TV Kids In-Demand Recap

There is a sea of great kids’ content on the market, and discovering stand-out properties can sometimes be tough. TV Kids produced a new round of In-Demand reports last month to make this process easier, spotlighting shows for the preschool and bridge set and for kids up to the age of 12. If you missed either of these reports, or the one on known IP, here’s your opportunity to catch up.

Preschool & Bridge

Warwick Davis, Julie Walters, Gemma Arterton, Richard E. Grant, Togo Igawa and Charles Dance are among the star-studded voice cast for Jetpack Distribution’s 52×11-minute series The Misadventures of Master Moleyand 30-minute special Master Moley By Royal Invitation. “Master Moley has huge appeal for kids and families globally,” says Dominic Gardiner, CEO of Jetpack Distribution. “The animation is timeless. It really shines as a passion project based on original stories James [Reatchlous] created and read to his children. Full of heart and humor, it has a real star quality and a stellar A-list cast.” (The trailer on WorldScreenings.com includes a delightful interview with Reatchlous about the inspiration for the show.) Lacey Entertainment is offering up Kavaleer Productions’ Kiva Can Do!, which is available in 25 languages. Aimed at kids 3 to 5, it follows as Kiva, along with her best friend, Saul, and her cardboard dog, Angus, conceives some amazing adventures that bring them around the world and well beyond. Available from PBS International, Elinor Wonders Whyencourages children to follow their curiosity, ask questions, figure out the answers, and learn about the natural world around them using their science inquiry skills. Skewing older is ZDF Enterprises’ Space Nova, in which tween siblings Jet and Adelaide live not-so-ordinary lives on an international space station with their astronaut parents and schoolmates. Superights is showcasing a second season of its global hit Clay Time, a gender-neutral show that is accompanied by 1.5-minute tutorials. See the Preschool & Bridge report here.

Kids 6-12

The shows in this report span the younger and older ends of the 6-to-12 kids’ demo and feature elements of action, adventure and comedy. Shadow Valley Productions is seeking U.S. and international partners for Meet the Walkerz, which is based on the popular The Adventures of Zombie Dog comic books by Jonathan Sanborn. Planned as a 4×22-minute or 16×11-minute series, it will focus on a vegan zombie family that wins a game show and gets a rare opportunity to be the first family of their kind to live a “life” in human society. Crunchyroll represents the European and African rights to the anime hit My Hero Academia, a superhero action/adventure/comedy series that consists of four seasons for a total of 90 26-minute episodes. A fifth season is coming in spring 2021. There are also two movies. Serious Lunch recently landed the rights to Matt Hatter Chronicles, which boasts 52×26-minute episodes and a 50-minute movie. In it, Matt Hatter discovers a hidden portal in his family’s movie theater and is transported to a mirror dimension where he becomes defender of the Multiverse.

Known IP

In a crowded content landscape, delivering properties based on known IP always helps to cut through the clutter. GO-N International’s Simon is based on the worldwide best-selling children’s books by Stephanie Blake, published by l’Ecole des Loisirs, with over 3.5 million books sold in key territories such as France, Japan, China, the U.K., Italy, Spain and South Korea. There are three seasons of 52 episodes completed, and a new spin-off season in development. One of the most-viewed programs in the MIPJunior library, Aardman’s Brave Bunnies originated as a successful storybook about a traveling Bunny family, released in Ukraine, created by Olga Cherepanova, who is creative producer on the series. A recent addition to the Studio 100 Media slate, SeaBelievers was inspired by the SeaBabies property of the 1990s created by Cathleen Arone. “SeaBelievers is the world’s first ecotainment show for kids and will entertain children in the best possible way, especially as each episode comes with original tunes to sing and dance along to,” says Dorian Bühr, head of global distribution at Studio 100 Media. “A series with such high quality together with a strong message is something really special.” You can see the Known IP report here.