Coliseum, the action-adventure brand of Cookie Jar Ent. Inc., announced that its new animated series, Spider Riders, will makes its U.S. debut in the Kids’ WB! Saturday morning lineup on Saturday, June 17 at 10:30 a.m. (ET/PT). The show was introduced at MIPTV in April and recently began airing on TELETOON in Canada and Japan’s TV Tokyo, scoring high ratings on both accounts.
The Spider Riders series is based on the Cookie Jar Ent. book Spider Riders ‘ Shards of the Oracle, written by Emmy award-winners Tedd Anasti and Patsy Cameron-Anasti, and published by Newmarket Press. The anime-inspired show takes place in the world of Arachna, where a young boy named Hunter Steele discovers the Inner World populated by people who ride 10-foot tall battle spiders to defend their land from the evil Invectids. Hunter soon learns that the only way out is to overcome his fear of spiders and train as a Spider Rider, with the ultimate goal of becoming the Arachna-Master.
A co-production between Cookie Jar and leading Japanese advertising agency Yomiko, Spider Riders is directed by respected Japanese helmer Koichi Mashimo (.hack//SIGN, Gatchaman Fighter) and animated at Japanese studio Bee Train (.hack//SIGN). The series is produced by Emmy Award-winner Steve Hodgins. A total of 52 half hours are on the current production slate.
Following the June 17 premiere, Kids’ WB! will air another one-hour block of Spider Riders on June 24, beginning at 10:30 a.m. (ET/PT), followed by a two-hour mini-marathon starting at 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 1. The series will then settle into its regular Saturday Morning time slot at 10:30 a.m. on July 8.
Viewers will also be able to get into the spider-riding action with immersive role-playing game at spiderriders.com. The game will become a massively multi-player online experience open to players around the world.
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