31 Mar 08

Top UK children’s television producer Coolabi Productions Ltd today announced that hit pre-school animation The Large Family has been commissioned for a second series of 26 X 11’ by Controller, CBeebies - Michael Carrington.

Based on the best-selling books by Jill Murphy, the 2-D Cel- animated series chronicles the domestic chaos of an all-too-human elephant family, and proved a big hit with viewers in October 2007 when the first series became the second best rated show on CBeebies. 

The series will be executive produced by Dan Maddicott, who joined Coolabi in October 2007 when Coolabi acquired Indie Kids, the kid’s boutique Maddicott co-founded and from where the first series of The Large Family was commissioned. 

In France the series was commissioned by leading network TF1, where it has regularly achieved over 40% audience share. This new series, as with the previous one, will be a co-production with French producer Go-N Productions. . Since its debut the series has proved to have global appeal, with sales to date in territories as diverse as Australia, Portugal, Iran and Sweden. Worldwide sales are being handled by BBC Worldwide, who are also planning a major licensing and merchandising campaign.

Julian Scott, Head of Children’s Programming at Coolabi, commented “We are delighted to be continuing such a successful relationship with CBeebies.  The Large Family has already demonstrated its appeal to the pre-school audience and captivated a legion of fans, who will be excited to see their favourite family of elephants back on screen.”  

Michael Carrington continued, “The Large Family is a wonderfully engaging series with a family of characters which are hugely identifiable for our young audiences.  I'm thrilled that CBeebies is continually able to attract such great talent and expertise to work with us."

The Large Family commission follows Coolabi’s recent run of successful deals, including the commissioning of new animated series Poppy Cat by Nick Jr UK, and the signing of a development deal with Disney Channel’s London based Global Original Programming Division.

Links: The Large Family