{"id":13109,"date":"2017-12-07T08:00:23","date_gmt":"2017-12-07T13:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/tvkids\/"},"modified":"2017-12-08T11:30:39","modified_gmt":"2017-12-08T16:30:39","slug":"be-my-hero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/be-my-hero\/","title":{"rendered":"Be My Hero"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Superheroes are big business at the box office, but do they resonate with young viewers at home? David Wood investigates.<\/em><\/p>\n

Move over Batman, Spider-Man, Thor and Wonder Woman\u2014there\u2019s a new breed of superheroes, designed just for kids, who are angling for a piece of children\u2019s viewing time (and, of course, parents\u2019 spending power at retail).<\/p>\n

The comic-book-based heroes who dominate summer box-office revenues do indeed have their roots in kids\u2019 publishing, but their screen spin-offs have generally skewed older. And given that superheroes never seem to go out of style, it\u2019s no wonder that kids\u2019 producers are keen to give young ones an alternative to the icons of the DC Comics and Marvel stables.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt their core, superheroes are fantasies about being powerful enough to overcome extreme adversity,\u201d says Bob Higgins, executive VP at FremantleMedia Kids & Family, which is home to the rebooted Danger Mouse<\/em>. \u201cWhether that is through the possession of superpowers or super gadgets, it\u2019s in our nature to want to be able to endure and overcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

POWER PLAYERS<\/strong>
\n<\/strong>Olivier Dumont, the managing director of Entertainment One (eOne) Family, which is riding high on the success of PJ <\/em>Masks<\/em>, adds, \u201cKids, in particular, can feel pretty power\u00adless. So characters who have strong abilities and powers are extremely empowering and appealing. They are \u00fcber-aspirational\u2014you want to be them or be like them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pierre Sissmann, the chairman and CEO of Cyber Group Studios, insists that we are currently in a \u201cgolden age\u201d of superhero animation, revealing that his studio has a number of projects in development.<\/p>\n

So why are superheroes so hot right now? Eryk Casemiro, the chief creative officer at Zodiak Kids Studios, offers up this theory: \u201cHistorically, superheroes tend to have their biggest uptick in popularity in times of world strife. Batman, a comic character from the late 1930s, became hugely popular during the height of the Cold War in the 1960s.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 21st-century equivalent of the Cold War is the struggle against terrorism, Casemiro argues. \u201cSuperheroes are important to kids because they can see in their characters individuals fighting against big problems and looking forward fearlessly and with hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

At their most basic level, superheroes and their special powers act as a simple case of wish fulfillment. \u201cWho wouldn\u2019t want to be able to fly\u2014no question, the best superhero power!\u201d declares Terry Kalagian, the VP of creative for animation at Gaumont. \u201cWho wouldn\u2019t want to run fast? Who wouldn\u2019t want to be able to fix something they messed up or save somebody in jeopardy?\u201d<\/p>\n

On a practical level, superpowers become the bases for kids\u2019 play patterns as they socialize and work out their problems.<\/p>\n

For Tom van Waveren, the CEO and creative director at CAKE, producers making superhero shows for kids should take a page out of Hollywood\u2019s book. \u201cTwenty years ago, superhero movies were taking themselves very, very seriously,\u201d van Waveren says. \u201cNow, it\u2019s tongue-in-cheek comedy, but there are real threats, real bad guys, and a world that needs to be saved. You see that translating back to TV. Superhero movies and series are having fun with the rules of the genre without undermining it.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Cyber Group\u2019s Sissmann, the secret is not to look at the subject as a monolithic genre full of familiar stereotypes, and to think outside the box. \u201cCharacters with superpowers\u2014but not necessarily the superpowers you are used to seeing.\u201d<\/p>\n

One current trend is the creation of characters with different types of powers, says Sissmann. \u201cIn place of X-Men-style speed, strength and morphing, are other superpowers that haven\u2019t been developed yet\u2014psychic powers, for example.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zodiak Kids\u2019 Casemiro notes, \u201cWe have to recognize as producers that we compete against Marvel and DC, which use up a lot of the oxygen in this space. It\u2019s incumbent on us to find new ways into the superhero genre. Finding fresh ways to do superheroes gets harder.\u201d<\/p>\n

A few years ago, Dumont at eOne spotted potential for a new approach\u2014a superhero show tailored to preschoolers. That hunch ultimately led to the creation of PJ Masks<\/em>. The show from eOne and Frog Box is based on a series of books about three ordinary 6-year-olds who are imbued with superpowers at night. Production is underway on a second set of 52 episodes for 2018, with a third season in development.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that preschoolers love superheroes in terms of the toys, but they found it difficult to engage with some superhero themes that were a bit too old for them,\u201d says Dumont. \u201cWe tailored the themes, making them age-appropriate and relevant to what preschool kids would aspire to and go through in their own daily lives. Preschool treatments need to be more subtle than simply beating the bad guy. There\u2019s a strong emphasis on positive values, such as teamwork, kindness and what it truly means to be a hero.\u201d<\/p>\n

