{"id":21550,"date":"2021-11-19T08:30:18","date_gmt":"2021-11-19T13:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev2.worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/worldscreen.com\/"},"modified":"2021-11-19T17:46:56","modified_gmt":"2021-11-19T22:46:56","slug":"laugh-track-1021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/laugh-track-1021\/","title":{"rendered":"Laugh Track"},"content":{"rendered":"

Several leading producers and distributors tell Chelsea Regan about the always present demand for kids\u2019 comedies, and why they are more important now than they have ever been.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Laughter is the best medicine\u2014a tonic for the doldrums of being a year and a half into a pandemic that has seen lockdowns and mask mandates and shifts in socialization and schooling. It\u2019s what kids and adults alike need more than ever, resulting in a steady demand for kids\u2019 content injected with a healthy dose of humor.<\/p>\n

Indeed, Ed Galton, CEO of CAKE, notes that while comedy has historically sold well, the current climate is likely fostering a boost in demand, driven by a greater need for laughs. Kids \u201clike to come home from school and escape reality\u2014they do that through comedy,\u201d says Galton. \u201cThat\u2019s why comedy has always been really strong. There could be an argument that there\u2019s a greater demand for comedy now because of all of the stuff that kids have had to go through with Covid-19\u2014being stuck at home, not seeing their friends, not engaging with other kids for so long. That\u2019s probably true across the board.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s never been a more important time to make all of our viewers laugh,\u201d says Rachel Marcus, VP of creative development at Guru Studio. \u201cFamilies are all under an enormous amount of stress, and our younger generations are feeling it, whether they know it or not. The best remedy to counteract this is comedy, laughter and joy. We need more levity in our lives, and we as content creators can play a role in supplying that.\u201d<\/p>\n

COMEDY EVOLUTION<\/strong>
\nThe Guru Studio property Big Blue<\/em>, which is slated to premiere later this year on CBC Kids, is a character-based comedy for kids aged 5 to 9. It follows a group of daring underwater explorers and their eccentric submarine crew, as well as the magical ocean fairy stowaway Bacon Berry. \u201cThe beauty of animation is that the laws of physics don\u2019t need to apply, allowing our characters to experience even more silly hijinks than would ever be possible in live action,\u201d says Marcus. \u201cIn the end, we\u2019ve been able to create a show that balances comedy and adventure in a way that\u2019s unique to the medium.\u201d<\/p>\n

This mixing of comedy into other genres within the kids\u2019 space is a development also noted by Pierre Sissmann, Cyber Group Studios\u2019 CEO and president. \u201cThere is a trend today to see comedy blending with adventure and action, which when you look back four, five, six years ago, it was all about comedy. Whether it was a sitcom or cartoon, it was pure, 100 percent comedy. That 100 percent comedy genre still exists and prospers, but we\u2019re now able to merge it with different things like action, even historical things or edutainment. There\u2019s an evolution in the writing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cyber Group is currently in production on six series and in development on about 12 programs, including the comedy-adventure show The McFire Family<\/em>, which is about real-life superheroes, including firefighters, nurses and doctors. \u201cIt\u2019s not the ultimate comedy or the ultimate adventure show or the ultimate action show, but I think it is a perfect blend, which is a result of the evolution of the demand of having shows that still have comedy, still are light, where kids can laugh,\u201d says Sissmann. \u201cIt\u2019s funny, but at the same time, it\u2019s serious; it has suspense, action and adventure.\u201d<\/p>\n

REAL<\/em> COMEDY<\/strong>
\nOn the Beyond Rights content slate, comedy is finding its way into titles with a factual bent. \u201cWhat\u2019s been especially nice in this Covid period is that factual has a lot more comedy in it,\u201d notes Sarah McCormack, senior VP of acquisitions and co-productions at Beyond Rights. \u201cThere\u2019s more humor in factual kids\u2019 content at the moment than there had been before. That\u2019s been great to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

McCormack has also seen the appeal of surreal comedy for kids these days. \u201cWhen you do a bedtime story, there\u2019s the kind of silliness and surreal bit that they know is silly, but they love it.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Beyond Rights\u2019 The World According to Grandpa<\/em>, the titular elder tells fantastical tales about everyday wonders, like why the sky is blue or why cats go out at night. At the end of each episode, a clever rabbit offers a fact-check. \u201cThat\u2019s the wonderful thing I\u2019ve seen in factual\u2014that you can get this more surreal, wonderful comedy,\u201d says McCormack. \u201cIt goes into what makes you laugh: why do we laugh, why do we find things funny? For me with humor, it\u2019s when you subvert the normal, when it\u2019s a little bit different from normal, that\u2019s what you can laugh at.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the trend of surrealism might be relatively new in kids\u2019 content, a steady standby in international comedy for children has been the slapstick genre, which continues to translate well across borders.<\/p>\n

