Nickelodeon Launches CG-Animated Series Mike the Knight

Press release from Nickelodeon:

New York, NY – Nickelodeon unveils Mike the Knight™, a brand new CG-animated preschool series that invites viewers into a fantastical world of castles, missions, dragons and trolls, on Friday, Feb. 3, at 10:30 a.m. ET/PT.  The half-hour, adventure series teaches kids about friendship, loyalty, and determination as they join Mike, a young knight-in-training, on his missions to protect his kingdom, serve his Queen and become a full-fledged knight.  Following the series launch, Nickelodeon will air new episodes, Monday, Feb. 6 – Thursday, Feb. 9, at 12:00 p.m. (ET/PT).  Mike the Knight, created by Alexander Bar (Lunar Jim) and penned by Marc Seal (Head Writer, Bob the Builder™), is produced by HIT Entertainment and Nelvana Studio.  The series (26 episodes) will regularly air weekdays at 12:00 p.m. (ET/PT) on Nickelodeon.

“Mike the Knight will take preschoolers on a journey of discovery through a medieval world filled with dynamic characters and imaginative stories,” said Teri Weiss, SVP, Nickelodeon Preschool.  “The series will inspire and empower preschoolers to always try their best, continuously grow, and work hard to accomplish their goals.”

"Along with our co-production partner HIT Entertainment, we are thrilled that Nickelodeon will be the new home for Mike the Knight in the U.S,” said Colin Bohm, Managing Director, Nelvana Enterprises.  “With its truly unique and exciting storylines, along with rich visuals, we are confident the series will be a big hit with preschoolers and their families in the U.S. and around the world.”

Mike the Knight centers on Mike, a young boy with a bright future ahead of him.  The son of the King and Queen of Glendragon, he is determined to follow in his father’s footsteps to become a brave and noble knight. With the triumphant motto, “Be a knight, do it right,” the would-be hero is joined in his adventures by a host of medieval characters, including his trusty steed Galahad, two friendly dragons, Squirt and Sparkie, and his sister, Evie, a wizard-in-training.  In every episode, a mission is set and Mike rises to the challenge with the help of his closest friends.  Mike the Knight taps into children's fascination with fantasy/medieval elements without removing them from the familiarity of their everyday lives.

In the series premiere episode, “Mike the Knight and Galahad the Great/Mike the Knight and the Scary Dragons,” Mike is so keen on making Galahad look good, he doesn’t realize what he’s dressing him in is stopping him from getting around the horse riding course!  In the second half of the episode, Mike’s dragons Sparkie and Squirt try to act scary.  Sparkie is better at it and Mike doesn’t notice how upset this makes Squirt.  When a forgotten Squirt gets stuck in the tower, Mike learns to be sensitive to his friends’ feelings.

The schedule for the Feb. 6 premiere week for Mike the Knight is as follows (all times are 12:00 p.m. ET/PT):

Monday, Feb. 6  - “Mike the Knight in the Mission Mess”/ “Mike the Knight and the Trollee in Trouble”
Mike’s hasty horse riding results in the Throne Room being filled with magical earth, and he tries to hurry to clean it all up.  But when that leaves Evie in trouble, Mike learns that slow and careful does the trick. / Mike thinks only knights should rescue stuck Trolls even though Evie was asked first.  But when he get stuck himself, he realizes that actually helping whoever’s in trouble is more important than who’s doing it.

Tuesday, Feb. 7 - “Mike the Knight and the Buried Treasure”/ “Mike the Knight and the Tale of Sir Trollee”
Mike hears about buried treasure at the end of the rainbow from Trollee and abandons his promise to help with Squirt’s rainbow party.  But when the treasure turns out to be a turnip, he has to do it right to save Squirt’s day. / Mike wants to win a tournament but he needs another knight to beat so he elects Trollee. Trollee doesn’t know how to be a knight and gets upset.  Mike soon learns that playing fair is more important than winning.

Wednesday, Feb. 8 - “Mike the Knight and the Smiley Treasure”/ “Mike the Knight and Evie’s Birthday Present”
Mike thinks he’ll be better at guarding a bunch of bananas without his dragons’ help.  When the bananas go missing one by one, Mike learns that everything is easier when you accept a little help from your friends. / Mike thinks the perfect birthday surprise for Evie is a knightly cake – but, trying to keep the surprise isn’t as easy as he thought.

Thursday, Feb. 9 - “Mike the Knight and the Fluttering Favor”/ “Mike the Knight and the Tricky Trail”
Mike and Evie compete to win the Queen’s favor.  They try to outdo each other with doing good deeds for the Blacksmith, but end up just ruining things for him.  It turns out that working together is a much better way to win. / Mike is so keen to show off his tracking skills that he rushes ahead impetuously and, scoffing at the trail Sparkie thinks he’s found, gets everyone lost.  Mike has to learn that a big part of tracking is being slow and careful.

Preschoolers and their parents can visit the brand-new Mike the Knight page on www.nickjr.com, Nickelodeon's award-winning website, to watch Mike the Knight videos [1], print coloring pages [2], and find games and activities just right for Mike the Knight fans.

About HIT Entertainment
HIT Entertainment is one of the world's leading children's entertainment producers and rights owners. HIT Entertainment is a part of Fisher-Price and Mattel.  HIT's portfolio includes properties, such as Barney^®, Bob the Builder^®, Thomas & Friends^®, Pingu^®, Fireman Sam^®, Angelina Ballerina^® and Rainbow Magic^®. Launched in 1989, HIT’s lines of business span television and video production, content distribution, publishing, consumer products licensing and live events and has operations in the UK, US, Canada, Hong Kong and Japan. For more information, visit www.hitentertainment.com [3]

About Nelvana
Nelvana Enterprises is owned by Corus Entertainment Inc., a Canadian-based media and entertainment company. Corus is a market leader in specialty television and radio with additional assets in pay television, television broadcasting, children’s book publishing and children’s animation. The Company’s multimedia entertainment brands include YTV, Treehouse, Nickelodeon (Canada), W Network, OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network (Canada), CosmoTV, Sundance Channel (Canada), Movie Central, HBO Canada, Nelvana, Kids Can Press and radio stations including CKNW AM 980, 99.3 The FOX, Country 105, 630 CHED, Q107 and 102.1 the Edge. Corus creates engaging branded entertainment experiences for its audiences across multiple platforms. A publicly traded company, Corus is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (CJR.B). Experience Corus on the Web at www.corusent.com [4].

About Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon, now in its 32nd year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books and feature films. Nickelodeon’s U.S. television network is seen in 100 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for 16 consecutive years. For more information or artwork, visit http://www.nickpress.com [5]. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB).