US kidsnet Cartoon Network is expanding its animated kids series We Bare Bears into a new TV movie and spinoff series. The show’s creator Daniel Chong will executive produce both projects.
Scheduled to premiere in 2020, We Bare Bears The Movie will follow the trio of bears as they try to escape a foe that threatens to tear them apart. Meanwhile, the untitled spinoff series is in development at Cartoon Network Studios and will focus on the characters as babies, according to a spokesperson for Cartoon Network. The original series focuses on the three bear siblings who try to make friends with humans in San Francisco, while trying to become internet famous.
The 140 x 11-minute We Bare Bears premiered in 2015 on Cartoon Network and has earned multiple awards, including a BAFTA Children’s Award and an Annie Award. The bears, while popular stateside are incredibly popular in Asia, and were recently picked up by Singapore-based net HBO Asia for its SVOD, HBO GO. It has also been turned into a number of games since its debut, including a worldbuilding app for the APAC market, as well as the We Bare Bears Match3 Repairs puzzle game, which has been downloaded more than six million times.