Animation Inspires Inspiration Network
By Kristi Kastrounis, 10.21.05

A collection of baseball caps, Emmy’s, Disney character dolls, and gadgets aren’t things one would expect to see in a professor’s office. Peggy Sutherland is not like most professors. Her office provides a glimpse to her creative side and passion: animation.

Sutherland's credentials have taken her world-wide; from working with ABC in New York, to creating graphics for six Indianapolis 500 shows, and Kentucky Derby's. She has also worked on animation for the Discovery Channel's series on "The Brain," and created graphics for many Olympics Games around the globe.

Sutherland was awarded 3 Emmy's, and received 10 other Emmy nominations. Although, the Hollywood lifestyle does not appeal to Sutherland, she says. She said that she enjoys the quietness and the Christian community of Regent University, Virginia Beach.

At Regent, Sutherland is an animation professor and the director of the undergraduate communication studies. As the owner and founder of "Sutherland Studio's," she recently joined forces with the Inspiration Network to create an animated show for children.

The Inspiration Network is located in Charlotte, NC. This channel and its partner channels I-Life, and Inspiration International, will air the new animated television show. Sutherland's computer graphics is projected to reach 74 million homes.

Sutherland's computer animated characters will be featured in a series of half hour shows. She said that producing just one 30 minute episode, "can take up to nine to 12 weeks once pieces are in place.”

“It will take 3 to 6 months for the first episode because of mass amounts of planning it takes to formulate the characters," Sutherland said.

To see a short animation of Peggy Sutherland, “Doodle’s Crew,” visit Realgoodtv.com

The marketing and creation for the upcoming animated show will take careful planning. Sutherland expects the first episode to air in two years. Sutherland working with other Regent professors and graduate students will spend these upcoming months completing market research. The research will discover what makes kids laugh and think.

"What they are interested in, what kinds of shows they love to watch, and what they watch when their parents aren't around," Sutherland said. The target audiences for the new animation are children between the ages of 6 and 12.

The producers of the Inspiration Channel and Sutherland are creating an animation oriented towards a Christian Evangelical view. Sutherland's animated show will have "strong Christian ideals," she said, but is intended to be appealing and sensitive to non-Christian children.

The purpose of this anticipated animation is to craft a series that portrays "a strong traditional nuclear family with strong parental models," Sutherland said. She plans to portray the Christian lifestyle as appealing to children and their parents in showing a functional animated family who relies on God, the Bible, and Christ.

Sutherland said she is creating this show to have a "broad based message across the market." Though the show will contain Christian ideals, it "will not be a Sunday-school lesson wrapped up in animation," Sutherland said.

Sutherland said she does not want to re-work "Veggie Tales." “Veggie Tales” is produced by Big Idea Media Company. This Christian animation company features adorable talking and singing vegetables in children’s movies and sing-a-longs.

However, she anticipates that her new animation will be successful enough to turn up on lunchboxes, sleeping bags, and toys.

"It comes down to this-if you have a good story, and it's well told, everything else falls into place," Sutherland said.

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