By Andrea Hernandez, Cole Watson and Ryan Tuchow 

Super RTL

German free-to-air channel Super RTL has signed on to air upcoming CG-animated series Magic Lilly (pictured), which is currently in pre-production at BWater Animation Studio and The Magic Lilly Company in Germany. Spanish broadcasters RTVE and TVC are already on board to run the 26 x 22-minute fantasy adventure in which a girl and her pet dragon face off against an evil foe in a quest for the lost chapter from a book of spells. The series is based on the Hexe Lilli book series (published by Germany’s Arena Verlag) that has sold 28 million copies worldwide. DeAPlaneta Entertainment is handling global distribution. 

CAKE

London-based CAKE has partnered with Vancouver’s Mainframe Studios and LA’s Studio 71 to distribute a 2D-animated YouTube Original called The Guava Juice Show (26 x 11 minutes). Targeting kids ages six to 12, the show is based on YouTuber Roi Fabito’s Guava Juice channel (16.9 million subscribers). It premiered on YouTube in June 2022 and sees Fabito travel to fun parallel worlds with his friends. 

RTÉjr

Ireland’s children’s pubcaster has just renewed Dublin-based Little Moon Animation’s CG-animated preschool series Fia’s Fairies for a second season. The new 26 x five-minute episodes continue the story of Fia’s adventures with her best friend on an island of fairies who teach them the Irish language. RTÉjr will launch the new season in 2025. Distributed by Monster Entertainment, the show’s blend of language learning and fun adventures has made it a fan favorite among preschoolers and their parents, said Suzanne Kelly, RTÉ’s head of children’s & Young People’s Content. 

Banijay Kids & Family

The company has acquired the audiovisual, digital and merchandising rights to Tiger Aspect Kids & Family’s preschool series Charlie and Lola (78 x 11 minutes), which combines 2D animation with live-action backgrounds. Based on the same-name book series by Lauren Child, the series follows a boy and his younger sister in their everyday experiences, which range from trying new foods to finding something they’ve lost. Since its premiere on CBeebies in 2005, Charlie and Lola has also aired on Disney Junior and NBCUniversal’s Universal Kids in the US, and on free-to-air channel Clan in Spain.

Banijay Kids & Family has also sold CG-animated series Shasha & Milo (25 x 22 minutes) to POP (UK) and Family Channel (Canada). Produced by Zodiak Kids & Family France and South Korean studio Pingo Entertainment, the show targets the six-plus demo and stars two 12-year-olds who juggle day-to-day life with the work of being secret superheroes who can transform into cats. 

WEBTOON Entertainment

Surge Licensing has landed the first-ever licensing deals for WEBTOON Entertainment’s catalogue of digital comics in the US market. The YA-skewing WEBTOON Originals comic book series Lore Olympus, UnOrdinary, True Beauty and Tower of God—which have racked up more than one billion views each on the platform—are its first titles to move into consumer products. Washington’s FiGPiN will start rolling out collectibles and trading cards to retailers in late fall, followed by California-based publishing company Walter Foster releasing the first WEBTOON how-to-draw books next year. The licensed merchandise will also sell globally through WEBTOON’s upcoming e-commerce platform, which UK-based advertising firm Event Merchandising plans to launch before the end of this year.