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As the date draws near for the roll out of Turner Broadcasting’s preschool brand Cartoonito across Europe, the Middle East and Africa on 5th September, the broadcaster has announced its first major pan-EMEA commission for the channel. Turner Broadcasting has commissioned 52 x 12’ episodes of brand new preschool series The Ha! Ha! Hairies from Welsh Indie Adastra, makers of award-winning Grandpa in my Pocket. Turner has also secured all licensing and merchandising rights for the series. The Ha! Ha! Hairies is set to debut on Cartoonito across EMEA in 2012. It will join a Cartoonito pan-EMEA line-up which includes Bananas in Pyjamas from Endemol, Jelly Jamm from Vodka Capital and Baby Looney Tunes from Warner Bros Animation. The commission also marks another major investment by Turner Broadcasting in the UK kids’ production sector, including a second season of its own UK-produced commission The Amazing World of Gumball and a Ben 10 based game show from UK indie Twenty Twenty called Ben 10: Ultimate Challenge. Aimed at kids aged four to six years old, The Ha! Ha! Hairies will be produced bi-lingually in English and Welsh, and has received investment funding from Finance Wales and support fromthe Welsh Assembly. S4C are the commissioning broadcaster in the Welsh language The Ha! Ha! Hairies centres around a delightful, fun-loving hairy family who live in Hairyland, where laughter is just as important as hair. However Boris Boo Hoo, the comedy baddy, is always out to ruin their fun, leading to hilarious, madcap, comic mayhem. A live-action show with animated elements, The Ha! Ha! Hairies will bring a contemporary makeover to classic silent movie clowning and mime routines to delight young viewers today. The live action cast are supported by two animated Hairy Fairies, Wiggy and Kwiff who narrate the show. Inspired by comic geniuses past and present – from Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy, to Rowan Atkinson and Lee Evans – The Ha! Ha! Hairies will showcase theatrical capers never before seen in live-action for kids. Michael Carrington, Chief Content Officer, EMEA, Turner Broadcasting said: “The Ha! Ha! Hairies is a wonderfully unique premise which captures the physical language of laughter and comedy. Cartoonito sets itself apart as a destination for preschoolers with its sense of quirkiness and vibrancy, and The Ha! Ha! Hairies is in every sense a show which chimes with the channel’s quirky brand values.” Mellie Buse, Creator/ Producer, Adastra said: “We’re thrilled to be working with Cartoonito and S4C on this hugely ambitious project. This visual comedy is like a cartoon brought to life, and has universal appeal for pre-schoolers the world over.” Sian Eirian, Head of Children’s Services at S4C adds: “We are pleased and proud to be a partner in this co-production which will bring to the children of Wales and S4C’s viewers the very best of animation, live action and comedy. The Ha! Ha! Hairies or Bla Bla! Blewog as they will be known in Welsh is being produced in Cardiff, which is further proof of the strength and talent of the production sector here in Wales.” |
