4Kids Ent. has announced that it will introduce the new animated series TMNT: Back to the Sewer to global broadcasters at this year’s MIPCOM, taking place in October in Cannes, France. The half-hour series is expected to hit the airwaves in 2009, a year that marks the 25th Anniversary of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles brand.
In Back to the Sewer, the turtles return to present-day New York City, but are shell-shocked to find that Master Splinter didn’t make the trip back through time’at least not all in one piece. During the harrowing leap, their beloved Father was digitally decompiled into hundreds of tiny data bits, which were then scattered through the vast nether regions of cyberspace. To save Master Splinter and make him whole again, the Turtles must enter cyberspace and collect all of his lost data bits. Along the way, they encounter various megabyte baddies lurking around every encoded corner.
cITV in the U.K. has already acquired the initial 13 episodes of the series, and 4Kids has also secured broadcast deals with such leading programmers as Alter in Greece, DRTV in Denmark), MTV3 in Finland, Children’s Channel via UCOI in Israel, Indosiar in Indonesia and RTE in Ireland.
Created by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were born in May of 1984 in an independent comic book published and distributed by Mirage Studios. A hit animated TV series and three successful live-action theatrical films followed. In 2003, the property was revived with a new TV series, a theatrically released CG-animated feature film from Imagi and new merchandising program.
For the property’s 25 Anniversary ‘Shell-ebration,’ 4Kids Ent. will be initiating international consumer activities that will include competitions, cross-promotions with licensees, and in-store promotions, displays and meet-and-greets. In London, England, 4Kids will work with the Animation Art Gallery at County Hall to put on an exhibition of the original Turtles comic artwork from creators Laird and Eastman.
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