A cast of young actors from Belfast are starring in Paper Owl Films’ new kids TV animated show, Happy the Hoglet – including 11-year-old Jack Morgan, who voices the hero character ‘Happy’.

Happy the Hoglet premieres on RTÉjr and ITV’s littleBe on 14 November 2022.

The show, produced by Holywood based Paper Owl Films, uses humour and simple stories to help toddlers navigate the wide range of emotions they often experience in just one day.

Jack Morgan voices the part of Happy – a baby hedgehog who is grumpy, smelly and has fleas. Happy rides a daily rollercoaster of moods from being ‘hangry’ and frustrated one minute to scared or sad the next, to suddenly being happy again.

Jack voiced the part while attending the Belfast School of Speech & Drama and St Malachy’s College.

Starring alongside Jack Morgan as the voices of Happy’s animal friends are: Evie Stronge, Rosie Petticrew, Daniel Curry and Anna Forsythe, who also grew up in Belfast.

The Sunny River Friends all live on an allotment, which they co-habit with humans.  On their daily adventures, the animals explore a full sphere of authentic emotions, gradually building inner strength by tackling their big feelings as well as growing positive ones.

Each episode of the show is modelled around a gentle life lesson which explores a different emotion and shows children how to acknowledge, accept and share their feelings.

As the lead actor, Jack comments about the importance of the show’s storyline for its young audience, “I think it will be relatable to other children because sometimes they can feel sad, grumpy or happy!”

Kindness and empowerment are at the heart of Happy the Hoglet, visible in on-screen relationships and the wider world around Happy. In his home of the Sunny River Community Garden allotment, big feelings are as natural as the carrots growing in the veg patch.

Paper Owl Films’ Creative Director, Gráinne McGuinness, who originates from Letterkenny comments: “Toddlers have so much emotional learning going on! We hope that being part of Happy’s story helps create understanding of  their own feelings and their own journeys in building  emotional resilience. We hope Happy inspires its young viewers to connect with themselves and others through the characters of the show.”

Airing schedule:

Happy launches to RTÉjr on 14^th November and runs weekdays at 8am, 12:10pm and 15:30.

Catch up on all episodes on the RTÉ player here.

Happy also launches to ITV’s littleBe on 14^th November and runs weekdays at 10:40am.

Catch up on all episodes on ITVx here.