Jun 1, 2018

Nick's "Bea and Cad" pilot is just the beginning for these characters

Nickelodeon has released a handful of recently produced pilots and animated shorts. Among the characters that have been well received by online viewers are the adventurous duo from "The Ballad of Bea and Cad," which Nick posted on his Facebook short animation page last Saturday.

See the 4.5 minute pilot here:

The idea was generated by Tim Probert, director of New York commercial producer Aardman Nathan Love (ANL), which produced the short.

ANL CEO and Executive Creative Director Joe Blascano told Cartoon Brew that the project grew out of the relationship that both Probert and the studio had developed with Nick's digital content development team in New York.

The short was not part of a specific short program, but was developed on a special track at Nick's.

Probert and Blascano worked on a full pitch for the concept, and eventually ANL was given permission to produce a full proof of concept and bible. Under Probert's direction, ANL produced the locked animation, layout, and background in-house. They also handled the final compositing and commissioned an original score from Drew Skinner.

The animation for this short, from blocking to color, was produced by Studio La Cachette in Paris. Says Blascano, "From our point of view, we were drawn to their unique style, which perfectly blends Japanese influences with the French animation style."

Between the time the short was conceived and delivered, Nickelodeon's digital content development group in New York was disbanded and its members dispersed to various departments. At this point, the project was turned over to Nickelodeon Animation in Burbank.

Blascano says: "There was a lot of love and interest in the project, especially from James Stevenson, who had just moved to LA (from New York) as Nick's new SVP of Animation & Games. There were many conversations about what this project could be and how it would fit into the Nickelodeon universe, but ultimately we couldn't find a clear path forward on the broad scope of this project. Many formats and possibilities were considered, but the story itself was never actually written, and the road ahead was long and uncertain. Ultimately, for both parties, it made sense to part ways, and the process evolved as it did"

.

Nickelodeon is not moving forward with Bo and Cad at this time, but the character is not going anywhere. Probert currently has a multi-book deal with First Second Books to produce a series of Bo and Cad graphic novels.

"This is something we are all very excited about, not only for the books themselves, but for the time the story has been given to discover itself and develop organically without being rushed," says Blascano. We are all confident that once the story is written, the path to animation will be reopened and we will be able to share a fresh and exciting new journey."