Fans of Graeme Base’s international best-selling picture book, Animalia, can look forward to a CG-animated television series from BAFTA’winning Burberry Prods. in Australia and the Emmy-winning team at PorchLight Ent. in Los Angeles. The 40×30 series is being developed for broadcast on CBBC in the U.K., Network Ten and Nickelodeon in Australia and the soon-to-launch PBS KIDS GO! in the U.S. Negotiations with a major broadcaster in Canada are expected to be concluded soon as well.
The Animalia series will revolve around two contemporary kids who visit Animalia, a magical realm inhabited by talking animals. Realizing that mysterious events have undermined the very fabric of Animalian civilization, our heroes team up with a huge green gorilla and a small iguana to do everything they can to restore peace and order to the kingdom. The show will be targeted to kids 6-9, blending comedy and adventure with lessons about the power of language and the importance of communication skills.
Base’s book received international acclaim when it was first published in 1986 and has since sold more than three million copies worldwide. Base serves as exec producer on the television series, along with Ewan Burnett, Murray Pope, Bruce Johnson and Tom Ruegger.
‘Our goal is to re-create the rich, imaginative artistic style of the book, while also creating a definitive animation style that will be unique to the Animalia television series,’ says Pope.
Animalia will be animated at Photon VFX studios in Queensland, Australia and Absolute Digital Pictures in Glasgow, Scotland. The series will be distributed internationally by BBC Worldwide and in North America by PorchLight Ent, which is also handling worldwide licensing and merchandising, excluding Australia, New Zealand and the U.K.
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