William & Sparkles’ Magical Tales returns to television on March 21 after a second season was commissioned by the Nine Network in association with production partner Ambience Entertainment.
Fans are also invited to relive the magic of the first season on April 13, when Warner Bros. Entertainment Australia debuts the first 3 volumes of Magical Tales on DVD. Each DVD will contain 5 episodes and a bonus song for $14.95RRP each. For those after even more song and dance, Target will offer an exclusive limited edition version of volume one that includes an additional musical CD for $19.95RRP. Two further product waves are planned for later in the year to complete the full first season release. Individual episodes are also available for download from iTunes. The DVDs will be rated G and the runtime will be approximately 150 minutes each.
The series which has grabbed the attention of children and adults alike with its stories, catchy pop songs, positive messages and colourful costumes has also partnered with Warner Bros. Consumer Products who will release a range of quality merchandise directly into Target stores in April 2011.
The second season of Magical Tales, which was filmed at Sydney’s Fox Studios earlier this year will feature nine brand new infectious songs. The songs were again composed by Laura Murphy (Sparkles) and her award winning father Stephen “Spud” Murphy whose impressive musical theatre credits include Priscilla Queen of the Desert and Dusty in the role of Music Director.
Magical Tales is an engaging new Australian series, offering 46 x 30-minute episodes per season. The franchise is specifically designed in consultation with pre-primary school educators to captivate and entertain the minds of pre-school children through the use of narrative storytelling, colour, movement, music, delightful costumes and playful characters that combine to heighten the sensory experience.
In each episode the audience is invited into the enchanted world of Magical Tales with William the Wizard and Sparkles the Fairy, who both use their magical talents to solve problems, help their visiting friends and sometimes create mischief.
Inspired by classic fairytales, nursery rhymes and fables Magical Tales utilises characters, themes and traditional storytelling mixed with humour and funky music to give much loved characters and stories a contemporary twist.
“It’s fantastic to be able to deliver this truly unique Australian entertainment experience to families in Australia and New Zealand” stated Warner Bros. Entertainment Australia Managing Director, Roger Clarke. “The home entertainment release of volumes 1-3 of Magical Tales is sure to bring hours of enjoyment to pre-schoolers and their parents alike.”
Warner Bros. Consumer Products Managing Director, Preston Kevin Lewis commented “The Magical Tales brand continues to grow and we are equally excited about season two with the launch of an exciting range of merchandise in Target stores from April. This will include boys and girls clothing, colouring in and activity books. A wider range of merchandise will be available later this year.”
The Nine Network’s Director of Commercial Development, Martin Hersov said “I am really pleased with the originality and quality of the first season of Magical Tales. This coupled with the positive viewer’s reaction sets up a nice precedent for the second season. The brand has grown considerably over the past 18 months and the inclusion of Warner Bros. as a merchandising and Home Entertainment partner is very exciting indeed and we at Channel 9 look forward to future growth of the property.”
Ambience Entertainment series producer Monica O’Brien concluded “This is an extremely exciting stage for the Magical Tales brand. Since the first season hit screens we have been bombarded with requests from fans for merchandising and DVDs. To have the Nine Network commissioning a second season and Warner Bros. come on board as a merchandise and Home Entertainment partner really sets this property up for a great shot at breakthrough success.”