends’ parent company, Mondo Media, signed a deal with the Walt Disney Internet Group. According to the article, the plan is to offer “wallpaper, ringtones, episode downloads and games beginning in the second quarter of 2006.” Also mentioned was G4′s plans to begin airing a ‘Happy Tree Friends’ series in the Fall. Currently, G4 is airing shorts, but I’m guessing longer format episodes are underway. In similar news, AWN reports that the ‘Happy Tree Friends’ podcast hit number one on the download list over the holiday.

Captain Flamingo Flies Into Frame

aaron — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 15:02:00 +0000

Breakthrough Animation, one of the fine companies behind the international Flash-animation hit ‘Atomic Betty,’ is rolling out a fresh new show. ‘Captain Flamingo,’ a 30-episode co-production with Heroic Film Company, Atomic Cartoons and PASI Animation, will be rolling out on Canada’s YTV in January 2006. The show centers on Milo Powell, a little boy with a terrycloth cape who fights for justice along with his next door neighbor Lizbeth. The property bowed at NATPE 2005, and expect a worldwide rollout to commence soon.

2005-06 Flash Shows

aaron — Tue, 15 Mar 2005 19:22:00 +0000

The upcoming TV animation season is making room for more Flash-animated series, while holding spots open for returning favorites.

Here’s the latest on the Flash shows coming up in the 2005-06 season:

KIDS’ WB!
Coconut Fred’s Fruit Salad Island (NEW!)
Produced by Warner Bros. Animation, this new Flash-animated show tries it’s best to keep up with the indomitable spirit of Coconut Fred. He’s a positive force of madness who inadvertently causes mayhem on the tropical homestead known as Fruit Salad Island. Coconut Fred is due out in the Fall, and it’s also a show I happen to be producing.

CARTOON NETWORK
Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends (returning)
This is quickly becoming one of my favorite shows on the ol’ TV. I spent much of the first season watching the incredibly smooth Flash animation, trying to figure out how they do it, and now I’m simply immersed in the show. This show is animated in two locations – at the Burbank-based Cartoon Network Studios LA, and at Boulder Media in Ireland.

Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi (returning)
This show currently holds the record for Cartoon Network’s best premiere, and now it’s coming back for a second season. It’s loosely based on the bandmates from Puffy AmiYumi, the poppy, cheery j-pop group who sing the title song for ‘Teen Titans.’ It’s being produced and animated at Renegade Studios in Glendale, California.

Atomic Betty (returning)
Atomic Cartoons out of Vancouver, Canada, created, sold and now produces this show along with Breakthrough Entertainment. It’s the only Flash-animated show on Cartoon Network that you can truly call an action show. In my opinion, Flash isn’t the best option for shows like this, but you’d never know by watching ‘Atomic Betty.’

Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law (returning)
Harvey Birdman wasn’t originally animated in Flash, but they’ve made the switch. It makes perfect sense, as the animation, while funny, is the definition of ‘limited.’

DISNEY CHANNEL
The Buzz on Maggie (NEW!)
A handful of ‘Mucha Lucha’ artists and production crew headed over to ‘Maggie’ last year, which bodes well for this show. The Mucha Crew was the first to get the overseas Flash animation pipeline oiled and pumping. It also won’t hurt to have Dave Wasson, the creator of ‘Time Squad,’ on board as Executive Producer and Director. The show reportedly follows Maggie, a teenage fly with a positive attitude, who faces the diligent, routine-oriented world around her. The word on the street is that this show is built like a sitcom, but it looks great and animates extremely well. It kicks off in June on The Disney Channel in the 9:30am slot. This show is being animated at Bombay-based Future Thought Productions and at Bardell Entertainment in Vancouver.

Katbot (NEW!)
Created by Funny Garbage out of New York City, Katbot originated as a web series. It stars a good-natured robot cat from planet Katatonia. She poses as a foreign student to mask her alien background, and tries to fit in with the Earth natives. You already know Funny Garbage’s work – they help produce ‘Crank Yankers’ and designed all of the puppets and the imaginative title credits. They’re also the creative team behind the ‘Teen Titans’ opening title sequence. This show is being animated at Funny Garbage in New York City and Collideascope in Nova Scotia.

FOX SPORTS
Omega Dome (NEW! – *updated*)
Coming to Fox Sports Net this Fall, ‘Omega Dome’ is the sporting man’s delight – complete with full-contact indoor sports, as you can see from the accompanying photo. It’s coming to you from the gang that delivered ‘Venture Bros.’ to Cartoon Network – New York City’s Noodlesoup, and it centers on two sports lovers who never want to leave home. The show idea was hatched by Noodlesoup creative-guru Jeff Nodelman, and it’s being written by David I. Stern, who is also busy with the script for Sony Pictures Animation’s ‘Betting the Farm.’ Intercutting live-action sports clips with Flash animation, ‘Omega Dome’ has been described as ‘an animated show for sports fanatics; if you quote Homer Simpson and remember where you were when LT mistook Joe Theisman for a party piñata, then this is the show for you.’ If it’s even half as funny as ‘Venture Bros,’ I’ll be at the fiesta on day 1.

**update**
NICK JR.
Wubby Widget & Walden (NEW!)
I somehow forgot to include Bob Boyle’s new show, which will premiere in 2006. I’m not 100% sure this show will be produced in Flash, but I’ve heard rumblings suggesting so. The show eminated from Frederator’s book-centric property effort, that landed ‘Wubby’ a Random House book deal. Press releases have hinted about the three characters, Wubby, Widget and Walden, who each look at the world a different way, and go about problem solving accordingly. Check out Bob’s groundbreaking plog (production blog).

(A big thanks to Amid at Cartoon Brew for the support!)
(And another big thanks to botbotin and SteveLambe for fact checking!)