European animation studio Varga has teamed up with Australian production company Screentime to co-produce an animated version of the reality series POPSTARS. POPSTARS: BAND ON THE RUN (52 x 11 minutes), is due to start production mid-2002. Aimed at 8 to 13 year-olds, the series follows the adventures of a teenage band on tour. Varga will be at MIP-TV 2002 to secure co-production partners and pre-sales. International distribution will be handled by the UK's Target, who will also be promoting LILLY at MIP-TV, a tween-oriented series currently in development.

Egmont Imagination's new animated series JUNGO is currently in production at Egmont's sister company A. Film, and will debut this April at MIP-TV 2002. Egmont has recently completed of a raft of pre-sales for JUNGO, including Germany's Super RTL, TV2 in Denmark and Norway and TV4 in Sweden. The 13 x 26-minute series finds jungle creature Jungo and city fox Rita on a quest to find a place where they can live in peace. JUNGO is an Egmont co-production with Denmark's TV2 and Ocean Group in Canada. It is based on the main character in two A.

German entertainment company RTV International will introduce the new animated series ROBOROACH at MIPTV 2002. Starring a cockroach superhero named Rube who can morph into almost anything and Reg, Rube's street-smart big brother, the series was inspired by a Japanese newspaper story in which scientists claimed to be able to control cockroaches through implanted computer chips. ROBOROACH is a co-production between RTV Family Entertainment AG, VIDEAL and Portfolio Entertainment. RTV International holds all distribution rights except for North America.

UK-based media company Elephant Productions is reinventing WILLO THE WISP, a classic UK kids' animated series and will debut the new series at MIP-TV. The original series featured actor Kenneth Williams providing the voices of the characters, including Willo the Wisp, as a spirit-like apparition that acts as the narrator of the show. The 26 x 5-minute 2D series is co-produced with animator and illustrator Bobbie Spargo, daughter of original WILLO THE WISP creator Nick Spargo and aimed at kids aged 4-8 years. James Dreyfus (NOTTING HILL) replaces Kenneth Williams as the voice talent.

Canadian animation house Studio B is heading to MIP TV this April with two new shows and 26 new second season episodes of both YVON OF THE YUKON and D'MYNA LEAGUES. Studio B says their new property INTO THE SHADOWS is a "safe scare" show a la SCOOBY DOO. The series is in development for the Family Channel with 26 x 11-minute episodes. The production company hopes to secure international pre-sales at MIPTV. Studio B will also debut the original series FLAKES, featuring "cerealebrities" living in a place called Breakfastown.

Santa Barbara-based Foothill Entertainment, Inc. and BRB Internacional of Spain have inked a deal to develop, produce and distribute the series PIRATE SCHOOL. Production on the 26 x half-hour series is due to start mid 2002, with delivery commencing from September 2003. The 2D animated series will air on CBBC in the UK, which has an option to order a further 26 episodes.

Barcelona-based animation house Neptuno Films and Megatrix, a Spanish kids' content multi-platform provider, have sealed a co-production deal to produce the animated series 2020. Aimed at 8 to 12 year-olds, the series focuses on the everyday life of a middle-class family in the year 2020, but the series' creators say it is an ironic reflection on what is happening now. 2020 will consist of 26 half-hours animated in Flash for broadcast on television and the Internet. The first episode will be launched in April 2002 at MipTV, and the remaining episodes are scheduled for delivery in fall 2003.

BUTT UGLY MARTIANS producer Mike Young Productions is bringing a new series to the small screen. THE CURLY TALES OF PIGGLEY WINKS, 26 half-hour episodes aimed at pre-schoolers, is based on original stories by Irish writer Denise Fitzpatrick and is being produced with London-based Entara Limited. The CGI animated PIGGLEY WINKS features the voice of Irish actor Colm Meaney as Grandpa Piggley, whose comic stories of childhood adventures in rural Ireland form the basis of the series.

MIP TV (April 2-6, 2001, Cannes, France) is one of the premiere television conferences and markets in the world. The six-day event brings together production companies and distributors from all over the globe. The conference includes a vast array of panels and round-table discussions with some of the world's top professionals. MIP TV 2000 scored a hit with over 11,000 participants, representing 2,776 companies from 100 countries. The countries most represented in terms of stands were: France, US, UK, Canada and Germany.

Visionary Media will offer 26 half-hour TV episodes of WHIRLGIRL, the Flash-animated Internet series, via Catherine Branscome of Branscome International. "WHIRLGIRL has been recreated for TV with more animation and greater frame rates than are seen online via FlashCast, a proprietary process developed in-house by Visionary," explained Visionary Media acting CEO Buzz Potamkin.