Johnny Depp stars in Puffins, an animated series annnounced by Iervolino Entertainment

It has been reported that Jonny Depp is the first name to join the short-form animated series Puffins, produced by Italian Iervolino Entertainment. The project is one of 7 to be made this year both in Rome and the new Iervolino Studios in Serbia.  

Puffins will follow a group of little birds who live under the rule of the wily walrus Otto; including Johnny Puff (voiced by Depp), Tic and Tac, Didi, and Pie. The stories covered in the series will range from the small everyday situations to the gender and race equality, environmental protection, and societal impact, all discussed in a manner suitable for children, as expressed by Antonio Iervolino. These topics, some of the most important in the present day, will all be addressed through the adventures and gags in the puffin community.

The series will consist of 250 episodes, each 5 minutes long and it will be primarily intended for mobile devices. As said on the company's website, Puffins will be made in the time of greater isolation, when we are more often caught reaching for our smartphones, and when the estimation is that in the next 10 year around 98% of the content will be digested through our phones and tablets.

This project and the announced 7 that will follow are all based on the characters from the 2019 animated film  Arctic Dogs, which came out in the US to low box office results and mostly negative reviews, but has found its audience on Netflix. Iervolino Entertainment acquired intellectual rights to several of the film's characters that will each get its spinoff series. 

Iervolino has signed an agreement with Archangel Digital Studios, a Serbian producer of animated content, for the licensing of copyrights of animated characters from the film. The episodes will be produced between the Iervolino Entertainment Studios in Rome and Serbia and experts covering various stages of production pipeline will be involved in the project - storyboarders, directors, animators, designers, and directors of photography, coming from both countries. Production is set to begin in the summer and Archangel Digital Studios are in search of talent to hire on the projects.

Puffins mark the second collaboration between Iervolino and Depp after Ciro Guerra directed Waiting for Barbarians. The 2019 film starred Mark Rylance, Johnny Depp and Robert Pattison, and it had its premiere at the last year's Venice Film Festival.