Lille Tut is the Next Big Thing

WeAnimate 2024-06-07 | wam#0045

The Danish animated series Lille Tut premiered on March 22, much to the delight of its audience. The new 26×7 series was created by Maria Mac Dalland, produced by Morten Kaufmann and Toolbox Film, and co-produced and animated at Ja Film. It was supported by the DFI, the West Danish Film Fund, and the Nordic Film & TV Fund.

The show is built around the adventures of Lille Tut and her cat Gato, who go on adventures with Nissen, the magical elf who lives in a mouse hole. Traveling in a tiny helicopter made from a walnut, the three explore nature and make new friends along the way. The show has gorgeous design, positive storylines, and fun songs that kids will love.

New Wave of Content for Young Children

Lille Tut has been picked up for broadcast by DR, YLE in Finland, RUV in Iceland, NRK in Norway, and SVT in Sweden. Nordic broadcasters are increasingly interested in content for very young audiences. According to Sophie Kjærgaard Dyre, editor for DRs Minisjang and Ramasjang:

For us at DR, it’s actually not important how much screen time children have – what matters is what they see. Around half of Danish children under the age of three stream weekly content from DR, spending up to half an hour daily watching our video and TV content. And we know that DR’s content is only part of what the youngest viewers consume. It is therefore important that we create a public service offer that is specifically targeted to them.

Lille Tut breaks new ground in being aimed at these very young children, under 3 years of age. Creating content for this audience poses unique challenges for animators and filmmakers, because stories must be crafted in a particular way. As Minisjang’s Dyre says:

With the help of experts, we offer programming with a universe, characters, and content that takes the children’s development into account. It is very important to look at pace and repetition, so we give time for the youngest audiences to follow the story, and at the same time avoid them being overstimulated. In addition, the soundscape has a great effect on the youngest target group. Therefore at Minisjang we want to move away from high-pitched sounds and instead focus on calm and more analogue sounds.

The team behind Lille Tut kept these principles in mind at every stage of development, viewing them not only as a challenge, but as an opportunity to explore new avenues of creative expression. The stories and artwork are so compelling that they have led to the publication of several Lille Tut books.

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