Boomerang’s original production with Ferrero IP to be produced by Cyber Group Studios, with episodes extended to 7 minutes
HONG KONG/LAS VEGAS (May 24, 2017) – Turner announced today that it has greenlit a second season of its first ever Boomerang Original, The Happos Family – this time featuring longer adventures with the loveable Happos characters, as well as a raft of new digital content.
Season two, made up of 25×7-minute non-dialogue episodes, will launch on Boomerang channels from early 2018, and will introduce three brand-new characters to the family set-up: Football Happo, Scientist Happo and Acrobat Happo. It has been created in partnership with world-renowned Italian corporation Ferrero and will be produced by leading European animation company Cyber Group Studios (headquartered in Paris), with whom Turner recently signed a co-production deal for another new Boomerang series, Taffy.
Following a first series of 20×2.5-minute shorts – which has launched on Turner Kids channel POGO (South Asia) and free-to-air channel Karusel (Russia), as well as Boomerang channels globally, reaching more than 88 million viewers to date* – series two will offer kids and families the chance to become better acquainted with each of the unique and hilarious Happos and the safari park in which they live, where just about anything seems possible. Whether it’s Astro Happo longing to fly to the moon, or Stunt Happo attempting a daredevil feat, or Party Happo in a dance off with Ballerina and Bollywood, each storyline is laugh-out-loud, slap stick comedy with lots of heart.
In addition to the linear roll-out, the Happos characters will appear across a variety of interactive digital platforms, including the popular Boomerang Make n’ Race app (more than 20 million downloads worldwide) alongside other Boomerang favourite characters Scooby-Doo and Tom and Jerry.
“The great audience reaction, channel exposure and performance of Happos to date are all positive signs that we have an exciting new franchise on our hands,” says Johanne Broadfield, VP, Cartoon Network Enterprises EMEA. “We’ve seen kids actually belly-laughing while watching the content and demonstrating really strong engagement with the humour and characters. Taking the show to a new level, with longer episodes and extensive support across digital, stands us in very good stead for a successful consumer products programme – and we’re looking forward to the reaction we get from prospective partners here at Vegas.”
Pierre Sissmann, Chairman & CEO, Cyber Group Studios added: “We immediately fell in love with The Happos Family and it’s not at all surprising that the show is already resonating with kids and families around the world. We’re delighted to be partnering again with Turner and coming on board to produce the second series of Happos, this time with longer stories and great new characters.”
More about The Happos Family:
The Happos Family follows the lives of a family of Happos who live in an enclosure in a safari park. In the morning the park is open to human visitors who drive past the Happos, taking pictures of them wallowing in the mud, lazing by the pool, sleeping in the shade of the tree. When the last car races out of the safari park and the gates are shut to all visitors, the Happos jump up out of the mud, wake up from their snoozing and get dressed up. It’s now their time for crazy, zany, Happo adventures.
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*Source: BARB, Auditel, AGB Nielsen, Kantar Media, TNS Gallup, MMS, IPSOS/KTLM, TNS TV/Index Plus, BARC Media Workstation, IBOPE, All Individuals, 10/16 – 08/05/17, All Day, Reach (1min+)
For more information, contact:
James Moore, Director of Communications, Turner Asia Pacific
James.Moore@turner.com / Tel: +852 3128-3720
About Turner Asia Pacific
Turner Asia Pacific creates and distributes award-winning brands throughout the region, running 61 channels in 14 languages in 42 countries. These include CNN International, CNNj, CNN, HLN, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Boomerang, POGO, Toonami, Warner TV, Oh!K, TNT, TCM Turner Classic Movies, truTV, MondoTV, TABI Channel, and HBO, HBO HD and WB in South Asia. Turner manages the business of Pay- and Free-TV-channels, as well as Internet-based services, and oversees commercial partnerships with various third-party media ventures; it teams with Warner Bros. and HBO to leverage Time Warner’s global reach. Turner Broadcasting System Asia Pacific, Inc. (“Turner Asia Pacific”) is a Time Warner company.
About Boomerang
Boomerang provides light-hearted and fun moments, showcasing a mixture of internationally recognised comedy and fantasy series to more than 144 million households worldwide. Core programs includes Tom and Jerry, Mr. Bean, Scooby-Doo, The Garfield Show, My Little Pony and The Looney Tunes Show. A companion channel to Cartoon Network, Boomerang is a dynamic and quirky place where girls and boys can be inspired, laugh and play with the whole family. In Asia Pacific, Boomerang is owned and operated by Turner, a Time Warner company.
About Cyber Group Studios:
Cyber Group Studios is a French independent multi awarded company which produces and distributes its own and third party audiovisual productions and brand. The company handles programs with strong international appeal targeted to kids and families in particular, 3D CGI and 2D HD, animation products (TV series and movies) targeted at 2-12 years old kids and teens, HD animation series, for “Triple Play” broadcast (web, mobile phones, TV). Its mission is to bring the best quality entertainment associating to the best creative talent around the world and to develop breakthrough technology to enhance its productions. The company’s aim is also to associate to other top producers in the world to help bring them to market, outstanding new productions, through Cyber Group Studios distribution network.