At Cartoon Forum next week, 75 creative teams from around Europe will gather in Toulouse to pitch their animated TV projects, in hopes of connecting with potential buyers, co-producers and other partners. And every day this week, we have featured a different series or special that we believe deserves a closer look. (You can catch up on the ones we’ve already covered: This Moose Belongs to Me, Sam & Watson, The Underglow and Mort and Millie.)

A child’s imagination can transport them to fantastical places, but that creativity is amplified when they dress up.

Ireland’s JAM Media is returning to Toulouse to pitch Fancypants (52 x seven minutes), a 2D-animated adventure series for preschoolers that follows siblings Nancy and Leo as they unlock their enchanted dress-up box to discover new costumes to wear and new worlds to explore. 

In each episode, the siblings pick out an unlikely pair of costumes to wear and roleplay in. Nancy might become a diligent dentist, while Leo opts to be a wild T-rex. Once they’re transported to the Jurassic period by their Fancypants box, Nancy motivates the other rexes to get their teeth cleaned by performing a check-up on her now-much-larger younger brother. Together, the siblings adapt to their roles, come up with creative solutions, and make up new rules as they go, one costume at a time.

Series creator and JAM Media chief creative officer Alan Shannon says his inspiration for Fancypants came from his childhood, when his mom would let him rummage through a box of old clothes, hats and shoes to become a superhero or roleplay a new job. He says there’s a lack of content in the market that explores how dressing up can help shape young children’s lives. 

“While Fancypants harkens back to my childhood in the ’70s, dress-up and roleplay are more relevant for kids today than ever before,” Shannon says. “To help develop the show, we teamed up with child development expert Dr. Jacqueline Harding, who shared that this type of creative play boosts confidence in kids today and enhances their problem-solving skills.” He says Harding has examined how roleplay prepares kids for real-life interactions by teaching them empathy and teamwork, while also giving them a safe space to explore their emotions and act out different scenarios. 

On top of these core themes, Shannon says the Fancypants box also comes to life throughout the show to share fun facts about the roles and worlds they’ve been transported to, as an added educational component. 

Dublin-based distributor Monster Entertainment signed a letter of interest to get Fancypants into Cartoon Forum after looking at early concepts for the series and seeing the potential success it could have across linear, SVOD and YouTube, if it were funded. 

JAM Media has budgeted the series at US$9.3 million and will be pitching it on Wednesday, September 17 at 10:15 a.m. (local time) in the Blue Room.