Amazon is moving its fledgling original programming development slate into animated territory. Amazon Studios, which entered the fray back in May with the announcement that the company would be focusing on developing comedies and children’s programming, has given the greenlight to a pilot for an animated comedy called Supa Naturals.
Amazon put the word out that it was looking for aspiring TV writers and creators to bring their projects to life back in the spring. This will be the company’s second pilot ordered; the first was the live action comedy, Browsers, which was put into development not long ago.
Supa Naturals is about two brash young divas whose lives revolve around shopping, and whom, it turns out, are humanity’s only hope for a defense against the supernatural. While there aren’t any details on what kind of supernatural beings our well-dressed heroes will be fighting, my first thought is of the original concept for Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Although things changed greatly in the series, those who remember the movie will recall Buffy started out as a bubbly cheerleader quite irritated by having to stake vampires. Supa Naturals’ animation gives it all kinds of leeway for different types of supernatural possibilities without the mounting costs a similar live action series would face.
The script for the show comes from writers Lily Sparks, Price Peterson and Ryan Sandoval, and they will executive produce alongside Trevor Engelson and Josh McGuire of Underground and Kristen Schall and Jason Micallef, says Deadline. Amazon’s approach to original programming so far seems to make it stand out somewhat from the pack, but in the end it will depend on how good the shows that come out of the TV studio actually turn out. It seems we should have something to judge that by fairly soon.
