Sky Acquires Where’s Wally?, Commissions Raft of New Kids’ Shows

Sky has acquired DreamWorks Animation’s Where’s Wally?, alongside a new raft of original commissions for Sky Kids, including Not the End of the World and Bad Nature.

In Where’s Wally?, Wally and Wenda are members of the Worldwide Wanderer Society, the international order of curious travelers who circle the globe celebrating cultures and solving problems through observation. Their mentor, Wizard Whitebeard, a seasoned wanderer, sends these inquisitive young adventurers on international travel missions so they can earn their stripes and someday become wizard-level wanderers too. Sky has acquired Where’s Wally? from NBCUniversal Kids & Family Distribution.

The animation series Not the End of the World follows the adventures of Joe Connolly, age 11, in his first year at secondary school somewhere in the U.K. Each episode sets up some sort of catastrophe that Joe firmly believes is the end of the world for him, which of course is nothing of the sort.

The live-action comedy Bad Nature, produced by Bristol-based Rebel Television, combines natural-history footage with state-of-the-art animation, seeing our anchors Marv the Mandrill, Gloria the Puma and their roving animal reporters answer all the weird questions you never knew existed. Questions such as, “What creature squirts blood out of its eyes to ward off potential predators?” and “What animal turns into a block of ice to combat the cold?”

Pirates Love Underpants is an animated musical special based on the book by Claire Freedman and Ben Cort. The special episode is brought to you by the same BAFTA-nominated team behind Sky Kids’ previous commission Aliens Love Underpants. With lots of silly pirate jokes and pop pirate shanties, the special will be a joyous adventure where the pirates go on a quest to find the fabled pants of gold. The series is from Tiger Aspect Productions, an Endemol Shine company.

Streetcat Bob is a short-form preschool animated series inspired by the international best-selling book A Street Cat Named Bob. Bob is a street cat who lives in Bowen Park with his troupe of park animal chums. Their adventures carry gentle messages about the importance of looking out for your friends and helping others.

Lucy Murphy, director of kids content at Sky, said: “Sky Kids is passionate about creating the best shows for under 12s and finding new talent to work with. Our new original shows, alongside DreamWorks Animation’s Where’s Wally? bring music, natural history, comedy and innovative stories to our kids’ service so there is even more for the whole family to enjoy.”