Studiocanal is developing a Paddington animated series, the company announced Monday in the run-up to this weekend’s MipJunior. It is part of the European production-distribution studio’s drive into family franchise entertainment based on European intellectual properties.
Like the feature films that have preceded it, the toon series will be based on Michael Bond’s Paddington Bear stories. It will consist of 52 episodes, each 11 minutes long, and is scheduled to launch at the end of 2018 or early 2019. Although the show will be designed for a broad audience, it will particularly target preschoolers.
News of the Paddington animated series – Studiocanal refrains from calling it a TV series in its press statement, a mark of how important digital platforms now are in kids and family entertainment – comes 16 months after the company acquired nearly all of the Paddington Bear brand worldwide.
In a month, Studiocanal will world-premiere Paddington 2, directed by Paul King and produced by David Heyman, opening it in the U.K. on Nov. 10, in France on Dec. 6 and in the U.S. in January. Gameloft, Studiocanal and The Copyrights Group have also announced that they are teaming to develop “Paddington Run,” the official mobile game of the sequel film.
