On the last day of New York Comic Con 2012, Disney ran a special screening of two animated premieres: the Halloween episode of Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja and the first episode of the two-part season premiere of Slugterra, which airs today, October 15, 2012, at 3:30 PM (ET/PT). There was also a brief Q&A […]
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Choose your ammo…Slug it out! SLUGTERRA: RETURN OF THE SHANE GANG The First DVD Collection from the Slugterra Animated Series Available in Stores February 12, 2013 from Shout! Factory Kids On February 12, 2013, Shout! Factory Kids, in collaboration with Nerd Corps Entertainment, will release SLUGTERRA: RETURN OF THE SHANE GANG, the first DVD collection […]
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In conjunction with the upcoming release of Slugterra: Return of the Shane Gang on DVD on February 12, 2013, Shout! Factory has made the following video clips available, including an exclusive clip to Toonzone: DIABLO NACHO SLUGTERRA OPENING DR. BLAKK VS. ELI SHANE
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The Toy Industry Association’s Toy Fair descended onto the Jacob K. Javits convention center from February 10-13, 2013, and Toonzone was there to get a look at new and upcoming toys licensed from your favorite animation properties (and a bunch of other cool, shiny stuff that just attracted my attention). Thanks to all the PR […]
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I can enjoy the latest incarnations of DC or Marvel superheroes or revivals like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or G.I. Joe, but shows that strike out in new directions and create new properties are going to get a bit more critical slack just because they are creating something new. Disney TV animation has been […]
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As I’m sure I’ve written before, I’d be shocked and dismayed at the way Transformers: Rescue Bots smashes little boy hot buttons by centering on rescue vehicles that turn into giant robots, except that it’s actually a really good show. The show’s second DVD, Transformers Rescue Bots: Energize, has just been released, and my only […]
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I’ll admit that the Smurfs aren’t my favorite characters in the world, either in their original comic book or later animated forms. I like them fine, for the most part, and while I may like things like “The Purple Smurfs” or one of their holiday specials, I think I still tend to approach all things […]
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Shout! Factory has released several new video clips from Slugterra: Slug Power!, the next DVD collecting Disney XD/Nerd Corps’ Slugterra. Slugterra: Slug Power! is available now. For more details, check out Toonzone’s review of the DVD.
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The Wall Street Journal‘s China weblog has noted recent efforts to promote Vancouver-based animation studios for content partnerships with Chinese companies, with Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson touring the country last week with digital animation executives in tow touting lower production costs and tax incentives vs. Hollywood animation studios. Hollywood has spent significant money and resources […]
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After a disappointing installment in Slug Power, Slugterra returns to form with its newest DVD from Shout! Factory, Slugterra: Heroes of the Underground. By now, I suppose it’s pointless to complain that Slugterra is a show that would be much better served by season sets, or at least a few more episodes per disc than the 5 we get here, but it seems that ship sailed a long time ago. By this point in the show, this disc (and this review) assume you already know the basics of Slugterra, so it makes a very bad introduction to the show despite its quality.
Heroes of the Underground opens with “Snowdance,” which is not only the weakest episode of the five, but one of the weakest episodes the show has produced to date. It features a wafer-thin plot that feels unduly padded, only managing to fill out its running time by requiring everyone in the episode to act like a complete idiot. How else to explain setting up a Slugterran movie theater in a cavern inhabited by hibernating Ice Trolls, and then having characters get involved in a massive slug-slinging fight? The episode antagonists are the Hooligang, last seen way back on disc 1, and even though the gang’s leader is a dim bulb by design, his actions require his idiocy to overwhelm even the slightest sense of self-preservation and ample, demonstrable evidence right before his eyes. Considering the lukewarm reception I gave the last disc, getting this episode first was definitely not a confidence booster.
Fortunately, this sub-standard episode is followed by two of the best episodes that Slugterra has done yet. “Inheritance” starts with a suspenseful break-in to the Shane Gang’s headquarters, with the intruder soon revealed as Dana Por, a young woman with a past linked to Eli’s father Will. A number of running plot threads get developed further in this episode, focusing on Eli’s father’s past and his connection to the Shadow Clan, the most mysterious and lethal inhabitants of Slugterra. While it ends up raising more questions than it answers, the execution is taut throughout and makes for extremely exciting viewing, as well as some incredibly well-rendered new settings. Black Lagoon‘s Maryke Hendrikse also turns in an excellent performance as Dana Por, with her natural rasp lending Dana a sense of being worn and experienced even though she’s roughly the same age as Eli.
Next in “A Distant Shore,” the mad adventurer Gar Revelle raving about his next expedition to find “The Burning World,” which Eli (and we) easily recognize as the surface. This is the first episode of the show since the season 1 premiere that addresses the enforced divide between the surface and Slugterra, and also reveals a bit more knowledge about the Shane family past. There’s also a genuinely surprising ending, as Eli comes up with a direct but unexpected solution to the episode’s central problem. The episode is also remarkably efficient at setting up a plausible conflict between Eli and the rest of the Shane Gang, which makes the episode’s coda that much more satisfying. While “Inheritance” is probably a better episode overall, “A Distant Shore” ends up being more emotionally satisfying. On a technical note, I’m impressed at how busy this episode can be. The posse organized by Revelle is sizable, and a barroom brawl in the center of the episode is enjoyably tempestuous and involves a much larger crowd than most CGI animated shows can manage well.
