Developing Animated Intellectual Property: A Guide

Developing animated intellectual property is a stage of its own before production with its own outputs: a world that can expand, character sheets with clear motives, a series bible that gathers them, and a pilot episode that proves the world works on screen. What separates an idea that grows from one that runs out in the first episodes is that the world allows many stories and the characters have wants that drive them, not merely that a character is “cute”. Animated intellectual property is a long-term asset: a successful series may turn into seasons, licensing and games. But many projects stumble in development before reaching the screen. This guide is for channels, producers and content makers who want a world that lasts, and it promises no commercial success, which nobody can guarantee. To choose a production partner read [choosing an animation production partner](/en/blogs/developing-animation-production-partnerships-in-saudi-arabia-innovative-solutions), and for the details of keeping a character consistent in a series [children's animation production basics](/en/blogs/learn-the-basics-of-childrens-animation-production-from-idea-to-screen).

### 📊 Pillars of property that can grow - 🌍 **A world that can expand:** A setting and rules that allow many stories, not one plot that ends. - 👥 **Characters with wants:** A child remembers the character before the story, so its design and motives are the basis of loyalty. - 🎯 **A distinctive visual identity:** Recognised from a single picture, and steady across episodes. - 📘 **A series bible:** A document gathering the world, the characters and the tone, which keeps consistency across teams.

Why does a project stumble if it jumps to production? ----------------------------------------------------- Many projects begin with “we have a cute character” and go straight into production. The result is a series with no depth: ideas run out after a few episodes, a second season cannot be built, and the characters are unfit for licensing because they have no clear identity. Development is a stage of its own before production, with its own outputs.

	An idea that runs out	An idea that grows
The world	One place and one plot	A setting with rules, a history and a central conflict that generates stories
The characters	Cute with no motive	Each has a want, a fear and relationships that develop
The conflict	Ends in the episode	Renewed by the world itself
Consistency	Changes with every writer	A series bible controls it
Rights	Unclear	Written before the start

The stages of developing intellectual property ---------------------------------------------- 1. **World-building:** the setting, its rules, its history and the central conflict that generates stories. This decides whether the idea can carry a few episodes or seasons. 2. **Character sheets:** for each main character its want, its fear, its relation to the others and how it develops. A character without a clear want carries no story. 3. **The series bible:** a reference document gathering the world, the characters, the tone and example episodes. It is used to present the project to channels and to keep consistency across writing teams. 4. **The pilot episode:** an episode that proves the world and characters work on screen, used to test the rhythm and attract funding or a broadcast partner. 5. **Fixing the rights:** who owns the world, the characters, the bible and the source files, and the limits of licensing. What does a series bible contain? --------------------------------- - **The idea of the series in a paragraph:** what it is about, for whom, and what distinguishes it. - **The world:** its places and rules and what can and cannot happen in it. - **The characters:** their full sheets: look, expressions, temperament, way of speaking and what they never do. - **Tone and values:** which values grow from the plot, what the prohibitions are, and how conflict is portrayed. - **Example episodes:** titles and summaries that show the world can hold varied stories. - **The visual and sound style:** colours, design rules and notes on voice performance and music. Remember that the bible lives: you add to it what you learn from the pilot and from reviewers' notes, and date each version so the team knows which one is approved. For values and safety read [purposeful children's content](/en/blogs/discover-purposeful-kids-content-in-animation). Questions that settle whether an idea can grow ---------------------------------------------- - Can you write ten different episode titles without repeating the idea? - Does each character have a want that conflicts with another's? - Could a child draw the main character from memory? - Does the world allow a change of place, season and problem without losing its identity? - Do you know what you want a child to leave the whole series with, not just one episode? And in the end test the world with the pilot episode before any big commitment: show it to children of the intended age, and watch what they remember afterwards, whether it is the character, the event or the rule. What the child remembers shows what is worth building the season on, and what they do not remember may deserve simplifying or cutting. Common mistakes in developing property -------------------------------------- - **Producing before building the world:** so ideas run out after a few episodes. - **Characters with no motives:** so episodes become events, not stories. - **A series bible written after production:** so it controls nothing. - **Postponing rights:** so you find after success that ownership is muddled. Write them early. - **Changing a character's look between episodes:** so loyalty weakens. Adopt one sheet. - **Rushing the foundation:** which is what gets redone later. Suppose a writer has an idea about a small town on a mountain where animals cooperate. Before production they write the town's rules, its history and its central conflict (a scarcity of water, say), then give each character a want that conflicts with another's, write a list of episode titles, and design a pilot. This is a hypothetical example to show the method, not an existing work. How do we work on intellectual property? ---------------------------------------- Hawadet Studio is an early-stage Arabic animation studio, and we develop original intellectual property — characters, worlds and story bibles — and can work with a partner on a joint project under a written agreement that says who owns what. Our original work shows our method: “The Hidden Kingdom”, about rabbits and falcons learning to live together under the guidance of a wise kingfisher, has a written character bible, and “Zaabeeb” is a 2D comedy series with finished episodes. We learned that a careful foundation, from writing to reviewing the plot and the details, is the main factor in whether the work is accepted and saves effort later, and that rushing it was the biggest mistake that forced us to redo work. Meet [The Hidden Kingdom](/en/projects/hidden-kingdom) and [Zaabeeb](/en/projects/zaabeeb). Frequently Asked Questions -------------------------- ### How long does the development stage take? It depends on the complexity of the world and the number of characters, but it is an investment that protects the larger production budget. Ask for a clear schedule for this stage, separate from production. ### Do we need a series bible if we will produce in-house? Yes, because it keeps consistency across different writers and directors, and it is essential when presenting the project to broadcast partners or funders. ### Who owns the intellectual property after development? This is a clause written before the start: who owns the world, the characters, the series bible and the source files, and the limits of licensing. Do not leave it to custom.

Looking for an end-to-end creative production partner for your next project? [Contact Hawadet Studio Now](https://hawadet.com/en/contact-us)

#### Hawadet Studio Team 2D & 3D Animation Production Studio The Hawadet team is an animation production studio, working in hand-drawn 2D and cinematic 3D, specialising in children's content, educational animation, and original IP development for broadcasters and streaming platforms. These articles explain the production pipeline, from concept to delivery.

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