>Cloudbabies™ – A brand new show coming to CBeebies soon!

>I recently attended The Toy Fair in London, it’s a trade show which isn’t open to the general public you have to be part of the trade to be able to attend and play with all the toys and promotional items.
Whilst I was there with my press pass in hand, I had the amazing opportunity to meet up with the creator of a brand new show which is soon to be aired on CBeebies.

Cloudbabies™ is a brand new show from Hoho Entertainment Ltd which is due to air later this year. Before attending the show I had only seen one short article on Cloudbabies™, so I was unsure about what they even were! So armed with my questions as a curious mummy, I was excited to speak to BAFTA award winner Bridget Appleby. Bridget Appleby is the art director of Cloudbabies™, she is the most fascinating lady who has worked within children’s tv production for 30 years. From the likes of my much loved show as a child Bramley Hedge, Oakie Doke, Noddy, Bill and Ben, Postman Pat, through to Fifi and the Flowertots and Everythings Rosie, the list is huge and those are only a few of many. I am in total awe at her CV! Bridget is an Illustrator, Sculptor, Designer, Art Director, Director, Producer, Concept Orignator….the list is huge and very inspiring!  I was really fortunate to get a sneak peek at Bridget’s personal folder where she jots down her ideas for the episodes as Art Creator for Cloudbabies™.

Bridget explained what the idea behind Cloudbabies™ was. When her children were little they expressed great interest for the sky and were curious about it. So keeping children’s innocence in mind, she came up with something lovely, something interesting that would engage little brains and get them thinking! It also gives parents a great way to provide an answer to those burning questions from the little people, like why is the sun yellow? How do the stars get into the sky? It will all become clear watching Cloudbabies™.

So what are Cloudbabies™? Cloudbabies™ are four enchanting, childlike characters, Baba Pink, Baba Blue, Baba Yellow and Baba Green whose job it is to look after the sky and their Sky Friends – Sun, Moon, Rainbow, Fuffa Cloud and Little Star. They live together with Bobo White, a mischievous little imp, in a house on a big fluffy cloud. Every morning, they jump on their Skyhorsies and begin their day’s work.

I was very lucky to see a sneak peek of the first episode of Cloudbabies™ which is due to go live later this spring. I was keen to see how my son would react, I was also keen to see if this would be one of those annoying programs that parents will detest!

The opening of Cloudbabies™ has a gentle twinkling which immediately got Mark engaged, then the characters came on screen. The characters are cute and ’rounded’, and I was delighted to hear they have proper voices! Voiced by little children themselves, but they have an amazing range of clear vocabulary. The graphics are really cute, yet bright and engaging. Mark was engaged throughout the episode, and loved the cute characters. The rainbow which has a smiling face was his particular favourite.

Before seeing an episode of Cloudbabies™. I did wonder if the graphics would be too young for the target age range of 2-5 year olds, but it really isn’t. The episodes have a really interesting storyline which will engage little ones as well as helping them fire up their imaginations. My 7 year old daughter loved seeing Cloudbabies™ too, and although she is out of the target age range, she thoroughly enjoyed it. I can see Cloudbabies™ being very popular amongst children and parents!

Vivid Imaginations, the company that develops and manufactures toy ranges from popular childrens shows such as Baby Jake, Everything’s Rosie, Roary and Fifi the Flowertot, will be releasing the first line of Cloudbabies™ toys this year, so little ones can have fun watching the show on TV and playing with their very own Cloubabies™ at home.

Cloudbabies™ is due to air on CBeebies this Spring with 52 ten minute episodes.