Thunderbird Sends Mittens & Pants to the U.S.

Thunderbird Distribution has sold the Canadian live-action animal preschool series Mittens & Pants to several U.S. streaming platforms.

NBCUniversal’s Peacock has picked up season one and plans to launch the series in the U.S. in the first quarter of 2024. Future Today’s HappyKids, Kidoodle.TV and Common Sense Media’s Sensical have also acquired season one and will be bringing it to viewers in the coming months.

HappyKids launched Mittens & Pants on its U.S. service on November 17, while Kidoodle.TV is set to premiere the show on November 30.

The show is produced by Toronto-based Windy Isle Entertainment, with the participation of the Canada Media Fund and the assistance of Ontario Creates and the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit, along with the financial participation of the Shaw Rocket Fund. It debuted on commissioning broadcasters CBC Kids (Canada) and Sky Kids (U.K.) in February 2023 and was quickly greenlit for a second season, which debuted on CBC Kids in July.

Since its debut, Mitten & Pants’ first season has been picked up by France Télévisions (France), Warner Bros. Discovery’s Cartoonito and Boomerang channels (Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan), Hop! Channel (Israel) and DR Denmark.

“Launching into the U.S. market is an amazing next step for this live-action series that features real animals,” said Richard Goldsmith, president of global distribution and consumer products at Thunderbird. “We are delighted that preschoolers and their families all over the U.S. will soon be able to watch the funny and inspiring stories of Mittens and Pants, and their friends, on these great family-friendly platforms.”

“Our aim at Kidoodle.TV is to bring the best-in-class content available to our audience, and Mittens & Pants is a great reflection of that promise,” commented Brenda Bisner, chief content officer at A Parent Media Co., owner of Kidoodle.TV. “Additionally, with the great alignment of our relationship with Thunderbird, we are looking forward to seeing this brand’s growth.”

“We are excited to be bringing this entertaining show to our HappyKids audience,” said David Di Lorenzo, senior VP of kids and family at Future Today. “The uniqueness of the live-action animal characters Mittens and Pants are sure to be a hit with kids and their families.”

Phil McCordic, series creator and CEO of Windy Isle Entertainment, added, “We are thrilled and humbled that Mittens & Pants is being so well-received around the world. We are overjoyed to be working with such amazing partners and can’t wait to launch in the U.S. market.”