“The Journey Home” further addresses questions I’ve had about the mechanics of slug dueling and how the slugs manage to find their way home to their dueler. This fact was revealed in an earlier “Slugisode,” but never really addressed in the show until now. The episode ends up split between Eli’s misadventure in a duel with almost no slugs in his bandolier, while his go-to slugs (including his top slug Burpy) must navigate a surprising number of dangers trying to get home or back to Eli. It’s a fine episode, though the split story makes it feel a bit too unfocused in the end. Finally, “Roboslugs” introduces the mad scientist Quentin, who has developed a robotic version of slugs and goes on a miniature rampage against those who he feels have wronged him. The episode is an interesting game of one-upmanship, as Quentin and the Shane Gang face off three separate times and each has to deal with multiple reversals of fortune. It’s fun to see Shane and Quentin coming up with updated plans to counter the other in what boils down to a tribute to the power of creative thinking.
As a home video release, Slugterra: Heroes of the Underground is the same as the other Slugterra DVDs: anamorphic widescreen presentation and a 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack. Bonus features include a “Creating Your Own Slugs” featurette, where series art director Andy Poon runs viewers through drawing a slug, and 2 more “Slugisodes” that reveal mechanics of the world.
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Join the Shane Gang in Slugterra: Ghoul from Beyond, the first feature-length Slugterra adventure! Based on the hit animated television series, Slugterra: Ghoul from Beyond continues the epic sci-fi comedy adventures set deep underground, where the ammo’s alive and only the quick survive! In this luminous, high-tech, underground world, every cavern holds a new adventure, a new battle and weird little slugs to be discovered. Available on DVD June 10th, 2014 from Shout! Factory in collaboration with Nerd Corps Entertainment, this exciting animated movie also includes a bonus ‘slugisode’ and has a suggested retail price of $14.97.
Just when the evil Dr. Blakk has been defeated and it seems like Eli Shane’s duties as protector of Slugterra are getting easier, a new danger emerges from beyond the 99 caverns. Eli and the Shane Gang rush to the rescue, but nothing can prepare them for what they encounter: a slug that can do something no one in Slugterra has ever seen — or heard — a slug do before! Traditional slugslinging no longer applies. Eli will have to engage in a very different kind of duel to save Slugterra…and himself!
About Nerd Corps Entertainment Inc.
Nerd Corps Entertainment is a privately held IP creation, development, production, and distribution company based in Vancouver, Canada, with offices in Toronto, Canada. The company’s mandate is to produce stylistically innovative animated projects for television, online, and mobile based on a solid foundation of creative and exceptional storytelling. Working in a state-of-the-art studio with highly skilled artists and production staff, Nerd Corps’ expertise in creative development and execution covers all aspects of property generation and management, from development and production to distribution, marketing, interactive and licensing. The studio’s award-winning stable of productions includes original series Kate and Mim-Mim, Endangered Species, Slugterra, Storm Hawks, League of Super Evil and Rated A for Awesome, as well as Dragon Booster for Alliance Atlantis and Hot Wheels: Battle Force 5, Max Steel and Monster High for Mattel, Inc. Visit www.nerdcorps.com.
About Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory, LLC is a diversified multi-platform media company devoted to producing, uncovering, preserving and revitalizing the very best of pop culture. Founders Richard Foos, Bob Emmer and Garson Foos have spent their entire careers sharing their music, television and film favorites with discerning consumers the world over. Shout! Factory’s DVD and Blu-Ray™ offerings serve up feature films, classic and contemporary TV series, animation, live music and comedy specials in lavish packages crammed with extras. Shout’s audio division boasts GRAMMY®-nominated box sets, Broadway cast albums, new releases from storied artists, lovingly assembled album reissues and indispensable “best of” compilations. In addition, Shout! Factory maintains a vast digital distribution network which delivers video and audio content to all the leading digital service providers in North America. Shout! Factory also owns and operates Timeless Media Group, Biograph Records, Majordomo Records, HighTone Records and Video Time Machine. These riches are the result of a creative acquisition mandate that has established the company as a hotbed of cultural preservation and commercial reinvention. Shout! Factory is based in Santa Monica, California. For more on Shout! Factory, visit shoutfactory.com
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Shout! Factory has provided Toonzone with an exclusive video clip from Slugterra: Ghoul from Beyond, the first feature-length Slugterra movie coming to DVD on June 10, 2014. For more details about the release, check out Toonzone’s earlier coverage here.
The trailer for the movie is also embedded below:
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Slugterra: Ghoul from Beyond is a mildly disappointing effort in the Slugterra franchise for a few different reasons. Despite its billing as “the first Slugterra movie,” a short running time and average production values makes it look like just a two-part episode of the TV show. It’s also saddled with a drawn out and padded storyline, some really questionable characterization choices, and a lack of closure that really feels like an excuse to lengthen the lifetime of the franchise.
Slugterra: Ghoul from Beyond opens after the defeat of Dr. Blakk at the end of the Slugterra TV series, and one of the movie’s better achievements is the way it manages to communicate that event in broad strokes without really giving too much away for newcomers to Slugterra or those of us who are behind on the main series episodes. For the newcomers to the world, the world of Slugterra lies thousands of miles below the Earth’s surface and is populated by humans mixed with a strange array of alien creatures and tiny, powerful slugs that are used as living ammunition in Slugterran weapons. Law and order is kept by young Eli Shane, a teenager from the surface and son of Slugterra’s last sheriff, and three friends: the sharp-tongued videographer Trixie, the hulking rock troll Kord, and the diminutive comic relief character Pronto. The series centered on the Shane Gang’s conflict with the evil Dr. Blakk, who tried seizing control of Slugterra through “ghouled” slugs, which turned them much more powerful and savage.
