FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
FORMER TOPPS EXEC IRA FRIEDMAN AND FAMED GARBAGE PAIL KIDS ARTIST JOE SIMKO ANNOUNCE ‘CRANIACS’ ANIMATED SERIES DEVELOPMENT DEAL WITH ACCLAIMED
TITMOUSE STUDIOS
AGREEMENT COMES ON THE HEELS OF EAGERLY ANTICIPATED ‘CRANIACS’
TRADING CARD SERIES LAUNCHING NATIONALLY IN COMICS, CARD AND
POP-CULTURE SHOPS IN AUGUST
NEW YORK, NY. JULY 23, 2024 – Today Ira Friedman, former VP of Global Licensing and Product Development at Topps, and Joe Simko, genre-busting, artistic visionary behind Garbage Pail Kids, announce an animated series development partnership with Titmouse – widely considered one of the hottest producers of animated content in the world – for their wholly original creation ‘CRANIACS.’
In the ‘CRANIACS’ universe of skull-headed folks, two planets collide and force two very different societies – stone-aged Retrovia and ultra-futuristic Futerra – to figure out how they’re going to make this new planet-sharing world order work! High-octane action, wacky physical comedy and outrageous competitions will be at the heart of every episode, alongside the importance of friendship, fraternity and family.
As a result of the newly announced development collaboration, Titmouse will build out a ‘CRANIACS’ animated universe primarily for kids aged 6-12. The animation will be inspired by prior and upcoming card releases, where a wealth of engaging storylines and memorable original characters are introduced.
“Joe and I are enormously pleased to let the public know of our development deal with such a cutting-edge and wildly innovative animation studio,” says Ira Friedman. “It’s a real vote of confidence for ‘CRANIACS’ that Titmouse, a company with such talent and
high regard, will be applying their special magic to our original IP. We’re super-psyched to see all that their creative team will contribute to the brand going forward.”
"Skulls? Skateboards? Planets smashing together? Hell yeah we want to make a cartoon about that!” says Alexei Bochenek, Creative Director at Titmouse. “I was basically Futurama-shut-up-and-take-my-money-meme when I saw Joe's incredible artwork and heard about Ira's big plans for this new IP. I can't wait for audiences to see what we can do with a world like this in our hands."
About ‘CRANIACS’
JOE SIMKO visualized the entire world of ‘CRANIACS’ – including all the character designs, vehicles, accessories and environments. Joe enjoys a large and loyal following throughout the fan and collector community and via his social media channels. He is a long-time lead artist at Topps and a key member of the Garbage Pail Kids roster, for which he is revered.
IRA FRIEDMAN spent over 30 years as a senior executive and officer at Topps, occupying a variety of key roles in the company, including overseeing trading card product development and driving inbound and outbound entertainment licensing. In
addition to publishing many comic books and fan magazines, Ira worked for Lucasfilm in a consumer products-related capacity during the early days of the original Star Wars movie saga.
To learn more about ‘CRANIACS’ visit www.craniacsworld.com.
For more information about ‘CRANIACS’ cards and consumer products, contact: Ira Friedman at: ifpower1@gmail.com
About Titmouse
Since its inception nearly 25 years ago, Titmouse has evolved into an award-winning, multi-hyphenated animation studio and pop culture brand. Some of the studio’s most celebrated recent projects include Big Mouth, The Legend of Vox Machina, The Venture
Bros., Star Trek: Lower Decks, and Beavis and Butt-Head, to name a few. With the strength of a major studio and the mindset of an indie company, Titmouse has become one of the most well-known and prolific animation studios in the world, challenging the idea of what an animation company can look like by focusing on comedy, subversive and counterculture communities, and expanding into other avenues for fans to enjoy including merchandise, live shows and events, festivals, interactive experiences, and so much more. For more information, please visit www.titmouse.net.
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Image: CRANIACS LOGO