On Monday, I attended the launch of RTÉjr, Ireland’s new dedicated children’s channel. Broadcasting twelve hours a day, the channel brings content directly to Irish children, expanding what was once a block on RTÉ2 into a full channel sitting along with all the other children’s channels on Sky, UPC and Saorview. Now I should point out that I have five shows currently airing on the channel so it’s likely I would say some pleasant things about it – I have been referring to the channel as my ‘showreel’, after all. But there is more to RTÉjr than just being a place to catch some of my shows.

RTÉjr is a big positive step for all Irish children. An important step. Here is why -

It is a dedicated children’s channel focusing on children aged seven and under. I have previously expressed my appreciation for dedicated children’s channels on this site. I feel they give parents more control, lessen the risk of inappropriate content and they simply make it easier to pick and choose what our children watch.

It is a channel focusing on delivering specifically to Irish children. Local content is so important to children. Each country has its own culture, its own ways of looking at the world. That unique point of view should be represented in the shows kids watch. Anyone in children’s content will know just how difficult that is to achieve – most shows need to be sold all over the world to stand a chance of breaking even so how can they be culturally specific? Well, that’s why local content in any country needs support.

RTÉjr has, yes, content bought in from abroad but it also currently carries a large amount of content created here in Ireland for Irish children. For example, one of my own shows now airing on the channel, Ballybraddan, is about Irish children playing hurling, an Irish sport. That show just couldn’t be made anywhere else. And it is wonderful now to see it sitting in the schedule, seeing it among the NickJrs, the Disney Juniors and all the other juniors. And RTÉ’s own produced content (of which I am not involved with) has jumped in quality recently and the level of talent has risen. So it is not just content tailored for Irish children, it is better content for Irish children.

The biggest part of this whole channel for me as a parent?

RTÉjr carries no advertising. None.

It was so encouraging to hear RTÉ’s Director General, Noel Curran, focus on that point at the channel’s launch on Monday, calling the lack of advertising a strong statement and positive for parents, while expressing his and RTÉ’s commitment to children and the new channel.

So what we have now with RTÉjr is an ad-free channel, focused on children aged seven and under, delivering some uniquely Irish content that children just can’t get anywhere else.

As a creator, a producer of content, RTÉjr offers a home for existing content and makes it much more accessible for our audience. With the channel sitting in the Kids section, it is now far more likely that children and parents will see our shows, take a chance on them over some of the more international content. It also creates a need for new content. The challenge laid down by the channel and the commitment is to keep it relevant, keep it current. Oh there will be budgetary constraints (there always are), but this channel will need content as it evolves. And with such a strong start, I am looking forward to seeing the channel grow.

The launch event was tons of fun. I got to meet Reuben and Bó, Donie (who, as a children’s presenter, I was very impressed with – this guy could be the Irish Justin Fletcher) and almost got to pet a hedgehog before his minder told me he gets a bit bitey. And my girls have been testing out the channel for the last couple of days and have been enjoying it immensely. So congratulations to Sheila DeCourcy, RTÉ’s Cross-Divisional Head of Children’s Content, and all her team on a great launch, a strong schedule, and for giving something really positive to Irish children.

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If you’re in Ireland, you can find RTÉjr on Saorview (Channel 7), UPC (Channel 600) and Sky (Channel 624). For my own shows, you’ll find Fluffy Gardens at 1.15pm and 4.55pm, Planet Cosmo at 9.05am and 1.40pm, Roobarb & Custard Too at 11.05am, Punky at 8.40am and Ballybraddan at 6.15pm. But be sure to check out some of the other excellent Irish content on there too – Beo Show, Garth and Bev, Why Guy and more.

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Tags: animation, Ballybraddan, Fluffy Gardens, Geronimo Productions, Planet Cosmo, Punky, Roobarb, RTÉjr

The first episode of Planet Cosmo aired today. It was supposed to be a very happy day. Yes, the show looked awesome on television and the response so far has been incredible but, truth be told, the day turned out to be a bit of a stinker for a couple of reasons but mostly this – today was the day we got the very sad news of the passing of Richard Briers.

I worked with Richard on Roobarb & Custard Too, the follow-up to the classic 1974 show, Roobarb. It was 2005 and I was directing a television show for the very first time. Taking the place of the legendary Bob Godfrey, I had some pretty massive shoes to fill and I was probably well out of my depth.

How would I possibly direct someone of Richard Briers’ stature?

Well it turns out directing Richard Briers on Roobarb was mostly me just nodding and saying, “Fantastic. Wonderful.” He was amazing. When he stepped into that booth on the first day, I heard Roobarb. 1974 Roobarb. It was like no time had passed. He needed no reminders, just got straight into it and it was beautiful. I was a child again and there were tears in my eyes listening to him. All the old characters were perfect but we had new characters too so he had to handle the narrator and a host of characters, old and new. No problem for Richard. He found voices in minutes and never lost them. So absolutely consistent.

