Lagardère Active’s youth channels: the first special-interest channels to invest in French animation

Lagardère Active’s youth channels’ commitment to animation really hits the mark! By developing a dynamic policy of investing in animation, Lagardère Active is ensuring a future supply of high-quality programs that will give it the lead in this highly competitive sector. The wide range of projects in which Canal J, TiJi and Gulli are involved helps to boost the profile of their channels and websites, enabling them to maintain their status as benchmarks in terms of both audience share* and brand awareness**.

“Having three youth channels is a real strength for us. Altogether, Canal J – the first to invest in animation for cable and satellite channels – TiJi and Gulli are now involved in 16 projects all told, some of them original creations and others successful adaptations of comic strips and children’s literature. Of course, we are always on the lookout for future new ideas for our channels, from both major players in the sector and smaller organizations.”

Pierre Belaïsch
Managing Director, Programming and Networks at Lagardère Active’s Television division

Canal J

• Linus et Boom
  Linus and his friends Iris, Taki and Monroe decide to help Boom, a cumbersome red alien, to escape from extraterrestrial hunters in this humorous, action-packed 3D series.
  26 x 26 minutes – with Timoon Animation and France 3 – to be broadcast in September 2009
• Freefonix
  A series combining the worlds of two major talents: Magnus Fiennes, a composer, arranger and producer (of All Saints, Morcheeba, Marianne Faithfull and Massive Attack) who devised the series, and Monsieur Z, an internationally-renowned illustrator.
  40 x 26 minutes – with Method Films – to be broadcast in September 2009
• Léonard
  3D animation chronicles the adventures of the famed scatty inventor with a long white beard and purple hat, the popular hero of a comic strip created by Turk and De Groot (Editions Le Lombard).
  78 x 7 minutes – with Ellipsanime and Gulli – to be broadcast in December 2009
• Gormiti
  An animated take on the boyhood craze that’s sweeping the world, where children join forces with the lords of nature to save a wondrous island.
  52 x 26 minutes – with Marathon Animation and M6 – to be broadcast in early 2010
• SpieZ
  Four young siblings juggle family life, school commitments and international espionage. From the creators of Totally Spies.
  52 x 26 minutes – with Marathon Animation and TF1 – to be broadcast in early 2010
• My Life Me
  Four preteens’ hilarious attempts to find the meaning of life.
  52 x 15 minutes – with TV Loonland and France 2 – to be broadcast in mid-2010
• Léon, (T)erreur de la Savane
  Is the lion really King of the Beasts? Léon doesn’t bring terror to the savannah, at any rate. A series of failures makes him look more like the king of endurance in a world where crazy situations arise in quick succession.
  26 x 3 minutes – with Studio Hari and France 3
• Samson et Néon
  A cheeky extraterrestrial with a strawberry chewing-gum face and a little earthling from a family of hyperactive dunces become the best (worst?) friends of the Earth and the rest of the galaxy. Inspired by a comic strip by Tebo (Editions Glénat), Zep’s partner in producing the comic Tcho.
  78 x 7 minutes – with Toon Factory and France 3

TiJi

• Devine Quoi?
  For the past nine years or so, TiJinou and TiJibelle, TiJi’s rabbit mascots, have been the darlings of the younger set. Together, they will at last have their own real adventures in “Le pays magique des devinettes” (the magic world of riddles).
  52 x 7 minutes – with Cyber Group – to be broadcast in late 2009
• Lulu Vroumette
  This adaptation of cartoon books by Daniel Picouly and Frédéric Pillot (Editions Magnard) recounts the 1001 adventures of a highly resourceful little tortoise.
  52 x 13 minutes – with Mondo TV and France 5

Gulli

• Petits Creux
  A program designed to give children an appetite for healthy eating.
  104 x 1 minute – with Médiatoon – to be broadcast in October 2009
• Les Gullies
  Watch as the “G” in Gulli turns into a family of blundering, inquisitive extra-terrestrials.
  52 x 2 1/2 minutes – with Studio Hari – to be broadcast in late 2009
• Raymond – Seasons 2 and 3
  When you’re eight years old with a round head, big glasses and red hair, life isn’t always easy – and Raymond knows that better than anyone.
  52 x 7 minutes – with Everybody on Deck – to be broadcast in 2010
• Foot 2 Rue – Season 3
  Respect, tolerance and fair play: the Blues are back, more aggressive and conniving than ever.
  26 x 26 minutes – with Télé Images Kids and France 3
• Léonard
  (See above)
  78 x 7 minutes – with Ellipsanime and Canal J
• La Petite Géante
  A selfish preteen city girl wakes up one day in the country, surrounded by Lilliputians. She has to put her life as a spoiled only child behind her and adapt to her new circumstances.
  52 x 13 minutes