TVSquad

Here's some animation news from the past week:

We've been telling you about the Robot Chicken Star Wars special for some time now. If you're a fan, you've probably already seen the trailer, but if not, here it is.

Also, I found another Drinky Crow clip. It's at the end of this post. Based on the snippets I've seen of this series so far, I think they've really captured the weird, violent humor of Tony Millionaire's strip.

Pirates, it seems, are still cool. At least, nautical-themed cartoons still seem to be all the rage. There's SpongeBob SquarePants, of course, and the upcoming The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack on Cartoon Network, which actually looks like it could be pretty good.

For the longest time ninjas were the cool thing, then it was pirates, and now I wonder who will be the next group to tickle our collective brain. I'm guessing either leprechauns or vikings, but I digress. Let's get back to pirates:

Those Scurvy Rascals is a British series consisting of 26 three and a half minute episodes that focus on a trio of pirates who steal pants rather than silver and gold. The show's Web site has some clips, which are just variations of the opening theme, but the goofy premise and the pirate theme should attract a young audience. Look for the shorts on Nicktoons this spring. Arrr.

You gotta love classic Sesame Street. Remember the Twiddlebugs, that family of insects who lived in Ernie's window box? Sesame Workshop, which recently announced a new animated program featuring Bert and Ernie, have also announced a series of three-minute CGI shorts featuring the cuddly bugs. Muppet News Flash reports the shorts will pop up some time in 2008, but where exactly is still unknown.

The Twiddlebugs, named Tina, Thomas, Teddy and Tessie, first appeared on Sesame Street in 1972. The squeaky-voiced bugs used random objects to build and furnish their milk carton home, such as buttons and thimbles. Below is a clip from Sesame Street featuring a CGI version of the Twiddlebugs, which will give you some idea what the new series will look like. I've also posted a classic Twiddlebugs clip, because, frankly, I prefer the puppet version. I'm not against CGI, but I'll take the original Muppets over those sterile and inflated-looking computer versions any day.

Ubisoft, the French video game maker behind such titles as Splinter Cell and Rainbow Six has plans to spend $400 million to extend its production facilities and begin making CGI movies. The company also hopes this will lead to the development of CGI television series in the future.

Mark Evanier has a post about a brand new Garfield cartoon for television that he's writing, or rather, that he'll be writing sometime soon. Evanier was also a writer on the popular Garfield and Friends series that ran on CBS from 1988 to 1995. Paws, Inc. is producing and distributing the new series worldwide along with Dargaud Marina S.A. in Paris, France.

The new Garfield series will be computer animated, though Evanier does say it will not be the same CGI Garfield from the movies. Evanier is also voice directing for the series and says that Bill Murray will not be playing the hefty, lasagna-loving feline. There's also no word just yet on where the new series will air.

Nicktoons recently acquired Planet Sketch, an animated children's series from Decode and Aardman Animation that has already proved wildly popular outside the United States. The computer-animated series includes a cast of odd characters, including a "tough" group called "The Rappers" who secretly love playing playground games; two farting horses known as the "Parping Ponies;" and the Gnaughty Gnomes, little creatures who like to gross people out. I did a quick search on YouTube but could only find what appeared to be a clip of the German version of the series, a clip that was actually just someone taping an actual television set. Nevertheless, given Aardman's success in the past with such productions as Wallace and Gromit and Flushed Away, this could be a very cool addition to the Nicktoons line-up. The series will debut sometime this spring.

UPDATE: Clips can be found here. Many thanks to e-nick.

Last month Richard got us all up to speed on the live-action Star Wars series, which is currently set to debut in 2008. Apparently the people behind the new series have been working like crazy, so we'll see if the wait is worth it, though I can't think "Star Wars" and "television" without thinking of those horrible made-for-TV Ewok movies.

Anyway, while we have to wait a couple years for this series, we may be seeing the new animated series as soon as next year. Lucasfilm's animation studio in Singapore is currently working on the CGI series, which will focus on the Clone War era that falls between episodes two (Attack of the Clones) and three (Revenge of the Sith). The Clone Wars, while a vital part of the movies, was delved into much deeper in the books and comics based on the series. Despite this, insiders claim there will be some surprises for even the most diehard fans of Star Wars and its expanded universe.