Love Monster, a quirky new animation for pre-schoolers full of fun and adventure, bounces onto CBeebies from 27 January, available every weekday and continually on BBC iPlayer.

The wonderfully warm and witty preschool series is based on the best-selling books by Rachel Bright.
This 54x7’ 2D animated series follows the colourful and funny adventures of lovable hairy hero Love Monster as he searches for the right thing to do in a world in which he is one of a kind.

Showcasing the importance of kindness, empathy, connection and instinct, Love Monster is full of heart and ‘big life’ learnings for little ones. By watching his adventures as he navigates the challenges involved in being a bit funny looking in a world of cute fluffy things, the young audience at home can also learn to cope with different emotions.

Star Trek legend George Takei joins some of the UK’s best actors and voice talent, including Tamsin Greig, Darren Foreman, Sarah Hadland and Javone Prince in the distinguished cast of this warm and charming TV adaptation.

Love Monster lives in Fluffytown, an adorable town packed full of unforgettable characters including the irrepressible Tiniest Fluffiest Bunny (Love Monster’s best friend) Elder Kitten, wise leader of the Council of Cuteness, the endlessly enthusiastic Bad Idea Puppy, and guru and Fro-Yo expert, Book Cub.

Each day brings an exciting new occasion or event such as Sharing With Others Day, Build A Snowman Day or Hot Chocolate Day. Love Monster is always very excited to join in, but often finds that by trying too hard to follow his over-thinky head rather than his heart, things can go wrong… but with a lot of help from his friends and a little serendipity, he discovers how to make things right in the end, and follow his heart while building his inner confidence.

George Takei, who plays Elder Panda, says: "Love Monster celebrates inclusive behaviour and collaboration and that’s also very much my philosophy - we find strength, joy and vitality in diversity coming together."
 
Tamsin Greig, who plays the Narrator, says: "Love Monster has a wonderful warmth and empathy to it. The series shows that by embracing our differences and helping each other we can make things better for everyone, a particularly valuable lesson for children in today’s world."

Darren Foreman, who plays Love Monster, says: "Love Monster is a fantastically engaging character who has been great fun to play. He may look a little bit odd but his heart is in the right place, and when he’s brave enough to follow it he realises that he can always rely on the help of his friends."

Rachel Bright says: "It’s so exciting to see Love Monster and his friends in Fluffytown come to life on the screen. The series really captures their charm and humour and I love seeing them go on even more colourful and fun adventures."

The distinguished cast includes George Takei (Star Trek, Heroes) as Elder Panda; Tamsin Greig (Friday Night Dinner, Episodes, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) as Narrator; Javone Prince (The Javone Prince Show, PhoneShop) as Bad Idea Puppy; Sarah Hadland (Miranda, The Job Lot, Bob The Builder) as Tiniest Fluffiest Bunny; Lewis Macleod (Dead Ringers, Newzoids, Postman Pat) as Elder Kitten/Dr G Piggles; Freya Parker (The Mash Report, Lovesick) as In-Chicks/Delivery Duckling; and Emma Maclennan (Maleficent 2: Mistress Of Evil) as Book Cub, while actor, comedian and Beatbox artist Darren Foreman takes the role of Love Monster himself.

Based on the bestselling Love Monster series of books by award-winning British author and illustrator Rachel Bright, published by HarperCollins Children’s Books, Love Monster is exec produced by Tony Reed for the BBC, Chapman Maddox for Boat Rocker Studios and James Chen Gu for UYoung.

The UK share of the animation for the series is produced by Karrot Animation and A Productions, with a proportion of pre-production on scripts, storyboards and design provided by UYoung’s studio in China.