EXCLUSIVE: Producers Kenn Viselman (Teletubbies) and Brooklyn Weaver (Extant) have acquired all the rights for the western hemisphere of animated series Moonzy & Moona. This includes all mediums of the pre-existing IP which spans the rights to develop original films, series, books, NFTs and merchandising.
The deal comes at a time when the Cyprus-originated Moonzy & Moona is entwined in the crosshairs of Vladimir Putin’s war because its animation studio is based in Moscow, and several of its key animators in the Ukraine. Viselman and Weaver’s deal for the IP extends also to Australia, Asia and several countries in Europe.
Further compounding the matter, the multi-Oscar nominated filmmaker Konstantin Bronzit, who is also the director of the Moonzy & Moona series, has signed a scathing anti-war petition along with over a thousand top Russian entertainment figures associated with the Russian Animation Film Association, all of whom were reportedly deemed enemies of the state by Putin.
Moonzy & Moona has clocked 10 billion YouTube views, 700M of those stateside. Moonzy arguably sits alongside such kid brands as Peppa the Pig and Paw Patrol, and centers around a beloved moonchild who has come to Earth to share moonbeams and moondust (or as earthlings call it “love”). The series is known for its family and unification themes.
Bronzit’s short animated movies, Lavatory Lovestory and We Can’t Live Without Cosmos, were respectively nominated for Oscars in 2009 and 2015.