TV Animation Sales 2012 (June)

The following article spotlights a few news items regarding TV animation sales announced during June 2012. Nickelodeon's revival of sewer-dwelling ninja reptiles are already earning international sales (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Ankama's flexible MMORPG-based adventures move to Cartoon Network (Wakfu), and a pair of preschool items about everyday piglets find new homes as well (Wibbly Pig, Peppa Pig).

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The animated series Spike Team, buoyed by the success of Italy's victory at the past two FIVB Women's Volleyball World Cup tournaments, returns to prime television on RAI 2 this summer on the eve of the Olympic Games.

According to Foothill Entertainment (Santa Barbera, CA) and TeamWorks (Milano, Italy), the series' first season will return to daily broadcast in July and August in advance of the London Games.

Series creator and famed local athlete Andrea Luchetta, who co-stars in the cartoon as the coach of six mix-matched teens who must compete for a local volleyball title, will also be brought on board to serve as on-air commentator during the Olympics.

Spike Team is a production Graphilm Animation & Graphics (Rome, Italy) and television production group RAI Fiction (Italy). TeamWorks, a licensing group, announced various consumer product agreements for the brand this past winter [past A.I. news: "Italy Animation Licensing News" (12/2011)].

Wakfu -- from the animation, MMORPG, comics, TCG, and everything-else studio, Ankama (Roubaix, France) -- shifts into the programming plan of a few new Turner networks this year. The animated series currently spans two seasons, taking place in an elegant world where magic wielders, sword-bearing adventurers, and legendary dragons roam the land.

The Wakfu franchise itself is vast, but the action animation expertly crystallizes one boy's search for family and self amid globetrotting adventure. Wakfu earned a spot on BOING (Spain) last month, with the second season launch targeting October 2012; BOING (Italy) will broadcast the first season this September and the second season in March 2013; Cartoon Network (France) has picked up the series' first season for January 2013, and the second season for sometime in 2014.

"We couldn't pass up the opportunity of the Wakfu series, which is such a successful phenomenon and a hit amongst viewers in France. The partnership between this series, which pushes transmedia to its limits, and Cartoon Network, which thrives on innovation and originality, seemed totally natural," Pierre Branco, Deputy General Manager, TBS France, commented on the acquisition. "We're confident that our viewers will love this series, which revives the fantasy genre with surprising, exciting stories and characters as heroic as they are humorous."

Nickelodeon is still on track to premiere the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles CG series this autumn. Having unveiled a first-look of the series only within the past two weeks {TMNT preview}, Nick is still quite high on the prospects of its heroes in a half shell. Television Espanola (Spain), for example, has acquired the rights to the series. The new TMNT animation will hit Spain in spring 2013 as part of a three-year agreement. Nick Consumer Products unveiled a prodigious slate of toys earlier this year [recent A.I. news: "Int'l Toy Fair 2012: Nickelodeon" (02/2012)].

FremantleMedia Enterprises (London, England), which manages the boys' adventure series Monsuno, has obtained a number of new broadcast partners for the monster-battle animation. FremantleMedia manages the series' international distribution and ancillary rights, which to date also includes the Nicktoons network, which debuted Monsuno in February 2012 [recent A.I. news: "Nicktoons Readies New Animation" (02/2012)]. Monsuno is now also slated to air on CITV (UK), K2 (Italy), YTV (Canada), Spacetoon (Middle East), RTVE's Clan (Spain), Nine Network's GO! (Australia), and most recently, TV Tokyo (Japan) this coming autumn. Monsuno is about a group of kid heroes whose destiny to save the world is intertwined with fantastical creatures of enormous size and power. The series is a co-production of Dentsu Entertainment (U.S.), Dentsu Tec (Japan), FremantleMedia Enterprises (UK), and JAKKS Pacific (U.S.).

from Wibbly Pig

9 Story Entertainment (Toronto, ON), a co-producer of the preschool comedy Wibbly Pig, announced this past month that the children's series will soon have a spot on the U.S. cable network Sprout. The animated program emphasizes the everyday humor, fun, and playtime life of preschool-aged kids. Wibbly simply does what children do; he enjoys fantasy play, interacting with his peers, and finds happiness in the simplest things. Sprout is available to more than 50 million households.

Also in the realm of preschool programs featuring piglets, Peppa Pig, guided to new territories by way of eOne Family (London, England), has been acquired by Disney Junior for Spain and Italy. The animated series already has audiences' attention with broadcasts on RTVE (Spain) and RAI (Italy), but the new additions certainly won't hurt. Merchandise plans for Spain and Italy are likewise charging up this year and next for everything from apparel and publishing agreements to home video distribution.

Recent TV Animation Sales News:
"TV Animation Sales: Late Spring 2012" at AnimationInsider.net (06/2012)
[Care Bears] [Wild Kratts] [Sandra: the Fairytale Detective]
"Sales News: Early Spring 2012" at AnimationInsider.net (05/2012)
[Jelly Jamm] [Tilly and Friends] [Lucky Fred]
"Sales News: End of Winter 2012" at AnimationInsider.net (03/2012)
[Vivi] [Stella and Sam] [The Little Prince]