Jim Henson Co. & France TV Team for Dinosaur Train Shorts

HOLLYWOOD: The Jim Henson Company is collaborating with France Télévisions on a series of Dinosaur Train shorts meant to teach young viewers the alphabet.

France's Kayenta Productions has been commissioned to develop and produce 26×3-minute shorts featuring Dinosaur Train's Buddy and friends. Each episode will focus on a different letter of the alphabet, encouraging little ones to associate each letter with familiar, everyday words. The shorts are slated to begin airing on France 5 early next month.

"The Dinosaur Train franchise has proven to be incredibly popular in France, and giving fans value-added content on television and online will further strengthen the brand’s popularity with parents, educators and the children themselves," stated Richard Goldsmith, the executive VP of global distribution for The Jim Henson Company. "The Jim Henson Company has a long relationship with France TV and is committed to working with our international broadcast and distribution partners to nurture our brands and grow content opportunities."

"It has been a great opportunity to work with The Jim Henson Company and Kayenta Productions on the production of this new Dinosaur Train content which will provide even more ways for our audience to spend time with their favorite dinosaur family," noted Tiphaine de Raguenel, the head of children and youth activities at France Télévisions.

"Kayenta Productions creates high quality and informative entertainment and we were confident that the shorts would remain true to the education and entertainment goals that are at the heart of Dinosaur Train, and what parents and children expect," added Claire Heinrich, the head of youth acquisitions at France Télévisions. "We hope that children will have as much fun watching these Dinosaur Train shorts as we had working on them, and we are thrilled to launch them the first week of December."