Tyler Perry's signature character "Madea" will be the focal point of a new animated series.
The untitled cartoon will be funded and produced before the show is shopped to networks.
Perry dresses in drag for Madea, an opinionated and domineering African American woman.
The character has been featured in many of Perry's features, including DIARY OF A MAD BLACK WOMAN, MADEA'S FAMILY REUNION and the forthcoming MEET THE BROWNS.
Nickelodeon announced today they will develop their hit animated series DORA THE EXPLORER into a live-action prime-time TV movie.
The movie will feature Dora, the 10-year-old Latina heroine in a new adventure enhanced by CG special effects.
PEDRO AND FRANKENSHEEP, a new series by The Brothers McLeod (Greg and Myles) and Phil Cooper, will be released on Children's BBC this week on CBBC.
The show's creators announced today their 10-episode series will begin airing Feb. 25.
A popular pre-release on the CBBC website garnered several hundred thousand views on YouTube after a "rogue guinea pig" posted the episode "Sleep Guinea Pig Sleep."
A unique line of Digimon toys will be released this fall, adding to the empire of one of the longest-running action series in the world.
The action-packed adventures of DIGIMON DATA SQUAD, the new fifth season from Toei Animation Inc. currently airing on Toon Disney's Jetix block, live on with Bandai America Inc.'s successful lineup of action figures and role-play toys for boys ages 4-8.
Nicktoons Network will premiere a full-length movie for the first time on Saturday, according to C21 Media.
KAPPA MIKEYS KAPPA KARAOKE, a spin-off from the animated Nicktoons show KAPPA MIKEY, will feature 10 original songs with an onscreen bouncing ball to help the audience follow the lyrics.
The series follows the adventures of an American actor, Mikey Simon, who moves to Japan to star in the fictional series LILYMU.
Animation Collective, an American independent behind KAPPA MIKEY, owns KAPPA KARAOKE.
Fans of BRUNO AND THE BANANA BUNCH will soon have a completely new series to enjoy the characters.
Cuppa Coffee Studios announced Tuesday the new series LET'S GO BRUNO!, which combines 2D animation with live action in a simple, yet innovative game show format.
The show originally launched around the world on Nickelodeon with BRUNO, a 50-episode, 1-minute-each series exploring numbers, colors, shapes and sizes.
Classic VOLTRON episodes will air on the Boomerang Channel, starting Feb. 18.
The weekly strip show, repackaged from the 1984 episodes, will run for one year Mondays through Fridays.
Based on a Japanese series, VOLTRON is about a team of young pilots in charge of five robot lions that unite to form the mega-robot Voltron, defender of the of the planet Arus.
Australian production studio Flying Bark Productions has teamed with Copenhagen-based studio Funhauser Film to co-produce the CGI series ENYO.
The program will being airing on German, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish TV in the fall of 2009.
Flying Bark's parent company EM.Entertainment will handle the worldwide distribution excluding Australia, Denmark and Scandinavia.
ENYO focuses on clever and talented 12-year-old Enyo, who is learning to understand the language of animals, read hidden messages in nature and see glimpses into the future.
4Kids Ent. closed several deals with global broadcast partners to air the popular new animation series DINOSAUR KING.
The fantasy adventure series airs Saturday mornings on 4Kids TV (Fox) and is a combination of traditional cel and CGI animation.
After earning strong ratings since its Sept. 2007 premiere, DINOSAUR KING is now set for broadcast on YTV (Canada), Jetix (Latin America), TV2 (Denmark) and TV4 (Sweden) during the upcoming 2008-09 season.
Sesame Workshop and Jakarta-based Creative Indigo Production have created JALAN SESAMA, to debut on Trans7 on Feb. 18.
JALAN SESAMA features some furry Muppets, their human friends and celebrity guests to teach children basic cognitive and social skills, while representing the vibrant diversity of Indonesia's archipelago landscape.
Live action and animated films weave throughout each of the 52 half-hour episodes, reinforcing curriculum goals and showcasing Indonesian culture, tradition, language and arts.
The hit anime series BAKUGAN will make its U.S. debut Feb. 24 on Cartoon Network.
Airing first in Japan and Canada, the series follows the adventures of Dan and his fellow Battle Brawlers as they use strategy and skill to save the Earth from destruction.
BAKUGAN begins with kids around the world discovering cards with different characters.
They create a battle game with them, not realizing the cards correspond to an alternate universe called Vestroia, where Bakugan warriors are waging war.
Portfolio Entertainment's clone-themed animated comedy series for tweens, CARL SQUARED, has been renewed for additional seasons in Belgium and Israel after being nominated for six Canadian Awards for the Electronic and Animated Arts (Elans).
