Dandelooo’s The Upside Down River Lands at Canal+

Dandelooo has been commissioned to develop and produce a new kids’ animation series, The Upside Down River, for Canal+ in France.

Written by Jean Regnaud (Ernest & Celestine) and Marie de Banville (Tobie Lolness) and directed by Paul Leluc (The Wolf, The Long Long Holiday), the series’ ten half-hour episodes, targeted at 8- to 12-year-olds, are set for delivery in early 2022. Adapted from the children’s novel La rivière à l’envers by Jean Claude Mourlevat, The Upside Down River is a love story set in a poetic fantasy world.

The story follows as Hannah searches for water drops from the Qjar river in order to heal her sacred bird. She’s followed in her hunt by Tomek, a shy boy whose world is turned upside down when she enters his shop. The book has sold over one million copies in France and in various other countries, including Japan, China, South Korea, Russia, Spain and Germany.

Dandelooo’s animation studio, Ooolala, will produce the new 2D animation, in cooperation with Canal+ Family. The series will be distributed internationally by Dandelooo.

“We are really excited to develop our first serialized program for an audience of 8- to 12-year-olds, which reflects the new way today’s kids want to watch ambitious stories,” commented the joint founders of Dandelooo, Jean Baptiste Wéry and Emmanuèle Petry.