YouTube may not be all about cat videos anymore, but Big Tent Entertainment is betting that felines and other furry critters still have the power to attract on the platform. On Wednesday, the New York-based brand licensing and marketing company announced that is has teamed with Beth Stevenson’s Brain Power Studio in Toronto to launch the YouTube channel Something Fuzzy.

The channel will roll out with content produced from Brain Power’s 50 hours of green-screen footage featuring 250 pets including puppies, kittens, bunnies, gerbils, mice, ducks, piglets, turtles, fish, chinchillas, hedgehogs, lizards and parrots. Using the library footage and new material from Brain Power, the channel’s videos will take real animals and composite them onto animated and photo-realistic backgrounds, with human actors providing voices.

Big Tent plans to build Something Fuzzy into a franchise, starting with a licensing program focused on apparel, novelty, pet products and social expressions.

Film, TV and music distribution company The Orchard, meanwhile, has been brought on to build the channel’s viewership and subscriber base.

Programming currently available includes:

• Around the Waterbowl: Animal “employees” and Something Fuzzy debate pop culture topics around their office water cooler.
• Something Fuzzy Special Reports: Bunny Marcie and puppy Mark bring viewers up-to-date coverage of live events like the Macy’s Day parade.
• Tea with the Guineas: Cranky old guinea pigs complain about what life in their golden years is like.
• Pet Cribs: A mockumentary lifestyle program where animals show off their cool digs.

Moving forward, Brain Power and Big Tent intend to develop and publish new content weekly that will reflect current trends and stay on top of pop culture.

From Stream