SHOW DETAILS
Animated series Created by Patrick Carman and Joe Purdy Based on the book series by Patrick Carman
Welcome to Ball Town, a remote ravine where balls of all kinds, from every sport, live after they’ve rolled away from their game or been hit or thrown too far! That’s how our three main characters - ROY (a golf ball), CLYDE (a tennis ball), and WILMA (a basketball) – ended up stuck in Ball Town. Lost balls unite!
BALLS is an animated comedy series about friendship, grit, good sportsmanship, clever and often absurd plans, and rolling with everyday life.
Our main trio – Roy, Clyde, and Wilma -- have a blast playing games with each other, learning each other’s sports, and endless fun with the diverse ball community of Ball Town. We’re talking every type and size of ball, each with their own personality! From soccer balls to ping pong balls, baseballs to softballs, two chill volleyballs… and every kind in between!
THE CHARACTERS’ VOICES Balls will celebrate the diversity of balls in the world, treating them as equals. Finally, every ball will be represented and have a voice! The production plan is to have some famous athletes voice the ball character connected to their sport. (And definitely have athletes as guest voices.) Imagine… LeBron and Candace Parker as basketballs, Michelle Wei and Jordan Spieth as golf balls, Serena and Roger Federer as tennis balls, Mike Trout as a baseball, Gabrielle Reece as a volleyball, Russell Wilson as the football, David Beckham as the soccer ball, Li Xiaoxia as the ping pong ball, etc. ROY THE GOLF BALL IS DETERMINED! He wants to get out of Ball Town and back to his normal life on the golf course, being putted and driven. He makes plans, and along with Wilma and Clyde, the best friends try to make a great escape. In most episodes. (Wilma is mostly resigned that Ball Town is now home, while Clyde is in the middle since he and Wilma have tried to escape many times in the past – obviously, without success.) Roy energizes the two friends – the power of three!
IT ISN’T EASY TO GET OUT OF BALL TOWN! Why? Because of where it’s located and because our characters are limited - they’ll just balls! Oh, also, there’s MADAM HAIRPIN! She’s a badminton birdie and the ruthless “QUEEN OF BALL TOWN”! She rules along with her loyal henchman, ELBOW JOE, a football, whom she rides on around town. Madam Hairpin is ever determined that no ball will ever leave Ball Town, her domain.
Like Toy Story showed the world of toys and delved into the well-rounded characters of each specific toy, BALLS will do that with the wide world of balls. The series will portray what drives balls – well, more like -- what makes them roll! All our BALL characters have distinct personalities. Some are funny, some are ornery, some are overly friendly, some shy, many of the balls are highly competitive, and some are very bright, others not so much. Some balls are older and wiser, while some are new and eager and innocent. Each ball has emotions, feelings, hopes, dreams, and likes and dislikes.
BALLS are BALLERS!
Balls take their game and sport as seriously as the human players do! (Who knew?!) Every ball is athletic and skilled in their own individual way. (Did you think the human athlete did all the work in their sport?)!
Balls are dedicated, intense, and want to do their best while playing. Like the humans that use the balls, our BALL characters have strategies, they practice, workout, they have their own nicknames, and lingo, and even favorite songs.
Just like athletes, the balls keep track of what’s happening in the game, know what the score is and obsess over stats, and partake in a variety of superstitious habits to improve their luck. They also know other balls of their kind in their sport, just like athletes know other players.
BALLS ROLLING FORWARD `Balls’ will motivate, inspire, and teach young viewers the best lessons sports have to offer: Hard work pays off! Practice, practice, practice! Be humble and respect any competition! Everyone is included on a team! Focus on the positive and your goals to overcome any adversity!
