Nelvana Enterprises has teamed up with KI.KA in Germany to unleash one of its better animated series upon the network later this spring. The toon, Jane and the Dragon, promises to take viewers on a wild ride with its fresh new story and CG animation that Nelvana co-produced with Weta Productions. The series, based on Martin Baynton’s book series of the same name, follows the comedic exploits of Jane, a young girl training to be a knight, and her friendly, 300 year old, fire-breathing and English-speaking Dragon aptly named …er, Dragon. Having already aired on YTV in Canada and Australia’s ABC, it later joined qubo and the UK’s Five in addition to KI.KA. Haven’t gotten a chance to check it out yet? Well, why not take a look at the animated series in action (more… )

9 Story Entertainment sure has a lot of weird ideas for toons! The latest adventure, Almost Naked Animals, gives viewers a look into the lives of a group of animals whom are, accurately enough, almost naked. Basically, it’s a colleciton of mammals, reptiles, and birds in their undies! The portrayal is a group of friends who are comfortable in their own skin, cool with who they are. The series is still early in production, and wont start airing until next fall, but it has already been picked up and “clothed” by several networks around the globe, including Canal+ in France, ABC in Australia, and YTV in Canada.

King Babar has been around for quite some time now, and just as elephants are prone to do, he never forgets. About his love for cartoons, of course. Co-producers Nelvana and TeamTO know this too, and thus will soon introduce the latest Babar animated series to the world, Babar and the Adventures of Badou. New to the Babar world will be his grandson, Badou, who co-stars in the show, along with all of his young pals. Deals are already in place to air the series in France on TF1 and in Canada on YTV, with more likely to be announced within the next few months. Stay TOONed!

YTV is making some bold moves to ramp up its 2009-2010 cartoon season! Amongst the biggest moves is the company signing a deal with 4Kids Entertainment to bring the latest show in the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds, to its lineup. YTV will air all episodes from the first season of the series, which, if you count all Yu-Gi-Oh! shows as one long show, would be it’s ninth season. If you haven’t caught up with the show yet, Yusei Fudo, along with his main card Stardust Dragon, leads the charge in the Turbo Duels, using his Duel Runner motorcycle as the Duel Disk.

We were there when they rolled to Italy. We were there when they rolled to Mexico. We were even there when they rolled to South America. Now, Amberwood Entertainment is working a deal with M-Net to bring the CG animated RollBots to South Africa. The toon will launch on M-Net’s KTV this September, joining with the other global destinations, as well as YTV in Canada and TheCW4Kids in the US.

We only have to wait a little bit longer until The Penguins of Madagascar animated series hits the air. To promote the series debut, YTV will be showing animated shorts of The Penguins of Madagascar throughout the summer. As if that wasn’t cool enough, YTV will also be showing an entire week’s worth of sneak peeks, with full episodes of the upcoming cartoon hitting your TVs from Monday August 31st through Friday September 5th during The Zone. Sweet!

Here’s your chance to get an early look at the upcoming ‘Penguins’ series! YTV is showing a special sneak peek of The Penguins of Madagascar, on Friday, June 26th at 8pm. The CG animated comedy series, produced by DreamWorks Animation and Nickelodeon, will have its true premiere on Saturday, September 12th at 9am, during YTV’s Saturday morning Crunch.

Cartoon Network Asia has recently signed Nerd Corp Entertainment’s animated series League of Super Evil (aka L.O.S.E.) to appear across the network. The toon is scheduled to start up in 2010 on Cartoon Network in more than 25 countries, including India, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, and China. Nerd Corps will air 30-second shorts as a bonus to hype the evil!. The League of Super Evil debuted in March on Cartoon Network in the US, YTV in Canada, CBBC in the UK) Jetix in Latin America, and Canal +, Canal J and Gulli in France.