London-based kids’ entertainment outfit CAKE has teamed up with Canadian animation house Arcana Studios (Kagagi, Howard Lovecraft trilogy) on its comedy series My Brother the Monster, and is ready to unleash the family-friendly beast on buyers at MIPCOM in Cannes (Oct. 17-20).
Produced by Arcana Studios and Mexican production company Gasolina Studios, the 26 x 11′ series is aimed at viewers ages six to eight. CAKE comes on board as international distributor for My Brother the Monster.
“My Brother the Monster is a tale of friendship and inclusion,” says CAKE CEO Ed Galton. “We are excited to be working with Arcana Studios and Gasolina and are looking forward to introducing our partners and broadcasters to Petunia, Mombou and all their friends!”
Synopsis: Petunia’s ordinary summer becomes extraordinary when a cute ball-sized furry monster rockets down to Earth from outer space! As it turns out, Mombou, our cute furball is actually a nine-foot-tall monster who quickly becomes part of the family. Petunia and her ‘little big brother’ make the perfect team, however, when Mombou becomes worried, anxious or overwhelmed (which happens a lot, especially at school), he reverts back to his original small size. But Petunia and her classmates help Mombou feel secure, keeping him out of trouble as well as learning a lot from him, too!
“We’re excited about partnering with CAKE on this beautifully animated series. Arcana met with Gasolina just before everything shut down in 2020,” Arcana CEO Sean Patrick O’Reilly notes, “and I’m so very proud of what we accomplished as My Brother the Monster is a testament to everyone’s passion and talents as we adjusted and worked remotely from home.”
Gasolina’s CEO and series executive producer Joe Alanís adds, “The passion we have for this show has helped it be the first ever animated series in co-production between Mexico and Canada. Having the support from CAKE validates the effort of our amazing team.”
The character-driven series demonstrates values of acceptance and resilience. Mombou’s ability to grow and shrink depending on his emotions visually represents the challenges some children face and encourages them to support a sibling or friend who might be slightly different to themselves.
“I believe our main responsibility is to create safe and happy spaces for kids to engage with fantastic stories. My Brother The Monster is the type of content we want to create that is meaningful, emotional and human,” says series creator and showrunner Ernesto Molina.
