Yoko! Jakamoko! Toto!

Partners: Toronto, Canada’s Gullane Entertainment and London-based Collingwood O’Hare Entertainment

Description: A series inspired by the look and sound of Spanish, Latin-American and African art and music. Three friends–Yoko (a bird), Jakamoko (an armadillo) and Toto (a monkey)–share problem-solving adventures in tales told through music and action, sans dialogue (which bodes well for international travel). One ep finds the trio trying to figure out how to get across a ravine.

Style: 2-D CelAction (flat CGI)

Demo: Three to six

Format: 52 x five minutes

Status: Pilot ready for MIP-TV

Budget: US$100,000 per five-minute episode

Delivery: The first 26 eps will air on CiTV in the U.K. next January, with the second batch slated to hit airwaves in January 2004

Jasper the Penguin

Producer: Millimages

Description: Jasper the penguin unwittingly migrates from the South Pole when an ice flow separated from a polar cap carries him into a small-town harbor. Setting up digs in an old refrigerator, Jasper decides to stick around and explore this strange new world.

Style: 2-D

Demo: Three to six

Format: 52 x five minutes

Status: In production

Budget: Around US$3 million

Cosy Corner

Partners: France Animation, France 5 and Canada’s Teletoon

Description: An unlikely trio of friends–Stella the mouse, Margot the frog and Marius the croc–live in the same tree house, spending each day striving to cooperate.

Style: 2-D

Demo: Four to six

Format: 52 x 6.5 minutes

Status: In production

Budget: Roughly US$2 million

Charles

Partners: Florida-based So Smart! Productions and Toronto, Canada’s AAC Kids

Description: Young children ask lots of questions. Where does rain come from? Why do bees buzz? How come a telephone rings? Rather than answering Charles’s many queries verbally, his fairy godmother magically whisks him off to places where he can learn by seeing and doing. Many of Charles’s adventures focus on his changing notions of what he’d like to be when he grows up–becoming fascinated with firefighters after a visit to a firehouse, and fancying himself an astronaut after a trip to the moon.

Style: A mix of CGI and photography

Demo: Four to six

Format: 30 or 40 five- to six-minute eps

Status: Pilot ready for MIP-TV

Budget: Expected to run near US$200,000 per half hour