Known for its expertise in slapstick comedy, Xilam Animation has on its slate such non-verbal programs as Oggy and the Cockroaches<\/em> and Zig & Sharko<\/em>. \u201cWe like this format because it enables universal storytelling, language and humor, and if it\u2019s well done, it has evergreen potential,\u201d says Marc du Pontavice, CEO. \u201cThe more visual and physical the comedy is, the more it translates globally. It becomes more challenging when the stories are driven by local customs such as school activities. However, humor is universal, and many common themes are funny for kids all over the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Universal themes for kids include \u201cschool life, sibling rivalry, family situations, friend relationships, love of pets and mastering everyday situations,\u201d says Terry Kalagian, executive VP of creative content in the U.S. for Gaumont. \u201cWhile the market is ever-changing, it seems the best chance for comedies to travel across territories is to reflect at least some of these themes, include physical humor and take great care in the translation of jokes.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the younger kids\u2019 space, CAKE distributes Mush-Mush & the Mushables<\/em>, which is about to go into production on its second season, and has long had in its catalog the Total Drama<\/em> franchise. Galton points out that the former has \u201cmuch more physical comedy than you would get from something like a Total Drama<\/em>, which obviously has an element of physical comedy, too, but is also much more of a social comedy that relies more on the interplay of characters and their relationships.\u201d Both kinds of series can work internationally, but smart comedies like Total Drama<\/em> strike a balance that\u2019s not always easy to come by.<\/p>\n

As Beyond\u2019s McCormack puts it: \u201cIf you\u2019re too clever, it gets lost in translation. Keep your humor simple and based on values that we all have. That will keep people smiling. \u2018Know thy audience\u2019 is the key.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also key not to offend viewers from different parts of the world. \u201cComedy that everyone can understand and that is not hurting the sensibilities of anybody\u201d is the kind that travels best, according to Cyber Group\u2019s Sissmann. \u201cI\u2019ve seen people come to us with things they think are funny. But, when you look at it from a perspective of a given country or a given region, it\u2019s not funny. You\u2019ve got to be very careful because the one thing about animation is that it is a global market.\u201d<\/p>\n

Non-dialogue slapstick humor remains the surest and safest bet for internationally resonant kids\u2019 comedy, but character-driven comedy can find homes across the globe with the right themes, too. \u201cThis kind of comedy speaks to the universal human experience,\u201d says Guru\u2019s Marcus. \u201cNo matter your location, an upbeat character like SpongeBob will always have an external struggle with a Squidward-type. Personality clashes and conflict will always be canon for humor.\u201d<\/p>\n

A series like SpongeBob SquarePants<\/em> has managed to find fans from a variety of different countries and ages. Shows that can capture and engage children, their older siblings and parents are as valuable as they\u2019ve ever been in the current market, which has seen shifts in family viewing habits.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf your characters seem real and they have heart, that\u2019s how you engage a broader swath of audience, that\u2019s how you get co-viewing in place,\u201d says CAKE\u2019s Galton. \u201cThat\u2019s how you\u2019re going to rope in your older audience. I look at shows like Bluey<\/em>, where you get a lot of co-viewing even though it\u2019s a preschool show. It has so much heart, you\u2019re going to drag in the family audience to sit down with younger kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

A priority for Beyond and its catalog is finding programs that have this broad appeal. \u201cWe make sure that we\u2019ve got animation and factual and have a light humor all the way through,\u201d says McCormack. \u201cWould your kid laugh at it? Would you laugh at it? Is it multi\u00adgenerational? When you\u2019ve been a parent, you find yourself watching TV shows and the kids have gone away and you\u2019re still sitting there watching these shows and going, \u2018Why am I still watching this? What am I doing this for?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

