Production on CG-animated preschool series Sunny Bunnies has moved from Digital Light Studio in Minsk, Belarus to indie prodco Animation Café in Warsaw, Poland.

Animation Café has also purchased the Sunny Bunnies IP for an undisclosed amount and is now its sole owner and producer, although UK-based Media I.M. continues to hold exclusive commercial rights across TV, digital and consumer products.

The non-dialogue series, which tags along with five light-emitting creatures who spread joy wherever they go, has aired in more than 160 countries on networks and platforms including Disney, Sky Kids, Amazon Prime and Kidoodle.TV. Since launching on YouTube in 2015, six seasons totaling 156 3.5-minute episodes have been produced, and Animation Café currently has a seventh on the go. A pair of spinoff series—Sunny Bunnies: Get Busy and Sunny Bunnies: Playtime—have also aired, and Sunny Bunnies: Sing-Along and Sunny Bunnies: ABC are in development.

The production relocation comes amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, which has been supported by former Soviet state Belarus. The decision to move everything to Poland was made in order to access more markets and financing sources, a bigger EU talent pool and extra funding to improve the quality of the production, according to Animation Café director Andrzej Ledzianeu.

A former director at Digital Light Studio and co-creator of Sunny Bunnies, Ledzianeu and his company made the decision to move to Warsaw in 2020 and registered Animation Café as a new prodco last summer.

The production’s 25-person creative team—including its directors, producers, animators and CG artists—is now based in the Polish capital.

Digital Light Studio has kept its name, but now operates in a much smaller capacity out of Warsaw. Instead of producing kids animation, it now only provides select third-party audio-visual services to some of its existing clients, says Ledzianeu.