Chapman Entertainment was a British

television production A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...

company founded by

Keith Chapman Keith Chapman (born 1959) is a British television writer and producer, best known as the creator of children's television programmes ''Bob the Builder'' and ''PAW Patrol.'' Biography He worked for Jim Henson International, designing characters ...

and Greg Lynn and based in London, England.

History

The 2001-2008 Era

The company was founded by Greg Lynn in London in 2001, together with Keith Chapman and Andrew Haydon a former

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of John Reid Entertainment, an artist management company. The company was created for the purpose of exploiting both the intellectual property rights of Chapman's creations and also those of interested third parties. The company is structured to allow greater rewards and input to property creators. This developed from Chapman's own frustrations at his lack of involvement with his ''

Bob the Builder ''Bob the Builder'' is a British animated children's television series created by Keith Chapman for HIT Entertainment and Hot Animation. The series follows the adventures of Bob, a building contractor, specialising in masonry, along with ...

'' character. He created the character in the early nineties and struck a deal with

HIT Entertainment HIT Entertainment Limited (commonly written as HiT) was a British-American entertainment company founded in 1982 as Henson International Television, the international distribution arm of The Jim Henson Company, by Jim Henson, Peter Orton, and Soph ...

which saw them develop the character. The project was handed over to Hot Animation, specifically

Jackie Cockle Jackie Cockle (born 1950) is a British stop motion animation specialist, best known as the co-founder of the HOT Animation studio, which specializes in stop motion animation. She is the creator and creative producer of the pre-school animation T ...

and

Curtis Jobling Curtis Jobling (born 14 February 1972) is a British illustrator, animator and author, born in Blackpool, England but lives in Warrington. He was the original production designer of the stop-motion puppet version of children's TV hit ''Bob the ...

, who took the basic title and premise of the show and ran with it, developing the project in-house from a blank canvas. The resulting show was commissioned by the BBC. The company was credited to the Project Build It series. In May 2005, Chapman Entertainment launched ''Fifi and the Flowertots'', a stop-frame animation show on Five's Milkshake! and

Nick Jr Nick Jr. (known on-air as the Nick Jr. Channel) is an American pay television channel spun off from Nickelodeon's long-running programming block of the same name. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Gr ...

. The show has been sold into over 100 territories worldwide. ''Fifi and the Flowertots'' features the voices of

Jane Horrocks Barbara Jane Horrocks (born 18 January 1964) is a British actress. She portrayed the roles of Bubble and Katy Grin in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulous''. She was nominated for the 1993 Olivier Award for Best Actress for the title role in th ...

and more. In May 2007, Chapman Entertainment launched their second show, ''Roary the Racing Car'' on Five's Milkshake! and Nick Jr. The idea for the show was suggested by

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently host ...

employee David Jenkins and features the voices of comedian

Peter Kay Peter John Kay (born 2 July 1973) is an English actor, comedy writer and stand-up comedian. He has written, produced and acted in several television and film projects, and has written three books. Born and brought up in Bolton, Kay studied ...

and more with racing driver Sir

Stirling Moss Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss (17 September 1929 – 12 April 2020) was a British Formula One racing driver. An inductee into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, he won 212 of the 529 races he entered across several categories of comp ...

as the narrator.

The 2008-2013 Era

In July 2011, Chapman Entertainment announced the departure of their MD Greg Lynn ahead of massive company redundancies, "soaring costs and challenging trading conditions" were listed as the reason's for the redundancies. In August 2011, Chapman Entertainment announced the company being place for sale. It has placed poor toys sales as the main cause. In November 2012, Chapman Entertainment announced the company being placed into administration, again blaming poor toys sales as the main cause. In September 2013,

DreamWorks Animation DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios and simply known as DreamWorks) is an American animation studio that produces animated films and television programs and is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures, a division ...

(which would be acquired by

NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. NBCUniversal is primari ...

in 2016) acquired Chapman Entertainment's TV library. The acquisition adds to DreamWorks growing library of family entertainment brands that also include properties gained when it acquired

Classic Media Classic Media, LLC, doing business as DreamWorks Classics, is an American entertainment company owned by DreamWorks Animation, which is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures and a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was founded as Classic Media ...

in 2012. The Chapman programs will now be distributed through DreamWorks Animation's UK-based TV distribution operation. As of 2022, Chapman's shows are currently available on

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera ''Pavo (genus), Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female pea ...

's streaming service.

List of shows

*''

Fifi and the Flowertots ''Fifi and the Flowertots'' is a British stop-motion children's television series created by Keith Chapman for Five (acquired rights only) and Nick Jr. (under the "Original Series" brand). It aired from 2 May 2005 to 16 July 2010. The series ...

'' (2005–2010) *''

Roary the Racing Car ''Roary the Racing Car'' (stylised as ''ROARY: The Racing Car'') is a British-stop-motion children's television series created by David Jenkins and produced by Chapman Entertainment and Cosgrove Hall Films. It follows the adventures of Roary ...

'' (2007–2010) *''

Little Charley Bear ''Little Charley Bear'' is a British CGI-animated television series created by Daniel Pickering. Narrated by James Corden, ''Little Charley Bear'' takes viewers on a journey into the world of let's pretend, where anything is possible. ''Little ...

'' (2011–2015) (Co-produced by

) *''

Raa Raa the Noisy Lion ''Raa Raa the Noisy Lion'' is a British stop motion animated children's television programme first broadcast in May 2011, which is shown on CBeebies. It features a group of animal-based characters and their adventures and activities through the ...

'' (2011–2018)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Television production companies of the United Kingdom DreamWorks Animation Entertainment companies established in 2001 Entertainment companies disestablished in 2013 2001 establishments in the United Kingdom 2013 disestablishments in the United Kingdom