Jul 22, 2019

Netflix Announces Upcoming Preschool Series, Including "How To Train Your Dragon" Spin-Off

Netflix continues its impressive foray into animation production with the announcement of a new original preschool series. Of the seven newly announced projects, five are animated. These include the new "How to Train Your Dragon" series and P.D. Eastman's popular 1961 picture book "Go, Dog, Go."

All of these animated series are CG and aimed at children ages 2 to 6, but they are otherwise largely unmatched. The genres range from high fantasy to superhero adventure to educational. Some are based on existing properties, others are original concepts; Netflix partners with animation production companies such as Dreamworks, Vancouver's Atomic Cartoons, and multinational Kickstart Entertainment. . the SVOD giant Netflix describes the series as:

Dreamworks Animation's new chapter in the Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning "How to Train Your Dragon" series (images at top and bottom) opening, a CG-animated comedy-adventure series. This new series tells the story of twins Duck and Layla, who were raised by dragons and have the unique ability to communicate with them. The siblings lead a team of five young dragons and spend their days helping other dragons and the people of their adopted town of Hatzgalow.

Executive Producer Jack Thomas ("Dragons: Race to the Edge," "The Fairly OddParents") is executive producer and Brian K. Roberts ("Veggietales in the House") is co-executive producer.

Directed by TJ Sullivan ("Barnyard," "Beware the Batman")

For Wesley and his best friend Georgie, every day is an adventure. When Wesley puts his hands together, bows, and says "Hello, Ninja," his surroundings are instantly transformed into an enchanted Ninja World. This CG animated series from Atomic Cartoon, a subsidiary of Thunderbird, is based on the picture book of the same name by author N.D. Wilson.

Executive Producer: N.D. Wilson

EP/Showrunner Mark Palmer ("Treehouse Detectives," "Kim Possible")

Story Editor Susan Kim ("Wonderpets," "Handy Manny")

Director Zoey is excited to be a sophomore, but when danger looms, she sneaks away and transforms into Starbeam with her signature call, "It's time to shine." - Starbeam is the fastest, most powerful, and most enthusiastic superhero to ever take a mouthful out of a juice box. Starbeam is a CG animated series produced by Kickstart Entertainment.

Executive Producers: Jason Netter (Preacher), Loris Kramer-Lunsford (Johnny Test), Heather Puttock (Ready Jet Go: Noel Wright ("Doc McStuffins", "Super Monsters") [21 22] CG animated series produced by DreamWorks Animation and DHX Media. Every dog wants to go. Faster, farther, to the big dog party in the trees. The series follows young pup Tug Barker and her adventures. Pawston is a colorful community of dogs on the go.

Showrunner/Executive Producer: Adam Peltzman ("Odd Squad," "Wally Kazam")

Adventurous and lovable young creatures play, grow, laugh, learn and sing together in this CG-animated series. It was created by Art Spiegel and Hannah Cole and produced by creative production company 7ate9 Entertainment.

Story Editor Live action productions include "Emily's Wonder Lab," about science experiments and related activities, and "Izzy Bee's Koala World," a nonfiction series about an 11-year-old girl who rehabilitates koalas, produced by The Dodo and Nomadica Films.

Melissa Cobb, Netflix's Vice President of Original Animation, said in a statement, "By offering high-quality, age-appropriate programming for kids of all ages and stages of development, young people can find and connect with the stories and characters they love on Netflix. We want to help them connect with the stories and characters they love on Netflix. We're also about helping parents find the right shows for their families at the times they deem appropriate for entertainment."

The slate is a statement of intent from Netflix, which has accelerated its investment in both animation and children's programming in recent years. The company now has more than 151 million subscribers worldwide, and in November revealed that 60% of them watch family content every month (as reported by Variety). But as the SVOD behemoth approaches saturation in the U.S., company executives are looking for programming that will appeal to foreign markets. Animation, which is easily dubbed and moves around a lot, is an obvious area of focus.

Meanwhile, rival streaming platforms are expected to launch by the end of the year, reducing the pool of licensable content. Disney Plus has a particularly rich selection of family-friendly movies and series, and Netflix is well aware of the need to establish its own brand in this area Netflix is well aware of the need to establish its own brand in this area, and is well aware of the need to establish its own brand in this area, and is well aware of the need to establish its own brand in this area The volume and variety of content it has recently commissioned proves that it is willing to do so.