Five kids accidentally rocket themselves into space. How will their journey end? Find out in Nickelodeon's new action-adventure series, The Astronauts, launching Friday, November 13, 2020!
In The Astronauts, the spaceship Odyssey II is set to launch to investigate a mysterious asteroid passing by Earth. When group of kids use their parent’s security clearance to sneak onto the empty ship, the launch sequence is accidentally initiated. Blasting off into space with no proper training, a malfunctioning onboard AI system, and their parents watching from Earth, the kids embark on a journey of survival using only their smarts and friendship as tools.
Starring in the new show (executive produced by Imagine Entertainment Chairmen Brian Grazer and Ron Howard and Imagine Kids+Family President Stephanie Sperber) are Miya Cech, Bryce Gheisar, Keith L. Williams, Kayden Grace Swan, Ben Daon and Paige Howard.
In The Astronauts, the group traveling together through space are: Samantha “Samy” Sawyer-Wei, played by Miya Cech (Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Always Be My Maybe); Elliott Combs, played by Bryce Gheisar (Wonder, A Dog’s Purpose); Martin Taylor, played by Keith L. Williams (Good Boys, The Last Man on Earth); Doria Taylor, played by Kayden Grace Swan (A Black Lady Sketch Show); and Will Rivers, played by Ben Daon (Child’s Play). Matilda, the ship’s onboard AI system is voiced by Paige Howard (The Employer, Adventureland).
Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix - Announce Trailer | PlayStation
Nickelodeon Kart Racers is back and we’re kicking it into overdrive! In Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix, you can select from 30 playable racers and 70 team members to assemble your ultimate pit crew. Choose your favorites from Nickelodeon’s hall of fame, including JoJo Siwa, SpongeBob SquarePants, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the babies from Rugrats, the cool kids from Hey Arnold!, Ren and Stimpy, Lincoln Loud and his sisters, and more!
More Characters + More Karts + More Tracks = MORE FUN! First, speed your way across a variety of Slime-filled tracks in a fun series of races where you can win highly-coveted cups and over 80 upgrades for your Kart! Then, shift into the next gear and challenge your friends in online multiplayer or in local arena multiplayer to see who can cross the finish line first or handle the wild arena challenges! There’s no slowing down - on your marks, get set, Slime!
Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2 adds more customization, characters, and slime
The cartoony kart racer launches tomorrow on PS4.
Adam Johnston, Creative Director, Bamtang Games
I’m Adam Johnston, Creative Director at Bamtang games and I’m excited for everyone to start playing the sequel to Nickelodeon Kart Racers! We’ve made a lot of improvements and changes from the first game, and don’t worry – you don’t have to play the first game to understand what’s happening in part two.
The biggest, most obvious upgrade from the first game is the character roster. There are now 30 racers and the Pit Crew adds all kinds of familiar Nickelodeon cameos which creates all kinds of new options. You will be able to unlock 70 Pit Crew members that you can add to your team to customize your kart. That means players can really find their sweet spot on the kart and Pit Crew load out to match their driving style. Also, we gave a lot of love to drifting so now it feels way more rewarding.
Here’s how the Pit Crew works, which represents a big change from the first game. The Crew Chief gives you a primary powerup that replaces the old turbo charge. It is charged by slime, and there is a wide variety of power-up effects to choose from. The other Pit Crew members bring strategic buffs. They kick in automatically during the race and might leave a trap when picking up a power-up, or give a boost after getting hit, as just a few examples. There are a mountain of options. I don’t keep any single strategy for long, there’s always some other combination to try out. When you change your loadout, you have to change your driving style too. If you want to adopt a more defensive loadout, then that means that you can be more aggressive.
Slime is back and we think it’s the thing that sets our kart racer apart, while also being a perfect representation of Nickelodeon. Slime is still your friend! Going for the Green, and filling the Slime bar is one of the best ways to get ahead in the game. The Slime was reworked visually, but otherwise, you’ll still find it splashed all around. The boating part of the first Nickelodeon Kart Racers has been given a rest in the sequel. This time we’ve added Slime Edges. They give the players air, and the chance to pull tricks to get bonus slime and boosts. These really help mix up the race line strategies, depending on the player’s skill (or courage).
