The streaming service Tubi launches its first exclusive adult animated series with ‘The Freak Brothers,’ a comedy series airing Sundays for a first season of eight episodes. The show is being produced by WTG Enterprises and is based on a 1960s underground “edgy” comic book.
The show’s synopsis is described as, “After smoking a magical strain of marijuana and falling asleep for 50 years, this adult animated series follows the three Freak Brothers and their sardonic cat as they adjust to life in 2020.”
Tubi said, “THE FREAK BROTHERS will headline Tubi’s first foray into adult animation, as it expands its adult humor collection in the coming months. The additional episodes from Season One will drop on Sundays, one every week, through the finale, Sunday, Dec. 26. The eight-episode series chronicles the escapades of a trio of stoner anti-establishment characters and their cat who wake up from a 50-year nap after smoking a magical strain of weed in 1969, and must adjust to life with a new family in present-day San Francisco.”
The show will also feature a stellar cast of voice actors from a variety of television shows and movies.
“Featuring an all-star voice cast that includes Woody Harrelson (“The Hunger Games” franchise, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”), Emmy Award and Golden Globe winner John Goodman (“The Big Lebowski,” “Monsters, Inc.”), Emmy Award and Grammy Award winner Tiffany Haddish (“Girls Trip,” “The Lego Movie 2”) and Pete Davidson (“Saturday Night Live,” “The King of Staten Island”), the series follows laid-back Freewheelin’ Franklin Freek (Harrelson), man-child Fat Freddy Freekowtski (Goodman), paranoid Phineas T. Phreakers (Davidson) and their sardonic cat, Kitty (Haddish),” Tubi continued.
They add, “THE FREAK BROTHERS is based on comic book legend Gilbert Shelton’s ‘The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers.’ Critiquing the Establishment, while satirizing counterculture at the same time, the comic sold more than 45 million copies in 16 languages and was hailed by The Comics Journal as ‘One of the 100 Greatest Comics of the Century.’ Starburns Industries and Pure Imagination Studios, the studios behind ‘Rick & Morty’ and ‘The Simpsons: Brick Like Me,’ handled the animation.”
‘The Freak Brothers’ Premiers As Tubi’s First Foray Into Adult Animation
John Cho Describes Working On ‘Cowboy Bebop’ Remake As “Scary”
‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ actor John Cho takes on the role of iconic character Spike Spiegel for the live-action Netflix remake of the iconic anime ‘Cowboy Bebop.’ He follows in the footsteps of Japanese voice actor Kōichi Yamadera and English dub performer Steve Blum for the original versions.
He described taking on the role as “scary as hell” ahead of its release, considering the massive fanbase. Cho discusses learning about the anime in an interview released by Netflix.
“I first learned about Cowboy Bebop through the very boring route of having it come through my agents, who sent me the script,” he said. “I had not heard of it before. I read the script for the first episode, and I was so impressed by it I said, “I have to look at the source material,” so I watched the anime. My mind was just blown. I was so impressed. The world is completely unique, completely inventive, funny, and high-stakes. I was fascinated by the setup and all the influences they were pulling from. This show is unlike anything I’ve personally seen in anime, and now live-action.”
Cho said, “It was scary as hell. None of us want to mess anything up, because people love this world and these characters so much. But at the end of the day, our excitement overrode our fear. I feel like visually it’s a very faithful adaptation. In terms of the characters, I feel like the goal was to keep viewers connected to the anime but also give them some surprises as well. The entire creative team balanced giving everyone what they liked about the original material, while throwing in things that no one will expect.”
“I think they did a really great job. We go deeper into the characters’ pasts, and they get more backstory. I will say that the music in this show is such an important piece, and when I heard the original anime composer Yoko Kanno was attached to our adaptation, it was a deal sealer for me,” he continued.
Netflix released their remake of ‘Cowboy Bebop’ on November 19th.
‘Platinum End’ English Dub Gets Picked Up By Funimation
‘Platinum End’ is a supernatural thriller manga written and illustrated by Tsugumi Ohba. Its original run started in November 2015 and ran through January 2021. It was picked up by the Japanese animation studio Signal.MD for an anime adaption that kicked off in October 2021. Originally, Crunchyroll began running the English dub, but Funimation recently announced that the show would run on their streaming service.
“If you’ve been waiting to jump into the thrilling suspense of Platinum End, we’re excited to announce that the series English dub is officially headed to Funimation on November 18 as part of the Fall 2021 anime season lineup,” they said on their website. “We’re just a few episodes into the Platinum End simulcast, and things are already getting intense for Mirai, Saki and their angel protectors as they duke it out with the other God Candidates in the latest anime from the creators of ‘Death Note.'”
