Disney+ and Hulu double down on Adventure Time 

The streamers have picked up the upcoming Cartoon Network Studios franchise spinoff Adventure Time: Side Quests (pictured) for a June 29 release in the US. Announced back in 2024, the animated prequel series focuses on younger versions of the original show’s hero Finn and his magic dog Jake as they adventure across a fantastical land. HBO Max and Cartoon Network will launch the series internationally on October 5. Adventure Time has grown into a broad franchise since its 2010 premiere, growing into multiple spinoffs and consumer products. Disney+ already carries Adventure Time and spinoff Adventure Time: Distant Lands.

BBC Studios to rep licensing for newly renewed My Friend Maisy 

BBC Studios has greenlit a second season of Trustbridge Entertainment’s animated preschool series, and inked a deal to handle global brand and licensing rights for the show (excluding China). Sky Kids commissioned the series, which premiered earlier this year. Sky is jointly financing development on season two. My Friend Maisy was Sky Kids’ number-one show when it launched, and the series’ BBC Studios-managed YouTube channel has generated more than 900,000 organic views, according to a release. Production on season two is set to start later this year. The 52 x five-minute series is based on Lucy Cousins’ Maisy books (published by Walker Books UK and Candlewick Press in the US) about the everyday experiences of a mouse and her friends. The books have sold more than 46 million copies across 100 countries in the 30-plus years they’ve been out.

Madgic Distribution conjures four sales for Lana Longbeard 

Sky (New Zealand), TG4 (Ireland), Sandbox’s globally available PlayKids+ app and Société Radio-Canada (Canada) have gotten on board with Zephyr Animation and Copernicus Studios’ 2D-animated fantasy/comedy series about a ragtag crew of sailors. The broadcasters have picked up the 52 x 11-minute series that CBC (Canada), Super RTL (Germany) and Cartoon Network (EMEA) premiered last year. The series focuses on a 12-year-old girl who travels the seas with her unusual crew to become a great adventurer. This is Copernicus’ first original series, and to build up its franchise potential, the company took a swing by developing an indie video game released in February 2025. The series is garnering strong international broadcast support; Gulli aired it in April and Noga (Israel) and HKTVE (Hong Kong) also previously acquired it.

Studio 100 International is Living Wild with Gaumont 

This 52 x 11-minute series for six to 11s has secured a worldwide distributor in Studio 100 International. Living Wild is a 2D-animated comedy series about pampered city pets forced to survive in the wilderness. France Télévisions and RAI are already attached to the series, which Enanimation and Toonz Media Group are co-producing. The series is scheduled for a fall 2026 delivery, and Studio 100 will present the series at Annecy in June.

Sesame Street takes a trip with PBS’ Nature series 

The WNET Group’s docu-film series Nature has teamed up with Sesame Workshop on the special Sesame Street and the Great Elephant Adventure, where Elmo and friends head on Sesame Street’s first African safari. The Sesame Streeters head to Kenya and visit an elephant sanctuary and the outdoors in this special that’s set to premiere on PBS and PBS KIDS on October 14. PBS will also premiere the previously announced BBC Studios Natural History Unit special Matriarch: A Jane Goodall Story (working title) from October 21 to October 28.

Image courtesy of Disney.