CBeebies Welcomes New Animated Series

A new 2D animated pre-school series has been commissioned for CBeebies.

The 52x7' series – School of Roars – will be produced by Dot To Dot Productions. It follows five mini monsters through their school day as they learn 'monstery lessons' in maths, music, cookery and life. The class is taught by Miss Grizzlesniff, voiced by Kathy Burke. Other voices in the series include Sarah Lancashire who plays the 'Headmonstress' Mrs Twirlyhorn, and Andrew Scott who is the narrator, as well as voicing other characters including the cookery teacher Mr Marrow.

School of Roars is being animated at Dot To Dot's in-house studio in Chiswick. The series has been created by Alan Robinson, Head of Development at Dot To Dot, and is being executive produced by Jo Killingley for Dot To Dot and Sarah Legg for CBeebies. It has been acquired by CBeebies in the UK and Sprout, NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment's 24-hour preschool network, in the US. ZDF Enterprises will handle worldwide distribution and further investment in the production comes from Creative Europe. It is scheduled to air in early 2017.

Jo Killingley, Founder, Dot To Dot, said: "School of Roars is a unique and exciting property that will appeal to both children and their parents, as it not only educates but prepares children for school in a fun and engaging way. What makes it even more exciting is that it is created, developed, produced and animated in-house by Dot To Dot following the launch of our own animation studio. The new studio will be producing and developing material for children of all ages."

Kay Benbow, Controller, CBeebies, added: "We're sure our youngest viewers will be enchanted by the friendly school-based adventures, the bright design and the quirky humour, whilst parents may be surprised by the hugely talented stellar supporting cast. We hope it'll become another monster-mazing, super-snufflesome CBeebies favourite."

Arne Lohmann, VP, ZDFE.junior, commented: "After our successful partnership with Fun With Claude we are delighted to work together again with Dot To Dot Productions. We are sure that School of Roars will be loved by children all over the world, as the mini monsters' daily life is very similar to their own."

(JP/MH)