City Critters | New Tales

SERIES. 8 EPISODES OF 5-8 MINS. 2025

FOR CHILDREN AGE 3-6

Did you know that the city is full of critters? Behind the bushes, under the cobblestones, and up on the rooftops, many exciting species are just waiting to be discovered! In CITY CRITTERS, the fun and lively Vimse takes you on an adventure to meet the city’s secret inhabitants – from cheeky seagulls and speedy squirrels to busy bees and shy woodlice.Together with a group of curious children, we learn about the animals, where they live, and how they survive in the city. Every episode is full of surprises and new discoveries that make it impossible not to want to go searching for urban wildlife in your own city. Who knows? Maybe there’s a little city critter right outside your door!

Each episode begins with a short intro, where Vimse is established as a fantasy critter that lives in a skyskraper above the city. Down on earth two kids are playing. From its home, Vimse can look out over the city with its binoculars and keep an eye on everything. In each episode, the kids encounter a new critter in the park, in the backyard, in the apartment or in the parking lot. When meeting the critters, the kids express either disgust, indifference or curiosity. This activates Vimse, who appears to the kids. The kids greet Vimse, who is a natural part of their universe.

Throughout the episode, Vimse introduces the kids to knowledge and facts about the critter, while they look at and examine it. The facts are shown as fun animations of the kids' imagination. The children move from disgust and indifference to considering animals as exciting creatures with cool characteristics and survival mechanisms. With facts, animation and physical activity the kids gain knowledge.

The cast consists of five children age 5-7, who live in a large city. The children know each other, but have no background history. As children who have grown up in terraced houses, apartments or social housing, nature and critters are relatively unknown for them, but the kids are curious and playful.

Vimse is a "city critters' ambassador" aiming to create good encounters and relationships between humans and critters in the city.

In collaboration with animators Katrine Glenhammer and Sara Koppel, we developed five different character designs. We tested these in various kindergartens in different areas, with a total of 72 children aged 3-6 years. The result was quite clear. 47% of the children, across gender, social background, and age, preferred the chosen design. We also received a lot of qualitative feedback from the target audience, which we have incorporated into the series. We prioritized giving Vimse large eyes and a strong purple color, since the kids preferred that. The children liked that Vimse resembled an animal more than a human, so Vimse can walk on both two and four legs. The test also made it clear to us that the children imagined various characteristics for Vimse, such as gender and personality traits. Vimse is gender-neutral.

For me, it is absolutely crucial that we teach future generations to view other species in a new and curious way. A break from the traditional categorization of animals as either "pets", "usefull animals", or "pests" - three categories that define animals based on their usefulness to humans. This new perspective should see animals as beings that exist in their own right, something we as humans can be curious about.

The series should appeal to the many children who have not grown up with forest kindergartens or in nature-rich areas. If you have grown up in an apartment block or a city row house, nature and animals may feel very distant or like something that only exists in a zoo. At the same time, there is an ongoing major conversation in society about climate change, mass extinction, and disappearing animal species. The series should equip children with images and language to understand and participate in that conversation.

Emil Nørgaard Munk