PJ Masks<\/em>\u2019 characters go on adventures, defeat villains, solve mysteries and learn valuable lessons along the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor TV we clearly bookend the show with the characters as normal kids who can transform to have superhero abilities,\u201d Dumont adds. \u201cThat was important to help create the relatable qualities of PJ Masks<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Relatability is critical for all age groups, adds Cyber Group\u2019s Sissmann. \u201cIn the past, superheroes have been extraordinary people in ordinary situations, who have used their superpowers to solve problems. Now we are looking at it the other way around\u2014with ordinary people in extraordinary situations who develop superpowers for one reason or another.\u201d<\/p>\n

JUST LIKE ME
\n<\/strong>CAKE\u2019s van Waveren also stresses the importance of relatability. \u201cFor today\u2019s audience, you need to develop superheroes who have many more layers to their personalities. They are more well-rounded as characters, or more flawed. That makes for more interesting storytelling. The challenge is they still need to be aspirational in the moments that they\u2019re in their hero role\u2014when they are saving the world. When they\u2019re not, they need to have the vulnerability of a character that you would find in another kind of comedy or drama.\u201d<\/p>\n

To illustrate his point, van Waveren uses the upcoming Astroboy Reboot<\/em>, from French studios Caribara Animation and Shibuya Productions, with CAKE handling distribution.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re fleshing out his character and his world to make him more relatable, but still keeping him aspirational as well. We\u2019re giving him a family and having him figure out not only what it is to be human, but how it is to have siblings and function within a family unit.\u201d<\/p>\n

FremantleMedia\u2019s Higgins adds that another challenge in developing superhero properties is finding the appropriate threat level for a particular age group\u2014an obstacle the company managed with Tree Fu Tom<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor younger viewers, for instance, there is much more blurring of TV and reality\u2014they don\u2019t simply see it as story\u00adtelling,\u201d explains Higgins. \u201cAs a result, stories have to be positioned more carefully; the question is, how do we create a threat that\u2019s threatening enough to make it compelling without giving preschoolers the feeling that they are in jeopardy. It\u2019s a balancing act.\u201d<\/p>\n

Higgins continues, \u201cOlder viewers are much more willing to accept life and death threats. For 10- to 12-year-olds, it\u2019s much clearer that they are safe and simply along for the roller-coaster ride.\u201d<\/p>\n

One way the kids\u2019 market has innovated is in broadening the boundaries of what constitutes a superhero.<\/p>\n

For the purist, a superhero has to possess superpowers, but there have always been exceptions\u2014such as Batman, who relied on a distinctive outfit and a lot of clever gadgets.<\/p>\n

The central character in Zodiak Kids\u2019 latest preschool superhero creation, Kody Kapow<\/em>, is trained in martial arts by his grandfather and has superhero traits such as mindfulness, perseverance and patience\u2014but no clear special powers.<\/p>\n

GIRL POWER
\n<\/strong>Another important trend is the development of girl-power concepts following the success of Marathon Media\u2019s Totally Spies<\/em>, about the exploits of three Beverly Hills high school friends who lead double careers as super agents battling villains. More recently, there has been the success of Zagtoon and Method Animation\u2019s Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir<\/em>. The series underlines the potential of this subgenre, with eOne and Cyber Group now in development on their own superhero shows specifically targeting girls.<\/p>\n

CAKE, meanwhile, is promoting\u00a0Mama K\u2019s <\/em>Super 4<\/em>, which is being produced by Triggerfish Animation Studios in South Africa. \u201cIt\u2019s about four African girls who live in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia,\u201d van Waveren says. \u201cMama K used to be in the secret service of her country, but now that she\u2019s retired she is battling her colleague, who used to be on the good side but has joined the dark side. These four girls are helping her. What we love about it, apart from the fact that it\u2019s a girl-led show, is that the creator is herself Zambian. What we want to do is tell superhero stories with an African flavor and we will be using African writing talent on the show to accomplish that. Malenga Mulendema, the creator, pitched the show at Annecy. She said that when she was growing up, superhero cartoons were her favorite, but she felt she was not represented in them. Hardly any of the superheroes were girls. And absolutely nobody was black. She set out to create a show that she would have wanted to watch as a little girl.\u201d<\/p>\n

