Creative companies Sunbow Entertainment and Rumpus have signed a co-production deal for KAPPA MIKEY, a fish-out-of-water story with an unusual twist. Targeted at 8 13 year old kids, the series mixes comedy and action in a satire of anime-style animation and American cluelessness about foreign culture. The show revolves around Mikey, an American superhero, who comes to Japan to fight evil with a team of Japanese anime stars. Mikey is not the most sensitive American ever to work overseas. He can kick butt against supervillains, but is completely powerless when it comes to dealing with life in Japan. To underscore Mikeys comical situation, his co-stars and surroundings are drawn in traditional Japanese anime style, while Mikey is rendered in the classic American style of cartoon. Ken Olshansky, senior VP of creative affairs at Sunbow, said, Weve been arguing over whether KAPPA MIKEY is an action show thats funny or a comedy show with action. In any case, Rumpus has definitely come up with a show that is funny in a new way, and Sunbow looks forward to working with them on a project that has hit the sweet spot for both genres. Sunbows parent company, TV-Loonland, holds the worldwide television and video distribution rights to KAPPA MIKEY.
Lee Dannacher profiles Rumpus in A Rumpus On The Net.
