By LOUISA CLEAVE
Chic Littlewood and Merv Smith as cartoon bugs?
It may sound a little creepy, but the veteran television and radio personalities can be heard on the animated series Buzz and Poppy (TV2, Sunday, 7.25 am).
The sophisticated 3D series has been sold to television networks in Thailand, Spain and Finland,
and series creator Trevor Yaxley says he is negotiating deals with distributors in England, America and Canada.
Joining Littlewood and Smith on voice duties are Suzanne Lee, Ray Columbus, Paula Keenan and David Weatherly. Top-selling pianist Carl Doy has composed the music and recorded it with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.
Each seven-minute story has been written by former newsreader Tom Bradley, and centres around the fun-loving, good-intentioned huhu bugs living in the New Zealand forrest.
The bugs, Buzz (voiced by Lee) and Poppy (Keenan), live in a community made up of magpies, wasps, wetas, slaters, worms, bees and various other creepy-crawlies.
TV2 has run the first 2D series of Buzz and Poppy for more than a year. However, it has morphed into a much slicker production with a multimillion injection of foreign investment, and will be offered for sale at a major international television market in Cannes next month.
So, will Littlewood, Smith and company become internationally famous for their latest gig?
Unfortunately, no. Yaxley says the series is sold with music and effects added - but the voices are replaced by the show's foreign buyers.
