Cartoon SuperTed set for new animation series

He was the teddy bear with magic powers who was a cartoon favourite among royal princes and a generation of children – and now SuperTed is being brought back to life once again.

More than 35 years since his last show, his creators are set to sprinkle magic dust over SuperTed again and recreate him for a new audience.

Work on new episodes is expected to start later this year.

It is hoped SuperTed will be back on TV screens by 2023.

His return will be the latest cartoon comeback.

Fireman Sam, Thomas The Tank Engine, the Care Bears, My Little Pony, Scooby Doo, Postman Pat and the Clangers have all been reinvented for 21st Century children.

SuperTed – whose most famous fans were the dukes of Cambridge and Sussex – was created by a stepfather trying to help a four-year-old sleep, who was inadvertently helped by the Beatles.

The teddy bear – powered by Spotty’s cosmic dust and Mother Nature’s special powers – was beamed to 128 different countries and dubbed into 32 different languages before the last episode in 1986.

“The plan is to relaunch SuperTed and bring him back into 11-minute episodes,” said Mike Young, now a Hollywood-based Emmy and Bafta award-winning animator who runs an entertainment production company.

“We’d have to pitch to Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max and the big guys because you’re looking at an investment of about $11m (£7.9m) for a full series in CGI.”

“Every parent has probably been there, trying to get a toddler to bed,” recalls Mike.

SuperTed was the first show broadcast on Welsh language television channel S4C on its first day of transmission in November 1982.

English language episodes were then made for the BBC – but little did anyone know this was a cartoon fit for a future king.

‘The new SuperTed will be differen

SuperTed appeared on the 1985 Children in Need show with Spotty

Splash Entertainment has made 42 cartoon series and 25 films since being formed 30 years ago.

“No matter what I’ve made since, whenever I promote something new people always just want to talk to me about SuperTed,” said Mike, 75.

“But SuperTed is the cartoon that made me and gave me the life I have and I want to bring him back.

“From start to finish, creating a cartoon series from scratch is a two-year process. I’m running out of time as I’ve got to think about retiring at some stage.

“SuperTed will have to be a little bit different as there’s things you could do and say in cartoons 40 years ago that isn’t acceptable to today’s audiences so we’ll have to move with the times and it’ll be updated.”

SuperTed’s rights were split in the 1980s but Mike has said his company have just one production house to negotiate with before Splash “kick it into production later this year”.

Source: By Peter Shuttleworth/BBC News