Almost all 90s kids have grown up watching Tom and Jerry and Road Runner. The reason that these shows have been watched most widely around the world is their universal appeal. Two contrasting characters with equally interesting personalities always make up for a hit show. Taking this trend forward is HopMotion Animation’s first original IP Kuku Mey Mey.
Kuku Mey Mey is a 2D animation show, about a lion (Kuku) who seems to have lost his inner wild and a goat (Mey Mey) who seems to have found her inner watch dog. “When these two clash they give wildlife a whole new spin,” says HopMotion founder and CEO Anish Patel.
The synopsis goes like this: On the edge of the wildlife sanctuary that is Kuku’s home, is a famous Jungle Inn. This is Kuku’s hunting ground and the comforts of the Jungle Inn are big game. All Kuku wants to do is sneak into the inn and steal the modern day comforts it has to offer. Meanwhile, the territorial Mey Mey will go to any lengths to stop Kuku from trespassing. Her notorious booby traps are set at every corner to do the trick and embarrass the beast out of Kuku. The result is a chaos laden chase comedy that turns the tables on predator and prey.
“We wanted to create something that would be universal which would enable us to reach the widest audience possible around the globe,” explains Patel. “We’ve all grown up with animal tales and tales of the jungle. The idea of a role reversal between predator and prey stuck with us. A lion in a wildlife sanctuary that has lost his inner wild competing with a feisty goat, an animal normally at the bottom of the food chain sounded hilarious and we knew would make a fun slapstick chase comedy show.”
The show is done entirely following a digital 2D pipeline on Toon Boom Harmony and the classic 2D style “has helped us strengthen the story premise and humour of the show,” shares he.
The first season of the show has 78 episodes of seven minutes each and is available on North America’s OTT platform Toon Goggles and VOD platform Amazon Prime US, under the title Kuku and the Goat.
“The high-quality of animation and great storytelling of Kuku and the Goat caught our eye and we knew right away that the show would be a great addition to the Toon Goggles family,” reveals Toon Goggles CCO Lee Adams. The platform has series from all over the globe – India, UK, France, South America, Korea, China, Turkey and many more countries – with something appealing for everyone.
“They (team HopMotion) have been stellar to work with,” Adams explains, “taking their initial animation and confirming it to our Toon Goggles format. Our viewers have embraced their series and we can’t wait to receive more episodes!”
“We carefully select our content and make sure it compliments each other to give the content holders the maximum exposure and revenue,” he further explains. “We hope to welcome many projects like Kuku and the Goat to Toon Goggles in the future.”
Kuku Mey Mey was recently nominated at the FICCI BAF Awards 2018 under the best animated episode (Indian) category. “It was very encouraging for us,” says a buoyant Patel. “It was a big pat on the back for the entire team at HopMotion and it only reinforced our belief that we are on the right track. With that we are super excited to share the first look of our show in India.”
Kuku Mey Mey is directed by Anish Patel, written by Carmen Zainabadi with music by Gigi Meroni. Audiences in India will have to wait a bit longer to watch the show, as the team is “still in talks to find the right digital and television partners for the show,” reveals Patel.
