Every book’s an adventure on
NORTHANGER AVENUE
An animated project by
Courtney Birnbaum
Table of CONTENTS LOGLINE: Sixth-grader Catherine Morland must rely on her
siblings and new neighborhood friends to keep her out of mischief as she regularly gets caught up in book-fueled daydreams.
MAIN CHARACTERS
SUPPORTING CHARACTERS
THE WORLD OF NORTHANGER AVE
IMPORTANT LOCATIONS
EPISODE IDEAS
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About the SERIES
orthanger Avenue is an original animated family comedy about a preteen girl whose imagination brings her literary adventures to life — at least in her daydreams. Set in the Southeastern United States, the series follows the day-to-day adventures of a large family — the Morlands — who move into a snobby neighborhood and disrupt the norm, led by Catherine’s knack for accidental mischief.
Book images by Freepik
While Catherine gets caught up in imagined mysteries, the secrets of the neighborhood begin to unravel as well, particularly that of their neighbors, the Tilneys. Inspired loosely by Jane Austen’s 1817 Gothic satire Northanger Abbey, the series focuses instead on the importance of friendship, reading and imagination in childhood. Through Catherine’s hopeful eyes, the series will confront selfishness, class-ism and the fear of rejection — much like the audience would face at home or school. Beyond the large arcs of multiple seasons, the show has a good engine for more episodic adventures as well. Each 22-minute episode revolves around a varying book genre theme, which will set the tone and location for all of the daydreams that episode.
Meet CATHERINE MORLAND
A
t 11 years old, Catherine decided to become a book heroine. She reads constantly and daydreams of what it would be like to live in the stories, often dragging her siblings or friends along as she seeks adventure in her quiet neighborhood. While her overactive imagination leads to more misunderstandings than heroic exploits, Catherine still tries her best to survive middle school without total humiliation — and to somehow impress her cute neighbor...
CATHERINE MORLAND
Heroine-in-training
• Avid reader • Adventure seeker • Friendly • Messy • Curious • Trusting and sincere • Gets easily carried away by her imagination • Nervous about middle school • Very bad, although very enthusiastic, artist • Second of four children
C
Meet HENRY TILNEY
atherine Morland has very interesting new neighbors. She can’t help being intrigued by them, really: with a two-story brick wall separating her yard from theirs, someone with a much tamer imagination would be intrigued. It’s definitely not because Henry is an eighth grade boy with nice hair. Enough questions! Here’s more about the middle Tilney:
HENRY TILNEY
Catherine’s new neighbor
• 13-years-old • Sarcastic • Clever • Talkative • Filipino-American • Lives in the nicest house on the street • Has a strict father
Meet the MORLANDS
Catherine’s sister
SARAH MORLAND
• Fourth-grader (9) • Saucy • Artistic • Stubborn about her own ideas sometimes but will follow Catherine’s schemes most of the time • Prefers being inside, which can cause her to get stuck with their mom while Catherine has adventures
PHILLIP MORLAND
Catherine’s younger brother
• Kindergartener (6) • Attention-seeking • Energetic • Impatient • Just learned to read • Uses big words... to manipulate or complain • Good-hearted — deep, deep down
JAKE MORLAND
Catherine’s older brother
• High school freshman (14) • Athletic • Responsible • Desperate to fit in • Desperate for a girlfriend • Disapproves of Catherine’s imaginative adventures but will stick up for her when it comes down to it
Meet the MORLANDS Catherine & her siblings
SALLY MORLAND
Catherine’s mom
• Teacher, currently substituting at the kids’ elementary school • Smart • Savvy; sharp sense of humor • Gives good advice • Drives too fast • Doesn’t have time or energy to chase down Catherine
R.C. MORLAND
Catherine’s dad
• High school basketball coach • Seminary student • Hard worker/works odd jobs • Jokester • Recently inherited his aunt’s old property, where the family now lives • Has never been seen without a beard
Meet the NEIGHBORS HENRY’s FAMILY
Henry’s sister
ELINOR TILNEY
• In Catherine’s sixth-grade class (12) • Sweet • Quiet at school • Stands up to Henry’s teasing • Afraid of big dogs • Tries her best to keep herself and Catherine out of trouble
Tilney children’s godmother
NANNY HUGHES
• Native Southerner • Boisterous • Protective • Huggable • Intimidating when mad • Best friend of Henry & Elinor’s late mother • Takes care of the Tilneys when their father is away
GENERAL TILNEY
Henry, Elinor & Frederick’s father
• Stern, rich and proud • One-star Army General who travels a lot for work • Filipino-Hawaiian
FREDERICK (DERICK) • High school senior (17) • Rebellious and mainly absent • Shows rare affection to his siblings
Henry & Elinor’s brother
Meet EVERYONE ELSE Definitely not Jake’s girlfriend
ISABELLA
• High school freshman (14) • Pretty and outwardly confident • High-spirited • Loves to tease Jake • Flirts or pouts to get her way • Tends to be manipulative or superficial because of insecurities
JOHN (J.T.)
