The Adventures of Mansour, a sci-fi cartoon phenomenon from the Middle East that’s racked up an astounding two billion YouTube hits, is returning with an all-new sequel series, The Adventures of Mansour: Age of A.I.
Funded by Mubadala Investment Company and Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority (ECA), the dynamic adventure show is aimed at kids aged 6-12. This Mansour relaunch from Bidaya Media, recently announced at MIPCOM 2022, will be the first Arab cartoon first created in English and Arabic then realigned for a worldwide audience presenting topical themes of artificial intelligence, technology, climate change, and space exploration.
“Mansour has captured the imaginations of young audiences and established a wide fan base across the Middle East,” said Brian Lott, Chairman of Bidaya Media and Chief Communications Officer of Mubadala. “Our upcoming seasons of the cartoon take Mansour to a new level, with the aim of encouraging children to understand issues across borders through fun and storytelling. As the first Arab cartoon to be originally produced in both English and Arabic, we have created new episodes of Mansour that build on its heritage and increase audience awareness internationally.”
Here’s the official description:
Set in the near future, in the technologically advanced Salam City, ‘The Adventures of Mansour: Age of AI’ is a sci-fi action adventure series that revolves around Mansour, a 12-year-old tech whiz, who unintentionally creates a mischievous sentient artificial intelligence known as Blink. With the support of his closest friends, Mansour must deal with all manner of pranks, challenges and dangers posed by Blink, who for his own amusement, is determined to cause as much chaos as possible for Mansour and the people of Salam City.
Award-winning creator Rashed Alharmoodi originally conceived the imaginative animated series as a tool to steer Arab children into thinking more about healthy lifestyles, cultural appreciation and towards a curiosity about Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).
“We are proud of our deepening partnership with Mubadala in expanding the available development opportunities for children worldwide through the relaunch of such a popular show,” noted H.E. Sana Suhail, Director General of ECA. ”Importantly, the relaunch exhibits a healthy balance that is needed in today’s world between the role of technology in our lives and the need for children to disconnect from their devices and connect with the real world. This healthy balance between the online and real worlds is at the core of this show and is key to better prepare our children for the future.”
Here’s a sample of the original Adventures of Mansour show:
