The ninth edition of Kidscreen’s Asian Animation Summit wrapped up in Taipei City late last week with the announcement of Play Big Music’s Titi & Roro as this year’s Best in Show winner.

Delegates of the three-day event were invited to vote by ballot for their favorite project that debuted on the AAS stage, and this local Taiwanese series concept for six- to nine-year-olds won the crowd over thanks to its regional charm and with music being its central hook.

Play Big Music was inspired by the barrel organ—which they described in their pitch as “TV from 200 years ago”—and this starting point gave birth to a premise in which Titi and her whimsical wooden puppet Roro embark on enchanting musical adventures in a magical world hidden within her grandfather’s mysterious music cart. 

Each time Grandpa cranks the handles, Titi and Roro are transported into a different musical realm, where Roro comes to life to help his friend overcome challenges, meet colorful new characters and learn through imagination and sound. When they come back to reality, they regale Grandpa with tales of their latest adventure.

Play Big Music is planning a 13 x 10-minute format to start, with a budget of US$1.3 million. And Canada’s Big Jump Entertainment (Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Big Blue) is lined up as an animation production partner.

Play Big Music’s team with Michael Carrington, a mentor for the event and former ABC Australia TV head of children’s, on the right.

AAS VIP guests Sarah Muller (BBC Children’s), Matt Berkowitz (Netflix), Vicky Schroderus (YLE Finland), Mary Ellen Mullane (ABC Australia), Carlene Tan (Warner Bros. Discovery APAC), Victoria Lee (SK Broadband) and Ida Yang (Bilibili) were quite taken with Titi & Roro, but advised the creators to do some additional character design work in the next stage of development.

At a time when kids TV financing is at a real crossroads, AAS 2024 hosting partner TAICCA (Taiwan Creative Content Agency) is a well-funded trade group that seems to be on a mission to support the rapid development of its country’s animation industry. TAICCA is bringing five Taiwanese producers to Kidscreen Summit for the first time in February, and wants to connect with international studios to attract production work to Taiwan.