7 posts tagged children's series

Inspiring journeys through space and to Oz, android friends, a blue fox, and tiny dogs — these are the heart of the pilots that Amazon Studios added to its Development Slate today. These five charming children’s shows, by top creators, join six comedy pilots that got the greenlight in December.

Once completed, all 11 pilots will be posted on Amazon Instant Video, Prime Instant Video, Lovefilm UK and Lovefilm Germany for Amazon customers to watch for free. Viewer feedback will help determine which series Amazon Studios should produce.

“Production is already underway for the first set of comedy pilots we announced last month, and now we are excited to add even more pilots to the list — five amazing preschool children’s series,” said Roy Price, director of Amazon Studios. “Our children’s series come from industry luminaries with credits such as Blue’s Clues, Sid the Science Kid, and Dino Dan. We think parents — and our very youngest customers — are going to love the magical combination of entertainment and learning that they’ll discover in these children’s series.”

“We are thrilled to be working with Amazon Studios on our pilot and can’t wait to soar into a creative arts curriculum with Creative Galaxy,” said Angela C. Santomero (Blue’s Clues), creator and executive producer of the debut series, which is one of five children’s series to receive a pilot order. “We know that art can have a powerfully positive effect on children, and through our proven signature approach to preschool television, we will actively help young viewers learn how to think creatively in their own lives. Working with Amazon Studios has been fantastic, and we look forward to jumping into the production process.”

The children’s series pilots going into production are:

Creative Galaxy

Creative Galaxy is an animated interactive art adventure series, designed to inspire kids’ creative thinking through crafts, story, music and dance. The series was created by Angela Santomero, creator of Super Why!, the Emmy-nominated literacy series, and Blue’s Clues.

Positively Ozitively

In this innovative problem-solving series, Dorothy’s daughter Dot goes off to Oz every day with the children of the beloved characters from L. Frank Baum’s classic book, The Wizard of Oz. In each episode, the yellow brick road leads Dot to a new magical location where she solves problems alongside her Oz friends.

Teeny Tiny Dogs

Produced by The Jim Henson Company (Sid the Science Kid, Dinosaur Train), Teeny Tiny Dogs follows Butch, Butterfly, Dinky and Polly as they help one another navigate the big world despite their teeny, tiny size.  Created by Howard Baker (Rugrats) and executive produced by Lisa Henson and Halle Stanford as well as Alex Rockwell (Pajanimals), this series promotes happiness through friendship, learning, growing and developing a strong sense of self as seen through the eyes of canine friends.

Tumbleaf

Tumbleaf was created by Drew Hodges and produced by Kelli Bixler of Bix Pix Entertainment, an award winning stop-motion studio. The series, aimed at preschoolers, is set in a whimsical land where a small blue fox named Fig plays each day and discovers adventure, friendship and love around every bend in the path. Children will be enriched by narratives that promote exploration and cognitive reasoning.

Annebots

Untitled J.J. Johnson Project revolves around Anne, a young scientist, who creates three robot helpers to assist her scientific experiments in the back of her dad’s junkyard. This science-based series from creator J.J. Johnson (Dino Dan, This is Emily Yeung) aims to introduce kids to science and technology in a fun, new way.

These five new pilots join the six comedy pilots already in production: Alpha House, Browsers, Dark Minions, The Onion Presents: The News, Supanatural and Those Who Can’t.

Since its launch in November 2010, more than 14,000 movie scripts and 2,500 original series pilot scripts have been submitted to Amazon Studios. The series announced today have been added to Amazon Studios’ Series Development Slate, which currently boasts 20 additional projects that have been both submitted through the studios’ website and optioned for development.

Learn more about submitting your script via the Amazon Studios’ open door process.

Leave it to the sheep with the jet pack to soar atop of Amazon Studios’ most popular projects list. Buck Plaidsheep has also zoomed onto the Amazon Studios Development Slate, which was announced in May and expanded throughout the year via our open-door submission process.

