The Doozers

The Jim Henson Company and Decode Entertainment are coming together to co-produce The Doozers (26x30), a new 3D animated series based on the small hard hat-wearing creatures featured Henson's Fraggle Rock.  Currently in development, The Doozers is targeted to K4-7 and will be produced in Canada for broadcast in fall 2010.  The Jim Henson Company will license The Doozers to the US market, and handle worldwide consumer products licensing and merchandising.  DHX Media's distribution arm Decode Enterprises will handle international distribution of the series.

PBS Kids

PBS Kids and PBS Kids Go! celebrate Earth Day on Wednesday, April 22, with the fourth annual PBS Kids Share the Earth Day and a new web-based Earth Day Channel on pbskidsgo.org.  The on-air event features premiere episodes Cyberchase, Curious George and Arthur, and themed episodes of Super Why!, Sid the Science Kid among others.  Eco-centric content and activities will be featured online at pbskidsgo.org, pbskids.org, PBS Parents and PBS Teachers.  Additionally, the new PBS Kids Go! video player will host an Earth Day channel with themed content from Arthur, Design Squad, and Maya & Miguel, as well as web-exclusive sites such as Eekoworld, where kids can create and monitor their own creatures in the wild, and The Greens, a web-based series about the Green family and sustainability/ecology/environment/being green.

Digital Rights Group

Multiplatform distributor Digital Rights Group will offer a range of new programming at MIPTV 2009 including one for kids.  iD Distribution launches the kid-aimed animated series One Minute Wonders (13x30).  The mixed entertainment/education series stars Blink, a small one-eyed machine, and his clumsy robot assistant Missit, who together help kids discover things about the planet Earth.  One Minute Wonders is produced by Unique Television for BBC One.

Genius

Ellipsanime heads into production on its new 3D animated series Genius (78x7).  Targeted to K6-10, Genius will debut in 2010 exclusively on Canal J (France), and then on Gulli (France).  Mediatoon Distribution will handle international sales for the series. Based on a comic book series by authors De Groot & Turk and published by Le Lombard, Genius is set sometime during the end of the Middle Ages and revolves around a brilliant inventor (the Master) and his clumsy sidekick as they come up with new creations.  Each episode will be followed by a one-minute segment that features an explanation of the invention or scientific experiment the characters explore  sometimes well before their time.  A companion website with games and other interactive activities will be available to broadcasters.  This year will also see the release of an encyclopedia of the Master's inventions in December 2009, followed by the publication of Volume 40 of the comic book in March 2010.

Marvel MMO

Marvel Entertainment enters into a deal with startup Gazillion Entertainment to develop and publish massively multiplayer games (MMO) for a range of ages based on the Marvel's universe of characters, and elements from its animated series and movies.  The first game in the development under the deal is a casual MMO for kids based on Marvel's Super Hero Squad property, which features a stylized look for super heroes including Iron Man, Hulk, Wolverine, Thor, fantastic Four, Captain America among others.  The Super Hero Squad MMO is based on the super Hero Squad toy line and the upcoming animated series (26x30) of the same name that will air on Cartoon Network.  In addition, Gazillion will develop and publish Marvel Universe, an MMO for PC and consoles.

Marvel Entertainment

With the goal expanding its global business efforts, Marvel Entertainment has formed an International Advisory Board to help explore new opportunities overseas for Marvel and its key character brands, especially focusing on India and China initially.  The Advisory Board is chaired by James F. Halpin, a longtime Marvel director.  Simon Philips, President/Worldwide Consumer Products will serve as the primary company liaison to the Advisory Board.  Additionally, the Advisory Board is currently comprised of Peter Yip, Exec. Vice Chairman and CEO, CDC Corporation, and Bollywood film producer, Manmohan Shetty, former chairman, Adlabs Films Limited. Yip and Shetty represent China and India, respectively on the Board.  Marvel is in the process of filling two additional Advisory Board positions.

Sisimpur

Sisimpur, the Bangladeshi version of Sesame Street begins production on its fifth season (52x30), which will debut this summer on Bangladesh Television (BTV).  Co-produced by Sesame Workshop and Nayantara Communications, Sisimpur launched on air in April 2005 as the first locally produced educational kid's series in Bangladesh.  This season, Muppet fairy-in-training Abby Cadabby joins the Sisimpur in an interactive segment where she asks viewers to help her solve some problems.  Abby Cadabby debuted on Sesame Street in 2006 and on Mexico's Plaza Sesamo last fall.  In addition, season 5 welcomes the new character Shanto to the neighborhood.  The nephew of two regular characters, Shanto enjoys learning and share new information and will be featured in segments focusing on family relations and social values and morals.  The series is currently airing on BTV and BTV Word in Bangladesh.

YEA WILBRAIN coming to LA

San Francisco-based Wildbrain, the folks behind Yo Gabba Gabba!, expands its Wildbrain Animation Studios by opening the doors to a new satellite studio in LA.  Chris Staples and Michelle Papandrew have been tapped to head the new outpost.  Wildbrain says the new studio is a reflection of the growth of 3D animation in TV.  The San Francisco Wildbrain Animation Studios operation will continue to serve as the studio's hub for commercial work, TV, movies and game animation, as well as original content development.  Wildbrain Animation Studios' TV productions include the CG animated Higglytown Heroes, which airs on Disney Channel, and the new 3D CGI animated Bubble Guppies, which is set to bow on Nickelodeon.  The studio is also working on a Yo Gabba Gabba! feature film, as well as a live-action feature based on the Kidrobot toys with Paramount, and Team Smithereen, a short-form animated series written/directed by Dan Clark.  Other projects including a Fox Television animated pilot featuring the voice of Jeff Foxworthy, a series of webisodes for companies such as Smith & Tinker, and its ongoing commercial animation.

Weta Workshop

Weta Workshop's new preschool HD series The WotWots (52x10) is set to have its worldwide premiere on TVNZ's (New Zealand) TV2, Monday, March 23 at 8:50a.  The show will then debut on ABC TV's (Australia) ABC 1 at 8:25a and ABC 2 at 12:45p, where it will air weekdays from Thursday, April 16.  ABC TV and ABC New Media will launch a WotWots website (www.abc.net.au/wotwots) on March 9.  The series has also been acquired by Five (UK) for its Milkshake block and MTV3 Finland.  The show follows the adventures of the WotWots, two space alien siblings, who come to explore the planet Earth and land in the middle of a zoo.  The WotWots is produced by Pukeko Pictures and made at Richard Taylor's Weta Workshop.  Pukeko Pictures is a new partnership between Taylor and author/kid's TV creator, Martin Baynton.  Taylor and Baynton previously teamed to create Jane and the Dragon.  Hasbro is named as the toy licensee for the WotWots and will introduce a range of plush, figures and play-sets in Australia and New Zealand in September 2009.  Hasbro will also serve as licensing agent for the property in Australia and New Zealand, with plans to launch the licensing program, including novelty publishing and apparel in July and September 2009 respectively.