However, despite Dr. Blakk’s seemingly final defeat at the end of the series, there are still a surprising number of ghouled slugs flying around, raising the suspicions of Eli and his gang of slug slingers. Pursuit of a trouble-making gang with ghouled slugs brings the Shane Gang to the furthest edge of the 99 caverns of Slugterra — literally the end of the world in Eli’s strange subterranean home. The gang soon confronts an even bigger threat than Dr. Blakk: a mysterious slug slinger from beyond the 99 caverns, who resembles a ghouled version of Eli and can ghoul slugs without using Dr. Blakk’s Dark Water methods. Soon, the Shane Gang is in the fight of their young lives, trying to end the other-worldly invasion of Slugterra before it starts.
The best thing about Slugterra: Ghoul from Beyond is probably the twist that drives the plot of the movie (which is not revealed in the plot synopsis above). Without giving it away, I’ll say that it’s a creative change-up from everything we’ve seen before, and the fact that the threat is coming from beyond Slugterra itself makes it plausible (or at least as plausible as anything can be in a world where people shoot sentient slugs out of handguns). Unfortunately, there is not much positive to say about the film after that. Once the twist is revealed about a third of the way through the movie, the entire middle portion is devoted to an extended, over-drawn duel where the ebb and flow of the Shane Gang’s fortunes seem like padding to extend the running time. As a character, Pronto has been hit or miss for me, but he’s positively insufferable for most of this movie. His inflated self-image has always been a fundamental character trait, but it’s inflated in this movie to levels that make him completely insufferable. It does set up a pretty cool moment at the end of the movie, but I’m not sure the payoff was worth the cost. Finally, the resolution of the fight is a very deliberate non-resolution, which makes the entire movie feel a little wasted. The only purpose served in the end is to leave plenty of room for a sequel. I don’t begrudge Slugterra the need to propagate itself, but I wish they had found a less obvious way to do it.
Since Nerd Corps went to a lot of trouble to bill this as the first Slugterra movie, it is a bit disappointing that the production values for Slugterra: Ghoul from Beyond seem identical to those of the TV show, down to the same opening credits sequence. It’s not that the animation is bad here, but I think the marketing led to somewhat inflated expectations. At around 40 minutes, Slugterra: Ghoul from Beyond is just a two-part episode; another contributing factor to my disappointment in this latest Slugterra saga. Finally, my familiar refrain that the Slugterra DVDs are too short is clearly not having much impact, since this latest disc is less than half of the 5-episode DVDs we’ve gotten in the past with only a brief short film as a bonus. I’m also hoping the quick release of the movie doesn’t mean we won’t see the rest of the Slugterra series on DVD.
Slugterra: Ghoul from Beyond is just another episode of the TV show, and not even a terribly good one at that. It may not be as bad as an episode like “Snowdance,” but it’s nowhere near as good as the best episodes on the latest DVD. Even so, I admit I’m curious about where the show will take its newest antagonist, and even what will come with the seeming late addition of a new cast member. It just seems like the movie that introduces both should have been better than it is.
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June 30, 2014 (Los Angeles, New York and Vancouver) – Shout! Factory, Screenvision and Nerd Corps Entertainment have teamed up to bring a new feature-length original movie Slugterra: Return of the Elementals to cinemas across the U.S beginning August 2, 2014. Information on listings and links to book tickets can be found at SlugterraOnScreen.com.
“We’re very excited that fans of this action-packed series will have a chance to see their favorite characters on the big screen. This theatrical opportunity underscores our long-term commitment to the Slugterra brand. We’re pleased to work closely with Nerd Corps and partner with Screenvision once again to bring this fun family movie to theatre audiences,” said Melissa Boag, Vice President of Kids & Family Entertainment, Shout! Factory.
“By partnering with Shout! Factory and Nerd Corps, we are pleased to expand our children’s programming offerings to our exhibitor partners, and bring the exciting world of Slugterra to the big screen,” said Darryl Schaffer, Executive Vice President, Operations and Exhibitor Relations for Screenvision.
“We’re very excited to be slugslinging on the big screen!” said Asaph Fipke, CEO of Nerd Corps and creator of the property. “The movie features new slugs, new characters, and some cool twists. It will be a great experience for fans and for anyone who’s new to Slugterra as well.”
Film Synopsis:
In Slugterra: Return of the Elementals, a new member joins the Shane Gang. Junjie is a master of the mysterious slugslinging art of Slug Fu. But even with the power of five slugslingers working together, the Shane Gang find themselves in over their heads as they race to protect the ancient Elemental Slugs from an evil alliance set on using them to destroy the 99 caverns.
Run Time: 70 minutes, Not Rated.
Slugterra: Return of the Elementals
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VpaeAydKrY
Cinema Information: SlugterraOnScreen.com
# # #
About Slugterra
Choose your ammo… Slug it out! Slugterra is an epic sci‐fi comedy adventure set deep underground, where the ammo’s alive and only the quick survive! In this luminous, high‐tech, underground world every cavern holds a new adventure, new battle and weird little slugs to be discovered. Eli Shane is determined to be the greatest slugslinging hero of them all. To do it, he’ll need to collect and train an army of little critters called slugs. When these magical creatures are fired at 100 MPH out of a high‐powered blaster, they transform into powerful battle beasts! The adventure follows Eli and his team of friends as they explore the caverns, challenge rivals and each other to duels, upgrade their cool gear, and generally have a blast in this never‐before imagined underground world. But there is a very real threat to Slugterra; Dr. Blakk is seeking to “ghoul” the slugs, transforming them into feral mindless weapons! No one has been able to stand up to Blakk’s powerful ghouls and army of henchmen…until now!
