New York, NY, July 16, 2005 -- Sundance Channel has acquired U.S. television rights to the BBC animated series 'I Am Not An Animal.' The black comedy follows the adventures of a group of talking animals suddenly forced to fend for themselves in the outside world.
The announcement was made today by Laura Michalchyshyn, Executive
Director, Programming & Marketing, Sundance Channel. The series will premiere on Sundance Channel in October 2005.
Produced by Baby Cow Productions for BBC TWO, the series was written and directed by Peter Baynham, and produced by Richard Bennett. Steve
Coogan and Henry Normal are executive producers and Tim Searle is animation director. The cast features the voices of Coogan, Julia Davis, Amelia Bulmore, Kevin Eldon, Simon Pegg, and Arthur Mathews.
Michalchyshyn said of the series 'This outrageous and hilarious BBC series dovetails perfectly with Sundance Channel's recently announced strategy to broaden our offerings, add more series, and bring humor into the mix.'
'The Guardian' called 'I Am Not An Animal' a 'witty and wonderfully twisted animated comedy,' and the 'London Evening Standard' labeled it 'a sophisticated satire.'
Hofer, added: 'We are thrilled to be working again with Sundance Channel and we look forward to building on this already fruitful
relationship in the future.'
A plot of the show is simple. Inside a UK laboratory, a scientist is running a secret experiment to create talking animals. Out of all the animal subjects in the lab, Batch 4 is special. This elite group, made up of a horse, dog, monkey, mouse, bird and a cat, live together in a stylish waterside apartment, feasting on focaccia bread and excellent wine and
discussing the latest celebrity gossip gleaned from their favorite magazine. Although they're still in a lab and surrounded by their
fellow subjects, the gang in Batch 4 almost forget they're animals, until they are freed by a group of animal rights activists. After
living the high life in their lab, they must contend with the fact that they're considered to be just animals by the outside world.
