26 x 5 minutes

Preschool

Comedy/Adventure/Educational

STILLS

CONCEPT DESCRIPTION

Young children are by nature CURIOUS, wonderfully EAGER TO LERAN about their world and how it “works”; What is this? Why is that? What does it mean? And just like our little Nitso, they have their very own subjective but unspoiled view on things around them. And when we let them, and Nitso, use their own CURIOSITY and IMAGINATION to discover this fantastic world for themselves – of course with a little help from the wise Master Tebahpla - they will experience a sensation of achievement that will not only positively sustain their SELF ESTEEM but also encourage them to learn more about the world around them.

The stories are dedicated to cater to the specific perspective of the young target audience, by carefully considering the stage of their cognitive and perceptual development. We know that children aged 4 to 6, are strongly attached to RITUALS and REPETITIONS. This supports a very basic, but strong need for FEELING SAVE, and at the same time it lends a promise of being treated with respect, as an individual. And we know that children, like all of us, love to LAUGH and have FUN. Therefore we make sure that our stories are positively integrated with recognisable and interactive rituals, presented and represented by Nitso, our strong identification character with whom they will feel safe and thereby comfortable to LEARN and LAUGH with.

The significance of joy and laughter makes HUMOR a central element in our stories. When children learn to face and SOLVE PROBLEMS WITH A SMILE on their face, it not only relaxes and opens their minds, it also stimulates their creative potential and makes them positive resilient. Defining the humour in Nitso’s world, means NO irony or sarcasm, but a focus on FUNNY WORDS and wordplays linked naturally to the theme plus sweet and sometimes delightfully “CHEEKY” visual surprises. We will try to avoid generic slapstick gags, banana peals and “smart” verbal jokes. We also have an ambition to venture beyond the obvious and predictable, as in “A is only for Apple” or “Z is for Zebra”. So when Nitso gets to know the letter B, it will be a “BIG BEAR IN A BIKINI” and when he discovers the letter H it will be with “HILARIOUS HAMSTERS” and he will be surprised to meet the S with “SMELLY SOCKS”.

To sum it up; We want to encourage and inspire young children to learn by utilising their IMAGINATIVE CREATIVITY to its fullest and in that process, whilst having loads of fun, to discover the power of EXPANDING their MINDS.

THE STORY STRUCTURE

Every story will be rich on recognisable rituals that we will gently vary, in order to stimulate the joyful element of surprise and maintain POSITIVE ANTICIPATION.

Each episode will start with an INTRODUCTION PART (frame story) in which Nitso presents his ABC book and the alphabetical LETTER OF TODAY. Here Nitso always talks directly to the camera, creating an INTERACTIVE moment with the audience. The letter, or rather the page with the letter, will then suddenly “vanish” in various, sometimes suprising,but always funny ways. It could be the always hungry Nitso that impulsively eats it up, or it could be a dog that appears and rips it away, or even Nitso accidentally spilling paint all over it. Or like in the episode about the letter V where the page in the book spells “V for volleyball” and Nitso instinctively rips the page out and forms a paper volleyball out of it. There are a multitude of VARIATIONS of the RITUAL in order to initiate and thereby motivate Nitso’s search for the letter.

In the MAIN PART of the story Nitso will visit MASTER TEBAHPLA on his mountain top to seek help and advise. This part will also be introduced through a ritual. Yet, also here we will vary the ritual slightly to surprise the master and often catch him in compromising but funny situations; He is poking his nose, he takes a shower or we might even see his elaborate nickers by accident.

The wise master always inspires and urges Nitso to go LOOK FOR A LETTER, to find it himself and thereby understand it. During this JOURNEY, Nitso experiences obstacles and makes mistakes. But it is also here that Nitso learns to OVERCOME THE OBSTACLES and learns from his mistakes, as he finally succeeds to find the letter he was searching for.

