‘Trolls,’ ‘She-Ra,’ and ‘The Boss Baby’ Among 6 New Dreamworks Shows For Netflix
Dreamworks Animation Television is producing six new shows for Netflix, joining the 12 series that Dreamworks has already made for the subscription streaming service.
The six new projects are all set to debut in 2018.
The series are part of the massive deal signed between the two companies back in 2013, in which Dreamworks agreed to produce 300 hours of original animated programming for Netflix.
Among the six new series, three projects are based on recent animated features (Trolls, The Boss Baby, Captain Underpants), and two are reboots of vintage properties that Dreamworks owns through its acquisition of Classic Media. The sixth series is a continuation of an original creation, Guillermo del Toro’s Trollhunters.
Among the more intriguing projects in the announcement is a revamp of the boardroom-conceived Eighties kids’ series She-Ra. The updated Dreamworks version notably has a female showrunner, and not just anyone but an award-winning comic creator: Noelle Stevenson of Lumberjanes and Nimona fame, the latter of which is set up as a feature at Fox’s Blue Sky Studios. It will be interesting to see how a singular artist like Stevenson re-interprets and brings new layers of meaning to a vintage toy-based property.
Here are the new shows, with information provided by Dreamworks:
DreamWorks Trolls: The Beat Goes On!
Picking up where the film left off, the Netflix original series is an all-new chapter in the the endlessly upbeat adventures of the Trolls as Poppy, Branch and all of Troll Village keep the party going in their fantastical forest home. Executive produced by Matthew Beans (Robot Chicken), the series features Skylar Astin (Pitch Perfect 1 and 2) and Amanda Leighton (This Is Us, The Fosters) as the voices of Branch and Poppy with original songs written and produced by Alana Da Fonseca (Pitch Perfect 3). The series will premiere exclusively January 19, 2018 on Netflix in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, the Nordics, Benelux and France.
She-Ra
From Eisner Award-winning author and executive producer Noelle Stevenson (Lumberjanes, Nimona) comes a modern take on the ’80s girl power icon for a new generation of young fans. The trailblazing property originally debuted in 1985 to satisfy overwhelming demand for a female lead fantasy series. With Stevenson’s unique voice at the helm, fans are in store for an epic and timely tale that celebrates female friendship and empowerment, lead by a warrior princess tailor made for today. The series will be available to Netflix members worldwide in 2018.
The Boss Baby: Back in Business
Boss Baby, with the help of his big brother and partner-in-crime Tim, continues to navigate the cutthroat corporate jungle gym of Baby Corp, while angling to achieve the near-impossible: the work-life balance of a modern career baby. From Emmy-winning executive producer Brandon Sawyer (Penguins of Madagascar), the series will be available to Netflix members worldwide in 2018.
Harvey Street Kids
From its never-ending games of kickball to the infinite flavors of its ice cream truck to the greatest climbing tree in the universe, every day on Harvey Street feels like a Saturday. And that’s largely thanks to the Harvey Girls – Audrey, Lotta, and Dot – the block’s self-appointed guardians and the world’s bestest BFFs. They will do whatever it takes to keep Harvey Street the best block to never grow up on and transform every afternoon into a wild adventure. From executive producer Brendan Hay (Dawn of the Croods, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart) and Emmy-nominated supervising producer Aliki Theofilopoulos (Phineas & Ferb, Descendants: Wicked World), the series will be available to Netflix members worldwide in 2018.
The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants
Based on the epic books by Dav Pilkey, DreamWorks The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants follows the adventures of George Beard and Harold Hutchins, two best friends who’ve bonded through their love of pranking, comic books and being the thorns in Principal Krupp’s side. Their fun gets them mixed up in adventures crazier than their outrageous comic books, which is when they call on their greatest creation: Captain Underpants! From Peabody Award and Emmy-winning executive producer Peter Hastings (Animaniacs, Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness), the series will be available to Netflix members worldwide in 2018.
Trollhunters (Part 3) and 3 Below (Second installment of Tales of Arcadia Trilogy)
DreamWorks Trollhunters Part 2, from Guillermo del Toro, premieres on Netflix, on Friday, Dec. 15, with a third and final chapter of the Emmy-winning series set to debut in 2018. 3 Below, the second series in the previously announced Tales of Arcadia trilogy, will premiere in late 2018 and feature two royal teenage aliens and their bodyguard who flee a surprise takeover of their home planet by an evil dictator and crash land in Arcadia. Now on the run from intergalactic bounty hunters, they struggle to blend in and adapt to the bizarre world of high school all the while attempting to repair their ship so they can return and defend their home planet. A final chapter, Wizards, is set to debut in 2019.
DreamWorks Trollhunters is created and executive produced by Guillermo del Toro with Marc Guggenheim (Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow), Rodrigo Blaas (Alma) and Chad Hammes (Dragons: Race to the Edge) and Christina Steinberg (Rise of the Guardians) serving as executive producers. Dan and Kevin Hageman (The Lego Movie, Ninjago) serve as co-executive producers.
