Before the Spice Girls’ girl power, there was She-Ra, and now the animated series is coming back. Netflix announced Wednesday, December 13, that it had teamed with DreamWorks Animation on six original series, all of which will premiere in 2018. She-Ra is one of the six, joined by shows inspired by DreamWorks films like Trolls and The Boss Baby, as well as others. It means we can look forward to seeing characters we already know and love like we’ve never seen them before.
Of the six series, She-Ra inspires by far the most nostalgia. The series was released in 1985 as a sister series to He-Man to target female viewers, and it lasted for two seasons and 93 episodes. With the series being backed by Mattel, She-Ra became a popular toy and the character has even apparently become a gay icon.
The She-Ra reboot comes from Noelle Stevenson, an author and executive producer whose past work includes the comic book series Lumberjanes and the webcomic Nimona. She will give us a “modern take” on the series, according to Netflix’s press release. The company promises “an epic and timely tale that celebrates female friendship and empowerment.” So far, the voice of She-Ra has not been announced, but the person who nabs the role will follow in the footsteps of Melendy Britt.
The other series don’t have the long history that She-Ra does, but they will be familiar to many viewers. DreamWorks Trolls: The Beat Goes On! continues following the characters seen in 2016’s Trolls, Poppy and Branch. They will have new adventures, this time voiced by Skylar Astin and Amanda Leighton instead of Justin Timberlake and Anna Kendrick. Meanwhile, The Baby Boss: Back in Business also adds a new chapter, taking Boss Baby and his brother, Tim, up the corporate ladder.
Turning to books for inspiration, DreamWorks Animation will bring author Dav Pilkey’s Captain Underpants to screen in The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants. The series will center on best friends George Beard and Harold Hutchins, who love comic books and making their principal’s life difficult. Another group of friends will be the focus of Harvey Street Kids; Audrey, Lotta, and Dot will get into adventures of their own while making sure their block stays wonderful.
Last but not least are DreamWorks Trollhunters, Parts 2 and 3. They will serve as follow-ups to the 2016 series that brought a regular kid into a hidden world. In the new chapters, we will see royal teenage aliens trying to hide from a dangerous dictator and more.
So far, DreamWorks Trolls: The Beat Goes On! is the only series to have its release date announced. The show will arrive on January 19, while the other series will follow over the course of 2018 and into 2019.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?
YouTube is changing how its Home page works, giving viewers more control over what shows up there and making some of the app’s most-used sections easier to reach. Custom Feeds are now replacing the existing topic chips for eligible users, while YouTube is also testing a redesigned top bar on mobile that moves Subscriptions closer to the Home feed.
YouTube first started experimenting with Custom Feeds earlier this year, letting you type out what you wanted to watch and turning that request into its own stream of recommendations. Now, the feature is starting to look less like a side experiment and more like something YouTube actually wants people to use as part of their everyday Home page.