Not to be confused with Dungeons & Dragons, a new animated series is being created alongside a tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) of the same name. French artist Clément De Ruyter, who is an animator and illustrator, created the TTRPG’s Dungeons & Kittens, having successfully crowdfunded the ttrpg earlier this year on a website dedicated to crowdfunding tabletop games “for gamers, by gamers”. Mélanie Duval is also credited as being the creator, having previously worked on the Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir animated TV series as one of the writers.
The summary of the story is:
Precious, Fib, Ruffles and Suds are four little kittens who live happily between the high walls of the Kingdom of Cats. But when they get banished after an unfortunate series of events, they will have to face the perils of the wild world outside and find a treasure splendiferous enough to earn King Walter’s forgiveness. Adventure, meowgic and hairballs await in this RPG-inspired serialised odyssey!
See the trailer here:
In an interview with Animation World Network, De Ruyter explained the inspiration behind Dungeons & Kittens, saying, “I’ve always loved initiation stories, where characters who are far too small for their fate are pushed by fate to brave dangers. There’s undoubtedly a bit of “The Lord of the Rings,” “The Hobbit,” and “Okilélé” (a French children’s book by Claude Ponti) that have been constant sources of inspiration.”
De Ruyter added, “At the very beginning, I was thinking about a sci-fi project with cats in space, but after a while, I realized that I wanted to explore the “genesis” of this universe through the lens of young adventurers, and that became Dungeons & Kittens. And quite quickly, I wanted to make it into a role-playing game to “test” my stories and my universe with my friends. I wanted to create a contrasting universe that speaks of childhood and beautiful friendship but also of wandering and danger, a bittersweet fable, and that’s when the unfair quest of King Walter appeared to me. And then, as time went by, Watch Next saw the drafts of the game, and here we are!“
Watch Next Media is a French production company with a main focus on animated TV series with the goal of developing and producing ambitious, meaningful series for children and people around the world. The company was founded in 2015 by Philippe Alessandri. Their previous productions are Nate Is Late, Boy, Girl, Dog, Cat, Mouse, Cheese, I, Elvis Riboldi, Best Bugs Forever, Hello Kitty: Super Style!, and Audrey’s Shelter.
“After several successfully completed series, Watch Next has decided to develop an epic saga to accompany the rise of its broadcasting partners’ non-linear platforms and to allow its teams to showcase their talent in a new format and genre. With its unique aesthetic and endearing characters, Dungeons and Kittens has the qualities to capture the hearts of an entire generation of children – and their parents’ too!”
Philippe Alessandri
Watch Next head of development Sylvain Huchet pitched the project at Cartoon Movie showcase on September 19th, praising De Ruyter’s lush graphic style, as translated and brought to life on screen by director Jeremy Guiter.
Huchet also added that, “Beyond the gorgeous style, what really appealed to us was this idea of putting these tiny characters that feel a bit helpless in a world that seems way too big for them. And that’s really the main idea: Even if you’re a tiny kitten or a small kid, you can still make an impact and change the world around you.”
The new series will have 13 episodes at 22 minutes of length each, with the show having an adventure story from a child’s perspective, expecting “meowgic”, dangers, and secrets along the way with the kittens. The series is expected to begin airing somewhere around 2025.
What do you think of the new animated series and ttrpg? Will you be interested in playing with your friends or kids when it becomes available? Do you think they would enjoy the animated series as well? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
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