Emmy Award-winning French animation production and distribution company Dandelooo has teamed up with Canal+ to develop its latest animation project, Gaston Gets It!, a 52 x 11-minute comedy series for upper preschoolers.
Gaston is a young unicorn just like many others … well, almost. Gaston is unique. He has a rainbow-colored mane which is magical. His striking mane changes colors according to his emotions, oops!
The new 2D show is based on the hit children’s book series Gaston’s Emotions (Les émotions de Gaston), written by author and illustrator Aurélie Chien Chow Chine and published by Hachette Enfants, an imprint of Hachette Livre France. The books, which encourage children to identify emotions and manage them effectively, have sold over 1.3 million copies in France alone and have been translated into 27 languages.
Dandelooo will present Gaston Gets It! to potential industry partners at this year’s Cartoon Forum in Toulouse, together with a teaser directed by Aurélie Raphaël (co-director of Ernest and Celestine, The Collection), and will be responsible for the worldwide distribution rights.
“Canal+ thinks big for little ones. We have big ambitions for the content we provide for kids,” notes Christine Cauquelin, Director of Programs and Youth, Documentaries and Animation Units and Channels at Canal+. “Our approach is largely illustrated by what we call ‘Original Recreation’; which is our selection of the best kids’ TV animation content. It brings together what we consider to be the most creative and entertaining content that sparks children’s imaginations.
“Because it’s important for our audience to be in touch with their emotions, we’ve chosen to follow the adaptation of Aurélie Chien Chow Chine’s best-selling albums, Gaston’s Emotions! Gaston the unicorn seemed to us to be the most sympathetic of ambassadors, a passionate and exalted character who lives his emotions to the full!”
Based in Paris, Dandelooo has its own studio, Ooolala, in la Cartoucherie (Valence, France) and sales offices in Barcelona and Milan. Its upcoming slate also includes the Jean Claude Mourlevat adaptation The Upside Down River (8 x 22′) and preschool series Billy the Cowboy Hamster (52 x 11′), set for delivery in Q1 2024. Notable productions include the hybrid preschool series The Treehouse Stories, which won an International Emmy Kids Award in 2017; Stinky Dog (52 x 11′); Mum Is Pouring Rain, winner of a Jury Award for a TV Special at Annecy 2021; Chico Chica Boumba; and the animated feature film Houdini. Introduced at Cartoon Forum 2022, A Day with the Dogs is now in development and financing stage. Dandelooo is also developing loguis, an original project to initiate yoga for preschoolers.
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