The Brothers Sandhu, a new animated series being developed by Toronto-based S&S Entertainment, is getting set to join the Doodlebops and Chugga Chugga Wow on the Kids’ CBC preschool block.

Created by writer Jagjiwan Sohal and executive story editor Bernice Vanderlaan, the cartoon follows the wacky adventures of three Punjabi brothers who have moved from India to western suburbia, as they adapt their South Asian customs to their new western surroundings.

The Brothers Sandhu was created by Sohal, who was born in Canada of Indian heritage, and who started with a cartoon image of a young Sikh boy with ceremonial headgear in his imagination.

“I liked the idea of having a cartoon series where the characters appear physically different from the norm in television, but what they go through can be relateable by all children, whether it be imaginary adventures in space or staying home from school because of a nasty cold,” Sohal tells Playback Daily.

David Smith, S&S Entertainment’s VP development, adds that the lead focus on the Sikh siblings sets the series apart, and has the potential to reach adults as well as the preschool audience, in showing how kids deal with differences in Canada’s emerging multicultural society openly and non-judgmentally.

That said, the series doesn’t aim at spotlighting racial, cultural or gender differences as much as showing that Canadian kids everywhere play and communicate in much the same way.

“I wasn’t interested in doing something too cultural or heavy-handed,” Sohal says.

Jonas Diamond and Stephanie Ramon of Smiley Guy Studios are on board to produce and design the animation, respectively.

The Brothers Sandhu is funded by CBC Children’s Programming and the Canada Media Fund.