The BAFTA Award-winning animated children’s TV series SuperTed celebrates its 40th anniversary with a new distribution and production deal with a new distribution deal with Splash Entertainment that will see a March 8 re-launch on kids’ AVOD channel Kabillion.
“This is the re-birth of a wonderful character who will now be introduced internationally to a completely new age demographic,” explains Francesca O’Keeffe, Managing Director of Petalcraft Demonstrations Ltd., the SuperTed rights owning company.
Originally created by Mike Young, who now serves as CEO of Splash Ent., SuperTed attained many achievements over the years, including being the first-ever outside production acquired by the Walt Disney Company. The classic series was commissioned by the Welsh-language television network S4C from Cardiff-based Siriol Animation, and has aired in just about every country in the world.
“I’m delighted that this iconic series, originally commissioned by S4C 40 years ago, gave Welsh children such pleasure in the past and now has the opportunity to entertain a new audience of young viewers,” said Sioned Geraint, S4C’s Content Commissioner for Children and Education.
Young added, “This is a truly emotional moment for me and my family to see the rejuvenation of our very first animated show and character.”
With over 200 SuperTed books published, the brand also became a staple of merchandise success, led by the toy teddy bear who shed his fur to reveal his secret Super-Bear identity.
The original 40-year-old fully animated production was recently revised through a technical “up-resolution” process and re-formatted to meet modern-day television requirements. In celebration of SuperTed’s anniversary and Welsh heritage, one full
episode will be included in the Welsh language.
Kabillion is a top-five network containing safe, age-appropriate, and free on-demand programming featuring branded channels “Pre-school,” “Girls Rule” (6–11) and “Action” (6–11). The Emmy Award-winning Kabillion runs on-demand on all major U.S. cable networks, including Spectrum and Comcast, as well as digitally on Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple and others.