Catherine’s annoying classmate
• Sixth grader (11) • Boastful; exaggerates everything • Rude • Clumsy • Acts out for attention • Has a crush on Catherine, but tells everyone she has a crush on him
TARA ALLEN • Early 40s, African-American • Mrs. Morland’s first friend in town • Married to Anthony, no kids • Athletic • Fashionable • Indecisive
ANTHONY ALLEN • Mid-40s, African-American • Hires RC for various jobs • Sensible, practical • Competitive • Generous
Morland family friend
Mr. Morland’s boss
The world of NORTHANGER AVE.
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he Morlands and Tilneys live in a nice, safe neighborhood called Northanger Heights. While a good portion of the show takes place inside the neighborhood, there are a few exceptions, especially when it comes to the children’s schools. The biggest exceptions, however, are Catherine’s daydreams.
CATHERINE’S FAVORITE DAYDREAMS: 1. Historical fiction: Catherine loves to imagine elaborate costumes and historical locations, especially if there is dancing involved. 2. Epic fantasy: Dark forests, dangerous creatures and ample opportunities to rescue and be rescued. 3. Mystery: Having studied “all” of the greatest literary investigators, Catherine has an unearned confidence in her ability to uncover the unexplained.
The world of NORTHANGER AVE.
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IMPORTANT LOCATIONS
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The Morland House
Catherine and family moved into the oldest house in the neighborhood. It’s large, it’s old-fashioned, and it makes the Morlands seem even more out of place in their neighborhood. Catherine loves all the hiding places and history; her brothers and sister enjoy the backyard and tree house.
The Tilney House
The historic, stately house next door to the Morlands could not hold more contrasts to their own. Not only do the Tilneys live in the finest house in the neighborhood, but they also have the nicest yard, full of lush trees and costly landscaping. The brick of the house continues to an enclosing wall, which General Tilney erected so that he did not have to look at the ugly (Morland) home he was unable to remove.
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Northanger Park
A friendly local hangout spot for kids, where Jake can play baseball and Sarah and Phillip can enjoy the playground, and from where Catherine will inevitably return home covered in mud.
Milsom Academy
A scholarship afforded the Morland children the opportunity to attend a private school they otherwise couldn’t have afforded. Mrs. Morland is a long-term substitute teacher at the kindergarten through eighth grade campus, where Catherine, Sarah, Phillip, Elinor, Henry and J.T. attend. Jake and Isabella attend the high school further down the street.
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About the PILOT
THE HAIRY SITUATION hen Catherine ruins her chance to make friends with their neighbors, she convinces her sister Sarah to help her set up another meet-cute opportunity by finding the Tilneys’ missing dog. There are just a few problems with this plan. First, the trouble of finding a missing dog. And then trouble of catching the missing dog. And, worst, the trouble of finding out the Tilneys do not have any dogs. Especially not a giant Newfoundland that Catherine just unleashed into their yard. Meanwhile, Jake, Phillip and Sarah have their own problems.
Desperate to escape the steady flow of moving and unpacking boxes, Jake shows his younger siblings his new hideout: a tree house at the very back of the yard, where their mom wouldn’t catch them and put them back to work. Unfortunately, that also meant that no one could come to their rescue after losing their ladder. [Book theme: Regency-era historical fiction]
Future EPISODES 1. First Day of School Catherine is excited to be in Elinor’s class, but an annoying classmate keeps getting in between Catherine and her friend. Phillip thinks he has gotten out of having to go to school, but he has been enrolled in afternoon kindergarten. [Book theme: Beverly Cleary’s Ramona series] 2. A Collar for Gert Catherine becomes obsessed with finding the perfect collar for their new dog, Gertie, in order to stop thinking about how homesick she is for her old town. [Book theme: fashion] 3. The Library Book Catherine’s favorite book is mistakenly returned to the library, so she enlists Sarah, Elinor and Henry’s help to retrieve it. [Book theme: spy/action] 4. Slumber Party of One Catherine suspects that Elinor and Henry’s father disapproves of their friendship when he picks Elinor up early from a sleepover, but it is really that Elinor was nervous, since she had never slept away from home. [Book theme: Nancy Drew mysteries] 5. Treasure Hunt Catherine uncovers a secret compartment in the house, prompting her siblings to join Catherine on a treasure hunt through their house and the neighboring Tilneys’. Most of Catherine’s clues turn out to be things abandoned in her carelessness over the past few weeks they’ve lived there. [Book theme: epic adventure] 6. First Date Jake gets permission to ask out his classmate Isabella, but only if Catherine will agree to a blind double-date with Isabella’s younger brother. [Book theme: thriller/suspense]
NORTHANGER AVENUE
contact information
birnbaumcc@gmail.com (859) 396-3306 Story, characters and — pitch design by — Courtney Birnbaum
Environment — design by— Courtney & Christopher Birnbaum
Character concept — design by — Vivian Ng