) which is a childrens show with a main target audience of kids under 10. i was wondering if anyone could help with some pointers or guidelines to note when making such shows or even reference to any helpful site or material.tips for making successful childrens cartoon
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tips for making successful childrens cartoon
hi everyone. im about to start a project in july (thank god after the world cup ) which is a childrens show with a main target audience of kids under 10. i was wondering if anyone could help with some pointers or guidelines to note when making such shows or even reference to any helpful site or material.
) which is a childrens show with a main target audience of kids under 10. i was wondering if anyone could help with some pointers or guidelines to note when making such shows or even reference to any helpful site or material.
Last edited by xothermik on Mon Jun 07, 2010 12:01 am, edited 1 time in total.
I would suggest talking to relatives or friends (with their permission of course 
) who have kids, to find out what they would like to see in an animated program. You may want to buy or rent a bunch of shows in different styles, in that demographic to get an idea of what is popular with kids these days.
Don't assume children are stupid either. They are smart as freaking heck and pick up on things you would never expect.
I found that my young nephews LOVE catch phrases (they are both in the age group you are targeting). One in particular just goes berzerk over catch phrases. Something funny that a character repeats as a sort of personality trait.
All I have to do is repeat some well known phrase from a character in one his favorite movies or TV shows and he will fall over laughing and repeat it all day.
-vern
) who have kids, to find out what they would like to see in an animated program. You may want to buy or rent a bunch of shows in different styles, in that demographic to get an idea of what is popular with kids these days.Don't assume children are stupid either. They are smart as freaking heck and pick up on things you would never expect.
I found that my young nephews LOVE catch phrases (they are both in the age group you are targeting). One in particular just goes berzerk over catch phrases. Something funny that a character repeats as a sort of personality trait.
All I have to do is repeat some well known phrase from a character in one his favorite movies or TV shows and he will fall over laughing and repeat it all day.
-vern
OK, here's my two pennies. You actually have two audience sectors -- the kids, and their parents/guardians/teachers. So, if you can include some kind of educational content - however small - these people would probably be much more willing to purchase/subscribe to whatever it is, or allow their charges to view it.
Kids are also more likely to return to your site if you can offer some interactivity in your presentations. AS can't help here -- you almost certainly will have to learn Flash to present games, quizzes and suchlike.
Finally, content really IS king. And as vern mentioned elsewhere recently, don't start a commercial site unless you are 100% committed to it, and can refresh, maintain and add to it on a regular basis.
Kids are also more likely to return to your site if you can offer some interactivity in your presentations. AS can't help here -- you almost certainly will have to learn Flash to present games, quizzes and suchlike.
Finally, content really IS king. And as vern mentioned elsewhere recently, don't start a commercial site unless you are 100% committed to it, and can refresh, maintain and add to it on a regular basis.
You can't have everything. Where would you put it?
The second page of this pdf might be useful. It's a list of content suggestions from the aniboom sesame street competition:
http://icons.aniboom.com/Competitions/a ... DS2010.pdf
http://icons.aniboom.com/Competitions/a ... DS2010.pdf
Hello all!
I agree with Vern and Janocli here.
Make something the parents will like, parents, atleast in my surroundings, choose carefully what their kids watch on tv.
I also have a nephew story, where the ^@@%#^$%@#! 9 years old tried to hack my system, uncle Gille thought him too well!
Do something you like, have fun doing it.
Try to remember you as a kid, try to remember what cartoons you liked and why, the mechanism that makes children laugh have not changed much over time, it just got a little fancier since kids are a little more sensitive to their surroundings then they used to.
Do something you like, have fun doing it.
Do 2 or 3 short run of you project, very basic, with diffrent approach and punch lines, have the children around you watch them, seen what make them tick, record them in synch with your shots (with parent permissions as they tend to be over protective with kids around that age, which is a good thing of course) so you see exactly when and how they react and to what part of your shorts.
Watch your classics, Bugs Bunny and Will Coyote still make kids laugh, those we're genius cartoons.
See what's new on the market, see we're it is and where it is going.
My nephew and nieces we're my guinea pigs for many years, we all have great memories of all the silly things I ve showed them.
Do something you like, have fun doing it.
G
I agree with Vern and Janocli here.
Make something the parents will like, parents, atleast in my surroundings, choose carefully what their kids watch on tv.
I also have a nephew story, where the ^@@%#^$%@#! 9 years old tried to hack my system, uncle Gille thought him too well!
Do something you like, have fun doing it.
Try to remember you as a kid, try to remember what cartoons you liked and why, the mechanism that makes children laugh have not changed much over time, it just got a little fancier since kids are a little more sensitive to their surroundings then they used to.
Do something you like, have fun doing it.
Do 2 or 3 short run of you project, very basic, with diffrent approach and punch lines, have the children around you watch them, seen what make them tick, record them in synch with your shots (with parent permissions as they tend to be over protective with kids around that age, which is a good thing of course) so you see exactly when and how they react and to what part of your shorts.
Watch your classics, Bugs Bunny and Will Coyote still make kids laugh, those we're genius cartoons.
See what's new on the market, see we're it is and where it is going.
My nephew and nieces we're my guinea pigs for many years, we all have great memories of all the silly things I ve showed them.
Do something you like, have fun doing it.
G
As an addition, the younger the age group, the easier it is to sell to broadcasters/DVD resellers - basically this is because preschool has a larger audience: As the television day progresses, the available slots dramatically reduce. So by 4:30, there are only a few children's slots available, and they are reserved for older kids, who are very demanding in what they want.
Besides the television market, parents buy more dvd's fro their preschools, to keep the little blighters quiet (or at least occupied) for a while.
So basically, the pre-school market is a great place to start - good chance of sales. And the stories are simpler, technically less demanding on the production house etc.
Rhoel
Besides the television market, parents buy more dvd's fro their preschools, to keep the little blighters quiet (or at least occupied) for a while.
So basically, the pre-school market is a great place to start - good chance of sales. And the stories are simpler, technically less demanding on the production house etc.
Rhoel
Just look at Dora the explorer, Curious George, George Shrink etc...Rhoel wrote:So basically, the pre-school market is a great place to start - good chance of sales. And the stories are simpler, technically less demanding on the production house etc.
Check this site for figures on DVD sales, you will see that even old movies, like Cinderella, are still making quite a few bucks in dvd sales.
On this chart, you will see that an old Dora the explorer film made $388,501 in the Week Ending Apr 18, 2010, that was 325 weeks after it's initial release.
As long as those are distributed, they are usualy making money, meaning that your production could make you a living for the next 20 years, interesting isnt it
G
So basically, the pre-school market is a great place to start - good chance of sales. And the stories are simpler, technically less demanding on the production house etc.
i thought i replied this earlier, anyway i agree with ur points pre school are technically less demanding since we are actually testing the waters and a collosal piracy problem in a country with little or no indeginous child cartoons there is a significant risk and perhaps doing a pre school show will be the smart thing to do as there's less to loose.
@GCharb
great point about using guinea pigs
with variations of your show to access their responses. will give it a shot once its ready. also you tubed dora the explorer and went "oh that cartoon, thats what its called" only caught it in the middle a couple of times and remember thinking how quite educative and intresting it was even for me.thanks guys anyone who has any more pointers or thinks of any can still add.
Get ASP7 update, I know it sounds like I am selling ASP here but I am not, believe me, I have many grips with it, but it seems to have solved ASP 6 speed problem, has multicore rendering, much much faster on multicore systems, and has better file handling which is an absolute must for any type of production, makes life tons easier.xothermik wrote:thanks guys anyone who has any more pointers or thinks of any can still add.
G