Here are the 10 most viewed and downloaded children’s series projects of 2012:

1. Buck Plaidsheep
   By Frank Suarez and Clark Stubbs
   Buck Plaidsheep, the courageous critter from Fleecy farm, will face any danger and solve any problem. Armed with a variety of vehicles, whether it be a jet pack, rowboat, hang glider or even a jeep, he always has the best vehicle to get the job done.
   Development Slate
2. Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street
   By David Anaxagoras
   Life is anything but normal for 11-year-old Gortimer and his two best pals.
   Development Slate
3. Javi and the Treehouse Club
   By Federico Badia
   A boy and his animal friends discover how nature can inspire human inventiveness.
   Development Slate
4. California Kidds
   By Corey William Mitchel
   The adventures and/or misadventures of a workaholic husband, an image conscious wife, an imaginative son, and a cute firecracker of a daughter living in Pasadena, California who realize that when you are a part of a family, you are never truly alone… literally.
   Notable Project
5. Fritter: The Super Powered Hush Puppy
   By Erica Harrell and Desiree Proctor
   When a mad scientist’s Extreme Genetic Altering Device (EGAD) explodes in his kitchen, foods and appliances are brought to life – including our hero, Fritter! Now, this superhero hush puppy must fight evildoers, like the foul Frau Frying Pan.
   Development Slate

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A boy exploring magical secrets. A raccoon sheriff with a nose for puzzles. The two children’s shows just added to the Amazon Studios Series Development Slate both embrace the appeal of mysteries in their own special ways.

Kingston and the Magician’s Lost and Found and Rattatan: Junior Sheriff of the Petty Crime Unit are both aimed at girls and boys aged 6-12. They join previously optioned children’s series Buck Plaidsheep, Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street and Javi and the Treehouse Club. Learn more about how to submit your own ideas via Amazon Studios’ open door process.

About the shows:

Kingston and the Magician’s Lost and Found

Names of creators:  Harold Hayes, Craig Phillips, Mike White (credits include R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour, Spooksville, Politicats)

Series Concept:  After watching his father disappear during a magic act, Kingston must develop and refine his magical talents to uncover the secrets of his past.

Why we like it:  This is a serialized live-action show for ages 6-12. We were excited by the characters, plot arcs and world of magic. 

From the creators: The inspiration for the show started with seeing beyond the mundane. We often get set in accepting the day-to-day routine of life and when we walk past somebody who doesn’t seem to belong, our senses are heightened, whether out of fear or curiosity. … We realized that there is a lot we can learn from someone who lives on the fringes of society, which inspired a lot of the characters that Kingston will meet. The deeper we looked, the more mystery was revealed and our practical world seemed less defined. For us, that’s what magic is, showing you something right in front of your face that your mind can’t always make sense of.   

Rattatan: Junior Sheriff of the Petty Crime Unit

Creator: Miguel Martinez-Joffre (credits include SuperNormal, The Venture Bros., Gotham Girls)

Concept: A comedy for 6-12 year olds about the adventures of a young raccoon sheriff, Raul Rattatan, and his lovable sidekick, Deputy Pancho the Warthog. They are two young lawmen with the knack for turning the smallest infraction into a full-force investigation.

Why we like it: We found the script to be really funny and smart. We enjoyed reading the pilot script as much as the bible. The artwork is well executed and fun. 

From the creator: Though Rattatan expects to find misdeeds and mayhem around every corner, he’s still a hopeless optimist above all else. … Common sense is just too ordinary a tool for this lawman (after all, that’s what the no-good-do-ers expect you to use).

Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street is, in the words of its creator, David Anaxagoras: “a look at the lives of three quirky but lovable tweens. It’s whimsical and funny and dark and wondrous and sad all those things that childhood can be, especially when you are in the process of leaving it behind.”

It’s also one of the first children’s series optioned by Amazon Studios. And Anaxagoras is chronicling the process on his blog.

Last Friday, I had a development meeting with Amazon Studios and it went very, very well. Everyone is excited to be moving forward with this series. I’ll be getting notes from Amazon Studios next week and then I’ll be rewriting the pilot script.

Amazon Studios has an array of projects on their series development slate and continues to add to it. At some point in the next few months they’ll chose projects to go to pilot. I hope “Gortimer” will be among them.

He’s also sharing his creative process, most recently with this “brief history in Tweets”, which gives you a great sense of what has inspired him – and what Amazon Studios appreciated about his series.

I wanted to create something I would have loved as a kid, and even now as an adult, something that didn’t feel corporate and slick. And I’m tired of seeing this message that you only have value if you have a special awesome talent.

Learn more about the Amazon Studios development process, for series (and for movies).