Double Treat
Studio 100 brings two new animated shows, SeaBelievers and 100% Wolf—Legend of the Moonstone to the fall content markets.
Munich-based Studio 100 Media, the global entertainment outfit best known for titles such as Heidi, Arthur and the Minimoys, Maya the Bee and Wissper, will be offering several new shows at the fall markets, beginning with MIP Junior in October. Dorian Buehr, head of global distribution at Studio 100 Media GmbH, tells Animation Magazine that it will be showcasing two top-notch new shows at the Cannes market this fall.
The first show is titled SeaBelievers, which is billed as one of the first children’s shows to fully explore the recently coined “eco-tainment.” Each episode of the 52 x 11' CG-animated show will invite audiences on a thrilling eco-adventure. Whether in the sea or on shore, the positive SeaBelievers characters, with their distinct seaweed hair, seashell noses, sea-colored eyes and webbed hands and feet, problem-solve and take action around key environmental issues. Each SeaBeliever carries a Magic Sand Dollar which ignites his or her unique superpowers – fueled by their self-belief! The series is targeted at children aged 4-7, and the first season will be ready for delivery in 2021.
“SeaBelievers is an outstanding TV series,” notes Buehr. “This genre created by Brien Arone, founder and SeaEO of SeaBelievers, combines the benefit of edutainment for children being informative and realistic about real-life issues affecting our ocean and encouraging kids to make a difference – because they can! And all of this in a fun and entertaining way as the show emanates as a stunning and engaging musical ecoadventure with original tunes to sing and dance along to.” Studio 100’s other new offering is 100% Wolf – Legend of the Moonstone, a 26 x 22’ CG-animated spin-off of the new feature which centers on Freddy Lupin, heir to a proud family line of werewolves, who discovers on his 13th birthday that he has become a poodle! Enrolled in the mysterious Howlington Academy, Freddy is going to try to prove that despite his appearance, he still has the heart of a werewolf!
“100% Wolf – Legend of the Moonstone is special because of its mixture of hilarious humor and the drama Freddy’s exceptional situation brings along,” says Buehr. “He is a pink poodle in a world of werewolves. This guarantees a lot of laugh-out-loud humor – not leaving out the difficulties our hero has. 100% Wolf – Legend of the Moonstone is a unique action-adventure best friend comedy with a very distinctive main character and a strong message with high social relevance: Heroes come in many forms!” Buehr says he and his team at Studio 100 have adjusted to the new expectations and special needs of both the audience and the entertainment landscape in this challenging year impacted by the global COVID-19 pandemic. “We are looking forward to presenting the first finished episode of SeaBelievers at this year’s MIP Junior to buyers. With many markets going virtual we expect to further adjust to the ‘new normal’ — hopefully meeting many of our clients digitally in the coming months. Due to the pandemic, some of the Group’s movie releases have been postponed to the second half of this year or early 2021, so there is a lot of content to watch out for out there!”
“Even in these special times with extremely challenging conditions, we have adapted and learned that it is still possible to produce excellent animations — with some limitations of course,” he adds. “We think it is important especially now to bring forward and offer exceptional productions like SeaBelievers” or 100% Wolf – Legend of the Moonstone — shows that offer great entertainment and which also convey important and positive messages. Because the requisite for good entertainment and making people laugh is needed now more than ever.”