When we thought about upgrading the Slime bar we realized that it would be awesome to give the player the option to choose how the Slime will impact the race. After that, we wanted the visual impact to be based on the Nickelodeon characters we love so much, and that’s how the Crew Chiefs were born. Some of the team favorites are Tenzin from The Legend of Korra who uses airbending for a big jump, releasing a shockwave when landing; or Powdered Toast Man from Ren and Stimpy who makes the kart drive backwards, with a turbo boost, and it explodes if it crashes! We had a lot of fun making this game which, coincidentally, extended to track creation.
Most of the original twelve tracks have been remastered with completely updated art, and Slime Rapids. The new tracks complement the old ones, with wider diversity. We think having so many tracks now, there’s more extreme situations. Jumps, half-pipes, cannons, ramps, slime geysers, and other surprises add verticality, which leads to some pretty stressful situations. In Fast mode, you really can’t relax and the Insane mode lives up to its name.
This is a game designed to be fun for all ages, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t strategies that can be employed by more practiced racers. Drifting is still a helpful boost factor, but dominating drifting mechanics or knowing the raceline will only get you so far. Some of the levels were designed to make the player focus on a specific mechanic like drifting or jumping, but there’s no sure way to win every race. We think it’s best to choose a crew that supports your driving style. For example, I would definitely recommend choosing Pearl from SpongeBob SquarePants to anyone that loves performing big jumps and riding the half pipes. She gives you a much stronger turbo boosts after a jump.
It’s not all just straightforward racing, of course. In Arena mode, you battle all of the other players in an open arena. Since SpongeBob is so popular with the fans, we added the Golden Spatula mode. In this mode you have to find the Golden Spatula and keep it long enough to earn a point. The other players will be looking to make you drop it. The first player who gets three points takes all the glory.
This sequel also adds up to 8 player online multiplayer modes. Either in quick races, or in championship cup races. It’s kind of weird, but we finished this game during the pandemic, so almost all of the testing has been online. Back in the unhygienic old days, we used to play each other sitting next to each other on the couch, split screen. Now we had to set up online sessions to play each other, so online play is probably the core experience now.
One of the most fun parts of creating this game, and the excitement of getting into the hands of players, is seeing how everyone reacts differently to the roster. There are the nostalgic players, like me, who like seeing and playing as the classics, but there is a whole new generation of Nickelodeon fans who gravitate towards different racers. Having Ren and Stimpy in Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2 is fantastic, but most of the young’uns have never heard of them.
I’m embarrassed to say that I am so old that I had never heard of Jojo Siwa, but she is maybe one of the most popular racers with younger players. There is also a game mode (spoiler alert!) where the players have to complete challenges with specific characters and they were inspired by the things those characters usually do in their series. If the players know who those characters are, they will understand why they have to do those challenges. Only the true fans will know that there’s no coincidence in asking you to play as Squidward and win a race full of Squidwards. We really had a ton of fun by making these challenges, and the rest of the game, and we’re looking forward to playing online with everyone on October 6!
Bamtang Games and Nickelodeon get together to create Kart Racers 2, which appeals to grown-ups' nostalgia as well as kids' favorites.
The wide world of racing just got a little bit bigger, with 70 Nickelodeon characters now appearing in Kart Racers 2, including rising star Jojo Siwa, as seen in the top left of the lineup below.
Most of the characters will come into play through the new Pit Crew mechanic. Whoever is selected as the racer's Pit Crew Chief will provide a unique primary power-up effect during the race, which is recharged by driving through slime. Other pit crew members will provide passive buffs which can be equally advantageous. With 70 Nickelodeon characters from fan-favorite series, the range of combinations encourage the racer to experiment and tailor both car and team to their particular style.
Creative Director of Bamtang Games Adam Johnston was keen to get into detail about slime, which is without a doubt the racing game's core feature. In order to win, racers will have to spend slime wisely to make the most out of their Pit Crew Chief's particular power. By driving through slime and executing daring tricks, drivers can refill their slime bar quicker, a clear advantage.
The lineup for Kart Racers 2 has 30 Nickelodeon characters, including Jojo Siwa.
Besides Jojo, so far there are 30 confirmed characters on the Kart Racers 2 website from 11 different series, from grown-up favorites Ren & Stimpy to Spongebob Squarepants himself. The full 70-character roster is not available at this time, so eager fans will have to wait until tomorrow and find out in-game.
Critics of Kart Racers 2 previously tended to make the comparison between it and MarioKart, saying Bamtang Games' cartoony racing game was blandly similar to Nintendo's racing titles. The new emphasis on the pit crew mechanic and slime may be enough to set this title apart from other kart racing games, but that will ultimately be up to the players to decide.
