RTÉ is set to release its pre-school animation show ‘Fluffy Gardens’ on DVD this week, containing both Irish and English language versions of 10 episodes of the series.
The Irish-created show, written and directed by Jason Tammemagi, is screened on RTÉ Two’s ‘Den Tots’ strand. The broadcaster now plans to air each episode twice daily from September onwards, narrated in English in the morning, with the Irish language version following in the afternoon.
‘Fluffy Garden’s’ features simple, easy-to-understand stories and scenarios with a cast of local and exotic animals, and reflects notions of community and culture that are both Irish and global in nature.
“Use of the Irish language is integrated into our Young People’s programming on an ongoing basis,” says RTE young people’s commissioning editor Sheila DeCourcy. “However ‘Fluffy Gardens’ provides us with an Irish made, culturally rooted animated story-telling series for young viewers, which they can now watch in both Irish and English. This approach offers a new diversity to our young audience, and is one which we hope to expand in the future.”
‘Fluffy Garden’s’ has already aired in Australia, where it ranks third in its age group across all channels, and has just launched on the Cartoon Network in the UK and on the Discovery Kids network across Latin America.
The RTÉ commissioned series, produced by Monster Animation, will soon air in France, Norway, Sweden, Slovenia and Israel. The English language version is narrated by Michael Maloney (Babel, Notes on a Scandal) with the Irish language version narrated by Macdara Ō Fátharta.
Financiers of the series include The Irish Film Board, Sound & Vision Fund and Section 481 Tax Incentive.
‘Fluffy Gardens’ is on nationwide release from 14th September in all good retail DVD and toy stores.
