Fantastic Four New Animated Series

Fantastic Four Get Animated in 2006
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
October 5, 2004

The Hollywood Reporter says Marvel Enterprises has signed a deal with France's Antefilms Productions to produce an animated TV series based the Fantastic Four comic book characters. The deal is expected to be announced today at the MIPCOM international TV sales convention in Cannes.

The trade says the companies would produce 26 half-hour episodes targeted for premiere in the United States and other countries in late 2006.

The series is envisioned as another prong in the elaborate campaign to revive Marvel's Fantastic Four franchise that will kick off in July with the release of the live-action feature from 20th Century Fox.

😱 yay!!

I just hope it is alot more faithful to the comics than the new movie and that the animation isn't done like the new Batman cartoon either.

I hate it when they make new series, it always sucks. The old F4 cartoon was perfect in every way, why not just pick up on that?

Same goes for batman, which i loathe and despise will all my heart.

Originally posted by Ponem
I hate it when they make new series, it always sucks. The old F4 cartoon was perfect in every way, why not just pick up on that?

Same goes for batman, which i loathe and despise will all my heart.

I agree completely. They always "think" they know what the people want in a series.

Originally posted by TheFilmProphet
I agree completely. They always "think" they know what the people want in a series.

nah, they're not that ignorant. Problem is; back in the day they were making this for the comic fans, who were very large in number. At least 2 to 3 times as big as now. So they packed a waaaay bigger punch.

Current day; they're making it for kids, not specific groups, the rise of stuff like Fox kids and Cartoon network has dumbed down the general kiddie rating capabillity, and they will like everything with nifty special effects. Like "The Batman' which is a HUGE succes among 8 to 14 year olds.

Its no longer about the fans, just the money and the group that packs the most power, the kids. The creator of "the batman" even said it himself. WB does not care if none of the comic readers like it, its not aimed at them.

also; Check meh reply in the F4 movie thread 🙂

Originally posted by Ponem
nah, they're not that ignorant. Problem is; back in the day they were making this for the comic fans, who were very large in number. At least 2 to 3 times as big as now. So they packed a waaaay bigger punch.

Current day; they're making it for kids, not specific groups, the rise of stuff like Fox kids and Cartoon network has dumbed down the general kiddie rating capabillity, and they will like everything with nifty special effects. Like "The Batman' which is a HUGE succes among 8 to 14 year olds.

Its no longer about the fans, just the money and the group that packs the most power, the kids. The creator of "the batman" even said it himself. WB does not care if none of the comic readers like it, its not aimed at them.

also; Check meh reply in the F4 movie thread 🙂

Yeah once again I agree. I remember the old X-Men series being like the X-Men comic books come to life and the same goes for the rest of the shows. The old X-Men series was successful because the creators themselves said it was directed towards teenagers. A great comic book animated TV series is very faithful and targeted at teens and adults. The old X-Men series was brave enough to show praying and death in their show with and until now it has yet to be matched. X-Men:Evolution and the new Batman series are directed at little kids who don't know any better. Their main goal is to profit off of the comic book films being made and nothing more. They don't mind killing the character's image and how he/she is viewed in the process.

Well i think its about time Marvel set about making new series for their old ones. New Hulk, Xmen, F4 and maybe the Avengers or SS. They cant be that bad i mean, in the old cartoons the animation was a bit craptacular and the sfx were just horrible. Personaly i cant wait to see F4 revamped and hopefuly many more marvel cartoons.

i read of an avengers animated movie coming out straight to dvd, so far i've read its teen related and the writers are keeping it as close to the comic as possible, but we wont really know for sure till it comes out

a fantastic four cartoon is just being made for the rise of the fantastic four movie, just as the batman aired a few weeks ago with the movie being ready for next year, same happened with xmen:evolution, but nothing happened for the hulk heheh

i remember an old SS cartoon that i thought was pretty cool because its a character i always wanted to see in a cartoon, it was pretty good but i dont know if it followed the comics or not, either way it bombed and was off the air that same year 😖hifty:

Yea the SS cartoon was good, his origin and where he came from was the same. And Thanos was in a few episodes!

