By: Sadhana Bharanidharan and Ryan Tuchow

Lion Forge

The US prodco has partnered with Detroit’s Folktellers Studios to develop and produce Hero’s Journey The Series (10 x 22 minutes, pictured), a 2D-animated co-viewing show that will highlight real-life stories about influential Black singers including Jimi Hendrix, The Jackson 5, BB King and Aretha Franklin.

Nickelodeon

Nick has picked up DreamWorks Animation’s Gabby’s Dollhouse (51 x 23 minutes) and will roll it out next month on Nick Jr. in the US. The mixed-media series targets preschoolers, with an unboxing-inspired storyline featuring a young girl and her cat friends. Since the show first debuted on Netflix in 2021, it has expanded into toys, publishing, original music, an app and live events. 

PrivacyCheq 

It’s about to get a whole lot easier to tell if underage kids are using your apps. Pennsylvania-based techco PrivacyCheq—which runs a suite of services to estimate kids’ ages when they’re using devices—has partnered with Swiss company Privately to add its proprietary AI tools that can determine kids’ ages by their face or voice. Kids are savvy enough to lie to sites when asked how old they are, and since COPPA’s restrictions are so strict—and have led to expensive fines—it’s important for companies to accurately determine children’s ages, according to a release. 

Superights 

The French distributor has sold CG-animated series Go! Go! Cory Carson (produced by Vtech and Kuku Studios) to pubcaster Radio-Canada and South Korean linear channel DAEKYO. The 63 x seven-minute preschool title centers around a young car character who is fueled by fun in his home of Bumperton Hills. The show has already been picked up by EMEA broadcasters including LTV (Latvia), RTS (Switzerland), VRT (Flemish Belgium), SVT (Sweden) and TG4 (Ireland). 

Fauna Entertainment

The CG-animated series Kukuli (52 x seven minutes) is heading to HK TV in Hong Kong later this year. In a separate deal, it appointed Shanghai Cubestar Medi as the show’s exclusive agent for the Chinese market, and to oversee dubbing and distribution. Kukuli is produced by Turkey’s Fauna Entertainment and stars a playful monkey and his two best friends, who sing educational songs together and play the ukulele in a magical realm. It originally launched on YouTube in 2013. 

KidsBeeTV

The Portuguese SVOD platform is bringing Zinkia Entertainment’s popular series Pocoyo onto its platform. KidsBeeTV has bought the rights to season three, along with 18 songs from the preschool toon, all of which will launch on the streamer later this month.