CBBC developing animated comedies
Two new animated comedy series are being developed by the BBC.
Each aimed at 7-12 year-olds, the formats were amongst more than one thousand applicants to Ignite, a "first-of-its-kind" initiative to find the UK's next animation hit, run by BBC Children's and Education.
Captain Onion's Buoyant Academy For Wayward Youth
Captain Onion's Buoyant Academy For Wayward Youth follows Marvin and his friends, students aboard Unsinkable II - a boarding school on a boat.
From production company ALT Animation, if commissioned the series would comprise of fifty 11-minute episodes. More information
Duck And Frog
Created by Sam Shaw and produced by Sun & Moon, Duck And Frog is a dialogue-free comedy following Frog and his disastrous friend, Duck, whose "help" ensures he can never keep a job for more than a single day.
Fifty programmes of seven minutes' duration each would be made if commissioned to series. More information
A third, non-comedy title for pre-schoolers is also in the works.
The projects were discovered through a call for submissions to the BBC late in 2021 and have been chosen following an 18 month development process. The corporation worked with the creators to attract key talent including writers, designers, script editors, consultants and development production partners to bring the ideas to life. The broadcaster now hopes to secure additional funding from outside organisations in order to commission all three formats.
BBC Children's and Education director Patricia Hidalgo says: "Ignite called for ideas from across the UK, the response was overwhelming and it has not been easy to decide which projects to take forward. The reason we chose these three is because they all have a clear sense of the audience they are trying to target and a strong creative vision. The ideas, stories and characters felt truly British and very original but they hold a sense of the familiar which is what usually makes a show successful amongst kids."