ACTF News

Imagine a world where toys have secret lives of their own; a world of magic and mischief, where plastic dinosaurs roam and teddy bears hijack model trains and adventure awaits every time their owners’ backs are turned.

This is the premise of the new action-comedy series Knee High Spies – and it’s that fantasy that drew Sesame Street Director Jack Jameson to the project.

“The thing that got me was that every child has that fantasy: I think you imagine your toys coming to life, or you imagine yourself shrinking down to knee high size,” Jack says. “As a kid I was always wanting to drive my RC cars and live in a doll's house and things like that. So, I think there is an intrinsic element of what you imagine as a child or wish you could do.”

Knee High Spies is a unique new addition to the preschool market, set to premiere to Australian audiences this November on the ABC. It chronicles the secret lives of teddy bear Jeremy Buttons and his ragtag team of toy spies – Deena, Squash and Moss – as they embark on missions to protect their humans from the wicked schemes of the family’s pet guinea pig, Silver Paw.

The series incorporates state-of-the-art puppets, animatronics, VFX and live-action performances and has been brought to life by a team of some of Australia’s most experienced kids’ TV creators alongside UK-based Director Jack Jameson. It is created by Tim Bain (Kangaroo Beach) and produced by the award-winning Werner Film Productions (Dance Academy).

Tim first pitched Knee High Spies to the Australian Children’s Television Foundation (ACTF) in 2018 and was given development funding for scripts. It was during the Covid-19 lockdowns that the idea further developed.

“We were trapped in a house full of children and toys and puzzles, and those things came together to form this crazy fever dream of an idea. I was binging on Mission Impossible movies, and it was the idea of bringing the excitement of espionage and the spy world to children's TV. I don't think it had been done for preschoolers before, but the idea of sneaky, cheeky missions in the shadows of the house I think is really enticing to young kids.”

For production powerhouse Werner Film Productions, Knee High Spies is the company’s first foray into the preschool market – and Executive Producer Joanna Werner says she has relished the challenge.

“Most of my work so far has been producing live-action drama for older children and young adults – shows like Dance Academy, Crazy Fun Park and Surviving Summer – so stepping into the preschool and family world with Knee High Spies has been a new challenge and a real joy,” she says.

“What’s been exciting is working within a format that’s so visually and technically ambitious – our mix of live action, puppetry and VFX. It’s technically complex, but it allows us to bring a child’s imagination to life in such a tactile, cinematic way, which is full of warmth and play. It’s been a really special project to be a part of, one that celebrates how joyful and imaginative kids’ storytelling can be when you see the world through their eyes.”

Blending so many elements made for a hugely ambitious production – more complex than any of the team had tackled before.

“We're not just sticking a camera on something and shooting it,” says Tim. “We've got people inside giant puppet suits shot against a green screen who are then shrunk down into a live-action background into a real house, interacting with real children and a real dog. It's almost like a collage in every shot of the show. You're putting together all these different elements to make something that looks real and is, in fact, movie magic.”

“We have dolls which the kids can pick up and interact with and we use a sort of stand-ins, and then we are then replacing those with our walkabout characters back at the studio,” Jack says. “The walkabout suits are a human performer in a suit with a second performer controlling their animatronic faces, how they look and talk.

“We also have puppets. Silverpaw is a puppet live on set, Glitch is radio controlled and Moss is filmed on a separate set… then to add to that is Squash, who morphs into different items and is about half the size of the other toys – but as a performer is the same size as the other toys, which meant Squash is shot on a completely separate layer to all the others. So each shot's probably about at least three to four layers by the time you've done it all.”

There were also nearly 1,800 VFX shots across the series. “One of the biggest challenges was the sheer choreography of it all and the many, many elements that would go into one action sequence,” says Joanna. “But we loved the result. It felt like an epic action movie unfolding at knee height.”

Keeping track of all these elements sounds like an impossible task – but, along with meticulous storyboards, director Jack Jameson used a unique method to keep the crew across everything: daily story time.

“The AD Tony Raynes would call everyone in and say, ‘okay, we're ready for Jack's story time’, and he would run through it working with Director of Photography Darrell Martin, who set up this beautiful looking world,” says Producer Nicole Minchin. “He would explain, ‘this is what we're doing today and this is how we're going to try and approach it’ and run through what he's wanting to show – the drama or the gentler moments, et cetera… they would literally get on the ground and run through it and everyone would make their notes or ask questions, and I think it was the crew's favourite part of the day, really.”

Jack started his career with the Jim Henson Company in 2000. His screen credits include Waffle the Wonder Dog, Lovely Little Farm and Sesame Street, for which he has won two Emmy Awards. But in 25 years of working with puppets, Knee High Spies is new territory for him.

“What I've never done before was bring toys alive, and the joy of bringing toys alive is that you get to flip between the toy and the puppet,” Jack says. “I love the moments where the kids are handling them as toys and they are being toys – then they put them down and they come alive, and we cut between [those states]. For example, if Jeremy runs into the bedroom and has to jump onto the bed using a trampoline, when he hits the trampoline, we use his cuddly toy on set to get that real life moment and then we film him on blue screen flying through the air. We're always cutting and blending between the different elements. Puppetry on Sesame Street – that whole world is puppets and humans. With Knee High Spies, the crossover of different worlds and disciplines is happening all the time.”

Another unique feature of Knee High Spies is an interactive element where the audience is invited to solve puzzles.

“Kids love puzzles, and a really exciting thing to a to a kid is solving a puzzle, so I put those two things together,” Tim says. “We have the characters talking directly to the audience occasionally and asking for their help, like they're a fellow spy who can help them to solve this puzzle and overcome the obstacle in their mission.”

Speaking to the creatives involved in the series, you can’t help but notice the sheer passion they have for it, and the joy they found in the process of creating such a complex, multifaceted project – because of the challenges, not in spite of them.

“I'm very proud of the show,” Nicole says. “It’s a real privilege to be a part of it. I think we all have a lot of passion and love for the series, because it is so unique and it's come together so beautifully in all elements – the VFX, the beautiful music happening with the composers… the characters that draw the audience in and that [the audience] all recognise the strengths and vulnerabilities in... I will also say I find it very funny. I laugh a lot when I watch the show. Every element just enriched it and made the series sing.”

“We're working with all the things you're told not to – animals, children and puppets,” Tim says. And that's the beauty of the show, and the proof is in the pudding… it is beautiful and spectacular because of all those things.”

“Knee High Spies has been made with a huge amount of love and care,” says Joanna. “It is incredibly distinctive, with its mix of live action puppetry, its cinematic spy-genre energy, and its play from a child’s-eye point of view. The scale is small, but the stakes feel huge!  A single sock going missing becomes a full-blown mission. That sense of transforming the ordinary domestic moments into thrilling adventure makes the show feel both epic and relatable for young audiences.

“Knee High Spies celebrates curiosity, teamwork and the idea that being small doesn’t mean you can’t be mighty – which is exactly the kind of empowering message we want kids to carry away with them.  I also just love that it is a show that parents will enjoy watching with their children!”

Knee High Spies launches on Monday 10 November at 5:55pm on ABC Kids and iview.

Knee High Spies is a Werner Films production for the ABC. Production investment from the Australian Children's Television Foundation (ACTF), ABC, Vicscreen and Screen Australia. Created, written and co-produced by Tim Bain. Produced by Nicole Minchin. Directed by Jack Jameson. Writers: Tim Bain, Charlotte Rose Hamlyn and Alix Beane. Script producer: Ray Boseley. Executive Producers: Joanna Werner, Stuart Menzies, Bernadette O'Mahony.