Pongwiffy moves into production

TV-Loonland’s UK animation studio Telemagination has moved into production on the animated sitcom Pongwiffy after the nod from CiTV.

The (26×11′ or 13×22′) series is aimed at 6-9 year-olds and is based on the books of Kaye Lumansky. The books have been translated German, Danish and Italian, while Simon Schuster has recently inked a publishing deal in the US.

The show revolves around the eponymous witch and her dysfunctional group of friends.

Alan Simpson (Letters from Felix, The Last Polar Bears) directs, with the former head of the BBC's children's department Anna Home executive producing.

Marion Edwards, managing director of Telemagination and producer on Pongwiffy, said: {The Pongwiffy books immediately stood out as being much more than just another witch-based series.{

{We intend to maintain the sharp dialogue and witty observations in the scripts and are pushing the designs towards a very bold graphic style,{ she added.

The show, which will be delivered in February 2002, will be produced using traditional 2D drawn animation techniques (with characters having a {cut-out{ style), with the backgrounds a mix of 2D and 3D cgi.

TV-Loonland holds worldwide rights to the series outside the UK.