My son, Christopher, was about two at the time, sitting quietly in his car seat in the back watching the traffic, when suddenly a motorbike zoomed past between all the stationary cars. Christopher started kicking his feet, smiling and pointing excitedly at the bike, and that happened several times as more motorbikes roared past. I looked back at him and thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if a show could put that look on lots of preschoolers’ faces every day!’
Time to ZOOM! Announcing Season 2 launch of ‘Ricky Zoom’!
TIME TO ZOOM as Ricky Zoom season 2 launches tomorrow in the UK on Nick Jr UK, on Channel 9 in Australia and on TVNZ in New Zealand. More territory and channel launches coming soon! Shout out to our broadcasters, Louise Bucknole and the wonderful team at eOne, Olivier Dumont, Esra Cafra, Pete Kellond, Joanne Jordan and Debbie Walker – to name but a few. To our head writer Doug Sinclair – you rock! And the amazing crew at Frogbox – especially Romain Villemaine, Jade Hautin, Angelique Helvadjian. And last but not least, our superb animation partners at TeamTo and Maga Animation Studios. Thank you ALL for making a show creator’s dream a big cool zoomtastic reality!
April 20, 2021
eONE renews‘Ricky Zoom' for Season 2
Ricky Zoom has zoomed onto the global market since its initial TV launch last year.
A second season for the Entertainment One (eOne) series is in production and will begin airing as early as this November.
“We are so proud of Ricky Zoom and its success to date,” says Olivier Dumont, president of family and brands at eOne. “It is premium original content produced by the very best talent and our strong roster of international broadcasters has super-charged the series to a high level of awareness around the world. We are very excited for the potential to explore even more ground in the second season. There are so many more stories to tell that will deepen the connection between the characters and our audience and we look forward to bringing them all-new adventures.”
The announcement comes ahead of the spring debut of TOMY’s toy line based on the preschool series. The toy launch will be followed by a limited range of additional consumer products, including publishing, puzzles and games, crafts, apparel, and accessories planned through 2021.
Ricky Zoom, along with PJ Masks and Peppa Pig, is among the properties that recently joined Hasbro through a major acquisition that brought eOne together with the Rhode Island-based toy and entertainment company last year.
Buckle up as eOne launches its new vehicle-centric animated series Ricky Zoom.
By Elizabeth Foster
Entertainment One’s new CGI-animated preschool series Ricky Zoom is in the fast lane, speeding directly onto TV screens and toy shelves.
The 52 x 11-minute series is set to debut in spring/summer 2019 with Gulli (France), Discovery Kids (LatAm) and RAI (Italy). The show blends action and comedy as it follows Ricky Zoom, a spunky red motorbike, on adventures with family and friends in Wheelford, a town tailor-made for bikes.
“There are quite a few vehicle shows out there, so I wanted to make sure we had something that would feel unique,” says eOne president of family and brands Olivier Dumont.
“We didn’t want a show about racing, or anything that confined the bikes to a track. We really wanted something about daily life stories that will resonate with our audience; stories about growing up and the family unit.”
Dumont says the scope of the show is a significant step up compared to past projects as its stories follow not just Ricky but the entire Wheelford community, including his parents and sister, his three best friends and their families. Parisian prodco TeamTO—which has previously partnered with eOne on PJ Masks—developed the world of Ricky Zoom. The first season explores themes of practicing skills, supporting friends, spending time with family and overcoming fears.
“It’s a very rich world, a vast world with quite a few characters,” Dumont says.
Turning to the toy shelf, eOne named TOMY as master toy partner for the property. The initial consumer products program is set to launch in fall 2019 and will focus on toys and publishing. eOne plans to expand the consumer products program with apparel, which is set to hit shelves shortly after the CP soft launch.
“It’s obvious that they’re bikes and therefore have commercial potential,” Dumont says. But rather than relying on the natural translation to vehicle play, he says the team’s focus was on building out the emotional core of the show in an effort to create storylines that could inspire products across all major categories.
“All of the craft has gone into making sure the stories are really strong so that kids and parents will fall in love with the characters,” Dumont says. The hope is that once kids connect with the characters, they’ll want to engage with them through everything from home décor to digital games. This will allow eOne to build out a balanced consumer products program, instead of one that relies disproportionately on vehicle SKUs.
That focus on storytelling and character development is in keeping with eOne’s other animated preschool properties, PJ Masks and Peppa Pig, Dumont says.
