Animal World for Tonies

01 — Animal World origins

After editing the American release of the Bobby and Nina Conservation Crew Tonies, I was hired to help create a series for Tonies' new line of business: Clever Tonies. The task? Create an edutainment show for ages 5-9 that focuses on animals.

02 — Creative process

In collaboration with Tonies' Sr. Production Manager for Global Content, I developed the brief for a pilot. Our concept got the green light, and I headed to Google Docs.

Draft one felt too heavy on facts for our audience, so I made the narrator a stronger character—a teenager with quirks who kids could relate to. I threw in some sci-fi elements, too, including making the narrator's ship a character who added humor and served as the safe adult voice.

Draft two was a hit with the team, so I moved on to another episode and trained two new writers on the voice, format, and process. Together with a rockstar editor and fact-checker from Tumble Media, we built an agile writers' room that would go on to write several more series.

I'm happy to provide a sample script upon request.

You can also hear an extended audio sample of my Precious Pets episode on the Tonies UK website.

Here is a small selection from an Animal World script.

03 — Results

The Animal World Tonies have sold out on the website multiple times, in addition to outperforming company goals at both Target stores and online retailers.

We've produced 5 series so far, and it's been reproduced for the UK and German markets. Animal World is now their longest-running Clever Tonies series—all without an expert or celebrity narrator attached.