Popular Cooking Channel Chefclub To Get Animated Adaptation

Somewhere Animation, Mediawan’s new 2d animation tv label for kids, has revealed its first production, a tv adaptation of popular web-brand Chefclub titled Chefclub Adventures.

Internet-native IP being adapted for tv isn’t a new phenomenon. Happy Tree Friends was a popular web series before it was picked up by G4 for the network’s late-night block in 2006 and Cartoon Network commissioned The High Fructose Adventures of Annoying Orange in 2012 based on the web series Annoying Orange.

Now, though, the pathway from independent web-based channel to tv seems more open than ever. Baby Shark’s Big Show! has been a huge hit for Nick Jr. In September, Netflix released Bee and PuppyCat: Lazy in Space as a full series with three new episodes commissioned by the streamer. Channel 4 in the U.K. released its serialized version of Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared at the end of last month. And just last week, Oddballs, based on the Youtube channel TheOdd1sOut, premiered on Netflix and debuted at number six on the streamer’s English-language tv charts after its first week.

For broadcasters and streamers, popular internet IPs are attractive because they come with their own built-in fanbases and creators who know how to reach those fans. They also get to skip past a great deal of the development phase, as much of that work has already been done by the show’s creators.

Now in its sixth year, Chefclub is a live-action cooking channel and website which, according to Mediawan’s internal statistics, pulls in more than 2.5 billion views monthly and boasts more than 110 million subscribers across all platforms. Founded by brothers Thomas, Jonathan, and Axel Lang, Chefclub was started to teach young viewers about cooking in a way that is easily understandable and entertaining.

Chefclub Adventures will follow a similar mantra and aims to help educate kids between four and seven on the benefits of eating well and trying new things. It will star characters who currently appear as mascots online and help introduce young audiences to other cultures. Each episode will see the characters globetrot to new countries and try out new recipes and ingredients. The series will be co-produced by Somewhere Animation with the original Chefclub team.

Somewhere Animation was founded by Arthur Colignon and is Mediawan’s newest company in a kids and family stable that includes Method Animation, On Classics, Magical Society, and Elliot Studio. Big-name productions from those other companies include The Little Prince (On Classics), Miraculous – Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir (Method Animation co-produced with Zag Animation), and this year’s Annecy best feature winner Little Nicholas – Happy As Can Be (On Classics).