About Nerd Corps Entertainment Inc.
Nerd Corps Entertainment is a privately held IP creation, development, production, and distribution company based out of Vancouver, Canada, with offices in Toronto, Canada. The company’s mandate is to produce stylistically innovative animated projects for television, online, and mobile based on a solid foundation of creative and exceptional storytelling. Working in a state‐of‐the‐art studio with highly skilled artists and production staff, Nerd Corps’ expertise in creative development and execution covers all aspects of property generation and management, from development and production to distribution, marketing, interactive and licensing. The studio’s award‐winning stable of productions includes original series Kate and Mim-Mim, Endangered Species, Slugterra, Storm Hawks, League of Super Evil and Rated A for Awesome, as well as Dragon Booster for Alliance Atlantis and Hot Wheels: Battle Force 5, Max Steel and Monster High for Mattel, Inc. Visit www.nerdcorps.com.
About Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory, LLC is a diversified multi-platform media company devoted to producing, uncovering, preserving and revitalizing the very best of pop culture. Founders Richard Foos, Bob Emmer and Garson Foos have spent their entire careers sharing their music, television and film favorites with discerning consumers the world over. Shout! Factory’s DVD and Blu-Ray™ offerings serve up feature films, classic and contemporary TV series, animation, live music and comedy specials in lavish packages crammed with extras. Shout’s audio division boasts GRAMMY®-nominated box sets, Broadway cast albums, new releases from storied artists, lovingly assembled album reissues and indispensable “best of” compilations. In addition, Shout! Factory maintains a vast digital distribution network which delivers video and audio content to all the leading digital service providers in North America. Shout! Factory also owns and operates Timeless Media Group, Biograph Records, Majordomo Records, HighTone Records and Video Time Machine. These riches are the result of a creative acquisition mandate that has established the company as a hotbed of cultural preservation and commercial reinvention. Shout! Factory is based in Santa Monica, California. For more on Shout! Factory, visit shoutfactory.com.
About Screenvision
Headquartered in New York, N.Y., Screenvision is a national leader in cinema advertising, offering on-screen advertising, in-lobby promotions and integrated marketing programs to national, regional and local advertisers. Screenvision provides comprehensive cinema advertising representation services to top tier theatrical exhibitors presenting the highest quality moviegoing experience. The Screenvision cinema advertising network is comprised of over 14,300 screens in 2,300+ theater locations across all 50 states and 94% of DMAs nationwide; delivering through more than 150 theatrical circuits, including six of the top 10 exhibitor companies. For more information: http://www.screenvision.com
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Asaph “Ace” Fipke bills himself as the Supreme Commander of Nerd Corps, the Vancouver-based animation studio, and the whimsy in job title carries over into their TV shows. A child actor whose father was in show business as well, Fipke began college at the University of BC, but dropped out in favor of the Vancouver Film School. Originally planning to be a writer and director for feature films, Fipke was hired as a producer for Mainframe Entertainment, beginning work on Transformers: Beast Wars. In 2000, he and Chuck Johnson founded Nerd Corps, naming the studio after its staff, who happily wired up the studio’s computers for networked video games after hours. The studio has grown by orders of magnitude since then, launching numerous successful television franchises including Storm Hawks, Hot Wheels: Battle Force 5, Rated A for Awesome, Monster High, and the new pre-schooler property Kate and Mim-Mim.
One of their latest properties is Slugterra, which sends young Eli Shane into a strange subterranean world where he enforces the law with a band of four friends and a bandolier of slugs that serve as living ammunition. After the initial 39 episode run, Nerd Corps embarked on a trilogy of Slugterra movies, the second of which received a limited theatrical release on August 2, 2014. Ace Fipke took some time to chat with us over the phone just after the theatrical release of Slugterra: Return of the Elementals about Slugterra’s new direction, and what it means for Nerd Corps.
This interview contains some spoilers for the Slugterra TV series and the Slugterra: Ghoul from Beyond movie.
TOONZONE NEWS: One thing I’ve always been curious about was where you got the idea for Slugterra from. I had read something about a challenge from a toy company? Is that right?
ASAPH FIPKE: A challenge from a toy company, no, no. It definitely came from our experience in doing boys’ action shows, or at least my experience specifically. Part of the idea was that toy companies always said, “If there’s guns involved, then there’s absolutely no way we can do it,” which is absolutely an excellent way to look at things and I agree 100%. But when we were looking at it, and I wanted to do this underground type show, it dawned on me, “What if the gun was more of a launch pad?” so to speak. And what if the ammo was a friend of yours? So that’s where the whole idea came from. My career has been with producing a lot of boys’ action shows, and toy companies are notorious for wanting things that equal the play patterns. I think the whole fantasy of being a slug slinger in this fantasical world, where you battle good vs. evil using these little creatures that you train which are shot out of these projectile-type blasters…it probably came out of that challenge.
TOONZONE NEWS: One other really influence I detect on it is Westerns, and I’m old enough to remember watching The Lone Ranger and Gunsmoke, where they were shows kids watched with a lot of gunplay going on. Was that another influence as well?
ASAPH FIPKE: I’ve always loved Westerns myself, and yeah, I would have been old enough to have grown up in the 70′s with Westerns around me. But I guess the greatest Western that ever was for kids of that era was Star Wars, so the idea that you can kind of do something of a Western and sort of incorporate it into a futuristic world is definitely an influence in something like Slugterra.
