By Gary Symons
TLL Editor in Chief
Anyone who has followed the rampant success of ZAG’s hugely popular superhero series Miraculous: A Tale of Ladybug and Cat Noir will know why it’s a big deal when ZAG gets a new series on the Disney Channels around the world.
Miraculous only aired for the first time in 2015 and has notched four seasons, but this year ZAG announced the series has done more than $1 billion in sales, including consumer products.
Now, the award-winning independent animation studio has licensed its action-comedy series Ghostforce to Disney Channels U.S.
Created and produced by Jeremy Zag, the supernatural series for kids ages 6–10 follows three junior-high school students who form a secret team to defend their city from the ghastly ghouls haunting it; sort of a junior version of Ghostbusters. Ghostforce will premiered Oct. 4 on Disney XD, with new episodes debuting weekdays at 7.30 p.m. EDT through Oct. 15.
Disney Channels has licensed 52 11-minute episodes of Ghostforcefor North America, Japan and India, adding to the existing deals with Disney Channel EMEA, Russia and the Middle East. Ghostforce had its world premiere in France on TF1 on Aug. 28, 2021; and Disney Channel has already debuted the series in Germany and Israel, with additional territories rolling out this fall.
“Disney is the ideal home for our newest series, Ghostforce, that will be enjoyed by boys and girls alike,” said CEO and founder Jeremy Zag. “We are so grateful to all of our partners—TF1, Disney Channel, and Playmates—for helping us bring this original new series to life. Ghostforce had a spectacular debut on TF1 in France with an audience share of over 35% and is already resonating with kids as we are seeing tons of activity increasing across social media channels.”
The series features main characters LIV, ANDY and MIKE; three junior-high school students who secretly form a team of superheroes called the Ghostforce to fight the ghosts of New York. They’re led by Ms. Jones, a brilliant scientist, who is the founder, commander and mentor of the Ghostforce, and who also created a fourth member, GLOWBOO, an Artificial Intelligence running on phantom energy.
Licensing activity for the series is just beginning, and a toy line for the series from ZAG Lab and Playmates will be available in 2022.
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