Toronto-based Little Engine Moving Pictures has announced the winners of its new animation bridge show pitch competition, which launched in June to source unique stories for five- to seven-year-olds.

Selected from 64 upper preschool and bridge pitches submitted by writers and creators across Canada and the US, Shayna Fine’s Mermaid Mysteries and Aaron Rubinoff’s The Whirlybergs have been put into development at Little Engine. Both projects will use the 3D mocap animation process designed by the company’s creative head Ben Mazzotta.

Upper-preschool series Mermaid Mysteries is set in a magical underwater world where a team of mermaids solve cases for a mermaid detective agency. The show is inspired by Fine’s love of the ocean and mysteries. 

Fine is an award-winning creative executive, producer and director who recently completed a three-year stint as director of development at Toronto-based Spin Master. Over the course of a 20-year career in the kids & family space, Fine has worked on shows including PAW Patrol (and spinoff Rubble and Crew), Teletubbies, Yo Gabba Gabba, Caillou, Super Why, Doozers, Go Dog Go and Hank Zipzer.  

Early bridge project The Whirlybergs tells the story of three inventive siblings who make robots to solve simple problems. It’s influenced by Rubinoff’s passion for the power of technology, and the importance of teaching future generations how software like generative AI can be used as a tool for good.

Rubinoff is an up-and-coming screenwriter and script coordinator who’s currently working as a writer with 9 Story Media Group on season two of its PBS KIDS series Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum. An avid fan of comedy, animation and improv, he’s a graduate of the Second City Conservatory Improv Program.

Little Engine founder Maria Kennedy was drawn to Mermaid Mysteries‘ detective narrative, which she says fills a white space in the upper-preschool market. Meanwhile, The Whirlybergs was selected for its strong representation of family dynamics and diverse characters. “The overall premise is set within a laugh-out-loud framework, but it also delves into timely topics like anxiety, bullying, dependence on technology, and it promotes STEM learning, too,” says Kennedy.

Now that the shows have been selected, Little Engine has the task of financing and selling them. “With the creators, we will be pitching to Canadian broadcasters with our sights set on upcoming Canada Media Fund and other funding agency deadlines,” adds Kennedy. “We’re already receiving correspondence from international producers who are interested in co-productions on these two specific projects.”

Little Engine’s bridge-show pitch initiative was open to all kids media writers and creators with entertainment-led and comedy-driven animated series pitches (seven- to 11-minute episodes) with some light learning elements. Pitches were required to have well-developed characters with elevated comedy that would appeal to age groups above preschool.

The company’s inaugural preschool pitch initiative launched in 2020 and received more than 70 submissions from across North America and the UK. The winning project was Tiny and Tall, an animated series concept created by Madeleine Donohue about two very different best friends who come together to teach basic math, counting and sorting skills. 

It received development funding in 2021 from Canada’s Bell Fund, Canada Media Fund (CMF) and Canadian public broadcaster TVOKids, and was commissioned a year later as a 39 x seven-minute series by TVOKids, in association with Knowledge Network, Shaw Rocket Fund, CMF, Ontario Creates, Rogers Telefund and The Writers Guild of Canada. 

Tiny and Tall premiered in October 2023, and a second season (26 x 5.5 minutes) was ordered by TVOKids in June 2024. These new episodes are currently in production and set to deliver in spring 2025.