SMF NEWSBREAK 4/16/16

ITEM! FILMATION'S TARZAN, LORD OF THE JUNGLE COMING TO DVD

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has announced that Filmation's Tarzan series will be coming to DVD for the first time with the complete first season. The set will be released on June 14th, 2016. No word yet on further seasons.

ITEM! UPDATE ON DC COMICS' HANNA-BARBERA LINE

Comics Beat has posted some further information on DC Comics' upcoming line of Hanna-Barbera properties reimagined for a new generation. Amongst the featured properties are The Flintstones, Jonny Quest, Space Ghost, Scooby-Doo and more.

ITEM! ANIMANIACS TO REUNITE ON TOUR

The stars of Animaniacs plan to reunite for a concert tour to perform many of the show's memorable songs backed by a full orchestra. A new focus has been placed on the show since it came to Netflix on April 1st.

ITEM! FRANK WELKER TO RECEIVE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

If you've ever watched a cartoon or movie in your life, chances are you've probably heard the voice or vocal effects of Frank Welker. The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences has announced that Welker will be receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award during the 43rd Annual Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Awards.

SMF NEWSBREAK

ITEM! ADDITIONAL FOOTAGE RELEASED FOR JEM

Comic Book Resources posted four new clips from the upcoming Jem movie by the film's director Jon M. Chu. You can check them out here.

ITEM! JEM COOKIE-CUTTERS

Also on the Jem front, Sweet Prints Inc.com has just released a set of five cookie-cutters featuring the cartoon faces of the Holograms. They're available individually or as a set.

ITEM! DINO-RIDERS MOVIE ANNOUNCED

Bleeding Cool reported that Mattel had teamed-up with Solipsist Films to bring the late 80s toy line to the big screens. Dino-Riders was originally produced by Tyco Toys and received its own animated series by Marvel Productions.

SMF NEWSBREAK

ITEM! X-MEN '92 BECOMES AN ONGOING SERIES

According to Newsarama, Marvel Comics has announced that the mini-series X-Men '92, which was supposed to be based on X-Men: The Animated Series, has been upgraded to an ongoing series set to begin in 2016.

SMF NEWSBREAK

ITEM! USA TODAY PREVIEWS THIRD EUQESTRIA GIRLS TRAILER

USA Today released the trailer for the third My Little Pony: Equestria Girls movie entitled "Friendship Games." Equestria Girls takes place in an alternate universe where the ponies are actual people, based on the doll line of the same name. The third installment will be the first time Twilight Sparkle's human counterpart will be seen. It airs on Discovery Family Saturday, September 26th. Check your local listings.

SMF NEWSBREAK

ITEM! NEW ELECTRA WOMAN AND DYNA GIRL COSTUMES REVEAELED

The original '70s pair (above) and their reboot counterparts.

Sound on Sight has released the first image of YouTube celebrities Grace Helbig and Hannah Hart in costume for the upcoming revival of the 1970s series that aired as part of The Kroft Supershow. You can follow the development on the series on its official Twitter.

ITEM! DETAILS ABOUT THE REBOOT REBOOT

 

ReBoot, the seminal computer animated favorite from the '90s, has been announced as being a live-action hybrid series. You can read the full story on The Verge.

SMF NEWSBREAK

ITEM! JEM AND THE HOLOGRAMS IMAGES AND TRAILER

The Mary Sue has posted an article with several stills from the upcoming movie.  The following day, the first official trailer was released. Opening October 23rd, Jem and the Holograms is the live-action adaptation of the Hasbro toy line and animated series from the 1980s. 

ITEM! JEM CAMEOS

In case you missed it, the voices of Jem from the animated series will appear in as yet unspecified roles in the new movie. Samantha Newark provided the speaking voice for Jem/Jerrica while Britta Phillips provided the singing voice.

SMF NEWSBREAK

ITEM! JEM AND THE HOLOGRAM CREDIT CARDS

As part of the 30th anniversary of Jem and the Holograms, and to commemorate the upcoming movie, MasterCard is offering special Jem designs on their credit cards. You can apply for yours here.

ITEM! THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS RETURNS TO COMICS

While IDW may have ended their acclaimed Ghostbusters comic, they still have some more projects in the works. This June, just in time for the anniversaries of both movies, IDW will be releasing Ghostbusters Get Real which will team up IDW's version with The Real Ghostbusters. You can read the full story here.

SMF NEWSBREAK

ITEM! MY LITTLE PONY RETURNS APRIL 4TH

The 5th season of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is set to premiere April 4th on Discovery Family.  A preview trailer for the season has been released, and you can check it out here.

SMF NEWSBREAK

ITEM! DUCKTALES SCHEDULED TO RETURN IN 2017

Mark Buhaj, head of programming and general manager of Disney XD, announced that the channel will be creating a new animated series based on the 1987-90 series DuckTales. You can read the full story here.

