The Bee-Bees (found Italian animated series; 2006)
The Bee-Bees (aka I Bi-Bi), is an Italian preschool animated show created by illustrator Simona Bursi and directed by Pierluigi de Mas, Gianandrea Garola and Guido Orlandi. The show is about a group of surreal creatures in a fantasy world. The main characters are Berry (Baco), Beena (Bina), Blob, and Boo (Bu). They like to gather under the Big Tree each morning. Berry has an antenna that can summon the Blue Wise Man (Blu), an adult figure who teaches morals to the cast. There were 52 episodes running 6 minutes and 30 seconds each.
The show was produced by de Mas & Partners, Rai Fiction and Village Productions. de Mas died during production on May 7th, 2005. The show debuted in September or October 2006 on Rai 2.[1] It was also added to Rai Gulp in April 2008.[2] It was exported to Finland as Pompulat and aired on Yle TV2 in approximately 2008-2010, apparently as part of the Pikku Kakkonen program.[3][4] There is a French version known as Les Bi-Bis. A comment on the French-language website AlWebSite claims the show aired on the OUFtivi block on the Belgian channel La Trois in approximately 2012-2013, and this comment includes the possible lyrics for the show's theme song.[5] A TV schedule for November 9th, 2007 also lists Les Bi-Bis as broadcast on Belgium's RTBF La Deux.[6] There was also news that the show's rights were sold to countries in Europe, as well as North African and Arabic ones.[7]
An English dub is implied to exist, according to the website of the show's distributor Global Screen and the repertoire of British voice actress Joanna Lee.[8]
Its pilot was nominated at the 2005 Cartoons On The Bay festival for Best TV Pilot. The show was nominated at the 2006 Cartoons On The Bay festival for the TV Series for Infants category.
On July 3rd, 2020, the show became available for streaming on RaiPlay under the "CULToons" line, albeit blocking viewers outside of Italy. Prior to that date, no footage of The Bee-Bees was known to be available online or home video.[9] There are screenshots of the show on the Finnish website Elisa Viihde and the Italian cartoon research paper "Forme di cartone".[10] Distribution rights are held by the German distributor Global Screen.
Gallery
External Links
- Italian Wikipedia page on I Bi-Bi. Retrieved 04 Aug '19
- Global Screen page on The Bee-Bees. Retrieved 04 Aug '19
References
- ↑ Cartoni Online - "I BI-BI" Retrieved 04 Aug '19
- ↑ Millecanali - "I cartoni 'de Mas & Partners' al passo con i nuovi media" Retrieved 04 Aug '19
- ↑ Elisa Viihde - "Pikku Kakkonen, 1 Dec '08" Retrieved 04 Aug '19
- ↑ Elisa Viihde - "Pikku Kakkonen, 29 Jan '10" Retrieved 04 Aug '19
- ↑ AlWebSite - Les Bi-Bis Retrieved 21 Dec '19
- ↑ L'Essential, 9 Nov '07" Retrieved 01 Jun '20
- ↑ Film.it - IL MERAVIGLIOSO MONDO DE "I BI-BI" Retrieved 04 Aug '19
- ↑ Voice Over Talent Joanna Lee Retrieved 29 May '20
- ↑ Dal 12 giugno i “CULToon” italiani su Rai Play Retrieved 04 Jul '19
- ↑ Forme di cartone - Osservatorio di Pavia Retrieved 04 Aug '19