KiKA - Der Kinderkanal ARD/ZDF
Smurfette, Papa Smurf and Gargamel are back!
KiKA shows the legendary comic in new 3D optic
"A long, long time ago there was a hidden village in a forest where tiny creatures lived: the Smurfs" - the popular stories from Smurf village will soon be available as an elaborate CGI animation series. In an international co-production with partners Peyo Productions, Belgium, the French broadcaster TF1 and the Belgian broadcasters Ketnet and RTBF / OUFtivi, KiKA is bringing the blue forest dwellers back to Germany.
"'The Smurfs' are a legend! They are a real highlight and an animated classic in the comic and animation culture of the last decades in Europe and of course well known in Germany ", says Dr. Astrid Plenk, Managing and Programming Director of KiKA - the Children's Channel of ARD and ZDF. "And so I'm really excited to be able to present 'The Smurfs' exclusively to our viewers from 2021 on."
"It was always my dream to produce a new series of 'The Smurfs', so I am truly happy to co-produce this animated legendary property together with our partners Peyo Productions, Belgium, the French broadcaster TF1 and the Belgian broadcasters RTBF and Ketnet," says Sebastian Debertin, Head of Fiction, Acquisition and Co-Production at KiKA.
"'The Smurfs' also stand for strong values and great feelings and therefore this series is a perfect fit for KiKA. I am particularly delighted that Smurfette will get female reinforcement over the course of the new series. Everyone - children and parents - can now look forward to a series highlight with many new stories from Smurf village," supplements Dr. Astrid Plenk.
Peyo Productions is also pleased to announce officially that they will coproduce with KiKA the new 'Smurfs'-Series for children aged 5 to 10 years.
Véronique Culliford , president and founder of Peyo Productions and I.M.P.S. (Distribution Company) and Peyo's daughter says "I'm very happy to once again be able to continue my father's work by co-producing a new TV Series about The Smurfs, almost 40 years after the universally known Smurf series by Hanna-Barbera. You will discover Smurfs in 3D-CGI, as in the last movie (The Lost Village, 2017), with lots of fun, humor and adventures full of twists. I'm convinced that KiKA is the right fit for our new series and that the Smurfs will continue to delight all generations for decades in Germany."
The animated series is based on the 'The Smurfs' by the Belgian artist Peyo which was published 1958 in the Spirou magazine. The stories were translated into over 26 languages. Responsible editor at KiKA is Sebastian Debertin.
Der Kinderkanal von ARD und ZDF Unternehmenskommunikation / Corporate Communications Gothaer Straße 36, 99094 Erfurt Germany Tel. +49 361.218-1827 eFax: +49 361.218-291827 www.kika-presse.de