TOONZONE NEWS: I try to explain the show to people and get a lot of funny looks. “No the ammo is alive, and they’re OK with this.”
ASAPH FIPKE: Yeah, that’s the important thing. Not only are they OK with it, they like it. In fact, the slug’s purpose is to be launched out and reach velocity, because from there their inner power is released, so they love it.
TOONZONE NEWS: You’ve moved from the weekly half-hour TV show format to these new movies, the second of which was released on August 2nd. What was the driver behind making that shift?
ASAPH FIPKE: I think after the 39 episodes, the idea of making some events that push our main characters deeper into the lore and into the underground world of Slugterra just seemed to fit best with a longer format. We created a lot of new characters and a storyline that ran through the 39 episodes, and we wanted to explore that deeper in a way that a half hour can’t quite do. That along with our DVD partner, who had suggested that we go down this route and create some interesting “stunting” around the DVD release to air it theatrically for in limited theaters around North America.
TOONZONE NEWS: So are there plans to go back to TV?
ASAPH FIPKE: Oh, yeah. We’re about to greenlight another season. We’ll have 3 movies and then we’ll greenlight a new season of Slugterra.
TOONZONE NEWS: And I’m assuming that the movies are going to set up the next season of the show?
ASAPH FIPKE: Well, kind of…it’ll sort of wrap up some of the new characters and the new stories that have come in, but we’re going to go to new places, and that will require another season to explore those things. So that’s the plan.
TOONZONE NEWS: You certainly came up with a cool villain for the first movie. I thought that was one of the bigger surprises, this intelligent and really manipulative slug. How long ago did you come up with that? Were you able to set that up at all in the TV show?
ASAPH FIPKE: Well, no. We kind of saw what looked like the demise of Blakk at the end of the 39, and the thing that was interesting to me was the rise of the Ghouls, and then Eli and the Shane Gang saving Slugterra. What is the new trek that can come through? I thought it was interesting that I could put a more diabolical character in the form of a slug, so that elevates the intelligence of the slugs to a new level. And it helps us explore that part of it. So the idea that we could have one as formative of a villain, a little slug as Dr. Blakk, and with his ability to sort of take over the minds of slug slingers just seemed like a really fun, unusual idea. So the writers jumped onto that, and you can definitely see the goon doc through the first couple of movies.
TOONZONE NEWS: What would you say has changed in the way you approach making the movies vs. the TV shows?
ASAPH FIPKE: Well, we still produced it at the studio here. We wanted consistency in the look, but I think it’s definitely the approach to the storytelling overall. In the beginning, the objective was to take our time and go deeper into the hero’s journey and have more of a three-act structure that doesn’t always lend itself to a 22-ish minute episode. I think that was the main adjustment we had to make: to be able to put it into that format, and to sustain that. One of the great things is you have room in scenes to go a little deeper into the characters. More room for humor, more room for action. All in all, I think it’s just a more thrilling experience for kids to have a big, epic adventure that’s going on. So that’s the main diffrence, just the storytelling ability. Loosen up the constraints and you can tell a lot more interesting story.
TOONZONE NEWS: I read an interview you did about a year ago, and you mentioned in the early days of Nerd Corps, where you had deliberately chosen to enter kids TV over the feature film space. What would you say has changed to make that feature film space more attractive to you?
ASAPH FIPKE: We’re in a whole new age of delivery. I think that we kind of have a hybrid here, which was an easy step for us. We are using our television pipeline to create a longer-form format of a television series. It’s not the traditional business of feature films, because with that, there comes a great deal of expectation and a totally different way in which one puts the financing and the business together. For us, we use digital, DVD, and television broadcast platforms to sort of combine our efforts with what would be a traditional television thing, and just make a longer form specifically for television. It just happens to work with the partner we have, Screen Vision. I think in this case, this is a television property first that has the opportunity to go in select theaters as a special, and as an elongated feature film. This is just a natural extension of what we’re already doing, which feels perfect. I guess what I was talking about was to start a property as a feature film from the start is a totally different type of thing. We have a television franchise that makes obvious sense for us as a good way to go about entering feature films.
TOONZONE NEWS: Is that a space you’re going to be moving into further?
ASAPH FIPKE: Again, I would look at it and say that as far as it goes for Nerd Corps, we concentrate on building worlds. Kids worlds — sometimes in the industry they’re called brands — but with that, what we concentrate on is finding the best platform to deploy that world and that entertainment. Whether it be interactive, television, or a feature film, we’re always going to concentrate on where is the best place to do that. Thus far, it’s always been TV for us, but I’m very open to it if there’s the right property in the future, to jump into feature films if it makes sense as a launch point. I don’t have immediate plans in the very very short term, but as entertainment brand builders, we always keep our options open.
TOONZONE NEWS: Nerd Corps has certainly grown a lot from the days when it was 10 guys in an apartment. The number I saw recently…was it 300 or 600?
ASAPH FIPKE: In between. We’re 410, I think, at this point.
TOONZONE NEWS: I know you’ve got multiple pipelines and working on multiple properties at the same time now. What would you say is the biggest difference in running an animation studio of 10 vs. the 410 that you have right now?
