Encore Enterprise's Chucklewood Critters.

Desclez Productions announced that the company is in pre-production on three new animated children's series, Turtle Island, Mirob and The Adventures of Professor Iris. Produced by Desclez Productions in association with Ravensburger, Turtle Island is a 26 episode, 30 minute series which centers around a group of hilarious characters in the South Seas whose life is constantly interrupted by pirates and buccaneer in search of gold and jewels. Designed for children and family audiences, Turtle Island features a turtle king, a duckbill platypus and an octopus beast. Mirob consists of 26, five-minute, 3D-animated vignettes that introduce preschoolers to a range of experiences of nature seen through the poetic eyes of a curious young robot, Mirob, and his three friends, Mimi, Pyra and Cric-Crac. The Adventures of Professor Iris, which consists of 52 x 13 minute vignettes, is based on the Professor Iris character from the puppet series for preschoolers, Iris, The Happy Professor.

Claster Television offered 13 all-new first-run episodes for a second season of All Dogs Go To Heaven: The Series.

Malofilm International, the international distribution arm of Malofilm Communications, will handle sales and worldwide distribution for the children's animated series Turtle Island.

Fresh on the heels of the success of its Animated Classics collections, Goodtimes Entertainment offered its new animated series The Greatest Heroes and Legends of the Bible, designed for family time periods and mass market video sell-through to buyers worldwide. The series has already been sold to broadcasters in numerous territories throughout the world, including Italy, Spain and Germany.

Bohbot's Dangerous Dinosaurs.

UNICEF is putting out the call to find broadcast partners to participate as charter members of the International Animation Consortium for Child Rights. The initiative is to find broadcast time for the 100 public service announcements (PSAs) on children's rights issues currently being produced by more than 80 animation studios worldwide. "We're hoping that as the issue of broadcasters' responsibility to children becomes an increasingly topical one, networks will see this as a way of showing their support for positive kids programming," said William Hetzer, chief of UNICEF's Broadcast and Electronic Communication Section. The 30 second PSAs are being donated to UNICEF by the producers and will be distributed to broadcasters for free. Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, RAI Television and YLE-TV Finland are among the broadcasters already committed to the program.

NATPE announced that Disney Television Animation, Apple Computer and IBM are the latest additions to the list of leading-edge companies to exhibit at the first annual international NATPE Animation and Special Effects (ANIFX) Conference & Exposition, May 8-11 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Susan L. Hornik (slh2346@aol.com) is a freelance writer/editor in the television/film industry. At NATPE, she is the editor of The Daily Express, a convention daily magazine.