HIT, Corus Partner for Mike the Knight
HIT Entertainment and Corus Entertainment’s Nelvana Studio have partnered to produce 52 12-minute episodes of Mike the Knight, a new preschool series.
Set in the medieval land of Glendragon, Mike the Knight takes viewers into a CG-animated world of castles, quests, dragons, and trolls. With his rallying cry, “Be a knight, do it right!,” the heroic Mike brings the excitement and enchantment of medieval times into the life of the modern preschooler.
The series has begun production and will be delivered to broadcasters in fall 2011. To date, the series will air on Treehouse in Canada and has been pre-sold to broadcasters worldwide with additional territories to be added. Nelvana Enterprises will represent the series in broadcast and home entertainment in Latin America and France as well as broadcast in the U.S., while HIT Entertainment will represent the property in all other territories
globally.
MarVista Acquires The Witches of Oz
MarVista Entertainment has acquired the global distribution rights to an all-new prime-time, miniseries event, The Witches of Oz, which the company will debut to potential broadcast partners at this year’s MIPCOM-TV.
The two-part fantasy adventure, The Witches of Oz brings a creative modern twist to the classic tale and stars veteran actors Christopher Lloyd (of the Back to the Future trilogy), as the Wizard of Oz; Sean Astin (of the Lord of the Rings trilogy); and Billy Boyd (Lord of the Rings), among many others. The Witches of Oz is helmed by writer/director Leigh Scott; executive produced by Christopher Campbell of Palace Imaginarium; and produced by Eliza Swenson
and Christopher Campbell.
Happy Birthday to Raggedy Ann
Raggedy Ann turns 95 today (September 7) and in honor of the milestone, the enduring symbol of friendship now boasts a fresh—yet retro—look that makes her even more lovable than before.
To mark her 95th anniversary, Applause by Russ has created exclusive, vintage-inspired Raggedy Ann and Andy anniversary dolls that harken back to the illustrations from the earliest Raggedy Ann books by Johnny Gruelle. He created Raggedy Ann for his daughter, Marcella, in 1915. The Anniversary Raggedy Ann closely resembles the character from the 1930 Raggedy Ann in the Deep, Deep Woods: rich, burnt-red hair (as opposed to the contemporary fire-engine red) tied in a bow; white-gloved hands; an outline around the eyes; and a more muted color palette. Raggedy Ann still features the beloved characteristics she’s famous for: button eyes, yarn hair, triangle nose, rosy cheeks—and most importantly, the signature embroidered “I Love You” heart.