Richard Briers turned Grange Calveley’s wonderful words into music. And he did a mean Richard Burton Mole.

He was a joy to work with. Oh, there was a bit of a surprise at first because I was expecting Tom Good, wellies and all, and, instead, was meeting a rounder man in his early seventies. And there was the odd grumpy moment, but never angry. Mostly just about how something had been photocopied in a way he didn’t particularly appreciate. He always made it funny though, always light and always entertaining and these moments really just served to show how human he was. After all he had done, all he had achieved, after becoming a UK legend, he was really a very regular man, happy with just a cheese and pickle sandwich and the odd glass of wine. No pretentiousness, full of humility.

And so, so easy to work with. This from a man with such incredible talent. A national treasure. International treasure.

I went away from Air Studios in London having had a great life experience and with a bunch of fantastic recordings. All I had to do was put pictures to them. How could I go wrong? Grange Calveley and Richard Briers made my job easy and the result of that is that I was able to go on to make more shows. I was given a chance to learn more, to build expertise, knowledge. Without that experience with Richard Briers and those amazing recordings, I wouldn’t be launching Planet Cosmo today. It just wouldn’t have happened.

Thank you, Richard. For all you gave me, for all you gave Roobarb, all you gave children and adults alike in all your work. You’re truly one of a kind, a talent, a gentleman.

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Tags: animation, Cosmo, Planet Cosmo, Richard Briers, Roobarb, Roobarb and Custard

I’m presenting Cosmo to the Cartoon Forum in Poland this week, to broadcasters, distributors and peers. It’s a pretty big deal. Right now, it feels like everything has been leading to Cosmo. Not just the close to two years of solid development I have put into the show, but the years getting there.

I have been Creative Director of Monster Animation for over 10 years now. In that time, with some incredibly talented colleagues and friends, I built a studio, creating and refining production systems that would work for me and the types of projects I make.

Through commericals, short films all the way to children’s television, leading the creative vision has been a journey. Not always an easy one and it took quite some time for me to really find where that vision was going. Some of the early stuff that we did along the way? It’s not great. The truth is, I didn’t really know where it was all going until I got to direct the 39 episodes of the wonderful Roobarb & Custard Too.

Then I knew. And I created Fluffy Gardens.

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Fluffy Gardens was a whole different experience. That was my show. The words, the look, the feel, production methods. From empty page all the way to television.

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And it worked. Everything came together on that show. I found myself working with some amazing creative talents, each one adding a layer of their own to the show – reminding me that I was not alone. I didn’t do it alone. Every single person on our team brought something wonderful to that show.

I found myself striving to do better. Better quality, better storytelling, better content for children, better systems.

With Ballybraddan, 40 more Fluffy Gardens episodes and then Punky, the methods were put to the test, refined further, streamlined and polished. Meanwhile, I studied children’s television, broke down the shows, dug up the research (and there is a lot of research), looked at what worked and what didn’t and why, questioned, prodded, looked deeper, beyond the accepted wisdom to find real understanding.

All to create a better show. Not just better, a special show. A show that children would love. A show that would be good for those children.

Right now, that show is Cosmo.

Cosmo still has some way to go. It’s going to require people sharing the vision. And, yes, there will be other stories, other shows. There are some simmering away in the background. But, right now, Cosmo is that special show and, if we can make it happen, I think it’s going to be excellent. Of course, I’m biased.

If you’re at the Forum, please do come along to our presentation. I’m hoping it will be fun.

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And to everyone who has worked so hard on Cosmo with me over the last few months, you who delivered above and beyond, who brought brilliance and were striving for excellence every step of the way, who made the whole process a pleasure – thank you. You all rock.

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Tags: animation, business, Cartoon Forum, Children, Cosmo, Fabulopolis, Fluffy Gardens, Punky, Roobarb, writing

With so much talk of what TV can do, both positively and negatively, for children and the amount of work put into messages and making sure that TV content is good for children, you could be forgiven for thinking that I sometimes miss the most important ingredient – engaging children.

I don’t.

Nor should you.

There are a couple of reasons why I don’t talk about engaging children as much as it might seem I should:

a) I take it as a fundamental. If your show doesn’t engage children, you’ve failed. Entertainment, story and great characters are the foundations of any show for me so they’re not optional. They’re a given.

b) Most people in children’s TV are already really good at this. There are shows I love over others and some I’ll criticise but most are very good at engaging children. So, for me, a show may be engaging but that doesn’t make it special on its own – there are a thousand other shows that are also doing that.

And yet engaging our audience is still of utmost importance.

