Netflix has greenlit a new animated preschool series from Academy and Annie Award-nominated director, animator and illustrator Sanjay Patel (Sanjay’s Super Team). Titled Ghee Happy, the series is a playful reimagining of the Hindu deities as small children discovering their burgeoning powers at the titular deity daycare.
“For the past 25 years I’ve been working in kids and family entertainment without having kids of my own. Having finally become a parent, I’m so excited and lucky to be able to create a preschool series that introduces the great pantheon of Hindu deities, not just into a beautiful and colorful series that is truly entertaining and original to my kiddos, but to families around the world,” said Patel, whose credits as a Pixar animator and story artist include Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Monsters University and Incredibles 2.
“Sanjay’s art is vibrant, magical, and — above all else — incredibly happy! He has introduced his culture to his own kids through this show and now – thanks to the power of Netflix – kids and families everywhere will get to share in these inspiring and accessible stories,” said Dominique Bazay, Director of Kids & Family at Netflix.
Ghee Happy joins a robust slate of Netflix original animated series from all over the world, including Rajiv Chilaka’s global phenomenon Mighty Little Bheem, Dragons: Rescue Riders from DreamWorks Animation, and upcoming titles Dino Girl Gauko from Akira Shigino, Kid Cosmic from Craig McCracken, Trash Truck from Max Keane, City of Ghosts from Elizabeth Ito, Centaurworld from Megan Nicole Dong, Maya and the Three from Jorge Gutierrez, Battle Kitty from Matt Layzell and Mama K’s Team 4 from Malenga Mulendema. Netflix Animation is also developing a number of animated series with Chris Nee under her overall agreement with the studio.