It’s been 17 long years since we’ve had a live-action TMNT flick on the big screen. Back in the early 1990s, the films were rapid-fire; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles hit in 1990, the sequel The Secret of the Ooze debuted in 1991, and then Turtles in Time in 1993. Since then, nothing. Sure, there was that cool CG Turtles flick from a few years back, and Turtles Forever, the made-for-theaters-no-wait-TV film from last year, but no live-action adventure in nearly two decades. However, with Nickelodeon grabbing the property from 4Kids, there’s been almost non-stop “live action movie” rumors. Whether that was through Michael Bay, or the latest buzz regarding the Paramount and Platinum Dunes production; that Art Marcum and Matt Holloway are behind it, the same folks who gave us Marvel’s Iron Man. Maybe all hope is not lost? If it happened, would you head to theaters with your three best, pizza-loving friends day one to check it out?

http://toonbarn.com/2010/06/michael-bay-producing-teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-reboot/

Sym-Bionic Titan is ready to smash around and kick some giant butt. The original series, which mixes traditional animation with some neat-o special effects, will hit Cartoon Network on September 17th. Created by Genndy Tartakovsky, the brains behind Dexter’s Laboratory and Samurai Jack, the show features three alien teens with three iconic forms: a warrior, a princess, and a robot. After crash landing on Earth, the trio (Lance, Ilana, and Octus) fights the evil forces of General Modula, using Galalunian armor whenever in battle -- and the latest trends when attending high school. What a mix! Check out some scenes of the toon in action, and be sure to TOON in Friday, September 17th for the debut!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Da7_ydJOHs

Those of you with AT&T U-verse are about to get a brand new, 24 hours-a-day, 7 days-a-week network filled with cartoons, as Vme launches Vme Kids. The network prominently features animation across the board, with toons new and old joining in for the fun, and all completely for a Spanish audience. The shows include Dibo, Los Difraces de Dougie (Dougie in Disguise), Bruno y los amigos Banana (Bruno & the Banana Bunch), Los Supernumeros (Numberjacks), and Cinco Minutos Mas (Five Minutes More), LazyTown, Jim de la Luna, Musti, 7 Pets, Pororo and Connie la Vaquita (Connie the Cow), amongst others. Me gusto!

Taran, Princess Eilonwy, Fflewddur Fflam, and Gurgi had a plan. Sure, that plan involved saving the known universe, retrieving the enchanted and mythical Black Cauldron, and defeating the horrifically evil Horned King, but… it was a plan, all the same. On the small farm of Caer Dallben, Taran is just a mere Pigkeeper -- an assistant pig keeper, to be precise. Suddenly, one day while Taran is daydreaming of becoming a noble hero, he has to do just that! When his boss Hen Wen is kidnapped by the villainous Horned King, it’s up to Taran to put a stop to it -- meeting up with Princess Eilonwy, Fflewddur Fflam, and Gurgi along the way. Facing witches, elves, magic swords, and the Cauldron itself, the group learns what it really means to be a hero. Fun story right? Disney certainly thought so, as the House of Mouse plans to release The Black Cauldron: 25th Anniversary Special Edition next week, September 14th. Check out the trailer

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kI3esiWWi-s

Two golf course groundskeepers, Mordecai and Rigby are an odd set of pals. Mordecai is a blue jay and Rigby is a racoon, but despite their differences, the two are best friends looking to entertain themselves by any means. Meanwhile, they also love getting on the nerves of Benson, the gumball machine, while palling around with Skips, a Yeti, and Pops, a lollipop headed man. Oh, and by the way, this is all featured in a toon on Cartoon Network that they call “Regular Show” -- does any of this sound regular to you?? You be the judge; TOON in to Cartoon Network tonight (Monday, September 6th) for the series premiere at 8:15pm. Check it out and let us know what you think!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOs1KdD3FQg

Regular Show was created by J.G. Quintel (famous for work on The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack)

Flator, Squeeker, Airbrain, Sparky, Bouncer and Leaky; the Balloonatiks fully assembled. The CG animated series has been going strong for some time now, featuring an impressive voice cast that includes Mark Hamill, Debi Derryberry, and Billy West. Animagic Entertainment Group, the folks (airheads?) behind the toon (balloon toon?) have now announced that the entire run will be collected in a DVD package, set to release on October 18th. The package, called Balloonatiks: The Collector’s Set, will be chock full of helium goodness, featuring the team on adventures in Hot Air City, for a popping good time. Well, popping would probably be a bad time, so none of that, then. And hey, Ghostbusters fans should take note that Ray Parker Jr. performs the Balloonatiks theme song.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDLjCh_t7fQ

Last year, Disney came to the DVD world and presented Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure, a CG animated adventure staring Tinker Bell of Peter Pan fame. Now, the House of Mouse is ready to debut the all-new and original sequel, Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue, from the very same DisneyToon Studios. The story revolves around Tinker Bell, a fairy creation of J. M. Barrie in his play, The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up. And while we, as an animated audience, were first introduced to Tink in Walt Disney’s Peter Pan, the Great Fairy Rescue tells a story of Tink meeting her first ever human, Lizzy, and how the entire fairy legion of Pixie Hollow had to come together to save her. With just a few weeks until the September 21st launch, we can hardly wait to find out what happens!