FIRSTS FOR ROY He was a sheltered golf ball and now in Ball Town he meets all these new kinds of balls for the first time. Balls of different sizes, textures, different skills and energies. When other balls tell him about their sport, Roy’s mind is blown! He’d never heard of tennis or seen a fuzzy ball, never heard of bowling or basketball or baseball or soccer or ping pong or jail lai or bocce, etc. Roy is the first golf ball ever to roll into Ball Town and everyone is super curious about him. LOCATIONS
The RAVINE The RAVINE (AKA Ball Town) is blocked on one side by WILDWOOD HILL covered with vines and weeds, and on another side by the SLIPPERY SLOPE. GIGANTOR, a wall that runs right up to an expressway, covers the backside of Ball Town. A RIVER runs along the far end of Ball Town (it’s really just a stream, but balls are afraid of water)
The REC CENTER sits way up on top of the HILL that can be seen on a very clear day. Many of the balls came from there.
Main Street is the spine of BALL TOWN; Wilma, Clyde, and Roy have a Clubhouse (a wooden box `treehouse’); Madame Hairpin has a lair on a built up dirt mound with a flattop where she sits on a discarded small velvety pillow that’s her “throne”. PLUS……
BALLS GOTTA PLAY!
Our main TRIO along with many other balls have recreated the area that they usually play their sport in. Makeshift, but the best they can. Wilma has a b-ball “court” with a “hoop” (old tire rim) on a tree; Clyde has a tennis court with a net (a stretched-out blanket); Roy’s golf “course” has a “green” and hole to roll himself into; Crash the bowling ball has a bowling lane (a rut) and “pins” (anything – found cans, stones, pine cones -- he can set up to knock down); there’s a net made of old shirts for Valerie the volleyball; Elbow Joe the football has “goal posts” (a tree, a random metal pole and a fallen branch lying between them) to throw himself over. ANIMATION
The series will be in 2D and we’ll see lots of ACTION! We’re talking BALLS ON THE MOVE! We’ll take full advantage of animation -- epic adventures to intimate scenes, gags, shots from up high to many from a specific ball’s POV. The series will have fantasy elements when an individual ball imagines a plan for itself or imagines itself in the big game, plus flashbacks to `back in the day’ for a ball of life before Ball Town, and flashforwards to when a ball dreams of what their amazing life with be when they’re not in Ball Town or if they’re in charge of the Town! CHARACTERS
Roy – golf ball. He’s eager and determined, proud of how far he can fly after some player hits him. (“I do more than half the work!”) Roy has a bit of an attitude, an evident ego when he arrives in Ball Town, but he evolves and becomes more open and down to earth in a season 1 arc. Roy likes to have a good time and can be impulsive. Very close and loyal to friends.
Clyde – tennis ball. He’s outgoing and talkative. He’s a joker who is looking for the fun wherever he goes. He loves the color yellow and all things yellow. Loves the sun and laying out and catching rays, eating yellow corn. Clyde can be warm and fuzzy. Glass always half full!
Wilma – basketball. She’s a bit shy by nature but has no problem being forceful, rolling into a situation with some muscle when needed. A gentle giant. She will think and listen before talking. Wilma is smart and has a great sense of humor and a surprisingly goofy laugh. She’s a good, loyal friend.
Madam Hairpin – badminton shuttlecock. Evilish “queen”. Likes to be told she’s right, likes to be listened to, and secretly wants to be liked.
Elbow Joe – football. Not the brightest guy. He calls football plays, hikes and throws himself. He’s at Madame Hairpin’s beck and call 24/7.
Crash – bowling ball. Always rolling, always crashing into things, thinks everything is a bowling pin. He makes pin crashing sounds, yells “Strike!” for anything good and “Gutter Ball!” for anything bad.
Chill Jill and Chill Bill – the chilliest volleyballs ever.
Poppy – Ping-Pong ball. She’s incredibly quick and can spin and change direction super-fast. She’s squeaky voiced. Bff’s with Supa.
Roscoe – soccer ball. He can roll fast, zip through the air and curve in mid-air. He’s bi-lingual, over-confident, and yells his own, “goooooooooaaaaaallll!!” Supa the Superball. Loves being the highest bouncer in town. She bounces 24/7, has RBS - ”restless bounce syndrome” and could probably bounce out of Town but looooves living in Ball Town. A true enthusiast of all balls.
