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Canada among top producers in television cartoon boom — from north to south
Think “peak TV” just applies to adult programming? Think again. The world of children’s television has never been so crowded and prolific, especially during the current cartoon boom.
That Canada is one of the top children’s content providers was the message last week at MIPCOM and MIPJunior, the annual worldwide content marketplaces on the Mediterranean.
The unprecedented quest for kiddie fare was brought home by MIPJunior keynote speaker Andy Yeatman, head of global kids content at Netflix. The international streaming service has been consuming children’s shows the way Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster gobbles cookies.
Yeatman said Netflix will launch 37 new children’s TV shows over one 52-week stretch. It’s all part of the over-the-top streaming service’s strategy to get everyone in the family hooked on their brand.
Almost half of Netflix’s children’s programs are produced outside the United States, said Yeatman, who shared a tip for selling kids’ shows to the widest possible audience: avoid dialogue.
Quebec City animation house Squeeze can speak to that. Its series of hilarious Cracké shorts featuring an ostrich named Ed has already sold in over 200 countries and territories. Teletoon, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon and Disney are among its customers and a deal is close with China, according to Denis Doré, CEO, president and co-founder of Squeeze.
Edgy Ed is always busy trying to save his eight precious eggs in adventures reminiscent of the glory days of Looney Tunes. Doré says co-founder and animator Patrick Beaulieu set out to create what amounts to a 3D homage to animation greats Chuck Jones and Tex Avery.
“Road Runner was a big inspiration,” says Doré. “Especially for the gag, for the simplicity of one character trying to catch another — very simple and at the same time very funny.”
Squeeze is working on a feature-length version of Cracké, as well as an animated children’s series about a young magician named Jax. It currently has 65 animators, storyboard and layout artists working at its Quebec City studio, many trained right in the province.
Doré was one of four Canadian animators/creators/executives representing the boom in children’s content from Canada at this year’s international marketplace.
Also showcased by Telefilm Canada and the Canada Media Fund was Vancouver-based Atomic Cartoons, part of Thunderbird Entertainment. The busy animation house scored a coup with Beat Bugs, a lively blend of 3D animation and classics from John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s Beatles catalogue. Beat Bugs is one of those Canadian animated gems streaming now on Netflix.
Trevor Bentley, a founding partner at Atomic, says the studio received “no direct word” from McCartney but he did hear the ex-Beatle enjoyed the Beat Bugs cartoons.
Bentley says Netflix switched animation houses halfway through the 52-episode Beat Bugs order. No matter, he says, the company is hard at work animating three other shows for Netflix, including Cupcake & Dino: General Services, a series of 11-minute cartoons aimed at six- to 11-year-olds.
Canada even has cartoon talent in the Arctic, including Leslie Pulsifer, an animator who was representing Taqqut Productions at MIPCOM. Based in Iqaluit, Nunavut, Taqqut has brought northern folklore to life through several visually stunning, award-winning productions. Its latest venture is Anaana’s Tent, a half-hour mix of live action and animation aimed at preschoolers and airing this fall on APTN.
Also at MIPCOM was Mary Darling, director, creator and executive producer of WestWind Pictures. The Ancaster, Ont.,-based company, which worked on Little Mosque on the Prairie, is responsible for The Art Show, a series of five-minute gems airing on CBC. The segments feature children making art out of everyday materials, including food, sometimes in a very therapeutic way.
“The series is child-narrated,” says Darling, noting her young charges “see art as more than refrigerator decor.”
Who knows? Some may even carry on Canada’s cartoon tradition.