LAFFERS DANCE - Kidscreen

Mare
Nostrum
mixes toon
styles to stay
true to Olive’s
painterly
aesthetic
French toonco finds joy in preschool book IP
Banking on the appeal of a built-in audience, Paris,
France’s Mare Nostrum is looking for production
partners to help bring Olive’s Little Joys to the
small screen. The preschool book series by Lili
Pissenlit boasts eight titles that have sold well
in their native market. Their charm rests on a
floppy-eared bunny protagonist and a striking
2-D/CGI backdrop that closely resembles the
books’ hand-painted illustrations (courtesy of
Vanessa Gautier).
Mare Nostrum has worked the concept
up as a 52 x 11-minute comedy-adventure
series about Olive and his friends investigating
the rocky coves, wild forests and abandoned
farmhouses that pepper their Mediterranean
island home.
In one ep, Olive is so frightened by his
brother’s yarn about a monster called
Magou that he jumps in bed with his
parents for the night. In the light of day
the following morning, however, Olive feels
much braver and heads out with his friends to trap
the beastie. The pals set up a trap for Magou, but
they get peckish waiting for him to rear his ugly
head and run home for some pastries. When they
come back, they find the trap sprung—except all it
has caught is Olive’s brother, who finally admits that
Magou doesn’t really exist.
Mare Nostrum plans to secure a domestic
broadcast deal before shopping the
US$7.4-million series around to
other European and international
prodcos and kidnets. The company
What’s developing in kids production
expects production to begin before summer,
with an eye towards delivering the show
by October 2008.
Simpsons voice star makes
Corner Stone’s one-off sing
L.A.’s Corner Stone Animation
is enlisting some big-name talent
to break into the educational
market with Betsy’s Kindergarten
Adventures. With vocal tracks from
Nancy Cartwright (The Simpsons)
and Tom Bosley (Happy Days), the
US$400,000 project consists of two
13-minute eps that encourage kids
to use book smarts to solve real-world
problems. For example, in one episode, Betsy’s
class learns about division in
PBS Kids
has given
the nod
to Betsy’s
unique
learning
angle
b y g a r y r u s a k
school and then uses the lessons
to work out a sharing issue that
crops up during recess.
Featuring traditional 2-D animation
with a high-def finish,
Betsy’s Kindergarten Adventures tips its
hat to Peanuts with its soundtrack,
which will feature up-tempo jazz designed to
complement the action. There is also a possibility
that a live-action component will be added at
some point in the future.
So far, Corner Stone has sold the show
to PBS Kids, but the goal is to land a few
more international pubcasters and educentric
commercial nets by the time
it’s delivered in August.
JANUARY 2007
21