Derry Girls star joins voice cast for Aardman’s Lloyd of the Flies

Multi-award-winning independent animation studio Aardman has launched a new teaser from its latest comedy series, Lloyd of the Flies, to celebrate Insect Week. The studio has also announced Jamie-Lee O’Donnell as a new addition to the voice cast.

Lloyd of the Flies shines a light on the weird and wonderful world of insects. The series follows the adventures of Lloyd B Fly, a housefly and the middle child of 453. Lloyd lives with his parents, his little sister PB and their 225 maggot siblings inside a compost bin. In the series, Lloyd is always accompanied by his best and only friend, Abacus Woodlouse, PB, and eccentric tag-along, Cornea Butterfly. Together they explore the strange world beyond the compost bin, where there is no shortage of lessons for Lloyd to very nearly learn.

 

Developed in-house and supported by the BFI-managed Young Audiences Content Fund (YACF), the new series is Aardman’s first “in-house” CGI production. The studio is working to develop a broad range of partnerships around Lloyd of the Flies, developing the brand’s presence across all major touchpoints including consumer products, attractions and interactive entertainment. An AR experience app will be launched to coincide with the series.

Jamie-Lee O’Donnell (Derry Girls, Screw) also joins the cast as the voice of Louse Hunter, a spider who only hunts woodlice for the challenge and thrill of the chase, and Yard the bumble bee who regularly frequents the local Pancake Diner.

She stars alongside Tom Rosenthal (Friday Night Dinner, Plebs) who voices Lloyd, Alex Lawther (The End of the F***ing World, Black Mirror), who voices Lloyd’s best friend Abacus, and Lauren Patel (Everybody’s Talking About Jamie) who takes on the role of PB. Teresa Gallagher plays Cornea Butterfly, with Callum Scott Howells (It’s A Sin) voicing Lloyd’s nemesis, Berry.

Sean Clarke, Managing Director of Aardman, says: “Launching our first in-house CGI series marks an exciting new development for Aardman as well as the advent of new talent from the studio bringing their ideas to life. With a host of incredible voices alongside exceptional crew, drawn from all over the world, we can’t wait to share Lloyd of the Flies with audiences from this autumn. This comedic new series will entertain the whole family and we are sure that it will create a real buzz in living rooms.”

The 52 x 11’ animated sitcom series will be premiering on CiTV in September 2022.

LMI to rep The Illuminated Film Company’s The Rubbish World of Dave Spud

Illuminated Films has named LMI as its licensing partner for CITV comedy adventure series The Rubbish World of Dave Spud, a surreal animated kid’s adventure with a most unlikely hero, set in the UK town of Grimsby.

Ratings for the show since the launch of both series 1 and 2 have been strong for ITV, promising great things for the future of the brand and its licensing programme.

The Rubbish World of Dave Spud, produced by Illuminated Films, stars the voice talents of Johnny Vegas, Jane Horrocks, Gina Yashere, Philip Glennister, Lisa Hammond, Akiya Henry and Arthur Smith, and the musical talents of Basement Jaxx.

The new relationship between LMI and Illuminated Films comes from successful Brand Licensing Europe discussions and follows the recent RTS Award for Best Children’s Programme for The Rubbish World of Dave Spud.

Aardman and CITV unveil voice cast for new CGI comedy series Lloyd of the Flies

Friday Night Dinner actor, Tom Rosenthal is among the British talent to be lending their voices to Lloyd of the Flies, a new CGI comedy series from Aardman Animation and CITV. The series is scheduled to air on CITV in autumn 2022.

Rosenthal will voice lead character Lloyd, a housefly and middle child of 453 siblings. With his best friend Abacus Woodlouse, little sister PB, and eccentric tag-along Cornea Butterfly, the motley crew will embark on a series of misadventures in a family comedy of entomology.

Rosenthal joins a cast of British acting talent, including Alex Lawther (Black Mirror) who will voice Abacus, Lauren Patel (Everybody’s Talking About Jamie) who will take on the role of PB, Teresa Gallagher as Cornea Butterfly, and Callum Scott Howells (It’s a Sin) will voice Lloyd’s nemesis, Berry.

Pearl Mackie and Rob Rackstraw provide the voices of Lloyd’s parents, Gena and Malcolm. Completing the cast are Ayesha Antoine, voicing Julie and Libby, and Marcel McCalla who plays Ampersand and Bob.

Lloyd of the Flies is created and directed by Matthew Walker (episode director, Shaun the Sheep: Adventures from Mossy Bottom Farm and winner of a jury award at Aspen Shortsfest, Jury Special Mention at Clermont-Ferrand for his film ‘John and Karen’ and best graduation film ‘Astronauts’ at Annecy Animation Festival 2006). He is joined by co-director and voice director Jane Davies, who has over 25 years animation and directing experience in long form series.

Aardman’s Sarah Cox will act as executive creative director.

Seamus Malone (Arthur Christmas, Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death) is Animation Director, with Tom Parkinson (Shaun the Sheep: Adventures from Mossy Bottom Farm) in the role of Script/Story Advisor. The Series Editor is Victoria Stevens (A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon).