LAUGH TRACK
\n<\/strong>Perhaps the most critical component of a successful superhero show for kids is comedy, argues Faier. \u201cWe have had a lot of fun with the genre in shows such as League of Super Evil<\/em>, which is a comedy parody of the superhero genre aimed at 6- to 11-year-olds. When League of Super Evil<\/em> really clicked for us was when we differentiated the main character Voltar from the really super-evil villains, which is the source of much of the comedy. Basically, Voltar is, in essence, a kid who wants to be acknowledged by real villains. This works because he\u2019s subtly just like a kid trying to fit in at school and be accepted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Faier goes on to note that \u201cthe original superhero shows in the 1960s, which were developed by toy companies, were pretty straight, but treatments have to be a lot more sophisticated now. One thing\u2019s for sure\u2014shows which are too straight or too heavy on action and short on laughs don\u2019t repeat as well as superhero shows with a sense of comedy or levity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gaumont\u2019s latest superhero project, The Star Shards Chronicles<\/em>, certainly fits the sophisticated mold. Based on a famous, epic sci-fi trilogy by Neal Shusterman, Star Shards<\/em> is \u201ca bit different from your classic Marvel superhero concept,\u201d says Gaumont\u2019s Kalagian. The story starts with a series of regular kids with extreme versions of common teenage problems such as acne, obesity and raging hormones.<\/p>\n

EVERYDAY POWERS
\n<\/strong>\u201cIt\u2019s kind of X-Men-ish in that each of the kids is experiencing the kinds of situations all kids can identify with\u2014feeling left out or rejected or not knowing what\u2019s happening to them or their own bodies. The story\u2019s strength is that it taps into common issues felt widely by kids,\u201d says Kalagian. \u201cWhat unites them is that they were all conceived at the same instant that a star exploded light-years away, giving them extraordinary powers such as healing or clarifying someone\u2019s mind\u2014much more subtle superpowers than those we traditionally recognize.\u201d<\/p>\n

The challenge will be to empathetically characterize the novel\u2019s six main characters for an animated kids\u2019 TV format. Kalagian is clear about what her creative team needs to do to turn the epic into a success. \u201cWhat all successful TV does is act as both a mirror and a window. We want to see ourselves in stories and not be confronted with a world that is so foreign that people say, \u2018I don\u2019t get this,\u2019 which is always a risk in the superhero genre. But what superheroes are really good at is offering kids a window into another world where we wish we could be, or we wish we could have those people as friends. There\u2019s some comfort in thinking that there would be somebody in a different world who could look out for and take care of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pictured: CAKE\u2019s<\/em> Astroboy Reboot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Superheroes are big business at the box office, but do they resonate with young viewers at home?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13110,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-features","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nBe My Hero - TVKIDS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/be-my-hero\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Be My Hero - TVKIDS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Superheroes are big business at the box office, but do they resonate with young viewers at home?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/be-my-hero\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVKIDS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-12-07T13:00:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-12-08T16:30:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/07\/SUPERHEROES-1017.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"267\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"World Screen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"World Screen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"10 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/be-my-hero\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/be-my-hero\/\",\"name\":\"Be My Hero - TVKIDS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-12-07T13:00:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-12-08T16:30:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#\/schema\/person\/48d5d8caeca98083bf34512b4ce8c4c7\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/be-my-hero\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/be-my-hero\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/be-my-hero\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Be My Hero\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/\",\"name\":\"TVKIDS\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#\/schema\/person\/48d5d8caeca98083bf34512b4ce8c4c7\",\"name\":\"World Screen\",\"description\":\"The leading source of information for the international media business.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Be My Hero - TVKIDS","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/be-my-hero\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Be My Hero - TVKIDS","og_description":"Superheroes are big business at the box office, but do they resonate with young viewers at home?","og_url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/be-my-hero\/","og_site_name":"TVKIDS","article_published_time":"2017-12-07T13:00:23+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-12-08T16:30:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":400,"height":267,"url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/07\/SUPERHEROES-1017.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"World Screen","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"World Screen","Est. reading time":"10 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/be-my-hero\/","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/be-my-hero\/","name":"Be My Hero - TVKIDS","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-12-07T13:00:23+00:00","dateModified":"2017-12-08T16:30:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#\/schema\/person\/48d5d8caeca98083bf34512b4ce8c4c7"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/be-my-hero\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/be-my-hero\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/be-my-hero\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Be My Hero"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#website","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/","name":"TVKIDS","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#\/schema\/person\/48d5d8caeca98083bf34512b4ce8c4c7","name":"World Screen","description":"The leading source of information for the international media business.","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13109\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}