Crafting a new original with Mini Pet Pals

Co-produced by Gruppo Alcuni and national public broadcaster, RAI TV, the animated adventures of Mini Pet Pals have a dedicated fanbase throughout Italy and worldwide with the show’s imagination, creativity, and catchy songs captivating young viewers since its launch in 2016.

To bring the stories of Mini Pet Pals to life for new audiences across the US and UK, production company, Gruppo Alcuni, contracted ZOO Digital in collaboration with Sound Farm 999 on the creation of English lip-sync dubs and mixing for the fourth season of its popular children’s animation, utilizing industry-leading casting, collaboration and production tools to deliver the highest level of technical and creative quality.

Taking the latest season to an established fanbase meant the transition had to remain seamless, despite a whole new cast – and the now widespread adoption of remote recording.

Casting without borders

With all productions, the availability of dubbing talent is restricted by its access to suitable recording environments. However, with the aid of production platform, ZOOdubs, and a well-established network of voice actors available to perform remotely, this challenge was nullified.

We were able to cast actors in half a dozen different cities, across four different time zones!

Project dubbing director, Alex McMorran, had a pool of thousands of actors at his fingertips. On the casting process, he said: “We were able to cast actors in half a dozen different cities, across four different time zones! Then get them quickly set up on their own equipment. The platform works just as well for people with different levels of tech-savviness. We managed to get even the most technophobic people up and running and delivering great performances!”

Collaborating in the cloud

Using the ZOOdubs collaboration tools, McMorran was able to guide actors with zero-latency, real-time, in-built video conferencing – moving the recording studio online. With these collaboration features, the cast and director could ensure the perfect delivery of lines and emotive impact.

I controlled the recording session, so the actors only had to worry about their performances.

On the directing process, McMorran commented: “Recording and reviewing was intuitive and it’s easy to make edits to the script as needed. These instantly pop up on the rhythmo-band, ready for the actors to perform. As the director, I controlled the recording session, so the actors only had to worry about their performances. It was also easy to keep track of what has been recorded, and what’s missing, which is especially important over 26 episodes with actors recording multiple characters!”

Quality fit for an original

While creative quality was managed through casting the highest caliber of voice talent and direction, the technology offered meticulous QC steps and automation throughout. Using ZOOdubs, operations can be streamlined with assistive tools and automation, which in turn gives the creative team time to do what they do best. This combination ensures that both sides of quality – technical and creative – receive the right level of treatment.

With a global cast of high-caliber actors, QC automation and seamless collaboration, ZOO delivered English lip-sync dubs fit for an original production. Ready to captivate a whole new audience experiencing Mini Pet Pals as they should be for the very first time.