Todd Kauffman and Mark Thornton (Neptoon Studios) are on a roll. The series they’re directing, Total Drama Island, has been kicking ratings butt, and they recently got the greenlight on their series Sidekick. Their latest move is a test animation for their project MonstroCity High. If you’ve followed the Neptoon Studios blog, you may have spotted the toy they created for the project, which you can buy on their site. Also check out this interview on YouTube where they discuss their plans for MonstroCity High.

Maybe if we beg, they’ll let us see what’s inside this private blog – monstrocityhigh.blogspot.com/

Now for a short note on persistence. Of the 60+ interviews I’ve posted here at ColdHardFlash, my discussion with Joey So and Todd Kauffman was number two. This was back in 2005, and the twosome were invited by the Canadian network Teletoon to produce Sidekick, a short series for their Funpak block. In Flash, they created 5 shorts, a process well detailed in the 2-part interview.

Now, 4 years on, Sidekick has been picked up by Cartoon Network. Persistence has paid off. Congrats guys! Here’s a trailer they cut for MIP:

Total Drama Island, a new Flash-animated series created by Tom McGillis and Jennifer Pertsch, begins airing on Sunday July 8th on Canada’s Teletoon network. This reality show spoof series comes from Fresh Animation and is being animated by Elliott Animation with big help from CHF regulars Todd Kauffman and Mark Thornton, otherwise known as Neptoon Studios.

You can watch this same trailer on the Total Drama Island website where users can create customized avatars, play 26 unique games, and read a weekly email tabloid magazine tailored to each player.

And now here’s a :30 second promo that’s been airing on Teletoon.

For even more on TDI, head over to the blog.

‘Yin Yang Yo!,’ a new Flash-animated comedy created by Bob Boyle, the Producer of ‘The Fairly OddParents,’ has launched their first episode on the web. A full, 11-minute episode titled ‘Dojo Oh No,’ can now be seen over at the Jetix website, streamed as a Flash video.

As reported here at CHF back in June, the show was animated at Elliott Animation in Toronto. Elliott was also home to the Flash-animated pilot for ‘Total Drama Island.’ Joining Bob on the Executive Producer front was Steve Marmel. Evan Steacy acted as Animation Director, Todd Kauffman as Assistant Director and Mark Thornton as Character Design Supervisor. Lead Animators Christos Katopodis, Keith Oliver and Jeff Size all should be proud of the final product – the show looks and moves wonderfully.

Bob Boyle will be in San Diego next weekend screening ‘Yin Yang Yo!’ for the Comic-con audience. If you’re in the neighborhood, stop by Room 2 at 1:30 on Saturday July 22nd, where he’ll be joined by Steve Marmel and show director John Fountain.

Remember ‘Habbosodes?’ These 3-minute linear animated shorts were discussed here in April and July of last year. Assembled by some of the best animation studios in the world, these shorts were commissioned by Habbo Hotel, a massive online community created by Sulake Labs.

Neptoon Studios, fronted by Todd Kauffman and Mark Thornton, have released a sneak preview of their Flash-animated short. Great stuff, guys! Discuss in the message boards.

If this is all sounding a bit confusing, watch this short clip below of a Habbo community in action.