TV

Aardman Animations’ Timmy Time is scheduled to air in North America from September 13, 2010 on Disney Channel's Playhouse Disney, following a special sneak preview on the evening of September 7th.
Timmy Time is Aardman’s first animated television project aimed at the preschool audience, and the stop-motion series has already enjoyed great success in its first season of broadcast overseas, proving to be a top performer in the UK on Cbeebies.
Miles Bullough, Executive Producer and Head of Broadcast at Aardman Animatio

Impossible Kids has commenced production on its new pre-school show, Buzz & Tell, for CBeebies, and BBC Worldwide’s international CBeebies channels.

Described by shoe creator Jon Doyle, as, “a pre-school University Challenge with glove puppets,” Buzz & Tell is a madcap quiz show featuring a walrus, called Walter Flipstick, as the host and a cavalcade of contestants, including a mouse called Charles Cheese and an orangutan called Orange Bernard.

“We wanted to create a very funny and active show for pre-school viewers and realised that the quiz show format with its inherent audience participation would be perfect for the targeted age range,” says Doyle. “We’ve created ten wonderfully silly puppet characters and a quiz show host who will be filmed in a computer generated studio with all the lights, music and buzzes you’d associate with quiz shows through the years. The accent is on fun and giving children the chance to shout out the right answers.”

Warner Bros. Animation has begun production on ThunderCats, an all-new animated series for Cartoon Network, based upon the 80s classic. The announcement was made by Sam Register, Executive Vice President at Warner Bros.

“In addition to being Warner Bros. Animation’s first anime series, ‘ThunderCats’ marks our most ambitious foray yet into fantasy,” said Register. “The realism and dynamic visual style we’ve achieved are sure to thrill viewers, and the cool weapons, vehicles and technology should help the show appeal to a diverse audience.”

BBC Worldwide Channels has completed a deal to launch CBeebies in South Korea.

The channel, targeted at preschoolers, will be available from this month on the basic tier of KT's IPTV service QOOK TV, reaching more than 1.2 million of the platform's subscribers.

"The inaugural launch of CBeebies in Korea is an important one for our long-term growth strategy in Asia," said Mark Whitehead, senior VP and general manager of BBC Worldwide Channels Asia. "We are excited to have KT, the country's number one provider of IPTV services, as our partner."

The BBC has acquired the 52 part series The Jungle Book in a £1 million deal with DQ Entertainment. The series, an “action adventures comedy suitable for 21st-century kids”, cost a reported £8 million to make.
The BBC has pledged to reduce the amount it spends on programmes from overseas by about 20 per cent, but Steven Andrew, head of drama and acquisitions for CBBC, said the international co-production would update Kipling’s tale for a new generation.
Mr Andrew said: “The world of the jungle is looking glorious in the series and will reintroduce this brand to a generation who might not know this fabulous story”.

George Lucas has announced Lucasfilm's plans to develop a comedy animated series based on the Star Wars universe.
Seth Green and Matthew Seinreich, creators of Robot Chicken, will be involved in the series. Green said, “The ‘Star Wars’ universe is so dense and rich; it’s crazy to think that there aren’t normal, mundane everyday problems in a world so well-defined. What do these characters do when they’re not overthrowing empires?”

A second season of the Playhouse Disney animated series “Jungle Junction” has been ordered by Disney Channel. Produced by Spider Eye Animation in the UK, the season will consist of 26 new episodes, announced Nancy Kanter, senior vice president of Playhouse Disney Worldwide..
Kanter said: “‘Jungle Junction’ has become a global success for Playhouse Disney, with preschoolers and their parents embracing its characters and unique jungle world. We are eager to continue working with our UK production partners at Spider-Eye to bring more adventure-filled episodes to kids around the globe.”

Aardman Animation has joined forces with partners in Korea and Spain to produce Canimals, a CG and live action children’s series about can shaped animals.
Korean studio Voozclub and Spain's Screen 21, part of Madrid-based BRB, originally developed the show, which will be 52 seven-minute episodes.
Aardman will lead the scripting and voice work while Voozclub and BRB will manage the design, animation and sound production.
Aardman’s head of broadcast, Miles Bullough said, “We’re a co-producer on Canimals. We’re doing the scripting and some of the audio post-production work as well as managing all rights in the UK. It’s a really fun show.”

David Jason will voice the lead in CBBC's first in-house animation series. Sir David, who was previously the voice of Danger Mouse, will play Randalf the wizard in the new fantasy series, Muddle Earth.
"I am delighted to be back doing one of the jobs I enjoy most for such a wonderfully entertaining new children's series," the 70-year-old said.
Head of CBBC animation development Sarah Muller, said: "We are thrilled to have been able to produce a world-class animated series entirely in the UK, which is testament to the extraordinary talent that we've been able to gather together.

A series of Charlie Chaplin animations has been greenlit with a proposed 104 silent CGI animated shorts.
The £7million project – which has the blessing of the Chaplin estate – will be done in 3D CGI by French company Method Animation. The six-minute episodes have been inspired by sketches from Chaplin’s shorts, but will also feature original ideas.
Aton Soumache, chairman of Method Animation, said: “We've been working for more than a year on the graphics concept to find an original way of adapting Chaplin's world.