Komixx Entertainment will be taking its new children’s stop-frame animated series, “Toby’s Travelling Circus” to this year’s MIPJr and MIPCOM.
Komixx Entertainment will be taking its new children’s stop-frame animated series, Toby’s Travelling Circus (52x10’) to this year’s MIPJr and MIPCOM. The show follows the exciting and fun-filled life of Toby – a carefree seven year-old who is the World’s youngest Ringmaster – brought to life by a word-class UK production team. The show has been written, created and produced in the UK, with the award-winning Manchester studio MacKinnon & Saunders providing the stop-frame model animation. Union Media is handling the worldwide distribution for the show.
Toby, along with his faithful toy monkey side-kick Momo and his supportive mum Delores, tours the land on a fantastic circus train, putting on a magical show at every stop and having adventures along the way. Joined by Toby’s troupe of performers – one-boy-band, Jango; Chinese trapeze twins Li and Ling; bouncy clown Freddo and his comic fall-girl Clara; and Thor, the Robot Strongman – the cast of the circus faces trials and challenges that teach the importance of ‘practice makes perfect’ and working as a team in order to put on the best show.
Ahead of its debut at MIP, the series has already received interest from broadcasters around the world, as well as around the merchandising and licensing for the series. The choice of a circus as the setting is a key element of the show’s global appeal, with the modern day travelling circus being something that children worldwide can understand and enjoy, drawing on the appeal of the real-life circuses like Cirque du Soleil and the New Shanghai Circus.
Andrew Cole-Bulgin, CEO and Head of Film & TV, Komixx Entertainment said: “Toby’s Travelling Circus is a show that kids and families will love the world over, and MIPJr and MIPCOM will be incredibly important markets for us as we seek out the best partners to realise the show’s international broadcast, licensing and merchandising potential.
The series draws on the strength and heritage of the UK’s creative industry; the animation looks wonderful – from the cast of stand-out characters to the crafting of the colourful and detailed environments - and the series has top-class writing and production talent behind it. Throughout the creation of Toby’s Travelling Circus it has been important to us to support the UK’s animation and children’s TV industry, and in doing so we have worked with some of the best talent the country has to offer.”
Adam Selly, Union Media Ltd, added: “With 20 years experience in distribution and having brought a number of globally successful children's shows to the international market, I believe Toby’s Travelling Circus has very strong potential to be highly appealing to broadcasters around the world, as well as the audiences of children which they serve. We are very excited to be handling the worldwide distribution of such a great show and look forward to a great response from buyers at MIPCOM.”
In an unprecedented move by the UK’s Channel 5, Toby’s Travelling Circus has already been recommissioned by the broadcaster’s milkshake! for a second series before it has even aired – making it the first time the broadcaster has elected to commission a programme’s second series before any episodes have appeared on TV.
The creative team behind the series have created some of the most celebrated children’s characters including Fifi and the Flower Tots, Bob the Builder and Postman Pat, as well as Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride and Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr Fox. Between them, the Toby’s Travelling Circus production team has been awarded a number of accolades including a BAFTA, International Emmy, Ivor Novello and an Oscar nomination.
Source: Komixx Entertainment
