US streaming service Hulu has greenlit The Bravest Knight, a 13 x 11-minute comedy/adventure series from North American prodco Big Bad Boo Studios based on an existing Hulu short featuring an LGBTQ lead character.
Hulu’s modern fairytale short, entitled The Bravest Knight Who Ever Lived, tells the story a young pumpkin farmer, Cedric, who becomes a courageous knight and chooses to marry a prince after saving him from a fierce dragon. The narrated short is based on a book by bestselling author Daniel Errico. Big Bad Boo’s The Bravest Knight animated series continues Sir Cedric’s story as he recounts his adventures to his ambitious daughter, showing her the challenges that she will face on the way to knighthood.
The series, which is produced and directed by Big Bad Boo president and co-founder Shabnam Rezaei (16 Hudson, Lili & Lola), is currently in production and set to stream on Hulu later this year.
The Bravest Knight reinforces Hulu’s ongoing commitment to commission diverse and inclusive stories for kids and families. The order comes as Hulu continues to ramp up its premium kids content library having recently announced it will revive classic ’90s toon Animaniacs in partnership with the show’s original producers—Warner Bros., Steven Spielberg and Amblin Television.
As for the kids industry’s commitment to deliver more LGBTQ characters and story lines, change has been taking place. Nickelodeon’s hit series Loud House introduced the kidsnet’s first married gay couple, Cartoon Network’s current series Clarence included a lesbian couple and a gay kiss, and Laika’s 2012 feature ParaNorman featured the first openly gay character in a mainstream animated film. Disney Channel also featured its first gay main character on season two of Andi Mack last October.
The industry will get to learn more about creating LGBTQ-inclusive content for kids during a panel at next week’s Kidscreen Summit in Miami featuring GLAAD CEO Sarah Kate Ellis, Andi Mack creator Terri Minsky (Lizzie McGuire), Loud House staff writer Kevin Sullivan, Doc McStuffins executive producer Chris Nee and PBS KIDS’ VP of children’s programming Linda Simensky.