DuckTales followed the adventures of uber-wealthy Scrooge McDuck, his nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie, and crackpot pilot Launchpad McQuack as they went around the world looking for rare treasures and battled criminal forces looking to steal Scrooge's.

ITEM! FIRST JEM MOVIE STILL RELEASED

While not much is given, a still of Jem and the Holograms rocking on stage has been released from the upcoming movie. You can see the full story here.

Jem is scheduled for release in October and is based on the Hasbro toy line and animated series of the same name. The series will be covered in full right here on SMF this September as part of Toy Toons Month.

ITEM! NETFLIX REVIVING INSPECTOR GADGET AND DANGER MOUSE

Netflix will begin a journey into animated programming with several titles slated to released on the streaming service over the next two years. Of note is a new CGI revival of Inspector Gadget in March, and Danger Mouse due out sometime in 2016. You can read the full story here.

Inspector Gadget followed a bumbling cyborg secret agent as he fought against the forces of MAD and, by sheer luck and the help of his niece and her dog, stopped them at every turn. Inspector Gadget will be featured on SMF in August as part of Law & Disorder Month.

Danger Mouse was an anthropomorphic mouse super spy in a parody of the spy genre.

ITEM! NEW DRAGON BALL Z FAN-FILM IN THE WORKS

Non-profit group Robot Underdog released their first trailer for their Indigogo-funded production of Dragon Ball Z: Light of Hope. You can read the full story here or check out and make a donation to the production here.

Dragon Ball Z is a sequel anime series adapted from a 519-chapter manga depicting warriors who defend the Earth from a variety of threats, both from the planet and from beyond.

ITEM! WHY DOES SMF SEEM TO BE COMING UP IN THE AFTERNOONS?

To my loyal readers and friends out there, your blogmaster would like to clear up that you aren't going insane, and entries have been going up late for a while. That's due to a number of circumstances beyond my control that prevent me from finishing them in a timely fashion. I'm hoping to catch up and get ahead of myself soon to get us back on a regular posting schedule. But, fret not! While they may be late, updates will still arrive as planned. Stay tuned!

SMF NEWSBREAK

ITEM! BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES RETURNS IN 3-D

DC Entertainment has partnered with OTOY Inc. to bring the world of Batman: TAS to life at Standford University's Workshop on Field Light Imaging. Fans will be able to walk through a virtual reality simulation of the world of the series, which has participation by both original series writer Paul Dini and Batman himself Kevin Conroy. You can read more about it here.

SMF NEWSBREAK

ITEM! KIDS' WB RETURNS TO TELEVISION!

Brace yourselves, Australian Saturday morning fans. Australian channel 9Jumpin' is bringing Kids' WB back to their Saturday morning line-up on Valentine's Day. They'll feature reruns of Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, The Looney Tunes Show and Young Justice.

SMF NEWSBREAK

ITEM! NEW POWER RANGERS TO BEGIN ON NICK

Today begins Nickelodeon and Saban's next Power Rangers incarnation, Power Rangers: Dino Charge. Once again, the Rangers harness their powers from dinosaurs as they try to protect the world from evil forces determined to conquer it. Check your local listings for times.

ITEM! SAVED BY THE BELL CAST REUNITES ON THE TONIGHT SHOW

On February 4th, Jimmy Fallon finally achieved his dream of a Bell reunion by featuring a skit with almost the entire original cast. You can watch the skit here.  Members Dustin Diamond and Lark Voorhies were unavailable due to pending assault charges and a busy schedule, respectively.

SATURDAY MORNING NEWSBREAK

ITEM! JEM COMIC BOOK DESIGNS REVEALED

IO9.com has released a first look at the cover to the upcoming IDW comic series Jem and the Holograms, adapted from the Hasbro toy line and animated series of the same name.  Jem is the story of music producer Jerrica Benton who uses a holographic machine named Sinergy to transformer herself into Jem and perform with her sister and friends as The Holograms. Jem is in a constant struggle against Eric Raymond and his band, The Misfits.

ITEM! "REBOOT" REBOOT IN PRODUCTION

The long-awaited return of ReBoot is in the works at Rainmaker Entertainment. The show, called ReBoot: The Guardian Code will attempt to answer the cliffhanger left by the previous show, as well as feature new characters amongst many of the original ones and will be accessible both to kids and adult fans of the earlier show. ReBoot  was the first completely computer animated cartoon that took place inside a computer world from. Guardian Bob had to defend his home, Mainframe, against invasions from malicious viruses as well as helping the citizenry win inside the game cubes the mysterious and unseen "user" would randomly deploy upon them. Rainmaker has also opened a ReBoot store where fans can purchase various merchandise based on the show.

SATURDAY MORNING NEWSBREAK

ITEM! JEM AND THE HOLOGRAM COMICS FROM IDW

IDW has announced that Jem will be joining their line of licensed comics beginning in April of 2015. You can read the release here. Jem was a cartoon series that ran from 1985-88 as a promotion for Hasbro's line of dolls designed to combat Mattel's Barbie. 

