Canada at the market – animation

THE THREE PIGS

Premise: A country pig crosses the tracks to live with his upscale, fancy-but-dysfunctional cousins.

Genre: Sitcom

Demographic: 6 to 12; Episodes: 26 x half-hour

Budget: Cdn$450,000 (us$290,000) per ep

Delivery: Fall 2001

Prodco: Coprod of CineGroupe, Montreal, and

AnimaKids, Paris

Distributor: CineGroupe, Montreal

What’s the skinny?

Broadcast deal is in place with Teletoon in Canada, and series will be available in English and in French.

BELLFLOWER BUNNIES

Premise: A single father bunny keeps his brood of four rambunctious bunnies in check.

Genre: Specials

Demographic: Family; Episodes: 4 x half-hour

Budget: us$600,000 each ep

Delivery: Summer 2001

Prodco: Coprod of TVA International, Montreal, and Protecrea, France

Distributor: TVA International (u.s., Canada), and TF1 International (other territories worldwide), France

What’s the skinny?

Super high-quality animation meets warm and fuzzy family entertainment.

HENRY’S WORLD

Premise: A boy gets extraordinary powers when he eats his mother’s very special carrots.

Genre: Children’s

Demographic: 7+; Episodes: 26 x 11 minutes

Budget: Not revealed

Delivery: January 2002

Prodco: Coprod of Alliance Atlantis Communications (aac), Toronto, and TV-Loonland, Germany

Distributor: aac (worldwide except Europe), and TV-Loonland (Europe)

What’s the skinny?

In Canada, Family Channel is on board, and animator Cuppa Coffee has developed a unique ‘skewed reality’ look.

SURF & TURF

Premise: A slacker lobster (Surf) and a gung-ho dog (Turf) are buddies who run a restaurant.

Genre: Kids comedy

Demographic: 8 to 12

Episodes: 13 x half-hour

Budget: Not revealed

Delivery: Fall 2002

Prodco: Coprod of Studio B, Vancouver, and Mainframe, Vancouver

Distributor: Studio B

What’s the skinny?

Animation, courtesy of ReBoot producer Mainframe, mixes 2D and 3D.

PECOLA

Premise: Follows the adventures of a curious, origami penguin living in Cube Town.

Genre: Children’s adventure

Demographic: Primarily preschool; skewing up to 11

Episodes: 13 x half-hour or 26 x 15 minutes

Budget: Not revealed

Delivery: April 2001

Prodco: Coprod of Nelvana, Toronto; Yomiko Advertising, Japan; and Milky Cartoon, Japan

Distributor: Nelvana

What’s the skinny?

Created using 3D animation. Picked up by Teletoon in Canada for possible April launch. Japanese pop feel to the music.

THE BOY

Premise: Prodigy kid is recruited by an espionage agency to act as secret agent working for peace and to boss around cool ‘men-in-black’ types.

Genre: 2D action/adventure

Demographic: 8 to 12

Episodes: 13 x half-hour

Budget: us$300,000 per ep

Delivery: Fall 2001

Prodco: Coprod of TVA International, Montreal, and Neuroplanet, Paris

Distributor: Neuroplanet (Asia, Europe excluding English-speaking territories, French-speaking territories in Africa), and TVA International (other territories worldwide)

What’s the skinny?

In France, broadcaster M6 is on board. tva hopes to go ahead with 26 episodes.

LANDSEAS

Premise: The LandSeas characters battle evil forces threatening to destroy the environment.

Genre: Children’s interactive

Demographic: 6 to 12

Episodes: 26 x 11 minutes or 13 x half-hour

Budget: Not revealed

Delivery: Forecast 2002

Prodco: Cellar Door Productions, Charlottetown, Canada

Distributor: Pending

What’s the skinny?

The synchronous Web/itv capabilities allow for full integration and interactivity.

WENDELL WORM

Premise: A curious worm explores his neighborhood, giving viewers a worm’s world view.

Genre: Children’s discovery

Demographic: Preschoolers

Episodes: 26 x 11 minutes

Budget: Cdn$150,000 (us$97,000) per ep

Delivery: 2002

Prodco: Sound Venture Productions, Ottawa, Canada

Distributor: Sound Venture Productions

What’s the skinny?

Based on a series of books by Montreal graphic artist Paul Sicard.

THE HIPPO TUB CO.

Premise: A hippo goes down the bathtub drain and finds the world’s most humongous lost and found.

Genre: Children’s

Demographic: 5 to 8

Episodes: 26 x 11 minutes or 13 x half-hour

Budget: Cdn$350,000 to Cdn$385,000 (us$226,000 to us$249,000) per half-hour

Delivery: October 2001

Prodco: Evening Sky Productions, Toronto, and Balmur Entertainment, Toronto

Distributor: CBC International Sales, Toronto

What’s the skinny?

Based on the song ‘Hey Daddy,’ made famous by singer Anne Murray (and produced by her production company), the series has a unique look with a combination of 3D, 2D and cgi animation.