Without a doubt, the main appeal of Nickelodeon's Kart Racers 2 is the nostalgia factor for parents and the slime factor for the kids.
Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix will be available for Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Xbox One on October 6th, 2020.
Originally published: Tuesday, September 22, 2020. Follow NickALive! on Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit, via RSS, on Instagram, and/or Facebook for the latest Nickelodeon News and Highlights!
Nickelodeon Community Efforts (NICE) has partnered with Sisler's CREATE program to prepare students for potential careers in story development, content creation, animation and art.
Dubbed the Orange Tree Project, the exciting endeavor officially launched on Sept. 28. It sees Sisler students connecting with Nickelodeon mentors to create and collaborate on three two-minute animated stories.
CREATE department head Jamie Leduc said the partnership began at the beginning of 2020, when he started communicating with Nickelodeon director of community outreach Carson Smith.
"We try to connect our students to studios and industry as much as possible," Leduc said. "We did a couple master classes with Nickelodeon and we started discussing the idea of doing a yearlong mentorship project for our students."
"We have three different teams working on animated shorts and each team is being mentored by a different Nickelodeon animator or artist."
The team are mostly made up of post-high CREATE students, but a few Grade 10, 11 and 12 students are also involved.
The three Nickelodeon mentors are American storyboard artist Mark Galez (Craig of the Creek, Snoopy and Charlie Brown: The Peanuts Movie) and Canadian animators Kyle Marshall and Jessica Borutski, directors on Nickelodeon's hit TV series The Loud House.
The Nickelodeon staff members will provide ongoing mentorship to the Sisler students, sharing their experience in the areas of storyboarding, character design, animation, directing and producing. The animated stories are expected to be completed by the end of May, 2021.
The first task for the three teams is to write stories based on a theme of "change or transformation."
"My plan is to get into a call with my teammates and ask them some personal experiences they've had that they don't mind sharing," said Gab Reyes, a post-high student who is leading one of the teams.
"Nickelodeon live-streamed a story workshop last week and one thing I learned from that is a good story comes from the heart, typically from personal experience."
Nya Langit, a post-high CREATE student, is also acting as a team leader. Langit said collaborating with Nickelodeon is a wonderful opportunity.
"I personally want to get into concept art and Nickelodeon is one of the biggest employers for concept art," Langit said. "Working with them, I feel like I can get a lot of feedback on my work and how I can get into the industry."
"This project is also developing my people skills. I was very shy before starting in the CREATE program in Grade 9 and I've opened up a lot. Being a team lead forces me to interact with other people and it also helps me work on my leadership skills."
Sisler post-high student and team leader Jemimah Suba said she's grateful to be working alongside Nickelodeon employees, an opportunity that came in the Nick of time.
"It's a big inspiration boost with all this quarantine stuff going on and being stuck at home," Suba said. "I don't mind being stuck at home now because I get to work with all these amazing people."
In addition to the three animated stories, CREATE students will be creating a video documentary of the project and posting milestone moments on social media. The first Orange Tree Project weekly recap – created by Grade 12 student Jed Orellano – can be watched here below (or at https://vimeo.com/463147031):
Originally published: Tuesday, October 06, 2020. Follow NickALive! on Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit, via RSS, on Instagram, and/or Facebook for the latest Nickelodeon News and Highlights!
Parrot Analytics partners with Guinness World Records™ to reveal most in-demand TV shows in Guinness World Records 2021 Edition
Latest edition of best-selling annual released in the United States on October 6 includes record-breaking shows such as Chernobyl, Stranger Things and Westworld
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES, Oct. 4, 2020 -- With the upcoming U.S. release of Guinness World Records 2021 Edition on October 6, the global authority on record-breaking and Parrot Analytics, the global leader in TV content analytics, are sharing exciting news to fans around the world on their favorite, and now record-holding, TV shows.
"Television continues to re-define itself at a blistering pace," says Guinness World Records Editor-in-Chief Craig Glenday. "There are ever-more choices for consumers, new apps and platforms and local stories that are resonating with audiences all around the world. It is difficult to know the precise global impact that this plethora of TV series available today is having on consumers, unless of course you refer to the data offered by our consulting partner Parrot Analytics. Having created the industry category of 'TV demand measurement', Parrot Analytics helps Guinness World Records to quantify the ways in which viewers engage with TV shows around the world in a globally standardized manner. This ensures Guinness World Records can identify the shows that people are genuinely talking about and watching, on a global scale."
