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A new animated series about a family of rhinos is ready to teach children how to control their emotions. This charming new show, Stomp! Stomp! Rhinos! is produced by Lithuanian studio OAK9 Entertainment and will be making a splash at the MIPJunior and MIPCOM markets this month. The 13 x 7-minute series centers on the Rhino family (mom, dad and their three kids who live in a cozy home with their pet tortoise, Bobo) as they navigate life’s little challenges and learn how to manage emotions such as anger, frustration, jealousy, loneliness, etc.
The show’s development history began a few years ago when OAK9 producer Mindaugas Jokubaitis, art director Vytautas Tautkevičius and clinical psychologist and children’s author Rugilė Kazlauskienė decided to develop an animated TV series together. Says Jokubaitis, “We knew we wanted to offer an edutainment program that dealt with feelings, especially since so many kids are having trouble regulating their emotions due to the pandemic. To help expand on this, I reached out to longtime friend and animation veteran Rita Street. Together we decided to focus on the rarely discussed emotion of anger.”
Cures for Anger
Street, the talented producer behind shows such as Space Chickens in Space, Awesome Magical Tales and 100% Wolf and serves as the story editor for Stomp! Stomp! Rhinos!, says zeroing in on the right animal species to spread the message of the show was a definite turning point. “Rugilė and Vytautas were playing around with different animal designs, but nothing really gelled until they landed on the idea of making the characters rhinos,” she recalls. “At first it just seemed like a cute visual concept, but then we realized, ‘Hey! In the wild, rhinos are quick to react with actions that appear to be anger. They snort, they paw the ground and they run.’ Rhinos are actually the perfect characters for the concept of our show!”
Street says the most interesting part of the development process for her was marrying relatable, everyday kid events with anger management and relief. “Our characters can be doing something really fun, and then one character suddenly feels jealous or slighted or momentarily unloved, which leads to feelings of anger,” she explains. “When we really started making breathing space in the scripts for the transitions between heightened feelings and methods for relief of those feelings, the writing really began to flow. Sometimes I think these transitions are almost meditative, which I think is really lovely.”
Jokubaitis also points out that the show creators, Kazlauskienė and Tautkevičius, are experts in understanding children and their needs. “They used to do volunteer work while they were studying, and they do social work with children and youth,” he says. “In fact, they met at a children’s camp that they helped organize. They also published a book created for children. I believe this gave them a lot of experience and understanding about young people and their needs. The experience they gained through the activities, camp and popular book became the inspiration for our show.”
The producer says exploring the visual identity of the show was certainly not an easy task. “You want to find something that would have some heart in it,” he explains. “The only way to find it is to explore all kinds of options to see the best fit for a show. Vytautas, who is also a global TV show art director, together with Giedre Kaveckaite (specializing in art direction), did a lot of exploration on the style, even the smaller elements and details. We knew we wanted the show to be cute and relatable, and with Giedre’s help, we were surely able to find the right look, and everyone on the team loved it.”
‘We didn’t want to make just another animated show. We wanted our project to help parents and young viewers. That’s why we decided to go deeper into psychological aspects that would be helpful to our viewers.’
— Producer Mindaugas Jokubaitis
According to the Jokubaitis, he and the team initially had plans to make Stomp! Stomp! Rhinos! as a CG-animated show, but once the visual development art came through, they realized that a 2D approach would be perfect for the series. “After discussing it with the creators, we decided that the 2D-animation was just too cute not to share with the audience as well,” he says. “We do have some plans to make a CG-animated version of the show as well.”
Street says there are many reasons she loves working on this show. “I love the relationships between the siblings and all the little ups and downs and squabbles they have. I also appreciate how active Rhino Mom and Dad are. They’re definitely not helicopter parents, but they are very observant and empathetic to their children’s emotions — all while treating the kids with respect and kindness.”
Support in a Stressful World
Jokubaitis says he and the show creators knew early on that they wanted to create something extraordinary and meaningful for both kids and parents. “We didn’t want to make just another animated show. We wanted our project to help parents and young viewers. That’s why we decided to go deeper into psychological aspects that would be helpful to our viewers, both kids and their parents and caregivers. We knew that making educational content entertaining is very challenging. Rita helped us make not only psychological educational useful, but also entertaining.”
The dynamic producer says he is grateful to everyone who helped him and his team bring this lively animated show from Lithuania to life. “Our company, OAK9 Entertainment, is one of the leading producers in Lithuania, with a focus on film production and developing and producing entertainment content in animation and gaming,” he mentions. “We recently finished our animated short with support of Lithuania Film Center, Tik Įsivaizduok (Imagine That) directed by Karolis Kveselis. This short had its local premiere in September. We are also working on an animated feature and another animated TV series. We look forward to sharing more news with Animation Magazine readers in the near future.”
Several episodes of Stomp! Stomp! Rhinos! will be available at MIPJunior, MIPCOM and other fall markets. The first season of the show will launch in 2024. For more information, visit OAK9e.com.
