Kika & Bob

ORIGIN: An original idea by Vincent Bal and Colette Bothof.

DISTRIBUTOR: Evergreen Entertainment

CREDITS:
Executive Producers: Submarine
Producers: Submarine, Bruno Felix & Femke Wolting
Directors and Writers: Vincent Bal & Colette Bothof
Art Direction: Fons Schiedon

TV SHOW: There are 26 13-minute episodes available in season one, targeting kids aged 7 to 11. The series has been produced in two ways. The first is a linear television series combined with a website to explore interactive elements, featuring 26 web games. The second is a series made for interactive television (including set-top box), combined with a website with 26 web games.

DESCRIPTION: Kika & Bob is a fast-paced, funny children’s animated series. Smart 9-year-old Kika and brave fireman Bob are blown to the other side of the world by a typhoon during an attempt to rescue Kika’s kitten Tiger, who is stuck on the very top of a church tower. During the series they try to travel back home, overcoming terrible obstacles, crossing strange territories and meeting even stranger people and animals. Add to this the All-Knowing-Narrator, a walking and talking Encyclopedia of Bizarre and Unnecessary Trivia.  

The linear TV show is accompanied by a games site that comes with 26 different games and 1 Tiger mini-game. These web games are connected with the series in a way that whenever a new episode of the series airs, a new web game will open up, too. Just like in the TV series, Kika and Bob visit places all around the world and the player has to make sure they survive the hazards and dangers these places offer.

The series can be broadcast as interactive television. Each episode has an additional Play Along feature. During the transmission, children can use their remote control to help Kika and Bob make decisions about the dilemmas that they face during their adventures.

If the child makes the right choice, the reward comes in an unexpected form: Tiger, the cat on the steeple, gets fed.

MAIN BROADCASTERS: NPS (The Netherlands), VRT (Belgium), Discovery (U.K.)

TV SALES: Canal+ (France), TPS (France), NRK (Norway), DR (Denmark), De Agostini (Italy), ITV (U.K.), RTP (Portugal), Sun Network (India), Al Jazeera Children’s Channel (Middle East), Noga (Israel)

MAJOR LICENSEES: In Benelux, three Kika & Bob books have been released. The first one is a "diary" of Kika with funny trivia and games, while the other two are reading books based on two episodes.

All 26 episodes have been released on four interactive DVDs, with the option for kids to make the right choice in each episode. The DVDs come with a "making of" bonus and episodes are dubbed into six languages: Dutch, Flemish, English, French, Danish and Norwegian.

The licensing agent in Benelux is Copyright Promotions, which has received interest for clothing, stationery and board games.

STRATEGY FOR ROLLOUT: A second season of Kika & Bob is currently being financed, according to Steve Walsh, the managing director of Evergreen Entertainment. It should be ready for delivery by late next year, Walsh notes.

"Kika & Bob is a highly original and therefore unusual show which mixes comedy and adventure with a sprinkling of trivial facts for kids to store away," Walsh says of the strength of the brand. "The fact that each episode has its own dedicated web game is a strong selling point for broadcasters who are realizing more and more that the Internet is as important to kids as their television set."