Berry Bees is an animated television series developed for the Nine Network that premiered on 9Go! in Australia on 5 October 2019.[2] The series is based on the Italian book series of the same name by Cat Le Blanc. The series is produced by Atlantyca Entertainment, SLR Productions, Telegael and Cosmos-Maya Production.[3] The entire series is available to stream on Stan.
| Berry Bees | |
|---|---|
 Official poster for the series featuring the Berry Bees. From left to right: Juliette, Lola, and Bobby. | |
| Genre | |
| Based on | Berry Bees by Cat Le Blanc |
| Directed by | Niccolò Sacchi |
| Creative directors |
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| Voices of |
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| Theme music composer | Fabrizio Baldoni |
| Opening theme | "Berry Bees" by Filip (StudioPros) |
| Ending theme | "Berry Bees" (instrumental) |
| Composer | Fabrizio Baldoni |
| Country of origin |
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| Original languages | Italian English Hindi Malay Mandarin Tamil |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 52 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Producers |
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| Running time | 11 minutes |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network | |
| Release | 5 October 2019 – 16 May 2020 |
The show centers around three young girls who carry out spy missions.
Plot
editBobby, Lola, and Juliette are three extraordinary 10-year-old[3] girls who live a seemingly normal life. However the trio work undercover as the "Berry Bees" for the Bee Intelligence Agency (B.I.A. for short), a secret agency that selected them to carry out special spy missions. The girls, all codenamed after a type of berry, are given gadgets each episode by the head of the agency, Ms. Berry.
Usually the girls have to foil the evil plans of recurring villains such as Tara Bytes, Mirage, and the Greenthumbs. At the end of each episode, the villain escapes the confusion to fight the girls another day while things return to normal.
Characters
editMain
edit- Bobby – An expert in technology and a nerd.[4] Her codename is Raspberry.
- Lola – A skilled contortionist and acrobat.[4] Her codename is Strawberry.
- Juliette – A talented actress and mentalist.[4] Her codename is Blueberry.
- Ms. Berry – The head of the B.I.A.[4]
Villains
edit- Tara Bytes – A corrupt tech mogul. Her plots usually focus on advanced technology.
- Aaron Mirage – A thief who can assume the identity of anyone.
- Cosmo and Fauna Greenthumb – A bickering old couple who wish to make the environment better for animals.
Production
editOn 16 October 2018, it was announced that an animated series based on the Berry Bees book series was being produced.[5] The series is produced by Atlantyca Entertainment in Italy, SLR Productions in Australia, Telegael in Ireland, and Cosmos-Maya Production in India.[6]
The show's visual team found their inspiration in Mission Impossible and James Bond movies. The director, Niccolò Sacchi also singled out The Incredibles for its character and action scenes. He looked at Kim Possible all the time, "because of the show’s fantastic direction and staging of the shots." The team's reference for design was Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure. "[He] wanted to have the same feel for the characters with no outline and where shadows were used to give depth to the characters' skin and expressions."[3]
Episodes
editThe first season consists of 52 11-minute episodes.[3][6]
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Storyboard by | Australian air date | Italian air date | Prod. code | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Princesses Pose a Problem" "Missione doppia principessa" | Niccolò Sacchi | Katiedid Langrock and Keith Brumpton | Ivan Evans | 5 October 2019 | 19 December 2019 | TBA | ||||||
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The Berry Bees have to protect the princess of a small European country when Aaron Mirage disguises himself as a photographer, intending to steal valuable pearls. | |||||||||||||
| 2 | "Social Oversharing" "Ladri di segreti" | Niccolò Sacchi | Katiedid Langrock | Ian Milne | 5 October 2019 | 16 December 2019 | 106 | ||||||
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New high-tech headphones upload people's secrets when connected to a social media app. Tara Bytes invented them so she can sell an anti-secret-stealing device at a high price. | |||||||||||||
| 3 | "Xmas 2.0" "Natale 2.0" | Niccolò Sacchi | Story by : Charlotte Hamlyn Written by : David Witt | Regine Clarke | 12 October 2019 | 24 December 2019 | TBA | ||||||
| 4 | Caiyen Tse | ||||||||||||
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In this 2-part episode, the Berry Bees have to go to the North Pole to save Santa on Christmas Eve. Tara wishes to kidnap him so that she will be the ambassador of Christmas. | |||||||||||||
| 5 | "The Milk Shakey Shook" "Spie, animali e passepartout" | Niccolò Sacchi | Katiedid Langrock and Keith Brumpton | Cindy Scharka and Simon Turnbull | 19 October 2019 | 17 December 2019 | 102 | ||||||
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The Greenthumbs ransack the "Milk Shakey Shake", the Berry Bees' headquarters, holding the BIA's adult spies' information for ransom. | |||||||||||||
| 6 | "Stars Fall" "Le scarpe Salta-Salta" | Niccolò Sacchi | Katiedid Langrock and Keith Brumpton | Greg Ingram | 19 October 2019 | 18 December 2019 | 103 | ||||||
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The new "Moon Bouncer" shoes brainwash their wearers into committing crimes, which Tara uses to cover for her theft of a rare asteroid. | |||||||||||||
| 7 | "It's a Winner Wipeout" "Una buona torta non si scorda mai" | Niccolò Sacchi | Katiedid Langrock | Paolo Solaro | 27 October 2019[7] | 22 December 2019 | 112 | ||||||
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At a pie-eating contest, high-tech towels literally wipe the memories from people. | |||||||||||||
| 8 | "Hypnotic Hair Don't Care" "Brillantina con ipnosi" | Niccolò Sacchi | Joel Slack-Smith | Archi Bolina | 27 October 2019[7] | 18 December 2019 | 104 | ||||||
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Jeremy Dreamboat, a young rock star, sends subliminal messages to people using a special shampoo, which the Greenthumbs use to make his fans act like animals. | |||||||||||||
| 9 | "Haunted Amusement Park" "Fantasmi al luna park" | Niccolò Sacchi | Maria Chiara Oltolini | Ian Milne | 3 November 2019 | 22 December 2019 | 120 | ||||||
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Aaron disguises himself as the ghost to steal treasure buried underneath a soon-to-be-demolished amusement park. | |||||||||||||
| 10 | "Drop in the Ocean" "S.O.S. Barriera corallina" | Niccolò Sacchi | Senta Rich and Nick Wilkinson | Caiyen Tse | 3 November 2019 | 16 December 2019 | 121 | ||||||
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Strange currents at a junior regatta turn out to be cover for Aaron Mirage's illegal pearl fishing expedition. | |||||||||||||
| 11 | "Tricky Business" "Missione spettacolo truccato" | Niccolò Sacchi | Beatrice Guzzetti | Tang Lee | 9 November 2019 | 21 December 2019 | 128 | ||||||
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Aaron disguises himself as a magician's stagehand in order to steal the magician's book of tricks. | |||||||||||||
| 12 | "To Bee or Not to Bee" "Non ti ricordar di me" | Niccolò Sacchi | Muireann Ní Chíobháin | Regine Clarke | 9 November 2019 | 21 December 2019 | 125 | ||||||
