AJ Trauth and Halle Stanford
Marblemedia and Jim Henson Company
EXCLUSIVE: The Jim Henson Company and Marblemedia are using comedy to put children’s mental health under the microscope.
The pair has teamed on Felix, a live-action comedy about a boy, his family and his ‘feels’ — five original characters created by Fraggle Rock and Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio maker Jim Henson’s Creature Shop that manifest his larger-than-life emotions.
The emotions live in his house, follow him to school and eat his snacks, but once he joins a school for neurodivergent kids, he learns to live with them.
The ten-part series was created by Miklos Perlus and inspired by his neurodivergent son. It will run to ten parts and aim to “break new ground by debunking the stereotypes and stigmatisation around neurodiversity and mental health challenges among children.”
No network is attached at this stage.
Co-producers Jim Henson and Marblemedia previously teamed for live-action preschool series Hi Opie! in 2014 and its spin-off, Opie’s Home two years later.
“We could think of no better partner on this project than The Jim Henson Company to join us in creating a transformative family television series,” said A.J. Trauth, VP Kids at Toronto-based Marblemedia, which is behind shows such as Netflix’s Blown Away and Drink Masters and Teen Nick/YTV teen series Open Heart. “We share a desire to bring the much-needed conversation around children’s mental health directly to audiences across North America, and the world. Miklos has expertly crafted an authentic, optimistic, and hilarious story about this very important topic.”
“For generations, the art of puppetry has helped us process our thoughts and feelings,” said Halle Stanford, President of Television for The Jim Henson Company. “By authentically depicting the nuanced and complex ways that neurodivergent children experience the world, Felix will use comedy and a cast of original hilarious characters to introduce audiences to new ways of thinking, reducing the stigma around mental health and inspiring families to improve their own communication.”
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