MONTREAL — Cinar’s kids show “Caillou” will air on U.S. Public Broadcasting Service channels this fall.
Cinar and PBS have reached an agreement to partner on the television, homevideo and licensing of this pre-school series, which already airs in English and French on the all-cartoon Teletoon channel in Canada. It has been sold in 75 countries.
Maryland Public Television's wiki: Maryland Public Television ( MPT ) is the Public Broadcasting Service ( PBS) member state network for the U.S. State of Maryland. Its six transmitters cover nearly all of the state, plus Washington, D.C. And parts of Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware, and Pennsylvania.
“Caillou,” based on the bestselling Canadian books published by Les Editions Chouette, follows the adventures of 4-year-old Caillou, his family and his friends. The stories examine how Caillou makes sense of the world around him. The version airing in Canada is all-animation, but Cinar will be adding live-action sequences to the half-hours that will air on PBS.
Four kids series
With the deal, Cinar becomes the only production company with four kids series set to air in the same season on PBS. Other Cinar productions on PBS are “Wimzie’s House,” presented in association with Maryland Public Television; Emmy-winning animated series “Arthur,” which is co-produced with WGBH Boston; and “Zoboomafoo,” produced in association with the Earth Creature Co.
“We are delighted to expand our relationship with Cinar and welcome ‘Caillou’ to PBS’ roster of acclaimed children’s programming,” said John Wilson, acting head of PBS programming.
“This gentle, wise and humorous series is vintage PBS, one parents can trust and their children can love.”
‘Caillou’ is special
“We look forward to introducing ‘Caillou’ to young PBS viewers in the fall, with 40 half-hours of unique programming,” said Cinar chairman and co-CEO Micheline Charest. “Caillou’s special take on the world is certain to charm and entertain pre-schoolers who will be able to relate and learn from his everyday adventures.”
Cinar also announced Wednesday that it has licensed an additional 20 episodes of “Wimzie’s House” to PBS, with the new shows set to air in the fall. The puppet series has been on PBS since 1997. “Wimzie’s House” home videos are due shortly from Sony Wonder.