Warner Bros. Working on a New Animated Scooby-Doo Film

The characters as they appear in Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated.

Variety reports that Warner Bros. are developing a new Scooby-Doo feature film - an animated one, as opposed to the live-action/CG hybrid films of the early 2000s. The film is apparently being made with Atlas Entertainment, and being produced by Charles Roven (Man of Steel) and Richard Suckle (American Hustle), who both also produced the aforementioned live-action films starring Freddie Prinze Jr. and Sarah Michelle Gellar. Matt Lieberman (the upcoming Short Circuit) is scripting.

WWE to Produce Straight-to-DVD Animated Flintstones Film. Yes, Really.

Warner Bros. announced today that they were partnering up with, get this, WWE to produce a new straight-to-DVD and Blu-ray animated Flintstones movie, starring a cast of wrestlers, including John Cena and CM Punk. The irony being that John Cena recently replaced Fred Flintstone as the long-time face of Fruity Pebbles.

UPDATED: Watch: Hong Kong Phooey and Marvin the Martian Live-Action/CG Hybrid Test Footage

The latest in the stream of awful CG/live-action mashup movies - following in the critically derided but financially successful spirit of The Smurfs and Yogi Bear - are Hong Kong Phooey and Looney Tunes' Marvin the Martian.

Director Alex Zamm (Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2) posted test-footage from the Hong Kong Phooey film, complete with Eddie Murphy soundalike, out of place animation and toilet jokes! Zamm also posted a 3D test short (Yule Be Sorry) for a, subsequently cancelled, Marvin the Martian film.

The Hong Kong Phooey footage is pretty terrible: Penry/Hong Kong Phooey looks like the CG Scooby Doo from 10 years ago and the humour's severely off-kilter. The shame is that the Marvin footage (testicle jokes and product placement aside) was a lot better - funnier, more cartoony and closer to the original character - and that's been cancelled! That said, the fact that Zamm's posted the Hong Kong Phooey test too may indicate that that's also been shelved.

Check both tests out above, thanks to Bleeding Cool. UPDATE: 1/1/2013, 03:10 (GMT) - Ah, it seems Bleeding Cool's video has been removed, so check out the two clips, via Alex Zamm's Vimeo channel, here and here. Oh yeah, and Happy New Year, guys! All the best for 2013!

Via Cartoon Brew.

Bitesized Biographies #5 - Joseph Barbera

Barbera (left) with Hanna (right) with an assortment of their famed creations, including Fred Flintstone, Tom and Jerry, Yogi Bear and Top Cat, and some of their many Emmy Awards.

Our recent Facebook exclusive poll (to make sure you don't miss out on future polls, be sure to like us on Facebook) to decide who our next Bitesized Biography would be about returned an interesting draw: a split between the two halves of Hanna-Barbera, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Following through the logical order of Hanna-Barbera, we started with a Bitesized Biopgraphy (and accompanying Classic Cartoon) of William Hanna, and today, we look to complete that by covering the life and accomplishments of Joseph Barbera.

Seth MacFarlane's Flintstones Reboot Shelved

It was reported around this time last year that 20th Century Fox had acquired the rights to reboot The Flintstones from Warner Bros. The reboot was being handled by Seth MacFarlane, creator of Family Guy, The Cleveland Show and American Dad, a purported super-fan of the series. The reinvisioned version of the beloved Hanna-Barbera show was due out in 2013, but has now been delayed for the foreseeable future.

The show has been put on hold, with no mention of when production may resume again, to accommodate MacFarlane's insanely busy schedule. In addition to the previous trifecta of Fox shows, MacFarlane is also working on Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey - a successor to Carl Sagan's Cosmos - and awaiting the release of his first feature film, Ted. So, it's no surprise that he would find it difficult to accommodate time for The Flintstones in there - even though the reboot is said to be a passion project for him, given his lifelong love of the show.

In addition, sources indicate that the script hasn't gone down all too well so far, with Fox Entertainment President Kevin Reilly telling MacFarlane that he liked it, but didn't love it. Whilst the show hasn't been scrapped, it has been postponed indefinitely, until such a time that MacFarlane has room in his schedule to work and rework the show's script. Several staff members have been let go, with MacFarlane looking into finding places at American Dad for others.

The idea seemed a little bizarre from the start: an animator and director renowned for his raunchy and often offensive humour, tackling the remake of such a beloved and revered show; but MacFarlane's love for the series is blatant and it would've been interesting to see where this went. Here's hoping it's back on track soon.

Via The Hollywood Reporter.