Irish animation series nominated for Emmys

Two Irish-made children’s animation series have been nominated for Emmy awards.

Brown Bag Films’ The Octonauts, and Boulder Media’s The Amazing World of Gumball will lead the charge for Ireland at the inaugural International Emmy Kids Awards next February.

The hugely popular Octonauts, which is made in Smithfield, Dublin, has been named in the preschool category. It is pitted against nominations from Argentina, South Korea and Norway.

Brown Bag already has two Oscar nominations to its name for Give Up Yer Aul’ Sins (2002) and Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty (2010).

The Octonauts — which features the underwater adventures of a team of cuddly animal explorers — was nominated for Bafta and Ifta awards in 2011.

The Amazing World of Gumball, made by Dublin-based Boulder Media for Turner Broadcasting UK, features the exploits of a 12-year-old cat named Gumball and his family in the town of Elmore. It’s nominated in the Kids Animation category.

Brown Bag Films’ founders, Cathal Gaffney and Darragh ‘Doc’ O’Connell, said they were delighted at the announcement, which was made in Cannes on Monday night.

“We’re ordering in some cake to the office to celebrate,” joked O’Connell, who directs The Octonauts.

O’Connell’s Brown Bag partner, Cathal Gaffney, was in Cannes when he received the news.

“It’s great for Brown Bag Films,” he said, “and a real thumbs-up for the Irish animation industry in general.

“The nomination should be another reason for the Government to retain the section 481 film and TV tax incentive scheme beyond 2015. Failure to do so would pose a serious risk to our ability to compete effectively for new business.”

The Octonauts is made here by Brown Bag Films and produced by Silvergate Media for the BBC. The programme is watched by millions of children around the world.

Brown Bag’s most recent Disney series, Doc McStuffins, attracted almost five million viewers and debuted here last week. It’s already the top-rated pre-school show in the US.

A second season is already in production, while its version of Irish writer, Niamh Sharkey’s Happy Hugglemonsters will air for Disney Junior in more than 150 countries this autumn.