Rai Ragazzi Unveils New Co-Pros

Rai Ragazzi presented a selection of new co-production titles for children’s channels Rai Yoyo and Rai Gulp in Italy at the Cartoons on the Bay festival.

Club 57, a new live-action series by Rainbow and Rai, is an international co-production with Nickelodeon. A passion for science, discovery and adventure sends the protagonists back to the 1950s, where they find themselves on the stage of the famous TV show Club 57. The series will premiere on Rai Gulp, a channel aimed at children between ages 8 and 14. Following its Italian launch, Club 57 will roll out globally, including on Nickelodeon in Latin America and Brazil.

Two other original live-action series headed to Rai Gulp are Find Me in Paris, which is set at the Paris Opera; and the second season of Penny on MARS, a series about a 14-year-old girl and her best friend as they face challenges in their prestigious musical high school that is produced in collaboration with Disney Channel by 3zero2. Jams, a series for children that talks about child molestation, in addition to other similar projects, is also being prepared for Rai Gulp.

New animation projects co-produced by Rai Ragazzi include Klincus, Alice & Lewis and Tiny Bad Wolf. Klincus, based on the book series penned by Alessandro Gatti, centers on an orphan boy who lives in a city built on trees. A co-production with Showlab of Turin and Grid Animation, the series is headed for Rai Gulp. A modern take on Alice in Wonderland, Alice & Lewis follows the adventures of a 6-year-old girl who has found a magic key to open the door to the parallel world of Wonderland. Made by new studio MoBo in co-production with the French studio Blue Spirit Productions, the series is for Rai Yoyo. Tiny Bad Wolf, another series for Rai Yoyo, is an Italian-French co-production between Maga Animation and the Parisian Xilam Animation about a young wolf named Lupin who dreams of being a fairy tale hero.

Rai Yoyo will also be home to the new series Berry Bees, an Atlantyca production inspired by a series of books published by Fabbri Editore. The action-packed cartoon features mysterious criminals, international conspiracies and intrigues tackled by three secret-agent girls out to save the world. Currently in production for the channel are Lampadino and Caramella, from Roman animation studio Animundi, and the L&C-produced Giù dal Nido (Down from the Nest).

Titles making the move from comics to TV include Barbapapà The New Series, an international co-production by Rai Ragazzi destined for Rai Yoyo created by the French studio Normaal Animation in collaboration with Alice and Thomas Taylor, the children of the creator couple Annette Tison and Talus Taylor. A fantasy series for Rai Gulp in co-production with Sergio Bonelli Editore, Dragonero was born from the comic novel by Luca Enoch and Stefano Vietti.

Ready for broadcast are the reboot of Winx Club and new cartoon Ricky Zoom from the creators of Peppa Pig, both of which are set to bow on Rai Yoyo, as is Fumbleland. There’s also Leo da Vinci, OPS-What a Hopsrible Pack! and Marblegen, which are ready to make their premieres on Rai Gulp.