Oscar nominated Magic Light Pictures has announced a raft of sales for its Christmas 2018 half hour animated special Zog to major broadcasters across Europe and in Australia and Japan.
Oscar nominated Magic Light Pictures has announced a raft of sales for its Christmas 2018 half hour animated special Zog to major broadcasters across Europe and in Australia and Japan.
Alongside core partner ZDF, Germany, confirmed sales for Zog include: ABC Australia; DR Denmark; MG Alba UK; NOGA Israel; NRK Norway; RTE Ireland; SVT Sweden; Movistar Spain; VPRO Netherlands; RTV Slovenia; NHK Japan; and FTV France. In addition, Zog has also been sold to home entertainment distributors Concorde Germany, Entertainment One UK and AsianA Korea, plus to the theatrical distributors Les Films Du Preau in France.
Zog, a heart-warming, hilarious and action-packed adventure based on the popular book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, premiered on BBC One on Christmas Day and was the fourth-highest rated programme on the day, achieving 8.8m viewers (including repeat). The courageous tale of a keen but accident-prone dragon who gets into all sorts of mischief while at Dragon School, Zog enjoyed the highest share of any programme in the week 24-30 December in the UK [source: Broadcast].
“We are delighted that our lovable dragon Zog and his adventures have caught the imagination of so many broadcasters internationally, and thrilled that he will be entertaining families right around the globe.”
Michael Rose, co-founder of Magic Light
In addition to the film, a bespoke range of consumer products has launched. The range includes fun plush from Aurora; clothing and accessories from FatFace; as well as apparel with long-term direct-to-retail partner Sainsbury’s Tu; dress up from VMC; calendars from teNeues and personalised products from Star Editions, available at www.gruffaloshop.com.
Zog is the latest in a distinguished line of award-winning festive family specials from Magic Light for BBC One and ZDF that have become a Christmas tradition on the channels, including such favourites as The Gruffalo, Room on the Broom, Stick Man and The Highway Rat. A new animation for Christmas 2019, again for BBC One and ZDF, is currently in production. The Snail and the Whale, another delightful tale of adventure and friendship from the award-winning author team of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, follows the amazing journey of a tiny snail who longs to see the world and manages to hitch a ride on the tail of a great humpback whale.
Read UK Screen Alliance Interview with Magic Light Pictures MD Michael Rose