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The Greenthumbs plan to deploy exotic flowers with a memory-wiping scent at a flower garden, on the day the Berry Bees have their field trip there. | |||||||||||||
| 13 | "String Sting" "Un violino sotto chiave" | Niccolò Sacchi | Alexa Moses | Birgit Maier and Irene D′Apote | 10 November 2019 | 17 December 2019 | 111 | ||||||
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The Berry Bees have to protect a child prodigy violinist's rare "Minivarius" from Aaron. | |||||||||||||
| 14 | "Growing Pains" "Teneri pelosetti crescono" | Niccolò Sacchi | Cleon Prineas | Laura Davanzo | 10 November 2019 | 23 December 2019 | 117 | ||||||
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The Berry Bees go to a remote town in Australia to prevent the Greenthumbs from turning novelty pets into ravenous monsters. | |||||||||||||
| 15 | "Love Is in the Net" "Troppo perfetto per essere vero" | Niccolò Sacchi | Gabriele Guariso | Simona Capovilla | 17 November 2019 | 19 December 2019 | 109 | ||||||
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Identical children named "Ralph" and "Britney Pretty" appear in schools all across the country, which are androids created by Tara to gain popularity. | |||||||||||||
| 16 | "Clover's Got Talent" "Sfida tra talenti" | Niccolò Sacchi | Richard Hansom | Alice Nicoletti | 17 November 2019 | 29 December 2019 | TBA | ||||||
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At a talent show, all the winners are subjected to various accidents. Tara staged them in an elaborate plan to have her niece, DeeDee, win, and become an influencer for her brand. | |||||||||||||
| 17 | "Someone Went Off Course" "Una nave fuori rotta" | Niccolò Sacchi | Andrea Marchetti | Cristina Parisotto | 24 November 2019 | 26 December 2019 | 110 | ||||||
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The Berry Bees investigate when ships go missing in the North Sea; the Greenthumbs sank them to save the oceans. | |||||||||||||
| 18 | "Rare Earth Sledding" "Che fine ha fatto la neve?" | Niccolò Sacchi | Katiedid Langrock | Paolo Solaro and Laura Davanzo | 24 November 2019 | 23 December 2019 | 124 | ||||||
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A mountain in Switzerland has mysteriously not received snowfall; as the Berry Bees find out, Tara has been operating an illegal mine in order to extract a rare earth mineral that can create flexible touchscreens. | |||||||||||||
| 19 | "Berry Fall" "Tre volte trappola" | Niccolò Sacchi | Joel Slack-Smith | Amy Stewart | 1 December 2019 | 31 December 2019 | TBA | ||||||
| 20 | |||||||||||||
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In this two-part episode, the Berry Bees are lured to an abandoned amusement park, as part of a diabolical plan masterminded by Tara, Aaron, and the Greenthumbs. | |||||||||||||
| 21 | "Look, Up in the Sky" "Un eroe in ognuno di noi" | Niccolò Sacchi | Ross Duncan | Manuk Chang | 8 December 2019 | 28 December 2019 | 138 | ||||||
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The Berry Bees have to protect a rare comic book at a comic book convention, which Aaron wants to steal. | |||||||||||||
| 22 | "Cowabunga, Bees!" "Cowabunga, Berry Bees!" | Niccolò Sacchi | Katiedid Langrock | Archi Bolina | 8 December 2019 | 28 December 2019 | 144 | ||||||
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While the Berry Bees are on vacation at a desert ranch, the Greenthumbs create abnormal growths of cacti. | |||||||||||||
| 23 | "A Prank Is Not a Crime" "Scherzare non è reato" | Niccolò Sacchi | Andrea Marchetti | Regine Clarke | 14 December 2019 | 30 December 2019 | 115 | ||||||
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A new student, Isaac, uses a high-tech mask to play pranks and appear as different people. | |||||||||||||
| 24 | "Action! BBs on the Movie Set" "Pronte, apine, si gira!" | Niccolò Sacchi | Cassandra Albani | Cindy Scharka | 14 December 2019 | 26 December 2019 | 118 | ||||||