OTHER BALL TOWN BALLS: Suzie the softball, Valerie the beachball, Felipe the baseball. Plus, a crazy amount of global guest stars: a billiard ball, a rugby ball, a cricket ball, a wiffle ball, a squash ball, handball, lacrosse ball, a polo ball, water polo ball, lawn bowling ball, a big ole Medicine ball, a tried and true rubber playground ball, a kickball, a croquet ball, field hockey ball, a tetherball, and a dodgy dodgeball.
EPISODES
Mission Impossiball – Our three best ball friends – Roy, Wilma, and Clyde – try to escape Ball Town on a daring mission, using an old tennis racquet they’ve rigged. Can hyperactive, talks- too-much-when-nervous Supa the superball keep their secret? Will Clyde suddenly get cold “feet”? Can Roy, Wilma, and Clyde distract Stella, the very vigilant Rec Center mutt who love to chase balls?
Ball for One, One for Ball – A friendly contest between Wilma, Roy, and Clyde comparing who has better aim, who can roll faster and bounce higher, soon becomes a Ball Town-wide competition. Too competitive. Then Clyde ends up stuck high up in a tree and his true fears emerge. He’s really scared of heights. Roy and Wilma get the Ball Town balls to stop competing and work together to rescue Clyde. Will a “ladder” of stacked up ball friends really work?
Pump Me Up! - Wilma the basketball loses confidence when she starts to deflate but Roy and Clyde concoct a plan to “borrow” an air pump that Madam Hairpin has. It involves disguising Roy the golf ball as a small football who sucks up to Elbow Joe and Clyde doing a standup routine for Madame Hairpin. Wilma ends up getting inflated and vows to live her best life.
OTHER EPISODE INCLUDE: `Ball or Nothing’ `Ball about Eve’ `The Ball of the Wild’ `Ball-E’ `Ballers’ `The Incredi-balls’ `101 Rotations’ `The Red Ball of Courage’ `Justice for Ball’ `Roll of a Lifetime’ `Raging Ball’ `Beauty and the Ball’ `Old Baller’ `Balltopia’ `Oh the Places You’ll Roll’ `Roll Tide’ `That’s How I Roll!’ CREATIVE TEAM
JOE PURDY is an Emmy Award winning writer who has worked extensively in television, producing and writing for series at Netflix, Nickelodeon, Disney Jr, Disney Channel, Cartoon Network, ABC, The Jim Henson Company, Dreamworks, and PBS. Joe was recently the showrunner on Netflix’s `Llama Llama’. He has also helped run shows at Nickelodeon and PBS. Joe co-wrote the recent `Hey Arnold!’ movie, and, back in the day, was the co-EP/ co-head writer on the long-running Nickelodeon series. Joe has been story editor on many long-running shows and is a creative consultant for Netflix and others. Joe has written features for Paramount, Warner Bros., and the Jim Henson Co. Currently, he is developing series for Freeform/Disney and Nickelodeon, among others. He has also developed series (animated and live action) for AppleTV, Amazon Studios, Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, Spike TV, the NFL, ABC, Spin Master, and Starburns Industries. Joe has been nominated for several Emmys, won once, as well as winning an Environmental Media award. Joe has also had stage plays produced in New York and LA. He makes a very good omelet.
PATRICK CARMAN Patrick Carman has authored 35 novels with over five million books in print across 26 countries. His first book, The Dark Hills Divide, was published in 2003. The book, and the subsequent books in the same series, The Land of Elyon, were all New York Times bestsellers and spent a combined nine months on the list. The series was nominated for many state and national awards. He followed the five book Elyon series with the critically acclaimed Atherton trilogy, which was shortlisted for the Texas Bluebonnet (the best book for children) and enjoyed many other awards. Carman’s Floors and Skeleton Creek series’ have been perennial favorites through Scholastic Book Fairs and Clubs, reaching millions of kids through school libraries and classrooms. In Hollywood, Patrick has written for television, film, YouTube, and narrative podcasts.
REECE CARMAN Reece illustrated the BALLS book, it is her first time in print. A former division I volleyball player, Reece loves sports, art, stories, puzzles, and talking with young readers.