CiTV has recommissioned its hit series GRIZZLY TALES FOR GRUESOME KIDS from Honeycomb Animation and Elephant Productions.
The British Animation Award-winning series, narrated by Nigel Planer and based on the successful books by Jamie Rix, will return to TV in early 2006 with a new series producers claim, will scare even the naughtiest of children into submission.
Amongst the scary stories to unfold are how Fruit-free constipated children learn the true value of nutrition when they feel the unfriendly bite of a Fruit Bat, teddy bears take their glassy-eyed revenge on their not-so-loving owners, a wasteful girl is recycled by Recyclops and a red-fingered gardener conkers Williams vandalism.
GRIZZLY TALES is produced by Simon and Sara Bor of Honeycomb Animation and Rix and Sarah Muller of Elephant Productions. First broadcast in 2000 on ITV, this new commission celebrates the fifth series of the popular television program.
Walker Books will also be publishing a collection of classic GRIZZLY TALES early next year.
CiTV is ITV's dedicated children's block aimed at kids 2-12. CiTV's wide mix of programs includes drama, factual, preschool, entertainment, comedy and animation series that aim to both entertain and inform its young audiences. CiTVs productions focus on original, U.K.-produced programming with additional acquired series.
Founded in 1990, Elephant is now widely recognized for its work in the development of animated and comedy programming. Originally set up by Planer and Rix, and joined in 1997 by Muller (with the additional skills and talents of Andy Wyatt Fictitious Egg as artistic director), Elephant was initially conceived as a vehicle for live-action projects. However, due in part to Planers THE NEW MAGIC ROUNDABOUT and the success of Rixs books, the company began to focus on animation, such as JOHNNY CASANOVA THE UNSTOPPABLE SEX MACHINE, a co-production with Universal Pictures Visual Programming, and 3 BROTHERS DIAMOND for Channel 4.
Currently being broadcast on the CBBC channel is ANIMAL SCHOOL, a series of 50 shorts, which has sold internationally and is aired on Animal Planet in the U.S.
Established in 1982 by Simon and Sara Bor (whose backgrounds are in animation and fine art respectively), Honeycomb Animation initially produced commercials and television titles before moving on to produce childrens programs for BBC and ITV, including MOP AND SMIFF, TUBE MICE and FROOTIE TOOTIES.
In the early 1990s, Honeycomb joined forces with Cartoon Film in Germany and Duboi in France to form E toons, a grouping of European studios. Joint projects included TOBIAS TOTZ, FEODOR and BEASTLY BEHAVIOUR.
Honeycomb has made four series and two Christmas specials of the highly successful WOLVES WITCHES AND GIANTS for CITV, which told classic fairy tales with a twist, and has been seen in over 50 countries including the Disney channel in the U.S. In 2001, Honeycomb developed and produced BINKA, a pre-school series for CBBC about a loveable and greedy, fat cat, which continues to be transmitted on CBBC. A DVD will be released in the fall and a further series is in negotiation. In 2004, FUNKY VALLEY was developed and produced by Honeycomb for Milkshake on Five. Voiced by Mark Williams, it follows the everyday lives of several slightly strange but adorable farmyard animals. A spinoff series, FUNKY TOWN, goes into production next year.
The fifth series of GRIZZLY TALES FOR GRUESOME Kids is going through Grizzly TV, a company set up by Elephant Prods. and Honeycomb Animation last year. Its first production was a half-hour special A GRIZZLY NEW YEARS TALE based on the TV series and shown on ITV on New Years Eve 2004. The company has several other new productions in development.
