Hong Kong-based toyco Smart Zone’s plan to promote its Mighty Wheels truck line keeps motoring along, with new AVOD deals secured for a second season of CG-animated series Mighty Man. 

Targeting kids ages three to eight, Smart Zone launched season one (12 x four minutes) on YouTube in 2022, with stories centering around a heroic construction worker and his fleet of vehicles embroiled in an epic battle to save their city from the evil Destructo Brothers. It did well enough on the platform (generating more than 857,000 views) that the company was able to ink additional AVOD deals with Kartoon Channel! and HappyKids—it even secured a few theatrical screenings in the US.  

Now Smart Zone is looking to replicate this first-season success with a new batch of 10 x five-minute episodes that are available for broadcasters and streamers to acquire non-exclusively. Kabillion, Amazon Prime, Kartoon Channel! and Happy Kids have already signed on to debut the new season on September 1. 

Mighty Man is Smart Zone’s first series, and the goal behind expanding into animation was to promote the vehicle play brand and build up its already solid reach. Mighty Wheels toys are currently available in the US at mass retail, with distributors working to get them on more shelves in the UK, continental Europe, Latin America and South America. 

Smart Zone has financed Mighty Man itself (taking advantage of a grant from a Hong Kong government-funded business incubator), and the series is produced by Utah-based service studio Treasure Rock, whose CEO Bill Rogers serves as creator, producer and director. Smart Zone’s brand marketing VP Barry Piels (barrypiels@smartzone-hk.com) is handling international distribution.