NGTI (National Geographic Television International) announced a raft of new deals for its family special -- TOOT & PUDDLE: I'LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS (1x45).
Based on the bestselling Holly Hobbie book of the same name, TOOT & PUDDLE: I'LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS has been licensed to leading broadcasters, including ARD and Ki.Ka in Germany, Nickelodeon in the UK and Australia, YLE Finland, TV2 Norway, DR1 Denmark and ATV Hong Kong.
TOOT & PUDDLE: I'LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS tells the tale of two piglet pals who must overcome severe winter weather, cancelled flights and other unexpected delays in order to spend Christmas together. It was released on DVD by Warner Home Video and saw its U.S. premiere on NOGGIN, Dec. 13.
Targeted at families and kids 3-8 it was produced by Grand Slamm Children's Films, for National Geographic Kids' Ent., in association with Warner Home Video and Nelvana. Ginger Gibbons directed from a script written by Stu Krieger. Corinne Lejeune served as editor while Stacey Attanasio-Gonsalves was producer. Doug and Holly Hobbie are consulting producers. Friedman Meir and Tara Sorensen are exec producers.
Karen Vermeulen, head of kids' sales at NGTI said, "In Toot & Puddle, Holly Hobbie has created very charming characters -- and they definitely succeeded in charming a number of buyers at their first outing at MIPCOM this year.
"This is the first program out of the four in production from National Geographic Kids' Ent. to deliver, and has been tremendously well received," Vermeulen continued. "Kids is a relatively new area of business for NGTI but the strong heritage of the National Geographic brand means that buyers know to expect top quality kids' programming that both entertains and excites kids to explore the world around them."
National Geographic Television International (NGTI), formerly known as Explore International, is a wholly owned subsidiary of National Geographic Ventures, the commercial arm of the National Geographic Society. Based in London, NGTI licenses more than 1,300 program titles to broadcasters around the globe, across a diverse and ever-growing range of genres, including natural history; civilizations & history; science; people & places; adventure; current affairs/society; and kids. In addition to licensing programs produced by National Geographic Television, NGTI also licenses programs made by some of the world's leading independent producers.
Los Angeles-based National Geographic Kids Ent. (NGKE) is an independent production entity of National Geographic Television. Established in 2003, NGKE brings the renowned National Geographic brand to children's entertainment through the development and production of quality animated and live-action, entertainment-driven programming that excites kids to explore their world. NGKE will work with all major broadcast outlets in the U.S. and abroad. For more information about National Geographic, visit www.nationalgeographic.com.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
