Paris-based Ubisoft Film & Television is diving back into its IPs after the success of Rabbids Invasion to create several new animated TV shows for kids. Three shows for kids and family audiences and one series for young adults are currently in the works.
The Hungry Shark brand is being adapted into the 2D-animated comedy Hungry Shark Squad (pictured) for ages eight to 12. The 78 x seven-minute series will be presented to buyers for the first time at MIPCOM next week in Cannes and is co-produced with Korean studio Mostapes. It follows a team of sharks that retired from being mercenaries but still goes out to fight enemies.
Ubisoft is also in the works on a 3D-animated comedy-adventure series inspired by Rayman for ages six to 10. The 52 x 11-minute series will be produced in-house.
The last project for kids is an untitled hacking series for 8 to 12s produced by Ubisoft’s in-house studio. A tween show about a teenage hacker solving cyber mysteries in her high school, it is a 13 x 22-minute 3D-animated show loosely inspired by the Watch Dogs brand, but not directly in the same universe.
Even though the majority of its IPs are not aimed at kids and likely don’t have that built-in audience, the video game maker wanted to bring these worlds to a younger audience.
“It’s about using the video game world but telling it from the point of view of a 12-year-old,” says Helene Juguet, the managing director at Ubisoft Film & Television in Paris. “We’re not toning our stuff down, we have gigantic worlds and that’s what we want to develop.”
For the young adult audience, Ubisoft is creating Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Vibe as a 2D-animated anime-inspired series for anyone 18 and up. Adi Shankar, the American film producer behind Castlevania and Dredd, is attached to the nine x 22-minute project.
The company is currently in talks with broadcasters and SVODs to find homes for its shows but is also seeking distribution and financing, according to Juguet.
Ubisoft previously created the CG-animated 26 x half-hour show Rabbids Invasion based on its Raving Rabbids video game franchise. It debuted in the US on Nickelodeon in 2013 and is now in its fourth season on Netflix.