US SVOD CBS All Access is growing its children’s programming with three new animated series from DreamWorks Animation-owned distributor Classics Media. The SVOD ordered three series from Classics Media’s catalogue Lassie, George of the Jungle and Mr. Magoo.
Traditionally, George of the Jungle has centered on a primitive man who’s raised by animals in the jungle. The 2007 show from Studio B Productions, Classics Media, Switch Animation, August Media and Bullwinkle Studios ran for one season and then was revived for a second in 2016.
Meanwhile, the helpful collie Lassie has spawned multiple movies from MGM and a 26 x 22 minute show Lassie (pictured) from DQ Entertainment, Superprod and DreamWorks Classics that was originally created in 2014.
The Mr. Magoo brand focuses on a nearsighted retiree who often finds himself in comedic situations. The animated series produced by France’s Xilam animation, with the participation of DreamWorks Classics. Xilam’s 78 x seven-minute series first aired in Portugal in late 2018 followed by an international premiere on Boomerang Africa in July 2019.
The three shows will start airing on January 17.
In other CBS All Access news, the SVOD service also ordered the new animated comedy series The Harper House from CBS Television Studios. Arriving on the streamer in 2021, the new show revolves around an overconfident woman who is struggling to regain a high status for herself and her family after she loses her job and has to move to the poor side of town. The new series is created by Brad Neely (South Park, China, IL) with Katie Krentz (Steven Universe, The Powerpuff Girls) as EP. The target demo has not yet been announced.
The series is being produced in association with Krentz’s 219 Productions, which has an overall deal with CBS TV Studios. Krentz is also an EP on the upcoming CBS series’ Star Trek Lower Decks for CBS All Access and the untitled Star Trek animated series for Nickelodeon.
All of the new series join the streamer’s recent push to grow its kids catalogue, which just started last year with WildBrain’s Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (104 x 11 minutes) and FreemantleMedia’s rebooted Danger Mouse (99 x 11 minutes). CBS All Access also acquired older series Bob the Builder (130 x 11 minutes), Inspector Gadget (86 x 22 minutes)and The Adventures of Paddington Bear (117 x 24 minutes) from the prodco’s libraries. The streamer plans to grow its children’s programming to more than 1000 episodes in the coming weeks.
The SVOD service also closed a deal with Nickelodeon in November, amid the Viacom and CBS merger, to add the kidsnet’s library to the streamer this month. Specific titles have not been revealed yet.