Yeah SS was great but it was cancelled after only 13 episodes. They never got the 14th episodes they originally planned or a season finale. I actually read the script for the 14 episode and it was really good. The Reruns were never shown either.

sadly enough, yeah 🙁

i was so angry when they took it off, because it was so good and i guess other kids didnt like it much, but even spiderman 2099 got more run time and i thought that sucked compared to SS

Originally posted by Havoc470
sadly enough, yeah 🙁

i was so angry when they took it off, because it was so good and i guess other kids didnt like it much, but even spiderman 2099 got more run time and i thought that sucked compared to SS

Actually Spider-Man Unlimited didn't get much more run time on TV either. It had less than 20 episodes made. Although the reruns for Spider-Man Unlimited still air today. I still don't understand why there was NEVER any SS reruns, since most of the Marvel cartoons at the time were made by Saban Entertainment.

topic please

Originally posted by Paola
topic please

Sorry about straying off with Spider-Man. But SS or Silver Surfer is in some ways a part of FF. His first appearance as a comic book character was with FF and has been with them since the very start. He will undoubtfully be featured in the new cartoon as well. So SS is not off-topic but Spider-Man is so sorry for that.

it ok

5:39pm (UK)
Marvel to Produce Fantastic Four Animated Television Series with Antefilms Productions

"PA"

Business Editors/Entertainment Editors

NEW YORK – (BUSINESS WIRE) – Oct. 6, 2004 – Marvel Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE:MVL):

– Animated Series Based On Marvel’s Legendary Super Hero Team To Be Available For Worldwide Distribution In Fall 2006

–– New TV Series Part of Marvel’s Aggressive Strategy To Maximize

Exposure For Its Characters Worldwide

Marvel Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE: MVL), a global entertainment

licensing company, announced today that it has entered into an agreement with acclaimed France-based animation leader Antefilms Productions, to produce a brand new animated television series based on Marvel’s popular property, The Fantastic Four. Under the terms of the agreement, Antefilms will commence production immediately on 26, thirty-minute 2D/3D animated episodes. The initial episodes are expected to be completed for worldwide distribution in late-2006. The announcement was made by Avi Arad, Chairman and CEO Marvel Studios and Christophe Di Sabatino, Chairman of Antefilms Productions.

The deal, spearheaded by Marvel’s London office, will drive consistent, high-profile exposure and excitement for The Fantastic Four franchise worldwide. This is part of Marvel’s aggressive strategy to fully support its characters through feature films, DVDs, video games, merchandising and television animation.

The deal teams Marvel with an award-winning, cutting-edge animation company with proven success both domestically and internationally. Two of Antefilms’ current series – Code Lyoko and Funky Cops – are currently broadcast successfully on Cartoon Network and Fox Box, respectively, in the United States.

“Marvel is firmly committed to strongly support its characters in all relevant entertainment arenas throughout the world. We are especially excited that The Fantastic Four TV animation will follow the release of our 2005 feature film with 20th Century Fox, and that we are able to work with such a great animation company as Antefilms to make this happen,“ said Mr. Arad.

Bruno Maglione, President, Marvel International, added, “Marvel has ambitious plans in animation and we are interested in working with some of the top animation companies emerging out of Europe and Asia. We are especially impressed by Antefilms’ work and are delighted to have them on board for The Fantastic Four.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Antefilms Productions will fund all of the development costs for the Series. Antefilms will produce the content while both companies will oversee the overall creative direction. Marvel will control the U.S. television and subsequent DVD distribution rights, while Moonscoop (Antefilms’ distribution brand) will handle sales in the rest of the world.

Christophe Di Sabatino, Chairman of Antefilms Production and Nicolas Atlan, Vice President and Executive Producer of Antefilms Production said: “We are very excited about helping adapt the adventures of The Fantastic Four for television. Themes of honor, adventure, family and exploration are just as relevant for kids today as when the comics were first published and we are delighted to be working with Marvel to bring these Super Heroes to a new audience.”

The Antefilms deal is the latest major animation announcement between Marvel and a proven industry leader. Earlier this year, Marvel entered into a landmark agreement with Lion’s Gate Entertainment to produce and distribute a series of direct-to-DVD animated features starring some of the most popular characters from the Marvel Universe.

With a library of over 4,700 proprietary characters, Marvel Enterprises, Inc. is one of the world’s most prominent character-based entertainment companies. Marvel’s operations are focused in three areas: licensing and entertainment (Marvel Studios), comic book publishing and toys (Toy Biz). Marvel facilitates the creation of entertainment projects, including feature films, DVD/home video, video games and television programming based on its characters and also licenses its characters for use in a wide range of consumer products and services including apparel, collectibles, snack foods and promotions. Marvel’s characters and plot lines are created by its publishing segment that continues to expand its leadership position in the U.S. and worldwide while also serving as an invaluable source of intellectual property.

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