Missy Mila Twisted Tales

TV Kids Weekly, September 30, 2008

ORIGIN: The series is an original creation from France’s Planet Nemo Animation.

DISTRIBUTORS: France Télévisions Distribution for TV, VOD and home video; Planet Nemo Animation for publishing and licensing rights.

CREATOR: Planet Nemo Animation

TV SHOW: There are 52 episodes of seven minutes each, produced in 2-D animation.

DESCRIPTION: Traditional tales are timeless stories that everyone loves to delve back into, generation after generation. Far from old-fashioned clichés, Missy Mila Twisted Tales revamps this cultural heritage through the imagination and spontaneity of a present-day little girl. Mila’s stories are peppered with spicy anachronisms and offbeat re-interpretations. So don’t act surprised if you see a prince applying hair gel before setting out to rescue a princess, unless the latter is a kung-fu champion that is! As for the dreadful Minotaur, Mila prefers to picture him as the Toupouloupou, an enormous candy monster who is a sweetie pie with a sweet tooth. And why do the wolves always have to be depicted as the bad guys? In her very personal adaptation of the Three Little Pigs, Mila swaps the big bad wolf for a bull that rocks.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Planet Nemo Animation

MAIN BROADCASTERS: France 5 and CanalSat’s Piwi

TV SALES: VRT in Belgium, RaiSat in Italy, TV3 in Spain, RTP in Portugal, SVT in Sweden, NRK in Norway, YLE in Finland, Ceska TV in the Czech Republic, 360 Media Entertainment in the Middle East; and Educational Broadcasting System and C4U in South Korea. A deal has also been closed in Poland.

MAJOR LICENSEES: The strategy is to build the licensing program in France and Belgium in the main categories of publishing, accessories and gaming. In addition, Universal will be rolling out the DVD in France and French-speaking Europe.

In the publishing category, the first two book titles of a planned series will be released in French and Flemish/Dutch languages this October. Translation rights will be promoted at the Frankfurt Book Fair by Averbode Publishers. On the accessories front, a sleepwear line for girls is targeted for a fall 2009 launch. In gaming, meanwhile, a PC game is in production and there is a Nintendo DS game promoting early literacy in development. There is also a rich companion website at www.missymila.com.

STRATEGY FOR ROLLOUT: With the major European terrestrials on board for the production, the next step will be finalizing a pan-European and North American sale. A second season is currently in the works at Planet Nemo.

Eric Verniere, the VP of international sales at France Télévisions Distribution, believes that the series has been a success thus far because its title character, Mila, is “sweet, cheeky and curious [and is] close to the kids and interacts with the audience. This is a comedy series that also helps kids to develop their abilities in storytelling.”