Xilam Animation’s ‘Submarine Jim’ Sets Sail with Global Broadcasters Including Warner Bros. Discovery

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Academy Award-nominated French studio Xilam Animation has inked a fresh wave of international pre-sales for Submarine Jim, its new 52 x 11’ 2D adventure comedy series, which is scheduled to complete delivery in June 2026.

With premieres commencing via select partners in March 2026, the new free-to-air deals secured by Xilam include the BBC (U.K. and Ireland), RTS (French-Switzerland), RTBF and VRT (Belgium), NPO (Netherlands), YLE (Finland), NRK (Norway) and Noga (Israel), as well as Warner Bros. Discovery in EMEA, Latin America, Southeast Asia and South Korea.

Targeted at kids ages six to nine, Submarine Jim was created by Frédéric Martin — the acclaimed director behind Xilam’s hit preschool series Oggy Oggy — and was previously pre-sold to France Télévisions (France) and Super RTL (Germany).

Synopsis: When naive young dolphin named Jim is tasked with steering the world’s first-ever submarine on wheels, he sets out on a journey across the continents with his best friends: Bianca, the daring orca and the ever-reliable ship steward, and Cyril the anchovy. Together, they navigate the choppy waters of friendship and self-discovery.

Their water-filled tube has left the ocean to seek out an unlikely destination, the fabled pristine waters of a place called … Las Vegas. Luckily, with no set route in sight, their journey promises to be a long and winding one. Along the way, as they embark on their mission and navigate plenty of twists, Jim will be torn between his captain responsibilities and fun times with his motley crew.

These new deals follow the recently announced sales and launch of Xilam’s CG preschool proprietary series Piggy Builders — commissioned by BBC (U.K.), France TV (France), ZDF (Germany). In 2025, the series sold to RTS and RSI (Switzerland), Warner Bros Discovery (Italy), YLE (Finland), Ketnet (Belgium), SVT (Sweden), HRT 3 (Croatia), MTVA (Hungary), Télé-Québec (Canada), LTV (Latvia), Mediacorp (Singapore), Noga (Israel).

“Since we were first introduced to Frédéric’s vision for Submarine Jim, we knew it had all the ingredients to captivate broadcasters and audiences alike —with laugh-out-loud comedy, an unforgettable crew of characters and plenty of fun twists and turns along the way,” said Safaa Benazzouz, EVP Distribution at Xilam. “Following our recent success with Piggy Builders, it’s fantastic to now be welcoming an array of leading broadcasters from across the globe for another of our original creations in this challenging market. We look forward to diving into the show’s international roll-out and introducing audiences to the hilarious adventures of Jim and his underwater friends.”