How ‘BE@RBRICK’ Brings a Collectible Toy to Life: First Look at the Trailer From Apple TV+

The official trailer for BE@RBRICK is out now (Thursday, March 6), with Billboard Family giving audiences an exclusive first look at the new Apple TV+ animated series.

Based on the collectible figures from Japanese company Medicom Toy, the CG-animated show infuses a message to embrace individuality with feel-good comic relief and plenty of music. The series was developed by Meghan McCarthy (My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Centaurworld), who serves as showrunner, executive producer and writer, with music helmed by Timbaland, executive music producer.

The BE@RBRICK trailer, premiering ahead of the series’ release on Apple TV+ on March 21, introduces young Jasmine Finch and her high school bandmates, who are breaking the mold by pursuing their dreams of making music in a world where your painted-on look is expected to be what determines your path in life.

Speaking to Billboard Family over Zoom, McCarthy says her aim was to treat the animated ensemble, voiced by Brianna Bryan, Skyla I’Lece, Isaiah Crews, Alison Jaye and Noah Bentley, “with respect and treat them like they are three-dimensional, real characters that your audience can see themselves in, see their friends in.”

First Look: The Official BE@RBRICK Trailer From Apple TV+

“Any time you’re translating from something that exists in another format, like in this case a collectible [toy] … you do have people who are very familiar with it, and then you have an audience that isn’t familiar with BE@RBRICK at all, and then neither is familiar with how you’re going to showcase them in a series,” McCarthy explains.

“If you ask somebody on the street who’s familiar with BE@RBRICK, tell me three things that you know about them, what does everybody tell you? That’s a great starting point ‘cause you want to make sure you stay true to those things,” she says of developing the show, produced and animated by DreamWorks Animation and Dentsu Inc.

For BE@RBRICK, McCarthy says those things included a “very specific shape — little bear heads and little bellies,” and “how when you paint them, they take on this whole new thing. That’s what really gives them their uniqueness and their value, so you don’t want to abandon that.”

“The third thing was they do all these amazing collabs with musicians and artists,” she adds, “and so creativity is a huge part of what makes BE@RBRICK, BE@RBRICK — expressing that creativity.”

There’s the humor that makes BE@RBRICK the series relatable — “I think that it’s really funny in a way that is not mean-spirited. We’re laughing with these characters, we’re not laughing at them, which I think is really great for families,” says McCarthy, who’s a parent herself — and there’s the music, a primary focus for the storyline.

“It’s a show you can dance to,” she says. “The music is really incredible and fun and there’s so much of it on the show.”

“Ultimately, I think the takeaway of the show is the importance of creativity and self-expression and how that can change the world, and how kids [like Jasmine] are a factor in changing the world. I think those are great, relatable themes that a whole family can rally around,” McCarthy says.

That’s something that drew Timbaland to the project.

“The bigger message is that anyone can choose their own path, no matter where they come from,” he tells Billboard Family of the show.

Timbaland first discussed the opportunity to be involved with BE@RBRICK back in 2019, in a meeting with Alexandra Nickson, SVP, TV Music at DreamWorks Animation. DreamWorks then came to McCarthy with the prospect of working alongside the Billboard chart-topping and Grammy Award-winning producer for the show. “Who’s gonna say no to that?” she says with a laugh. “The guy who’s produced some of the coolest things in the history of the world? Yeah, I think he’d be pretty good for this.”

Over the past few years Timbaland has worked with a group of Beatclub producers, artists and songwriters to bring the series’ soundtrack to fruition. The series features an original score by Jina Hyojin An (XO, Kitty) and Shirley Song (Exploding Kittens).

“The process was similar to making a record,” Timbaland notes over email, “but in this case, we received creative briefs from the DreamWorks team. That allowed us the time to get everything right, the music, the lyrics and the overall vibe.”

As McCarthy points out, “For our main character Jasmine and her friends to be able to express themselves through their music, and to root for them, you have to think they’re pretty darn good at it. You have to think the world would be at a loss if they weren’t allowed to put their creativity out there. So to have Timbaland, who has such a finger on the pulse of music and making it feel very relevant to today, that was so key. … They’re not human characters, but they’re making this music that feels like, ‘Oh yeah, I would totally hear this out in the real world. This would be a hit song in the real world.’ That’s the energy and that’s the vibe that he absolutely brought to the table.”

Timbaland says he can “absolutely” relate to Jasmine’s experience in feeling the pull to create music, sharing that “from a very early age, I always knew I wanted to be a music producer when I started DJing.”

His advice for kids who want to follow his path as a producer: “Now is one of the best times to be an independent artist. The playing field is more level than it was when you had to be signed to a major label to break into the industry. My advice is simple: Never give up!”

BE@RBRICK will be available to stream on Apple TV+ on March 21.