Poppy Cat Heads into Production for Nick Jr. UK Launch

LONDON: Coolabi has started production on the Nick Jr. UK-commissioned children’s series based on the literary character Poppy Cat.

The series is slated for a 2011 launch on the network. Ahead of its launch, the show has already been sold to Nick Jr. Australia, RTE in Ireland, YLE in Finland, TV2 in Norway and Canada’s TVO, SCN and Knowledge Network. CAKE Entertainment handles the global distribution for the series, which will be a highlight at MIP Junior in October. In February, Collabi brought on King Rollo Films as its animation partner for the series.

Michael Dee, Coolabi’s director of content, said: “We are very proud to be investing in animation in our lead market, particularly when the U.K. animation industry is having funding challenges at present. We are pleased to be working in conjunction with both Nick Jr. and King Rollo Films in the U.K. to bring Poppy Cat’s adventures to life for audiences across the globe.”

Debbie Macdonald, Nickelodeon UK’s VP and programming director, commented: “We are delighted that production of Poppy Cat is building up a real head of steam in the expert hands of Coolabi and King Rollo Films, and we can’t wait to bring the series to U.K. audiences in 2011.”

Leo Nielsen, owner and co-founder of King Rollo Films, added: “Poppy Cat is one of the most exciting and visually compelling series we have produced, and it is exciting to see the production taking shape. The U.K. has an enormous heritage of quality children’s programming and we’re extremely pleased that Coolabi and Nick Jr. decided to keep production on home soil.”