In the END PART of each episode, Nitso wants to TAKE A PICTURE to capture the “letter moment” - another strong ritual - as he needs the photo to REPLACE THE MISSING PAGE in his ABC book. But Nitso always gets the urge to be in the photograph as well; “Oh I like photos!” This most often leads to a comical moment where Nitso accidentally creates a bit of fun chaos.

Every time NITSO HAS FINALLY LEARNED the letter of the episode and it has been restored in his ABC book, him and Master Tebahpla together sing THE VERY HAIRY ALPHABET SONG, another strong ritual. The song is basically always the same, except it will refer to the individual letter in each episode, verbalising it through song and music. This will resonance in the mind of our young audience as the episode ends, helping them MEMORISING the pronunciation of the letter.

CHARACTERS

NITSO

NITSO (5) is a curious, yellow little Yeti monster with a healthy APPETITE ON FOOD AND KNOWLEDGE. Yeti Monsters have no specific gender, and Nitso, being the kindest monster in the world, is happy to be addressed anyway you prefer. But he likes it best to be called by his name. Nitso is still in his Monster-kindergarten but will start school within long. He just started learning the letters and their meaning, and he has never been more EXCITED! Nitso has an optimistic and profoundly POSITIVE APPROACH towards the world around him, CONSTANTLY AMAZED, always CURIOUS and KIND, and even if there are obstacles on the way, and even if Nitso sometimes causes these obstacles himself, giving up would never occur to him. Some might claim that Nitso is a tad NAIVE for a young Yeti Monster, and on top, his habit of speaking out his mind without filter, sometimes can come across a bit CHEEKY. But make no mistake; Nitso is pure GOOD INTENTION and his impulsive yet HONEST and open mind is exactly what makes him our hero. Nitso’s OPEN AND CREATIVE APPROACH to a problem, sometimes sparks wonderfully absurd, childish solutions, that are all surprisingly inventive and UNIQUE, typical for the stage of creative and imaginative development of the young audience identifying with our main character.

TEBAHPLA

MASTER TEBAHPLA (75) is an old and very WISE professor. The somewhat ECCENTRIC but always very HELPFUL professor, might be quite small of stature, but his wisdom, according to himself, is enormous. As he would put it himself; “I know everything and anything about everything!”. But to be fair, MasterTebahpla IS wise, maybe even the wisest of all people. But even wise professors sometimes have to pick their noses, scratch an embarrassing itch or suddenly nod into a snoring nap. The wise little Master can sometimes appear A BIT GRUMPY when surprised with extra difficult questions, but you should never take it personal, and no matter what, he loves the little yellow Yeti Monster and is always ready with HELP AND SUPPORT. Master Tebahpla is the grown-up character in our story, and thus the one who guides Nitso’s activities and who often helps motivating them too. Although Nitso is only 5 years old, Tebahpla always treats the little monster with UNDERSTANDING AND RESPECT and makes sure that Nitso feels safe at any time. The little Yeti Monster and the old Professor have a positive interactive dynamic, based on MUTUAL RESPRCT, TRUST AND LOVE. But as much as Master Tebahpla is the grown up, he bears a child at heart, and the two friends never stop having fun and sharing laughs. Fun Fact; “Tebahpla” is the “ALPHABET” SPELLED BACKWARDS.

ADDITIONAL CHARACTERS

Apart from Nitso and Master Tebahpla there will be EPISODICAL CHARACTERS who mainly serve the narrative and the intention of the LEARNING PROCESS. It could be the SHOP LADY, a GRANDMA, the BEAR in a bikini, an ELEPHANT or a KANGAROO. We won’t experience any of these as strong individual characters with personalised language or traits. They are there to support and enrich the world and fulfil specific tasks or roles, some even appearing as a letter themselves.

CURRICULUM

Defining for The Very Hairy Alphabet is the concept of “DISCOVERING AND UNDERSTANDING THE WORLD” which is the central subject of early years foundation stage. Children the age 3 to 6 years old, have reached the maybe most important point in the development of the imagination of a human being. This is the age where they are actively centred around their own ego and believe that anything is possible. They can even tend to believe that they have magical powers! In this stage of development, kids are experimenting with limits of their minds in order to develop a perspective on the possibilities and boundaries of the endless world they live in. The experience can also be intimidating at times, as they fear loosing our unconditional respect and love in the process. In The Very Hairy Alphabet we will make sure they feel safe through the LOVING SUPPORT, RESPECT and CONFIRMATION of themselves and what they are capable of learning.

Nitso is the IDENTIFICATION CHARACTER for our target audience and a strong ROLE MODEL. They can identify with Nitso, because the fuzzy little guy is exactly like them. Curious, open minded, imaginative, creative and impulsive. Nitso the Yeti Monster is special in all ways - just like themselves.

Master Tebahpla is a trustworthy, ADULT CHARACTER, who always supports and kindly leads. He is also genuinely funny, sometimes in mildly crazy ways, but always with heart, making Nitso and the audience feel save and supported in all situations.

Nitso is the key to OPEN UP THE WORLD OF ALPHABETICAL LETTERS, words and their meaning for pre-school kids. It is a fact that children learn swift and more profoundly when topics they find interesting and meaningful are embedded into entertaining and appealing stories that help them memorise and UNDERSTAND their meaning and purpose.

At the beginning of each new episode , we introduce a new letter, but we also raise a central and clear “topic”, a theme for the episode, in addition to the overall core theme of the TV series. Each individual episode will also contain a small treasure of EVERYDAY FACTS AND TOPICS, presented in a surprising yet entertaining way, combining fun and PLAYFULNESS. The stories will also focus on the POWER OF TEAMWORK and THINKING POSITIVE. Failure is not always a bad thing or feeling, but almost always an opportunity to find a POSITIVE SOLUTION and perspective.

We are aiming for an age appropriate offer of language acquisition, focusing on learning the alphabetical letters in a playful and entertaining way.

TRANSMEDIA CONCEPT

INTERACTIVE

The Very Hairy Alphabet is a transmedia concept, where all the platforms RECIPROCALLY BENEFIT from each other, and each of them may constitute the first contact point with the world of Nitso and Tebahpla. This provides us with great possibilities in the SCALABILITY and DISCOVERABILITY of the project.

The TV SERIES is the EMOTIONAL HOOK that builds the closest relationship to the characters. Children are in the comfortable position of a viewer, observing the adventures of Nitso and Tebahpla. IT TEACHES and EXPLAINS the world. The hilarious moments that make the series unique, entertain children throughout all media.

In the EXCERCISE BOOKS, you can learn the alphabet AT YOUR OWN PACE, and discover in detail every letter “sculpture” on visually rich WIMMELBILD illustrations. The special pages that can be scanned for augmented reality, will inform you about the app, if you still do not know it.

In the MOBILE APP GAMES, through switch of perspective, you may GO ON ADVENTURE yourself! You are challenged to APPLY WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNT through series, books and songs. You may gather the letters in your own DIGITAL ABC BOOK. And if games are your first contact with the project, you quickly get to know other platforms: accomplished levels unlock comedy animation and songs, and a special reward is an Augmented Reality animated scene in your excersise book!

Last but not least, the ABC SONGS ALBUM to sing along with Nitso and Tebahpla, broadens the educative aspects of the project to music and may be a great FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT. M is for Mandolin, B is for Banjo!

• You are Nitso and you try to CLIMP UP THE MOUNTAIN, but Tebahpla is dropping a lot of objects on you. You should EAT all the objects that start with the given LETTER.

• If you eat something else, your stomach is aching and you go to sleep in a cave more down the mountain. While eating, you get bigger and bigger - you can climb faster.

• The game is finished when you climb up the mountain. Tebahpla gives you YOUR BOOK.

• “Eating” sound design is very important!!! Also Tebahpla’s comments like “Well done Nitso!”, “We will try one last time”!

For your attention

Thank you!