“We’ve never had a vehicle show before, but it’s quite typical of an eOne show because we are taking such an emotional angle. The characters aren’t perfect and that gives rise to great stories because they have to overcome their flaws. It’s our interpretation of a vehicle show.
eOne Speeds to BLE & MIPCOM with All-New ‘Ricky Zoom’
Second deck
By Mercedes Milligan
Entertainment One (eOne) is putting some gas in its preschool properties tank with the addition of new animated TV series Ricky Zoom, which it will showcase at the Brand Licensing Europe and MIPCOM markets this fall. The show is a new CG-animated action comedy from the producers of PJ Masks.
Synopsis: Ricky Zoom follows the adventures of Ricky, a little red motorbike with a zest for speed. The show is all about friendship, family and learning to stand on your own two wheels. A born leader, Ricky is joined by an enthusiastic group of young bikes, Scootio, Loop and DJ, who live in Wheelford, a town tailor-made for bikes because here, the bikes are the people! Life with Ricky Zoom and his friends is always full of fun, comedy and excitement.
The property debuted at Annecy this year, and has already attracted broadcasters including Gulli (France), RAI (Italy) and Discovery Kids (Latin America), with a planned spring/summer 2019 premiere. eOne is now assembling the consumer products program, and recently appointed TOMY International as global master toy partner, with products to launch starting autumn/winter 2019.
“We are honored and excited to have been chosen as global master toy partner for Ricky Zoom,” said Peter Henseler, President of TOMY International. “The content is highly original and lends itself perfectly to creative, character-driven toy design. Our global team is building out an innovative product portfolio designed to bring all the excitement, , 2018dventure and fun that Ricky Zoom and his Bike Buddies experience in the show to life for kids around the world.”
eOne’s Olivier Dumont, President, Family & Brands said, “Ricky Zoom is part of our strategic focus to build properties around prime original content produced by the very best talent in the business and the reaction to the show so far has been incredible. Securing TOMY as global master toy partner and top tier broadcasters at this stage demonstrates the confidence that people have in Ricky Zoom and we look forward to meeting partners at key trade shows that can harness the potential of the property and bring it to a global audience.”
Make Room for Ricky Zoom, Entertainment One is Excited To Reveal Brand New Preschool Property
eOne Secures TOMY International as Global Master Toy Partner and Strong Line Up of Broadcast Partners for its New Animated Series Set to Air From Spring/Summer 2019
Entertainment One (eOne) is strengthening its slate of preschool properties with the addition of new preschool animated TV series, Ricky Zoom, which will be showcased at this year’s Brand Licensing Europe and MIPCOM.
From the producers of PJ Masks, Ricky Zoom is a CGI action comedy adventure series that follows the adventures of Ricky, a little red motorbike with a zest for speed. The show is all about friendship, family and learning to stand on your own two wheels. A born leader, Ricky is joined by an enthusiastic group of young bikes, Scootio, Loop and DJ, who live in Wheelford, a town tailor-made for bikes because here, the bikes are the people! Life with Ricky Zoom and his friends is always full of fun, comedy and excitement.
Ricky Zoom debuted at Annecy International Animation Film Festival earlier this year and broadcasters are lining up to air the show across multiple territories with Gulli in France, RAI in Italy and Discovery Kids in Latin America already on board, the first series set to premiere from spring/summer 2019. Building on the solid broadcast platform, eOne is now assembling the consumer products programme and has recently appointed leading children’s toy manufacturer, TOMY International, as global master toy partner with products set to launch from autumn/winter 2019.
“We are honoured and excited to have been chosen as global master toy partner for Ricky Zoom,” states Peter Henseler, President of TOMY International. “The content is highly original and lends itself perfectly to creative, character-driven toy design. Our global team is building out an innovative product portfolio designed to bring all the excitement, adventure and fun that Ricky Zoom and his Bike Buddies experience in the show to life for kids around the world.”
eOne’s Olivier Dumont, President, Family & Brands said, “Ricky Zoom is part of our strategic focus to build properties around prime original content produced by the very best talent in the business and the reaction to the show so far has been incredible. Securing TOMY as global master toy partner and top tier broadcasters at this stage demonstrates the confidence that people have in Ricky Zoom and we look forward to meeting partners at key trade shows that can harness the potential of the property and bring it to a global audience.”
