Disney+ Developing New Animated Series ‘Duckie’

Disney+ is gearing up for an exciting new animated pilot called Duckie. The project is in the casting phase, managed by Disney TVA Casting, to find the perfect voice talent. The production is scheduled to begin on August 1, 2023, and will be based in Burbank, CA.

The project, which falls under the umbrella of Disney+, is a 22-minute animated pilot that aims to captivate audiences with its unique storyline and relatable characters. The show will explore themes of personal growth, mentorship, and the power of overcoming challenges.

The storyline of Duckie revolves around the eponymous character’s journey of self-discovery. Having recently survived a feral creature’s attack, Duckie finds herself scarred and plagued by self-doubt. While she grapples with the aftermath of this traumatic experience, Duckie enters a pivotal phase in her life. However, her path crosses with a mentor whose unwavering belief in himself is both awe-inspiring and foolish. Initially, they clash, but as their journey progresses, they form a unique bond that holds the potential to save the universe.

The central character, Duckie, is a spirited and headstrong 15-year-old duck who grapples with the desire to be seen as a fully-formed adult within her extensive family. Despite her youth, Duckie possesses a curious nature, an adventurous spirit, sharp wit, and impressive technological skills. However, she is currently recovering from a traumatic attack, causing her to doubt herself in stressful situations. Nevertheless, her world changes when she encounters a mentor who might just help her navigate through her challenges and, together, they might have the power to save the universe.

Duckie is poised to be an exciting addition to Disney+’s animated lineup, promising a heartwarming and adventurous story that will resonate with audiences of all ages. Stay tuned for further updates on the casting process and production timeline as Disney+ continues to bring captivating content to its streaming platform.

What Happened To SABC's Indigenous News Channel, SABC eKhaya?

During the year, the public broadcaster promised to unveil the highly anticipated news brand, SABC eKhaya. A spinoff to the current SABC News channel seen on MultiChoice's DStv, the channel would be broadcast in all 11 South African languages was slated for April 2023. 

We were told by sources that the channel had a soft launch so to better understand this we turn to SABC Sport. The channel was active almost a year or so before it was added to the Openview platform and TelkomOne (now SABC+) and similar to SABC Sport it's not available on SABC+.

If we had to guess, the public broadcaster is probably looking to get the channel on MultiChoice's DStv or eMedia Investments' Openview. We assume they want to give this channel as much exposure as seen with SABC Sport which became the top 10 channels on Openview.

Not much marketing was put into SABC Sport but the channel managed to defy all odds and the same outcome could be expected for SABC eKhaya should it not exclusively to DTT and streaming.

From what we understand they want to make it a leading brand similar to SABC News or it's initial offering at the time, SABC Parliament. For now, the channel will serve as a catch-up to the current offering seen on SABC 1-3 and overtime they could fiddle around with the repeats.

It's currently unknown whether the public broadcaster plans to market SABC eKhaya or similar to SABC Sport wait until they can get more platforms onto the concept.

FX To Be Revived As A Linear Channel In Poland A Year After It Returned To South Africa On Disney+

Fox Extended (FX) was a general entertainment channel that was operated by The Walt Disney Company. It served as a sister channel to the defunct FOX brand alongside current entertainment channels National Geographic and Wild alongside Disney Channel and Junior.

Some of the shows seen on the channel included American Dad, Family Guy, The X-Files, Tyrant and The Bridge. Most of which were reverted to FOX brand after the channel was replaced by female based channel FOX Life in 2016.

FX was revived last year when Disney+ launched in South Africa with its own tile under the streaming service. Literally a year after we got the Disney XD of FOX, it was reported that more FOX channels in Europe would be axed.

Folks in Poland were alerted by The Walt Disney Company that FOX would be axed out not like what was seen in Africa and most parts of Europe where it was a complete annihilation. Instead, the brand would be supplemented by FX and not Star as seen in most Portuguese territories.

By November, these channels FOX and FOX Comedy would be known as FX and FX Comedy which just brings out a lot of mystery behind the future of The Walt Disney Company's remaining linear offering viewed in Europe, Middle East and Africa.

As some are aware, most of the companies remaining linear offering reside within these regions with Africa expected to retain these channels through 2024 as announced in 2021. Could it be possible that these channels will stick around for a while longer maybe?

If there's anything to learn about from their business in Latin America, don't trust that a simple change in paint secures the future of these channels. Unlike Africa, FOX was rebranded to Star with a lineup of content from Disney+ available to view and after a year that was ripped away.

Recap To The Week: Warner Bros. Discovery Adds Unicorn Warriors Eternal And My Adventures With Superman From Adult Swim To Cartoon Network In Latin America And Canada

Last year, Warner Bros. Discovery write off several productions such as Little Ellen and Scoob: Holiday Haunt! while remaining content such as My Adventures With Superman and Unicorn Warriors Eternal's future remained quo as these series were meant to launched much earlier.