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Tara plants subliminal messages in an upcoming superhero movie to brainwash kids into uncharacteristically acting like superheroes. | |||||||||||||
| 25 | "Mission to Mars" "Missione su Marte" | Niccolò Sacchi | Muireann Ní Chíobháin | Alice Nicoletti | 15 December 2019 | 29 December 2019 | 137 | ||||||
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The Greenthumbs sabotage the launch of a Space Shuttle in order to give animals new life on Mars. | |||||||||||||
| 26 | "License to Munch" "Bruchi mangia kart" | Niccolò Sacchi | Amy Stewart | Daniel Foley | 15 December 2019 | 30 December 2019 | 105 | ||||||
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The Greenthumbs genetically engineer giant caterpillars in order to disrupt a go-kart race in Australia. | |||||||||||||
| 27 | "Chinese Shadows" "Ombre cinesi" | Niccolò Sacchi | Nicola Peirano | Laura Davanzo | 4 July 2020 | 6 May 2020 | 126 | ||||||
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The Berry Bees have to protect a Chinese statue from Aaron. | |||||||||||||
| 28 | "Nightmare Before Halloween" "Un Halloween da paura" | Niccolò Sacchi | Antonio Kyriakopoulos | Laura Davanzo | 4 July 2020 | 14 May 2020 | 122 | ||||||
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Tara's new Halloween costumes brainwash their wearers into acting like the characters they resemble. | |||||||||||||
| 29 | "Micro Mayhem" "Furto tra i ghiacci" | Niccolò Sacchi | Greg Ó Braonáin | Ivan Evans | 11 July 2020 | TBA | TBA | ||||||
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Aaron desires to steal a newly discovered microorganism from a science lab. | |||||||||||||
| 30 | "The Winner Loses It All" "Giovani geni in pericolo" | Niccolò Sacchi | Andrea Marchetti | Alice Nicoletti and Giorgio Scotto | 11 July 2020 | TBA | TBA | ||||||
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The Berry Bees compete on a trivia game show where Tara uses the winner's intelligence to power an AI. | |||||||||||||
| 31 | "Mind the Cat" "Attenti al gato!" | Niccolò Sacchi | Saschia Masini | Archi Bolina | 18 July 2020 | 7 May 2020 | 116 | ||||||
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The Berry Bees have to protect the princess of a tropical island when Aaron desires to steal her cat's necklace. | |||||||||||||
| 32 | "Watch the Birdie" "Pioggia di aquiloni" | Niccolò Sacchi | Ross Duncan | Stefano Giannelli and Laura Davanzo | 18 July 2020 | 8 May 2020 | 119 | ||||||
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The Greenthumbs seek to disrupt a kite-flying competition with giant mechanical birds. | |||||||||||||
| 33 | "Boiling Point" "Tropici in Irlanda" | Niccolò Sacchi | Senta Rich and Nick Wilkinson | Cristina Parisotto | 25 July 2020 | 15 May 2020 | 127 | ||||||
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The Berry Bees travel to Ireland when the Greenthumbs destroy a Celtic stone structure for their circus. | |||||||||||||
| 34 | "Hamster Haul" "Il ruggito del criceto" | Niccolò Sacchi | Dee Roycroft | Paola Solaro | 25 July 2020 | 13 May 2020 | 129 | ||||||
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A dinosaur bone goes missing and is found at a pet show. | |||||||||||||
| 35 | "Mystery in Venice" "Mistero a Venezia" | Niccolò Sacchi | Cassandra Albani | Giorgio Scotto and Cristina Parisotto | 1 August 2020 | 10 May 2020 | 130 | ||||||
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The Berry Bees travel to Venice to prevent Aaron from stealing a rare Venetian mask. | |||||||||||||
| 36 | "Taking the Plunge" "Un tuffo a rana" | Niccolò Sacchi | Clare Dowling | Stefano Giannelli | 1 August 2020 | 6 May 2020 | 131 | ||||||
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The Greenthumbs disrupt a junior swimming contest by dumping frogs into the pool. | |||||||||||||
