Disney Plus announced it will launch the second season of its Marvel Studios-created animated series I Am Groot on September 6.

The five-episode I Am Groot series shorts – based on the tree-themed Groot character from the Guardians of the Galaxy Marvel movie franchise – returns to explore “the universe and beyond aboard the Guardians’ spaceships, coming face-to-face or nose-to-nose with new and colorful creatures and environments,” according to the streaming service. 

Also: Live-Action 'The Little Mermaid' on Disney Plus Next Month 

The first season of I Am Groot debuted on Disney Plus in August 2022.

Vin Diesel returns as the voice of Groot in the series, which is executive produced by Brad Winderbaum, Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso and Kristen Lepore.

I Am Groot follows the August premiere of the Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 3 film, which garnered more than $800 million at the global box office since its theater debut in May. 

I Am Groot, five original shorts inspired by Guardians of the Galaxy, premieres on Disney Plus August 10. Vin Diesel, who voices Groot in the film franchise, voices Baby Groot. 

“There’s no guarding the galaxy from this mischievous toddler! So get ready as Baby Groot takes center stage in his very own collection of shorts, exploring his glory days growing up—and getting into trouble—among the stars,” goes the Disney Plus summary. 

Bradley Cooper voices Rocket. 

“Groot is a fan-favorite character,” says executive producer Brad Winderbaum. ”In the Guardians of the Galaxy series, we see him grow up because of the way the story unfolds. We wanted to revisit the character and tell stories about the period in his life when he was a little kid. This idea of self discovery, of a little kid learning their world, felt like exciting new territory for us.”

All five shorts are available on premiere day. The shorts were written and directed by Kirsten Lepore. Executive producers are Lepore, Winderbaum, Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso and James Gunn. 

Guardians of the Galaxy came out in 2014. Diesel voiced Groot in that movie, as well as in subsequent Marvel Cinematic Universe movies Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame and Thor: Love and Thunder. ■

The Walt Disney Co., fueled by strong gains at its cable networks and movie studios, reported record growth for fiscal 2014 and the fourth quarter, with overall revenue up 8% to $48.8 billion for the full year while segment operating income for the period rose 21% to $13 billion.

For the quarter, overall revenue rose 7% to $12.4 billion and segment operating income increased 12% to $2.8 billion.

“Our results for Fiscal 2014 were the highest in the company’s history, marking our fourth consecutive year of record performance,” Disney chairman and CEO Bob Iger said in a statement. “We’re obviously very pleased with this achievement and believe it reflects the extraordinary quality of our content and our unique ability to leverage success across the company to create significant value, as well as our focus on embracing and adapting to emerging consumer trends and technology.”

Media Networks, which includes cable channels ESPN, The Disney Channel and ABC Family as well as broadcast network ABC, saw revenue rise 5% in the quarter to $5.2 billion, while segment operating income was flat at $1.4 billion. At the cable networks, segment operating income in the quarter was down 1% despite a 6% revenue increase, largely because of higher programming costs at ESPN. Disney said higher costs for Major League Baseball, college football and World Cup rights offset higher affiliate fees (including those from newly launched SEC Network) and increased advertising revenue.

For the year, cable networks revenue rose 5% to $15.1 billion and segment operating income was up 7% to $6.5 billion.

At Studio Entertainment, revenue in the quarter rose 18% to $1.8 billion, while segment operating income more than doubled to $254 million, fueled by the box office success of movies Guardian of the Galaxy and Maleficent and home entertainment sales associated with animated hit Frozen.

Music performers Izzy Azalea and Sam Smith as well as theatrical films Gone Girl and Guardians of the Galaxy have garnered nominations for Logo’s 2014 New Now Next Awards, the network announced Thursday.

Azalea (pictured) and Smith earned New Now Next Awards nods for best new female and male musician respectively, while Gone Girl and Guardians of the Galaxy earned multiple awards in several film categories, according to Logo, which will air the award show Dec. 7. MTV will also air the event on Dec. 12.

