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Wish Films is an animation and live-action studio, established byWill Brenton and Iain Lauchlan in 2006. It is the successor to Tell-Tale Productions, which was formed in 1994, first producing live shows, and later went on to produce TV shows.
Most of Wish's catalogue when it was known as Tell-Tale Productions is currently owned byNBCUniversal (viaDreamWorks Animation), with the exception ofTweenies, which is owned byBBC Studios. The rights toBoo! have been owned by NBCUniversal since 2003, followed by the most of their shows in 2016.
On 14 September 2001, Tell-Tale signed a deal withGullane Entertainment for the production on two new shows,Ella, andSprogs, with the latter company distributing the series.[1]
On 26 July 2002, theBBC picked up the UK broadcasting rights toBoo! for broadcast in September 2003.[2] On September 1 that year, it was announced thatUniversal Pictures had acquired worldwide distribution rights to the series.[3]
On 18 September 2002, Tell-Tale announced the production of a hybrid 2D/3D series titledWARP. On the same day, it was confirmed that the distribution rights toElla andSprogs reverted to Tell-Tale after the deal with Gullane fell through due toHIT Entertainment's acquisition of Gullane, alongside the production on two 60-minute direct-to-videoTweenies specials.[4]
On 1 February 2003, the company signed a property management deal with LMI forSprogs, alongside a deal with BBC Music to allow music production for the series, which would air in early 2004.[5]
On 27 January 2004,Carlton International acquired distribution rights toSprogs. The company purchased the home video rights in all regions except for the US and French-speaking territories, and worldwide TV rights excluding the UK, the US, and French and German-speaking territories. It was also confirmed thatCBBC had acquired the UK broadcast rights to the series for a late 2004 broadcast date.[6]
On 13 September 2004,Entertainment Rights announced they would acquire Tell-Tale for £3.1 million. The buyout would include the rights toSprogs, which had, by then been renamedBB3B (previously handled by Carlton) and would be broadcast on CBBC in late 2005, alongside the rights to a new reboot ofFun Song Factory to air on CITV. TheTweenies property was retained byBBC Worldwide although Entertainment Rights would gain royalty income for the property, alongside rights to a planned feature-length film adaptation of the series.[7] The purchase was completed on 1 October 2004.[8]
On 20 December 2005, ITV acquired the broadcast rights toJim Jam and Sunny for broadcast on the then-newCITV Channel, and that production would start in 2006, being the largest broadcast deal made by ITV for a children's series.[9]
In 2006, Will Brenton and Iain Lauchlan bought back Tell-Tale (excluding most of its catalogue) and rebranded it as Wish Films.[10] Wish Films took over production ofJim Jam and Sunny, which premiered on CITV later that year.
In 2008, Wish produced their first international co-production, a TV adaptation ofWibbly Pig, based on the children's book of the same name byMick Inkpen, with Canadian-based9 Story Entertainment, with the latter holding distribution rights in the Americas, and BBC Worldwide holding distribution rights in all other regions.[11][12]
On 6 May 2010,CBeebies commissioned a new show from Wish to air on the channel's summer schedule calledMighty-Mites, presented bySarah-Jane Honeywell.[13]
Other shows produced by Wish around these time frames includeFlorrie's Dragons, a co-production withStudio 100 andClockwork Zoo, andMelody, a co-production with LAAH Entertainment.
| Title | Year(s) | Broadcaster(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fun Song Factory | 1994 | Direct-to-Video | Co-production withAbbey Broadcast Communications |
| Fun Song Factory 2 | 1996 | Direct-to-Video | Co-production withAbbey Broadcast Communications |
| Party Time at the Fun Song Factory | Direct-to-Video | Co-production withAbbey Broadcast Communications | |
| The Fun Song Factory at Old MacDonald's Farm | Direct-to-Video | Co-production withAbbey Broadcast Communications | |
| Christmas at the Fun Song Factory | Direct-to-Video | Co-production withAbbey Broadcast Communications | |
| Fun Song Factory – Fun and Games | 1997 | Direct-to-Video | Co-production withAbbey Broadcast Communications |
| Fun Song Factory – Nursery Rhyme Land | 1997 | Direct-to-Video | Co-production withAbbey Broadcast Communications |
| Fun Song Factory | 1998–2004 | GMTV/CITV | Co-production withAbbey Broadcast Communications (season 1) andEntertainment Rights (season 2) |
| Tweenies | 1999-2002 | BBC One BBC Two CBeebies | Co-production with theBBC |
| Wow! That's What I Call Nursery Rhymes | 1999 | Direct-to-Video | Co-production withAbbey Broadcast Communications |
| Wow! That's What I Call Christmas | 2000 | Direct-to-Video | Co-production withAbbey Broadcast Communications |
| Boo! | 2003-2006 | CBeebies | Co-production withUniversal Pictures Visual Programming |
| WARP | 2003 | N/A | TV pilot |
| Sprogs | 2003 | N/A | TV pilot |
| Jim Jam | 2003 | N/A | TV pilot |
| Tweenies - Night-Time Magic | 2003 | Direct-to-Video | Co-production withBBC Worldwide |
| Tweenies - Jungle Adventure | Co-production withBBC Worldwide | ||
| BB3B | 2005 | CBBC | Co-production withEntertainment Rights |
| Jim Jam and Sunny | 2006-2008 | CITV Channel | First production as Wish Films Co-production withEntertainment Rights |
| Wibbly Pig | 2009–2010 | CBeebies TVO (Canada) | Co-production with9 Story Entertainment |
| Mighty Mites | 2010 | CBeebies | |
| Florrie's Dragons[14] | 2010-2011 | Playhouse Disney | co-production withStudio 100 andClockwork Zoo |
| Melody | 2013-2015 | CBeebies | Co-production with LAAH Entertainment andBBC Music (Series 2)) |
| Title | Touring Year(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Tweenies Live! | 2001 (United Kingdom) 2002 (Australia) | Co-produced with DC Entertainment andBBC Worldwide |
| Tweenies Live! - The Christmas Present | 2001-2002, 2003-2004 | |
| Tweenies Live! 2 - The Fab-a-Rooney Tour | 2002 | |
| Thomas & Friends: The Big Live Tour | 2002 | Co-produced with DC Entertainment andHIT Entertainment |
| Thomas & Friends: The All Aboard! Live Tour | 2004 | Co-produced with DC Entertainment andHIT Entertainment The 2005 Japanese run was produced byFuji Television, while the 2006 run was produced by IVE Limited and Trend & Culture |
| Tweenies Live! - No Sleep 'til Bedtime | 2005 | Co-produced with DC Entertainment andBBC Worldwide All futureTweenies Live! shows were solely produced by BBC Worldwide |
| CBeebies Live! | Co-produced withBBC Worldwide All futureCBeebies Live! shows were solely produced by BBC Worldwide |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
