Vancouver-based Atomic Cartoons has signed on to develop an original comedy series called Mariachi Zombie.

The animation is planned as a 52 x 11-minute series, aimed at a children’s audience of seven- to 11-year-olds.

An associate of Atomic’s initially came across the cartoon at the annual Mexican animation festival, El Festival. The animation – created by Celso Garcia and Lorena Machuca of Guadalajara, Mexico-based prodco Lunch Media – was victorious in the festival’s TV series pitch contest Ideatoon.

The series’ central character is the music-loving Mariachi Zombie, who is often interrupted by humans who wish to wipe out the zombie population.

“[Zombies] have a natural appeal to kids, but the unfortunate side is that most of the zombie content is not appropriate for kids. So this seems like a good time bring in something quirky in the zombie realm, and it has a fun musical component,” Rob Davies, VP of development, Atomic Cartoons, told Playback Daily.

With the series still in the first stages of development, it isn’t yet known whether the show will be a Canada/Mexico coproduction, as this would require a broadcaster commitment from both countries, said Davies. Currently there are no Canadian or Mexican broadcasters attached to the project but the intention is for the series to be a coproduction between Atomic and Lunch Media.

Davies also emphasized that the company is in no rush to get a broadcaster attached, as it has plenty in the works at the moment. This would also be at odds with Atomic’s staggered release strategy for its properties. “We plan our rollouts fairly strategically so that our properties aren’t stepping on one another. We have intentions of rolling this out for MIPCOM, and if we bring [Mariachi Zombie] out too early, then it potentially conflicts with something that’s already in our catalogue,” said Davies.

There are a couple of reasons for Atomic’s interest in the series, said Davies. “First of all, on the creative side, it’s something that appeals to us and it’s a style of show that we feel we have a sensibility for,” he said. “There’s also the market motivation. For the time being at least, there seems to be a spot for the seven- to 11-year old properties that can be geared toward more of a family and co-viewing audience.”

Last week it was announced that Atomic Cartoons had been acquired by Vancouver-based prodco Thunderbird Films. The deal, said Davies, made sense from both sides as Thunderbird Films – a primarily live-action focused company – has been looking to enter more so into the animation space, while Atomic is also looking to expand its production remit.

“Up until this point, we’ve had no real illusions that we’re live action producers. However, we have made a concerted effort to get into the hybrid space where we combine live action and animation – so that’s very interesting to us creatively.”

“On the business side, Thunderbird is a very well respected and connected company that has some opens doors that we didn’t have,” Davies added.