#michael hodges

[disneytva]

This is it for Disney Kids & Family animation announcements ahead of the Annecy Film Festival however MORE will be revealed next week…. 👀

As Mickey Mouse said during "Disney’s Wonderful World of Animation Nighttime Spectacular": "Gee, thanks everybody, this sure has been alot of fun, but trust me it's only the beggining"

[route22ny]

Francis Apartments, Chicago (1970)

Built in 1895 and designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, they were demolished in 1971.

Photo by Michael Hodges via SK at Bluesky

[disneytva]

RUMOR: Disney Television Animation Lists Two Potential New Disney Channel Shows "Suburbion" And "Fuzz" Via SAG-AFTRA Listing.

Two new kind of heroes might come to Disney Channel....?

Disney Television Animation productions have been recently crowned as the No #1 destination for kids and family content as rival networks like Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon have been struggling the past few years specially with original shows as both networks have been in favor of IP-driven series ("Adventure Time: Side Quests", "Regular Show: The Lost Tapes", "The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball", "Steven Universe: Lars of The Stars", "The Patrick Star Show", "Avatar: Seven Heavens", "Dora The Explorer", "Rugrats 2021") over original shows.

Disney TVA however seems to be balancing original series and reboots/revivals ("Kiff","Big City Greens", "Dragon Striker", "The Doomies", "The Proud Family: Louder And Prouder", "Phineas And Ferb "Sofia The First: Royal Magic", "Darkwing Duck") It seems that the hunt for the future animated hit at Disney Channel continues as SAG-AFTRA's public database website recently updated with two potential new Disney Channel shows; "Fuzz" and "Suburbion".

Of course, nothing is much know about both projects specially their creators however their titles might give a hint on what we could expect with "Suburbion" being under the sci-fi genre and "Fuzz" being under the comedy genre.

However we should take this with a BIG grain of salt as the site also listed scrapped series from the studio like “Neon Galaxy” by Lee Knox Ostertag, “Weird Waters” by Bob Bowen and Jacob Hair as well the recently scrapped “Kim Possible” sequel series/reboot.

If real then both shows could be a nice addition to Disney Channel's slate specially as the studio has six NDA projects in the works which have been hiring since 2024. Other project is a upcoming action-adventure comedy series in collaboration with Jeff "Swampy" Marsh's studio Surfing Giant Studios and "Pouic And Pica" which got awarded by Disney TVA as Best MIFA Pitch during the 2025 edition Annecy Film Festival.

Additionaly Ian Jones-Quartey (Cartoon Network Studios "OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes) currently is developing a new animated project at Disney Television Animation simultaneaously while he and Rebecca Sugar wait for a series order for "Steven Universe: Lars Of The Stars by Prime Video.

[disneytva]

Disney Branded Television Reportedly Greenlit New "Action-Adventure" Series From Jeff "Swampy" Marsh's "Surfing Giant Studios"

DEADLINE recently reported that Jeff "Swampy" Marsh's animation studio Surfing Giant Studios has opened a second animation base at Spain’s Canary Islands. The new production hub is located in the Santa Cruz region of Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands, and will open in the spring of this year.

During the article, DEADLINE reported that the studio has gotten a series order for an upcoming animated series for Disney Branded Television. the article states that unlike Marsh and Giant's first production for Disney "Hey A.J.!", this one is focused in the "Action-Adventure" genre likely heading to Disney Channel or Disney+.

Since 2022, Surfing Giant has hired more 100 artists, as it’s pushed into both IP development and service work, and it is gearing up for another Disney series, this time in the action-adventure space. 

It's currently unknow if this new project is a co-production with Disney Television Animation or a co-production with Disney EMEA Animation. Likely news on this new project will be unveiled at Annecy Film Festival slated for late June 2026 at France.

[disneytva]

Congratulations to Simona Scaturro in joining as Character Designer and Prop Designer at Surfing Giant Studios Spain. She is part of the crew for a upcoming NDA action/adventures series in association with Disney Television Animation for Disney Channel.

Scaturro worked at Cartoon Saloon at "Dog Ears" and did visual development for the preschool series "Wolfwalkers: Mebh And The Wolf Pups". Other work includes Brown Bag Films

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This new NDA show for Disney Channel under the action/adventure/comedy genre was announced last February and production on it started last month.

[disneytva]

Disney Branded Television Sets "Hey A.J!" Premiere Date To Start The New Year

Our imagination era has arrived 🐰✨🏈Disney Branded Television has set the premiere date of  "Hey A.J.!" a new original preschool series with a marathon of the first seven episodes on Tuesday, January 13, on Disney Jr. (7:00-10:15 a.m. EST/PST).

This batch of episodes will be available to stream on Disney+ on Wednesday, Jan. 14, with additional episodes debuting later in the year.

The series stars Amari McCoy as A.J., Martellus Bennett as Marty, Jhené Aiko as Siggi, Juliet Donenfeld as Jessie, Innocent Ekakitie as Jazz and David Mitchell as Theo. Additionaly GRAMMY winner Meghan Trainor has a recurring role as Jessie's mom.

The celebrity guest voice cast includes:

-Cristo Fernández ("Phineas And Ferb", Apple TV "Ted Lasso")

-Bass guitarist and singer Bootsy Collins

-Kate Miccuci ("Milo Murphy's Law", "DuckTales")

-Maulik Pancholy ("Phineas And Ferb" franchise)

-UK singer Calum Scott

-Lena Waithe (HBO "Westworld", Prime Video "Them")

-Retired NASA astronaut and engineer Leland Melvin

"Hey A.J! is inspired by books created by Martellus Bennett and executive produced by Bennett, Jeff Swampy Marsh and Michael Hodges. The series is produced by Surfing Giant Studios in association with Disney Jr. Education & Inclusion.

[disneytva]

The talented crew at Surfing Giant Studios Spain after one month of starting production on a brand new NDA series under the action/adventure/comedy genre in association with Disney Television Animation

When will it be announced? I don't know but hope Disney Kids & Family reveals it soon.

[disneytva]

Congratulations to talented 2D animator and artist Rául Vila in being hired by Surfing Giant Studios Spain as visual development artist.

Vila is part of the crew from a upcoming NDA action-adventure series for Disney Channel that is collaboration with Disney Television Animation.

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Raúl Vila recently worked in the "League of Legends Wild Rift X Porsche" video as animator. So we can expect this new show to be another great addition to Disney TVA's slate for Disney Channel.