Pioneering local animated TV show hits screens
WHILE most programming around kids’ content is generated by international TV channels (all the Disney channels, CBeeBies, Cartoon Network and Boomerang, to mention a few), eToonz+ has kept its new show, Silly Seasons, completely homegrown.
The OpenView HD channel started its fantasy sitcom, with locally-produced capture-based animation – a pioneering feat for a TV series – on December 17.
The series has four heroines: Daisy, Summer, Ginger and Snowflake. They live in Sillyville and share their journey with a supporting cast of offbeat animals and flowers.
Ronald Henry, CEO of Spectrum and The Flying Circus, shed light on the conception of this series.
He said: “The idea for Silly Seasons was based on a proof-of-concept we had developed for a younger targeted show in mid-2013. The objective at the time was to see if we could design these fun, stylised characters that still maintained their appeal when using motion capture to drive them. As a result, the original characters were much simpler.
“Later, we took an early version of the show to Cannes where we attended Mipcom in October 2013 and pitched the concept to international channels and distributors.
“However, despite the early interest, the show had developed some creative tension as the designs for the four girls were skewed fairly young and the writing had started to move a little older and was more edgy and witty.
“By the time we left for New York to attend Kidscreen in early 2014, we realised that, as a studio our humour sensibilities lay with older kids and we wanted to make smarter comedy for the post-internet generation of kids.”
And by mid-2014, they revamped the show with a redesign of their original cast.
He explained: “It was done to be more appealing and aspirational to an older target audience of around 9 to 12 year olds. We also expanded the world and added 13 additional characters, all of them animals and plants. And, critically, all of the extra characters were adults. This would become a cornerstone of the irreverent humour and allow the girls to poke fun at adult attitudes.”
Given all the noise around their pioneering approach with the animation, he revealed: “The Flying Circus uses motion capture technology as part of the animation workflow. This allows for live actors to drive the performances of the characters, which gives the characters a really spontaneous, snappy performance style. “Each scene is captured as one continuous performance with all of the actors performing at the same time.
“Once this is complete, a live-action version of the episode is edited and handed to the CG (3D) department for additional animation. This is a key element of what we are doing, as we don’t rely purely on the motion capture performance for the final result.”
That the channel commissioned 26episodes for a first season talks to their confidence in the series.
He added: “One of the biggest hurdles we had to overcome was establishing ourselves as credible producers of animated children’s content. The international TV market is tough to break into, and without a body of work as a reference, it’s almost impossible to sell a new show from a new studio upfront.
“During the course of 2013 and 2014 we pitched Silly Season at overseas markets a number of times. The show was positively received by most of the channels and distributors we met with. I think part of this was because it was female-skewed comedy,
something most channels are desperate for.” Silly Seasons, eToonz+ (OpenView HD channel 200) on Thursdays at 3.30pm.