MUMBAI: Looking to expand its base in the 6-11 year age group Cartoon Network US has anounced a new programme block Miguzi. This will kick off on 19 April and wil air on weekdays from 5-7 pm with the aim of catching the kids after they return from school.
The new block will be built around a new undersea environment, where kids will find compelling action-adventure programming. Miguzi will also feature live-action segments profiling entertainers, athletes and everyday heroes who are inspirational, unique and talented. The aim of these pieces is to further bridge the gap between real life action-adventure and animation. This means that Toonami will move to Saturday evenings.
Cartoon Network worldwide executive VP, GM Jim Samples was quoted in a company release saying, “This new block conveys an environment that’s both exciting and inclusive, where kids can come each day after school for cutting-edge programming. We’ve acquired some great new series, which we will match with popular Cartoon Network original shows.”
Miguzi is set on an abandoned spaceship buried in the ocean. Each day, The Leviathan, a giant sea monster, transports Erin, the franshise’s host, to the submersed ship. Once inside the spaceship, Erin and the sea creatures all settle in to watch the shows, when the fun begins.
The block will comprise of four shows. The first is Totally Spies . The main characters Sam, Clover and Alex are three ordinary teenagers from Beverly Hills who happen to work for the World Organization of Human Protection (whoop). One moment, these three teens could be shopping at the mall or studying for exams, and the next they are summoned by Jerry, their leader, and dispatched across the globe on a top-secret mission. Code Lyoko tells the adventures of a group of students who are the only ones who know that there is a parallel, virtual world called Lyoko.
The third show is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles . The four turtles – Donatello, Michelangelo, Raphael and Leonardo – use their new skills to battle the evil Shredder and The Foot Clan, his formidable legion of ninja warriors.
Finally the Teen Titans will be led by Robin. This group of five superheroes unites to form a force to protect their teeming, sun-baked city from a new generation of villains while coping with the challenges of adolescence.
Talking about the revised Toonami schedule Samples added, ” We are putting our top action and animé series for the new Toonami block and keeping it fresh each week with premieres. We know that teens hang out together on Saturday nights to watch their favourite shows. So we’re giving them what they’re asking for – a night exclusively dedicated to the coolest action and animé programming.”
One of the new shows that will launch in this slot is Megas XLR. It will premiere on 1 May at 9 pm. When a video-game playing, wrestling fanatic named Coop finds a giant robot in his local New Jersey dump, he does what any other gear-head slacker would do: he soups up the eighty-foot tall robot into a mechanical hot-rod monstrosity named Megas XLR. What he doesn’t count on is being asked to save the Earth from a race of evil aliens from the future.
In December the network will add Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi to its lineup. This follows the adventures of the pop stars as they travel from one gig to the next or hang out in their hometown of Tokyo. The show will also feature live-action segments starring the real life singing duo. Atomic Betty deals with a sweet and brainy girl next door who when the galaxy beckons, sheds her humdrum persona to becomes the title character. A report on the broadcaster’s site states that the show will debut in September.
