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Return To The Great White North - Animated Style

Animax Entertainment announces the launch of the primetime animated comedy, BOB AND DOUG, in January 2009 on Global TV in Canada. This long-awaited 22x26 series features the hilarious animated adventures of the McKenzie brothers in the Canadian town of Maple Lake and beyond, and will be available at MIP TV 2008.

Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas executive produce and are the starring voices of the show. Dave Thomas heads up the writing team. Worldwide rights, excluding Canada, are now available.

"Animation today is all about the writing," said Dave Thomas. "THE SIMPSONS, SOUTH PARK [and] FAMILY GUY are famous and successful because of the clever writing. We have a team of 12 writers working on BOB AND DOUG," said Thomas "and I think this writing is as good as anything on TV." Thomas has a long history of producing shows and working with writers, many of whom have gone on to become some of the biggest names in Hollywood.

In this half hour format, BOB AND DOUG fans have a chance go beyond the infamous Great White North set and meet the townsfolk in a fictitious Canadian town called Maple Lake. There, Bob and Doug mix it up with their addled mom, their cousin Rupert and his girlfriend Mary Beth, their rivals and arch enemies the LeDoux brothers, wanton neighbors, and even a raging reverend -- to name a few. And, we finally get to see where Bob and Doug work and hold court at the Skate N' Bowl.

Bob and Doug will be produced and animated entirely in Canada by award-winning Canadian animators. Animax controls foreign distribution (all territories excluding Canada) and is working with Radar Cartoons to secure sales.

Bob and Doug Mckenzie were born in 1980 when the Emmy Award-winning sketch comedy show SCTV ran on CBC and NBC. CBC requested some identifiable Canadian content. In response, actors Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas elected to ad lib segments steeped in stereotypical Canadiana.

The filler segments quickly became the most popular part of the show and spawned a platinum selling, Grammy-nominated comedy album and a theatrical feature, STRANGE BREW from MGM. Since then, the McKenzie characters appeared on national television commercials for Pizza Hut (U.S.), Mr. Lubbe (Canada), Molson's(U.S.) and their voices were used for Disney's animated feature BROTHER BEAR. Todd McFarlane (SPAWN) released McKenzie action figures in 2000.

Animax Entertainment (www.animaxent.com) is an award-winning full-service creative studio specializing in producing character-driven content for all screens. Such work may take the form of websites, games, virtual worlds (including avatars), linear and interactive character animation, social media, and interactive marketing applications.

Animax was founded in 2001 by Emmy winning writer-producer-actor Dave Thomas and Andrew Bain. Their aim for Animax remains the same today as it was then -- to create compelling character-driven interactive experiences. Since Dave's background is entertainment (SCTV, GRACE UNDER FIRE, BROTHER BEAR) and Andy's is in advertising and brand marketing, the two came together to explore ways in which to make broadband content, interactive experiences and brand entertainment more engaging.