Fans can vote for their favorite New Now Next Anominees at http://www.logotv.com/events/newnownext_awards/.

“The New Now Next Awards are a crystal ball for popular culture … they celebrate the now and introduce fans to what's on the horizon,” said Ryan Kroft, senior vice president of programming Specials and Events for MTV and Logo TV in a statement. "The awards honor the artists and creators whose films, shows, music, and even social impact helped define last year and will shape the future. We are thrilled to celebrate their work."

The nominees for the 2014 “New Now Next Awards” are:

 Television:

Best New Television Series:

Broad City

How To Get Away With Murder

Looking

Outlander

Transparent

Best New Television Actor:

Jay Duplass, Transparent

Jonathan Groff, Looking

Thomas Middleditch, Silicon Valley

Pedro Pascal, Game of Thrones

Justin Theroux, The Leftovers

Best New Television Actress:

Ilana Glazer, Broad City

Gaby Hoffmann, Transparent

Molly Parker, House of Cards

Katie Stevens, Faking It

Lorraine Toussaint, Orange is the New Black

Best New Television Personality:

Pete Davidson, Saturday Night Live

Bianca Del Rio, RuPaul’s Drag Race

John Oliver, Last Week Tonight With John Oliver

Gwen Stefani, The Voice

Neil deGrasse Tyson, Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey

Film:

Best Motion Picture By a New Filmmaker:

Dear White People, Justin Simien

The Fault in Our Stars, Josh Boone

Guardians of the Galaxy, James Gunn

Snowpiercer, Bong Joon-ho

The Theory of Everything, James Marsh

Best New Screenwriter:

Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl

Craig Johnson (with Mark Heyman), The Skeleton Twins

Gillian Robespierre, Obvious Child

Ira Sachs & Mauricio Zacharias, Love Is Strange

Justin Simien, Dear White People

Best New Lead Film Actor

Ellar Coltrane, Boyhood

Ansel Elgort, The Fault In Our Stars

Dylan O’Brien, The Maze Runner

Chris Pratt, Guardians of the Galaxy

Miles Teller, Whiplash

Best New Lead Film Actress

Carrie Coon, Gone Girl

Natalie Dormer, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Belle

Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl

Jenny Slate, Obvious Child

Music:

Best New Musician (Male)

Hozier

Nick Jonas

John Newman

Paolo Nutini

Sam Smith

Best New Musician (Female)

Iggy Azalea

Charli XCX

Mary Lambert

Meghan Trainor

Betty Who

Best New Music Group

A Great Big World

Bastille

Bleachers

Disclosure

Pentatonix

Theater:

Best New Broadway Production (Musical)

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical

Cabaret

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

If/Then

Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill

Best New Broadway Production (Play)

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

It’s Only a Play

Mothers and Sons

A Raisin in The Sun

This Is Our Youth

Best New Broadway Lead Actor

Michael Cera, This Is Our Youth

Bryan Cranston, All The Way

Rupert Grint, It’s Only a Play

Chris O’Dowd, Of Mice and Men

Alexander Sharp, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Best New Broadway Lead Actress

Rose Byrne, You Can’t Take It With You

Tavi Gevinson, This Is Our Youth

Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Real Thing

Sophie Okonedo, A Raisin in The Sun

Michelle Williams, Cabaret

Disney XD will launch a new animated series based on the popular theatrical movie Guardians of the Galaxy.

The series, will premiere on the Disney service in 2015, will feature the characters introduced in the Marvel Studio film, which generated $323 million at the box office this year.

The series will air as part of the Marvel Universe programming block on the boys-targeted Disney XD.

"The movie and franchise quickly became a worldwide phenomenon,” said Marc Buhaj, Senior Vice President, Programming and General Manager, Disney XD in a statement."We're looking forward to working with the great team at Marvel Television to deliver an engaging animated series that fans can enjoy each week."