'Craig Before The Creek' Trailer Released, Announces Air And Release Dates
Preorders went up today for a December 11 digital release. Further releases will happen through March
When they said soon, they weren’t kidding. Cartoon Network and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment have released the official trailer for Craig Before the Creek, the original prequel film for the hit Cartoon Network series Craig of the Creek.
The full trailer comes less than two weeks after the teaser, and for good reason: Craig Before the Creek releases on digital marketplaces like Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play, and Vudu on December 11, with preorders available today. Indeed, just two weeks away. As for when it will be on Cartoon Network, it’s actually coming rather quickly. The network is letting the film be the star of their Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, premiering it on Saturday, January 13, 2024 at 10 AM ET/PT and reairing it on Sunday, January 14 at 10:30 AM ET/ PT. On Martin Luther King Jr. Day itself, Monday January 15, the schedule will consist of the original series, its spin-off Jessica’s Big Little World and Space Jam: A New Legacy before another airing of Craig Before the Creek. It has not been confirmed whether that Space Jam: A New Legacy airing will be the network premiere. Those morning airings, including the premiere, are due to the well-documented encroachment of Adult Swim in the network airspace, and the airing day for Cartoon Network has ended at 5 PM since August.
While not the fastest release-to-air pace for Cartoon Network-based direct-to-video films (Teen Titans Go! & DC Super Hero Girls: Mayhem in the Multiverse took mere days in May 2022) it is faster than the trio of DTV Adult Swim films, with The Venture Bros.: Radiant Is the Blood of the Baboon Heart coming closest. The DVD release won’t be until a couple of months later, on March 26. major retailers will have it available purchase online and in-store at a starting retail price of $14.99 in the U.S. and $19.99 in Canada.
The synopsis reads: “Before he was Craig of the Creek, he was just Craig — a new kid in a new town. All Craig wants is to go back to his old friends at his old home. But when he learns that the nearby creek is hiding a lost treasure that could make his wish come true, Craig sets off on a journey to find it — navigating the perilous suburban wilderness, forging new friendships, all while being pursued by a fearsome band of pirates who are bent on destroying the Creek itself.” This trailer sees the Williams family actually moving to town and see the many kids gathering at the creek before being bombarded by pirates. Craig finds Hannah’s diary containing the story of the wishmaker, and that’s how he teams up with Kelsey for the first time. It’s an epic battle and Craig is just getting started.
Craig Before the Creek stars Philip Solomon as Craig, Noël Wells as Kelsey Pokoly, and H. Michael Croner as J.P. Mercer, Phil LaMarr as older brother Bernard, and Kimberly Hébert Gregory as mom Nicole. Dad Duane will be voiced by Byron Marc Newsome instead of Terry Crews, and as the trailer shows, little sister (and main character of the spin-off) Jessica is old enough to be talking, and will continue to be voiced by Lucia Cunningham. A Cartoon Network Studios production, the film is directed by series creators Matt Burnett & Ben Levin and co-directed by Naija Porter. The screenplay is by Burnett & Levin from a story by them, Tiffany Ford, Ashleigh Hairston, Dashawn Mahome, Naija Porter and Jeff Trammell. Executive producers are Burnett, Levin and Cartoon Network Studios/Warner Bros. Animation/Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe head Sam Register.
Craig of the Creek is currently in its fifth season, an order that was announced with both the spin-off and this film in January 2022. However, both series were canceled with halved orders by the new Discovery regime in October, and Craig has already aired half of the halved order (10 out of 20). In fact so has Jessica (6 out of 13). So the premiere of Craig Before the Creek will herald a finale year for a franchise that would be blossoming under any other ownership.
Source: Animation Magazine