Building onto Disney’s recent announcements, Disney continues on the growing trend of acquiring new content! The popular world of Zhu Zhu Pets are heading to the small screen in a new series on the Disney Channel.
If you remember the holiday season of 2009 these hamsters were THE massive hit toy. Despite their small scale, the Zhu Zhu Pets made a big impression. Not only were they adorable and travel sized but they also took on characteristics of their living animal counterparts. Offering two modes of play. One in which they coddled and purred, and the other that lead them to explore and interact.
And over the following years Zhu Zhu expanded. And continued to be popular as well as cutely collectible. But over the past couple years the adorable pets have taken a step back. That is until now. Not only are they back, but they have a new chapter before them.
Here is the press release details from WorldScreen:
Corus Entertainment’s Nelvana has licensed the multi-territory broadcast and on-demand rights for the new animated show Polly and the ZhuZhu Pets to Disney Channels Worldwide.
Polly and the ZhuZhu Pets is based on the popular toy line that launched in 2009. The 26×22-minute series is due to debut on Disney Channel in the U.S. on Monday, September 12, followed by Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, CEE, the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa. Corus Entertainment’s Canadian premiere date will be revealed at a later time.
Polly and the ZhuZhu Pets follows the adventures of a group of curious and fun-loving creatures who live with Polly and the Pamplemousse family in Anytown. The show is produced by Nelvana in their Toronto studio. It is executive produced by Scott Dyer, Colin Bohm and Irene Weibel from Nelvana, and Russell Hornsby from Cepia.
“We are excited to partner with Disney to deliver this fresh new series on a global platform,” said Dyer, who serves as president of Nelvana. “Building on the outstanding success of the ZhuZhu brand, we are confident this new series will resonate with audiences around the world.”
Even though there was a feature-length direct to DVD release. There has not been a great deal of fiction woven around the pets. So it does seem like there is not a lot of canon based narrative that could be back-tracked.
The summary in itself is rather vague as there is not a lot of details to be had. Plus there has not been any trailers or teasers so it is challenging to get a good read on what to expect. Needless to say there is a lot of room for speculation.
Just from a glance at the artwork for the series that is release it does look cute. The character designs are adorable and lively. I am almost willing to make the educated guess that the series will likely be Flash animated rather than CGI. But I could be wrong.
Going off the OVA style release from 2011. There is already a good grasp on the character’s personalities and relationships. So the addition of Polly and the members of the Pamplmousse family will be interesting.
This really is a case where I am honestly not sure how to go about analyzing things. There is little to be had. But I must admit that as I first read the press release my mind flashed to Littlest Pet Shop. Likely since is one of the more recent series that centered on a girl and pets.
I am curious to see more about this as well as the show in action. Disney has been really getting more and more animated series on their networks lately. With different themes, tones, art styles and characters. It does look like they are offering something for everyone.
Be sure to tune into the new series, “Polly and the ZhuZhu Pets” Monday, September 12th. For times be sure to check your DVRs or TV guide listings.
Join the conversation: What are you early impressions of “Polly and the ZhuZhu Pets”?
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