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Posts tagged as “Cartoon Network”

Creator Aaron McGruder and Sony Animation to Reboot “The Boondocks” TV Series

By goodblacknews on June 12, 2019
“The Boondocks” Animated TV Series

According to thewrap.com, Sony Animation announced today that it will be producing a re-boot of the Aaron McGruder comic-strip-turned-TV-series The Boondocks. The show is coming back with McGruder, who exited after season 3 the first go-round, and it will be a “complete re-imagining” of the show for “the modern era.” The news was announced by Sony at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival.

The Boondocks was a satirical animated series that followed two brothers, Huey and Riley Freeman, as they moved from the inner city to the suburbs known as Woodcrest. Throughout the comic strip and the animated series, The Boondocks blended political and social commentary through a wide range of exaggerated characters from Riley to Uncle Ruckus.

What isn’t known is whether or not the show will return to Adult Swim on the Cartoon Network. Also, it’s not clear whether Academy Award winner Regina King, who voiced both Huey and Riley, will return, though according to blackamericaweb.com, John Witherspoon will reprise his role as Granddad.

President Obama Pledges $4 Billion Toward Computer Science in Schools

By goodblacknews on January 30, 2016
Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The White House isn’t just relying on legislation to make computer science education a priority in the US. President Obama has launched a Computer Science for All initiative that gives states $4 billion in funding to expand computer science in K-12 schools through a mix of better course materials, partnerships and teacher training. The move also sends another $100 million directly to school districts, unlocks $135 million in funding from government organizations and gets further cooperation from both local governments as well as tech leaders.
Some of those leaders include companies that have already promised support for the President’s educational initiatives. Apple, Cartoon Network, Code.org, Facebook, Microsoft, Salesforce and Qualcomm are all widening their education efforts, investing in programs or both to help improve computer science in the country.
Throwing cash at a problem won’t make it go away, of course, and there aren’t any guarantees that the money will make a difference. However, the effort at least tackles one of the core issues head-on: getting computer science into schools in the first place. Roughly three quarters of schools go without any CS programs, and 22 states don’t accept these classes as credit toward a high school diploma. If the extra funding works as planned, it’ll get CS courses into more schools and help create a generation of kids that know how to code before they reach college.
article by Jon Fingas via engadget.com

Carl Jones' Animated Musical "The Wizard Of Watts" Airs Saturday on Cartoon Network, Takes on Police Brutality

By goodblacknews on January 5, 2015
“The Wizard of Watts,” an animated musical coming to Adult Swim on Saturday, tackles police brutality during a charged time. (Credit: Adult Swim) 

LOS ANGELES — “The Wizard of Watts,” a coming animated television musical, was conceived two years ago as a big, fat gob of raucous entertainment wrapped around a nugget of racial commentary.

Then, with the musical’s animation already far underway, Ferguson, Mo., became a flash point, starting a national debate about race, overzealous policing and the need for officers to wear body cameras. Then came the phrase “I Can’t Breathe” and the broader protest against police brutality.

Suddenly, “The Wizard of Watts,” with its devastated black neighborhoods and army of pigs, took on greater weight. How the musical will be received by viewers at a racially charged cultural moment is anyone’s guess. But when it arrives on Cartoon Network’s after-hours Adult Swim block on Saturday, “The Wizard of Watts” will at the very least become one of those eerie instances of art accidentally mirroring life.

The primary villain in the Magical Land of Oz-Watts, where the story takes place, is a vicious pig clad in riot gear. Water does not neutralize this Oz villain; instead this baddie gets melted with a camcorder. “Oh, no! Not an irrefutable visual record of my illegal actions!” the anthropomorphized pig wails as he turns to mush at the musical’s climax.

Even Carl Jones, the director of “The Wizard of Watts” and one of its writers, was surprised at hitting such a cultural bull’s-eye.

“I take pride in tackling things with my gloves off, but animation takes such a long time to produce that you usually don’t end up being all that current,” he said.

Mr. Jones had noticed on social media how African-Americans were increasingly using cellphone cameras as “protection from police, like as a weapon,” he said.

“Nobody was talking about it and so I decided we had to take it on,” he said.

“Young Justice” Producer Puts Black Superheroes Front and Center

By goodblacknews on September 30, 2012


When Greg Weisman and Brandon Vietti pitched the idea of an animated series about a group of superhero sidekicks, you could practically feel fan boys and girls around the world give them the collective side eye.   They needn’t have worried as Weisman was a seasoned pro; he created the 90′s cartoon classic “Gargoyles”  as well as writing for “Kim Possible” and “Spectacular Spider Man.”  Two years later, Weisman  is having the last laugh as “Young Justice” has quickly become the hottest property on Cartoon Network.