They continued, “The English voice cast for the series include Alejandro Saab (Horimiya, The Irregular at Magic High School) as Mirai Kakehashi, Michaela Murphy as Nasse, Daman Mills (Dragon Ball Super, SK8 the Infinity) as Revel and Laura Post (Great Pretender, JUJUTSU KAISEN) as Saki Hanakago. The series voice-over is directed by David Walsh.”
You can check out the trailer below:
Wikipedia describes the synopsis, “Mirai Kakehashi is a young orphaned high school student who lives with his abusive aunt and uncle after the death of his parents. One day, Mirai decides he cannot take it anymore and attempts suicide, but is saved by a Guardian Angel called Nasse, who also gives Mirai special powers. Upon learning from Nasse that his aunt and uncle were responsible for the deaths of his father and mother, Mirai uses the powers that she bestowed to him in order to enact justice upon them.”
They added, “This is only the beginning of Mirai’s story, however, as Nasse soon after informs him that God will retire in 999 days and thirteen candidates to replace him were selected, one of which is Mirai. To make matters worse, not only is Mirai forced to take part in the contest to decide the next God, but some of the other candidates will do anything to win, including killing all of the other candidates as soon as possible. To combat these ruthless killers, Mirai forms an alliance with several candidates who share his goal: to win the contest without killing any other competitors.”
Funimation Announces ‘Ranking of Kings’ English Dub
‘Ranking of Kings’ is a fantasy coming-of-age manga created by Sōsuke Tōka. Starting in May 2017, it now has amassed eleven volumes and continues to run. Japanese animation company Wit Studio picked it up for an anime that launched in October 2021. Funimation announced that they had acquired the rights to produce an English dub for North American audiences.
“Bojji’s journey has begun! We’re excited to announce that the Ranking of Kings English dub is officially on its way to Funimation, which means there’s never been a more perfect time to jump into this beautiful adventure from WIT Studio and Aniplex,” Funimation said on their website. “Episode 1 of the Ranking of Kings English dub will arrive on Funimation, so if you haven’t met the young Prince Bojji or his shadow companion Kage just yet, you now have even more options to experience the magic!”
They continued, “The English voice cast for the series includes Emily Fajardo (Dr. STONE, FAIRY TAIL) as Bojji, SungWon Cho (RADIANT, Aggretsuko) as Kage, Justin Briner (My Hero Academia, Black Clover) as Daida and Luci Christian (My Hero Academia, One Piece) as Hiling.”
The rest of the cast includes Christopher Wehkamp, Cris George, Bryce Papenbrook, and Ben Phillips with Caitlin Glass serving as ADR Director.
You can watch the trailer below:
Here is the synopsis according to MyAnimeList,
“The people of the kingdom look down on the young Prince Bojji, who can neither hear nor speak. They call him “The Useless Prince” while jeering at his supposed foolishness.
However, while Bojji may not be physically strong, he is certainly not weak of heart. When a chance encounter with a shadow creature should have left him traumatized, it instead makes him believe that he has found a friend amidst those who only choose to notice his shortcomings. He starts meeting with Kage, the shadow, regularly, to the point where even the otherwise abrasive creature begins to warm up to him.
Kage and Bojji’s unlikely friendship lays the budding foundations of the prince’s journey, one where he intends to conquer his fears and insecurities. Despite the constant ridicule he faces, Bojji resolves to fulfill his desire of becoming the best king he can be.”
Super7’s Ultimates TMNT Figures To Get An Ultimate Party Wagon
Cowabunga, dudes! Super7 has released images of the radical new Turtle Party Wagon explicitly made for their Ultimates line of figures! This totally tubular version of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ street vehicle is large, in charge, and $450!
I know the price is a little Bogus, bros, but just check out all the sweet stuff you get with it! OK, I have to stop with the late ’80s lingo. I could feel my brain melting. It hurts.
This thing is quite large. The Party Wagon measures 20.25″ long, by 12.5″ wide, and is 13.8″ tall. The Ultimates Turtles themselves stand at 7″ in height. So, that will give you a little perspective. On top of the sheer size of the thing, it is also loaded with detail, like everything else in the Ultimates line. The Wagon should drop in the Fall of 2022.
- Room for six ULTIMATES!-scale figures
- Opening roof
- Functional opening front doors
- Swing-out “Foot Tenderizer” side door with integrated seat
- Safari-style clear windshields
- Swing-down windshield protective armor
- Rolling wheels with real rubber tires
- Accessible engine compartment
- Clear side and rear windows
- Removable Ooze Canister
- Removable Whacko Bombs x2
- Removable pizza-rims
- Removable boombox
- Removable radar dish
- Winch and tow hook with real steel chain
- Detailed interior, exterior, engine, and undercarriage sculpting
- 4x Turtle headwear accessories
- Helmet
- Welding helmet
- Flight goggles
- Sunglasses
- 7-piece tool set with toolbox
- Damaged Mouser
- Sticker sheet
That price is indeed steep, but from what I’ve seen come out of the Ultimates line, it is probably worth the cost. However, who is going to be playing with this thing? The figures alone are $55 a pop. Are there still super serious TMNT collectors out there who are dropping huge chunks of change on collectibles?
