Jane and the Dragon is the creation of children's author Martin Baynton and brought to life by Weta

Jane and the Dragon is the creation of children's author Martin Baynton and brought to life by Weta

A knight in shining armour, a mythical creature and a medieval court? It all sounds a bit twee for an animated children's series in 2007.

But what if the knight was a feisty 12-year-old girl, the creature was a clumsy dragon and their living quarters were designed by the team who gave us Gollum in Lord of the Rings?

Weta Workshop's first TV series, Jane and the Dragon, premieres in New Zealand on Saturday. It is hoped the early evening timeslot will entice a family audience to what is being heralded as a massive achievement for the Oscar-winning company.

The huge expense involved in making the series - believed to be more than $16 million - is part of the reason why New Zealand is one of the last countries to screen it. The 26 half-hour episodes are a collaboration with established Canadian animation company, Nelvana.

Despite initial concerns Jane might be too gentle and slow-moving for a modern audience, the show has rated well in Australia, Europe, South Africa, Canada and the United States.

"It's just what we hoped for," says Kiwi children's author and illustrator Martin Baynton, who approached Weta nearly four years ago to make the series.

"People have been crying out for old-fashioned drama."

Baynton had sold thousands of his Jane and the Dragon books around the world when he decided it was time to take his characters to the next level. There were too many story ideas jostling around his head to turn them into more books, whereas TV seemed like a great way to develop the Jane world.

Baynton has also worked as a TV screenwriter, script editor and actor but knowing little about the business end of the industry, he put himself on a crash course, travelling twice to the Cannes Film and Television Festival. He then approached Richard Taylor at Weta to make the series.

The timing was perfect as Weta had just started looking for a children's TV project.

"Richard and I both love beautiful, classic storytelling, the sort of storytelling we remember from children's programmes growing up," says Baynton. "There's been a movement towards the fast and furious because kids are channel-hopping and catching the eye candy of the moment. We wanted to try to build a show that won our audience and kept them on board, a half-hour story with all the ebbs and flows of a normal drama."

Weta didn't just commit to the project, they built a new studio specifically for the show. A team of 74 spent three years on the production, under CGI supervisor Trevor Brymer (who'd previously worked on Dark Knight).