Under the theme of "Discover Your World," the Guinness World Records 2021 Edition spans 12 engaging chapters featuring record-holders from across the globe. With assistance from Parrot Analytics' data, the Pop Culture: TV section explores fan discovery and viewership stats for history-making TV shows across genres such as comedy, digital originals, reality, and Sci-Fi.
(PRNewsfoto/Parrot Analytics)
Parrot Analytics' global platform-agnostic measurement system quantifies how viewers are engaging with TV shows around the world. The resulting demand-weighted metric is based upon inputs from video consumption (streaming/download), social media (hashtags, liking, sharing) and research/commentary (media coverage) sources.
As a result of this data, the most in-demand TV series categories from 2019 featured in the 2021 edition include:
The Guinness World Records 2021 Edition ($28.95 USD) will be available in stores and online on October 6, 2020, in the United States. International editions are now widely available.
About Parrot Analytics
Parrot Analytics is the leading global content demand analytics company for the multi-platform TV business. With the world's largest TV audience demand datasets, the company currently tracks more than 1.5B daily expressions of demand in over 100 languages from 200+ countries. With Parrot Analytics' TV360 platform, everyone from individuals to global media powerhouses can access tools to help better understand the global demand for content across all platforms, as well as drive better production, distribution, acquisition and marketing decisions, and in-creased subscriber growth and retention. The company has offices in Los Angeles, New York, London, Mexico City, São Paulo and Auckland. Connect with us on YouTube, LinkedIn and Twitter. For more information, see www.parrotanalytics.com.
About Guinness World Records
What's the fastest game bird in Europe? This was the question that inspired the founding of Guinness World Records back in 1955. Starting with a single book published from a room above a gym, GWR has grown to become a global multi-media brand, with offices in London, New York, Miami, Beijing, Tokyo and Dubai. Today, we deliver world-class content, not just through Books, but via TV shows, Social Media and Live Events. Our in-house consultancy works closely with brands and businesses around the world to harness the power of record-breaking and deliver award-winning campaigns and business solutions. Our ultimate purpose is to inspire people - individuals, families, schools, groups, companies, communities and even entire countries – to read about, watch, listen to and participate in record- breaking. To join this record-breaking community – and find out the answer to that original question – visit guinnessworldrecords.com.
CALLING ALL GOOFY GOOBERS! (ROCK!) Are ya ready for a deep dive into the world of SpongeBob SquarePants? The SpongeBob YouTube channel is THE PLACE for all fan-favorite SpongeBob moments! We’re serving up everything from legendary scenes to remixes of classic songs to deep dives into Bikini Bottom lore. Be sure to check back every week for Music Mondays, Wumbo Wednesdays, and Flashback Fridays! Subscribe now at https://www.youtube.com/SpongeBobOfficial!
Shop SpongeBob!: https://www.spongebobshop.com - SpongeBob face masks now available, with ALL proceeds going to charity!
Ashtel Studios Issues Voluntary Recall of Licensed Hand Sanitizers Packaged in 0.84 Fluid Ounce Pouches Due to Misbranding Because They Resemble Food and Drink Container Pouches
Summary
Company Announcement Date: October 01, 2020
FDA Publish Date: October 02, 2020
Product Type: Drugs
Reason for Announcement: Product is packaged in containers resembling a food and drink pouch
Company Name: Ashtel Studios
Brand Name: Smart Care
Product Description: Hand sanitizer packaged in 0.84 oz. pouches
Company Announcement
Ashtel Studios has announced a voluntary recall of all lots of licensed hand sanitizer packaged in .84 oz containers resembling food and drink pouches labeled with various children’s characters listed in the table below to the consumer level. The products are being recalled because they are packaged in containers resembling food and drink pouch. The recall does not affect any other Hand Sanitizer products from Ashtel Studios.
