BEANO TOONS

Role
Co-Creator, Writer & Director

Client
Beano

Brief
Create a fresh, animated comedy strand to engage a 7-12-year-old audience. The goal was to build a digital-first following as part of the wider strategy for the relaunch of the Dennis the Menace TV show.

Approach
I co-created, wrote and directed Beano Toons, which was a series of original animated shorts that became Beano’s most-watched digital series. We were actually brought in by Beano because of the work we were doing on Channel 4’s Mashed at the time. They wanted to bring that same digital-first energy to the Beano brand ahead of their TV relaunch, and I worked on both projects alongside each other.

Working in a tiny team of two, we produced around 30 original films. I was involved in every stage, from the initial scripts and direction through to the final animation. We made sure the shorts tapped into things kids were obsessed with, like superheroes and monsters, but we also weaved in world events and political themes which the audience really responded to.

Results
Beano Toons became a cornerstone of Beano’s digital refresh. On YouTube, the series reached over 25 million views in total, with an average of 359k per film. We produced several breakout hits, including "Blocks vs Bricks" (8.4M views), "Kid Cops" (3.4M views) and "Pokémon Go Crazy" (2.6M views).

The project helped secure the Broadcast Digital Award for Best Original Web Channel. It was also part of a wider strategy that grew Beano.com to over 2 million annual visitors and helped drive a 10% rise in physical comic sales.

Evaluation
This was a brilliant project to be part of because of the creative freedom we had. Being such a small team meant we had to be very agile and smart with our production. Seeing a digital-first series drive that much engagement and actually help boost physical comic sales was a great result. It proved that if you get the storytelling right for the platform, you can reach a massive audience even with a small team.