Kids round-up: Sola to shop ‘Honey Hills’; Cartoon Network developing dance comedy; ‘Little Bear’ travels world

The Secrets Of The Honey Hills

Sola to shop ‘Honey Hills’

Germany’s Sola Media has acquired global distribution rights to Russian prodco SMF’s new animated children’s series The Secrets Of The Honey Hills.

The 52 x 7-minutes CGI animated series is a detective comedy series for children ages 4-6. It tells the story of Sophie, a smart and classy owl who lives in the small seaside town of Honey Hills, and is called upon to solve crimes both big and small in the animal community.

“The Secrets Of The Honey Hills is an unusual animated series not only for Russian audience, but for the whole world as the genre of children’s detective story is quite rare in animation.

“For young viewers the project will not only be a captivating show, but also provide an opportunity to develop analytical skills,” commented Yuliana Slashcheva, SMF’s chairman of the board.

Battu

Cartoon Network developing dance comedy

Cartoon Network Studios is developing Battu, a coming-of-age musical comedy series set in the Chicago music scene, from filmmaker Matthew A Cherry and director Chaz Bottoms.

The animated series will follow two talented dancers who find a home at a struggling studio that combines hip-hop and ballet.

The project is based upon Bottoms’ short film Battu: An Animated Musical, which is currently in production.

Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network Studios president Sam Register is executive producing the series, alongside with Cherry, Bottoms and Monica A Young.

Little Bear

‘Little Bear’ travels world

Broadcasters across the world have acquired the French kids show Little Bear, following a slew of deals with distributor Dandelooo.

Targeted at 4 to 7-year-olds, Little Bear is based on the picture books by renowned French author and illustrator Benjamin Chaud and directed by Matthieu Gaillard.

The 39 x 7-minute series, commissioned by France Televisions and produced by French animation company Supamonks Studio, has been picked up by BBC Alba, French Canadian public media company TFO, Brazilian TV network Globo, Narrative Capital’s kids channel Tiny Pop in the UK and Kidstream in the US.

Deals were also struck with Carousel in Russia, Czeska Televize in the Czech Republic, OCS in France, Good TV in Taiwan, Pineapple TV in Nigeria, RTVS in Slovenia, Pakapaka in Argentina, MTVA in Hungary, LTV Latvia, and DSmart in Turkey.

France Televisions has also commissioned a second 78 x 7-minute season of the show, with production to commence at the end of 2021, for delivery at the end of 2023.

Emmanuèle Pétry Sirvin, co-founder of Dandelooo, commented, “It’s so heart-warming to see Little Bear making his paw mark around the globe. His fun-filled adventures coupled with his mischievousness promises not only to entertain but to educate preschoolers around the world”.

Hopster expands on Amazon

Sandbox Kids has launched the Hopster SVOD channel on Amazon Prime Video Channels in Spain, Italy and the Netherlands.

Hopster’s offering of English language entertainment includes shows such as Alphablocks, The Hive and Cloudbabies, as well as songs like Pocoyo Nursery Rhymes and Lingokids, for 4.99 EUR a month.

Kimberly Verbonitz, chief revenue officer of Sandbox Kids, commented: “We believe that kids learn best when they’re having fun so we are delighted to be able to offer children in Spain, Italy and The Netherlands the opportunity to learn English with the help of their favourite characters.”

123 Number Squad

MBC strikes Omens deal

Singapore and London based animation company Omens Studios has sold three of its children’s series to MENA-based MBC for its SVOD and AVOD platforms Shahid VIP and Shahid.

Counting With Paula season five (60 x 11-minutes) and season six (60 x 11-minutes) will be available on the platforms, along with Leo The Wildlife Ranger season two (52 x 11-minutes) and the brand-new series 123 Number Squad (40 x 11-minutes).

Counting With Paula season five and Leo The Wildlife Ranger season two will launch on the platforms later this month, with Counting with Paula season six at the end of the year and 123 Number Squad debuting in summer 2022.

Harry Teper, MD of Omens Studios, London, commented: “This is the first pre-sale for our exciting new show 123 Number Squad as our preschool slate continues to grow from strength to strength. We are delighted that with MBC as a partner we will be extending the global footprint of these three unique series, all filled with fun, adventure and loveable characters.”