We’re thrilled to announce that our pre-school series ‘Sarah & Duck’ has found its first home with CBeebies in the UK! The 40-part series, set to premiere in 2013, has also secured a distribution and licensing deal from BBC Worldwide, ensuring it will be broadcast on international CBeebies networks all over the globe.
The series begins production in a new dedicated division of Karrot Animation, London, from February 2012.
Here is the official press release from Harriet Otoo at BBC Worldwide :
3rd October 2011
BBC Worldwide Channels today unveils Sarah & Duck, the latest original commission for the international CBeebies network.
Sarah is a seven year old girl, with big eyes and a green hat, who lives with her quacky, flappy, slightly manic best friend, Duck. Together, they embark on simple but exciting adventures, discovering the world in their own wobbly and imaginative way.
The 2D animation series (40×7′), created by Sarah Gomes Harris and Tim O’Sullivan ay Karrot Entertainment, is aimed at three to six year olds. The toast of Cartoon Forum in 2010, Sarah & Duck initially won pre-buy acquisition funding from CBeebies UK Channel for its domestic audience. It has now been commissioned by Henrietta Hurford-Jones, Director of CBeebies Investment at BBC Worldwide, to air on CBeebies’ international feeds from 2013.
Under the terms of the deal between BBC Worldwide and Karrot Entertainment, BBC Worldwide has also secured the global distribution and merchandising rights for the new show.
Henrietta Hurford-Jones, Director of CBeebies Investment at BBC Worldwide said of the new deal, “Sarah & Duck has great charm, strong characterisation, and is a wonderful concept for CBeebies. The pair’s adventures of discovery really embody CBeebies’ promise to encourage children to learn through play”.
“CBeebies is experiencing huge growth around the world and it’s paramount that we continue to live up to the trust placed in the brand with a range of great quality shows and formats that appeal to both children and their carers.”
Alison Stewart, Head of CBeebies Production, Animation and Acquistions for CBeebies UK, said, “Sarah & Duck is a wonderful series, and we’re delighted to be collaborating with BBC Worldwide Channels on a title which will enchant young audiences around the world.”
Jamie Badminton, Producer and Creative Director at Karrot Entertainment, said of Sarah & Duck, “Both lead characters are delightfully inquisitive and just by keeping an open mind in each new encounter, find themselves making the most magical of discoveries! Writer and designer Sarah Gomes Harris has tapped into many of her own fantasies of what her seven year old self would have loved to have done, had she been able to go on adventures with a quacky, flappy pet duck as her best friend.”
Sarah and Duck is the latest title in a slate of new investments for BBC Worldwide’s international CBeebies network. Titles announced in 2011 include Mr Bloom’s Nursery (26 x 20′); Andy’s Wild Adventures (40 x 15′); Baby Jake (26 x 11′); Jollywobbles (13 x 9′); series one of Zingzillas Zing Bop (20 x5′); series two of Gigglebiz (16 x 15′); series two of ZingZillas (52 x 11′); series three of Show Me Show Me (15 x 28′); and series six of Nina & the Neurons (25 x 14′).