There’s no doubt that Super7’s Party Wagon beats the one I had as a kid for sure. We sent that thing down the stairs so many times that it eventually lost all the wheels and exterior accessories. Our Turtle Brothers partied hard, brah!
What do you think of the new Party Wagon? Let us know in the comments.
[Source: Super7]
Terry Pratchett’s Discworld To Live On With New Audiobooks
March 12th, 2015, was a sad day for fans of the Discworld. Terry Pratchett, the man who had spoofed so many fantasy tropes and real-life issues in his series of books, had passed away. Over the years, his works had been adapted into many types of media, from RPGs to video games, comic books, TV movies, and audiobooks.
New media based on the books was sparse over the past six years. We had that one series based on the Night Watch, but the less said about that, the better. I was getting used to the idea that Pratchett’s works would start to fade into obscurity, at least on this side of the pond. Then something sprouted up, a message over at TerryPratchettBooks.com.
Gather friends, for we have wonderful news! To celebrate 50 years of Terry Pratchett, we’re releasing 40 magnificent new recordings of the bestselling series in audio.
Even better, this is Discworld like you’ve never heard it before, with an incredible cast of names from British stage and screen taking on Terry’s unforgettable characters.
Yes! Oh, yes! New unabridged recordings of 40 Discworld books with a cast! So far, Bill Nighy, Indira Varma, Sian Clifford, Colin Morgan, Peter Serafinowicz, and Andy Serkis have been confirmed. Serafinowicz will voice DEATH. Varma, Clifford, and Morgan will act as narrators. Serkis’s role will be to read the entirety of Small Gods. Meanwhile, Nighy has the honor of voicing all of Terry Pratchett’s footnotes.
The new audiobooks will start popping off in April 2022! They’re currently available for pre-order from Audible. Here’s a list of the titles that are currently up for pre-purchase with the main character(s) of that book listed in the parentheses:
- Hogfather (Death)
- Equal Rites (Witches)
- Wyrd Sisters (Witches)
- Witches Abroad (Witches)
- Lords and Ladies (Witches)
- Maskerade (Witches)
- Carpe Jugulum (Witches)
- The Colour of Magic (Wizard)
- The Light Fantastic (Wizard)
- Sourcery (Wizard)
- Eric (Wizard)
- Interesting Times (Wizard)
- The Last Continent (Wizard)
- Unseen Academicals (Wizard)
- Small Gods
- Mort (Death)
- Reaper Man (Death)
- Soul Music (Death)
- Thief of Time (Death)
- The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents
What do you think of this news? Let us know in the comments section.
[Source:TerryPratchettBooks.com]
Jennifer Lawrence Dishes On ‘Don’t Look Up’
‘Red Sparrow’ star Jennifer Lawrence is just one of the larger cast of director Adam McKay’s Netflix disaster comedy ‘Don’t Look Up.’ She is joined by fellow Academy Award winners Leonardo DiCaprio and Meryl Streep in the film’s ensemble. The story follows a pair of scientists, played by Lawrence and DiCaprio who are trying to warn about the end of the world.
Lawrence recently opened up about the experience in an interview released by the streaming service.
“I’ve always wanted to work with Adam McKay, I’m a huge fan,” she said when asked when drew her to the project. “When I read the script, I thought it was genius. It’s maybe the funniest script I’ve ever read, and I thought it was such a poignant way to get such an important point across, that people don’t need to be fighting each other over science. We need to be fighting this collective war to save humanity together.”
When asked about working with McKay, said, “He’s a comedy writer so he’s just coming up with hilarious material as we’re going. It was so fun to get pitched one hilarious line after another.” She added, “There was a lot of improv in the film. Adam made us feel very free to move with whatever you’re feeling.”
Asked about preparing for the role, Lawrence replied, “I spoke to a brilliant astronomer named Amy Mainzer. I was mostly curious about what the world for a female astronomer looks like since they’re so outnumbered. That helped shape Kate’s personality, how she dresses, how she carries herself. I tried to learn about astronomy as well, but I don’t know how much of it I retained. Leo, of course, learned all of it.”
You can watch the trailer below:
‘Don’t Look Up’ is set to be released on December 10th in select theaters and will stream on Netflix on Christmas Eve.
The rest of the cast includes Rob Morgan, Jonah Hill, Mark Rylance, Tyler Perry, Ron Perlman, Timothée Chalamet, Ariana Grande, Scott Mescudi, and Cate Blanchett.
‘Kamen Rider Zero-One’ Is Getting A Blu-Ray DVD Release
‘Kamen Rider Zero-One’ is coming to North America for its first-time blu-ray DVD release that will feature the show’s entire run plus its spin-off film ‘REALxTIME’ and five special episodes.
