Milkshake! Slates Mixmups Premiere

Mixmups, a brand-new animated series for 3- to 5-year-olds, has been slated to debut on Milkshake! on November 4.

The 52×10-minute series centers on three friends and their assistance pets, who all live in a wheelchair-accessible house. Each episode, the friends use their wooden spoon and magical mixing box to “mix up the magic” of imagination and transport themselves on adventures.

The show is Milkshake!’s first animated preschool series featuring disabled lead characters and made by a team with lived experience with disability. It was developed and produced by Mackinnon & Saunders (Pinocchio, Moon & Me) and created by Rebecca Atkinson, founder of the #ToyLikeMe campaign that called for more diversity in children’s industries.

Mixmups was directed by Andy Burns, written by Debbie MacDonald and Atkinson and produced by Chris Bowden, with consultation from play and educational expert Karen Newell. It was produced with support from the U.K. government-funded Young Audiences Content Fund (YACF), which is managed by the BFI and in collaboration with Raydar Media.

“In Mixmups, I wanted to create a universally appealing show that would burst from screens like a seaside candy store of creativity, bright, tangible, sweet and funny, capturing the magic of play and the ability of preschoolers to disappear into their own imaginations, but with unprecedented attention to the lived experience of disabled children and families,” Atkinson said.

Louise Bucknole, general manager of kids and family for the U.K. and Ireland at Paramount, added, “We are so proud to have commissioned the wonderful Mixmups for Milkshake! It’s a beautiful animation packed full of imagination and, what’s more, it’s a show accessible to every child. It’s been an incredible journey working alongside Rebecca and the team to bring this series to life, and we’re so excited to introduce it to our Milkshake! audience.”