Renewing both seasons three and four, VRT in Belgium has picked up 26 half-hour episodes for broadcast in Dutch-speaking Belgium while Noga in Israel has renewed the fourth season of the series consisting of 13 episodes.
Sesame Workshop and Cartoon Pizza announced Tuesday the start of production for the second season of PINKY DINKY DOO.
Pinky is a 7-year-old girl with a huge imagination and pink hair with adventures based on a collection of playful bedtime stories.
In Pinkyâs imagination, because anything is possible, Abrams/Gentile Entertainment, Inc. were brought in to shift PINKYâs flash-animation style to 3D animation.
Jetix Europe N.V. today announced the launch of the zany animated comedy series KID VS. KAT. Created by Rob Boutilier, the series is being produced by Canada-based Studio B Prods. Inc., a DHX Media Ltd. company, in association with Jetix Europe and Canadian kids broadcaster YTV.
Aardman Animations hit childrens brand SHAUN THE SHEEP continues to expand its international presence, securing a raft of new TV and licensing deals worldwide.
Since its launch at MIPCOM 06, SHAUN THE SHEEP has racked up television sales and licensing deals in over 150 territories and has won several prestigious accolades including the Cristal Award for Best TV Production at the Annecy Animated Film Festival 2007 and the Audience Choice Award at the World Comedy Film Festival 2007.
Joshua Jackson, co-star of DAWSON'S CREEK, has landed the lead male role in J.J. Abrams new sci-fi series, FRINGE, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. Abrams is producing the series with Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci.
Mike Judge has teamed with Media Rights Capital to produce 13 episodes of a new animated series, titled THE GOODE FAMILY, for ABC, VARIETY reports. The show will follow a family of do-goers. KING OF THE HILL exec producers John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky will be exec producing GOODE as well.
The indie studio is funding its projects via a combination of private equity and other investments, including dollars from Goldman Sachs. The company has also inked an interim deal with the WGA, giving it a head start on all its new film and TV projects.
Cartoon Network's Adult Swim has pulled two upcoming episodes of THE BOONDOCKS from its schedule, reports AD AGE. Recently, the two episodes appeared on YouTube, making some wonder whether the move to yank the episodes was done over content concerns or as part of a viral marketing plan.
Will Arnett (TV's ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT) has dropped out of NBC's new KNIGHT RIDER due to a conflict of interest, reports VARIETY. Val Kilmer has been hired to now voice the hi-tech automobile KITT.
Arnett has been the voice of General Motors for a decade and GMC asked the actor to pull out of the series once it discovered how much Ford is connected with the project. In the two-hour backdoor pilot, a Ford Mustang plays the role of KITT and Ford is deeply involved in the promotion of the TV movie.
Jibber Jabber Toons Ltd., Northwest Imaging & FX Ltd., and Producer/Lead Creator/Director David Bowes announced the completion of the first season of JIBBER JABBER, a 26x11 CG animated series targeted at kids 6-12.
U.K. global media group Entertainment Rights Plc has announced that RUPERT BEAR FOLLOW THE MAGIC, one of its most popular preschool brands, has become an overnight hit in Germany. The 52x10 series, which started airing in early Jan., is already ranked as one of the highest-rated preschool shows on Super RTL, averaging a 41.4% share in its regular slot. There are also plans in development to launch publishing, DVD, toy and apparel programs in 2009.
U.K.-based media and entertainment company Ludorum's train-themed series CHUGGINGTON has been picked up by major networks in Europe, reports C21 MEDIA. SuperRTL (Germany), TF1 (France) and ABC (Australia) have signed broadcast deals for the 3D animated series aimed at three- to six-year-olds and their parents. The series is already in production for the BBC and is scheduled for delivery in the fourth quarter of 2008. Shanghai-based Motion Magic Digital Entertainment is animating the show.
Entertainment One has chosen NOGGIN as the U.S. home for PEPPA PIG, the U.K. preschool animated series that has gone on to international success in over 160 territories. NOGGIN, the 24-hour, commercial-free educational preschool network from Nickelodeon, has acquired U.S. broadcast rights to the first 52-episode series of PEPPA PIG with an option on all future series and one-off specials.
The second season of MICKEY MOUSE CLUBHOUSE is coming to Canada on Playhouse Disney Feb. 10 at 9:00 am.
Canadian animation studio House of Cool, which has contributed to such films as MONSTERS INC, THE INCREDIBLES and HORTON HEARS A WHO, will begin producing original content, reports C21 MEDIA.
Heading the slate of three new series is BETTY BANNER PARTY PLANNER (26x22), a comedy-action series for kids 7-11 that was one of the most-screened kids shows at MIPCOM. Betty's adventures include such things as arranging a birthday party for a 300-year-old vampire and tea with the Queen, all while contending with a huge party corporation that wants to put her out of business.