| 37 | "Mummy's Boy" "Mummie, dinosauri e falsi allarmi" | Niccolò Sacchi | Carol Walsh | Stefano Giannelli | 8 August 2020 | 18 May 2020 | 133 | ||||||
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Aaron disguises himself as a mummy in order to steal a rare Egyptian necklace from a museum, while the Berry Bees have a sleepover there. | |||||||||||||
| 38 | "Having a Ball" "Un campione alla Paillard" | Niccolò Sacchi | Greg Ó Braonáin | Daniel Foley, Ian Milne and Richard Bailey | 8 August 2020 | 11 May 2020 | 134 | ||||||
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Aaron disguises himself as a basketball champion in order to steal a trophy. | |||||||||||||
| 39 | "Don't Stop the Music" "Una musica spinosa" | Niccolò Sacchi | Senta Rich and Nick Wilkinson | Gary Blatchford | 15 August 2020 | 16 May 2020 | 135 | ||||||
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The Greenthumbs develop plants that grow rapidly when exposed to music, which they deploy at a rock concert, | |||||||||||||
| 40 | "The Host Heist" "Tutti in carrozza!" | Niccolò Sacchi | Ross Duncan | Daniel Foley | 15 August 2020 | 14 May 2020 | 136 | ||||||
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Using a VR exercise app, Aaron brainwashes several people into helping him infiltrate a toy store in order to steal a levitating toy train. | |||||||||||||
| 41 | "The Game is Over" "Verdure all'arrabbiata" | Niccolò Sacchi | Andrea Marchetti | Ian Milne and Ivan Evans | 22 August 2020 | 12 May 2020 | 139 | ||||||
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A spy from Beetle Intelligence 6 (or BI6 for short), the BIA's sister organization, gets lost in a Minecraft-esque video game. | |||||||||||||
| 42 | "Smart Pets" "Scambio di posto" | Niccolò Sacchi | Maria Chiara Oltolini | Laura Davanzo | 22 August 2020 | 10 May 2020 | 140 | ||||||
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The Greenthumbs' new pet salon secretly switches the minds of pets and their owners. | |||||||||||||
| 43 | "The Tennis Snatch" "Acchiappa la racchetta, Lola!" | Niccolò Sacchi | Dee Roycroft | Stefano Giannelli | 29 August 2020 | 17 May 2020 | 142 | ||||||
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When several young sports players' lucky items are stolen, Lola must go undercover as a boy to prevent Aaron from stealing his next prize - a tennis racket. | |||||||||||||
| 44 | "Model Bee-haviour" "Spionaggio con stile" | Niccolò Sacchi | Richard Hansom | Laura Davanzo | 29 August 2020 | 12 May 2020 | 143 | ||||||
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The Berry Bees go undercover at Milan's Fashion Show to prevent Aaron from stealing an expensive hat. | |||||||||||||
| 45 | "School's Out" "La scuola è chiusa!" | Niccolò Sacchi | Story by : Clare Dowling Written by : Greg Ó Braonáin | Alice Nicoletti | 5 September 2020 | 13 May 2020 | 145 | ||||||
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Carly, a new student, stays with the Berry Bees. She is the daughter of archaeologists who have discovered Atlantis, and Aaron wants to kidnap her to get information out of her. | |||||||||||||
| 46 | "Patty Pizza" | Niccolò Sacchi | Greg Ó Braonáin | Giorgio Scotto and Cristina Parisotto | 5 September 2020 | 17 May 2020 | 146 | ||||||
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New "Patty Pizza" dolls turn out to be robotic spies sent by Tara, which allow her to control all their victims' devices. | |||||||||||||
| 47 | "Mountain Madness" "Yeti o non Yeti?" | Niccolò Sacchi | Katiedid Langrock | Elk Studio | 12 September 2020 | 9 May 2020 | 147 | ||||||
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The Berry Bees save a junior mountaineering team from a yeti. Although the one they see is actually the Greenthumbs, they later see a real yeti itself. | |||||||||||||
