Oxford, England’s Novel Entertainment has inked an international sales and distribution deal for Horrid Henry with Toronto, Canada-based Nelvana Enterprises.

The 52 x 11-minute 2-D animated series aims squarely at six- to nine-year-olds and is based on a series of popular kids books that have sold into 25-plus countries. Since bowing in the UK last fall on CiTV and ITV 1, Henry has been picked up by RTE in Ireland, and will premiere on ZDF in Germany later this year.

Mike Watts, managing director of Novel Entertainment, says the company tapped the Canuck heavyweight because it believes Nelvana’s proven distribution prowess can help the show break out worldwide.

‘This is a new experience for us, and we can see real benefits,’ he says. ‘Nelvana is one of the biggest distributors of animation in North America. They have sold, and continue to sell, to pretty much every broadcaster in every territory.’

Watts pins Henry‘s global appeal on the main character’s delightfully devious behavior, which he expects will strike a chord with kids across all cultural and geographical barriers.

‘He’s a character who does the first thing that comes into his head,’ he says, ‘and so [the audience] gets to see what would happen if they did that. Not that it’s an encouragement; it’s just really funny.’