HUGGY BEAR, JR. Ne-Yo (Photo: Getty Images)

R&B impresario Ne-Yo loves him some cartoons—but not those adolescent trifles Disney keeps putting out. “I love Adult Swim. Can’t get enough of it. Have you ever watched Squidbillies? he asked Radar last week of the subversive hillbilly-themed animated series. We have, and trust us: it’s twisted. Naturally, he’s now looking to dip his golden toe into the animation waters. And what better way for an unflinching entrepreneur/artist of the street-variety to do so than to center his series, What the Bear, on a sloth of bears recently released from bear prison who are trying to re-assimilate into regular bear society?

“I was watching Care Bears one night, and I thought, Wouldn’t it be cool to do the exact opposite of this show? But instead of having a cloud on their tummies, what if it was a syringe, or a knife? So I started working out the details, and we realized we couldn’t do it the way we wanted because it was hitting too close to copyright infringement, so then we thought about What The Bear.’ Animated outlaw bears? Yes, please!