| 48 | "It's a Whole New World in There" "Ogni desiderio si avvera!" | Niccolò Sacchi | Antonio Kyriakopoulos | Elk Studio | 12 September 2020 | 9 May 2020 | 148 | ||||||
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Tara creates a virtual reality video game where anyone can get anything they desire. However, its users end up becoming zombie-like in real life and unable to do anything else. | |||||||||||||
| 49 | "Cat-astrophe" "Gattastrofe" | Niccolò Sacchi | Ross Duncan | Alice Nicoletti and Giorgio Scotto | 19 September 2020 | 18 May 2020 | 149 | ||||||
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The Berry Bees uncover a secret experiment by the Greenthumbs which involves exchanging the behaviors of cats and tigers. | |||||||||||||
| 50 | "Bees Outback" "Apine in campeggio" | Niccolò Sacchi | Richard Hansom | Elk Studio | 19 September 2020 | 11 May 2020 | 150 | ||||||
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The Berry Bees go out camping in the Australian outback, without their phones or spy gadgets. Still, they manage to foil a Greenthumb experiment which involves turning sheep into ferocious, horned creatures. | |||||||||||||
| 51 | "Spelling Bees in Action" "Missione parole da dividere" | Niccolò Sacchi | Clare Dowling | Elk Studio | 26 September 2020 | 15 May 2020 | 151 | ||||||
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A child inventor is to receive a medal for her creation of a robot that can spell anything. However, Aaron seeks to steal the medal. | |||||||||||||
| 52 | "Dog Gone" "Fiuta, agente Fluffy!" | Niccolò Sacchi | Greg Ó Braonáin | Giorgio Scotto | 26 September 2020 | 16 May 2020 | 152 | ||||||
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The Berry Bees and their dog Fluffy help foil Aaron's plans to steal Tricksy, a dog trained to perform several elaborate tricks. | |||||||||||||
Broadcast
editBerry Bees first premiered on 9Go! in Australia on 5 October 2019.[2] By the 7th episode, premieres suddenly moved from Saturdays to Sundays starting 27 October.[7] In Italy, the series premiered on Rai Gulp on 16 December[8][9] with episodes 2 and 10. Since two segments are combined into one in the Australian broadcast of the series, the cold open in every second episode that airs is cut, but is retained in the Italian broadcast due to the segments being separately aired.[citation needed]
Awards
editOn 12 July 2019, the episode "Hypnotic Hair Don't Care" was nominated in the 52nd Annual AWGIE Awards in the "Animation" category, with writer Joel Slack-Smith as a recipient, before the series premiered in Australia.[10][11] It lost to an episode of Beat Bugs.[12]
References
edit- ^ a b c "Animation".
- ^ a b Zahed, Ramin (11 October 2019). "Atlantyca Buzzes with 'Berry Bees' at MIP Junior".
- ^ a b c d Zahed, Ramin (15 February 2019). "Atlantyca's 'Berry Bees' Sends Young Jane Bonds to the Rescue".
- ^ a b c d "IT'S TIME FOR BERRY BEES". 18 September 2019.
- ^ Milligan, Mercedes (16 October 2018). "Atlantyca, SLR, Telegael & Cosmos-Maya Team for 'Berry Bees' Mission".
- ^ a b "ATLANTYCA announces the production of brand new BERRY BEES tv series at MIPCOM". 25 October 2018.
- ^ a b c http://www.slrproductions.com/now-on-9go-until-sunday-december-15-2019-berry-bees-buzzing-on-sundays-at-7-30am/ [dead link]
- ^ "Le Berry Bees in arrivo su RAI Gulp: intervista ad Atlantyca". 22 October 2019.
- ^ "Il Natale di Rai Ragazzi". 6 December 2019. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
- ^ "Nominees for the 52nd annual AWGIE Awards announced". 12 July 2019.
- ^ @OzKidsTV (17 July 2019). "Congrats to the #2019AWGIES Animation finalists:⭐ 2x #BeatBugs: Kate Mulvany & Thomas Duncan-Watt⭐ #BerryBees: J…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "FULL LIST OF WINNERS FOR THE 52nd ANNUAL AWGIE AWARDS". 23 August 2019.
