2D animated show for children aged 3-5 and their caregivers follows the adventures of new monkey mum and her son as they navigate the ebb and flow of everyday life.
Following the successful digital debut of Plug-in Media’s first original IP project, Tee and Mo, the company has agreed to a deal with CBeebies which will see the channel acquire a 50 x 7’ Tee and Mo animated TV series. The channel has also committed to expanding the brand’s presence in the digital space over the next two years, with new content set to appear on the CBeebies website as well as on YouTube, online radio and in the channel’s Storytime app.
The acquisition marks a move into linear TV production by the BAFTA-award winning Plug-in Media, which has traditionally focused its business on the interactive digital space.
The new series has been originated by Plug-in Media’s Creative Director, Dominic Minns, and will be a 2D-animated dual audience show for children aged 3-5 and their caregivers. It follows the adventures of new monkey mum, Mo and her son, Tee as they navigate the ebb and flow of everyday life. Tee is the go-to monkey for fun and adventure; Mo is a super-monkey mum, juggling her busy jungle life. They sometimes want to do different things but they always end up having fun together.
“The unique approach we took, in partnership with CBeebies, to launch Tee and Mo online first, enabled us to test and iteratively develop the brand with the audience, prior to taking these characters onto TV,” says Juliet Tzabar, Managing Director of Plug-in Media. “The games proved highly successful with the CBeebies digital audience, allowing us to demonstrate how popular the characters are with pre- schoolers and caregivers alike and we know that there is now an appetite for more content. Tee and Mo is a fully integrated 360 brand that delivers a package of stand- out content both for CBeebies in the UK and for potential new channel partners across the globe.”
Tee and Mo originally launched on the CBeebies website and channel in 2013 as 10 games and 10 animated interstitials. Since then the animations have received over a million views on BBC iPlayer and the games, which received between 50,000 and 140,000 unique users per week on the CBeebies website around launch, continue to be very popular. The content has received a Childnet International Positive Content award as well as Prix Jeunesse and Broadcast Digital award nominations.
The series (50 x 7’) will be directed by Dominic Minns and executive produced by Juliet Tzabar for Plug-in Media. It has been acquired for CBeebies by Channel Controller, Kay Benbow and Jackie Edwards, Executive Producer, Animation and Acquisitions. The original online offering was executive produced by Juliet Tzabar for Plug-in Media and Catherine McAllister for CBeebies.
Source: Plug-in Media
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
