MipJunior, the key entertainment children’s content market, this year took place in Cannes from 13 to 15 October. Here are some news from the animation studios attending.
As Aardman‘s studio prepares for the release of the highly-anticipated sequel Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget on Netflix in December, and with a brand new Wallace & Gromit film in production, the sales and acquisitions team is bringing the excitement to MipJunior/MipCom, meeting with new and existing partners to present their quality new IPs and third-party properties for 2023 and beyond.
The studio has also launched The Adventures of ArachnoFly, a ‘Digital First’ 2D animated spin-off series of Lloyd of the Flies which follows the adventures of Lloyd’s favourite comic book superhero. The series premiered on YouTube on 2nd October 2023 and is distributed non-exclusively across multiple EST, AVOD and FAST platforms, as well as traditional broadcast partners.
The studio has been busy acquiring third-party content for distribution for the preschool market, including Ready Eddie Go! (Hocus Pocus Studio), Mitten & Shoe (Matinai Animation with Hotel Hungaria and Jam Media), Yukee (Score Draw Media), Lí Ban (Paper Owl Films), Quentin Blake’s Box of Treasures (Eagle Eye Drama and Creative Conspiracy) and Big Lizard (Beakus with Je Suis Bien Content and Watch Next Media). Teasers or first episodes are available to watch in the MipJunior screening library.
The Molang TV series by Millimages is a worldwide hit, with over 300 episodes broadcasted in 194 countries. Molang is also a viral sensation, with over 20 Billion views on GIPHY and 7 million social media followers, and a lifestyle brand with a successful consumer products program, supported by the molang.com e-shop and 15 international licensing agents, with 950 products from 80+ licensees.
The core characteristic of the brand is kindness: Molang has no nationality, is ageless and gender-neutral, caring for everyone and everything.
For the last three years, the subscriber base has really grown – by 1.2 M in one year alone – by focusing the content strategy on social networks aimed at young millennials and Gen Z (78% of Molang’s audience). So Molang has now become a YouTuber character as a natural progression to provide new creative possibilities and future partnerships for this highly engaged target. Alexandra Algard Mikanowski, Licensing & Merchandising Director, Millimages, declared: “As IP owners, we start with strong content and storytelling on social outlets. Then we invest a lot in D2C, like corner shops, pop-ups or retail events, and our own e-commerce platform. And of course we work to support our licensing agents and partners around the world using these strengths”.
Monster Entertainment is coming to MipJunior and MipCom fully loaded with new animation. There are 3 new series in production, such as Tiny Toot (26 x 7′, for 2-5 year olds) from Toolbox Film in Denmark, already pre-sold to DR in Denmark, SVT in Sweden, NRK in Norway, YLE in Finland and RTE in Ireland. The first 13 episodes will be completed in November and the last 13 in March 2024. Also, Doodle Girl (26 x 7′, for 4-8 year olds) from Studio Meala in Ireland, commissioned by RTE in Ireland and due to be delivered in September 2024, and Holt (26 x 11′, for 6-11 year olds) from Igloo Animations in Ireland and Digitoonz in India, commissioned by RTE, due to be delivered in June 2025.
Additionally, there will be second seasons of Fia’s Fairies (52 x 7′, for 3-7 year olds), the no.1 rated Irish preschool animation series, from Ireland’s Little Moon; Urban Tails (52 x 2′, for 4-8 year olds), from Pink Kong in Ireland, commissioned by RTE; Pins and Nettie (52 x 5′, for 2-5 year olds) from Daily Madness; Peek Zoo (52 x 7′, for 4-8 year olds) from Ireland’s Igloo Films, commissioned by RTE; the internet sensation non-verbal Noodle and Bun (26 x 5′, for 4-12 year olds) from South Africa’s Polycat Animation, pre-sold to Canal Plus amongst others, the hybrid live action/animation Storybud (30 x 7′, for 8-12 year-olds) from Ireland’s Kite Entertainment, commissioned by RTE; Season 8 of hit STEM series, Earth to Luna (208 x 12′), from Brazil’s TV Pinguim, commissioned by Discovery Latin America.
Other highlights include the worldwide hit preschool series The Day Henry Met… (104 x 5′ for 3-6 year olds) , from Ireland’s Wiggleywoo and the delightful non-verbal animation series, Ollie, from Lumiere in Belgium (52 x 4′ for preschool).
Curated by Rossella Arena