Product | Size | NDC
PAW Patrol Hand Sanitizer - 0.84 FL. OZ (25 mL) - 70108-042-01
JoJo Siwa Hand Sanitizer - 0.84 FL. OZ (25 mL) - 70108-044-01
Hot Wheels Hand Sanitizer - 0.84 FL. OZ (25 mL) - 70108-045-01
Barbie Hand Sanitizer - 0.84 FL. OZ (25 mL) - 70108-046-01
Trolls Hand Sanitizer - 0.84 FL. OZ (25 mL) - 70108-047-01
Minions Hand Sanitizer0.84 FL. OZ (25 mL) - 70108-043-01
Ingesting hand sanitizer, which is intended for topical use, could potentially result in alcohol toxicity. Symptoms of alcohol toxicity may range from lack of coordination, slowed or slurred speech, drowsiness to coma, which can be fatal. Furthermore, ingesting alcohol can affect the brain and cause impaired driving or operating heavy machinery. Alcohol can also interact with numerous drugs which may result in serious adverse effects. Ingesting alcohol by people with alcohol addiction may interfere with maintaining abstinence. Additionally, people with alcohol addiction may seek large amounts of ethanol-based hand sanitizers as a substitute. Ashtel Studios has received no reports of adverse reactions
The product is intended to be applied topically to help reduce bacteria on the skin that could cause diseases when soap and water are not available and is packaged in 0.84 oz pouches. The product can be identified by examples of the products pictured below. Product was distributed to selected retailers in the United States and Canada.
Ashtel Studios has provided written notification to its distributors and retailers and is alerting customers via this voluntary recall. While the product is not available for purchase, if a consumer has product which is being recalled they are advised to destroy it immediately.
Consumers with questions regarding this recall can contact Ashtel Studios, 866-Ashtel-1, 909-434-0911 (international) from 9:00 am-5:00 pm PST
Adverse reactions or quality problems experienced with the use of this product may be reported to the FDA's MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program either online, by regular mail or by fax.
Regular Mail or Fax: Download form or call 1- 800-332-1088 to request a reporting form, then complete and return to the address on the pre-addressed form, or submit by fax to 1-800-FDA-0178
This recall is being conducted with the knowledge of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
As the Coronavirus continues to spread throughout the United States and other countries, hand sanitizer is still one of the most sought after items. However officials have recently sent out warnings about certain kids hand sanitizers that have been recalled from the brand 'smart care. According to the Herald;
"The FDA claimed no problem with the actual hand sanitizer. It’s the combination of the pouches, kids likely being given the hand sanitizer as they head back to schools and children’s carelessness or curiosity, despite the packaging warning, Do Not Eat.
The FDA said, “Hand sanitizer products packaged in containers resembling food pouches commonly used for children’s applesauce and other pureed foods that present increased risk of accidental ingestion by children. An Ashtel spokesman told the Herald that the company took all of these products off the shelves in August when a parent brought up the potential problem. The FDA didn’t indicate that in its product status notation after adding the Smart Care sanitizers to the Do Not Use list on Sept. 24.”
Hand Sanitizer recalled because it looks like snack food for kids
The folks at Ashtel Studios made a design mistake. They saw an opportunity to make hand sanitizer fun for kids, but they took an unfortunate approach. It became clear some time after packaging and distribution began, this year, that Ashtel Studios hand sanitizer looked a little too much like “a food and drink pouch” for kids.
Imagine designing a package so delightful that your intended audience wants to eat or drink whatever’s inside. Now imagine that the packaging you’ve created will be used for a product that’s poisonous for humans.
In this article you’ll see images of the hand sanitizer packaging that’s been recalled. This includes the 0.84 FL. OZ (25 mL) size hand sanitizer product from Ashtel Studios, and no other hand sanitizer products from said company.
The collection includes several branded Smart Care hand sanitizer packages with licensed brands like Illumination’s Minions, DreamWorks’ Trolls, Mattel’s Barbie, Mattel’s Hot Wheels, Nickelodeon’s Jojo Siwa DREAMER, and Spin Masters’ Paw Patrol.
As it true of all hand sanitizer, this hand sanitizer was made for topical use – on human hands. If hand sanitizer is swallowed, it can result in alcohol toxicity, which the FDA reminds can have a range of symptoms. “Lack of coordination, slowed or slurred speech, drowsiness to coma, which can be fatal. Furthermore, ingesting alcohol can affect the brain and cause impaired driving or operating heavy machinery.”
NOTE: Heavy Machinery doesn’t just include forklifts and bulldozers. It includes any sort of mechanical vehicle or tool that you wouldn’t want to operate while you are, for example, falling asleep, or in a coma. Also, again, there’s a decent chance you will die if you ingest enough hand sanitizer, which is why the friendly snack-sized packaging for the hand sanitizer shown above is recalled right this minute.
