LEGO Media International
(LMI), the new TV and film division of the world-renowned children's
toy brand, premiered its first ever program, LITTLE ROBOTS, at MIP TV
2001. LITTLE ROBOTS is a new pre-school animated series based on the
children's book by Mike Brownlow. The pilot was produced for LMI by
the U.K.'s Cosgrove Hall Films utilizing an unusual technique, which
combines model animation with CGI backgrounds and effects. The
program also boasts top U.K. writing and voice (Lenny Henry, Su
Pollard, Darren Boyd and Jimmy Hibbert) talent. LMI aims to produce
26 x 10' episodes for transmission in the autumn of 2002. The story
focuses on Tiny Robot and his little friends, who are pioneers and
architects of a brand new world. They have been abandoned by the
"real" world, but, using the toolkit inside his head, Tiny sets about
repairing his friends and together they build a magical world of
their own inside the scrapheap. Using their skills and imagination
they turn what we throw out (nuts, bolts, metal and rubber) into
homes, trees and flowers. LITTLE ROBOTS has been executive produced
for LMI by Vanessa Chapman, controller of programming and strategy,
and Michael Carrington, head of acquisitions and co-productions.
Chapman is the former controller of children's programming at ITV and
Michael joined LMI from the BBC's Children's Department, where he was
deputy head of acquisitions and animation. Chapman stated, "When we
saw the book, Michael and I leapt upon it and knew that we just had
to turn it into LEGO Media's first TV programme. It looked so
different from anything else we'd ever seen in the market place for
this age group. It's cool and retro in design, the characters are
quirky and fantastical and their world is weird and wonderful. Our
Little Robots are picking up from where THE MAGIC ROUNDABOUT and THE
CLANGERS left off."



Not only is LEGO breaking into TV but also ultra-cool next generation
toys. Read Eric Huelsman's "The Man Who Bought A Toy For His Kid and
Kept It For Himself."