Henson Sprouts Pajanimals

MIPTV: The Jim Henson Company and US preschool channel Sprout and Northern Ireland’s Sixteen South have joined forces on a new kids’ puppet series.

Pajanimals (26×22’/52×11′), which is set to air exclusively on Sprout in the US this fall, is now starting production in Northern Ireland, with additional financial backing coming from Northern Ireland Screen.

Worldwide licensing of television, digital, DVD and ancillary merchandising is being handled by The Jim Henson Company.

The LA firm had previously teamed up with 4Kids Entertainment to make a series of three-minute shorts based on the same characters and also called Pajanimals. It aired in 2008 on Sprout.

Like the shorts, the longform series follows the adventures of four musical puppets, a pony called Sweetpea Sue, Squacky the duck, CowBella a creative cow, and Apollo the puppy, helping preschoolers to become well-adjusted to daytime and nighttime routines, assisted by songs.