There are many ways to engage children, many ways to draw them to your show and many ways to entertain. For me, some methods are fantastic, others feel a little cheap (the ‘OH MY GOD THERE’S DANGER!’ thing mostly, which works but…) and so it’s not just whether you engage or don’t engage children. The how, why and what they get from it is key.

For me, I love fun.

I like to make children smile. Make them laugh. With FLUFFY GARDENS, it was gentle, relaxed humour. One of my favourite moments comes from the Christmas Special. The penguins go missing. Paolo the Cat discusses this with Wee Reg the Puppy over a cup of tea at Paolo’s house. Very concerned, Paolo says that they should go searching for the penguins. Wee Reg turns to him, enthusiastic, and says, “I’ll look in my house and you look here!” Paolo, in his very matter of fact way, says, “I don’t think that will do it.”

Maybe you had to be there…

Generally, the show gets its fun from exploring the naivity of the little animal characters, along with some silly misunderstandings, pink lederhosen, sending shephard’s pie through the post and plenty of parties.

When we were starting ROOBARB, the very first thing I did was ask creator Grange Calveley what comedy he likes. So we began ROOBARB by watching plenty of Morcombe and Wise. Our laughter while making the show would, in turn, add to the fun of the show for the young audience.

And we did fill that show with fun.

With my new show, COSMO, I’m hoping it’s one they’ll sing along with, jump off the couch and dance around. This is a whole different show to FLUFFY GARDENS. In ways, I consider it my first cartoon.

Fun is something that comes naturally to children. We don’t have to teach it to them. Young children have a natural sense of play and they can use their imagination all by themselves. They could have fun anywhere, even in a tax office – imagine that!

So, in a way, if we make our shows fun for children, we’re sort of giving back what they put out there. Like a flat screen hi-def mirror of smiles. That makes it sound all very fancy but I guess what I mean is my favourite fun for children is fun that engages children on their level. Whimsical, imaginative, but coming from the world around them. Fun they can recognise. Fun they can see in themselves. Fun that comes from the deeply buried children inside us (metaphorical, not a weird surgical oddity).

That’s the fun I love.

And just having fun is my favourite way to engage children.

And adults.

And me.

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Tags: Children, Cosmo, Fluffy Gardens, Roobarb, writing

Today is the birthday of the late, great Roger Hargreaves, creator of the Mr.Men and Little Misses.

We all get nostalgic about the shows from our past. For any of you in the US, you won’t know many of the shows I grew up with. What happened in the UK in the early ’70s was pretty magical.

I feel it was a golden age of children’s television.

We had Paddington Bear, still wonderful to watch today. Classics like Bagpuss. The Flumps – which is still fantastic. The Mr. Men. Clangers. And, of course, Grange Calveley and Bob Godfrey’s wonderful Roobarb.

Pure entertainment. Driven by experimentation, freedom and the spirit of play – just like the children the shows were made for.

Those shows will always have a special place in my heart and I admire and look up to the artists and creative talents involved. By the way, Toonhound is a great site for info on many UK children’s classics.

But those times are gone.

In recent years, we’ve had Barney, who hates parents and wishes them dead. The Teletubbies, who I suspect hate children too. What happened to children’s television?!

Well, actually… my daughter Daisy counted from one to ten in Spanish to me at about age two and a half from watching Dora the Explorer. She has learned from shows like SuperWhy. She has sung with the Wonderpets and danced with the Imagination Movers. She has laughed and laughed at the hilarious and fun Peppa Pig and had her heart warmed by the beautiful and wonderfully-honest Humf. I could keep on listing shows.

And, hey, that Fluffy Gardens show isn’t all that bad either. You know, if nothing else is on.

What makes many of these shows special is that they are not just entertaining, they have a clear educational goal. And those that don’t, especially in the UK shows, really offer a huge amount of fun, yet in honest and totally grounded childlike ways.

So, yes, sometimes I spend a lot of time thinking about what’s wrong with television. Or, importantly, what we can do better (and if we can, we should). But it’s worth taking the time to see that there have been some really good shows recently for younger children.

Perhaps we are living in a whole new golden age of children’s television? Albeit a very different one.

For those of us over this side of the Atlantic, though, no matter how good it gets, it’s hard to think we’ll see the total creativity and experimentation of the UK golden age of children’s shows again any time soon. The spirit of play has become secondary to the need to control. The need to license, exploit. But we’ll still have the inspiration, the history and the shadow of those greats egging us on to do better. Reminding those of us who care, why we’re doing this.

We owe a lot to the likes of Roger Hargreaves and probably always will. I know I certainly will. Happy birthday, Mr.Hargreaves!

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Tags: animation, Children, classics, Roger Hargreaves, Roobarb, writing