GENERATIONAL APPEAL<\/strong>
\nTargeted at kids aged 6 to 8, Beyond\u2019s Quimbo\u2019s Quest<\/em> follows the titular character, who doesn\u2019t look like any other human or animal that\u2019s ever been seen before, as he sets out on a mission to figure out who and what he is. According to McCormack, the show \u201cworks on different levels, and you can see that there are jokes for the adults, there are jokes for the teenagers, jokes for the 5-year-olds in there. You can all sit there as a family and watch a show and get something different out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ultimately, families most enjoy watching shows that reflect back to them what they see in their own everyday lives. \u201cAll the complex and hilarious moments we can relate to as viewers, like past family experiences or sibling and parent dynamics, work extremely well when trying to create multiple entry points for a wider demographic,\u201d says Guru\u2019s Marcus. \u201cPutting a mirror up against all the aspects of family life that are universally relatable becomes important.\u201d<\/p>\n

FAMILY TIME<\/strong>
\nCo-viewing, which had already been on the uptick for several years, has become even more popular, in large part due to the global pandemic. \u201cPeople enjoy being together and sharing things,\u201d says Cyber Group\u2019s Sissmann. For that viewing experience to be entertaining for everyone, it helps to have traditional absurdist cartoon comedy, unifying themes and \u201ccomedy that can be deciphered at two different levels by two different types of people, whether it\u2019s the parents that read one thing or the kids that read the other thing,\u201d Sissmann explains.<\/p>\n

Taffy<\/em>, a traditional cartoon on Cyber Group\u2019s slate, is one that, through the writing, can reach kids and adults alike, according to Sissmann. He notes that several broadcasters have chosen to air the show before prime time in the evening due to its co-viewing credentials.<\/p>\n

Giganto Club<\/em> is a bridge preschool show from Cyber Group that delivers different comedic elements. It features \u201ca whole new set of comedy and the reactions of the dinos on the set, who are being played by real actors, even though in the end, the image that you see is CG,\u201d explains Sissmann. \u201cThere\u2019s an evolution in the emotional stakes that you can represent. This is brought by the talent of the animators, but also the technology, which has evolved massively.\u201d<\/p>\n

Technology plays an essential role\u2014as does the back-to-basics approach of meeting kids at their level.<\/p>\n

\u201cChildren are naturally funny,\u201d says Beyond\u2019s McCormack. \u201cBuilding that natural humor that children have and their view of the world into your show, that\u2019s what I look for. You go, \u2018How well do they know children?\u2019 It\u2019s got to be that kids\u2019 voice. You can see that [in The World According to Grandpa<\/em>] because those are the kinds of questions kids ask. I always judge it with my own children. What do they ask me? If you can see that you can relate it back [to them], you know that you\u2019re going to get a winner somewhere along the line.\u201d<\/p>\n

Checking in on the kids of today is important, as they\u2019re very clearly not the kids of yesterday, with different standards for their entertainment. \u201cOver the years, kids have become more sophisticated in their expectations of a good show,\u201d says Gaumont\u2019s Kalagian. \u201cThey want multidimensional characters with more complex storylines,\u201d she adds, referencing Gaumont\u2019s own Bionic Max<\/em>, a slapstick buddy comedy, and the family sitcom The Royal Family<\/em>. \u201cKids\u2019 comedy is the ever-elusive butterfly and has been since I\u2019ve been in the business. It\u2019s hard to find comedy that works across multiple territories, and everyone is looking for it. When you find it, it\u2019s like spotting a unicorn.\u201d<\/p>\n

UNIVERSAL VALUES<\/strong>
\nFor Cyber Group, a proven unicorn is Gigantosaurus<\/em>, which was awarded the 2021 Export Award for animation by UniFrance. \u201cIt does resonate around the world with kids, both in terms of subject\u2014dinos\u2014but also in the way it was written, the comedy and adventure,\u201d Sissmann says.<\/p>\n

As for the enduring success of the comedy genre as a whole, it\u2019s a fan and broadcaster favorite for a reason: \u201cIt has the advantage of grabbing a child\u2019s attention very quickly,\u201d says Xilam\u2019s du Pontavice. \u201cIt\u2019s easier to dip in and out of a comedy show, and broadcasters love that flexibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

Covid-19 challenges for producers, distributors, broadcasters and streamers notwithstanding, CAKE\u2019s Galton believes that the market has turned a corner. \u201cWe are climbing out of the darkest days when it comes to the impact on business; even though the numbers are still not great, we are starting to see more activity, whether that\u2019s traveling to MIPCOM or Cartoon Forum,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019re starting to see movement there, which we haven\u2019t seen in a year and a half. That\u2019s really positive.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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