Cartoon Network UK Highlights New Comedy

February 15, 2011 World Screen

Cartoon Network is seeking out content for its branded afternoon comedy block in the U.K. Called Laughternoons, the hour-long block from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays is set to launch two new original shows from the channel’s American big cousin, Adventure Time with Finn & Jake on Tuesdays and Regular Show on Wednesdays. 

The new Laughternoons concept breaks with Turner’s tradition of stripping its three British children’s channels (the others are Boomerang and Cartoonito) throughout the day.

 

On February 28, the block launches a new series of Angelo Rules as the featured Monday show. Thursdays will feature a new series of Marvellous Misadventures of Flapjack, with Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated going out on Fridays.
 
While most of the new afternoon slots will be filled at the start by shows from Turner, Angelo Rules comes from the U.K.’s CAKE Entertainment, co-produced with Paris-based animation studio TeamTO. CAKE also supplies 1-minute video shorts for the Cartoon Network website to promote interaction around the show.
 
Cartoon Network’s door is open wide to other potential suppliers. “We are always looking for comedy animation for the channel,” says Cecilia Persson, London-based VP of programming acquisitions and co-productions for Turner Broadcasting EMEA. “We have a good pipeline from our studio in Burbank but we are always looking for new character-driven series.”
 
Whatever Persson acquires for any of the channels needs to work across EMEA, with few exceptions. Cartoon Network has localized services in 14 languages and in over 61 million homes. 
 
This year Boomerang is launching a new animated series aimed at girls 4-7 called Puppy in My Pocket from Italy, co-produced by MONDO TV, MEG and Giochi Preziosi.
 
Also for Boomerang Persson has acquired a new 3D animated series, Jelly Jamm, co-produced by Spanish indies Vodka Capital, 737 Shaker and RTVE, with backing from toy licensee Bandai. That company is also partnered in Cartoon Network’s Ben 10: Alien Force. In these deals, Bandai sells the master toy, while Turner does all the other licensing.
 
For Cartoonito, aimed at younger children, acquisitions include Chloe’s Closet, made in the U.K. by Mike Young Productions, a subsidiary of France’s Moonscoop. That is a case where the show will only be shown in the U.K.
 
The biggest new development for Turner’s London hub is the completion of the first full-length original production by its own development studio, The Amazing World of Gumball (40×11 minutes), to be shown globally on Cartoon Network. Turner set up a new production company, Dandelion Studios, to make the show, which was created in-house by Ben Bocquelet. The production was storyboard-driven, and blends 2D and 3D.
 
“To produce this show in the U.K. is a very deal,” says Persson. The new show is seen as the first step in an effort to enable new show creators in Europe to work with budgets geared to the global market.

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