WIRE Buzz: Old school Nick studio announces Robotsplaat; Oscar Isaac's Legendary comic; Hidden Figures musical

Klasky Csupo, the animation studio behind such Nickelodeon classics as Rugrats and The Wild Thornberrys, announced a new "micro" web series today entitled RoboSplaat. The project is centered around the bug-eyed and big-mouthed mascot/logo that would briefly show up at the end of Nick shows that the studio had produced back in the day. Any '90s kid knows what we're talking about.

"The feedback on Instagram from animation fans that grew up on Klasky Csupo shows has been enormous," Arlene Klasky (who founded the company with her ex-husband, Gábor Csupó, and his nephew, Attila Csupo) said in a statement. "They seem to be uplifted by Robosplaat’s offbeat personality, humor, and nostalgia for their childhood. While Gabor and I were producing our series, we never dreamed the lasting impact our shows would have on those kids."

Credit: Klasky Csupo

Greg Cipes (known for voicing Beast Boy in the Teen Titans programs on Cartoon Network) is lending his pipes to the eponymous character in over 100 webisodes.

"It’s so important, now more than ever, that we use our voices to promote uplifting messages of positivity, understanding, and friendship,” Cipes said in a statement of his own. "This is what Klasky Csupo has always stood for, and I am both humbled and inspired to champion that cause through the mouth of the iconic RoboSplaat."

The first three episodes ("Splat," "Bully," and "Fired") are now available to watch, with the fourth installment scheduled to drop tomorrow (Saturday, July 25). After that, new episodes will debut on Klasky Csupo's YouTube and Instagram pages every Wednesday and Saturday until early 2021.

Viacom is working on a TV and big screen reboot of Rugrats with Klasky, Gabor Csupo, and Paul Germain (all of whom created the show) returning as executive producers.

Poe Dameron is getting into the comic book game. Legendary Comics revealed yesterday that it had teamed with Oscar Isaac for Head Wounds: Sparrow, a "supernatural noir graphic novel" that the Star Wars actor co-created with Bob Johnson, John Alvey, and co-developed with Jason Spire. Brian Buccellato (DC's Flash and Injustice) is writing the book, which is set to feature art by Christian Ward (Marvel's Black Bolt).

The story will follow Leo Guidry, a bad person ("and an even worse cop"), who sustains a "psychic head wound" that causes "his life on the edge slips into spiritual warfare," reads the official synopsis. "In a landscape of angels, devils, and everything in between, can a person utterly devoid of empathy find a way to overcome the forces of darkness that have infiltrated his reality?"

Johnson began to formulate the idea after he was diagnosed with stage 4 non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Check out Legendary's Comic-Con@Home panel below. The Head Wounds segment begins at 21:35.

"Bob Johnson has a mind and a soul like no one else," Isaac said in a statement. "Our friendship and creative collaboration has spanned nearly three decades. I couldn’t be more excited to bring his unique and singular vision of Head Wounds: Sparrow to life with the incredible group of artists we’ve assembled."

"Head Wounds: Sparrow is an exceptionally powerful tale as it draws from the creators’ own life experiences, as well as their passion for the medium,” added Robert Napton, Senior Vice President of Legendary Comics. "Sometimes things come together so effortlessly, and this is one of those projects."

Head Wounds: Sparrow goes on sale early next year.

A stage musical based on 2016's Hidden Figures is on the way from Disney Theatrical Productions, The New York Times confirmed this week. It's reportedly been in the works since 2018, with film critic Elvis Mitchell attached as a creative consultant. Deadline added some more background, writing that the plan is "to assemble a creative team of Black artists."

No other details about the production are available at this time.

Written by Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi (who also directed), Hidden Figures told the story of three African American female scientists, who proved integral to the U.S. space program in the early 1960s. Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Monáe played Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson respectively. Johnson passed away earlier this year, while NASA named its D.C. headquarters after Jackson in June.

The film nabbed three Oscar nods for Best Adapted Screenplay (it was based on a non-fiction book by Margot Lee Shetterly), Best Supporting Actress (Octavia Spencer), and Best Picture. It didn't win any statues, but Johnson did appear onstage with Henson, Spencer, and Monáe during the 2017 ceremony.