ASAPH FIPKE: Um…I sure would like to say I know everybody’s name (laughs). One of the biggest differences is trying to focus everybody on not just their project, but on the overall goals of the company. We really have to up our communications team, and we’re really working on upping our culture to make sure that people are getting the information to know what the company overall is doing. These are always the sort of growing pains that happen when you grow to this size. But the interesting thing about it from a quality standpoint is that I think recently, we’ve probably been putting out the best quality stuff that we’ve ever done. So the great thing about scale is just the level of artistry within the studio. We have just some incredibly skilled people, and they’re able to really rise out of a bigger infrastructure. You find that real talent across the board, and it lifts everyone. Everyone lifts each other up that way. So it’s been quite amazing to watch. Like I said, some of our best stuff is coming out in the past little while.
Toonzone would like to thank Asaph Fipke for taking the time to speak with us, and Click Communications for making the arrangements. Slugterra: Return of the Elementals will be released on DVD on September 16, 2014. Visit Nerd Corps’ official website for more information about the company and their properties. Slugterra airs on Disney XD in the United States; stay tuned to Toonzone News for more information on the upcoming third Slugterra movie.
The post Toonzone Interviews Asaph Fipke, Supreme Commander of Nerd Corps, on the "Slugterra" Movies appeared first on Toon Zone News.
As I’m sure I’ve written before, I’d be shocked and dismayed at the way Transformers: Rescue Bots smashes little boy hot buttons by centering on rescue vehicles that turn into giant robots, except that it’s actually a really good show. The show’s second DVD, Transformers Rescue Bots: Energize, has just been released, and my only major complaints are the eight-month gap between volumes and the relatively paltry five episodes included on the disc. Otherwise, the show demonstrates impressive staying power and even begins playing around with elements of continuity and longer-form storytelling. It is surprisingly effective at both, as it is in presenting solid action scenes that communicate serious stakes and real consequences, almost always without being too intense for the target audience.
Set in the New England town of Griffin Rock, Transformers: Rescue Bots teams up the Burns family of first responders (police chief dad Charlie, brash firefighter Cade, brainy engineer Graham, hotshot medevac pilot Dani, and audience identification character Cody) with a quartet of search and rescue Autobots (grouchy leader fire truck Heatwave, straight-arrow police car Chase, sincere and sensitive bulldozer Boulder, and slightly cowardly helicopter Blades). All the episodes on this disc center on high tech gone wrong, requiring ingenuity and elbow grease to keep the citizens safe. While each individual episode can be watched as a standalone, the show still manages to have character and plot development as it builds on its own past. Having spent most of the first DVD getting acquainted with each other, the Burns clan and the Rescue Bots show a lot more cohesion in the five episodes of Energize. The show rewards those who pay attention to pick up little events, like the way Cade and Heatwave have largely stopped sniping at each other and in Blades’ surprising exuberance when Dani pulls a maneuver that would have triggered a much more negative reaction in earlier episodes. There’s even a return of the antagonist from the show’s very first episode, although in a much different context here, and a twist to the status quo in that episode’s closing moments that will play out in future episodes.
Of the five episodes on this DVD (“Cody on Patrol,” “Walk on the Wild Side,” “Christmas in July,” “Deep Trouble,” and “Return of the Dinobot”), three introduce a running mystery suggesting sinister purpose behind some of the tech that runs amok in Griffin Rock. In fact, the DVDs deviate from production and broadcast order, switching the last episode on the Roll to the Rescue DVD and the first of Energize to make it easier to see the thread in play. It’s all done well enough to ensure that kids won’t get lost while supervising adults won’t lose interest. I must also commend the show for the little throwaway bits clearly targeted at those supervising adults, like the numerous references to Jaws in “Deep Trouble” and a reference to Jurassic Park in “Return of the Dinobot.” It’s all good, clean fun that stands up surprisingly well to repeated viewings (especially appreciated considering how many times a young child will be willing to re-watch the same episode over and over).
As with the earlier DVD release, Transformers Rescue Bots: Energize delivers each episode in an anamorphic widescreen and, surprisingly, a 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack (which is quite nice, especially in the more action-oriented episodes like “Return of the Dinobot”). The only bonus feature are printable coloring sheets in PDF format if you pop the disc into a computer. The only real complaint I have is the relatively short amount of content on the disc, and the length of time between releases. I find myself enjoying Transformers Rescue Bots almost as much as my young son, and am really looking forward to more, hopefully sooner and in greater quantity.
Slugterra is the other ongoing series with a second volume from Shout! Factory, and like Transformers Rescue Bots, I find my enjoyment of the disc slightly mitigated by its short length. Slugterra: Slugs Unleashed picks up the next five episodes of the adventures of the Shane Gang: leader Eli, spunky Trixie, tough cave troll Kord, and comic relief molenoid Pronto. The four (along with Eli’s signature slug Burpy) are on a mission to bring justice to the bizarre subterranean realm of Slugterra, where the land is linked to the strange little slugs used as willing, living ammunition in the show’s plentiful action sequences.
The first DVD, Return of the Shane Gang established the gang and the basic ground rules for Slugterra and the slug duels that form the core of the show, as well as the show’s main antagonist Dr. Blakk. Surprisingly, the next five episodes on Slugs Unleashed don’t feature Dr. Blakk at all, which means these episodes of Slugterra fall into a “bad guy of the week” formula. This might be why I didn’t find them quite as compelling as the episodes on Return of the Shane Gang. On the other hand, the show certainly doesn’t hurt for variety here, ranging from the race anchoring “The Slug Run”; the vaguely environmental concerns of “Shadows and Light” and “Endangered Species”; the mystery behind “Club Slug”; and the zombie story of “Dawn of the Slug.” While these episodes don’t directly push forward Eli Shane/Dr. Blakk confrontations, the long shadow that Blakk casts over Slugterra is still visible enough to maintain a sense of real tension. The sense that Blakk is such a pervasive influence on Slugterra in both overt and subtle ways makes him seem even more intimidating. In general, the combination of appealing characters, fun stories, a good sense of humor, and the weirdzo Western stylings make me more prone to overlook the show’s weaker moments.
