Creator of ‘Fairly OddParents,’ ‘Bunsen is a Beast’ to develop original series based on HobbyKidsTV.
LOS ANGELES -- Pocket.watch, a media brand that creates, acquires, distributes and curates content for kids age 2-11 across a variety of platforms, has partnered with Butch Hartman to create and produce three new animated series for kids alongside pocket.watch Chief Content Officer Albie Hecht.
Hartman is creator of such hit series as Fairly OddParents, Danny Phantom, T.U.F.F. Puppy and Bunsen Is a Beast. Hecht is former president of Nickelodeon, the network which aired Hartman’s creations.
The series, already in development, include one idea based on Hartman’s own creation, another developed directly from an original idea from pocket.watch’s existing development slate, and the third featuring the kids from popular YouTube family of channels HobbyKidsTV, named pocket.watch’s first creator partner in April.
“Our vision is to build the ultimate kids media brand that combines attributes from both digital and traditional entertainment and Butch is the perfect person to help get us there,” said Chris M. Williams, Founder and CEO of pocket.watch. “Butch’s passion for creating content across all platforms that resonates with kids is palpable and I can’t wait to work alongside him to bring not one but three series to market.”
As the first series fast-tracked by pocket.watch, HobbyKids Adventures will feature the animated exploits of three brothers from the mega-popular YouTube channel HobbyKidsTV. Transformed into cartoon adventurers by kid hit-maker Hartman, HobbyPig, HobbyFrog and HobbyBear (and his alter ego HobbyHuge!) are able to go anywhere and in any genre in their time-bending Giant Egg which is modeled after the Giant Surprise Egg that rocketed the HobbyKidsTV YouTube channel to kid-dom fame.
“Butch Hartman is a creative force that has an uncanny ability to develop worlds that make kids stop, take notice and laugh out loud,” said Hecht. “I am thrilled to once again be working together on an entirely new slate of exciting properties, including our animated series for HobbyKidsTV.”
In addition to his production slate, as part of his non-exclusive three year deal, Hartman will also be named Senior Creative Consultant, responsible for providing creative input into pocket.watch’s digital channels, creator partnerships and premium content.
“In my long spanning animation career, I’ve been able to bring so many different stories to life and I can’t wait to be able to do the same for HobbyKids Adventures,” said Hartman. “What pocket.watch is creating is a true testament to what entertainment kid’s love today and I am thrilled to be a part of it.”
Source: pocket.watch
Tom McLean has been writing for years about animation from a secret base in Los Angeles.
