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Discovery Kids celebrates anniversary with new series

Latin American pre-school channel Discovery Kids is marking its fifteenth anniversary with a new animated series featuring its main character Doki.

The series features Doki and a group of his friends travelling the world to answer questions about science, nature and the world we live in. The material covered will range from what castles were like to where rubber bands come from.

“There is no one more suited to exemplify the great educational and healthy lifestyle values that Discovery Kids instills in children better than Doki,” says Discovery Kids Latin America vice-president and channel director Angela Recio Sondon. “With this new original production, Doki and his friends Gabi, Fico, Anabella, Oto and Mundi become fully developed Discovery Kid's characters in an animated series that children and parents alike will love.”

The series of 26 half-hour episodes is being produced by Canada-based Portfolio Entertainment. Portfolio Entertainment specialises in animated, factual and lifestyle programming and produced The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot about That! airing on Discovery Kids Latin America and in 85 countries worldwide.

“Doki has been a huge hit in Latin America and we are delighted that children around the world will have the opportunity to embrace the series,” says Portfolio Entertainment co-president and founder Lisa Olfman. “We strive to deliver the highest quality of entertainment and we have a tremendous team of creative talent to ensure that we meet the expectations of children and their parents. Creating a series where every child can have fun exploring and discovering the world is the best work ever.”

JBMW Media is also serving as an executive producer on the animated series. JBMW Media founder and president Jennifer Monier-Williams was brought in to lead the search for a production company to develop and produce the Doki series in 2011.

Earlier this year, Discovery Communications launched a version of Discovery Kids in Asia Pacific.

David Hing, London