Live/CG Series 'Mia and Me' Animation News

Opening up the next generation of magic/fantasy-themed cartoon franchises for girls, media producer and distributor m4e AG (Munich, Germany) has pressed a few key notes for the upcoming title Mia and Me. The television property is actually a live-action/animation hybrid scheduled to premiere early next year. A pan-European co-production, Mia and Me is stocked with elves, unicorns, magic, and all the rest; but before it takes to the airwaves, its producers are well tasked in gathering new merchandizing and additional broadcast support.

Mia is a twelve-year-old girl more than a bit cautious while entering the newest chapter in her life: namely, a new boarding school after her parents go missing. Without guidance, a place to live, or very many friends to turn to, Mia is simply treading water. As Mia and Me opens, the girl stumbles into solace when she looks over the few remaining keepsakes of her family: a bracelet and an old book about unicorns. These items, it turns out, are keys to the gateway of a fantasy world.

Mia and Me splits its time between the live-action and animated realms by drawing up the new fantasy world Mia discovers (Centopia) in computer animation.

The girl, her boarding school, and the new friends she soon makes there, are all live-action. But once Mia crosses over into Centopia, CG takes over. Centopia is populated by elves, forest spirits, dragons, centaurs, sorcerers, and of course, unicorns. Once there, Mia, now with pink-purple hair and bright violet eyes, finds she can expand her imagination unlike ever before. However, not all is well for the denizens of Centopia; the evil Queen Panthea is out to capture the realm's unicorns in an effort to use their magic to grant her eternal youth.

Production for the property is currently filed under the production committee Lucky Punch, which is comprised of m4e media group's Telescreen (Hilversum, The Netehrlands) and Hahn Film (Berlin, Germany), an animation studio founded in 1980 by Gerhard Hahn. Additional production partners for Mia and Me presently include Rainbow S.p.A. (Loreto, Italy), March Entertainment (Ontario, Canada), and broadcasters ZDF (Germany) and RAI (Italy). Telescreen, acquired by m4e back in 2008, has since collaborated on the release of projects such as JEP Animation's Rudolf {watch} and Tomavistas' Ask Lara.

New to the release plans of Mia and Me are broadcasters Canal Plus (France), Tele Toon (France), TVI (Portugal), and E-Vision (United Arab Emirates). According to m4e, who shares the international distribution rights with Rainbow, additional viewing territory agreements are scheduled to arrive for the UK, Scandinavia, and South America in the coming months. The first season of Mia and Me (26x24) will conclude production this autumn, and premiere in early 2012. The live-action/animation program's second season is already in production.

Egmont VGS has licensed Mia and Me for various publishing items, Panini for character-branded stickers and a monthly print magazine, Panini Kids for home video distribution, and Schmidt Spiele for assorted family entertainment (e.g., board games, puzzles). As with the program's television agreements, additional merchandizing contracts are expected to sprout for the international market in the coming months as well. Toys are expected to hit retail in autumn 2012; additional consumer products will rollout spring 2013.

The producers of Mia and Me are investing quite a lot into the project, hedging their expectations on the consumer product and demographical know-how of Iginio Straffi (Winx Club), the media experience of Gerhard Hahn, and the appeal of Gustav Klimt, a late-19th and early 20th century Austrian painter. Apparently, series producers are using some of Klimt's fascination with ornamental detail and nature-as-inspiration as part of Mia and Me's style guide. Visuals released for the live/CG series thus far effectively contrast Mia's drab real-world existence with her fresh computer-animated getaway in Centopia.

The program's excessive attention to detail may come in handy too, given the story's eventual evolution into a type of fantasy-adventure where Mia must search the land for several pieces of a broken golden trumpet (which has the power to ward off and defeat Queen Panthea's evil warriors).

Along with her elfin friends -- warrior girl Yuko and Prince Mo -- Mia is thus tasked with safeguarding the unicorns of Centopia while also assembling the one item most critical to bringing peace to the land.

Mia and Me has been gestating for several months now. The series made its broad debut back at MIPCOM Jr. 2010, at which time the live/CG program was named the most-requested property of the entire autumn event -- topping GURU Studios' Justin Time {watch}, SLR Prods. The DaVincibles {watch}, and Big Bad Boo Studios' 1001 Nights among several others familiar titles.

Mia and Me is also making the largest splash thus far in a burgeoning trend of mixed-media children's titles from high profile producers. Ethan's Island, announced last week, is a live/animation comedy currently in development from France Televisions and Marathon Media. Elsewhere, launching this autumn and winter is Mudpit, a music-themed live/CG project from TELETOON Canada and the Cookie Jar Group.