Animation

Homer Simpson appears live tonight on The Simpsons

According to longtime Simpsons executive producer Al Jean, we almost saw a live appearance by Homer Simpson way back in 2007, as a promotion for The Simpsons Movie. But, “what we saw the time didn’t seem to have a smooth enough animation so we didn’t use it,” Jean told reporters on a conference call last week. “Now, it’s advanced to the point where we think we can do three minutes of the show.” Jean is referring to tonight’s episode of The Simpsons, called “Simprovised,” which will indeed have three minutes of live Homer antics. It’s the latest achievement for a series that still manages to […]

Animation

Interview: Seth Green on the making of “Camp WWE”

Right from the TV-MA disclaimer, it’s apparent Camp WWE is unlike anything the sports entertainment juggernaut has ever broadcast. That’s exactly what Seth Green and the rest of the team of Stoopid Buddy Stoodios were going for when they initially pitched the project. Now Camp WWE will be available exclusively on WWE Network video-on-demand, right after the Payback live event on Sunday, May 1. “I think the idea for this was giving them an opportunity to do something they can’t typically do with the brand, especially in any of the live-action programming,” Green says. “So they wanted something that was going to be a […]

Animation

“LEGO Star Wars: The Resistance Rises” animated shorts begin on Disney XD

On Monday, Feb. 15, at 8pm ET/PT, Disney XD premieres an all-new series of animated shorts called LEGO Star Wars: The Resistance Rises, which includes characters from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The first episode, “Poe to the Rescue,” takes place before the First Order’s attack on Jakku and includes more stories involving Kylo Ren, Han Solo, Finn, Rey, BB-8, Maz Kanata and more. In “Poe to the Rescue,” Resistance pilot Poe Dameron attempts to rescue Admiral Ackbar, who is being held captive by Captain Phasma. Kylo Ren, C-3PO and BB-8 also appear. Preview: Disney XD will also premiere new animated series LEGO Star […]

Greatest Party Story Ever
Animation

What’s your Greatest Party Story Ever? MTV wants it.

We all have one crazy, perhaps embarrassing, totally unbelievable story that’s happened in our lifetime. MTV is compiling these stories into a fun semi-animated series with one of the longest show titles ever— Greatest Party Story Ever … And Other Epic Tales beginning Thursday, Jan. 14 at 10:30pm ET/PT. MTV is so jazzed about the new series they’ve already committed to a second season. MTV execs introduced the series at the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour by describing these stories as maybe a ”mortifying romance, unfortunate arrests, naked debauchery, car chases, James Franco, angry bears this show has something […]

Animation

ABC special celebrates Toy Story 20th anniversary

It was probably obvious to most who sat and watched, with jaws dropped, that they were witnessing a game-changer when Pixar’s original Toy Story first hit theaters 20 years ago during the holiday season of 1995. Pixar had, of course, done amazing short films made with computer-generated animation for years prior to that, but Toy Story represented the painstaking effort of making the very first feature-length computer-animated film. And it succeeded brilliantly — with the expert animation and engaging voice cast, including Tom Hanks and Tim Allen — in actually drawing in audiences and getting them to emotionally invest in […]

Animation

When is Rudolph on TV 2015?

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer — Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015 at 8pm ET/PT on CBS. In 2015, the classic 1964 Rankin-Bass stop-motion animation special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer airs on Tuesday, Dec. 1, at 8pm ET/PT on CBS. RELATED: CHANNEL GUIDE’S HOLIDAY PROGRAMMING GUIDE (Description below from CBS) The special, narrated by Burl Ives, who is also heard as the voice of Sam the Snowman, is a musical story based on the popular song of the same title by Johnny Marks. It recounts the tale of a shy reindeer whose Christmas spirit is dampened because his shiny nose has made him […]

It's Your 50th Christmas, Charlie Brown
Animation

It’s Your 50th Christmas, Charlie Brown

For its golden anniversary, Charles Schulz’ seminal holiday classic, A Charlie Brown Christmas, is getting a bash so big that even persnickety Peppermint Patty would approve. In celebration of the 50th anniversary, Kristen Bell will host the jubilee, It’s Your 50th Christmas, Charlie Brown, on ABC Nov. 30. Since the original Peanuts Christmas special premiered in 1965 — where a beleaguered Charlie Brown lamented the commercialization of Christmas, was persuaded to direct the annual holiday pageant, and then helped a scraggly tree find a little love — A Charlie Brown Christmas has become a yuletide tradition watched by families year […]

Nature Cat
Animation

Tally ho! Imagination runs wild with “Nature Cat” on PBS Kids

Brothers David and Adam Rudman have long worked on Sesame Street (David is Cookie Monster’s puppeteer and Adam is a writer), and they’ve created Nature Cat, an animated kids series for PBS inspired by their own adventures playing outside as kids. “We wanted to do Looney Tunes with a nature curriculum,” David says. “And we felt like that’s a great way to get kids interested in going outside and inspired to go out in nature.” Nature Cat (premiering Nov. 25 on PBS; check local listings) is about an exuberant housecat who goes outside with his animal pals to explore the outdoors […]