The year is 2080, and humans have finally gotten wise to the destructive impact of war. Countries no longer invade each other to settle disputes; now they send armies of robots to wage battles on the Moon. And instead of bombs, the ammo of choice is every robot’s rusty nightmare — water.

Enter D.A.N.D.Y., an Average Joe robot who works in the Robo-Bureaucratic Division relaying battle plans from the generals to their brigades. Then one day, a bureaucratic snafu lands D.A.N.D.Y. on the front lines under the control of the menacing General Nutjob. D.A.N.D.Y.’s welfare now depends on his ability to use his high-level strategic knowledge to outsmart Nutjob and make friends who can help him get out of the army and escape from the Moon.

The back story for D.A.N.D.Y., Toronto-based Red Rover’s new 26 x 22 CGI series for kids seven to 11, may sound like serious science fiction. But as head of sales Thom Chapman explains, the episodes are 95% comedy, 5% action, and he adds that the action will be infused with lots of slapstick and miscommunication gags.

Red Rover has a few scripts written and is working at the same time on the series’ 3D backdrop, character designs and vehicles, color palettes and storyboards. The studio showed the project to broadcasters and distributors at MIPTV for the first time, and interest is high enough that Chapman expects animation to begin in the next few months, aiming for delivery in early 2009.

D.A.N.D.Y. is budgeted at roughly US$400,000 per episode, and Red Rover is also planning on using its production assets to create a companion website.

From KidScreen