BAFTA-winning and EMMY nominated children’s television creators and producers Sixteen South Originals unleashed the trailer and first episode of its hilarious new comedy series The Coop Troop (52 x 11’) at the ongoing Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France. The series is set to debut on France télévisions and Tencent Video in 2023 and has been produced in Northern Ireland and France.
A co-production with Mikros Animation IP (formerly Technicolor Animation Productions) along with France télévisions in France and Tencent Video in China, The Coop Troop was co-created by Colin Williams of Sixteen South and the children’s author and illustrator Alex T. Smith. Funny, fast, farcical, and feathery, The Coop Troop is Sixteen South’s first show for an older age group (five to nine) and is its first CGI animated series.
It features the entertaining exploits of a gang of five unlikely heroes: hyperactive rabbit Maggie, eccentric inventor Flo the chicken, bon vivant swine Clive, excitable lamb Billy and enigmatic egg, Jo d’Oeuf. Thirsty for adventure to escape their mundane farm life, The Coop Troop’s mission is to help any animal with a problem – and they’re kept very busy by the precious, pampered pets of neighbouring town, Animauville.
When their red telephone rings, somebody needs help, so the Troop set off in their ingeniously – if haphazardly – modified chicken Coop to provide it. No matter how simple the problem, The Coop Troop will always come up with a way to solve it – usually in the most roundabout, over-the-top way possible, resulting in an escalating comedy of ridiculous events as each mission snowballs out of control. As they frantically try to get things back on track they attract more chaos at every turn – but with The Coop Troop, satisfaction is always (eventually) guaranteed!
“We can’t wait to introduce the audience at Annecy to our motley group of furry, feathery and woolly rescuers. The Coop Troop is our retro homage to classic TV series of the 70s and 80s like The A-Team and we are very excited to hear what viewers make of it,” said Sixteen South creative director Colin Williams.
“We’ve had great fun collaborating with Sixteen South and Tencent on this wildly funny and appealing series. Our bunch of heroes shows how you can solve any problem with friendship and teamwork, which is a great message for today’s kids and one that we hope will resonate across the world,” said Mikros Animation episodic and IP SVP Sandrine Nguyen.
“France télévisions is proud to introduce this wild bunch to the Annecy audience. We hope that viewers will enjoy their positive attitude, crazy humour, and ridiculous exploits as much as our audience of six- to nine-year-old girls and boys is going to,” said Animation Youth and Education director Pierre Siracusa.
“International co-production is an important part of Tencent Video’s strategy on kids originals and we are thrilled with the results of our partnership with Sixteen South. The Coop Troop will not only hugely entertain our audience, but also show how with friendship and teamwork you can solve any problem. We can’t wait to introduce it to the world at Annecy,” said Tencent Video Kids’ IP development & programming center director Selina She.
The Coop Troop is produced by Sixteen South Originals and Mikros Animation IP, created by Colin Williams and Alex T. Smith, Literary Bible by Colin Wiliams, Amy Serafin & Peter Saisselin, Graphic Bible by Alex T.Smith & David Fauré and directed by Christelle Naga. Sixteen South Rights is managing the global distribution rights for the series outside of France and China. The Coop Troop has received funding from the UK Global Screen Fund – financed by the UK government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and administered by the BFI, Northern Ireland Screen, Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image Animée (CNC) and Région Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur.