Trailer: Netflix races into stop-motion with Buddy Thunderstruck
David Farnor | On 10, Feb 2017
Netflix is embracing stop-motion for its latest original kids series, Buddy Thunderstruck.
The show, which premieres this March, brings together two names your inner child always wanted to see together: American Greetings Entertainment (the people who gave us Care Bears) and Stoopid Buddy Stoodios (the people who made Robot Chicken). The result looks as fun as it sounds: an action-comedy that follows the adventures of a semi-truck racing dog named Buddy and his albino ferret mechanic. Repeat: Albino ferret mechanic.
The series goes down in race-obsessed Greasepit, a place chock full of larger-than-life characters and nitro-burning, gear-slamming, tyre-squealing, fish-tailing good times.
The show was announced in 2015 as part of the streaming giant’s new wave of original commission for children. Indeed, the streaming company has placed an increasingly strong emphasis on young viewers in recent year, as competition for family subscribers increases. While Amazon has its own subscription kids’ media service and Sky and NOW have dedicated kids’ content and portals, even the BBC has joined in the rush to woo tiny eyeballs, with its own kids’ iPlayer.
While a lot of Netflix’s kids’ content has been produced with DreamWorks Animation and aimed at younger audiences, the VOD giant is broadening its offering to appear to tweens and teens too. But with Care Bears and Robot Chicken on the cards, you can bet parents will be tuning in too.
The first 12 episodes of Buddy Thunderstruck will premiere worldwide exclusively on Friday 10th March. Here’s a trailer: