This Saturday at 9:30pm/8:30c, Nickeloeon will premiere the new CG animated comedy series The Penguins of Madagascar, which is a continuation of the Madagascar feature film franchise. The show actually first hit TV last November, strategically teased on Nick weeks after Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa bowed in theaters. DreamWorks and Nick must have liked what they saw, as the 26 episode order was doubled before the first episode even got its feet wet. Check out a clip:

Series Executive Producers Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle are no strangers to the translation process of a feature-film property to TV – having done the same on Aladdin, Hercules, Lilo & Stitch and Buzz Lightyear. However, they also know how to build something from the ground up, as evidenced in Kim Possible, the animated franchise they created at Disney. In the following Lineboil interview Bob and Mark explain how these skillsets have combined to create what looks to be Nickelodeon’s next big hit:

AARON: How does this world connect to the 2 feature versions?

BOB & MARK: We don’t try to strictly connect the series to the features. We presume that the penguins will eventually return to the Central Park Zoo in the movies, but I’m sure they have plenty of other cinematic adventures for us all to enjoy first.

In the movies, the penguins and the lemurs are purely comic relief characters, so it’s fun for us to put the spotlight on them.

AARON: You guys have worked on spin-off series in the past, but you’ve also started properties from the ground up. Is there more pressure to succeed with a spin-off?

BOB & MARK: The two experiences are different. With a spin-off show, there is the incredible advantage of characters that already exist who the audience already loves. The challenge is to balance keeping the characters faithful to their movie origins with exploring and expanding to find new aspects to their personalities. When you create characters from the ground up it’s easier to respond to the “would that character do that?” question. We just say, “Yes. We created the character, so we know exactly what that character would do.” With an existing character, like Skipper or King Julien, everyone has watched them on the screen and has thoughts about what they should or should not do. So it’s a more collaborative process to create stories.

The pressure is always the same. You want the audience to be entertained so much that they want to keep coming back for more.

AARON: A great deal of the audience already knows your characters. How does this effect your approach to storytelling.

BOB & MARK: If the penguins are going to sneak out of the zoo, the audience will have an expectation. In the first movie, they saw the penguins dig a tunnel. In the second movie, they saw them build an aircraft. So we can play off the audience’s expectations. If we do a tunnel set piece, we want to bring something new to it. Or we can go in a whole different direction and totally surprise the audience.

The key is to build on the familiarity with funny new material. Much of our series centers on the penguins and lemurs as neighbors. In the movies, we didn’t see those two groups interact that much, so we have a rich, new relationship to mine.

AARON: Is the process of overseeing a CGI show significantly different than the 2D series you’ve produced in the past?

BOB & MARK: The basics are the same. You want good, clear storytelling with great gags. But there are many stylistic differences. Certain visual and cinematic cheats that work in 2D do not work in 3D, but CGI offers other completely different advantages. The detailed textures are a whole different visual vocabulary for characters, props and backgrounds.

AARON: Regardless of aspirations, the budget will always inject some limits. Did you ever have to reign in your story team to keep from bursting the budget cap?

BOB & MARK: The biggest challenge is that every new character, prop and set has to be built. So we have to be mindful of how much we do in each story. Thus far our CG department has risen to the challenge. They always find some way to accomplish what our stories need.

AARON: How similar was the original pitch of this series to what we’ll see in the first season?

BOB & MARK: The original pitch is what you’ll see. The biggest change is from the movie. In the first movie, the penguins wanted to escape. Once they’ve been out for their travelling movie adventures, we play it they treat the zoo as the perfect base of operations for their secret HQ.

AARON: The show has already received a 2nd order. Have you ever been part of a project that got such good news before an episode even aired?

BOB & MARK: The early 2nd season order was an amazing surprise. This is a first for us. The Penguins of Madagascar has taught us that enthusiasm is contagious. We were excited about the project, and that spread to the writers and artists telling the stories. The CG department got fired up too and ran with the ball. The folks at DreamWorks and Nickelodeon have been pumped about this show at every phase. It’s been an awesome wave of positive feedback.

AARON: We know that Tom McGrath, co-director of both Madagascar films, plays the role of Skipper, but how involved was the feature team in this television spin-off.

BOB & MARK: The Madagascar team, including Tom, gives creative input throughout the process. They read premises, outlines and scripts. They watch story reels. They constantly support us with their experience with the characters and their storytelling expertise. Plus they pitch a lot of great jokes!