Slugterra: Slugs Unleashed presents its episodes in anamorphic widescreen, and also surprises with a 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack. The show looks and sounds fine, although there seem to be a few more moments in these five episodes where the TV budget shows through. There are some obviously recycled shots in “The Slug Run,” and Pronto looked a bit off enough times to be noticeable. Bonus features include a five-minute featurette on writing Slugterra and three more explanatory “Slugisodes,” two of which focus on how duelers recover their slugs after a duel, which has lingered in my head since the first episode. It’s an OK explanation, and is even alluded to in “The Slug Run,” but I wish it had made its way more prominently in the series itself. And, as with Transformers Rescue Bots: Energize, I find my biggest complaint is that only 5 episodes per DVD feels a little paltry, but at least Slugterra seems to be coming out more regularly.
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I’ll admit that the Smurfs aren’t my favorite characters in the world, either in their original comic book or later animated forms. I like them fine, for the most part, and while I may like things like “The Purple Smurfs” or one of their holiday specials, I think I still tend to approach all things Smurfy with a slight handicap. Being underwhelmed with the Hanna-Barbera animated series, the earlier animated movie, and many of the comics has created something of a Smurf credibility gap. However, that handicap can lead to very pleasant surprises, which is exactly what happened with the recent The Smurfs: The Legend of Smurfy Hollow DVD. This is especially surprising since it’s a spin-off from the recent live-action/CGI hybrid movies, where I was unable to sit through the first one for more than a few minutes.
The disc is a little early for its Halloween theme, but the CGI Smurf framing device soon gives way to the hand-drawn animated meat of this special that’s a variation on Washington Irving’s classic Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The occasion is the annual Smurfberry contest, which Brainy Smurf has dominated for years. Gutsy Smurf, the resident Scottish Smurf, decides to follow Brainy to learn the secret of his success, which leads to deception, counter-deception, and potential peril for Brainy, Gutsy, and Smurfette at the hands of the evil Gargamel and his wicked cat Azrael. It all ends happily, even if the legendary Headless Horseman of Smurfy Hollow ends up getting involved before all is said and done.
The Legend of Smurfy Hollow is exceptionally well-animated. I wouldn’t have held it against Sony to cheap this special out, but they clearly had a non-trivial budget to work with and every cent of it shows on screen. It takes shows like The Legend of Korra or Young Justice to find hand-drawn animation that can compare, and even then I think those two action shows fall just short of The Legend of Smurfy Hollow. I really just can’t get over how beautiful this special is, and I suspect that achievement goes a long way in establishing my positive impressions of it. The story of Smurfy Hollow is a little more than a trifle, but it’s an extraordinarily well-done trifle. Like an excellent chocolate mousse, it feels lighter than air going down but inordinately satisfying once it’s finished. Its simple story is told with a gentle touch that nicely avoids treacle or saccharine (something the Hanna-Barbera TV show didn’t always manage), and if it may feel overly familiar, it’s still well-executed enough that it doesn’t matter so much.
The DVD is no-frills: the 22-minute special is in a fine anamorphic widescreen with a 2.0 Dolby Digital soundtrack, but no extras. Retailers are selling this DVD at rock-bottom prices, though, and I’d say it’s worth picking up on its technical merits alone.
The surprising technical and story success of The Legend of Smurfy Hollow might be why the latest Slugterra DVD feels so anemic compared to the first two (disc 1 reviewed, along with disc 2). Slugterra: Slug Power! packs 5 more episodes of the Nerd Corps series, but the best of them can only manage to be above average. That best episode would probably be its first, “Mecha Mutiny,” where Kord’s upgrades to the Shane Gang’s mecha-beast steeds malfunction and nearly get the whole gang killed. Heading to the repair depot to find out what’s wrong leads to a few surprises and the return of Dr. Blakk, who was mostly absent from the episodes on the prior DVD.
The remaining episodes are all fair-to-middling. “Undertow” tries to pit the Shane Gang against a band of pirates plying a subterranean sea. The episode is most notable for its unusual setting and for stretching the boundaries of slug dueling mechanics further than they should go. One of the bonus “Slugisodes” documented that slugs fired in duels will find their way back to their owners or their homes independently; having those duels over water begs the question of whether they’ll drown first. “Mario Bravado” forces Eli Shane to learn slug trick shooting from the title character, a former Slugterran celebrity who has seemingly holstered his slug blaster for good. It’s nice to see Eli being compelled to learn something, but the plot twists are pretty predictable. There is a nice high-speed chase at the end of the episode, though.
Sadly, the disc ends with the disappointing two-part episode “The New Kid,” introducing a new ally named Twist in the first episode, and while his name is supposed to describe his skill at evasion, it’s also a pretty blatant telegraph of his role in the episode. I find it’s impossible to talk about the episode much without essentially giving away what small surprise it has in store, but the reality is that all but the most naive will see the big surprise coming well before it arrives, while the rest of the episode is mostly paint-by-numbers. At the least, these last episodes bring back Dr. Blakk with a vengeance, and “The New Kid” promises to shake up the status quo a bit and raise the stakes for the Shane Gang.
