FUNKY COPS by AnteFilms, is the latest in a growing roster of French-made animated series to be broadcast on a U.S. network. 4Kids Entertainment acquired the 26x30 series to air in the FOX BOX Saturday morning kids block. FUNKY COPS features a pair of cops who turn into disco stars in '70s San Francisco. The show was created by brothers Christophe and Benoit Di Sabatino. It is produced in AnteFilms' digital studios based in Levallois and Angouleme.
It airs in more than 90 territories, including M6 (France), MTV Germany, VRAK TV (Canada), FOXTEL-The Comedy Channel (Australia), Canal Plus (Scandinavia) and Fox Kids Latin America. A soundtrack is being distributed by Universal Music and licensing/merchandising deals are in the works. While some media reports FUNKY COPS is one of the few Franco animated productions to make it to the U.S. airwaves, it actually follows a string of shows. Ground was broken by Marc Du Pontavice, head of Gaumont Multimedia at the time, with HOME TO RENT (STUPID INVADERS) and OGGY & THE COCKROACHES on Fox Kids. Du Pontavice now heads his own company, Xilam.
Other French shows to air in the U.S. include CALAMITY JANE by Kayenta Prods., WALTER MELON from Saban Paris, as well as TOTALLY SPIES and MARSUPILAMI from Marathon. FUNKY COPS is AnteFilms' first sale to the U.S. An AnteFilms' spokesman confirmed that a further 13 half-hours of the show are already in production, ready for 2004. New shows from the French indie include CODE LYOKO (26x30), FRED THE CAVEMAN (13x30), PET ALIEN (52x13) and ANAITA: LEGEND OF THE ABYSS (26x30). 4Kids programs and manages FOX BOX on Saturdays for the News Corp-owned FOX network.
4Kids recently acquired another Euro toon, U.K.-produced CRAMP TWINS from Germany's TV-Loonland and Cartoon Network Europe, which recently began airing at 11:00 am ET/PT on FOX BOX Feb. 8, 2003.