The writing team includes Anna Leong Brophy, Alex Collier, Tasha Dhanraj, Isabel Fay, Mark Oswin, and Jen Upton. Black Sheep’s Andrew Barnett Jones and Ciaran Murtagh are Script Editors on the series.

Using a mix of computer animation and 2D techniques, Lloyd of the Flies is the first CGI series to be produced entirely in-house at Aardman’s headquarters studio in Bristol.

Tom Rosenthal, voice of Lloyd, said: “Despite the fact that I believe Lloyd of the Flies to be a work of genius and am thrilled to bring these fantastic stories to life, the amount of people who have told me that I do actually sound like a fly has begun to get hurtful.”

Lloyd of the Flies is the flagship project for the government-funded Young Audiences Content Fund (YACF), which is managed by the BFI and supports the creation of distinctive, high-quality content for audiences up to the age of 18.

The Fund offers production funding for projects which have secured a broadcast commitment from a UK Public Service Broadcaster to make the programme available to a UK audience on a free-to-access, Ofcom-regulated service.

This is Iris partners with TeamTO to launch Mighty Mike to the UK licensing scene

The children’s entertainment company, TeamTO has joined forces with the licensing agency This Is Iris to launch Mighty Mike, ‘the world’s most licensable pug’ to the UK. Mighty Mike’s licensing career will be launched with a prominent platform on CITV and Cartoon Network’s Boomerang channels.

The new agreement follows a first publishing deal for the show in Italy with the high-end publishing outfit, Edizione Play Press for sticker, colouring, magic colouring, and activity books. Mighty Mike has already picked up momentum on a global licensing scale that includes partnerships with Surge Licensing in the US, France Televisions, and Uyoung in China.

“Mighty Mike is a show with great appeal, it’s packed with personality and stand out characters that engage the audience the minute the show starts,” said Sarah Lawrence, This is Iris. “The characters’ incredible photorealism and the non-stop comedy make this show ideal for a great range of products. We are delighted to be working with TeamTO on this exciting property and look forward to updating our partners on Mighty Mike’s potential and standout performance on CITV.”

Patricia de Wilde, TeamTO’s VP of marketing, added: “We are delighted to be working with the experienced and talented team at This is Iris. With Sarah’s uniquely creative and quality-driven approach to licensing, and great platforms on ITV and Boomerang, Mighty Mike could not be in better hands.

“Add to that the series’ combination of subtle and sophisticated humor inspired by the daily life of pets and  you have a perfect formula for success in the UK’s animal loving market.”

Mighty Mike stars a refined pug with sophisticated taste who longs for a quiet life but is forced to defend his house from a bunch of furry intruders and maddening pets. Raccoons, turtles and Fluffy the cat have a knack for showing up at the worst possible moment, dragging Mike into a series of outrageously funny twists and turns – making him miss yet another opportunity to impress Cindy, the neighbour’s elegant dog.

It’s an original TeamTO production with Canada’s Digital Dimension. TeamTO manages all Licensing rights worldwide and TV distribution in France, Germany and China, while CAKE distributes the TV series in all other territories.

CITV picks up Jetpack’s animated comedy Buck and Buddy in newest broadcasting slate

The independent kids and family distributor, Jetpack Distribution, has secured a string of new broadcast deals for its portfolio of children’s shows, including Daisy & Ollie, Emmy & Gooroo, Buck & Buddy, and Talking Tom and Friends.

The Jetpack shows will be airing this year across a series of international networks.

Discovery Kids (Middle East and North Africa)has boosted its pre-school offering with the acquisition of the pay TV rights for season three of Daisy & Ollie and season two of Emmy & Gooroo. It has also bought non-dialogue comedy animation Bucky & Buddy.

Meanwhile, AMC Networks International – Central and Northern Europe has acquired pay TV and video on demand (VOD) rights for five seasons of comedy animation Talking Tom and Friends, shorts from the same series and Talking Angela videos for its Minimax channels in Hungary, Romania, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Moldova, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Kosovo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia.

WarnerMedia Entertainment Networks channels including Boomerang and Cartoon Network in SoutheastAsia, Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand has extended its offer to include series four and five of Talking Tom and Friends. The deal also includes Talking Tom Heroes.

Super RTL has acquired the SVOD rights for Talking Tom Heroes, while the UK’s CITV has bought the free-to-air rights for Buck & Buddy.

German channel KIKAhas acquired the free-to-air rights for animated show Wolf, and finally, United Media has bought the rights for Emmy & Gooroo and seasons one to four of pre-school live action Our Family for Pikaboo and seasons one to three of The Cul De Sac and seasons one and two of comedy animation Barefoot Bandits for Vavoom.

The deal covers Slovenia, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Montenegro.

Jetpack’s CEO, Dominic Gardiner, said: “These are challenging and uncertain times for the TV industry as we face unchartered territory. These deals are testament to the enduring appeal of good quality kids and family content. Long may that continue.”

“We are really pleased to be working with such brilliant production and IP owners and doing business with prestigious international networks who remain as committed as ever to delivering great experiences for young audiences.”