The series, helmed by writer Christy Marx, showed Jerrica Benton inheriting her father's music label, Starlight Music, which had been gutted by crooked executive Eric Raymond. Discovering a holographic supercomputer named Synergy, Jerrica was able to use projector earrings to become Jem and save Starlight Music with her friends.

IDW has a line extensively made-up of licensed properties, particularly from the 80s. Amongst them are the ongoing various G.I. Joe and Transformers series, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles both as original works and based on the Nickelodeon cartoon, and the recently-ended Ghostbusters. IDW's other Hasbro properties include two series based on My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and Littlest Pet Shop.

ITEM! MY LITTLE PONY MOVIE IN 2017

Variety reports that Hasbro has announced that their flagship franchise, My Little Pony, will be coming to the big screen in 2017. The film will be the first to be produced through Hasbro's Allspark Pictures where the company will either self or co-finance movie projects.

My Little Pony first hit the market in 1983 and made the jump to Saturday morning programming. After several years in a direct-to-video film market, Pony made a huge comeback with the 2010 debut of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. The series has also spawned two limited-release movies called Equestria Girls, which portrays the familiar characters as humans. The fifth season is set to begin in early 2015.

ITEM! DARKWING DUCK RETURNS TO COMICS

Comic Book Resources reports that Darkwing Duck will be returning to comics in 2015 published by Toronto-based Joe Books after the release of an omnibus containing the previous series published by BOOM! Studios. Darkwing Duck: the Definitely Dangerous Edition will be released in January and will feature some revised content, including continuity tweaks to tie it into the animated series better and some new artwork by series artist James Silvan. The comics take place one year after the series finale.

Darkwing Duck was Disney's parody of the superhero genre spinning out of DuckTales that aired both on Saturday mornings and as part of the popular Disney Afternoon weekday syndicated block of programs. After Disney's acquisition of Marvel Comics in 2009, all outsourced Disney licenses were gradually ended and placed in limbo. Until now, only Disney's Toy Story franchise made the jump into a Marvel publication after a run at BOOM!.

SATURDAY MORNING NEWSBREAK

ITEM! HUB NETWORK TO BECOME DISCOVERY FAMILY OCTOBER 13TH

For the full story, click here.

It was announced in September that Hasbro would be pulling back in its partnership with Discovery Communications in regards to the Hub Network.

The Hub Network began as Discovery Kids in 1996 with a variety of educational programming. In 2009, Hasbro entered into the partnership with Discovery to showcase its acquired and original programming. Becoming The Hub in 2010, the network had launched such programs as My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Littlest Pet Shop, Pound Puppies and Transformers: Rescue Bots. Viewership for the network had grown from 56 million to 70 million households under the leadership of Margaret Loesch, who was responsible for Marvel Productions in the 80s and Fox Kids in the 90s.

Loesch announced her departure in 2014 when her contract expired, prompting Discovery to purchase 10% of Hasbro's stake in The Hub Network, as it was rebranded in 2013, in order to give it controlling interest and cater to the growing family audience in the primetime hours. Discovery will rename the channel Discovery Family on October 13th an, while continuing to show Hasbro programming in the morning hours, it will load up the later hours with programs from its own library.

SATURDAY MORNING NEWSBREAK

ITEM! THE END OF NETWORK SATURDAY MORNING TV

For the full story, click here.

The CW has announced the end of their Saturday morning Vortexx block of programs in favor of a block called One Magnificent Morning: a five-hour run of educational programs aimed towards teens and parents. The new block is programmed by Litton Entertainment, who also programmed replacements for CBS and ABC's morning line-ups with CBS Dream Team and ABC Kids.

Saturday morning TV rose to prominence during the 1960s and maintained a strong run through the early 90s. FCC standards demanding higher educational content began to drive production companies into the syndicated market. As cable TV began to rise, channels dedicated solely to cartoons emerged, replacing their scarcity on network TV and rendering Saturday morning programming superfluous within a decade. Steadily, the networks eliminated their Saturday morning line-ups in favor of infomercials, news programs or educational programs.

ITEM! YOUR WEBMASTER ON THE RADIO

On Sunday, 9/28, your Saturday Mornings Forever webmaster was featured on the It Came From The Radio show on Long Island's WGBB 1240AM in regards to my comics work. You can hear the interview here. It Came From The Radio airs every Sunday from 4-5PM Eastern. You can stream it live from the WGBB website.

ITEM! NEW YORK COMIC CON

I'll be with my organization, the Comicbook Artists Guild, at New York Comic Con at table 1255. I'll be at the table on Thursday, Friday and Sunday and around the show the rest of the time from show open to close. Come on by and check us out. I'll also be promoting this site with some new promotional cards.