An Irish co-production of a reimagined ‘Sabrina the Teenage Witch’ has been picked up by US television network The Hub.
‘Sabrina: Secrets of a Teenage Witch’, an animated series, will be broadcast in the US in 2013, on popular kids station The Hub Network, which is a subsidiary of Discovery Communications and toy company Hasbro Inc.
The series, which is a Telegael co-production, is a reimagining of the long-running series ‘Sabrina the Teenage Witch’, which was based on the popular Archie Comics books.
Melissa Joan Hart originally played teenage witch Sabrina who lived in the mortal realm with her two aunts, who were also witches. The series followed Sabrina as she struggled to hide her magic from her mortal friends, obtain her witches licence and deal with her pet cat Salem, who had been condemned to life as a cat after plotting to take over the world as his former wizard self.
The series ran for seven years, and was first broadcast on ABC in America. Nickelodeon later aired it in the UK and Ireland, with RTÉ Two following suit.
‘Sabrina: Secrets of a Teenage Witch’ is being co-produced by Moonscoop, Archie Comics Publications, Inc, DSK Group India, Laughing Lion (India) and Telegael.
‘High School Musical’ star and ‘Phineas & Ferb’ voice over Ashley Tisdale will voice the new Sabrina, which will be written by ‘That 70s Show’ and ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ scribe Dean Batali. Trevor Wall (Hero:108) will direct the series.
Siobhán Ní Ghadhra, COO of Telegael, said the Galway-based production company is “delighted” to be involved with the animated series. “The character was very popular here when the original series was being broadcast and for Telegael to be involved in the new animated series is a huge honour,” she added.
Jon Goldwater, Co-CEO of Archie Comics, the original creators of ‘Sabrina the Teenage Witch’ said of the revised co-production: “We couldn’t be more thrilled to be working with Telegael and Moonscoop for this exciting new era of ‘Sabrina the Teenage Witch’. Sabrina has had a long and successful history in animation and TV and we are looking forward to continued success with this latest venture.”
Archie Comics is also responsible for a number of successful franchises, including ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ and ‘Sonic X’.
Telegael has previously co-produced popular animations such as ‘Wild Grinders’ and ‘The Woodlies’. The Hub Network airs such kids’ shows as ‘Transformers’, ‘My Little Pony’ and ‘Littlest Pet Shop’, all of which are franchises owned by The Hub’s parent company Hasbro.
‘Sabrina: Secrets of a Teenage Witch’ is expected to air on the channel in 2013.