Shout Factory said on their website, “In continued celebration of the landmark series’ 50th anniversary, Shout! Factory, in collaboration with Toei Company, Ltd., is proud to present a stunning Kamen Rider collection, KAMEN RIDER ZERO-ONE: THE COMPLETE SERIES with REALxTIME on national home entertainment shelves and digital January 25, 2022. Available for the first time in North America, this long-awaited 8-Disc Blu-ray set contains all 46 original action-packed episodes, the movie REALxTIME which completes the narrative of KAME RIDER ZERO-ONE series, and five special episodes.”
They added, “A must-have for collectors and dedicated pop-culture fans, pre-order is available now at ShoutFactory.com. Fans who order KAMEN RIDER ZERO-ONE: THE COMPLETE SERIES with REALxTIME Blu-ray set from Shout! Factory will receive an exclusive poster, while supplies last.”
The series follows, “Humagears (humanoid robots), created by the leading company for AI, Hiden Intelligence, serve humanity’s every convenience. But a cyber-terrorist organization begins hacking the Humagears in a conspiracy that turns them into monsters. Aruto Hiden has taken over at Hiden Intelligence, and along with the CEO’s post, he also takes over the responsibility for Kamen Rider Zero-One by using his company’s technology. Aruto tries to keep the peaceful world between humans and Humagears with his Humagear secretary, while A.I.M.S., a military squad, pursues the terrorists!”
You can watch the trailer below:
This incarnation of the hit Japanese series has been evolving since 1971 with the premiere of ‘Kamen Rider.’ A 1988 spin-off titled ‘Kamen Rider Black RX’ would make its way to American shores and be recut by Saban as ‘Masked Rider.’ In 2002, ‘Kamen Rider Ryuki’ also hit American airwaves as the CW adapted show ‘Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight.’
Swordfish II Kit From ‘Cowboy Bebop’ Is Pretty and Pretty Expensive
Need to wash the taste of the Netflix Cowboy Bebop remake out of your mouth? Well, scrounge up $404.99 and get ready to pre-order this replica of Spike Spiegel’s Swordfish II!
Big Bad Toy Store is currently taking pre-orders for the model kits. Good Smile Company will be producing a 1/48 scale replica of Spike’s lovely ship, but it won’t arrive until January 2023. I do not have any familiarity with GSC’s model kits. For the price, I’m hoping this thing exceeds the standards we see with companies like Bandai.
This 1/48 scale model features Spike Spiegel’s Swordfish II ship from the anime series Cowboy Bebop. Under the supervision of mechanical designer Kimitoshi Yamane, the unique design of the Swordfish II has been faithfully captured and features fully articulated parts, light-up elements, and highly detailed paint application.
Here are the details on the kid:
- Length: 14.17 inches (36cm)
- Width: 11.80 inches (30cm)
- Made of ABS and zinc alloy
- Articulated folding wings
- Landing gear can be displayed either retracted or deployed
- Swiveling ailerons
- Telescoping and swiveling plasma cannon
- Articulated air brake
- Removable cockpit unit
- Canopy can be opened and closed
- LED light effects
- Requires 3 LR44 (not included)
What do you think of the Swordfish II model? Worth the price or for $400? Should the thing come pre-assembled? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
[Source: Big Bad Toy Store]
‘Return to Hogwarts’ With HBO Max’s ‘Harry Potter’ Reunion Special
It has been twenty years since Harry Potter, and the Sorcerer’s Stone hit theatres? Holy crap! Well, I guess that makes the series officially retro now. But, of course, anything retro can be mined to the extreme! So HBO Max will be taking us back to wizarding school with the upcoming Return to Hogwarts reunion.
It will be interesting to see which stars think the franchise has helped or harmed their careers. The retrospective packed with cast and crew interviews will kickoff on the streaming service on January 1st, 2022.
Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson join filmmaker Chris Columbus and other esteemed cast members across all eight Harry Potter films as they travel back to Hogwarts for the first time to celebrate the anniversary of the franchise’s first film, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, which premiered 20 years ago today. The retrospective special Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts will tell an enchanting making-of story through all-new in-depth interviews and cast conversations, inviting fans on a magical first-person journey through one of the most beloved film franchises of all time.
Personally, I didn’t watch the first film until it hit DVD. For a couple of years before that, I worked in a book store and had my fill of Harry Potter. I liked the books well enough, but being in the South, we often had to deal with religious customers who demanded we remove the book series from the store. As a result, we had to kick many an angry Karen out during 1998 and 1999.
Yeah… I missed those days when vocal minorities had very little power over movies, TV, and every other form of creativity.
What are your first memories of the Harry Potter franchise on film? Did you see the first movie in theatres? Let us know in the comments section below.
[Source: HBO Max]
