ABC TV Australia has acquired Kaitangata Twitch, a mystery series based on Margaret Mahy’s stories of the Maori culture. The series will match live action with Animation Research’s CG animation. Similar to Dora the Explorer and Ni Hao Kai-Lan, the show will deal with family roots and balances of culture, as Mahy herself saw her European New Zealand background and her part-Maori family, showing users how to find their identity. Lenz Entertainment owns the international distribution rights to the series, and will serve as our best chance to get the show here in the States! (more… )

Amberwood Entertainment just made a bunch of Australian fans happy when it signed a deal with the country’s Network Ten to bring the CGI animated series RollBots to the network. The channel hopes to debut the series this fall, September 28th, during the Toasted TV block. Afterward, lucky fans can look forward to the show 4 times every week.

For those ToonBarners out there in Australia and New Zealand who also happen to be fans of Digimon Data Squad, it looks like today is your day!  Toei Animation Inc. has signed up with Wild Pumpkin International to start cranking out new merchandise based on the animated series.  Toys, shirts, the whole deal!  Stuff should be hitting stores later this year, so let us know when you find it!

(more… )

As promised, Disney XD recently debuted Kid vs. Kat, a new animated series from Studio B Production. The series has already appeared on YTV in Canada, and ABC in Australia. Have any of you seen it yet? What do you think? We’d love to hear a review from the fans!! (more… )

Nickelodeon Australia has announced six animated short films will hit its network over the course of 2009.  The animated movies will air during the first half of the year, between now and July.

(more… )

All of our kangaroo-riding friends will soon be able to watch Cartoon Network’s live-action CGI animated movie, Ben 10: Race Against Time.  The made for TV movie premieres in the Asia Pacific this month on Cartoon Network’s Australia/New Zealand and Philippines channels September 20th.  On September 26th, it will appear on channels in the Southeast Asia region.  This will be the first time ever Cartoon Network will be shown in Bahasa Malaysia,  the official language of Malaysian regions.  The movie will also be shown in English and Mandarin languages, via their Astro service.