Workers at one of Canada's largest animation studios are looking to unionize.
Staff at WildBrain's Vancouver studio, the animation studio behind well-known animation properties such as Snoopy TV, Johnny Test and Sonic Prime, are looking to join a small but growing list of studios in the province that are part of the Canadian Animation Guild, Local 938 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE).
Hundreds of workers at WildBrain, formerly known as DHX Media Ltd., have signed union support cards, IATSE Local 938 said in a social media post.
Was Sonic Underground overhated? Think it was the only Sonic show I kinda saw as a kid and I dont remember it being worse than any other cartoon (but maybe that is bad enough by sonic standarts🤷🏿♂️)
Nope! It was very bad! Very, very bad!
I stayed away from Sonic Underground back in the day because I could not handle Jaleel White's falsetto Sonic voice for his sister, Sonia. I also hated the fact they changed Robotnik's voice.
Somewhat recently, Mike (@bunchashapes), did a series of streams called "Artist's Corner" where he showed all of Sonic Underground on Twitch for an audience. It wasn't necessarily just to make fun of it, there was genuine artistic observations made, but it ended up being sort of like watching a train wreck where you can't look away.
Along the way it was also explained the awful conditions the show was created under. DiC wanted fast cash and still had the Sonic license from the SatAM days, so they rammed the show through production as fast as humanly possible with absolutely no care or attention for quality. The few people carried over from the SatAM production team openly voiced their displeasure at this but it was obvious DiC did not care.
Like, something that I've known for a while is the entire reason the show centered around Sonic playing in a rock band was something they learned working on Alvin & the Chipmunks: by having an original song in every episode, they could double dip on the syndication licensing. They could charge licensing fees once for the show and then again, separately, for the music.
Lots of episodes are downright incoherent and the animation is dirt poor. They were cranking these out fast and sloppy, leaving no time to develop or polish anything. Like, if you haven't seen it, look at this:
Strange scenes like this with weird movements and proportion problems weren't isolated to one or two episodes. Nearly the entire series is like this. On top of having tons of totally bland sing-song-y musical numbers -- sometimes multiple songs per episode! It was just a big ol' shotgun blast of trash.
To the point where Mike said he wanted to continue the Artist's Corner streams with other shows, but it's hard to find anything that compares to the strange low budget absurdity of Sonic Underground. (I suggested the Darkstalkers cartoon)
Sonic Underground really is something special and lives up to being a total disaster... which can be entertaining in the right context.
It's also the big things, Charlie Brown. (my failed Emmys submission)
Well, Emmys season happened and, in true Charlie Brown style, I didn't win. I didn't even get nominated. But I'm posting my submission because I'm proud of these boards for "It's the Small Things, Charlie Brown." By the way, if you haven't seen this special, directed by Raymond Persi (Extinct; Zootopia, voice of Flash) check it out on AppleTV+.
This sequence, which is the emotional peak of the episode, requires Charlie Brown to chase after Sally, apologize to her, and then reveal the transformation of the baseball field—which Sally learns she herself inspired with her protection of a single dandelion.
The setting drove the staging. I was inspired by a real-life baseball field near my home. Standing on the hillside that surrounds it, I could imagine the grand reveal of the transformed baseball field with Charlie Brown having brought a dejected Sally back to the hilltop for the final scene.
Working back from that, when Charlie Brown accidentally kills the dandelion and a very hurt Sally walks away holding her dead flower, we stay with Sally as she walks down a street under a canopy of beautiful trees; however, as she walks further down, we lose the pleasing green and go darker to reflect her emotional state.
As for Charlie Brown, when he chases after Sally, I shot it so that the audience always sees the light at the end of the tunnel behind him. I wanted to show that behind him is where happiness lies. It’s as if he’s going into the darkness to rescue Sally and return her to something happy and light.
While running for Sally, his hat falls off. He doesn’t stop to grab his hat because Sally is more important to him than baseball. His priorities have shifted.
When Charlie Brown catches up to Sally, she refuses to face him. He has to apologize to her back. I deviated a little bit from classic Peanuts staging here and shot the conversation more like a drama—a two-shot where we’re looking at Charlie Brown over Sally’s shoulder as he tries to explain himself. I wanted the audience to clearly see his effort as well as her move toward understanding in this tense sibling moment.
When they return to the hill looking over the baseball field, I wanted it to feel sort of magical. The sun is setting, the field looks idyllic, and Sally’s dead dandelion opens one more time, completing its transformation and releasing its seeds, the cycle of life up close.
This called for a wide-open shot to get a sense of something larger at stake and to suggest emotional growth for brother and sister as we wrapped up our story.
If you haven’t seen it yet go check it out on AppleTVplus. It’s a beautiful special with a great musical number composed by Ben Folds. You’re gonna love it.
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It's The Small Things, Charlie Brown, Directed by Raymon Persi, Written by Josh Saltzman, Bryan Schulz, Craig Schulz, Cornelius Uliano. Produced by WildBrain.
it’s been months but i’m still unable to get over the fact that wildbrain is working on BOTH. sonic prime. AND ninjago dragons rising. like. WHO TOLD YOU GUYS THAT THIESE ARE MY TWO MAIN FANDOMS HUH?? i swear this made my entire year
Happy New Year from Yakko, Wakko and Dot from Animaniacs, Tinker Bell, Lum from Urusei Yatsura, Rayman, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Hello Kitty and Starfire from Teen Titans!!!
Something I absolutely adore of the Spanish version of the Wildbrain Era of Ninjago is that they don't call them "Elemental Masters" but refer to them as if they were the elements themselves.
I know this is due to it being a longer word in Spanish and dub is hard, but it always scratches an inch when I am watching Master of the Mountain and they say "Cole the element of Earth"