During the year, it was learnt by Warner Bros. Discovery that the latter My Adventures With Superman and Unicorn Warriors Eternal would move to Adult Swim. Considering how Cartoon Network has evolved over the years this news doesn't come as a shocker.

Following the release of these series, Warner Bros. Discovery made this content accessible to Cartoon Network in Latin America and Canada. And to expand further on my previous statement, Cartoon Network has scooped up shows like We Baby Bears and Lego Monkie Kid.

Content I wouldn't say is geared toward a mature audience I mean for a while now some consumers would say Cartoon Network has gone soft but I would say the brand is adapting to the current climate and this differs in various territories so it seems.

In the Phillipines, Cartoon Network was seen airing The Simpsons at one point and this is a brand that brought on shows like Samurai Jack which if you look at it will probably be deemed inappropriate for children's TV so henceforth we look at another brand, Adult Swim.

Warner Bros. Discovery unveiled plans to invest more time on the brand as consumers in select territories that view Cartoon Network are adults which I'm assuming is the case for Latin America and Canada and the fact that restrictions are differ in those regions.

In South Africa, I'm not expecting these shows to be made available on Cartoon Network particularly for those restrictions if anything the latter is currently streaming on Showmax seeing as they licence content from HBO, Cartoon Network and Adult Swim.

Trepanation Of The Skull And You: Lost Pilot For The Grim Adventures Of Billy And Mandy Has Surfaced The Net

In 1995, while Maxwell Atoms (née Adam Burton) was still in college, he created a short animated film titled Billy and Mandy in Trepanation of the Skull and You. This short would go on to form the basis of Atoms' hit Cartoon Network show The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy. The character designs differ quite a bit from the end result. In the original pilot, Billy appears lankier and with a smaller nose than his final design while Mandy has pigtails, a nose (which she lacks in the series), and a plain, single-color dress.

In the short, Billy learns about trepanation, a process in which a hole is drilled into the skull to relieve internal pressure, after seeing that Mandy (who incorrectly describes the process as a way to unlock the brain's full potential) has already gotten "trepanned"; Billy then has Mandy trepanate him, which results in Billy losing copious amounts of blood before passing out. Atoms described it as being "completely inappropriate for Cartoon Network," but felt that the characters were too fun to use only once, which led to the development of the series. In need of a straight-man character, it was eventually decided to add the Grim Reaper as the third protagonist.

For the longest period of time, it was believed that the short utilized the visual style of a piece of concept art for an unrelated and unmade pilot for the show (shown below); the actual short is stylized after monochrome films of the 1920s and 1930s, and featured only Billy and Mandy, the latter of whom appears significantly different from the below image. Atoms would later clarify the issue on his official YouTube upload of the short.

In Atoms' 2013 RebelTaxi interview with Pan-Pizza (of thatfellowinthecoat.com and partner of Channel Frederator), he mentioned the short in some detail, revealing that he had it stored away on film, noting that he should've had it digitally transferred "at some point."

Rediscovery

On RebelTaxis's podcast on March 15th, 2016, it was announced Maxwell Atoms recently found the old short and would display it at the TROMAnimation festival in New York.

A day after the short premiered at the TROMAnimation Film Festival, Maxwell Atoms uploaded the short to his YouTube channel in higher quality; there is noticeable deterioration of the film, though it is still in a watchable state. Atoms has clarified that he is unable to reshoot the short and synch it with its audio track, as he was forced to throw out his assets for the short to conserve space when he was living in a studio apartment.

Why PBS Kids Africa Is Behind With The Rest Of The World?

PBS Kids owned by the Public Broadcasting Station (PBS) is the most trusted educational brand for children aged 2-8. Since 2021, the brand has operated a number of blocks and linear channels in the United States, Africa and formerly Australia.

For those residing outside the United States may have noticed some rather bizarre variations from the American feed. I mean you have shows like Dinosaur Train currently in its fifth season with the Africa still wrapping up the second season I know shocking.

On top of that there's a lot of shows some fresh that have yet to be broadcast on the channel such as Let's Go Luna, Splash And Bubbles, Xavier Riddle And The Secret Museum, Ready Jet Go! and Clifford The Big Red Dog.

From what's understood here, consumers don't have longevity with PBS Kids as seen with Cartoon Network and Disney Junior globally. Despite the fact that some of this content such as Dinosaur Train and Cyberchase have been viewable in these markets.

Generally, PBS Kids hasn't got much credibility for these as the content is funded by taxpayers and foundations which just leads to curiosity as on how much ownership the main PBS brand has over this content.

I for starters don't mind how out of fashion PBS Kids may appear to some audiences. It's one of the few brands that acknowledge their much older properties I mean it debuted in 2019 across Africa airing shows like Mister Rogers Neighborhood and Time Warp Trio.

Aside from that, the main feed is repetitive and perhaps them introducing this content to newer audiences is another way to help build their offering. The international feeds doesn't focus solely on older content as there's shows like Donkey Hodie and Hero Elementary.

PBS Kids can be entertaining to the young and old.