Netflix saves a popular animated Star Trek show but drops two of its own animated movies for some strange reason.
The cancel society has gone crazy! Or to put it another way, it’s another sign that the animation business is trying to cut costs. This week, Netflix had very mixed news about animation. It saved one animated show from cancellation, but it also scrapped two of its own animated movies and is reorganizing its animation unit.
Let’s begin with some good news. Paramount Plus ended Star Trek: Prodigy in the middle of its season. The show is now going to Netflix. It will show the first season and will show the second season when it’s done being made. The first season should come out before the end of 2023, and the second should come out in 2024.
For the latest victim of the universe’s scariest bad guy, the tax write-off, Paramount Plus dropped Star Trek: Prodigy at the same time as Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies, Queen of the Universe, and The Game. The show has a great rating on Rotten Tomatoes—a whopping 94%—so it’s clear that Netflix thinks it’s better to see than put to death by computer.
That’s too bad; it doesn’t mean that other projects have been spared. What show did Netflix drop this week?
Variety says that big changes are coming to Netflix’s animation unit, which will lead to job cuts and the end of work on two animated movies: Escape from Beverly Hills and Tunga.
Netflix got the second movie at an auction in 2019. It’s a mythical epic based on the stories of the Zimbabwean Shona people. Even though Netflix isn’t making it anymore, they haven’t given up on it completely. One news source says, “The movie will stay at Netflix and has been sent back into creation.”
Without knowing anything else, we only know that Netflix plans to sell Escape from Beverly Hills to anyone who is interested.
The budget cuts are terrible, and they’re not just happening at Netflix. There have been waves of layoffs in the animation industry, with studios like Warner Bros. and DreamWorks cutting their spending on animation in recent years. In fact, DreamWorks just announced the loss of 70 jobs last week. This is happening even though adult animation is doing very well on streaming services.
Variety says that 2023 will be the best year ever for Netflix cartoons. Along with other studios, it’s shifting to hiring outside producers to help it make the same amount of material with fewer employees.