‘100% Wolf – Legend of the Moonstone’ Leads Most Viewed Show at MipJunior

Leo Barraclough

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Animated series “100% Wolf – Legend of the Moonstone” from Germany’s Studio100 Media topped the poll of most-watched shows at MipJunior, the children’s content market in Cannes, which wrapped Sunday.

The series follows the adventures of Freddy Lupin, a young werewolf who has been accidentally turned into a poodle, but is determined to prove he’s a match for the others in the werewolf academy. The show was ordered by ABC in Australia and Super RTL in Germany.

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The top 20 shows were all animated series, and this reflects data on viewing trends. Animation is still the most popular genre among those under the age of 15. The genre accounts for an average of 78% of the 20 best-performing children’s shows in the five countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K.) studied by research group Glance. This is higher than it has been over the past five years.

The second position in the most viewed shows at MipJunior was taken by “Pikwik Pack” from Canada’s Guru Studio. The show follows Suki the hedgehog and her team, working together to deliver “surprise-filled packages to the colorful residents of Pikwik.” It’ll air on Disney Junior in the U.S.

France’s Hari International “Mystery Lane” came in third. The show, which will air on France Televisions in its home territory, centers on a guinea-pig named Clever who is a detective investigating puzzling cases in London.

“Agent Jon Le Bon,” from Britain’s Zodiak Kids, came in at No. 4, and “Alice & Lewis” from France’s Blue Spirit Prods., was in fifth place.

Zodiak Kids came top among distributors in the top 30, with “Agent Jon Le Bon,” “Babyatrice” and “Cry Babies.” France’s Blue Spirit Prods., Britain’s Jellyfish Pictures, and Italy’s Rainbow had two entries each.

The list of most viewed projects was headed by “Scrambled” from India’s DQ Entertainment, “Odo,” a comedy for pre-schoolers about an ambitious little owl, from Britain’s Sixteen South, and “Otto’s Tall Tales,” about a boy who explores a fantastic forest in his imagination, from Belgium’s Creative Conspiracy.

Among the themes of MipJunior were the growing importance of streaming services for the kids’ market, as children reject linear viewing, but the converse is equally true.

“Streaming services taking kids seriously has been a pretty important factor in the growth of the industry,” Josh Scherba, president at WildBrain, said. “We continue to see how front and center it becomes with all of these services.”

Andy Heyward, chairman and CEO at Genius Brands Intl., added that kids were agnostic when it came to competing platforms, and with a fragmented market, shows had to try to get on multiple streaming services to reach sizable audiences, an important factor when licensing and merchandising deals are being chased – a significant revenue source for producers.

Avril Blondelot, content insight director at Glance, identified three major trends in children’s shows. “Granted, ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks’ was still the most watched program in Europe in the first half of 2019, followed by ‘SpongeBob SquarePants.’ Still, diversity, very young TV presenters and ‘travel’ through time or space are strong trends that are becoming established.”

Lucy Smith, deputy director of the TV division at Reed Midem, which organizes MipJunior, said: “Diversity was a key theme – specifically ‘Itch’ from ABC Australia, which was live-action, with young people solving problems and protecting the environment and 50% women in the cast and production team. The re-boot of a 2015 series of DC Comics’ “DC Super Hero Girls” – again diversity.

“Also everyone talking about working with tech streamers – and the other tech angle was covered in the session about new ways that kids consume content. They are platform-agnostic and there was much talk about how brands and IP owners can benefit from this development.”

Laurine Garaude, director of the television division at Reed Midem, reported Monday that attendance at MipJunior totaled 1,500, including 600 buyers, and 1,300 shows and projects.

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