Academy Award® nominated French animation studio Xilam Animation has secured a pair of deals with Nickelodeon for its short-form series CGI series Athleticus (60×2’15) and animated comedy Mr Magoo (78×7’). In a global deal, Nickelodeon takes exclusive pay-TV rights to two seasons of Athleticus covering Asia Pacific, EMEA and Latin America. The broadcaster has also acquired all TV rights for Athleticus in Benelux, Italy, Vietnam, Philippines and Argentina. Additionally, Nickelodeon has picked up the exclusive pay-TV rights for Xilam’s hit comedy series Mr Magoo (78×7’) in the UK, where the series launches on Nicktoons this week.
“We’re very excited to be building upon our successful partnership with Nickelodeon and to see the broadcaster become home to two further shows from our slate,” said Morgann Favennec, EVP Distribution at Xilam Animation. “With its charming characters and humorous stories, we know families all over the globe are going to love watching Athleticus and following the fantastic response to Mr Magoo in the UK, we’re very much looking forward to bringing the series’ hilarious hijinks to new audiences.”
Targeting family audiences, Athleticus is produced by Xilam’s recently acquired CGI-studio Cube Creative and features wild animals taking part in competitive sports, ranging from table tennis to high bar, bobsleigh to curling. How successful the animals are at each of the sports entirely depends on their personality and anatomies resulting in very comical, and often poetic, results. The series is created and directed by the multi-award winning Nicolas Deveaux.