Network also announces a Cartoon Network anniversary docuseries and updates on ‘President Curtis,’ ‘Common Side Effects,’ and ‘My Two Cars’ at Annecy.
Adult Swim pulled out all the stops at Annecy, announcing it has greenlit Heist Brothers, a new high-octane animated action comedy from Emmy Award-winning creator Genndy Tartakovsky, as part of a slate of reveals and teases presented last week.
Tartakovsky, the famed creator behind Dexter’s Laboratory, Samurai Jack, Star Wars: Clone Wars, Sym-Bionic Titan, and Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal, originally pitched the project live onstage to Adult Swim President Michael Ouweleen during the network’s 2024 Studio Focus Panel. The presentation gave attendees a rare opportunity to see a creator unveil a new series concept in real time. Announced as in development under the title Heist Safari at last year’s Annecy, the project has now received a full-season order as Heist Brothers.
Currently in production at Cartoon Network Studios, Heist Brothers, the 10 quarter-hour episode series follows three frog brothers robbing a bank. The premise may seem simple, but the execution is described as “special as !#&$??!!!!”
“Annecy is always a great reminder of what happens when you give talented people the space to take big risks,” Ouweleen said. “That’s what we like to think we are doing at ‘Adult Swim’ - whether it’s working with Genndy on the absolute bonkers Heist Brothers, to working with Joe Pera and Dan Licata on their first animated series, or showcasing the pure cinema which is the upcoming season Common Side Effects, we’re continuing our 25-year legacy of giving creators space to make something great and surprising. We love where we’ve come from, we love even more where we are going”
Adult Swim’s Emmy Award-winning stop-motion comedy Robot Chicken, from co-creators Seth Green and Matthew Senreich, will return with two new specials. The first, Robot Chicken Adult Swim special, premieres Sunday, August 30 at ET/PT on Adult Swim and streams the next day on HBO Max.
The half-hour special marks Adult Swim’s 25-year milestone, skewering the network’s legacy through Robot Chicken’s signature rapid-fire sketches. The story places Adult Swim characters aboard a cruise ship celebrating a quarter century on the air, only for the event to become a disaster of titanic proportions. Characters from Smiling Friends, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Metalocalypse, Assy McGee, Venture Bros., and dozens of other network series are set to appear.
Robot Chicken is also in production on a second special focused on Cartoon Network’s series and characters. The special will commemorate Cartoon Network’s 35th anniversary and is planned to debut in 2027. The series has earned 23 Emmy nominations and six wins over more than 20 years, most recently winning Outstanding Short Form Animated Program in 2022. Robot Chicken is produced for Adult Swim by Stoopid Buddy Stoodios.
Cartoon Network will also mark its 35th anniversary next year with a five-part docuseries exploring the network’s history, from its beginnings with a library of classic animation to its emergence as a risk-taking, creator-driven home for original storytelling.
Charting that evolution from the network’s earliest days through the present, the docuseries will examine how Cartoon Network was shaped by artists and storytellers in Burbank who created its series, along with teams in Atlanta who helped define its irreverent, genre-breaking brand voice. The project will blend archival footage with newly filmed interviews and feature stories and reflections from animation figures and others who helped in its build.
At the world premiere of the all-new President Curtis, Adult Swim announced that the new series, headlined by Emmy Award-winning actor Keith David and co-created by Dan Harmon and James Siciliano, will debut July 26 at 11:30 p.m. ET/PT with episodes available to stream the next day on HBO Max.
Set in the Rick and Morty universe, President Curtis stars David alongside Stephanie Beatriz and Jim Rash. The series follows President Andre Curtis and his eccentric staff as they handle crises Rick Sanchez could never be bothered with, including interdimensional diplomacy, paranormal investigations, and unexplained phenomena.
Adult Swim also presented a work-in-progress panel for Season 2 of Common Side Effects, offering Annecy attendees an early look at the next chapter of the Peabody and Annie Award-winning series. The panel featured co-creators Joe Bennett and Steve Hely, supervising director Benjy Brooke, and director Camille Bozec.
Annecy also hosted a first-look screening of My Two Cars. Co-creators Joe Pera and Dan Licata, supervising director Joe Bennett, director Chase Trotto, and Adult Swim Head of Development Cameron Tang debuted the pilot episode exclusively at the festival, later revealed the opening credits for the series, which is now in production.
Source: Adult Swim
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
