toon-randy-talks-toons

Sam from 50/50 Heroes

It took me forever to bring the news here (I talked about in on Bluesky in January), but the remnants of what was 80 percent of Cyber Group Studios has been purchased by its co-founder Pierre Sissmann and a partner, Grégoire Parcollet of fellow French studio Euro Visual, best known for The Bellflower Bunnies and Atout 5; and Cyber Group was then folded into Euro Visual, with Euro Visual taking on Cyber Group's identity (as evident on its website)!

Kidscreen and Satellifacts reported on the news January 21-22 (both require subscriptions to view their articles).

Around the time of the Cyber Group-Euro Visual merger Italian studio Graphilm, which was acquired by Cyber Group in 2022, announced that they became a fully independent studio once again and acquired The McFire Family, a series Cyber Group was developing right before its closure, as well as full control of Alex Player and Nefertine on the Nile. British studio A Productions, another studio Cyber Group had held a stake in and is known for My Friend Maisy, has also became fully independent.

On Euro Visual's website, the former Cyber Group Studios productions they now have in its portfolio are: Guess What?, Manon, Zou, Gigantosaurus, Mirette Investigates, The Pirates Next Door, Sadie Sparks, Press Start!, 50/50 Heroes, Taffy, and Zorro: The Chronicles. Former Cyber Group series listed as in development or production are: Gigantosaurus (season 4) and 50/50 Heroes (season 2).

...a blog series putting the spotlight of lesser-known, overlooked and upcoming spooky animated series for kids! It's something I want to do that's based on a tweet that went viral discussing the lack of scary 'toons over the last several years -- from the U.S. at least -- as well as my own series of posts on Twitter and Bluesky discussing them. I hope I'll have fun doing this and you'll have fun reading them as well -- spooky fun!

Also, if you have opinions, thoughts, or even hot takes about animation/cartoons, I'm happy to hear from you! Ask away if you wish! My inbox is even open to those who wish to be anonymous!

Since its debut on Halloween 2019, Boy Girl Dog Cat Mouse Cheese from time to time received negative pushback -- mainly due to its title alone (and sometimes its premise).

However, the Irish-American-French co-production later appeared in many countries around the world and became successful enough that, as of this post, tallied at three seasons (series) and 156 episodes!

Yours truly watched some episodes and I found it to be charming and just good fun! It's understandable that the series isn't everyone's tea -- I'm just happy that it exists. And although the third season concluded in November 2024 through CBBC, there's no news whether the series will continue. If it's confirmed that it doesn't, I'll be a bit sad but will acknowledge that it had a great run.

Also...I would always like to think that the success of BGDCMC has contributed to more original Euro 'toons being created, with its crew or studio(s) also working or having worked on these!

Meet CBeebies' newest star Rafi Martin! Rafi the Wishing Wizard casts its spell for the first time Monday, Feburary 16, with loads of LGBTQ+ representation!

Mercury Filmworks and the Danish-French studio Sun Creature are working on an animated adaptation of the Argentine comic strip Macanudo, created by Liniers!

King Features will represent the series as they're already the worldwide distributor of the comic strip (they also represented The Cuphead Show!)

All the studios involved are aiming for a 2027-28 release and will present the series at Annecy next month 🙂

Macanudo isn't the only Argentinian comic to get an animated adaptation as Netflix announced in 2024 that they're producing an adaptation of Mafalda! Also, the Macanudo comics have been collected and published in the U.S. in a series of books by Fantagraphics :)

In September 2024, after a month of insolvency declared by Jetpack, CAKE Distribution, also based in London, purchased its assets. Series formerly with Jetpack are now represented by CAKE. CAKE is known for the Total Drama franchise, Space Chickens in Space, Jorel's Brother, and others.

As with Cyber Group, I also thank Jetpack for bringing to us many great series!

ICYW, my first Jetpack series I watched was Kitty is Not a Cat!

It's official: Cyber Group Studios is being liquidated to pay back its creditors by court order, it has been reported today.

The French animation outfit suddenly found itself into financial trouble starting in October 2024 and declared itself insolvent. Between then and today (April 28), Cyber Group welcomed several buyout deals to save the company; the company's higher-ups favored a buyout from one company, but the Paris Commercial Court ordered Cyber Group into liquidation in what I'm sure is a serious blow.

Gigantosaurus, one of Cyber Group's biggest hit series

It has been known that some parts within the animation industry has been experiencing a downturn -- not too long ago, fellow French studio TeamTO (Jade Armor, Elena of Avalor, My Knight and Me) also struggled financially and has since bought out by Italy-based RIVA Studios.

While I have already known about Cyber Group's struggles and saw this coming, I'm still bummed by this. It had become of my favorite animation studios and they have contributed to animation a great deal, even though a lot of the series they have produced weren't household names.

Ernest & Rebecca, an adaption of the graphic novel series of the same name

The first Cyber Group series I watched is Sadie Sparks. A few of the people in my friend group are fans of the series. I started watching it in 2023 -- I haven't gone beyond the first 5-10 episodes since ;P -- and it was a good series! Although it lasted only a single season, it left a good impression on me and I started to become interested in Cyber Group!

Sadie Sparks, a series blending 2D and CGI animation

And then came 50/50 Heroes.

50/50 Heroes: Half-siblings, half-superheroes!

My goodness, this series! I loved it so much, and I have mentioned how sweet this series is for something that's superhero related! Not to mention doggone hilarious and with awesome animation! I haven't completed the series yet, but I have to watch the rest soon.

Taffy: While I haven't seen this series yet, it does kinda reminds me of Tom & Jerry!

Cyber Group made and/or distributed a bunch of shows that I want to see: among them are Taffy, Ernest & Rebecca, The Pirates Next Door, Zak Jinks, Droners, Press Start! and others I may have forgotten!

The Pirates Next Door, based on a series of picture books first published in the U.K.

In the last several months leading to its liquidation, Cyber Group debuted Press Start! for Peacock in the U.S. (you can also find full episodes on YouTube), and Alex Player in France and Italy (no news for an English language dub yet but since the company is no longer existing it now seems unlikely).

Press Start!, based on the children's book series

Alex Player

Cyber Group still had several original series in development until its demise, including Hoodie Buddy, Yum Yum, Erica and Trevor vs. Spooky Monsters, and The Tern; and adaptations of Final Fantasy IX, Masters of the Unicorns, and Monster in My Pocket. Production of new episodes of its hit series Gigantosaurus was already under way, a third season of Taffy was in development, and I've heard rumors of a second season of 50/50 Heroes being developed around the 'net, but nothing has come out it. It is currently unknown whether existing IP or series in development would be purchased by other companies. Cyber Group has also distributed several of their series to YouTube and some free streaming services -- it's also currently unknown what will the future be for those.

Cyber Group Studios may be gone, but I'm hoping that other animation studios -- and especially animation studios in France -- continue to be in solid footing and do what they do best -- entertaining millions around the world and contributing to the great art that is animation.