Academy Award®-nominated French animation studio Xilam Animation has secured a fresh raft of sales for its CG animated slapstick comedy series Karate Sheep (78 x 7’). Following its worldwide premiere on Netflix in 2023, Xilam has inked new deals with international partners including Warner Bros. Discovery for Cartoon Network (Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Hong Kong), BEIN (Middle East & North Africa), Minika (Turkey), Gulli (France) and Viu TV (Hong Kong, Macau).

Created by Xilam Animation’s Hugo Gittard (Zig & Sharko, Mr Magoo) the series targets kids aged 6-9 years and follows Trico – an enthusiastic sheep who loves to share new objects and ideas with the rest of the flock. This causes ruckus in the mountain pastures, which inevitably ends up at Wanda’s expense, a tough ewe whose job is to keep the sheep safe. No small feat, especially when Wolf is always lurking, waiting to make the most of this newfound chaos.

The series was co-commissioned by Netflix and Super RTL in Germany, premiering on Netflix in 2023 and Super RTL in late 2022. Xilam holds second-window global linear TV distribution and merchandising rights for Karate Sheep.

Safaa Benazzouz, EVP Distribution at Xilam Animation, said: “Karate Sheep has quickly established itself as a strong new slapstick comedy title in our library – which is a tentpole genre for our company that continues to appeal to broadcasters and audiences around the world. The series’ humorous and heartfelt nature, combined with universal themes of companionship and working together, make it comforting viewing for the whole family, and we’re sure these new global viewers will be charmed by the many adventures of Trico and his flock.”

These latest wave of broadcasters join existing partners for Karate Sheep, including Warner Bros. Discovery (Italy), Sony Yay! (India), Youku (China), Nova TV (Czech Republic), and Etisalat (United Arab Emirates).