Voice cast:
- Mae Whitman – Tinker Bell
- Raven-Symone – Iridessa
- Lucy Liu – Silvermist
- Kristin Chenoweth – Rosetta
- Angela Bartys – Fawn
- Jesse McCartney – Terence
- Pamela Adlon – Vidia
- Michael Sheen – Dr. Griffiths
- Jeff Bennett – Clank
- Rob Paulsen – Bobble
- Faith Prince – Mrs. Perkin
- Lauren Mote – Lizzy

Whatcha got planned for the Labor Day holiday tomorrow? Swimming? Grilling? Catching up on early homework? Catching up on late summer reading? Well, whatever it is, make sure you save a bit of time for toons! And if you make your way over to PBS Kids, that will include all new episodes from the fifth season of Curious George, the curious little monkey. New this season is George’s friend Marco, ready to introduce George to Hispanic culture -- not that different from Nickelodeon’s Dora the Explorer, or even Ni-Hao Kai-Lan for Chinese culture. Created by Margret and H.A. Rey, Curious George is celebrating his 70th birthday next year, so lets get the party started by TOONing in now!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6lQ6pnLHpI

Ninja = cool. Chubby = insult. Chubby Ninja = a ridiculously fun game. It’s not exactly perfect math or anything (sorry, Adventure Time, nothing Algebraic here) but the results are good with us! The goal of this game is to jump and fight through the Cave of Trials to become a Ninja Master. As if you didn’t already have enough inspiration to become a Ninja Master, now the flash games are telling you to do so! Well, who are we to argue with destiny – let’s sit down and play this game now!

As the summer wanes, one of our favorite things to do here at the ToonBarn offices is take a few minutes to sit outside in the sun, watching the bugs toil away on the grass or sidewalk. But, what if the bugs weren’t toiling, but rather preparing to launch an all out war on one another, complete with bases and soldiers and defensive strategies? OK, maybe that’s a bit too far gone, but… hey, here’s this game you can play that sorta lives out that dream! Deploy an army of beetles to defend your donut base!

Ben has a pretty cool gig. I mean, he’s had, what, three shows so far? Ben 10, Ben 10: Alien Force, and Ben 10: Ultimate Alien. He’s had specials, movies, live-action segments, great LEGO toys, and all kinds of products. But one of the only ways to truly get a sense of just how cool it is to live Ben Tennyson’s life is to get your hands on a Ben 10 video game. Papaya Studio, Cartoon Network, D3 Publisher, and the rest of the folks behind the latest gaming adventure, Ben 10 Ultimate Alien: Cosmic Destruction, had that specific goal in mind -- and it appears the goal was achieved! The game, due out in just a month, on October 5th, features 17 playable characters, including normal aliens, ultimate aliens, and Ben, himself — Fourarms and Rath will appear in special editions. Be sure to check out the trailer right here in this post, then pick the game up for whatever platform you have: PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PSP, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, or Nintendo Wii.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMYsrEYxMN4

The film’s release date is September 17th. Today’s date is September 3rd. There’s a difference between the two, see? Well, it’s possible some theaters missed that little detail — that, or Lionsgate just wanted to give some fans a two-week early sneak peek at their CG animated film, Alpha and Omega. The wolf-based love story has it’s long awaited National release set for Friday, September 17th, but a number of ToonBarners have emailed us to say their local theater is running the flick tonight — you might want to check yours, in case you’re in for the same bonus! If anything, it’d be an easier task for you to find that out than it will be for Humphrey, the Omega, to get Kate, the Alpha, to notice him. But, if it weren’t a struggle, I guess it wouldn’t be a movie!

Alpha and Omega cast:
Hayden Panettiere as Kate
Justin Long as Humphrey
Christina Ricci as Lilly
Dennis Hopper as Tony
Danny Glover as Winston

The Smurfs; lovable, joyful little critters who gleefully sing the day away. Seems like the perfect little symbol of happiness, right? Well, now imagine that one of them is all twisted and evil and bitter – and most alarmingly, a blue-less purple. Then he bites another Smurf, turning him the same kind of evil and purple. Then another. And another. Soon, it’s a whole horde of zombie-like evil Smurfs, aiming to take over all of Smurfkind. Horrifying, right?? Well, such is the tale of The Purple Smurf, or as it was originally known in France, Les Schtroumpfs Noirs. It’s an epidemic even Gargamel couldn’t have dreamed up, and one only Papa Smurf could figure a way out of. The original story was released by Peyo, nearly 50 years ago, then animated in the Saturday morning toon some 20 years ago, and replayed on Cartoon Network’s Boomerang about 5 years ago. Now, Papercutz is re-releasing the original graphic novel in English for the first time, along with other Smurf adventures, like The Smurfs and the Magic Flute. With Sony and Columbia’s hybrid CG Smurfs movie due out next August, it looks like Smurf fever is spreading everywhere! Let’s just hope its not the purple kind.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2JN4iQUpEQ

Interested in some Ben 10 Omnitrix Omelets? Maybe some Generator Rex Ravioli? Flapjack flapjacks makes sense, as does Chowder’s chowder, but what about Powerpuff Pastries? Clone Wars Scone Wars? I know, I know, the more terrible the pun, the more delicious the item! That’s exactly what BHS has in mind as they ink a partnership with Turner CN Enterprises to bring Cartoon Networks Kids Corner to their restaurants. There, folks will get to order from a cartoon-based menu, featuring some of Cartoon Network’s biggest stars, like Ben 10, Justice League Unlimited, Adventure Time, Total Drama, Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, Scooby-Doo and more. …now I’m hungry AND I want to watch cartoons!!

As if getting Epic Mickey wasn’t already one of the coolest wishes a video gamer could have; now Disney has announced that there will be a special, limited edition version of the game! The package, officially titled the Epic Mickey Collector’s Edition, features a number of exclusives above and beyond the “regular” offering. Some of the neato bonuses include: a collectible, vinyl Epic Mickey figure, a special edition DVD with behind the scenes footage of the game’s creation, an Epic Mickey Stylized Wii Remote Faceplate, and two Epic Mickey Stylized Wii Console skins. Oh, in addition to the Nintendo Wii exclusive game, of course. I want, I want!!