Gullane Entertainment has joined forces with independent animation company Collingwood O'Hare Entertainment to create a new animated preschool series called YOKO! JAKAMOKO! TOTO! UK broadcaster CiTV commissioned 52 five-minute episodes of the series. YOKO! JAKAMOKO! TOTO! is inspired by traditional Spanish, Latin American and African art and music and tells the tale of the friendship between Yoko (a bird), Jakamoko (an armadillo) and Toto (a monkey) solely through music and action.

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.

Independent animation producer Delaney and Friends is planning to merge with 3D and interactive content providers Brainchild Studios and Furious Entertainment to create the new, publicly traded entity SecondSun Entertainment. Combining the strengths of the three Vancouver-based companies, the new venture will focus on the development, financing and production of animated TV series, direct-to-video features, TV commercials, special effects, movies and interactive games.

BRB Internacional's slate of animated programming will be seen in Spanish language markets in both Latin America and the U.S. BRB has signed an agreement with Venevision International, the production and distribution arm of the Cisneros Group, to distribute the BRB animation catalogue of over 700 half-hours and 20 TV movies throughout North, Central and South America, excluding Mexico.

Entertainment company Curious Pictures Corporation, producer of the series’ SHEEP IN THE BIG CITY (Cartoon Network) and AVENUE AMY(OXYGEN), has been acquired by its founders, Susan Holden, Steve Oakes, David Starr and Richard Winkler. The transaction includes the acquisition of creative services agency DCode, Inc. Both firms had been subsidiaries of iNTELEFILM Corporation which purchased a controlling interest in Curious Pictures in May 1999 and founded DCode in 2000.

Raven Moon Entertainment, Inc. is collaborating with Hacker-Rumsey Entertainment to develop and market a slate of three projects for television over the next two years. The first project on tap is a CG-animated kids' project called THE ICELY BROTHERS, a mix of live-action and animated characters. Hacker-Rumsey is completing the pilot and will begin domestic and international marketing in spring 2002.

International animation studio Varga Holdings has begun production on 13 episodes of ANGELINA BALLERINA, a 2D animated series based on the adventures of a ballet-dancing mouse. Following the successful launch of the pre-school series in October 2001 on the UK's CITV producers HIT Entertainment/Grand Slamm have requested a further 13 episodes. Delivery is scheduled for September 2002. Varga also commenced production in January 2002 on the ANGELINA BALLERINA 44-minute direct-to-video special, which will feature the voices of Academy Award winner Judi Dench and her daughter Finty Williams.

Design, animation and visual effects studio Hornet, Inc., is expanding its operations in the commercial arena with the addition of several directors, designers and animators. New additions include animator and director Steve Talkowski, character designer and director Peter de Séve, director and designer Brian Koons, title designer Deborah Ross and the collective design team HONEST.

SportsBlast, the animation development company founded by voice-actor Nancy Cartwright (THE SIMPSONS, RUGRATS), has chosen Canadian-based animation house Bardel Entertainment as its new animation partner for THE KELLYS, the animated Web series about a family of professional stock car racers. Bardel’s production credits include the DreamWorks films JOSEPH: KING OF DREAMS and THE ROAD TO EL DORADO, as well as work for Columbia TriStar, Disney and Fox. Bardel will provide all the visual elements for THE KELLYS’ second season, which begins in February 2002.

Animax Interactive, a new digital animation studio, has launched their Website which features samples of the company’s brand of "advertainment," including animated shorts featuring celebrity voiceovers that demonstrate and explain Animax Interactive’s business model. The company develops and produces entertainment for existing brands using both digital and traditional animation.