The heroic firefighters of Pontypandy and the micro-sized residents of Littleton will return for more action beginning next summer.
Mattel Television and WildBrain greenlit the 13th season of Fireman Sam, alongside the third season of Polly Pocket. Production on the new batch of animated episodes is underway at WildBrain’s studio in Vancouver. Fireman Sam will premiere next June with 26 all-new 10-minute episodes. Polly Pocket, based on the original micro-scale doll brand, will return in May with 13 new 22-minute episodes.
“At Mattel Television, we are focused on producing compelling episodic content based on our iconic franchises,” says Alex Godfrey, senior director, content distribution, Mattel. “Polly Pocket and Fireman Sam both have a significant fan base, and WildBrain continues to be a fantastic production and distribution partner, enabling us to bring these popular shows to a broad global audience.”
The new seasons are being developed as part of an ongoing multi-year, co-development, production, distribution, and licensing pact between Mattel and WildBrain.
“Fireman Sam and Polly Pocket are treasured brands from Mattel that have each found devoted fans around the world with new generations of kids,” says Caroline Tyre, vice president of global sales and rights strategy, WildBrain. “We’re looking forward to teaming up with Mattel Television to create more Sam and Polly adventures to share with families through our valued broadcast and streaming partners.”
WildBrain inked new broadcast and streaming deals for both series across a variety of global territories and platforms.
Fireman Sam
- Season 11 has been picked up by Netflix for the U.S., Canada, UK, Ireland, Central Eastern Europe, France, Italy, Netherlands, Benelux, Australia, and New Zealand; and also by Hopster for the U.S., Canada, the UK, Ireland, Europe, Oceania, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and D.O.M.-T.O.M.
- Season 11 has been licensed to Disney Channel (India), MediaPlex (Thailand), and ICI.Tou.tvExtra (SRC) (Canada).
- Previous partners taking season 11 include Milkshake! (UK), British Telecom (UK), RTE (Ireland), Canal+ (France), VTM Kids (Belgium), Antena 3 (Spain), RSI (Switzerland), MiniMini+ (Poland), Puls 2 (Poland), MTVA (Hungary), Pixel TV (Ukraine), Carousel (Russia), Minimax (Eastern Europe), Showmax (Africa), and English Gem (South Korea).
- Both seasons 11 and 12 of “Fireman Sam,” as well as an hour-long special titled “Norman Price and the Mystery in the Sky,” have been picked up by France Télévisions (France), KIKA (Germany), Cartoonito (Italy & UK), Canal Panda (Portugal), RTL Telekids (Netherlands), NRK (Norway), MiniMini+ (Poland), HOP! Channel (Israel), and ABC (Australia).
- Justbridge (Germany) has secured theatrical and DVD rights to season 12 and the special.
In the U.S., season 11 is also available on the AVOD streaming platforms including XUMO, Pluto TV, and The Roku Channel.
Polly Pocket
- Season two has been picked up by Netflix for the U.S., Italy, LatAm, Canada, UKIE, Australia, France, Belgium, Russia, Greece, Africa, Netherlands, New Zealand, and Poland.
- Additional partners taking season two include SuperRTL (Germany), Antena 3 (Spain), and Gulli (France, Russia, and French Africa).
- Seasons two and three have both been picked up by Discovery Kids (LatAm), MiniMini+ (Poland), and TVNZ OnDemand (New Zealand).