The stunningly beautiful and busy animation of Legend of Smurfy Hollow also makes the relatively sparse and empty environment of Slugterra stand out more. It’s a real weakness of CGI that it can’t do crowd scenes well on a TV budget, and while Slugterra is not the only offender in that regard (Green Lantern and Beware the Batman were both light on background characters), it definitely suffers in comparison to something like Legend of Smurfy Hollow. That being said, Shout! Factory has delivered another solid DVD experience: anamorphic widescreen video paired to a 5.1 Dolby Digital Soundtrack, with a short behind-the-scenes featurette and 3 new Slugisodes serving as bonus features.
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Shout! Factory has released several new video clips from Slugterra: Slug Power!, the next DVD collecting Disney XD/Nerd Corps’ Slugterra.
Slugterra: Slug Power! is available now. For more details, check out Toonzone’s review of the DVD.
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The Wall Street Journal‘s China weblog has noted recent efforts to promote Vancouver-based animation studios for content partnerships with Chinese companies, with Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson touring the country last week with digital animation executives in tow touting lower production costs and tax incentives vs. Hollywood animation studios. Hollywood has spent significant money and resources building up the Chinese market, with DreamWorks investing at least $330 million to build a new studio in Shanghai, and the Chinese government itself has promoted efforts to build up the local animation industry. The effort seems to run in parallel with comparable efforts in live-action films, and Vancouver can already rack up one win as Nerd Corps recently announced a deal with China’s Ciwen Media Group to import the action cartoon Slugterra to China.
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After a disappointing installment in Slug Power, Slugterra returns to form with its newest DVD from Shout! Factory, Slugterra: Heroes of the Underground. By now, I suppose it’s pointless to complain that Slugterra is a show that would be much better served by season sets, or at least a few more episodes per disc than the 5 we get here, but it seems that ship sailed a long time ago. By this point in the show, this disc (and this review) assume you already know the basics of Slugterra, so it makes a very bad introduction to the show despite its quality.
Heroes of the Underground opens with “Snowdance,” which is not only the weakest episode of the five, but one of the weakest episodes the show has produced to date. It features a wafer-thin plot that feels unduly padded, only managing to fill out its running time by requiring everyone in the episode to act like a complete idiot. How else to explain setting up a Slugterran movie theater in a cavern inhabited by hibernating Ice Trolls, and then having characters get involved in a massive slug-slinging fight? The episode antagonists are the Hooligang, last seen way back on disc 1, and even though the gang’s leader is a dim bulb by design, his actions require his idiocy to overwhelm even the slightest sense of self-preservation and ample, demonstrable evidence right before his eyes. Considering the lukewarm reception I gave the last disc, getting this episode first was definitely not a confidence booster.
Fortunately, this sub-standard episode is followed by two of the best episodes that Slugterra has done yet. “Inheritance” starts with a suspenseful break-in to the Shane Gang’s headquarters, with the intruder soon revealed as Dana Por, a young woman with a past linked to Eli’s father Will. A number of running plot threads get developed further in this episode, focusing on Eli’s father’s past and his connection to the Shadow Clan, the most mysterious and lethal inhabitants of Slugterra. While it ends up raising more questions than it answers, the execution is taut throughout and makes for extremely exciting viewing, as well as some incredibly well-rendered new settings. Black Lagoon‘s Maryke Hendrikse also turns in an excellent performance as Dana Por, with her natural rasp lending Dana a sense of being worn and experienced even though she’s roughly the same age as Eli.
Next in “A Distant Shore,” the mad adventurer Gar Revelle raving about his next expedition to find “The Burning World,” which Eli (and we) easily recognize as the surface. This is the first episode of the show since the season 1 premiere that addresses the enforced divide between the surface and Slugterra, and also reveals a bit more knowledge about the Shane family past. There’s also a genuinely surprising ending, as Eli comes up with a direct but unexpected solution to the episode’s central problem. The episode is also remarkably efficient at setting up a plausible conflict between Eli and the rest of the Shane Gang, which makes the episode’s coda that much more satisfying. While “Inheritance” is probably a better episode overall, “A Distant Shore” ends up being more emotionally satisfying. On a technical note, I’m impressed at how busy this episode can be. The posse organized by Revelle is sizable, and a barroom brawl in the center of the episode is enjoyably tempestuous and involves a much larger crowd than most CGI animated shows can manage well.
“The Journey Home” further addresses questions I’ve had about the mechanics of slug dueling and how the slugs manage to find their way home to their dueler. This fact was revealed in an earlier “Slugisode,” but never really addressed in the show until now. The episode ends up split between Eli’s misadventure in a duel with almost no slugs in his bandolier, while his go-to slugs (including his top slug Burpy) must navigate a surprising number of dangers trying to get home or back to Eli. It’s a fine episode, though the split story makes it feel a bit too unfocused in the end. Finally, “Roboslugs” introduces the mad scientist Quentin, who has developed a robotic version of slugs and goes on a miniature rampage against those who he feels have wronged him. The episode is an interesting game of one-upmanship, as Quentin and the Shane Gang face off three separate times and each has to deal with multiple reversals of fortune. It’s fun to see Shane and Quentin coming up with updated plans to counter the other in what boils down to a tribute to the power of creative thinking.
As a home video release, Slugterra: Heroes of the Underground is the same as the other Slugterra DVDs: anamorphic widescreen presentation and a 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack. Bonus features include a “Creating Your Own Slugs” featurette, where series art director Andy Poon runs viewers through drawing a slug, and 2 more “Slugisodes” that reveal mechanics of the world.
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