By Ryan Tuchow, Andrea Hernandez and Sadhana Bharanidharan

Epic Story 

The Canadian company has signed on to manage licensing and distribution for The Adventures of Mansour: Age of AI (pictured)—an upcoming reboot of popular Arab toon Mansour produced by Abu Dhabi-based Bidaya Media. Epic will rep the series globally (excluding MENA and China) and is gearing up to present it at MIPTV next week. The 2D-animated series targets six to 12s, and follows a tween tech whiz who accidentally turns his sister’s toy into a chaotic AI machine. Bidaya is planning four seasons (104 x 11 minutes) of the series in both English and Arabic.

Monster Entertainment

Two animated shows from Ireland and Europe have locked down deals with distributor Monster Entertainment. They include Dublin-based Kite Entertainment’s comedic animated series Storybud (15 x five minutes), commissioned by Irish pubcaster RTE and aimed at kids eight and up and Ollie, a 52 x four-minute co-pro from Belgium’s Lunanime, Ireland’s Ink and Light and Norway’s Storyline. The two series join previous Monster acquisition Tiny Toot, an upcoming 26 x seven-minute series for two- to five-year-olds. Toot is already seeing action, with Monster inking a pre-sale to RTE. Broadcasters YLE, SVT and NRK have already pre-bought the show from Danish producer Toolbox Film. 

Yoto

American Public Media’s podcast division is releasing its catalogue of kids titles through the children’s audio app Yoto. APM Studios’ entire collection of educational podcasts, including Brains On, Smash Boom Best and Forever Ago, will be available for free in Yoto’s app. The app features sleep sounds, music and podcasts focused on children’s creative play and learning. 

Incredible Group

Piñata Smashlings’ toy distributor, Israel’s PMI, has signed a deal with Incredible Group to manage its retail launch in Canada. UK-based Toikido is behind the brand, which revolves around tiny creatures exploring their magical world and avoiding being corrupted by an evil being. Earlier this month, Toikido partnered with Corus Entertainment’s Nelvana to adapt the upcoming Piñata Smashlings Roblox game into a 2D-animated series.