Savannah Guthrie and Drew Barrymore announce the development of the animated series and release of the second book on NBC’s Today Show
September 19, 2018 / Vancouver – As announced by Savannah Guthrie and Drew Barrymore on NBC’s Today Show, Atomic Cartoons, A Thunderbird Company, is pleased to share that it has optioned the rights to develop and produce an animated television series-based on Savannah Guthrie and Allison Oppenheim’s #1 New York Times Best Selling Princesses Wear Pants book series.
Guthrie and Oppenheim will serve as series creators and executive producers, with Drew Barrymore and Flower Films to executive produce. Thunderbird CEO Jennifer McCarron and Matthew Berkowitz will serve as executive producers on behalf of Atomic Cartoons.
The announcement of the television series development coincides with the official launch of the second book in the series, Princesses Save the World, which was released on September 18, 2018. The animation series was officially announced on September 19, 2018 on NBC’s Today Show by Guthrie and Barrymore.
Like the books, the Princesses Wear Pants animated series will take the genre well beyond dazzling dresses and tiaras, empowering young girls by celebrating that you can be pink and sparkly, while still being a strong woman and doer. Centered around the wide-ranging adventures of the courageous, thoughtful young go-getter Princess Penelope Pineapple and her friends, the series encourages children to be brave, ambitious, and unafraid to make a difference in the world!
“One of the things that I’m hoping we can exemplify is that women working together can accomplish great things. I love the idea of girls helping girls, girls cooperating, [and] not competing,” said Guthrie to Barrymore, while in conversation about the animated series. “Nothing is just a small little kid book anymore, [and] these are important conversations about “what is womanhood?” What does it mean to be a strong young woman?”
Guthrie added, “We’re teamed up with the studio Atomic Cartoons [and] It’s really fun to try to develop [this] young lady. In some ways it’s like the girl I’m trying to raise is the girl I’m trying to portray with Penelope, [who] is a good-hearted, kind, moral, wholesome, [and] strong.”
The Atomic team shares Guthrie and Barrymore’s enthusiasm for the project.
“We fell in love with the books, and especially the inspirational character of Princess Penelope, and then we fell even deeper in love with the idea of working with Savannah, Allison and Drew – it’s a dream project,” said Jennifer McCarron, executive producer and chief executive officer of Atomic Cartoons and Thunderbird Entertainment. “Personally, as a mother, I am proud that Atomic has the opportunity to produce this series to further share Penelope’s empowering message – that you can be pink and sparkly, but also a strong leader who gets things done.”
ATOMIC CARTOONS, A Thunderbird Company, is a 500+ artist Vancouver-based award-winning animation studio. Atomic is recognized internationally as one of the leading animation studios in North America. Since its founding more than 20 years ago, Atomic has worked with partners such as Marvel Animation, Netflix, Disney, Cartoon Network, Warner Bros., Lego, Mattel, Spin Master and Nelvana to name a few. Atomic’s productions include the Emmy-award winning Beat Bugs, the upcoming Netflix series The Last Kids on Earth, the upcoming Disney show 101 Dalmatian Street, Counterfeit Cat, Minecraft Mini Series, Marvel’s Avengers Assemble, Rocket Monkeys, Max & Ruby and Transformers: Rescue Bots. www.atomiccartoons.com
THUNDERBIRD ENTERTAINMENT is a rapidly growing Vancouver-based multiplatform entertainment company with offices in Los Angeles, Toronto and London. Thunderbird creates award-winning programming for Canadian and International broadcasters and boasts divisions in scripted and unscripted development and production, theatrical distribution, and animation.
Thunderbird’s recent projects include Blade Runner 2049 starring Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford, hit Canadian comedy Kim’s Convenience and the animated Netflix original series Beat Bugs, which features reimagined songs from the Beatles catalogue by artists such as Sia, Eddie Vedder and P!nk. www.thunderbird.tv
FLOWER FILMS is an American production company founded in 1995 by Drew Barrymore and Nancy Juvonen. Based in Los Angeles, Flower Films has produced dozens of popular films including 50 First Dates, He’s Just Not That into You and How to Be Single, and series like Netflix’s dark comedy Santa Clarita Diet.
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE is the co-anchor of NBC News’ “TODAY.” She also serves as NBC News chief legal correspondent. Guthrie joined “TODAY” as a co-host of the third hour and chief legal correspondent in June 2011. In 2017, Guthrie was recognized by New York Women in Communications with the prestigious Matrix Award for her excellence in broadcast journalism. As part of her work on TODAY, she received a 2012 Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Morning Show.
ALLISON OPPENHEIM Allison Oppenheim is trained in clinical psychology and is a parent educator and mother of three. She lives outside New York City.
For Inquiries, please contact:
Adam Trombley – Finch Media
adam@finchmedia.net / 778.318.6592
Julia Smith – Finch Media
Julia@finchmedia.net / 604-803-0897
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