Amazon Prime Video has acquired three animated series from Spanish producer/distributor Planeta Junior. Planeta’s CGI-animated shows Maya the Bee and Heidi are now streaming on the platform in Italy and Spain, while the 3D CGI-animated series Gormiti is streaming in Italy and will arrive in Spain later this year.
Produced by Giochi Preziosi and Planeta Junior, Gormiti is a blend of action and comedy aimed at boys five-to eight-years-old. The series centers on a group of heroes who are searching for an ancient tower. Gormiti aired in Spain and Italy on Warner Bros.-owned channel Boing, and hit Cartoon Network in 2013. Since then it has been distributed in more than 50 countries and the CP for the brand has earned the company US$1.7 million in retail sales, according to Planeta Junior.
Munich-based prodco Studio 100/m4e’s Maya the Bee is a 78 x 11-minute CGI series for kids three-to six-years-old, which follows a bee that chooses to live with a group of friends outside of her hive. In 2015, the property had more than 300 licensees and a 3D-animated movie that was sold into more than 160 territories. This past May, Studio 100/m4e partnered with JLK Brand Licensing Group to build a licensing and merchandising program in the US and Canada for Maya the Bee and Heidi.
The CGI-animated preschool series Heidi (39 x 26 minutes) focuses on a five year old girl who lives in the mountains with her grandfather. Also produced by Studio 100/m4e, the series snagged a number of licensing deals in 2015, and in March the prodco tapped German toyco Brandstaetter Group to create a line of Playmobil figures based on the series, which is set to roll out early 2020.