Today SF Studios announces the plans for the well-known Nordic children’s character Arnie Alligator, that is available to the audience through live shows, music streaming, merchandise and animated Youtube content. Arnie Alligator, with its animated music videos, produced by creator Marcus “Macke” Granberg and Anton Molander, is one of the most streamed children’s music bands in the Nordics with more than 300 million Youtube views and 20 million downloads on Spotify. SF Studios invested in the IP in 2021 to grow within internationally scalable IPs and curate content for broad distribution. As part of this, Arnie Alligator will now become an animated feature film and a TV series that will be released in the Nordics in the beginning of 2024, produced and distributed by SF Studios with See You Later! as a co-producer.
“It’s fantastic that so many fans like our beloved Alligator and his jungle friends and want to return to our videos on Youtube. Arnie has become popular thanks to the children’s genuine commitment. It feels fantastic that Arnie Alligator will now be shown on the big screen and become a TV series and get the chance to reach an even bigger audience,” says Marcus “Macke” Granberg, producer, songwriter and creator of Arnie Alligator.
The feature film and TV series (10 episodes á 6 min) are based on the characters featured in the music videos, concerts, and books. We get to follow Arnie and his friends on their adventures in the jungle, around the river and in town. They encounter different challenges and do their best to get through them together as a team. With their likeable and unique personalities – funny, kind-hearted, and brave – they make the best group of friends.
Arnie Alligator is one of the most popular children’s characters in the Nordics today, growing rapidly thanks to his fans on digital media, mainly Youtube. The much-appreciated music videos on YouTube have their largest audience in Sweden and Denmark, and the rest of the Nordic countries are not far behind.
“Now it’s time to dive deeper into Arnie’s adventure together with his fantastic friends. Our goal has been to create a film and TV series that our own children and future grandchildren want to watch, where the values are good, universal, and timeless. Thanks to our lovely fans on Youtube this is now possible. Now Arnie is going out into the wide world”, says Anton Molander, one of the creators of Arnie Alligator.
The film and series are directed by Jenny Jokela, based on a script by Fabian Nordlander. SF Studios is producing with producer Filippa Torstensson and See You Later! is co-producing.
“We are thrilled to have created a film and TV series of the most popular Nordic children’s brand on Youtube and so much look forward to bringing the wonderful Arnie Alligator to the cinema where we hope to attract many young viewers and their families”, says Filippa Torstensson, producer at SF Studios.
Arnie Alligator was created in 2003 as a song by the band The Jungle Drum. As the band was called Arnie Alligator by the audience, they had to adjust the name to Arnie Alligator & The Jungle Drum. Arnie Alligator became a digital success when the band’s music videos spread on Youtube and Spotify. The intellectual property rights are currently controlled by the company See You Later!, which is jointly owned by creator Marcus Granberg and co-owner Anton Molander. SF Studios invested in the intellectual property rights for Arnie Alligator in 2021 as part of its strategy to be a leading distributor in the Nordics and offer a broad library of content and rights to a growing global market.
The film is distributed by SF Studios and will premiere in cinemas in Sweden and Finland on February 9 and in Denmark on April 11. The film will also be released via home entertainment in Norway followed by a release of the TV series in the Nordics.