There are few shows I’m anticipating more than ‘The Very Good Adventures of Yam Roll in Happy Kingdom,’ a new series due out on Canada’s CBC in 2006. This Flash animated property first aired online as part of March Entertainment’s Maple Shorts program, and sure enough – it won. Cold, Hard Flash was covering the victory back in June – hoping for a full season of episodes, and now we’re only a few months off.

Two bits of news on Jon Izen and Jono Howard’s ‘Yam Roll.’ First, the website is up (thanks Lia), and there’s a new, short animated introduction (click on ‘short’) to the world of Yam Roll, Happy Kingdom’s lovelorn cab driver. We meet a slew of new characters, all of whom you’ve met at the local sushi restaurant. You can also browse through a character gallery, and read up on the large season one ensemble.

The other news is March Entertainment, the animation production company behind the series, is looking for Flash animators. Unless you’re already there, you’ll have to relocate to Sudbury, a town in northeastern Ontario, Canada. Send resumes to resumes@marchentertainment.com or head over to the March Entertainment career page for more info.

The Canadian broadcast network CBC and March Entertainment have concluded the 2005 Maple Shorts Flash Film Festival, and, not surprisingly, ‘Yam Roll,’ took the top prize. Cold, Hard Flash covered the release of ‘Yam Roll’ back in June of the year, and now creators Jon Izen, Jono Howard, Daniel Sioui, and Daniel Hawes can celebrate. If you haven’t watched ‘Yam Roll’ yet, don’t hesitate – it’s one of the most unique and hilarious shorts I’ve seen this year.

Congratulations to all the entrants in the Maple Shorts Festival!

I’m logging this post under ‘Not Sure If It’s Flash, But Posting It Anyway.’ A few weeks back, I wrote about the Maple Shorts website, and I’m sure glad I went back again to sniff around. I just watched ‘Yam Roll,’ an amazing short created by Jon Izen and Jono Howard for March Entertainment. It’s surely produced with some sort of vector animation software, and I know Jon Izen once animated on ‘Mucha Lucha,’ so it’s a good bet that this project was animated in Flash. ‘The Very Good Adventures of Yam Roll in Happy Kingdom’ (the full title) is one of the most unique shorts I’ve seen in a while, and I’m hoping March Entertainment agrees and finances a season or two.