Gulli, Lagardere’s French television network dedicated to children’s programming, has commissioned 16 new animated series which were announced at Annecy International Animation Film Festival.
Among the freshly-ordered shows are “Squish,” a comedy series following a joyful popular of bacteria, produced by Cottonwood Media; “Ninja Express,” a fantasy-filled cartoon about three ninjas running an unusual delivery service, produced by France’s Frog Box and Belgium’s Creative Conspiracy; and “Boy, Girl, etc.,” about a colorful family made up of humans, animals and a piece of cheese which speaks, produced by France’s Watch Next Media, Ireland’s Kavaleer and the U.S.’s American Greetings.
Another anticipated new show landing on Gulli include “Les aventures of Nasredine,” a short-format series based on Nasreddin, a mythical figure of oriental culture who travels across the planet and through all ages sitting on a donkey. He uses comedy and burlesque to denounce stupidity, prejudice, vanity, cowardice, conformism and greed. Millimages is producing the series which has also been commissioned by Gulli Bil Arabi, the one-year old Arabic-speaking channel of the group.
Meanwhile, Gulli Africa has ordered “L’arbre a Palimpseste,” a series following a wise elderly woman who solves her grand-children’s worries by telling them enlightening stories about iconic figures of African history.
So far this year, Gulli, which includes the flagship Gulli channel as well as Canal J and TiJi, “ranks as France’s leading youth-themed channel with a 42% market share,” said Caroline Cochaux, the head of Lagardere Active’s TV division and and president of Gulli.
