Apple Close to Inking Deal With Cartoon Saloon for Animated Movie

Apple is working on dozens of original television shows and may also expand into feature films, with the company said to be close to signing a deal for an animated movie.

According to Bloomberg, Apple may soon sign a deal with Cartoon Saloon, an animation studio based in Ireland. While Cartoon's Saloon's movie has yet to be made, Apple is aiming to secure distribution rights for the United States and other countries.

It's unclear how Apple plans to make the movie available, but a theatrical release, necessary to qualify for Academy Awards, is possible, one of the people said. Apple and Cartoon Saloon had no immediate comment on Thursday.

Cartoon Saloon has previously produced Academy Award-nominated animated films including "The Secret of Kells," "The Song of the Sea," and "The Breadwinner."

Bloomberg warns that the talks have not yet finished and that the deal could still fall apart, but Apple's discussion with Cartoon Saloon suggests the company is interested in content beyond TV shows.


At the current point in time, Apple has established deals for at least 16 television shows, ranging from science fiction series "Amazing Stories" to podcast-based drama series "Are You Sleeping."

It is not yet clear how Apple's television shows (and potentially films) will be distributed, but it does have a TV app where it recently made one of its first shows, "Carpool Karaoke: The Series" available to watch.

The first of Apple's TV shows could see a debut as soon as 2019, though it's not known if the content will be free, available as part of Apple Music, or distributed through an as-of-yet unannounced video service.

Related Roundup: Apple TV
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Caution)

Top Rated Comments

R2S2 Avatar
75 months ago
Who cares? I don't. I'm simply missing the time when Apple had something breathtaking to announce. Something that graphics and photo pros like me could not await to get their hands on, saving half of one's income to have it right in time when it's available. As far as I remember, thats a decade or two ago … Apple pros got lost - may it be Tim's fault, the iPhone generation's, or whatever. No Macbook capable of more than 16GB, no Mac Pro (pls forgive me when I say forget this iMac Pro crap with this f*** glossy display … have you ever worked on a Cinema Display hundreds years ago?), Aperture skipped, Final Cut crippled down to a "better" iMovie … But what's my option? Windows? NEVER! I've been on Mac for nearly 25 years for graphic design, illustration, photo editing and motion design. Either wait for another dozens of useless animojis, memojis, or whatever you call it, or get a cool Workstation – something like a Silicon Graphics … that was soooooo cooool (well I had one, YES!) … and trying to get macOS running somehow? Hmmm, on the other hand, maybe I should wait a little while longer - Federighi promised a new Mac Pro… Wow! Cool! That was 2017, no problem … I'm gonna wait for 2018 as it was stated. Oops, wrong - latest updated says it will be some launch point in 2019; well then it will be available in (late?) 2020. What the heck are approx. 123.000 employees doing SEVERAL YEARS? Creating new memojics I guess. Thank you, Apple
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
alex00100 Avatar
75 months ago
Cartoon saloon makes amazing films, great to hear that this is what apple is after rather than Hollywood’s big budged mindless stuff.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dan110 Avatar
75 months ago
So ... Apple is a tv production company now? Ok.

Hello, Linux? Uh, I might need to meet up with you. I think we're going to need to become intimately acquainted with each other.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ArtOfWarfare Avatar
75 months ago
Apple inking deal, Apple close to deal, Apple snagged "x" director.... Who cares until they start delivering these shows. Hot air until then.
I think you missed the fact that this is an Apple Rumors website... it means they report on Apple related things before they actually reach the level of being generally news worthy. There's a plausible reason to think something Apple related could happen, so that's good enough for it to go on MacRumors.

If you'd like only concrete news relating to Apple, I suggest you just visit Apple's press site. Anything that's completely solid that they're ready to talk about, they'll talk about there.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Abazigal Avatar
75 months ago
Does Apple need to spread it's wings so far into all these markets?? When Steve Jobs came back to Apple he did the right thing in simplifying their lineup of products. Apple has gone back to the pre-Steve era and their product line shows it. Apple needs to return to what brought it to the dance (so to speak). Get rid of Cook! We need a new Steve Jobs.
It’s ridiculous to expect the same strategy which worked for Apple back when it was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy to work on a modern-day Apple which is focused on growth and adding value to the whole ecosystem.

Just like how you don’t expect a millionaire to live the same way as a young teenager bumming around on his parent’s couch.

A video streaming service would help further differentiate Apple’s offerings. Being able to get news, music and video content via a single subscription fee would be an extremely compelling deal and entice more people to stay within the Apple ecosystem.

I’m convinced some people really do wish Apple was just a Mac company. Things will continue to get uncomfortable for this group given Apple’s product direction.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Newtons Apple Avatar
75 months ago
Just what the world needs is more liberal politically correct cartoons!
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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