The Magic Roundabout

TV Kids
Weekly, January 15, 2008

ORIGIN: The Magic Roundabout was created by the French decorator
Serge Danot, who turned to animation after an accident damaged his foot. Danot
came up with Le Manège Enchanté, a show about a dog named Pollux (Dougal) who has an English
accent. Aimed at very young children, 500 episodes were produced between 1965
and 1967 and broadcast into the 1970s. Eric Thompson, the father of the actress
Emma Thompson, adapted the series for the BBC and narrated each of roles. A new
CGI series based on Danot’s original creation has now been produced by Films
Action, Play Productions and Ellipsanime.

DISTRIBUTOR: Mediatoon International Distribution

CREATORS: The new CGI series is being produced
under the creative input of children’s programming veteran Theresa Plummer-Andrews
and co-directed by Graham Ralph, Raoff Sanoussi and Stéphane Sanoussi. The
animation has been done in France at Play Productions’ studios in Marseille.

TV SHOW: The CGI-animated series, in HD,
consists of 52 11-minute episodes. It targets kids aged 4 to 8.

SYNOPSIS: The Magic Roundabout was brought to a
small rural village many years ago by a strange old man, Mr. Rusty. It has
remained there ever since. With it came a playful, naughty magician called
Zebedee who lives up in the clouds above and creates impish tricks on the
village inhabitants, watching them untangle the problems he creates.

Each character
is wildly different in the way they view the world, yet they co-exist in happy
harmony. Each episode begins with Zebedee perched on a cloud, initiating the
story that’s about to unfold in the village below. At the end, when all is back
to normal, Zebedee announces that it’s “Time to party!”

Combining an
attractive and distinctive visual style together with warm characters and
humorous stories, this computer-animated version features the same character
models as the 2005 feature-length movie voiced by Robbie Williams and Kylie
Minogue.

EXECUTIVE
PRODUCERS: Laurent
Rodon, Robert Réa

PRODUCERS: Films Action/Play
Productions/Ellipsanime/Action

Synthèse/SilverFox
Films

COMMISSIONING
BROADCASTERS: Nick Jr.
in the U.K., M6 and Disney Channel in France, ABC in Australia, Nickelodeon
Asia and ZDF in Germany.

TV SALES: RTP in Portugal, Minimax in the Czech
Republic, Al Jazeera in the Middle East.

MERCHANDISE:
A video game for
Nintendo DS developed by Game Life will be released in September 2008. A new
collection of Magic Roundabout charms for Twelfth Night 08 was developed by
Arguydal. A perfume has been produced by Koto and distributed by Sephora. Hemma
will launch a new collection of stickers, painting books and educational books
for September 2008.

Thus far, 33
licenses in France and the U.K. have exploited the brand, resulting in more
than 200 products. Among the partners are Ravensburger (puzzles, educational
games); Arianne (photo albums); Smoby (preschool games); Démon & Merveille
(figurines); Janod (wood games); MLP (textiles for kids 0 to 10); Viquel
(back-to-school products); and TSS Pagoda (kids’ shoes), as well as Nathan,
Lightbody and M6 Interaction, among others.

In the U.K.,
the licensing program is concentrated on the preschool sector, with Entara
(Parthenon Entertainment Group).

STRATEGY
FOR ROLLOUT: Staying
true to the original work of Danot and Eric Thompson’s U.K. adaptation, the new
series has been made age appropriate for an international preschool audience.
The show features just one human character, Florence, the wise kid to whom
others can turn to for advice. The gang of friends inhabiting the garden are
personalities that the young audience can easily relate to: Dougal, the naughty
and slightly grumpy dog, or Ermintrude, the over-exuberant opera-singing cow,
or Dylan, the laid-back, guitar-playing rabbit.

The series
launched in the U.K. in October on Nick Jr., airing every weekday at 8 a.m. In
France the show airs Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays on Disney
Channel, and will be launching on M6 in June. Also launching the show this year
are ABC Australia, ZDF in Germany and Nickelodeon Asia.

With these
major territories in place, Mediatoon is now targeting other European partners,
such as Italy, Spain and the North American market. Launched at MIPCOM 2007,
the show has attracted solid interest and further announcements are expected in
the coming months.