The creative team behind the children’s animated series Mimi and Líza is readying a new series called The Websters. Mimi and Líza is aimed at pre-school and primary-school children, and follows the adventures of two friends, one of whom is blind. It is currently being distributed in French theatres by Cinéma Public Films and has also been bought by Czech public broadcaster Czech Television. The series was originally shown by the Slovakian public broadcaster, which is co-producing The Websters along with Warsaw’s Studio Miniatur Filmowych. 

Slovakian director, screenwriter and illustrator Katarína Kerekesová came up with the idea of making a 3D, animated sitcom about a family of spiders and their household, as seen through the eyes of a six-year-old girl spider called Lili. “The web is a metaphor for relationships and processes, and therefore for family and friends. The spiders’ world should hold a mirror up to the human world,” explains Kerekesová, who is producing the project via her outfit, Fool Moon. The Websters will feature 13 episodes, each running for 11 minutes, and the first seven instalments are scheduled to premiere next year, with the series expected to be finished in 2019. The target audience is children from five to eight years old, along with their parents.

The project received financial support from Creative Europe – Media TV Programming as the only animated project in Central and Eastern Europe, and is the first ever Slovakian project to receive such backing. “It is a very positive message for the support itself, but also represents a seal of approval of the project’s quality,” says Kerekesová. “For this success, we are thankful to our previous work, Mimi and Líza, and the support provided by Radio and Television Slovakia and the Audiovisual Fund. The series was backed by the Polish Film Institute on the Polish side. We would probably not have got the support without the input from our partners,” concludes the producer. French sales agent Planet Nemo Animation, which handles Mimi and Líza, has already shown an interest in The Websters.