"OBITS": As most of you know by now, legendary voice actor June Foray passed away on July 26, 2017 - just a few weeks shy of her 100th birthday. Lovers of all things anthropomorphic will remember June as the voice of 'Rocky the Flying Squirrel' (for Jay Ward Productions), 'Grammi Gummi' and 'Magica de Spell' (both for Disney), as well as straight-laced animal characters such as the mother wolf in "Mowgli's Brothers" and the mother of 'Kotick' in "The White Seal" (from Chuck Jones Productions). Rather than run off all of her other credits, just go to the nearest search engine to check out the additional works of Ms. Foray... Ironically, June's death overshadowed the passing of comic actor Patti Deutsch, who also succumbed on July 26th. A member of the comedy troupe The Ace Trucking Company (whose cast also includes Fred Willard and Billy Saluga), 'furry fanatics' will remember her as the voice of 'Trixie' (one of the rats living in the White House basement) in the 1992 animated series "Capitol Critters" (a collaboration of Hanna-Barbera Studios and Steven Bochco). Ms. Deutsch was 74...

"TELEVISION": Back in the 1980s and 1990s, when cel-animated episodes of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" aired in syndication, special installments tying in the popular comic book "Usagi Yojimbo" were produced. Now, in 2017, 'Miyamoto Usagi' - the creation of long-time artist Stan Sakai - returns in CGI, for a multi-part presentation, currently playing Sundays on Nickelodeon... Fans of "The Lion King": Get ready for a blast from the past! The arch nemesis 'Scar' returns from the dead (or did he ever escape from those hoards of hyenas?), in a brand new mini-movie for Disney Channel - "The Lion Guard: The Rise of Scar" - debuting on Saturday morning, July 29th... Other TV fare with anthropomorphic characters in the offing include the reboot of "Duck Tales" (on Disney XD), new episodes of "We Bare Bears" (on Cartoon Network), and "Nature Cat" (on PBS). Consult your listings for days, times, and specific channels from your Cable TV or Satellite service provider... The network known as Sprout - with lots of animated programs - will undergo a name change. By September, it will be called Universal Kids, and it will feature lots of new cartoon fare...

"MOVIES": Upcoming CGI feature films with animal characters in them include "The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature" (in August), "My Little Pony: The Movie" (in October), Disney-Pixar's "Coco" (in November), Blue Sky Studios' "Ferdinand" (in December), and Sony Animation Studios' "The Star" (also in December)... In Disney's motion-capture reboot of "The Lion King", award-winning actor James Earl Jones reprises his role as 'Mufasa' - from the original cel-animated version of the film... Director Tim ("The Nightmare Before Christmas") Burton will be at the helm of a live action/motion-capture remake of Disney's "Dumbo" - featuring the talents of Michael Keaton and Danny DeVito...

"COMIC BOOKS": As a follow-up to my story about the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" multi-part TV presentation, IDW Publishing (in collaboration with Nickelodeon, Dark Horse Comics, and Stan Sakai himself) presents a special "TMNT/Usagi Yojimbo" one-shot crossover, with multiple cover art images. Cover A is drawn by Stan Sakai himself, while Cover B is rendered by his long-time associate and "MAD" cartoonist Sergio Aragones, with additional covers (from other copies of the same one-shot) done by "TMNT" co-creator Kevin Eastman... Other comic books of interest include (the new version of) "Duck Tales" (from IDW Publishing), "Looney Tunes", "DC Super Heroes/Looney Tunes" crossovers, and "Scooby-Doo" (all from DC)...

"MISCELLANEOUS": Here it is, the middle of 2017, and already some of the 2018 calendars are coming out. Among the more interesting ones available, I'd highly recommend "Hipster Animals: A Field Guide" by Dyna Moe (from Andrews McMeel Publishing). The anthropomorphic fauna for each month are studies of unorthodox human behavior. This 2018 calendar also features a four-month grid for the balance of 2017. It's available at Barnes & Noble, and wherever other calendars are sold. ($14.99 US, $18.99 Canada, £10.99 UK, $24.99 Australia, $26.99 New Zealand) ...Disney Theme Parks in Orlando, Florida will be opening new attractions based on some of their past fare, including a "Ratatouille" ride (just like the one currently running at Disneyland Paris), a "Guardians of the Galaxy" pavilion, and even a ride based on one of the new'Mickey Mouse' short subjects airing on Disney Channel... On July 27th, character actor - and the voice of 'Nick Wilde' in Disney's "Zootopia" - Jason Bateman received his 'star' on the "Hollywood Walk of Fame". Here's hoping that Ginnifer Goodwin (the voice of 'Judy Hopps') will follow, not too long from now...